Posts by kitten whiskers

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.

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

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. I had been yelled at and told many vicious things, but he took the cake. I had taken the door by myself. We were trying to cover the territory quickly and be done with it and get it over with.

I just remember how hard it was to even be out in service. My hubby was driving, we had a good friend and our two kids with us. We took it pretty easy. We had our breaks for snacks and we were all out just to be "active". But that man broke my spirit. It was a good thing in retrospect. I cried and couldn't go to another house, and never voluntarily went out again. At least I don't think so. About that time, I lost faith in the whole "paradise earth" message. I didn't believe it. I was at a crossroads with my faith and preaching the message we were supposed to. This was the last straw. I broke.

Did you meet someone at a door who just stopped you in your tracks and you never recovered? I did go out in service again, but only out of guilt with my in-laws. I never went out again because I wanted to. I never wanted to experience anything like that again. I hated service.

38

I can't get this picture out of my head

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

.

drama on the eighth floora fireman holds a 2-year-old girl while he tries to close a window to stop the girl's father from jumping out of an apartment building in chengdu, southwest china's sichuan province, on july 7. authorities say the father had taken drugs and dangled the girl from the eighth-floor window.

the girl was rescued and her father was safely taken into custody.. .

kitten whiskers

Oh man. Now I can't get that other picture of him out of my head! I sure wish I hadn't seen it.

That's just so sad.

18

Wife attending DC today.....

by insearchoftruth in

my wife is attending the dc today.

i know she will be all dubbed up when she gets home tonight and i was wondering if there are any comments or questions i can ask or is there anything i should be ready to respond to based on her attending.

i know that the theme is "keep on the watch", i have listened to the audio that auntbee so kindly provided and from what it seems to me, they are merely driving home the point that folks need to be more faithful in there service because even though we do not know when the end it, it is so very very close.

kitten whiskers

Be a dear and ask " Where would you like to go eat dear? I know you are tired. Would you like to go out or order in?"

On an evil side note..."Can I get you some Tylenol? " If you need to save face and not mention it must be from the depressing babble she heard all day..."The drive must have been hard on you. So many vehicles and stop and go traffic almost always cause a headache."

You may find her to be thrilled to be home...where it is safe and no one tells her every 15 minutes she isn't good enough! I bet she missed your smiling face all day!

54

Romans 10:13

by PSacramento in

we all know that the passage from paul's letter to romans, romans 10:13 says:.

"all those who call on the name of the lord will be saved".. now, in the nwt they translate that as jehovah instead of the word "lord", because this is a quote from joel 2:32 and in the ot the tetragrammaton yhwh is used, which the nwt translates as "jehovah" (not only the nwt does that, the asv,yng and dby, do it also in regards to joel).. however, of the 16 translations i have seen, all translate that passage in romans as lords and all the commentaries i have read so far, point to view that paul was applying that passage to jesus, being his name that is salvation.. commentaries by james, fausset and brown, by matthew henry and by barnes, to name only 3.. comments?.

kitten whiskers

Spike, you are misleading! Each JW does not clarify for himself...he listens to "mother". You know "mother" would not agree with the statement you made if someone wanted to join!

39

The Last (Lord's) Supper

by PSacramento in

i wanted to ask this question beacuse at the last memorial supper it caught my attention more than it ever did:.

why do some (not just the jw's) believe that judas did not partkae of the lord's supper, the bread and the wine?.

in the synoptic gospels of matt, mark and luke, there is nomention of judas being sent away, indeed in luke jesus says "behold the hand of the betrayer at the table with me".. while in john judas is sent away, he is sent after the supper, though it is not clear if this was the lord's supper since there is no mention of the the partaking of the wine and bread in john.. help would be greatly appreciated.. .

kitten whiskers

This is an interesting conversation to watch. Let me get a refill on my coffee!

P.S. Passwordprotected, you have hit the nail on the head! I love it!