This is to set the example of fear to the remaining 99 that they, too, are bound as slaves to joke-hova. The one will be hunted down and then placed on probation, where everything they do is monitored. They do this because this renders them useful to joke-hova as a meal--as well as the fear it induces to the remaining 99. Hence, they make SURE of their damnation.
Observations From an Ex-Elder Part 3 - Searching for the Lost Sheep
by doubtfull1799 41 Replies latest jw experiences
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WTWizard
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zophar
How many men serving as elders currently are struggling with their own cognitive dissonance? Your fellow elders may have some of the same thoughts you have about the organization, or at least may be struggling with doubts and questions. Therefore they don't shepherd because they have nothing to offer. Of course, many of the other reasons listed in this thread may be correct as well.
It is my experience that there are many, many JW's that have a lot of questions but don't share their thoughts yet. As time progresses and things like Australian RC is exposed and the org continues the hard line on shunning children and producing "Bunker" videos, people will gradually wake up. Most people don't like to be confrontational so they will quietly fade. It is a long process for some of us, mine has gone on for the last ten years!
Be content and happy. .....and I agree with others. Why DA yourself, it's just another way of recognizing their authority over your life.
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neverendingjourney
I stopped going to meetings around the year 2005. About three years later my parents pressured me into attending a day at an assembly with them. I was greeted by folks there as if I were a some kind of child molester. The disgust in their face was palpable. These are people who used to be like family to me, who I had gone on vacation with.
More recently, I've been in contact with a young woman who was raised a JW, got baptized early, but has spent her entire JW life being on reproof for this or that thing. She has an abortion, a failed marriage (she cheated), and a mental illness diagnosis on her track record. Nevertheless, she continues to call me and I continue taking her calls from time to time. She's not DF'd but she's been absent from meetings for five years during which she's been living with her "worldly" boyfriend (and hating herself for her "sin"). This guy has been physically abusive to her in the past.
In any event, she recently broke up with him. She does this every two to three months and then promptly gets back together with him. She called me a week ago and said that this time it was super for real and she was moving into the same apartment complex as her JW brother so he can help her "go back to Jehovah." The punchline is that she tells me she had a long conversation with her JW brother and she told him she thought she might be able to marry me. To which the JW brother got outraged because "I wasn't a brother" and she would be better of going back to her "worldly" boyfriend. I have a good job, a stable life, and none of the baggage she has, but in his eyes I'm beneath her because "I'm not a brother."
I don't concern myself with what they think about me. I knew my reputation would be shredded with them once I made the decision to walk away. It is what it is.
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blondie
Over time I have collected WT publication quotes about the status of inactive witnesses ranging from NOT ONE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES to STILL PART OF THE FLOCK. I think they are still in date order...if there are any after 2l008 (I stopped looking then) please share.
*** w08 11/15 p. 16 par. 17 Help Them Return Without Delay! ***
Why did the brother become inactive? He admits: “I started giving more attention to worldly matters than to spiritual things. Then I stopped studying, engaging in the ministry, and attending meetings. The next thing I knew, I was no longer a part of the Christian congregation
*** w08 11/15 p. 8 par. 2 Help Those Who Stray From the Flock ***
Sadly, some who seemed to appreciate Jesus’ sacrifice and made a dedication to God no longer associate with the Christian congregation. Discouragement, health problems, or other factors may have weakened their zeal and caused them to become inactive. However, only as part of God’s flock can they enjoy the serenity and happiness that David spoke of in the 23rd Psalm.
*** w05 4/15 p. 20 par. 22 Let God’s Word Light Your Roadway ***
The psalmist wanted to keep living and praising Jehovah, but in some undisclosed way, he had ‘wandered like a lost sheep.’ (Psalm 119:175, 176) Some who have wandered away from the Christian congregation may still love God and may want to praise him. Let us therefore do all we can to help them so that they may again find spiritual security and experience the joy of praising Jehovah with his people.—Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 5:6, 7.
*** w05 12/15 p. 27 par. 12 Now Is the Time for Decisive Action ***
Sadly, some baptized Christians have become irregular or inactive in their worship. (Hebrews 10:23-25; 13:15, 16) Some have lost their zeal because of fear of persecution, the anxieties of making a living, efforts to get rich, or the pursuit of selfish pleasures. Jesus warned that these very things would stumble, choke, and ensnare some of his followers. (Matthew 10:28-33; 13:20-22; Luke 12:22-31; 21:34-36) Instead of ‘limping on two opinions,’ as it were, such ones should “be zealous and repent” by taking decisive action to carry out their dedication to God.—Revelation 3:15-19.
*** w93 7/15 p. 27 Tenderly Shepherding Jehovah’s Precious Sheep ***
Inactivity in the ministry or in attending Christian meetings does not mean that the sheep is no longer part of the flock. He remains part of “all the flock” for whom the elders must “render an account” to Jehovah.
*** w82 4/15 pp. 23-24 par. 10 Enduring Joyfully Despite Persecution ***
Hence, when our activity is banned, it is generally our preaching and our meetings that are prohibited. “You can be Jehovah’s Witnesses,” we are often told, “but you may not preach or hold any meetings.” Yet if we did not preach or hold meetings, we would not be witnesses of Jehovah God or Christ Jesus, since a witness who does not say anything is really not a witness at all. (Isaiah 43:10, 12; Acts 1:8)
*** km 9/82 p. 3 par. 1 Are You Having a Share in Assisting Inactive Ones? ***
“Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.” (Luke 15:6) This feeling of rejoicing is being experienced by many brothers and sisters in congregations where inactive ones are returning to the flock.
*** km 2/82 p. 7 par. 4 Can They Be Helped? ***
For example, a sister who had been away many years felt that Jehovah and the congregation no longer cared for her. A sister called on this ‘lost sheep’ and read selected paragraphs to her from The Watchtower. Learning that Jehovah did still care, the inactive sister began to weep. She had stopped associating due to many family problems and discouragement, wrongly assuming she had been disfellowshipped because of her long absence.
*** w68 2/15 p. 118 par. 10 Working What Is Good Toward Those in the Faith ***
A sister, inactive for three years, related to the overseer that ‘it is going to be difficult to come back into the truth. I have been away so long. How can I even think of going out in the service or to the meetings?’ She had been caring for her critically ill mother for so long until her death that she, herself, had become spiritually weak and inactive. She was encouraged to feel that she had never really been out of the truth but fulfilling a feature of her ministry so vital to good Christian conduct and love, and that Jehovah had not forgotten her works of love. She was told that brothers in prison could not share in meetings or field service but they weren’t out of the truth. This view of matters helped her tremendously. She is now regular in service and attends meetings. Other enjoyable experiences such as this encourage us to continue showing kindness to our brothers.”
*** w55 1/1 p. 14 par. 14 Holding Fast the Public Declaration of Our Hope ***
Under that wholesome counsel by Paul it is very necessary for each one of us to look after himself. It is not just a matter of saying, ‘I am one of Jehovah’s witnesses,’ or one’s coming to a meeting and there sitting quietly. It really is a matter of inspecting yourself, testing or proving yourself by answering questions in public, voluntarily or when called upon. How can anyone say he is one of Jehovah’s witnesses if he does not attend and participate in the meetings of true worshipers of Jehovah? (John 4:23) How can he say, even to himself, that he believes the truth of God’s Word if he never expresses that truth to his brothers? One might be born a Catholic and be baptized into that religious cult when he is but a few days old and be called a Catholic for the rest of his life. Or he may be born of Protestant parents or Moslem parents or Jewish parents, and the name of his parents’ religion will go with him the rest of his life unless he personally decides to progress. But as for Jehovah’s witnesses, each must make a decision for himself. It is not for any parent to decide for his child to make a dedication to Jehovah God through Jesus Christ. Each must personally prove that he is one of Jehovah’s witnesses through public expression of his faith and hope in Jehovah’s new world before the congregation of Jehovah’s people. It is your active belief that will incite others to greater activity; therefore the knowledge you have gained should be expressed aloud before the congregation for the benefit of all.—1 John 4:17, NW.
*** w56 4/15 p. 246 par. 22 Activity and Life versus Inactivity and Death ***
Inactivity means we are as good as dead. Quit training and quit the race and we are dead in God’s sight. Do not be dead in the sin of inactivity. Be active now and live tomorrow, brothers!
*** w57 2/15 p. 114 par. 4 How Jehovah’s Witnesses View Their Ministry ***
Being one of Jehovah’s witnesses means more than saying, ‘I am one of Jehovah’s witnesses.’ Are you witnessing? Regularly? All physically able have the responsibility to preach publicly and from house to house, as did Jesus, and in addition take advantage of all opportunities to witness to friends, neighbors, etc., while the physically infirm are privileged to witness to visitors, write letters, make telephone calls, and in other ways share in giving the mighty witness. Without exception each witness of Jehovah is aware of his obligations in this regard, as set out in Ezekiel 3:17-21. If one does not witness, he is not one of Jehovah’s witnesses. To call ourselves witnesses of Jehovah and then to refrain from witnessing, which is ministering, would be taking Jehovah’s name in a vain or worthless way. Never may that happen, and it will not so long as a proper view of the ministry is maintained.
*** w58 12/15 pp. 757-758 par. 28 The Crucial Time for Staying Awake ***
So the rendering of the unfaithful ministerial guard naked is a punishment for his failure. To sheeplike men and to angels it shows that he has not been active in Jehovah’s service and has not been fulfilling his Christian commission and his obligations under that commission. He has not been fulfilling the purpose of being a Christian, that of being one of Jehovah’s witnesses and ministers. Only in name has he been a Christian, having a mere form of godly devotion but really proving false to its power. (2 Tim. 3:5) He is unfaithful, lazy, loving ease, careless, not taking his duties seriously in a theocratic spirit. He does not prize the things of Jehovah God and try to preserve them and keep them clean. He is not watching out for the increase of the earthly interests of God’s kingdom or for preserving and expanding the spiritual paradise of Jehovah’s faithful witnesses on earth.
*** w59 12/1 p. 722 par. 8 “Prove Yourselves My Disciples” ***
All who are counted as Jehovah’s witnesses are active preachers of the good news meeting the Biblical standard of morals, since an inactive Christian or one not meeting the standard is not a Christian at all. He is not a witness for Jehovah. Of course, the same Biblical standard must be met in every country of the world.
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Half banana
The Watchtower indoctrination is so patronising Blondie, the flock are treated as if they cannot live without the GB's relentless prodding. Why remain a sheep when you can leave the org and become a free, adult, responsible human being!
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Splash
Your post is interesting Blondie
*** w08 11/15 p. 16 par. 17 Help Them Return Without Delay! ***
Why did the brother become inactive? He admits: “I started giving more attention to worldly matters than to spiritual things. Then I stopped studying, engaging in the ministry, and attending meetings. The next thing I knew, I was no longer a part of the Christian congregation
Basis this statement, once you have faded you have in fact left the congregation and should therefore be unanswerable to the elders for anything you subsequently choose to do.
If only the abuse survivors were aware of this, it could have saved them from being kicked out and shunned.
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doubtfull1799
Thanks joe134cd - very interesting reading through your thread.
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doubtfull1799
Thanks Blondie. Isn't it interesting that not one of those articles mentions a common reason we become inactive - doctrinal or ethical reasons. Every one of them places the blame squarely on the inactive one - for being weak, selfish etc....
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All or nothing
Thank you to everyone who has commented so far... I was struggling with if I should go to the memorial and this thread reminds why I don't go to that cold building with unloving strangers anymore...and why I won't be attending the memorial this year
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ToesUp
"Thank you to everyone who has commented so far... I was struggling with if I should go to the memorial and this thread reminds why I don't go to that cold building with unloving strangers anymore...and why I won't be attending the memorial this year"
Great! Let's hope more people start feeling this way. I would love to see the numbers who attend this year drop dramatically. The lack of love within this cult is staggering.