Tor... care to elaborate why you are still in after all that you have seen?
Divergent
JoinedPosts by Divergent
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Today's Text - Jehovah is my helper!
by Divergent intuesday, october 18. jehovah is my helper; i will not be afraid.—heb.
13:6.. “people often comment about how happy jehovah’s witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country.
“they also notice that even poor witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.” this harmonizes with the promise jesus made to those who put the kingdom first.
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What is your story?
by HereIgo ini thought it would be fun to get to know each other's background a little better.. what brought you into the "truth"?
were you born in?.
what caused you to have doubts?.
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19xx — Born-in (super spiritual family, unfortunately. Most of them are still in)
2013 — Feelings of dissatisfaction led me to question "the truth". I felt that we were wasting time preaching an UNCONVINCING message. I could NOT accept the teaching that non-JW's would be destroyed at Armageddon. A god of LOVE would CHOOSE to DESTROY almost 8 BILLION people RATHER than find a way to CONVINCE them of truth? That didn't make sense at all. I needed to know that I was not the only one who felt the same way. Visited several "apostate" sites out of curiosity (including this one). TTATT was unleashed! I knew that I was onto something. The 3 main issues that stood out for me were blood, child abuse, and false prophecy. There was no turning back now!
2014 — Began my fade
2015 — Faded almost completely
2016 — Nowhere to be seen!
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Today's Text - Jehovah is my helper!
by Divergent intuesday, october 18. jehovah is my helper; i will not be afraid.—heb.
13:6.. “people often comment about how happy jehovah’s witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country.
“they also notice that even poor witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.” this harmonizes with the promise jesus made to those who put the kingdom first.
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The Searcher — I've seen testimonies from wealthy people of other churches who claim god has blessed them with their abundant wealth, while JW's are blessed with CHICKENS??? No comparison there!
Half banana — Yes, it's all a mere illusion, everything is superficial. Totally meaningless!
TheWonderOfYou — Good catch!
tor1500 — Yes, there are congs with affluent ones, but when you look at the overall picture, JW's are still the religion with the POOREST people, as evidence by the chart in my OP
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Today's Text - Jehovah is my helper!
by Divergent intuesday, october 18. jehovah is my helper; i will not be afraid.—heb.
13:6.. “people often comment about how happy jehovah’s witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country.
“they also notice that even poor witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.” this harmonizes with the promise jesus made to those who put the kingdom first.
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Divergent
Tuesday, October 18
Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid.—Heb. 13:6.
“People often comment about how happy Jehovah’s Witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country. “They also notice that even poor Witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.” This harmonizes with the promise Jesus made to those who put the Kingdom first. (Matt. 6:28-30, 33) Yes, your heavenly Father, Jehovah, loves you and wants only the best for you and your children. “The eyes of Jehovah are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.” (2 Chron. 16:9) He has given us his commandments—including those relating to family life and material needs—for our benefit. When we follow them, we show that we love him and trust in him. “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.”—1 John 5:3. w14 4/15 4:19, 20
10 important questions to be asked:
1. "Jehovah is my helper; I will not be afraid"
Well, Jehovah did NOTHING to help all the thousands of helpless child / sexual abuse victims over the years, so he is not much of a helper!
2. “People often comment about how happy Jehovah’s Witnesses are,” says a longtime elder in a developing country.
Looks like he made this up himself. If he had REALLY gone out to ask the public for their opinion, he would have heard more realistic comments, such as how annoying they are going from door to door shoving religion down peoples' throats, how stupid they look standing besides a literature cart / trolley, how disgusting the scandals of their religion are, how weird they are in following the absurd man-made rules of their religion, and how pitiful they are not knowing that they are in a cult!
3. “They also notice that even poor Witnesses are always nicely dressed and appear to be better off than others.”
Key word: "appear". If Jehovah REALLY provides for his people, there wouldn't be any poor JW's in the first place!
4. This harmonizes with the promise Jesus made to those who put the Kingdom first.
JW's are at the very BOTTOM! Jehovah is NOT providing for them much, is he?
5. Yes, your heavenly Father, Jehovah, loves you and wants only the best for you and your children.
I thought the end is around the corner and we should put off marrying / having children???
6. “The eyes of Jehovah are roving about through all the earth to show his strength in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.”
Back to the child abuse victims. These are INNOCENT and DEFENCELESS children and youths. If there are any who Jehovah should show his strength in behalf of, it is to these ones. And yet, this self-proclaimed God of LOVE has FAILED miserably in doing so!
7. He has given us his commandments—including those relating to family life and material needs—for our benefit.
Many have followed the org's advice only to find themselves old, childless, lonely, neglected, depressed, and financially unstable. NOT beneficial at all!
8. When we follow them, we show that we love him and trust in him.
More like, following and trusting 7 old farts in Brooklyn
9. “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments; and yet his commandments are not burdensome.”
Burdensome indeed they are! The cult thrives on burdensome man-made rules and regulations, which CANNOT be questioned even when they make no sense!
10. The last question is reserved for active JW's here who are still undecided: Can you HONESTLY say that you are happy / satisfied / fulfilled as a JW?
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Today's Text - "Appreciating" Young Ones!
by Divergent insaturday, october 15. we are members belonging to one another.—eph.
4:25.. are you a young person?
if so, be assured that you, as a part of jehovah’s worldwide congregation, are really appreciated.
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Divergent
Saturday, October 15
We are members belonging to one another.—Eph. 4:25.
Are you a young person? If so, be assured that you, as a part of Jehovah’s worldwide congregation, are really appreciated. In many countries, a large number of those getting baptized are young people. How encouraging it is to see so many youths joining the ranks of those who have decided to serve Jehovah! As a youth, do you enjoy being with other young people? Likely you do. A certain happiness comes from enjoying pleasant times with those of our own age. However, whether we are young or old and regardless of our background, God wants us to be united in worshipping him. The apostle Paul wrote that God’s will is that “all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3, 4) At Revelation 7:9, we find the description of God’s worshippers who come out of “all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” w14 12/15 3:1, 2
10 points that I was thinking about:
1. "We are members belonging to one another"
No... I no longer belong in this cult! (Proudly inactive and faded. I'm still officially a member though, but there is nothing I can do about that as disassociating myself would result in being shunned by still-in family members)
2. "Are you a young person?"
Yes, I still am (but I wasted a large part of my youth in this freaking cult!)
3. "If so, be assured that you, as a part of Jehovah’s worldwide congregation, are really appreciated."
That's NOT how I felt while I was still in! I felt used, taken advantage of, taken for granted, undervalued, and UNDER-APPRECIATED. You could NEVER do enough! Everything is conditional and forced. I had to put up with many difficult situations and people and this resulted in a whole shitload of negative feelings!
4. "In many countries, a large number of those getting baptized are young people."
How many are born-in / had parents convert when they are still young and how many are fresh recruits? Do the math!
5. "How encouraging it is to see so many youths joining the ranks of those who have decided to serve Jehovah!"
Same point as #4. The question is how many will ACTUALLY stay as 2/3rds eventually end up leaving! (source: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/26/a-closer-look-at-jehovahs-witnesses-living-in-the-u-s/)
6. "As a youth, do you enjoy being with other young people? Likely you do."
Yes, but there were hardly any in my cong!
7. "A certain happiness comes from enjoying pleasant times with those of our own age."
Being a liberal and open-minded JW, I did not share the same interests with the few young ones in my cong and could not relate to them!
8. "However, whether we are young or old and regardless of our background, God wants us to be united in worshipping him."
If God REALLY wanted us to be united in worshipping him, then WHY the heck did he come up with such a confusing book which has resulted in countless different interpretations and MORE than 40,000+ denominations???
9. The apostle Paul wrote that God’s will is that “all sorts of people should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.”
8 million+ out of 7.5 BILLION people DOES NOT represent "all sorts of people" to a satisfactory degree!
10. At Revelation 7:9, we find the description of God’s worshippers who come out of “all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.”
Does the Governing Body consist of members from "all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues???"
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A JW Calling Down Evil Upon Others!
by Divergent in.
stash: /intesoft-inc.appspot.com/post/0185f744fb5e464488b296f2b74e4ccd.html
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Here's the thing for me - even when I was still an active JW, I NEVER liked the thought of non-JW's being destroyed at Armageddon. The only "problem" for them is that they are NOT CONVINCED that JW's have "the truth"!
I started to put myself in their shoes - if I was not a born-in, I would NOT be convinced that JW's have the truth either. All those people out there - I could be any one of them if I was born under different circumstances. I have non-JW family members also who are doing fine as non-JW's and it was DIDN'T make sense to me that they would die at Armageddon simply because they are non-JW's. It was ABSURD to think that a God of LOVE would choose to destroy them RATHER than make truth convincing to them!
So when I see people like Priscilla Bivanco making such comments, it really hits a nerve for me. You DARE to call your a religion a religion of peace and love and yet make such hateful and vile comments? SHAME ON YOU!!!
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Going To A Christening Next Week
by pale.emperor inso my girlfriends, friend has invited me to her little boy's christening.
6 months ago if you'd asked me this i'd have recoiled in horror.
in a catholic church?!!!
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JW's like to make fun of Catholics for practicing infant baptism. But here's the thing - those infants WON'T be shunned if they choose to leave the church in future! They will be able to leave WITHOUT repercussions and live their life the way they want to, free from man-made religious rules and the threat of disfellowshipping hanging over their heads. So at the end of the day, Catholics - 1, JW's - 0
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A JW Calling Down Evil Upon Others!
by Divergent in.
stash: /intesoft-inc.appspot.com/post/0185f744fb5e464488b296f2b74e4ccd.html
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I'm on mobile and can't seem to be able to add text to the above, so I'm doing it in this post
I was browsing through FB and came across this obnoxious JW by the name of Priscilla Bivanco making these comments in response to a post on Unilad as shown above! What a great witness indeed! (sarcasm intended)
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A JW Calling Down Evil Upon Others!
by Divergent in.
stash: /intesoft-inc.appspot.com/post/0185f744fb5e464488b296f2b74e4ccd.html
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Who has the authority to decern what the bible really teaches?
by TTWSYF inso i ask because of all the books, mags and testimonies that the wts promotes.
not only the wts, but many other christians attempt to speak about the bible with authority.
how do we measure who is an authority if we don't know that much?.
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Fisherman:
Given that the Bible is "God's Word," one can only know what the Bible teaches by asking God. Surely, if the Bible is in fact a book authored by God, it is logical that if He would want it understood, HE would somehow communicate with anyone that truly wanted to understand it. Any claim of authority to interpret the BIble must be verified by its author and only with such evidence could one really know and personally conclude who is authorized to interpret the Bible.
The author is SILENT. If he really wanted it to be understood, then he's doing a pretty shitty job