Posts by Love, Me

22

Sometimes I don't know where I belong in the 'Christian Community'

by Love, Me in

i'm having a personal crisis of sorts i guess.

i left the organization because i realized it was a big lie.

i was especially struck when i found out that the society's position on christ as mediator was that he was only mediator for the 144k.

Love, Me

Wow! Awesome, thoughtful replies & suggestions. I will really take them to heart.

Part of my problem is we moved out of state and I'm now a stay at home mom. Part of going to church for me, besides making a spiritual connection was meeting people -and I have met a few. The church I attend is actually pretty nice -they don't tell you who to vote for or anything. The sermons have been practical and biblical. I feel kind of guilty for feeling this way -everyone at church has been nothing but nice to me. Perhaps I just feel like a phony.

I don't feel like I can ever get beyond my JW prejudices and I want to so desperately. I guess I want the comfort of community and spirituality that comes with attending church but I don't want to put on the 'act' just to fit in. I probably need to stop being so hard on myself.

22

Sometimes I don't know where I belong in the 'Christian Community'

by Love, Me in

i'm having a personal crisis of sorts i guess.

i left the organization because i realized it was a big lie.

i was especially struck when i found out that the society's position on christ as mediator was that he was only mediator for the 144k.

Love, Me

I really appreciate the thoughtful replies. I guess it does boil down to not trusting any church. If I can be fooled so thoroughly once as a JW I feel so vulnerable to becoming a victim again, but of a new lie.

My advise is do and live as Jesus did. Help people in your community. Pray.

Yes -thank you so much for that advise. This is what I envisioned a Christian life to be like when I first left the org and decided to follow what I thought was a real Christian path. I feel disillusioned with Fundamentalism. It's really a lot like the WTS in the hard line approach and judgmental, holier than thou attitude. It's hurting, not helping the community, in my opinion. I just can't envision Jesus approving this over-zealous involvement in politics. It was never his style.

15

Did You Realize Jehovah & The Organization Are One In The Same?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when you were a jw, did it ever dawn on you that the organization and god were pretty much the same thing?

if you disobeyed an organizational rule you were disobeying jehovah god.

if you missed an organizational meeting you were showing lack of appreciation to god himself.

Love, Me

What better way to control people? It's easy to shrug off the ~~direct orders~~ suggestions of a bunch of men in Brooklyn you don't even know but to equate that with giving Jehovah the finger isn't so easy to do. Too bad 'Jehovah' keeps changing his mind though. Sure makes him look bad.

22

Sometimes I don't know where I belong in the 'Christian Community'

by Love, Me in

i'm having a personal crisis of sorts i guess.

i left the organization because i realized it was a big lie.

i was especially struck when i found out that the society's position on christ as mediator was that he was only mediator for the 144k.

Love, Me

Narkissos - THANK YOU!! Yes, I think that is what's been eating at me. I feel like they're giving all Christians a bad name. And yet, I do believe that a Jesus worshiping church shouldn't condone sin but neither do I believe they should condemn sinners with such venom. Where is the balance?

22

Sometimes I don't know where I belong in the 'Christian Community'

by Love, Me in

i'm having a personal crisis of sorts i guess.

i left the organization because i realized it was a big lie.

i was especially struck when i found out that the society's position on christ as mediator was that he was only mediator for the 144k.

Love, Me

I don't limit my friends to Christians. In fact, my best & closest friends are not the church type. I'm frustrated because I have a desire to worship but don't really enjoy Christians/church all that much. Maybe I'm just a lost cause. lol. I think being a JW for so long makes me want to avoid feeling obligated to a group, if that makes sense.

22

Sometimes I don't know where I belong in the 'Christian Community'

by Love, Me in

i'm having a personal crisis of sorts i guess.

i left the organization because i realized it was a big lie.

i was especially struck when i found out that the society's position on christ as mediator was that he was only mediator for the 144k.

Love, Me

I'm having a personal crisis of sorts I guess. I left the organization because I realized it was a big lie. I was especially struck when I found out that the society's position on Christ as mediator was that He was only mediator for the 144K. I started reading the new testament as if they applied to me and not to the so-called elect.

Anyway, bottom line is that after a couple of years exploring other beliefs my heart kept going back to Christ. I believe in Him and accept him. My problem is that I am feeling a loathing toward Christendom. I hate the way Christians in the US are so heavily involved in politics. It's an embarrassment to me and a worry. I mean, it really does seem like Christendom is the great harlot riding the wild beast. Yet I know the WTS interpretations are BS too. I don't think it will ever seem right to me for Christians to work so hard to change US laws to suit our beliefs. As far as I'm concerned, if someone wants to have an abortion or marry their gay lover, who am I to impose my beliefs on them? Why are so many high profile Christians trying to cram morality down people's throats? I honestly do not understand the mentality. Maybe I still believe in neutrality and trying to help the sinner instead of bashing them.

I want to serve Christ but I'm finding it hard to want to associate myself with those who are claiming to speak in His name. Have any other Christians here found themselves in this kind of dilemma? It's a different kind of crisis of conscience I guess. Sometimes if feels like I traded one false religion for another. I still believe in the Lord Jesus but feel lost among his people...

32

The Black & White Thinking of Jehovah's Witnesses---Are You Still Affected?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as witnesses, we were taught how to think.

we were force fed whatever "mother" told us was best for us.

we were constantly having ideas "inculcated" into us.

Love, Me

YES! And it drives me batty! Sometimes I wish I could have that part of my brain erased - the indoctrination that goes so deep. For me it's not really a judgemental thing - I've always been pretty accepting of other people, even as a dub. It's the fear factor. The idea that why even try, it's all going to burn, it's never good enough, don't mess up or you're toast...

God! My #1 ambition is to NEVER put that kind of crap into my kid's heads. I want them to believe in God without all the negative end of the world garbage fears that I have to fight in my mind every day.

25

Do born-agains dominate EX-JW's?

by sleepy in

jw
friends

do a quick look on the web and you will find most ex-jw or anti-jw sites are made by so called born again christians.

i remember from being a witness that the general view of apostaes was that they had become born again christians.this was probably because so many actually do.

is this having a negative effect or reducing the chances of witness reading information that may help them?

Love, Me

Well, I wouldn't call myself a 'Born Again' but I did become a Christian after leaving the WT. I don't know if many xjw's who are now so-called born again are like me but I still deeply loved and believed in Jehovah - just hated the WTS. I was troubled and felt worthless until a Christian aunt started talking to me about Jesus and grace. It really was a special experience - the feeling of all that weight lifted off my heart.

Anyway, I'll never be one of those bible-thumper types (again LOL). I'm mostly quiet about my faith and I didn't trade slavery to one thing for another. And honestly, I found some of those XJW Christian groups to be just as harsh and judgemental as JW's -if not worse. Most of my xjw friends are agnostic or are exploring alternative religion.

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