Posts by Dawn

i'm not sure how many people on the forum have the isaiah's prophecy book but if you do have a copy check out chapter 21.. chapter 21 in paragraphs 3 talks about how enemies of the israelites (pharoah, nebuchadnezzar)were compelled to acknowledge that jehovah was with his people.

Dawn

<<<<<<<sigh of relief>>>>>>>>>>

Geeez six - I oughta kick your hiney for that one! For a minute there I thought "Oh Crap....now what?"

My heart can't take all this excitment - guess I better go to bed.

9

watchtower&awake mags.

by mike047 in

jw
friends

i have about a years subscription, still in the wrappers for anyone that wants them.

email me and i will send them to anyone wanting them for research/ammunition or what ever purpose.

Dawn

Nah......I can think of much more interesting magazines to receive in brown paper wrappers

13

to violet

by troubled in

jw
friends

hi violet,.

i've been reading your posts but haven't responded until now.

at this point, i'll say a couple of things.

Dawn

it's your personal decision to make, regardless of whether other people approve.

I agree with troubled on this point!

Remember when we were JW's - we knew that our way was the ONLY way - we were right - we had the truth and noone else did. And EVERYONE needed to go our way to be saved. Those who refused were ridiculed and shunned.

It is sometimes hard to change old habits. Most people on this board (myself included) have found a new life we are happy in. We can prove many teachings about the JW's that are false - and we want to save people from that religion.

However, it really comes down to a personal decision. Each person needs to make their own decision about their life, whether we agree with it or not.

Hopefully Violet will find one thing here that she will not find at the JW's - people who will continue to listen and be her friend even if we do not agree with or support her decision.

I am a born again christian. While I would love to share my new faith with Violet it is not right to FORCE it on her or insist that she agree with me. Being a true christian means being a friend to others - loving others - regardless of their beliefs.

To Violet - there will most likely be a time quite soon when you will be troubled or have questions again. I hope that you will feel comfortable posting them here for us to respond. However, if you do not - please feel free to e-mail me privately. While I will, of course, offer you biblical advice that may or may not agree with the JW teachings, I will understand that it is always your decision to make and I will not require you to agree with me in order to continue our conversations.

12

HELP! NEED INPUT/EXPERIENCES

by stevieb1 in

jw
friends

i have come to the conclusion that so many of the society's doctrines are not scriptural (both major and minor ones) that i can no longer cal it "the truth".

i still go to congregation meetings, but i can't see myself going for much longer - a bit of a crisis of conscience.

however, there seems to be one piece of seemingly logical advice from the elders that i cannot come to terms with despite what i have found.. even amongst the elders that have spoken to me there seems to be some who do not accept the entire body of doctrines of the society, yet because they see the fruitage of matthew 7:17, 20 being expressed within the congregation and not elsewhere they stay and advise me to stay too.

Dawn

Hi Stevieb:

I struggled with these same two issues a few years back when I was contemplating returning to the JW's.

My husband gave me a great scenario on the issue of "unity" and it stuck with me - I think it makes good sense:

1000 people are seated in an auditorium and shown a large blue/green colored block. They are all asked to write down it's color. How many variations would you have? (green, blue, aqua, aqua-marine, etc). The hosts of this function then stand up and announce that the block is GREEN. All those in the audience who do not agree that the block is GREEN are asked to leave.

So who is left? 2 groups: (1) those who agree that the block is GREEN, and (2) those who don't agree but want to stay for some other reason - they keep their dissent quiet.

Now the hosts again state that the block is GREEN - everyone LEFT in the room appear to be in agreement. Does that mean that they are right - the block is GREEN? Of course not - it only means that the people who didn't agree aren't in the room.

See the similarity?

As for the preaching work - the JW's believe they are the only ones doing the preaching work because they go from house-to-house. However, look at Matthew 24:14 a little closer - it says this good news would be preached in the whole world. It did not specify in what way. There are NUMEROUS churches who are actively involved in the preaching work - supporting missionaries, building orphanages, working with hospitals, providing counseling services, etc. In addition, there are many christians who "witness" in every day activities - to friends, neighbors, aquaintances, etc. I witness about the gospel quite often in informal settings. So JW's are not the only ones involved in the witnessing work - they're just the only ones that count their time!

15

Why I was TRACKED DOWN by elder

by Derrick in

jw
friends

after receiving a concerned email about a post on this board threatening to expose some participants to their employees (as being disruptive elements), i did some reading of their posts.

although i completely sympathize with simon here http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/ and have walked many miles in his shoes as an administrator for h2o from 1996 until present, i still was at a complete loss to assure this individual who sent me the email.. i get a gut feeling that simon really wouldn't carry through this threat!

perhaps h2o moderators including myself were fortunate enough not to have been driven far enough to ever post such a perceived threat to disruptive elements, which in fact was a warning and not intended as a threat.

Dawn

Carmel wrote:

What's the worst that can happen if you are found out?

I think we need to show a little more sympathy to some individuals who are still in a tough situation - like myself!!

I am DF'd already and not worried about that. However, my father recently passed away and my mother needs a lot of support. The rest of my family (all JW's) live out of State so that leaves me and my husband to look after and care for my mom. I love her deeply, she is very lonely right now and needs us.

If I was to be "exposed" as an apostate, her conscience would require her to cut me off completely. Not only would that hurt her beyond belief - it would hurt me!! I've suffered enough pain and damage by the JW's and don't care to suffer more. So for now - anonymity is important to me!

24

Where else are you going to go?

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i have heard that argument from the jw's since i was a child - i still hear it from my family.. now that i am out it seems like such a silly argument.

in fact, you could liken it to someone in an abusive marriage for years.

they're used to the situation and somewhat frightened at the thought of change.

Dawn

Megadude wrote:

Organized religion doesn't work because eventually the perpetuation of the particular relgious denomination becomes more important than the values it was founded on.

EXACTLY!! You are so right there!

12

A heavenly hope

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i have read a number of posts in the past few weeks from people who felt they had a heavenly hope and struggled with the issue "how do i handle the memorial" or "what will my friends think".. this interests me because i struggled with quite the opposite.

i always believed i was of the earthly class and that is where my hope always was.. when i started going to a new church last year and hearing about a heavenly hope i really struggled with this.

i couldn't imagine myself going to heaven - even if for a short time until the earth is made new.

Dawn

I think it's best to continue to pray and worship, but, just let your future lie in His hands not the churchs.

Now that IS great advice!! Thanks LB

24

Where else are you going to go?

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i have heard that argument from the jw's since i was a child - i still hear it from my family.. now that i am out it seems like such a silly argument.

in fact, you could liken it to someone in an abusive marriage for years.

they're used to the situation and somewhat frightened at the thought of change.

Dawn

"Where else are you going to go?"

I have heard that argument from the JW's since I was a child - I still hear it from my family.

Now that I am out it seems like such a silly argument. In fact, you could liken it to someone in an abusive marriage for years. They're used to the situation and somewhat frightened at the thought of change. Leaving their family, loosing some of their friends - "what will it be like?" - and their spouse argues "Where are you going to go? What are you going to do? You can't make it on your own"

But finally they leave the bad marriage, and after a period of "culture shock" they find a new freedom and peace and realize that there was a great freedom - a full life waiting for them just over that hump.

John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

12

A heavenly hope

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i have read a number of posts in the past few weeks from people who felt they had a heavenly hope and struggled with the issue "how do i handle the memorial" or "what will my friends think".. this interests me because i struggled with quite the opposite.

i always believed i was of the earthly class and that is where my hope always was.. when i started going to a new church last year and hearing about a heavenly hope i really struggled with this.

i couldn't imagine myself going to heaven - even if for a short time until the earth is made new.

Dawn

I have read a number of posts in the past few weeks from people who felt they had a heavenly hope and struggled with the issue "how do I handle the memorial" or "what will my friends think".

This interests me because I struggled with quite the opposite. I always believed I was of the earthly class and that is where my hope always was.

When I started going to a new church last year and hearing about a heavenly hope I really struggled with this. I couldn't imagine myself going to heaven - even if for a short time until the earth is made new. In fact, even though I am now a born again christian I still have a hard time picturing myself in heaven - and I wonder what the purpose of a resurection would be if I never died.

Are there any other born again christians out there who struggled with the "new to us" idea of going to heaven?