Vernon Williams

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Posts by Vernon Williams

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  24

  Is it weird that I don't miss it?

  by bluesbreaker59 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ok, other than my father, i don't miss anything about being a dub at all.

  seriously, i love my life right now, its great, thinking for myself, doing what i want, etc., etc.. i've only been out 3 months, officially, and i find no "void" or anything.

  i've got a bunch of great friends on the outside, that i had for years while being jw, and then i have my mother and all her family supporting me.

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  Vernon Williams

  PS:

  OH!

  Congrads on your exit...I am excited for you and look forward to hearing about new experiences and progress in your Journey!

  I am going to bind some wounds, now.....

  V
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  24

  Is it weird that I don't miss it?

  by bluesbreaker59 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ok, other than my father, i don't miss anything about being a dub at all.

  seriously, i love my life right now, its great, thinking for myself, doing what i want, etc., etc.. i've only been out 3 months, officially, and i find no "void" or anything.

  i've got a bunch of great friends on the outside, that i had for years while being jw, and then i have my mother and all her family supporting me.

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  Vernon Williams

  So, I am "ignorant" and "weak minded?"

  From now on you can say: "Those weak minded and ignorant people....JUST LIKE Vernon Williams...."

  You have wounded me.....

  V
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  46

  GOD: GOING.....GOING...Going...going....GONE!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.

  go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.

  everything was rumor.

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  Vernon Williams

  GGG.

  I became a Christian because I believe the Story.

  I stay a Christian because of the internal dynamic that confirms the Promise. I am not the same person I was four years ago. There is a continuing transformation of personality occurring that is note-able. The causation in external. The trasformation is internal. The manifestation is evident.

  Those are the two reasons I am a Christian.

  I do not spend a lot of time on the complexities of "theology." I do spend a lot of time focusing on not stealing my neighbor's chickens. avoiding the desire to embrace another woman not my wife (this is becomming a LOT easier in this Journey as a value my wife, greatly, and this "value of relationship" grows, daily), and being empathetic and loving in my interactions with all I meet. I have a simple approach to this whole "God thing."

  Have you read "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis?

  Yours in this Journey,

  V
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  46

  GOD: GOING.....GOING...Going...going....GONE!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.

  go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.

  everything was rumor.

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  Vernon Williams

  G, G, G,

  I am a Christian.

  I believe the Story.

  I trust the Promise.

  I move toward the Nourishment in this Journey.

  Here is a letter I wrote on Faith, I was going to post it on a new thread...stilll might...it may answer a few of your questions:

  We need to hesitate just a bit and look at a couple of thoughts.
  
  First, and, I know this is odd for someone from our backgrounds....I
  have not appealed to an examination of the Bible. I have not said:
  "Let us look at verse such and such and see what it says about
  Jesus...." Why? I guess the easiest answer is this: I am not a "Bible
  Believing Christian" if what you mean is that I base my"belief" on the
  Bible. I do not. I base by "belief" on the The Story and my
  confidence in the truthfulness of the Story Tellers.
  
  If Christians were to be called by any other name, I think the best
  would be "The Tellers of The Story." The Story has been told
  everywhere under every type of circumstance and to every type of
  person. Miners share it underground, sailors on the sea, airtravelers
  in the sky, in prisons and in open air, in cathedrals and saloons, in
  mansions and mud huts, in war and peace, in famine and harvest.....on
  and on. The Story is told and people accept it with the vigor of the
  Story Teller, him or herself. Sometimes with no threat, other times in
  great peril. Sometimes with a great change and, sometimes, with
  a slight shift.
  
  And, always, this "thing," this phenomenon occurs. We call it
  "Faith." We value The Story to the extent that it becomes central to
  our beings and lives. Now, Faith is a slippery noun that is hard to
  define. I have been meditating on this for a bit and the thing about
  Faith is it's uncertainty, it's fluid-like state. It is always in movement, it seems to me.
  
  Faith is not certainty. It is not absolute. We can not state the
  elements of Faith in the way we list multiplication tables or a "chart
  of the elements." Faith is a thing in motion and requires the attention
  we give to objects that move. Faith is a semi-truck not a football stadium.
  
  The best explanation I can give of Faith is this: Faith is a
  jousting match between two opposites: Doubt, un-knowing-ness on one hand and a
  blend of common sense, good humor, and child like innocence on the
  other. Doubt, the lack of knowledge, of provable facts is our constant
  companion. We need something to overcome the results of doubt. Doubt
  causes drift away from The Story. We are drawn back to The Story by
  the other three. The resultant "tension" between these two with the
  continued victory of the three elements in opposition to doubt is
  Faith.
  
  An early Christian said "Faith is not the possession of all
  men." He is right, I think. Most people spurn common sense due to self
  interest or comfort. They consider the innocence of children better
  left to little ones as it does not bring logic or profit to an adult.
  And, they find it hard to look at themselves and smile at the
  ridiculousness of a situation they are in or how they might look to
  others.
  
  So, then, the Bible. The Bible is a "data" source. It is
  information. And, it has it's place. But, as with all information,
  it can be "used." You can argue with data, twist it, distort it,
  manipulate it, question it. It is specific and fixed. It is this
  exactness that makes it so usable: for the Story believers and
  the Story critic: for those that want us to draw closer to the Promise
  that follows the Story for our good. and, for those that want us
  to drift away from The Story for their benefit as they feel more
  justified and stabilized as they see the result of their criticism.
  
  Am I belittling the Bible? Making it "less than?" No. I am saying
  that, from the beginning it went like this:
  
  Story (with the results of Faith).
  Understanding the Promise.
  Being nourished to the personal fulfillment of the Promise.
  
  The Bible fits into the last portion. By placing it there as a means
  of nourishment rather than a means of proof, it's value is enhanced
  not de-valued in some way. We approach the Bible "in Faith" because of
  it's association with The Story. But, our Faith proceeds the Scripture
  as it came first.
  
  To put it all another way:
  
  If the Bible rests on our Faith it is upheld with an unmovable
  conviction because we are, constantly, overcomming doubt in a dynamic,
  ongoing manner due to this "tension" condition I mentioned, above.
  
  If our Faith rests on the Bible, it is only as solid as the "best
  argument" in support of or against the data.
  
  Because I will take Faith over convincing arguement any day, I think
  the three fold approach listed above is the best introduction. True,
  it took four years to see this, however, it was a four year cost well
  invested.
  
  Next letter: The Promise.
  
  Yours in this Journey,
  
  V
  
  
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  46

  GOD: GOING.....GOING...Going...going....GONE!

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.

  go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.

  everything was rumor.

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  Vernon Williams

  Terry,

  Good post...well written.....logical.....

  The cool thing about God: His patience with our limited intellect, level of perception, our over abundunce of self awareness in this cosmos, .....all that restricts and blurrs.

  Give me a "popped" God over a cosmos guided by emptiness and guess, anytime.

  Jesus: I believe the Story.

  That makes me a gulible idiot, I reckon. It is a role and position I, readily, will submit to.

  Sorta like Apostate: a true Badge of Honor.

  Keep posting: you cause people to think and chanllange.

  Yours in this Journey,

  V
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  50

  No lit for ex-jws, big A coming in June, apostate warning--what's going on?

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are 3 current threads that say these very things.

  (ok, the one about armageddon says it will come within days or weeks--not months--so that means june 2007.

  seems to me this is whipping up into a paranoia bigger than the 1980s apostate scare, bigger than they've ever seen before.

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  Vernon Williams

  Hey, stop, please, stop....you guys a scaaaawwwwwing me!

  V PS Does this mean the twenty year old scotch they are putting in barrells, today, will only be drunk by Armageddon survivors....and, will New LIght allow them to toast?
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  22

  Good news!!

  by Bumble Bee in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've been doing a major cleaning today, anything that hasn't been used or looked at for a while is getting tossed.

  one of the biggest things that needs to go is all our jw books and bound volumes.

  i've gotten rid of all the loose wt and awakes quite a while ago.. today when hubby came home from work, and saw the bags to go to the dump he was impressed!

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  Vernon Williams

  I hear a flushing sound......

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  17

  A small, still voice -- ringing out!

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you're unfortunate enough to have never read any of poppers or jamesthomas's posts, you're really and truly missing out.

  it's not that they say anything all that astounding, it's more that they point out how very little has to be said.

  it's not what they add, as much as what they allow you to drop.

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  Vernon Williams

  yes, please, give an example....

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  32

  If You Were Granted Amnesty, Would U Go Back To Being A JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if a new policy arose stating that everyone could return and start afresh, would you ever think about returning----especially if you had family and friends in that would now talk to you again?

  ?

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  Vernon Williams

  Min,

  I stared at your question for five minutes trying to get my mind around it.

  Seriously, it is the most abstract question I have ever encountered.

  I am trying to be a bit more empathetic in my comments as I realize there are a lot of "lurkers," here, and I don't know how to handle it.

  OK, I'll be as kind as possible:

  Would I go back to being a poly-bag in the shape of a human filled with every form of spirtual pus, fecal matter, vomit, and slime and having it dribble down my chin every time I opened my mouth to defend WT doctrine or practice?

  Well......"NO!"

  Thank you for asking,

  V
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  117

  NEW policy! NO LIT for EX-JWs!

  by MinisterAmos in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's official; they read the letter tonight that puts forth the new procedure.

  if you find an expelled person in the field or are studying with one, you are no longer permitted to give them lit.

  presumably the elders make a decision if an expelled one is regularly attending meetings, but only they can give them lit.

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  Vernon Williams

  My feelings are all hurt, now....

  V PS: I think I will be better, tommorrow.