LouBelle

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Posts by LouBelle

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  17

  Can someon explain the 70 years prophecy to me?

  by ithinkisee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am reading gentile times reconsidered.

  great book.

  but when you read it you definitely have to have a clear understanding of the 70 years prophecy as interpreted by the society - otherwise the explanations sound just as garbled as the society's (except reconsidered has a lot more actual references).. can someone explain it in simple terms?

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  LouBelle

  Was jerusalem destroyed in 607 BCE or was it destroyed in 587 BCE (because this is supposed to be the date from which 2520 years or something like that are added to reach to 1914???) I know secular history points to 587 BCE and Not 607 BCE.
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  34

  Preach the Good News ... how?

  by OldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this thread is for jehovah's witness lurkers and posters here.. acts 13 shows paul and his traveling companions entering a synagogue, speaking before false worshippers in a group setting.

  other examples of this particular kind of preaching to unbelievers are:.

  acts 2:43-47. acts 5:17-21. acts 5:41, 42 (also house to house).

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  LouBelle

  I must be honest that at times I even lied on my field service report to avoid the shepherding calls from elders. Oh how sad is that. Today I believe the witness work is done in different ways, whether it be by actual words or by ones actions - the smallest thing.
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  52

  JWs and breastfeeding past infancy

  by rebel8 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my jw mother breastfed my sibs so long they remember it.

  one she stopped feeding when she went to kingergarten; i kid you not.

  my mother justified it by saying moses' mother breastfed him until whatever age and the bible encourages it.

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  LouBelle

  I know is some asian customs that they would be nursed right up until the age of 6. Obviously this was not the childs' only source of nutrition.
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  19

  Welcome LouBelle

  by under74 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw one of your posts and realized you're new here.

  glad you found this forum and hope it's as helpful to you as it has been for me.

  hope to see more posts from you soon.

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  LouBelle

  Thanks Annie,

  Wow so many different ppl. Amazing - I'm so glad all of us saw the true light. I was feeling very alone for a while there.
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  53

  Does God speak directly to GB today?

  by Bambie in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it's been 15 years since i was df'd, but i seem to recall as a jw that the belief was that the only human after adam that jehovah spoke directly to was jesus.. my question has to do with what the org.

  teaches regarding modern day communication with jehovah.

  it was my understand when i was a jw, that the gb does not say that jehovah speaks directly to them.

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  LouBelle

  There is a watchtower - May 1957 can't remember which issues where the society states very very clearly that you must listen to the voice of the faithful and discreet slave as if you were listening to the voice of God" They claim to be the voice of God. Therefore no matter what they dish out should be as if God was dishing it out. Since I've recently left this lying organisation behind I've been amazed at how many things they have got wrong, how many prophesies they predicted and never came about. If this is listening to the voice of God - then God lies.....oh but wait they are only men and are imperfect and can make mistakes.....(get out of jail free card?) But then I say.... When God spoke through imperfect men in past times, they seemed to have got it right, beause prophecies were fulfilled ..... so what has changed......if you are the voice of God then best you listen very carefully otherwise you'll make God out to seem as if He is confused and or is a liar. And that will make Him quite angry I'm sure.
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  52

  Human hair balls

  by kls in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for all of you that have family pets ,did ya ever wonder how much animal hair you drink,swollow.

  in the morning i pour my coffee and have to check for dog hair floating and there is always dog hair floating, i try to pick it out but wonder ,did i get it or is it now floating somewhere is my cup .

  even eating ,do you ever wonder how much of your animal 's hair you have injested through out the day?.

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  LouBelle

  Elsewhere is sounds as though you speak from experience.

  I have a cat and I'm telling you she should be hairless because of the amount of hair she sheds. she parks off on my bed for a bit and when she gets up - black/brown/white hair thickly plastered on my cover - terrible. So I'm pretty sure I could cough up a hair ball the amout cat hair I've swallowed.
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  21

  Can I date a JW

  by Mello Yellow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is troubling me.

  i started dating a girl and the relationship lasted for a little while.

  she then broke things off claiming she was in violation of her beliefs, the jw this and that, and how she'd "lose everything" if she was caught dating me.

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  LouBelle

  Howzit Mellow - I'm new here too man. I've recently left the faith.

  You see if she's still living at home - then yes she can associate with her family for obvious reasons. Perhaps you haven't seen her friends because she wouldn't hang out with you and them at the same time 'cos then she'd have explaining to do to them telling them you were "wordly". That in turn would either cause them to try in earnest for her to forget about you, label her as spiritually weak, go to the elders or stop associating with her.

  You see you as an unbliever would mean that she has unevenly "yoked' herself. Another scripture that pops in mind is "don't you know that bad associations lead to bad habits". The reason she doesn't want to carry on dating you is that she feels she is doing something bad, she feels guilty and now she needs to make herself spiritually strong again so that she doesn't fall into temptation again.

  Mellow I ask you to think long term here. Say you guys do carry on going out and it lead to marriage - first up there you'd have to be married at a court or some non religious place, have a judge or non denomination guy marry you (she'll be disappointed not to get married in the kingdom hall & not by an elder) Then there's all the holidays you cannot share - christmas, thanks giving, 4th of july. No celebrating of brithdays or even celebrating valintines day no matter how much you try convince her it's not pagan. Then if you have kids, she'd want to raise them as witnesses so that she is not blood guilty, no birthday celebrations.......

  Think very seriously if this is the life that you would want. A suggestion is to perhaps get her out of the organisation is to ask her about it's history. Then on certain things like their failed prophesies zone in and try and break her trust in the organisation...that is the most important, cos you can never get them to let go of doctrine - but break the trust in the society itself and you'll be on a better road.

  shew....
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  39

  Why did you chose to join a cult?

  by Gill in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of us here were born into the jw cult and so had no real choice in life until we were much older.. however, those of you who actually chose to join the cult and be a jw, can you explain 'why' you wanted to believe 'the troof' that they claimed to have.

  didn't it appear too good to be true?.

  why would you want to put those kinds of restraints on your life and your mind?

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  LouBelle

  In so called experiences that I used to hear about ppl out there were looking for answers to questions.....and we all know that as witnesses we knew our way around the scripture and interperated it the way the society said we should....so we could answer:

  What happens when you die...boom go to ecclesiaties (spelling?) From dust to dust. If I'm not in heaven where is my reward....Psalms - the meek will inherit the earth.....then off to Revelation (the most figurative book) and we show them 21:4

  So pple were impressed perhaps what they heard. Plus on top of that we showed them that we were pretty much the only ones that did the preaching work.....on a continuous basis. We showed brotherly love (note that this is usually only when you are new...beyond that most couldn't really bother about you .... sad but ver true) Then slowly slowly they say "see you'll be persecuted" and you think you are 'cos your family can see very clearly that you are getting sucked in but you're seeing it as persecution. PLUS you don't believe that they are a sect/cult as they write so much about NOT being a sect/cult.

  Always seems so innocent and good but that is how the you get ensnared. And something very bold to say but I must ....... "who is the one that declares Lord Lord...did we not do this in or name or that in your name" Who uses Gods' supreme name more than anyone else, who works for their salvation more than anyone else......JWs' ..... "The Lord will say 'get away from me you workers of lawlessness'
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  13

  One upsmanship...

  by hartstrings in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  when i was a regular attender, most of my jw "friends" were pioneers because that is who we spent our days with, lol.

  well, it always annoyed the crap out of me when the pioneers would act like they were so special when they were able to get a new publication prior to its arrival at the local kh.

  they were basically bragging about their connections.

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  LouBelle

  I must admit I never ever read anything unless I had to study it for the Watchtower study or bookstudy. I felt & still feel that the questions & given answers never really got to see what was in someones' heart, if they actually understood what was going on or if they were all just nodding like sheep cos' the didn't want to be looked down on as spiritually weak. I must say at one stage in my Witness life I was fired up and that ..... but I still had so many awkward questions that I would ask re: How can not speaking to disfellowshipped pple show love? Why do we say that 144 000 is a literal number when the just about the whole of revelation is spiritual?

  It's sad but I think most of us were afraid of how the organisation/congregation/elders/fellow witnesses would see us, so we plodded along until we just could not take it anymore. I remember telling an elder (about 3 weeks ago) that this handing out of so called truths on a silver platter is not what is meant by "examing the scriptures" . It's being force fed.

  We can be relieved we found the courage to move out because the faith does have such a hold on one. FREEDOM IS A GOOD THING
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  12

  Sitting in the parking lot reading Gentile Times Reconsidered when ...

  by ithinkisee in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a "sister" from a neighboring hall started walking up to my window with her bible and the magazines.. i didn't know who she was, but i said "oh shit!

  " and dropped the book.

  she came up and i did the friendly "hahah .

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  LouBelle

  Since I've recently (about feb) left the organisation I've been reading so much material on it and looking into it's history. My one cousin is in "the truth" and started questioning me about the different books I had - Suddenly I felt like I had something to hide!!! But continued to bring them to work anyway. I'm just about to launch in Crises of Consience. If anyone knows of other good reading material please shout.