Posts by NowImFree

20

A Genuine Invitation to any Lurking Elders or JW's

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

i have just decided to start posting, as has another elder "doubting brother" .

i guess that there are perhaps many out there who wish to post but are perhaps nervous.

well that is quite understandable.

NowImFree

OnTheWayOut,

You very recently stepped down from being an elder? How did your family respond? Are you still attending or did you stop altogether? What scandals did you read about? I am always interested in other's stories.

I was raised in it and always believed the org had the truth until I started doing independent bible study which led me to different conclusions than what I had been told by the Watchtower, and then later I started internet research. Then I read a couple of Ray Franz's books too. I realized he did not come across as the hateful apostate that I had been told he was. I thought his book Crisis of Conscience showed him to be thoughtful, a deep thinker, and not at all hateful or angry, just concerned.

What are your thoughts at this point if you don't mind sharing?

NowImFree

20

A Genuine Invitation to any Lurking Elders or JW's

by JWFreak in

jw
friends

i have just decided to start posting, as has another elder "doubting brother" .

i guess that there are perhaps many out there who wish to post but are perhaps nervous.

well that is quite understandable.

NowImFree

Hi all,

I have a question for all of you, what is causing you to question the organization? Is it the organization itself (hypocracy/lack of love) or the doctrinal teachings or something else? I have been out about 4 years now, disassociated, and I am just curious. It has to be really hard to be an elder when your having seroius doubts.

NowImFree

23

DID I TELL YOU I AM GETTING BAPTISED?

by orangefatcat in

just in case i didn't mention it before, i am getting baptized in the anglican church on september the 24th.

this is my new beginning to a spirital awakening and i am so happy about it.

sharing with you all a happy moment in my life.

NowImFree

That's great, I'm happy for you. I got baptized too about 3 1/2 years ago. It was nice to undo the JW baptism into Jehovah's spirit directed org and have a real baptism into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

By the way, you scared me too, I thought you were becoming a JW at first! What I relief.

God Bless you on your new journey,

NowImFree

11

Incredible Skydiving Video

by AudeSapere in

jw
friends

this is an incredible video.

it may take a few minutes to load but it's worth it.. http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=23af1dde394f5f83347374a6b24ed662.715691&cache=1.

runtime is 2 minutes..

NowImFree

That was amazing! Thanks.

14

My family is making me nuts

by NowImFree in

i need some advice all.

my mom, elder brother and sister and her family are all jws.

the only one who isn't a jw is my father.

NowImFree

Thanks for your input everyone. It is very helpful. Like some of you said, I do feel like I need to lay the cards on the table with her no matter where the chips may fall. I think it's the not knowing and the limbo land feeling that is bothering me so much. If she tells me not to call her anymore, at least I know where she stands and that I tried. If she tells me that she still wants to talk, then great but I still think we need to have a heart to heart about how we each feel, without going into JW doctrine or anything like that. Maybe she is afraid I am going to try to tell her things about the org, which I'm not. I did in the past, but now I know that no matter what the Watchtower tells them or how nuts the org gets, they will still buy it all. Nobody can show them anything, they have to see it for themselves. I now realize how deep the brainwashing is. Anyway, I am trying to get up the nerve to call her tonight. I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks again,

NowImfree

14

My family is making me nuts

by NowImFree in

i need some advice all.

my mom, elder brother and sister and her family are all jws.

the only one who isn't a jw is my father.

NowImFree

Thanks everyone. I do stay off anything JW related now, but the tension is still there. Are they told that if someone calls them it is OK to talk to them but not to reach out themselves? I am just wondering because she will talk to me if I call her but she will not call me, it is totally one-sided. This is what upsets me. And the fact that she acts different, distant. I am just wonderting if the org printed something that said they could talk to df'd or da'd family members if they called them but not to reach out to the ex JW family member. Do you know?

Thanks,

NowImFree

14

My family is making me nuts

by NowImFree in

i need some advice all.

my mom, elder brother and sister and her family are all jws.

the only one who isn't a jw is my father.

NowImFree

I need some advice all. My mom, elder brother and sister and her family are all JWs. The only one who isn't a JW is my father. I have tried to maintain somewhat of a relationship with my mother since I disassociated almost 4 years ago, but it's really getting to me. She is 78 years old and I can hardly bare the thought of not talking to her anymore, but our conversations are so strained and I am always the one who has to make the phone call. In 4 years, she has only called me a couple of times, once to tell me about my cousin being in a motorcycle accident and a couple of other times that I asked if she could call me back. It is so one sided and she is kind of cold and I always feel like she is kind of looking down her nose at me, like she really wishes I wouldn't call her. My sister hasn't spoken to me since she hung up on me 4 years ago after I told her I disassociated and I tried to explain some of my reasons. My brother hasn't really talked to me since he tried to tell me the org really was the "truth" and when I told him I knew about all the false prophecies and tried to tell him where the proof is in their own literature where they made all these false predictions and then stated they were "Jehovahs prophet" he ran scared and also hung up on me! Why do they all love to hang up on people? I'm not being rude or nasty or anything, but the minute they hear something that even slightly disturbs them, they run like mad.

Anyway, I am debating on just asking my mother to tell me if she never wants me to call her again because I just can't deal with the phony conversations where I feel like she is not the same mom I used to know. It is very painful because she treats me very differently, like she is afraid of me or something. If she answers me that she doesn't want me to continue calling her, it will devestate me, but at least I will know where I stand and it will be over and done with. I just feel like I can't maintain this relationship (you can't really call it a relationship at this point) the way it is.

What would you do?

NowImFree

35

on the trinity

by drew sagan in

i was just wondering what the opinions those on this board regarding this topic.

i know some have moved towards more orthodox theology, others have not.

curious as to what the opinions are of this.

NowImFree

I forgot to answer you on if I think the trinity is a requirement of salvation. I have to say, I am not entirely sure. I think belief in Christ alone for salvation is, and to me that kind of means you would know he is divine if you are totally putting your faith and trust in him. The bible doesn't specifically say that, but Jesus does say he is the only way, truth, and life. I started thinking how can anyone say that if they are only an angel and not God. I started to believe these things, that he is divine, before I could really accept Christ as my Savior and have real faith in him. To me, it would be hard to have faith without believing in his divinity. IMHO.

NowImFree

35

on the trinity

by drew sagan in

i was just wondering what the opinions those on this board regarding this topic.

i know some have moved towards more orthodox theology, others have not.

curious as to what the opinions are of this.

NowImFree

Hi Drew,

I now believe because I could not explain all the parallels between Yahweh of the old testament and Jesus of the new testament without the trinity. It was the only way I could resolve the fact that Yahweh said in the old testament that he is the only Savior and the only God, no God before him or after him. He also said every knee would bow before him and that there would be One Lord. These are in Isaiah. Then in Philippians it says every knee will bow before Jesus and confess that he is Lord to the glory of the father. In the old testament, Yahweh said he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. In the new testament, it is Jesus that is betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. In Isaiah, Yahweh says he is the First and the Last, in Revelation the first chapter and the last chapter, Jesus says he is the First and the Last. In Acts, Ananias is accused of lying to the Holy Spirit, then farther down in the passage, it says he lied to God. How can you lie to something that is only an active force? Why would the new testament say we need to be baptized in the NAME (singular) of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? There are tons of other scripture connections I found which made me believe the trinity is in fact the only explanation that resolved it for me. That God has shown himself in 3 ways or manifestations all with different functions for the purpose of salvation. It confused me at first but now it doesn't so much anymore. I also believe God is mysterious and isn't like anything we have ever seen or experienced. We only really understand what we have already seen.

I compare it to someone being born blind and never being able to experience sight. I can't imagine trying to explain color to them or trying to explain what having sight is like, it would be impossible. Same with hearing. We only understand based on what we have already seen or experienced.

Sorry to go on but I find this subject fascinating. Especially since I was raised a JW and was the biggest one to walk around and say the trinity was nuts and made no sense. And now I totally believe it.

Thanks for asking,

NowImfree

12

The World IS getting worse - and WILL be destoyed, SOON !!

by TheOldHippie in

the quotes should make you refrain from any doubts whatsoever| all from wellknown theologians and scientists: .

"antichrist, which is the great whore in babylon, has destroyed the holy church.

6,000 years have elapsed since creation, and the world should last no longer than that.

NowImFree

Hi Moshe,

IMHO, to me there is a big difference. The bible says nobody knows the day or the hour, that IS open ended. The JWs have used specific dates and impending doom warnings for their whole history to control people. They say they are spreading good news but it's really fear mongering, not good news when they are condeming 99.9% of earths population (everyone but them) to destruction.

Thanks,

NowImFree