i knew many people in the congregation that were dealt with terribly.
but most times, people were afraid to talk to the elders or were afraid they might get shunned by the more prominent ones in the congregation.
so they closed their eyes to their own friends being treated poorly and carried on as if nothing really was happening.
In the congregation there are different levels. If a sister defends another sister in front of her peers that is one thing but for her to defend her sister before a condemning elder or judicial committee is another.
Peers can defend peers but those in lesser positions rightly fear and risk censure.
So in the congregation it is the responsibility of elders to monitor one another and to censure one another when need be because they are the only ones who can really.
Sabrina
a few weeks ago, i received a mass e-mail from one of my mainstream christian friends requesting prayers for headaches she's been having.
i wrote back and told her i hoped she felt better (i'm personally not religious at all).
today, i got another mass e-mail thanking everyone for their prayers, and that her headaches were gone now through the grace of god.
Obviously, positive answers to prayers are few and far between. The why of that is for the most part unknown to us. But the basic purpose of prayer is not to give us something in return but to help us endure whatever trials we may be experiencing and also to draw us closer to God.
It's the enduring of trials that brings benefit and the drawing close to God that brings peace. No Christian has endured a trial that is not common to man but if we petition God we can overcome the trial. Not because it is taken away but because it is put in perspective and we by God's spirit are helped to have peace in spite of our trial. And in that peace we then can help others who are enduring the same as we are. In that way we stand in the Christ's place.
Sabrina
in your time with jw's did you meet any of the 'anointed' ?.
i have met a number over the years, and they all seemed very normal, intelligent, balanced, loving people.
i've met a few obviously 'bogus' ones too.. my question is (atheists, agnostics, and god/bible basher please ignore and move on to another thread): what if there are genuinely anointed christians in jw's midst?
Noumenon,
I believe we can trust in God completely. God will set all matters straight and no matter if we believe in him or in religion or in Christianity etc., he will absolutely help all of us.
And if there are people in the Watchtower that are truly anointed with God's Spirit yet the Watchtower leadership has caused some of us or them to stumble and to doubt then it is they, the Watchtower leadership, who should fear and not us. If the Apostles Paul and Peter had misled and mistreated Christ's disciples to the point of causing many of his disciples to be discouraged and stumbled, God would hold responsible the ones who claimed to be shepherds yet proved to be false shepherds and he would call the lost sheep to himself.
It is paramount though to continue to have faith in God. Not for his sake but for ours. Faith in God helps us to continue on in that same road we started in, whether with or without the Watchtower. We personally are happier for it, that's why it's important to keep going as we started out. Either way though, God will help us to have faith when his time arrives to do so.
This board is a hard place for any who still believe in God or in Christ. I have been reluctant to post about my beliefs here as a result of that.
Sabrina
the watchtower tries to slander and abuse anyone not on their side.
anyone that disagrees with them, "runs ahead of jehovah".
we are called "apostates" because we dare prove why the society is wrong.
I think the best way we can fight against the Watchtower is to encourage everyone in our "territory" to buy a computer (or go to their library) and go online.
Sabrina
feb 15 watchtower: apostates - guard against deception
don't you wish this were the real title of the 2nd study article?
well, it is, minus the word apostate.
The Witness sheep are leaving in droves not because of apostates but because their Watchtower shepherd has proven to be more wolf in sheep's clothing than loving shepherd.
Ironically the very thing they pride themselves in, the worldwide publishing of the truth, is now coming back at them. Now the internet worldwide publishing of the real truth about the Watchtower is their biggest enemy.
They are getting what they gave out and what they deserve.
Sabrina
today i had an interesting conversation, not with a christian believer but a muslim believer, .
he was trying to recruit me into the faith--so i thought i would pose the question to him about why his god watches as 20,000 believers (muslims) women, children, etc lost thier lives-.
his explanation i thought was straight out of a christian handbook on.
Jesus did not say that before his return his Father would prevent earthquakes, floods etc.
Just as Ecclesiastes 9:11,12 states so it continues today:
"Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, not riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all. For no one can anticipate the time of disaster. Like fish taken in a cruel net, and like birds caught in a snare, so mortals are snared at a time of calamity, when it suddenly falls upon them."
We are each subject to the possibility of sudden death everyday of our lives.
Sabrina
do any here still believe in paradise earth, blood prohibitions, etc.??
?
Like the Witnesses I don't believe in the Trinity, hellfire and the immortality of the soul.
Unlike the Witnesses I don't believe in the word for word inerrancy of the Bible nor in the authority of a Governing Body or Church over my conscience.
Sabrina
another lovely kingdom ministry.
some quotes:.
"some people think that jehovah's witnesses should focus their efforts more directly.
The "Bible educational work" the humble Jews of the first century received from their religious leaders included a large burden of rules and regulations added to the Law. The brothers still in the Org. suffer under a similar burden.
I would like to ask the Society why is it the humble people who were drawn to Jesus did not need five meetings a week to help them understand who Jesus was and how to follow him? How is it that Peter, John and the others followed Jesus and became apostles without ever opening a Watchtower?
Sabrina
i love that movie.
i have to say its my all time favorite movie.
i love the whole concept of it.
I loved that movie! I think it's one of the best movies about God ever made.
Be the miracle....that's so good so very good. We can be a miracle for so many others and at times even for ourselves.
Great movie.
Sabrina
i am a former jw just as many here are.
i have left the watchtower just as many here also have.
i also died as many here have.. i died, i cried, i died again.
My sincere thanks to everyone who responded to my thread.
I love you all.
Sabrina
