by Libby 41 Replies latest jw friends
So I thought my purpose was to serve Jehovah and get baptised. Where do I go now to get baptised? Is baptism even a requirement for serving God or was that just for the disciples and people of that time.
When any of you were baptised did you feel the Holy Spirit.
Do you still pray ? To whom do you pray ? So lost. Advice please.
No i never felt the HS - I did feel great about really motivating or comforting people when I gave talks or parts. I was really good at it.
Currently I dont feel there is any reason to believe in a deity.
Yea purpose - who the F knows. Biggest lost after the years you cant get back.
I don't pray, neither do my friends, mostly.
Praying is so old school, nowadays most people have iPods, play video games or enjoy other forms of technology and forget all the Jesus stuff.
I'd suggest you keep researching. Good luck.
Yes there is an "empty place" after one discovers TTATT and even more so if you then conclude that there really is no Higher Power out there anywhere. It's really difficult (for some) to come to terms with the fact that so much of their life, energy, and assets have been wasted on a false pipedream.
Where to go now? Go fulfill your life's dreams and goals! (If you're young enough, go back to school!)
The greatest revenge is living an happy & successful life!
"Where do I go now?"
If you have been exposed to JW org doctrine, then it is not surprising that you have to ask this question. The JW org only wants people with low self esteem who are without imagination and want to remain in a state of infantile dependence on their organisation.
May I kindly suggest you now go to a place where you will be able to enjoy the fruit of your own talents and pursue your own dreams, and do not do the bidding of religious propagandists. This is what real life is about.
Try getting higher education to help you see how the world works and to give you an income. . . finally; become reliant on your own informed judgement.
..............and a big welcome to the site Libby!
Do you still pray ? To whom do you pray ? So lost. Advice please.
Hi Libby
I see clicking on Users at the top of the page that you have been with us as a member today. So welcome!
When you have a chance perhaps you can share your story with us. What brought you here and what brought you to ask your question? Details and locations can be vague if you need to keep your life and circumstances private.
I feel it's important to treat newcomers with respect......... part of that respect is to take your question seriously.
One thing you should know is that most of us are X JW's on this forum. Some are non believers, some are agnostics and some do believe in a god or The GOD.
Baptism is an individual decision as is belief in a god.
The Christian rite of baptism has similarities to Tevilah, a Jewish purification ritual of immersing in water which is required for, among other things, conversion, but differs in that Tevilah is repeatable, while baptism is to be performed only once. John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. The earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, though other modes may have also been used. By the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved catechetical instruction as well as chrismation, exorcisms, laying on of hands, and recitation of a creed. Affusion became the normal mode of baptism between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, though immersion was still practiced into the sixteenth. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther retained baptism as a sacrament, but Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli considered baptism and the Lord's supper to be symbolic. Anabaptists denied the validity of infant baptism, which was the normal practice when their movement started and practiced believer's baptism instead. Several other groups, notably the Baptists and Dunkards, have always practiced baptism by immersion as following the Biblical example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baptism
The decision or question really is do you adopt other peoples beliefs or do you follow your own path and determine what's right for you.
Fortunately you live in the internet era so you can research baptism on line as well as every aspect of every religion or non religion.
If there is one thing in common it's that we are all on separate journeys away from the high control the JW experience.
@Libby
I can sympathize with you and am sorry for what you are going through.
Most days I'm agnostic and some days I'm atheist. Many days I feel empty and that life is pointless and meaningless. Other days I try and have a hope in something.
Sometimes I pray to whatever is out there. In my prayers I confess that I don't understand their purpose, let alone which is the true religion. Sometimes I give thanks although I confess that I don't understand why I'm blessed in certain ways while others have nothing; I feel like a hypocrite. Sometimes I apologize for my sins although I don't understand why I should apologize and why God is testing us and allowing suffering in the first place. I ask that whatever is out there, reveal itself to me.
That is the way I pray. I open up my heart, try to humble myself, and wait.
Hope that helps.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. My back is that as a child my parents had bible studies with the witnesses on and off. I was raised with the beliefs of the teachings from the witnesses. However as a teenager I never felt accepted at the Kingdom Hall. Because my parents weren't in the truth, I was an outsider. I didn't have the right clothes etc and the Kingdom Hall just became another place I didn't belong. As an adult I'd always prayed to Jehovah, so sometime ago after receiving a copy of the watchtower I decided to have a bible study. As my study went on I began to discover that Armageddon was no longer expected by the generation that witnessed 1914 but there's whole over lapping generations. Which I could not get my head around. Then after a particular study about the mosaic law. I began to realise that the governing body was no different to any other religious organisation. Picking and choosing how to apply scriptures to control the people. I'd read "we're no longer under the mosaic law but this scripture shows Jehovah's feeling on it" Thus implying that you should still observe the mosaic law, when the bible repeatedly chastised leaders for continuing to make people observe the mosaic law. So now I just feel so lost. I've lived in fear of Armageddon my whole life. Now I don't know what to believe. How can there be nothing? No purpose. Make every day count. But what if life's not that great. Where's the hope that a greater power will help life get better?
Thanks so much Unsure. It helps so much to know that I'm not alone in these feelings. Your prayers sound very similar to mine.
Giordano thank you for the link on baptism I'll have a read and bare in mind your thoughts.
