lesterd

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Posts by lesterd

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  27

  What is the Society's stand on illegal immigrants?

  by cruzanheart in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i've been away long enough (thank god) that i don't know what the party line is anymore about this.

  when i was "in" i studied with a nice woman from venezuela and, when my mom found out she was in the country illegally, she stopped the study and told yomaira that we couldn't study with her until she got her immigration status cleared up.

  this was back in the late 1970's.. however, i spoke with a jw friend this past weekend and it was taken for granted that a family member's caregivers -- who are witnesses in good standing going to the spanish congregation -- are not here legally.

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  lesterd

  Theocratic strategy allows the Tower to side step the laws
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  36

  meditation: your thoughts? :)

  by DeusMauzzim in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wtbts always has meditation as a topic on conventions.

  they always state that eastern meditation makes the mind "blank", so this is a no no.. of course we know that it is actually the convention that makes the mind blank :).

  so what are your thoughts on meditation now?.

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  lesterd

  Meditation is the innward search for God, for it is there that he resides. It is the deepest form of prayer. And what does one have to do? The blank state is not what the WT makes it out to be, it is the concentration on one thing, to block the everyday background noise so that you can focus on one thing to gain the most out of it, be it a problem to solve or to elevate a state of being or consciousness.

  Deepok Chopra teaching a combination of Eastren and Westren philosophy that has the easiest way to meditate.
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  8

  From the Proclaimers book, ELDERS not to be used

  by NotaNess in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wow, please clerify.

  in the proclaimers of gods kingdom book, in the c.russell opening chapter of the book, it states: care is also excercised not to use expressions such as pastor or elder as titles.

  i know jw use elder consistently.

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  lesterd

  Its really not a matter of how votes or appoints, the postions mentioned are just that, postions. A qualified man can fill or hold the position of elder, and for that matter, pastor. It does not title him as such. Just like getting the job of dog catcher, you dont become "dog catcher Dan". Elder is only a job discription, wouldnt be nice if they could accept that and not make so much of themselves because the have been chosen as a slave, a servant to the congregation. They do not assume a title, only a postion.
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  46

  Please put your JW heads back on for a moment... (Memorial Meal)

  by AlphaOmega in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  something has been bugging me for ages about the non-participation of r&f jws in the memorial meal (sounds like a mcdonalds deal) !.

  i've just worked out what it is.... only the "anointed" can partake of the emblems.. but at the original meal, as instituted by jesus, no one was anointed.

  the anointing came at pentecost, after he had died !.

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  lesterd

  Simple, they were observing the passover, the "memorial" was in memory of Jesus death, he wasnt dead then, was he?
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  56

  Update: So I've been going to some meetings (and other things)

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've been absent from this board from some time, as i've been through alot the past few months.

  firstly, my mother passed away after complications from her surgery.

  so i've lost my entire family since 1999. i'm an only child.

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  lesterd

  What you know, is, what you know. Know this, there is one God and One mediator, nowhere is there mentioned an organization. Your relationship with God is one on one, cut out the crap and the middle man who has placed themselves for a profit. You have seen and felt God through your approch in prayer, no elder or org did it for you. Hold your head up and see past man made, earthly organizations, no one stand between you and God but Christ.
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  14

  What do I do?

  by Miss 8572 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  if any of you have read my first post you know where i am right now... just a re-cap.

  i really hate alot of what my witness friends think and do and say and i'm on my way out.

  my best friend who i went everywhere with disassociated me.

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  lesterd

  YOU are narmal...THEY are not, feel sorry for them. Hold your head up and be proud of life ahead of you.
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  18

  Spanking. Useful Deterrent Or Child Abuse?

  by Paralipomenon in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  passionate topic.

  if you have kids, when/ever is it okay to use a spanking as punishment?

  did your parents spank you growing up?

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  lesterd

  The Bible does not agree with some modern views of child raising. For example, it shows that allowing a child to grow up according to its own whims and caprice is wrong and leads to crime. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child." The literal use of the rod in punishing a child may sometimes be necessary; the Bible recognizes this: "Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die." But if left to his own devices the law of that time period demanded a rebellious child be put to death.....something to be learned in our day??
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  24

  Were you ever a victim of slander?

  by Fleshybirdfodder in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  seems a dear brother was under the impression i had slighted him somehow (to this day i still have no idea what i did), and moved to the city telling everyone about strange masturbatory practices i partook in.

  i have no problem admitting i'm an active participant of wining, dining and self seduction, but the things he cooked up in his head were disgusting (even to a perv like me .

  fbf

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  lesterd

  I was going to be brought up on slander by an elder I had told the truth about, not in a malicious way, just answering someones question, well the fact of the matter would have gotten him and his wife DF so it was dropped, but he was out to get me after that, in fact when I moved he read a letter of public reproof, that he made up one the never made it to the GB, but it ruined my wife rlationship with her JW family in the congregation.
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  27

  What injustice and abuse of power did you suffer at hand of elders?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many of us suffered in the jws from a lack of justice, love, or abuse of power by elders?

  how did it make you question what you believed or had been duped into believing?

  would be good to hear experiences so we can bounce ideas off each other on how it freed you from fear of authority or otherwise.

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  lesterd

  Oh man!!! All of it. When I was sent to prison for the truth I was looked down by the elders cause I didnt desert my job that supported my pioneer wife, and pioneer myself to avoid the draft, there was even a talk given about those who stood up to the courts and government to proclaim our Christian Neutrality as not being loyal, but when a compromise by the government of working in hospitals instead of servining in the military, those brother who were sentence to hospital duty were good Jws. There were personal elder vindetta's if thier presious repretations were besmerched by what they did wrong or taught.

  They went by the WT I went by the Bible, I was always in trouble with them, but their mouths were always shut at the end of every Judicial meeting, they were sure glad to see me leave.
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  24

  If You Thought An Active JW That You Knew Was Here, How Would U Respond?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if he were an elder in your congregation, or a former friend or even a relative that is secretly posting here, would you out them?

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  lesterd

  Welcome to the light, it does get brighter.