just popped in tonight after a long time away from the forum - funny how busy life gets.
there are so many new people here, so much great healing going on.
so many with questions, and still so many that are hurting and scared with tough decisions ahead.
Dawn,
Thank you for that post. I am one of those people you talk about who are struggling with all of the fear and guilt. I have been inactive for a while and will probably face disfellowshipment; so the emotional roller-coaster is very difficult. Your post gave me some hope and inspiration. Thanks.
once again, world events come along and give the wt a free booster shot.
nothing better than coming home from the dc, opening the paper and seeing headlines like "mideast in flames" "is nuclear confrontation far off?
" "north korea tests nuke capable missiles" etc etc.
It's clear that many JWs will see this as proof that the Watchtower Society has some kind of mystical quality of forseeing future events. But, were any of these conditions a surprise? Government officials, journalists, and academics all predicted a large war involving Isreal with at least one of it's neighbors. As soon as the new Iranian president took office, he started saying that Isreal needed to be wiped off the map. As far as North Korea is concerned, that too was anticipated by just about anyone who follows the news.
My gut feeling tells me that this is probably going to be similar to WWII where the end of this system looked as if it was beginning to occur. The outbreak of WWII even fooled J.F. Rutheford. He was convinced that Armageddon was going to happen within a couple of years, and said so at the District Conventions. This just might be history repeating itself.
i find it very interesting that the bible and mythology are very close, when speaking about god.
also the statement made by god in the bible to worship no other god but him, in effect saying that there are others gods.
has anyone actually looked into the occult, for lack of a better word, and actually made contact with an entity?
I think you summed it up right there Arthur. You have abrogated all personal responsibility and the responsibility of others for peace of mind. This might help you personally but it's a symptom of the procrastinating religious attitude through the centuries that said ' there's nothing we can do about it, God will sort it out'.
I did say that I have accepted the responsibility of being accountable for all of my actions. I believe that I am accountable to a power greater than myself for everything that I do, including how I treat others each day. One thing that I did not mention in my post is all of the volunteer work that I do in my community. True, I am not a force for good in the world like many famous people have been, but how many of us are? If I really wanted to abrogate my personal responsibiltiy, I certainly would not bother spending any time in helping others or bothering with any kind of volunteer work in my community.
I know that I certainly don't have all of the answers. I congratulate you if you have found all spiritual truth. I am still trying to sort out my own spiritual beliefs. Isn't that what a lot of us on this site are doing? I know that I'm not out there solving society's problems, but I simply try to do the best I can to help others, and be the best friend, family member, and neighbor that I can be.
well last night i was doing a few boaring things and then this idea just popped in my head.
i was thinking about differant ways that a true 'disturbance' could happen from the ground up in the organization.
the basic idea is this: .
"Yes, friends, a number of apostates with no regard for Jehovah's righteous organization tried to throw off our numbers of anointed last year, but--as you can see--their attack was thwarted and Jehovah has corrected this problem. The apostates are no match for Jehovah."
I think Confession made a great point. This was similar to what I was thinking. You must remember that there are many Witnesses who monitor these kinds of sites. The headquarters would surely hear about it and send letters to local congregation elder bodies alerting them about this.
No offense to you personally Drew; I like most of your posts and you seem like a decent guy, but I think this kind of scheme would be rather misguided and perhaps a bit juvenile.
i have a strong reason to believe that the change that will be announced in next few days among jehovah's witnesses will bring a major "refining" work among its members.
take a note of this:
if are not regular in meetings and service of field than you're signalling that you're no longer a jehovah's witness.
Pele,
I was wondering if you could please elaborate on where you got this information.
was thinking about this today while heading' down the road and thought it might be a fun topic.
if you break it down to the simplest degree, and i'm not necessarily talking about 'qualities' here ... but what one word, noun, adverb or adjective would you say describes you best?
for me: passion
Unhinged
can anybody direct me to the thread(s) that summarize the convention and tell what new book was released?
thanks in advance.
There were a couple of posts that had complete notes on all of the talks. They were either under the FRIENDS or the PERSONAL EXPERIENCES category. Go back to late June, and just keep going backwards through all to the topics until you find them. I know that there are at least 2 that are very good and provide complete info.
so when my brother was a wee little lad, my mother was helping him prepare his first presentation.
it involved a paradise tract, i'm sure.. anyway, so my brother, probably about 5 or 6 years old, stands at his first door and makes his little presentation.
except he kind of forgot what he was going to say and kind of made it up on the spot, because what he ended up saying was, "if you'd like to live forever you can have this tract.
It actually wasn't a presentation, but an experience. When I was a teenager, a buddy of mine and I went up to a door and this guy around 50 years old came to the door wearing nothing but his briefs. While my friend was talking he yelled "get out of here! And if you come back again (he then grabbed his crotch) I'm going to pull it out!"
We could barely contain ourselves. We died laughing as we walked away from his house.
i find it very interesting that the bible and mythology are very close, when speaking about god.
also the statement made by god in the bible to worship no other god but him, in effect saying that there are others gods.
has anyone actually looked into the occult, for lack of a better word, and actually made contact with an entity?
As far as spiritism is concerned, I stay the hell away from it. I am convinced that there are indeed demonic forces that do influence certain people and practices such as witchcraft, black magic, and other other practices. A member of my family dabbled into witchcraft many years ago, and there were many unpleasant consequences that resulted.
As far as God goes, I hold many of the same sentiments as Synergy expressed in her post. I could not have said it better than she did. I no longer pray for selfish wants or favors, but instead pray that my needs are met and guidance in doing God's will. Actually, my faith in God has increased tremendously since leaving the organization.
To Ringo5:
I can understand how you feel. Actually, you made some very good points. I remember a brother giving a talk at an assembly and relating an experience of how a brother decided not to take a lucrative job inside the World Trade Center because of his ministry. His job would have started just days before 9/11, and he would have died. Therefore, his life was saved. There was a thunderous applause in the auditorium. I rember hearing this talk and saying: "Yeah, that's wonderful! What about the several Witnesses who did die in the attack?" The yearbooks were filled with stories of how Witnesses lives were "miraculously" spared while they were in the ministry. Yet, they usually fail to mention the times when Witnesses died in accidents, natural disasters, or while in service were captured by muslim terrorists and beheaded.
But here is something to consider. This may sound very silly to you. It did to me, until I started doing a little more research. Try researching some of the teachings behind Karma, and specifically the concepts of "Karmic Inheritence". They may seem bizarre, but they do answer many unanswered questions regarding the time of people's death and the various "twists of fate". I am not prone to grab onto these concepts and just buy into them, but I have seriously considered them and asked myself: "What if?" "What if I really am accountable for all of my actions in an afterlife?" "What if I really am accountable, in that I how I live and treat others in my life will come back to me in the next life?" The truth is, I really don't know for sure. But what I do know, is that taking the small, simple actions of gaining a "God conscousness" in my life has definately been rewarding and made me happier.
I went through a period of great cynicism and asked myself why even bother with prayer and God consciousness. But a couple of spiritual teachers I knew told me to just do it and have an open mind. I have found that my level of joy and peace has increased remarkably since engaging in intense prayer, and striving to always do good toward others in everything I do. I have found that surrendering to God has actually freed me from most of the fears about current world condtions that are going on right now. They don't have any power over me any more.
I think a quote by Herbert Spencer is appropriate. He wrote:
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
while you were a witness, is there anything in particular that you'll never forget happening?
My service at Bethel.
I remember meeting Dan Sydlik when I served in Brooklyn. He was more humble and down to earth than most of the young guys my own age! He was my favorite GB member.
