Yes, Pastor Dave Hall of Living Water's Ministries in Cyprus.....
http://livingwatersministiescyprus.blogspot.com/
He and his wife were JW's for 50 years.
and...i wonder if other christian denominations see ex-jw as christians simply switching denomination.
do they validate the jw baptism... in another word, for example, will the baptists re-baptize an ex-jw who wants to join their church?
unomas.... .
Yes, Pastor Dave Hall of Living Water's Ministries in Cyprus.....
http://livingwatersministiescyprus.blogspot.com/
He and his wife were JW's for 50 years.
so, the title pretty much explains it.. .
i've come to a pretty definite conclusion for myself as to where i stand, and how i feel about the existence of a deity- let alone the idea that wts has divine backing.. .
my issue is that, being born in, i have lots of subconsciously ingrained phobias and behaviors burned in so deep, i constantly catch myself thinking and reatcting to things the "witness" way- things that don't apply to my life or the way i (want to) live my life anymore.. for example, because of the way i've been raised and indoctrinated, i've grown a serious aversion- you could say almost a literal fear- of worldy people; girls in particular.
I can relate totally to what you are saying. I was 27 when i left the organisation, prior to that i'd had no real interaction with anybody outside. I didn't know how to mix or socialise with anybody, where do you meet them? What do you talk about? It was a big learning curve, i watched others and saw how they did it. Find yourself a friend and start going out, meet as many new people as you can. Even talk about your experience as a JW if you feel comfortable with it, you'll find that people in general are interested in it.
You've just got to put yourself out there and go for it, no matter how scary that may be.
Paul
well everybody i told you all a few years back how hard it was to be in college at the age of 40. i thought my hair was going to fall out trying to keep up with the young college kids in math and science.
but now 3 years later i will be graduating this november with my ba degree.
i just love school and will be applying for graduate school to get my ma.
Congratulations. I'm two years into a six year degree at the age of 40, i'm looking forward to being in your position.
Paul
i am seriously considering going to the dc here in adelaide.. i want to hear first hand stuff i have only read about, i want to see how it feels to be a fly on the wall.. i want to record the program and get the new releases.. i want to hear what my kids are made to hear.. any suggestions?
you may feel free to slap me too if you think i need it!.
a) go in disguise.
I went back to a few meetings and a convention day after 12 years for similar reasons. If you're anything like me you'll sit there and it'll finally sink in that you're listening to alot of BS.
It was an eye opener for me. It's just impossible to sit there and take it all in knowing what you now know.
Paul
what qualities would you say they share w/ other high control groups?.
What do you now think Avishai? I'd be interested to know whether you feel AA/NA is a cult.
Paul
apparently people ( like me) from the home counties of england don't have an accent, its just english...?.
for the record i would say my accent is rather like kira knightly.
I'm from Dudley, UK. Around here nobody has an accent, it's just that everybody who isn't from Dudley does.
Paul
startfragment.
after thinking things over i have realized that the time has now come for me to say goodbye to jwd.. some personal reminiscing about all of the people i have enjoyed talking with on jwd reminds me why it is time to go.
simply speaking, most of my good friends are no longer here.
See you in a month or two
Paul
in my congregation we have many urban legands, like the one about the smurf doll jumping out of a girls lap and running out of the kh because it couldn't stand to hear the good news.
we also had one where a sister was out in fs and a dog talked, it told a sister not to knock on this one door, the sister went to the house and knocked anyway, and the doors and windows of the house flew open and dishes flew out, the sister was scared and ran away and the dog yelled at her retreating back "i told you not to got here!
".
Is there a scriptural reason why JW's say a demon can possess a second hand piece of furniture?
i really thought the us was going to do it but they got knocked out.. apparently, the same team (ghana) as last time - don't feel bad ... germany normally knock us out (probably tomorrow)..
I would have liked to see the USA get to the semi's, i think they were in for a great chance for it.
Paul
considering the fact we've had so many newbies here i thought it would be good to just open it up to you folks to see how life is going for you since you exited the witnesses ?
it's hard many times to move on- however with lots of ex-witnesses on the board here who have been through similar experiences - perhaps those of us who have been out awhile can give you someideas on how to move on in your post jw life to make it a little easier .
so fire away newbies and recently exited jw 's.
A good thread Flipper, thanks. It's good to read these experiences and reminds me of how i was when i first left. Most of all the response is encouraging and for those who are still suffering because of their JW past, the support is here....nobody understands an ex jw like an ex jw.
Paul