Posts by AuntBee

41

Left behind

by PSacramento in

anyone ever saw the dvd mini-series?.

thoughts ??.

.

I completely turned away from the Rapture idea, once i learned about the Reformation and read the writings of the Reformers, and read church history in depth. Also, studying JW and Millerism and Adventism, etc. Too eerily similar. Went through "rapture fever' at the end of the 70's. Evangelicals had their own "this generation" . Some claimed the start time as the time that Israel came back into the land as a country. -- My fave book on this topic now is called "Last Days Madness" by Gary DeMar. Gotta love that title, LOL. -- Most Protestants are pretty chill with each other, as to differences in how we look at prophecy , Second Coming, etc.

The first Left Behind book i found so superficial, horrible writing, etc. But still love pre-trib rapture people, and some are my close friends. :)

5

JWs are pretty worldly compared to these historical dudes!

by AuntBee in

jw
friends

stylites or pillar saints.

by far the most celebrated are simeon the stylite of syria, and daniel the stylite of constantinople.

simeon spent thirty-seven years on different pillars, each loftier and narrower than the preceding.

AuntBee

Stylites or Pillar Saints. By far the most celebrated are Simeon the Stylite of Syria, and Daniel the Stylite of Constantinople. Simeon spent thirty-seven years on different pillars, each loftier and narrower than the preceding. The last was sixty-six feet high. He died in 460, aged seventy-two. Daniel lived thirty-three years on a pillar, and was not unfrequently nearly blown from it by the storms from Thrace. He died in 494. Tennyson has a poem on Simeon Stylites.
"I, Simeon of the Pillar by surname.
Stylites among men- I, Simeon,
The watcher on the column till the end."

I think these guys were the heretofore untraceable "God's organization" during the early Medieval period. They had no part of the world, and were too emaciated to take up arms. Meeting attendance may have been somewhat sketchy, though.

17

Ephesians

by PSacramento in

ephesians is a letter in the nt, typically supposed to have ben authour by paul to the ephesians but not only the authorship is debated but so is the target audience, the ephesians part not being noted in the earliest available scriptures.. dated at around 8-100 ad and supposedly during paul's captivity, it does gives us some insight into (perhaps) 2nd generation chrisianity and paul's effect on them.. chapter 1 has some passages of note:.

grace is given freely (we are blessed with it) by jesus ( called beloved or the one he, god, loved) -1:6. in jesus we have redemption, forgiveness of sins according to god's grace - 1:7. god's plan is to bring everything ( heaven and earth) together under jesus, god has an (unknown to us) timeline for that.

- 1:10. we have been chosen ( are heirs), predestined according to god - 1:11 and, being the first to have hope in christ, might be for the praise of hid glory - 1:12.. 1:13 -"and you were also included when you heard the word of truth, the gospel and having believed, were marked by the holy spirit with a seal".

AuntBee

Way to go! It sounds like you're finding out What the Bible REALLY Teaches!!

cheers,auntbee

10

i have connected with my best friend from highschool!

by oompa in

jw
friends

thank you facebook!.....i so regret breaking off all my "worldly" friendships once i graduated.......they are all still friends as i could see all my buddies friends on his facebook page....it was weird as i knew just about all of them....i guess they stayed lifelong friends like i thought i had with my dub group............. .anyhoo he gets me a bit since he had a jw aunt and he knew my family were dubs..........funny we talked about my exit a bit and he tells me he knows a guy who left recently and it cause a lot of family problems!

!.....sure hope to meet that guy too..........anyhoo, im not just making new friends, i am finding old ones now..........oompa.

AuntBee

Hey Oompa, is it common for JW teens to break off the worldly friends after graduating high school? Is it like, ok to hang with them, while you're still in high school, but considered a lot worse once you graduated?

Too long to go into, but i'm interested in this because of a personal situation.

thanks

2

AuntBee & Purps

by lurk3r in

jw
friends

i recieved a couple of books in the mail this week, and feel moved express a very sincere "thank you".

i will make sure these books go on to help others.

i know a few "inactive" ones that will be so appreciative in being able to free their minds by recognizing their former involvement for what it is.

AuntBee

I'm so glad it got there ok, and that you'll pass it on! It's always fun to make finds like that in the used bookstores. take care.

28

JWN night Saturday August 15,2009 on the conference call

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

our second annual jwn night will take place this saturday august 15,2009 7p.m.est.

this will be a great opportunity to hear the voices and connect with the real personalities of the people behind the avatars.

chat with people who are, in their own unique way, have made jwn the most popular ex-jw forum on the net.

AuntBee

Can someone repeat the instructions on how to listen in the Paltalk chat room? Last time i tried, i couldn't find it. Does that go on for every conference call, or just some of them? Thanks

11

Car Group -- Dressed up.

by AuntBee in

the other day, i was with a car full of kids, and we saw a car group going out in service.

the kids , mostly young teens, were fascinated with the suits, ties, dresses, etc.

i was explaining a little about it, and they kept asking questions like, "wow, can they go swimming?

AuntBee

THe other day, i was with a car full of kids, and we saw a car group going out in service. The kids , mostly young teens, were fascinated with the suits, ties, dresses, etc. I was explaining a little about it, and they kept asking questions like, "Wow, can they go swimming?" "Do they have to dress like that all the time?" "what a drag.", etc.

It got me to thinking that the era where this type of dressing up had a strong appeal is just about over. I think it was VERY attractive/appealing to the adult generation during the years that our culture was changing over to being much more casual, even sloppy. But now, To anyone in their forties or younger, it is actually an anti-witness. To us, it might as well be a group that has to wear prairie dresses, etc, and doesn't hold any special appeal at all. I've read in many of the stories/testimonies about the householder being SO impressed with the spiffy dressing. Now it just seems anachronistic.

18

Unique vernacular and nomenclature of Jw's.

by AK - Jeff in

both robert lifton and steve hassan list the use of 'loaded language' as a key element of cults.

every cult has terminologies that are unique to itself, and often the intent is to polarize the membership into a black and white language style.

the cliches of cultish groups tend to stop thought, or restrict into a a single accepted viewpoint.. this is almost never recognized by the members while they are trapped inside - but is clearly evident the effects this had upon us once we exit the religion.

AuntBee

AK-Jeff: Your post was "loaded" with insight! amazing. I'm a never been JW, but in transcribing parts of the convention for a few people, and for my own study, WOW, i kept noticing this over and over. I was already pretty familiar with some of the more 'loaded", "negative" terms and what they imply, etc. But there are also a lot of words/phrases that are.........strange, or archaic, etc. One of the words that intrigue me is the constant use of "imperfection" as opposed to "sin." My theory on this is that even in the midst of the heavy guilt and legalism, the WTBS view of sin is actually shallow and insufficient, as compared with traditional Christian views. I believe this ties in with their unique ransom theory, for various reasons.

Maybe i'll pm you later some more of the strange wordings i noticed, if you are interested in this topic.

29

Hello id like to intruduce myself

by Belly in

jw
friends

ive been lurking this site for quite a while but for some reason never could muster up the courage to post.. let me give a little background on my self.. i am 18 and male an still living with my parents.

i was baptised at 15 basically against my will (by cracking under the pressure) but only truly broke out of the drone like mindswhen i was 17. since then its been totall choas in my life all of it stemming from the orginization of course.

my parents are the defenition of brainwashed wittnesses, my father even belives he is anointed.. after i got baptised i suffered from intense deppression and with a little soul searching, after a year i realized that i need some time for my self.

AuntBee

Comment on FAFSA: WE've gone through the FAFSA process recently with several kids. One thing that did surprise me is that it is only for VERY rare circumstances that they will process your application without the parental information. I believe it's until you are age 23, or around there. For example, they are in jail, you have no contact whatsoever, etc. -- This can be very detrimental to some of the college-age students who need it the most! One gal i knew - her parents just refused to give the info. She had no idea why, and they would not help her financially with college either! (i wondered if they were into conspiracy theories, and didn't want the gov to have their info? Or involved in something shady?)

I wonder if it would be worth researching more in depth, and producing some kind of paper or article, explaining why students leaving Jehovahs Witnesses NEED and DESERVE Fafsa help, without their parents' info.

3

Modern Day Cult Leader - The End in 2011!!

by AuntBee in

jw
friends

this might interest some who are researchers into cults in general.

i had only vaguely heard of this guy harold camping, when he predicted the end in the nineties.

here at this link, you can hear him debating dr james white.

AuntBee

This might interest some who are researchers into cults in general. I had only vaguely heard of this guy Harold Camping, when he predicted the end in the nineties. Here at this link, you can hear him debating Dr James White. ( He is coming from a Reformed Prot perspective.) Part 1 is up, i believe they will also post part 2 soon.

www.aomin.org

It is unbelievable how JW-esque he sounds. He just rambles on and on with numbers, calculations, etc. Tells everyone to come out of their churches, he has the truth, it's being revealed for the first time now that the end is near, yada yada, you know the drill. -- His opponent actually observes how Camping for all practical purposes puts him on 'mute' when he speaks, not really responding to anything he says, but just goes back into his spiel.

i know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but i thought some might be interested.