joelbear69

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Posts by joelbear69

• 
  140

  Wow, the year is 2008, and still no Armageddon!

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  every time we enter a new year, i think about how i wasn't supposed to make it this long.

  i really believed we wouldn't live past the year 2000, and armageddon would change everything.

  it almost strikes me as living on borrowed time, but then i remember that armageddon is a story, not a reality.

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  joelbear69

  also, remember its never too late to start a new life.

  i got my bachelors degree when I was 46, just 4 years

  ago. it takes effort, but there is a world of opportunities

  out there. c'mon let's go
• 
  140

  Wow, the year is 2008, and still no Armageddon!

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  every time we enter a new year, i think about how i wasn't supposed to make it this long.

  i really believed we wouldn't live past the year 2000, and armageddon would change everything.

  it almost strikes me as living on borrowed time, but then i remember that armageddon is a story, not a reality.

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  joelbear69

  they told my parents my brother would never start elementary school, that was 1945.

  offering hope is fine i suppose, although false hope still seems to do more harm than good.

  but to offer hope at a high price, education, experiencing life, decisions on health, children,

  etc. thats when it becomes evil.
• 
  7

  ex-jw lesbians / gays which religions / spiritualities did you move on to?

  by Mizz.Eye in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am in active but i still attend conventions.

  i love rode trips what can i say =].

  my life has been horrible.

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  joelbear69

  I am gay and have been an out gay man for 20 years.
  
  During that time I have done a lot of searching and
  researching.
  
  I know that being gay is a part of the natural order
  of things. It is a state of being.
  
  Animals, including humans, are complex beings. So much
  is going on from chemical reactions, to reactions to
  social stimuli that all interplay to make us who we
  are in our way of doing things.
  
  But I'm rambling.
  
  I believe that in general all living creatures are on
  a mission to survive.
  
  There are both malignant and benign ways to survive.
  Parasites abound at all levels of living things.
  
  While we do not choose whether or not we have a drive
  to survive, as higher primates we are able to make
  a lot of choices.
  
  A simple example. Do we survive by making a lot of
  friends or by killing our enemies?
  
  I don't like the words good/bad because there is so
  much grey area in between.
  
  You can survive and prosper without harming others, either
  violently or through deceit, manipulation, social pressure
  etc.
  
  I try to always choose ways of prospering that allow others
  to prosper along with me and in general that is my
  spiritual path.
• 
  35

  Why won't South Park parody the Witnesses

  by joelbear69 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is it because jehovah is protecting his people from this?

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  joelbear69

  is it because Jehovah is protecting his people from this?
• 
  62

  Are You Ever Afraid To Post Your Views On This Board?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you ever get nervous making a post, knowing that perhaps you''re going to get "picked on" in one way or another??

  ?

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  joelbear69

  this board has its own group conscience.

  if you violate that you can get whacked.
• 
  21

  Feeling sorry for the old time witnesses...wishing it were the "truth".

  by integ in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it's really pretty sad.

  i think of my parents, my aunt, and a lot of the old timers that have been in this thing for so long, and i can't help but feel sorry for them.

  i mean, how devastating it would/will it be to find out they have been duped all along.

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  joelbear69

  I do have pity for my parents. They have been witnesses for over 60 years.
  
  They made enormous sacrifices in giving up their dreams and hopes for this
  life.
  
  No travelling, no education, no adventure. Just service and meetings.
  
  There lives are basically over now at 82 and 85 they have little energy
  left.
  
  Almost all their lifelong friends are dead. My parents no longer talk
  about their hope for the new earth or living forever. They just talk
  about what they are supposed to be doing.
  
  Witness life for them has boiled down to a number of good friendships
  made over many years. Hey,that is certainly of value. But you can
  hear it in their voices that they know that they haven't lived a full
  life, nor has being a witness brought them solace at the end of their
  days.
  
  They no longer try to talk me into being a witness again.
  
  I find it very sad. I love them very much.
• 
  216

  I'm a Pioneer Married To a Wonderful Brother Reaching Out to be an MS...

  by cognac in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  and petrified... i just recently became a pioneer and always had nagging questions in the back of my mind.

  so, i decided that when i have get a study i would research all the questions as i go along so as to prove everything in the truth... i got 4 studies in about 2 months.

  all was fine, until i reached i think chapter 6 in the bible teach book about the resurrection.

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  joelbear69

  hi cognac,

  the list of paradoxes is unending.

  lovers of real truth can't help but see these.
• 
  40

  2nd AA meeting. Would value opinions

  by digderidoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went to my 2nd aa meeting last night and came away with doubts as to whether this would work for me, so would value peoples opinion especially those who attend aa.. there were one or two there that were quite evangelical, which obviously works for them.

  also within the program there is alot of emphasis on god or a higher power.

  for many this higher power is the group itself, yet for some it is god.. i spoke to someone sitting by me about this who said that to make sobriety sometimes you have to fake it and go along with the god thing.. at the end of meetings there is a short prayer which i do not want to take part in.

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  joelbear69

  not all AA groups are the same. I went to Alanon for 2 years and it helped with greatly.

  The "God" thing is dealt with differently at different meetings.

  at our meeting we said the serenity prayer not the Lord's prayer.

  i could easily say the serenity prayer because at that time i would have accepted

  help from any kind of higher power, no matter how defined.

  keep going.

  hugs

  Joel
• 
  27

  My Bethel Experience Part 10

  by new boy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there were guys at bethel, who had great jobs........like don brouex.....he was the receptionist at the 124 desk....checking in and "checking out" ......all the bethel tours and "hot" sisters......on there way through the "home tour"............that my friend, is not a real bethel job.. there were guys at bethel, that had great congergations with maybe only 2-4 bethelities in their halls.

  one hall, midtown had over 80 bethelites there.............. 3 old ladies 4 kids and a dog.

  odds of getting a home cook meal on sunday 0%.

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  joelbear69

  I was in graphotype at the Farm which was the 1st stop on the tour and the first site
  
  of real Bethelites at work for brothers and sisters from all over the world.
  
  
  I worked at the last graphotyps in the room, so there was plenty of room behind me
  
  for tours to stop. It was my favorite thing about being at Bethel. It was a blast
  
  stopping and talking to people about what I was doing (real exciting stuff, typing
  
  addresses), but sometimes they would be from far away places that seemed exotic
  
  to me and to most of the tour bros. It was great. I am in probaby a 1000 slide shows

  titled "Our trip to Watchtower Farms"
  
  
  I had several friends who had cars so I always had transportation. Which at the farm
  
  was definitely needed. But even if you got stuck on the weekend, wow, what a beautiful
  
  place to be. Great place for walking around, finding a quiet spot and sleeping. I
  
  also became quite a table tennis whiz while there.
  
  
  My congregation was fantastic. Pt. Jervis New York. It was a beautiful drive there,
  
  but long, which meant Tues and Thurs nights were late late to bed. I never drove so
  
  I got to snooze in the back seat. Sometimes cuddled up nicely between two handsome
  
  guys. Heaven.
  
  
  There were 10 of us in our congo. But only 6 of us were young single brothers, so
  
  we got lots of attention. One sister fell for me, but alas, I was in love with one
  
  of the Bethelites I rode to meetings with. Which is what got me kicked out.
  
  
  All those lovely strolls through the shower room on the way home from work. Well
  
  there were actually more frustrating than anything else since while I was at Bethel
  
  I strived to stop um er pleasuring myself.
  
  
  The Bethel Bureaucracy at the Farm was insane. The rules and regulations were tiring.
  
  If this was a taste of the new system. Yikes! I became extremely disillusioned as
  
  the brotherhood image quickly became an image of a company trying to save money and
  
  squeeze every penny of work out of the workers.
  
  
  For several weeks, subscription counts were though and so I had to work on the plumbing
  
  crew. Fabulous! I got to work with a broken jackhammer, breaking up concrete in an
  
  old cow barn. It was hard work, but the crew was filled with totally hot guys. Not
  
  to bad a trade off.
  
  
  After Bethel, I pioneered for another year or so. I completed a total of 2 years of
  
  full time service. Amazing that it was the deep studying I did to prepare for my
  
  Bible studies that raised so many questions that I lost my faith. With no faith
  
  I saw no need to remain celibate anymore. It took another 10 years for me to actually
  
  make human contact, but I had a blast partying and finding myself during those 10
  
  years from age 20 to 30.
  
  
  Wow. So many memories come out of that 2 year period. I could write a book.
• 
  50

  How Do You Deal With Stress & Depression?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know many people who are stressed and depressed.

  they feel burnt out and anxious.

  how have you dealt with such issues?

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  joelbear69

  Here are some mental exercises and practices I use.
  
  1. I try to look beyond what is causing me stress to
  something pleasant that is coming up.
  
  2. I try to remember the huge amount of alternatives
  to my current course that might bring me more joy.
  
  3. I practice thinking positive in every situation.
  I've gone from 0% positive response to negative input
  to about 40% positive response to negative input. I'm
  getting there.
  
  4. Do things you love. Take care of that creative, curious
  person that dwells inside all of us.
  
  hugs to all
  
  Joel