iamfreenow

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Posts by iamfreenow

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  5

  I heard from the newlyweds..

  by iamfreenow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ..and they have arrived safely in sardinia.. trev and linda phoned me just now, and they are safe and sound in their hotel.. they told me they are having an early night, as they are both tired, although i doubt that's the only reason!.

  they send their love to you all, and will see you when they come back on march 5th.. .

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  iamfreenow

  Now, tell them they have other things to do!!

  Crazyblondeb, I don't think they need much advice from me lol.

  I'll bet they enjoyed their early night last night, and not just because they were tired!

  Marion
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  22

  Can You Identify Your EmotiCons accurately?

  by J-ex-W in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  lol .

  i was glancing through the active topics and read terry's thread this way.

  had to do a double take--especially since i have had trouble identifying my emoticons accurately!

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  iamfreenow

  I'm glad you posted this thread J-ex-W,

  I had no idea what emoticons were until I read it, but now I do know..
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  56

  How did I conclude it was not the 'truth'?

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a new board member asked me this.

  i asked if it would be all right to publish my reply.

  the question, in full, is, .

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  iamfreenow

  The Witnesses may claim they obey out of love, but it's really in pursuit of the reward, isn't it?

  Indeed. And the reward, according to the Watchtower, has been very close now for so many years now, but never seems to get any closer somehow. After their "new light" on the 1914 generation in 1995 it seemed to get much further away for some, after all the years they'd said it must come within the 20th century.

  It's the potential loss of that reward that keeps Witnesses striving away for the Organisation, despite private doubts.That fear of missing out is one of the ways that the Society is able to use to persuade it's members to do things that they sometimes don't want to do, and blackmail those who would wish to leave into staying. I know when I was on the verge of leaving, one of the hooks they tried to use on me was that I would no longer have the hope of seeing my late husband when he came back in the resurrection, and I must admit I fleetingly wavered about my decision to disassociate, until I recognised such tactics for the emotional blackmail they clearly are.
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  56

  How did I conclude it was not the 'truth'?

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a new board member asked me this.

  i asked if it would be all right to publish my reply.

  the question, in full, is, .

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  iamfreenow

  Hello again jgnat.

  Your friends response is typically JW. It's most likely how I would have responded a year or so ago.

  JW teaching on the question of what happens at death is simple and clear, and is stated as fact by the Society. A friend of mine who had just lost his mother when he was contacted by the JWs told me that their explanation of death and what happens afterwards was one of the things that attracted him to the Watchtower. All other religions seemed vague about it, whilst JW teachings were definite - his mum wasn't either in heaven or sufferring torment, she was merely in the grave, waiting to see if she found favour with Jehovah in the resurrection, and knew nothing of her condition. I can see how comforting such information would be to someone who has lost a loved one.

  As for God's permission of wickedness, free will is obviously the answer, though of course the JWs see it as a universal issue between Jehovah and Satan to prove that man will serve God out of love, and not for what he might gain from doing so. I used to believe that, but sometimes used to wonder why this issue was taking so long to settle.

  True happiness Watchtower style supposedly comes from knowing that one is doing Jehovah's will, by obeying all the edicts laid down by the WTBTS to the best of one's ability.In reality, that is more the source of guilt and misery than happiness, as no one can truly serve God in the way the Watchtower says he requires. As JWs we were repeatedly told that we were the happiest people in the world, and for a lot of the time I was semi-happy, but always plagued by the underlying feeling that I had not done enough for Jehovah. Like love, happiness is not something we can find by searching for it.

  The picture that the Watchtower paints of God is that of some kind of wrathful, demanding deity who requires everything we have to give, and still isn't satisfied, a God who wants to interfere with every aspect of our spiritual and personal lives. It would be difficult to have a close relationship with that sort of God, and none too desirable.

  The reality is that we all have a relationship with God, whether we believe in him or not. The nature of that relationship, whether we love, hate or ignore him, will dictate how we conduct ourselves in our everyday lives.
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  15

  Kingdom Hall Damaged

  by Kenneson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in indianola, mississippi a kingdom hall was hit by a tornado and suffered extensive damage.

  see "severe weather sweeps state.

  kingdom hall hit by tornado; some power outages reported.".

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  iamfreenow

  We were always told that Jehovah would protect Kingdom Halls during Armageddon. They weren't protected during the present "system" from natural disasters.

  No matter how much physical damage any Kingdom Hall sufferred, it wouldn't even start to compare with the spiritual and emotional damage being sufferred by those attending them every week.
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  5

  Ressurrection or Death.

  by KAYTEE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wifes parents are 90 odd years of age, they are not jws .. if they die today, and armageddon comes next week, according to the witnesses they will receive a resurrection acts.24 v 15.. if they live until armageddon (next week) they will be destroyed by god .. in that 1-week they would not have changed their life stile one bit.. how can the society depict god in this way.. does that sought of thing not smack in the face of all common sense.?.

  kt.

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  iamfreenow

  This is something that bothered me for years. When my parents died, dad was a disfellowshipped JW, having not beem able to give up smoking when the ban was introduced, and mum was inactive.

  Being the good JW I was then, I tried very hard to get them both back, but they never returned, and I used to have sleepless nights worrying whether they would be resurrected or not, having had the truth and rejected it. I asked various elders what they thought, and none could give me a comforting answer.

  It's only since I have learned the truth about the Watchtower that I have been able to put my concerns about mum and dad to rest. My beliefs in Watchtower doctrine concerning the resurrection disturbed my peace for almost 20 years.

  How did we ever believe that junk!!

  Quite Ian, I wish I'd never heard it.

  Marion
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  22

  how long should it take before a sheparding visit?

  by DannyBloem in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  haven't been to the meetings some months now.

  about 5 or so.. haven't heard a single thing.

  how long should it take before i'll receive a visit?.

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  iamfreenow

  Shepherding visits didn't seem to be a big priority in my congregation, until I started missing meetings.

  Once I started doing that, the elders would probably have visited every day if I'd have let them. They seem to be prepared to act when it's almost too late,
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  18

  I Believe In You

  by Abandoned in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i believe in you.

  theres no such thing as writers block.. muses dont exist.. water boils when you watch the clock.. nothing lost is missed.. its better not to love or lose.. times not medicine.. saxophones dont cure the blues.. beautys not just skin.. i dont believe in any myth.. legends are not true.. but if you want to know my pith,.

  i believe in you.. .

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  iamfreenow

  Nice poem Abandoned
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  56

  How did I conclude it was not the 'truth'?

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a new board member asked me this.

  i asked if it would be all right to publish my reply.

  the question, in full, is, .

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  iamfreenow

  Hello jgnat,

  A most interesting post. I completely agree with you on this point

  It is true, once a broader perspective is gained, how constrained the Watchtower doctrines become.

  Having been taught from birth to believe everything that the Watchtower Society ever said, and to question nothing, it took me a very long time, almost my whole life, to realise just how constrained my beliefs where.

  Following from that, the outrageous idea that only the 144,000 partake of the bread and wine. Who are the rest of believers? Chopped liver? In effect, the society has CUT OFF most of their believers from Christ. Inexcusable.

  Quite so. The Watchtower has claimed to hold the keys to Heaven, and locked most of their followers out. I have thought for most of my life that I must work for my salvation, yet the real message of the Bible, or the New Testament part of it, is that we are saved by grace, not works, and we cannot earn it, all we need to do is accept it.

  It took me a long time to realise that, but now I do I know how much joy a real relationship with God and Jesus can bring. I only wish more of those I left behind in the Watchtower could come to the same realisation, but I fear that most won't.

  Their interpretation of the 'faithful and discreet slave' as being exclusive to the governing structure of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. My reading of that scripture leads me to believe that we ALL have the choice of being either discreet or abusive. That PARABLE was intended for instruction and warning to ANYONE in a position of leadership

  They have long claimed this title for themselves, and again, I never questioned their authority, but reading the passage in context, which as I am sure you are well aware the Watchtower more often than not fail to do, it is quite obvious that it is a parable through which Jesus was instructing those who would spread his word to be consistent in their teaching.

  I don't come from the context that life is a struggle. That is a Witness concept

  Right again. Of course, as Witnesses we were taught that we had something better to look forward to, but we must work hard to obtain it. The Watchtower has made life a struggle for most of its members, with their policies on education and advice on choice of career, ie working part time to pioneer. The concept that God wants us to be happy in our worship of him, not ever fearful that we will be found wanting when he brings about the end of the world and thus miss out on his promises, is alien to them. They have published all this information, made all these rules, but have never grasped what God really wants from his creation.

  Particularly in my last few years as a Witness, it was impossible not to see how many were becoming more and more depressed in the congregation. I experienced those feelings myself, but for years dismissed them as an attack by Satan, another Watchtower teaching of course. I imagine that that trend will continue, and increase as the Watchtower promises fail to happen. I am so happy that i have escaped from all that.

  Marion
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  25

  My first post!

  by Crafty Lady in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been reading a while and decided to join in.

  my jw experience: my mom got hooked during a vulnerable period (marriage split up).

  we went to a couple of congregations in queens, ny, and then moved to the finger lakes area of upstate ny.

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  iamfreenow

  Hello Crafty Lady, and welcome.