Posts by humbled

53

For Those who believe the Bible is truly the word of God

by sosoconfused in

what exactly is the reason?.

i am not an athiest or agnostic... i definately believe in god.

however i would honestly like to hear others explain to me why they believe the bible is truly the word of god.. .

humbled

Well, soso.

Is the bible the only writing that is inspired by God? There were other writings around.

The Catholic church claims that their churchmen were in line from Peter to make the selection.

Problem.

But I believe there is God and I believe that the wonderful teaching of Jesus reflects God. And the fact that other teachers from other faith traditions have similar teachings only makes me happy. God draws us everywhere in the same direction.

How to use the bible yourself if you don't have religious rulers to define doctrine and theology? You will have to as Jesus how that works. I cannot see how he delegated a hieracrchy, a governing body.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A good read for me the other day is the story of Franz Jagerstatter. A man whose reliance on what he understood of Jesus was not backed by his church. The Nazis didn't like him either.

Way to make the truth your own. google search him. It helped me.

38

Wolf, sheep - or sheepdog?

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

on sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs - by ltc (ret) dave grossman, author of "on killing.

honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.

it does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost.

humbled

Nathan, do you think I posted a pat answer to your presentation in praise of warriors?

Hardly. Defending ourselves from aggressors is ever a problem. But governments are the ones that make war--they have the information and deseminate it to the public--we have to believe what they say, don't we? It can happen that a nation becomes unmeasured in its response to fear of injury--Look at North Korea.

You know, what troubles many soldiers returning from some of these wars is the pointlessness of them. The lack of a credible threat. And what THEY did to ensure their survival in crazy circumstances.

When a government uses young men and uses them poorly--even badly--not to protect the people back home I do not think that is good. And I wonder if you think it is.

War ruins lives so often for no good cause. No good cause.

I have come to believe that when we see rising conflicts there are better things to do than throw young men into harms way like so much toilet paper. Just calling them heroes doesn't fix them up.

Yeah, I love men and women who would protect others--I hate to see them used so miserably and hear them admit some of the atrocities that so often come to pass when their war "gets out of control".

And I do not trust government to look to the common folk's best interest.

I am not passive. But I hate the way people know how to make war but don't think how to make peace.

38

Wolf, sheep - or sheepdog?

by Nathan Natas in

jw
friends

on sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs - by ltc (ret) dave grossman, author of "on killing.

honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.

it does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost.

humbled

Watch the documentary "First Kill" by Michael Herr on youtube.

My father was in three wars: WWII, Korea, Vietnam. I was raised around "sheepdogs". But the poor pups that signed up for the military didn't fight in the style of wars Augustine of Hippo (@300 C.E.) imagined. Wars are not what we imagine.

It is not enough to say "I'll be a sheepdog" or "I'll be a sheep" There must be more than guns and more than passive pacifism--both result in dead bodies and dead hearts.

Listen to what soldiers tell of war. Especially these wars of recent times.

Maeve

82

My Mom has decided to turn me in... I am not afraid (Letter Inside)

by sosoconfused in

the only reason i am posting this is because i know many of you are going or will be going through something similar and wonder if it is worth it.

i personally feel that it is worth it regardless of what i lose.

my wife is backing me and i have my children.

humbled

She left no thing unsaid. She is eloquent.

But the Watchtower is not God's channel of truth.

I pray for you and your family to be steadfast and find the joy in your freedom.

12

Are jw's actually Sons of the Devil - because they preach hate ?

by *lost* in

on an old thread (10 yrs) i found an interesting comment by aguest.. satan was hurled down from heaven to go and wage war with the remaining ones of her 'seed'.. he doesn't know who is a 'seed' unless and until such a one exposes oneself.. so 'his' war is against all of mankind and his tactic is to use mankind against one another.. .

we are supposed to have tender affection and brotherly love for one another,.

no matter what race, religion, sex, status etc.. the account of the good samaritan taught us that.. .

humbled

"a house divided cannot stand" -- Jesus

The JW house only seems to stand because it is held together with hate and fear--not love of God, not love of Man.

Self-serving behavior can only result in hate-talk. They only look for allegiance to the FDS.

29

'We are all scallywags, but God loves us anyway' - My story

by Laika in

jw
friends

perhaps the most profound moment of my life occurred when i was sat in a car with my dad.

we were travelling home and having a very jw conversation on the paradise, at least, it was until my dad slipped in one of those rare moments of honesty in the watchtower world:.

that moment really hit me hard.

humbled

Thanks for this writing.

Like the two of you, I had known that I could never be a "poster child" for the JWs. Fortunately, I wasn't a "born-in".

I was a mother of 5 children at the time I converted (2 more came later). My life on a remote mountain farm with few modern conveniences and many old-time chores to perform meant I could not participate in all the service that a full-on JW was called to do. Especially my husband was NOT on board with any of it.

It made me look at the often conflicting demands of responsiblity to GB/God and to life as I knew it and had to live it. I often had to research the bible to see where the GB had to get off my head and let me still be okay with God. I was in for 22 years. I could cry everyday when I thing about it--and I often do. That kind of tension set me up for the kind of desperation and strength to finally challenge my self, God and the WTS to a show down.

I am still recovering from it.

Yes, God does love scallywags. I love your fathers, too.

Maeve

18

How can one understand unusual personal experiences such as when going from door-to-door?

by Fernando in

given that i know how corrupt, dishonest and evil the watchtower is, i have wondered how to understand a personal experience i had many years ago - long before walking out mid-2009.. after an unusual series of many "co-incidences" on a particular sunday, my friend and i ended up at the door of someone who had been praying to god for someone to be sent to him, and who was expecting us.. i am still convinced it was by divine intervention, but cannot understand why a prayer is answered by sending representatives of an apostate organisation.. also when taking up residence in a foreign country, under very difficult circumstances, i twice ended up "inadvertently" moving in to homes just around the corner from the kh.

on one occasion it was about a 15 metre walk from my front door right into my seat in the kh!.

have you had similar experiences?.

humbled

Yes--I hear you, Oubliette. I wish I could laugh at it all.

But here is this funny saying also: "Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you."

Tough for the paranoiac to stay clear of trouble :(

18

How can one understand unusual personal experiences such as when going from door-to-door?

by Fernando in

given that i know how corrupt, dishonest and evil the watchtower is, i have wondered how to understand a personal experience i had many years ago - long before walking out mid-2009.. after an unusual series of many "co-incidences" on a particular sunday, my friend and i ended up at the door of someone who had been praying to god for someone to be sent to him, and who was expecting us.. i am still convinced it was by divine intervention, but cannot understand why a prayer is answered by sending representatives of an apostate organisation.. also when taking up residence in a foreign country, under very difficult circumstances, i twice ended up "inadvertently" moving in to homes just around the corner from the kh.

on one occasion it was about a 15 metre walk from my front door right into my seat in the kh!.

have you had similar experiences?.

humbled

Absolutely true that the same stories show up aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllll the time in other religions.

But there are also stories that have elements too unusual to dismiss. My personal sense is that we are groping for a dialogue with God but instead buy a religion--Not the same thing.

I have had a hard time understanding why it took me so long to separate faith from religion. I needed a good hard dose of the JWs to cure me.

I wonder if God just lets events take place because we do stay locked away from a search and rarely undertake the journey of investigation without diving into a pre-fabbed program with answers-1-2-3.

Lots of stories out there for sure--I have no more reason to believe one over the other nor a reason to doubt that there may be "God"--My own experience led me to that. Funny.

23

At what point in the story did WT get it wrong, went off at a tangent?

by prologos in

looking at the bible narrative now, with open mind, the talking snake and all, it is a poorly contrived story.

all these clever people picking up and adding to the thread, the fabric its intriguing, certainly a valued literary work.

fiction.. using this story wt has woven another, parallel account that you would expect to harmonize with it, and hopefully attempt to connect with reality.. in your thinking, where did wt become unhinged, drifted off into total detachment?.

humbled

The "right "moment was when Russell allowed himself his first question about religion.

Now aren't we glad the WTS has all the answers and no one else gets to has to ask any more questions.

AND I know now for sure that it never ever gets things wrong--even when it gets things wrong!

41

Newbie: Well I've been lurking enough and thought I should say hello.

by Adventurousone in

i really like this site and some of the comments i've read.

i was in the organization for 31 years and now i'm free!.

recently left the organization and am trying to rebuild my life.

humbled

Glad you walked out to freedom. Enjoy it. Freedom can be scarey after such tight control but many here have navigated the rough patches and are great to both support and challenge you along the way.

If you still have faith in Jesus in ANY form after the WTS has drubbed you around, take care here. There are many good people, versed in the bible who have no use for Jesus. Debates here can push you to religious prejudice again push you toward letting Jesus go. Now is the time to find out what spirit and truth are in your life.

Maeve