Posts by kitten whiskers

89

Everybody say hi to my husband...

by cognac in

jw
friends

because we have a stinken spy on our hands!

oh, and he wants to let everyone know that he is unbreakable in the truth.

as a matter of fact, hes going out in service both saturday and sunday.

kitten whiskers

Hello there Cognac's hubby!

I hope you know your wife loves you!

I thought I had to save my family when my hubby had doubts. The more I tried to defend the "truth", the more God showed me what I was up against. My faith was strong too! But there were always little things that nagged at me. In trying to remain in the "truth", God showed me a scripture in a new way, as I cried and poured out my heart. The same scripture the Society uses to keep people in. "Lord, who else has sayings of everlasting life?" to paraphrase. It was WHO not WHERE as the Society always said "where else would we go?". The Society wasn't the be all end all of God calling us. Leaving them didn't mean leaving Jehovah.

That was my chink in my armor. God knew where it was, and when I was ready, he broke it open and let me have a more personal, reliant relationship with him. He does draw those he wants. It just may not be how we think it will happen! He is not slow, he is patient. He takes his time to mold us and show us the way. I hope you find a happy life for your little family, no matter what either of you believe. You are a couple who has God's love and blessing. Don't ever let anyone tear that away from you. Getting married "in the truth" makes religious belief the cornerstone of many relationships. But I am sure you didn't marry your little sweetie for just that! All those other great traits are still there! Don't forget that as you both come to terms with this change in your marriage. Be open. Be honest. Don't be afraid to talk...not argue...but talk about what bothers you or ask each other why you believe certain things. (TMI but I'll put it out there. Hubby had doubts, but my reactions caused him to clam up and not discuss it in order not to offend me. I finally decided I really wanted to know what he was thinking, and climbed in the shower with him one day! The intimate atmosphere makes talking in sincerity and love much easier to accomplish! Don't forget the honest, humble and hungry spirit. You must have it in order to listen and really understand what your partner is thinking and going through. It was the best conversation we could have had!)

All my best and happy wishes for you both!

17

Soliciting? How much do you put up with at your front door?

by restrangled in

jw
friends

ok, i can tolerate jw's once in a blue moon, even the mormons, but in the past month i have had the following:.

roof sales.

airconditioning.

kitten whiskers

Restrangled....I know you love your dogs...and they are a protection, but letting them out to run someone off when you can say no and shut your door is terrible. I still have traumatization from dogs in field service. It is very hard for me to control my fear.

To set one on a teenager who is not threatening you is shameful. You may be annoyed, but how does he know you subscribe? Evidently the newpaper is to blame for not giving him a list to work off of. As far as his pants...yeah I find that annoying too. But a simple "I already subscribe, and you might want to pull your pants up to be more professional." would have been enough as you closed the door. You could then call the paper and complain about their lack of informing their sales rep and sending them out in unbusiness like attire, threatening to cancel your subscription if it bothered you that badly.

As for my experience, I hate salesmen too. I had a sketchy one in our neighborhood, and I reported him to the police. They came and took a statement and said they had talked to them a few days ago. They handled the problem for me. The meat salesman, I tried their product and it didn't work out for us that well. The next time, I opened the door before they got on the steps and told them "No thank you. I tried it before and it didn't work for us." They thanked me and left.

You could always say, "Don't waste your time. I'm not buying." Just don't take it as an affront to you personally. These are real people with real problems who are trying in an economy that has sent many to the poor house. Though they are as annoying as flies.

For tellmarketers...caller ID. Register it on the Do Not Call list, or answer, tell them you're not interested and hang up. That's what my dad did. Have you ever listened to Tom Mabe? He pulls a joke on telemarketers everytime they call and then sells the CD's of the conversations! They are hilarious! You could try that if you are bored one day when they call!

Please just reconsider letting the dogs out to scare someone. If your dog should get aggresive, you would be slapped with a lawsuit and may be forced to put your pet to sleep. It's a dangerous and mean game to play when you aren't being threatened.

7

Holy videogames, Batman!

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

i was in toys r us today and happened to see what looks like the greatest videogame ever.

i was blown away.

it's called "batman: arkham asylum" and the version i saw was for ps3 (which i don't have but may now have to obtain).

kitten whiskers

It is pretty amazing! I was shopping for a gaming system a little over a year ago for Hubby. I thought the PS3 was pretty neat. But the price...yikes! I went with the Wii because he really wanted something geared toward playing with our young kids...they had the most games for that, in my opinion.

Is it just me, or seeing you were an Adam West fan, don't the graphics for the part of Batman's face look a lot like West's? I'm going off memory as a kid, but it looks to me like they modeled it after him. Maybe that's part of the draw! And part of the fun!

Toys R Us...I don't want to grow up, I'm a toys r us kid! There's a million things at toys r us that I can play with. I don't want to grow, but even if I did, I'd want to be a toys r us kid...More games, more toys, Oh Boy! I want to be a toys r us kid! (Therefore, no shame in shopping there! Sometimes I think I get more excited than the kids when we go in!)

17

If someone holds your tail,

by John Doe in

jw
friends

does your whole body wag?

.

kitten whiskers

Do I have a tail? (Running around in circles trying to see if one is there!)

16

Confusion on what to believe, also guilt.

by izzysma in

jw
friends

i was raised a witness up until i was 16, never was baptized, and now that i have my own child now i am having a really hard time with wanting her to know what religion is.

as i have gotten older, wiser i am doubting the truth even more...actually i never doubted it until just a few years ago.

being a witness is the only religion i know so i still have that sense of loyalty to it even though it's not what i choose to be.

kitten whiskers

I was petrified.

We went to a Baptist church for the first time on an Easter Sunday. What would happen?

The unthinkable happened...they honored God and sang a song to Jehovah! They actually used the name in praise and glorification! My hubby and I just about had to shut each others mouths! Our jaws litterally dropped so fast we didn't realize our mouths were hanging open until we looked at each other! And we looked at each other so quickly with jaws gaping we nearly got whiplash! LOL! We were in shock and amazement...did you just hear what I heard? The Society said other religions DID NOT use the name of Jehovah. They said other religions DID NOT praise his name. We felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on us to wake us up! The Society was a bunch of liars! And I heard it and saw it (there was a banner with Jehovah on it displayed in the church) with my own eyes. Their scare tactics were just that. Scare tactics. I also attended a small mid-week meeting and they had prayer. Their prayers were sincere and were for the benefit of others and the community. The things they prayed for were beautiful and in concern of others...I never witnessed such a prayer in 30 years as a JW. It was eyeopening.

We also tried a Methodist church, a Lutheran church and finally found a wonderful non-denominational church full of love that did not preach anything outside of scripture. No speculation, no extra rules...it was a restoration church. If it was in the bible they preached it, if it wasn't in there, it was up to you. We loved it!

The beauty of it was, that after we got over the initial hurdle of fear and guilt, God blessed us with sights and experiences of love that the JW congregations lack. Don't be afraid. Pray and let God guide you. Go with a friend to visit their church. That's how we went to our first visit. We went with a new friend. It helps, because you can ask them what to expect and take away some of the nervousness. I hope you try it. It is kind of like the first day at a new school. You've been told by the old principle that the new one will be ruthless and you will not succeed...but you find that you like him and he's a really nice guy and you learn a lot!

Welcome, and best to you!

9

Where did these unoffical beliefs/standards come from?

by highdose in

jw
friends

i've been doing some reasoning about all the jw teachings i've been taught as i grew up.

one of them was the belief that if you were baptised young that it would be a protection for you.

i questioned this at the time as i thought that instead it would make you prey to opposition from satan at a young age.

kitten whiskers

I heard the "protection" talk many, many times!

It was hearalded (sp?) at conventions, mostly on the circuit level. There was comendation for the youngest baptismal candidate at the district convention, but the protection talks were mostly delivered at circuit assemblies. It was heavily preached upon.

In my memory, I know that there were also Watchtower articles on this subject. They were study articles to be used at the Sunday meetings.

It was stressed that it was an important step for those in school, esp. prior to entering high school where pressure would be felt to attend games, dances, pep rallies...being baptised would give a person a good and quick excuse to avoid such things that result in immorality. Your baptism would keep you focused and accountable to Jehovah.

As to where you can find these Watchtower articles...I can't remember. I was baptized in January 1989 at age 16...I would assume you would it find it in Watchtowers and Kingdom Ministry articles 1986-1988.

4

Do You Remember Me?

by Sentinel in

jw
friends

it's been ages since i posted on this forum, but i was curious to see what is happening these days.

appears to be much of the same going on in this arena, with those still "in", those "out", and those "in-between".. the one constant is that everyone really does care about the other for the most part.. for those of you who remember me (sentinel) i've truly come such a long way in seven years time since my very first.

post.

kitten whiskers

I've only been here a couple years.

But "Welcome Back" and "Happy Birthday"!

8

Gems from the new book: Bearing Thorough Witness About Gods Kingdom

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

some interesting snippets from the new publication which discusses the book of acts.

bearing thorough witness about gods kingdom.

page 119. today, christ uses the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

kitten whiskers

Geez a loo! Well, thank you for taking the time to keep us informed on what they are being told. Sad. So sad.

12

Did a householder ever "break your spirit" at the door?

by kitten whiskers in

jw
friends

the thread on creepiest things at the door got me to thinking about the field service.. when i was having my initial doubts, and keeping up with "theocratic" requirements was hard (we had a new born and a two year old diagnosed with asthma which had us in the hospital several times, and only one vehicle), i had mine broken.. i can't really remember what the man said.

he was angry and took out all of his frustrations on me.

i had never been so abused before.

kitten whiskers

Restrangled: Scary! My own uncle did pretty much the same thing to me. We were working the territory where he lived, and I knew him to be anti-witness, so I volunteered as a young adult to go. He was such an &^%$&* ! He shot his neighbor a few years later over a property line dispute. Went to jail for that one.

Homeschool: Isn't amazing what we remember from when we were little! Those things stick like glue to the memory!

Jamiebowers: You are so right about the pressure and the depression! So much needless suffering!

Thank you for your replies!

47

When Debating With Witnesses- Is Arguing Doctrine Beneficial ? Steve Hassan

by flipper in

jw
friends

my wife and i have been reading " releasing the bonds " by steve hassan and it makes some interesting points about assisting people to get out of any cult.

notice this excerpt from chapter 6 from the book.

hassan states, " it is also important to understand that in most bible -based cults, although the member is aggressively taught doctrine, it is not the doctrine that holds him in the group.

kitten whiskers

I agree with that. It wasn't someone showing me doctorinal falsehoods. It wasn't hearing about corrupt things in Watchtowerland. I noticed those on my own. If someone would have tried (other than my hubby sharing his doubts, and even then I went looney) to disprove them, I would have turned a deaf ear. I would have defended the faith.

It was the examples of my grandparents. Their friends and neighbors. The good church going people who loved God and couldn't be actually serving Satan that spoke volumes. I saw these examples. I met them in service. I treasured their words in my heart. Their kind words. Their expressions of faith, their actions of faith and kindness.

The expressions of faith that I witnessed or heard, weren't directed at me to get me to change my mind or religion. They were simple little statements. For example, the woman who said at the door in service, "I think if you crush someone's spirit, you are guilty of murder." Wow! What a thought! She evidently lived a very kind and considerate life. She was very kind to me. She just stated a simple belief. It has stuck with me for 13 years. I wish I could remember where she lived.

The sight of my grandfather spending the day in the heat on a lawn mower getting sunburned and a severe headache, in order to the lawns of the widows in the neighborhood. He never got paid. He never wanted to. He helped. He spent his time and resources "taking care of widows". These were large lawns. It took hours to get this job done.

My dear little grandma baking for everyone in the neighborhood. Taking care of the bachelor across the road and his boys with lots of homemade goodies.

The bachelor taking care of grandma. Plowing the snow from her driveway. Calling to make sure she is alright. Coming over to take care of little things she needs.

These people exhibit Christian kindness and love in their lives. Daily. They actually help people. They don't cop out of doing work by saying "we help people most by bringing them the good news". They live the "good news". I personally think Steve is right on the money. Display your works and others will see. They can be won "without a word", so to speak.