Balsam

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Posts by Balsam

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  46

  Pissing On JWs That Are Geuninely Searching Here

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just want to say something about witnesses who come here just to try to rebel rouse as opposed to jws that come here and are "searching" or are "active" members in the organization but are reading info on this site.. there's no reason to "beat down" witnesses just because they still go to meetings and we don't.

  i've seen some insulting words against present elders and it's unnecessary and judgmental, in my honest opinion.

  some jws like to spar with us on this board and it's a losing effort for them in reality.. who knows when or what will make someone actually leave the tentacles of the organization.

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  Balsam

  Minimus,

  I remember when I began to come here 9 years ago to start reading. I just could not believe most of it but it gradually began to sink in and when I finally signed up and began to post I was attacked for my defence of my then belief's. It got so bad I left and when to Channel C and recieved kinder more patient help. Later I returned to here and began to understand the hostility of so many ex-witness because I became one but it took time.

  Please everyone who has been out a while, be kind, try to understand where the active JW's are coming from don't just assume they have bad intent toward those of us old timers. Listen more talk less and if your comments aren't going to help them think then perhaps it would be best to just leave it alone.

  Ruth
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  51

  Update on my JC hearing...received the expected news

  by SweetBabyCheezits in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in case anyone's interested but unaware of my family's case up to this point, here's the original thread:.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/198852/5/sbcheezits-judicial-hearing-my-epic-fail-repost-for-ie-users.

  so the elders requested a follow-up meeting last week but we were unable to meet at their set time and told them as much.

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  Balsam

  You need to get letter off to your family explaining why before the KH announcement otherwise they will feel they can't read your letter. I did that before they announced I was disfellowshipped and my friends and family got the letter about a week before the announcement. Some contacted me expressing surprise, some were mum, some were angry with me but they all knew how things stood. They knew how I felt and it was up to them to figure it out. This period is liberating but upsetting for you all, you may loose your JW family that are still in, just accept it, it is up to them.
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  101

  Billy Graham says Christians Don't Actually Hear the Voice of God

  by leavingwt in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in direct contradiction to the testimony of some of our friends and family, billy graham weighs in.

  billy graham says christians don't actually hear the voice of god.

  .. the question should have put billy in a dilemma.

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  Balsam

  Times are much different than in early bible history. When people said that God spoke to them in the wilderness people believed them. Today if you say such a thing it is a quick ride to the psychic ward. No leaving until you say it didn't happen either. People don't believe in God given dreams or God speaking to us something believed in thousands of years ago.
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  20

  were are we really going when we die!

  by arimatthewdavies in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i tried this one before but my browser was broken.

  come let us go up into heaven let us build our thrones their let us become like the most high!

  these are satans words they got him and his demons kicked out off heaven!

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  Balsam

  It is a question that faces everyone sometime in their lives. Live while you live and never fear death, otherwise you'll waste your life in fear and worry and miss all the exciting events in life. That is how I live my life now, I have no answers but I don't feel I have too since I've left the JW's after all it is all just guessing isn't it.
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  24

  I'm done...

  by MrFreeze in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm officially walking away from this religion.

  even though it means i'll be on my own.

  i don't really care anymore.

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  Balsam

  I remember when I made up my mind, once I voiced it outloud there was no turning back. It felt so good just to have made the decision to let go of the religion and say I was done with it. It's been 9 years and I've never regretted it.
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  14

  Do JW's (and uppity-christians in general) walk around with a false sense of accomplishment?

  by Joliette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i ask this because so many times when i was growing up, i was told that a certain sister or brother wasnt spirtually enough because of this or that.

  i wanted to ask the person who said this: what makes you so spiritual, especially since you do the same thing that the so called unspirtually person does.

  except you do it behind closed doors..

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  Balsam

  My favorite reply was to say "remove the rafter from your own eye before trying to remove the rafter in your brother (or sister) eye." It usually shut up the bad mouther.
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  29

  Could it possibly be true that YOU.......wish.....to be......FOOLED?!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there is an implicit pact between the magician and the audience.. .

  an audience attending a magic act is in attendance for two main reasons.. 1.entertainment.

  2.the desire to match wits with a puzzle and its solution and the determined effort to be amazed when this fails.. yet, above all else, the audience does not really wish to discover the secret.

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  Balsam

  Your right Terry there is plenty of magic thinking when it comes to biblical or religious wisdom. We most certainly want to be carried away from the realities of life imagining something better.
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  40

  MY FIRST POST!!!!!

  by drewcoul in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading this website for months now.

  i am a born in who holds absolutely no animosity toward any witness.

  i have had weeks and weeks of trouble trying to log in, but i'm here now.. long story short, i am one of 4 children who were raised as witnesses.

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  Balsam

  Drewcoul, glad you found us here and you'll find lots of support. I've been out for 9 years and excited about it being 10 years of being free. I'm a Mom who raised her three sons in the witnesses. Today they are all out, we helped each other.

  Ruth
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  8

  "Life saving blood transfusion?"

  by purplesofa in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  you might want to read the jw comments and/or post one of your own.. purps.

  http://www.examiner.com/signs-of-the-times-in-phoenix/life-saving-blood-transfusion.

  "life saving blood transfusion?

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  Balsam

  This is very important news, but I can't help but wonder what can be done for a person who has lost a lot of blood volume and is dying. They despritely need blood, but certainly stored blood is going to put a strain on the body that is already suffering huge loss. I know doctors are trying to deal with surgeries without using blood now and just being very careful which is wise. I work with AJWRB.ORG and people write me all the time asking questions about blood. I'll add this information to my folder.

  Mary at AJWRB.ORG aka Balsam
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  5

  1922 Drop of Memorial attendies of JW's

  by Balsam in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the jehovah's witnesses began to emphasize their trademark house-to-house preaching in 1922.in spite of these efforts, attendance at their yearly memorial dropped from a high of 90,434 in 1925 down to 17,380 in 1928, due to the previous power struggle, the failed predictions for the year 1925, and a number of significant doctrinal changes that alienated those who sided with russell's views.

  by 1933, the year 1914 was reinterpreted as the beginning of christ's presence and therefore the start of the "last days" rather than the terminal date in their chronology.

  under rutherford, the downward trend in membership would soon reverse itself, and the movement's membership grew to about 115,000 at the time of his death in 1942.. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/jehovah's_witnesses.

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  Balsam

  Thanks for all the comments, I went and read the other thread about the dates and drop in followers. The faithful remanant makes sense now, when I heard that in the 1970's it didn't make sense to me and basically I accepted it without even questioning what they were talking about. It is true if they open their mouths they were lying and then everyone listening to them and trusting them was picking up the lie and passing it on. I know I did thinking I was speaking the truth.