it has been interesting for me to learn the various ways that the jws twist the scriptures to fit their own dogma.
(of course jws aren't alone in that, but that's another topic.
) two quick examples of jws not following or going beyond the bible are blood and birthdays.
If you keep it just in the term of believeing in the resurection then no the wittnesses don't have it correct. All christian religions believe in a resurection. Maybe not the one the the JW's believe but they do believe in one.
Does this mean JW's can associate with any christian?
Or, by associating with them will a JW maybe be persuaded into believeing something that the Society doesn't agree with
is that what you mean or am I misunderstanding the point you are making?
it has been interesting for me to learn the various ways that the jws twist the scriptures to fit their own dogma.
(of course jws aren't alone in that, but that's another topic.
) two quick examples of jws not following or going beyond the bible are blood and birthdays.
Jesus commanded us to love God with our whole heart mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Yes bad association can spoil useful habits. I guess it falls in line with what you determine association to be. After meeting someone and getting to know them I determine if this is a person I want to associate with. Would I invite him or her into my house and feel comfortable letting my children know that person? Noone is perfect we all have our faults. There are many people I have to be around and talk to and be friendly with at work. I spend 8+ hours a day 5 to 7 days a week with them but I wouldn't consider all of them people I associate with. I have made a few friends at work and have invited them to my home or have gone to do something with them. Just because you are around people or even speak to them on a regular basis doesn't mean you associate with those people. I think Paul was warning us to be careful who we choose as friends and remain close to. I could be wrong though it's been a long tioime since I have evn thought about any advice Paul gave.
this was a few years ago now, i was on the work one day with an elders elder.. you now the type!.
& he said this to me me (now i would love to know if you heard this one if its from a wt mag).
"how you are viewed by others (& so treated) is a reflection of how god views you".
I can't say it was really anything..I was tired of being controlled and told what to do as a "rebellious youth". To be honest untill I started reading threads here even though I have been gone a long time I still considered it the truth. The teachings at least. I took thier word and never did any outside research. The reason I never went back is because I felt the the congregations around here had lost Gods blessing. Everything was about the "politics" of the congregation. You had to impress the right people and say and do the right things to not feel like a sinner.
On the other hand when I was younger my sister who was never baptized came home for a visit. It was a visit that had been planned weeks ahead. Since she was raised a wittness as well when she had become kinda disfellowshipped because they used to do that sort of thing to unbaptized publishers as well. It was called something differant though. But "new light" had come out and it was determined that people that were unbaptized didn't fall in the same as baptized so we were allowed to talk to her again for a while. Then about a week before she came to visit with her new husband and her 2 kids (one of whom I hadn't even met yet) they flipped again and said we couldn't talk to her. We went all week while she was there as if nothing was wrong then the last day she was here my parents sat all of us down and pulled out the watchtower and proceeded to tell my sister how much fun they had while she was here but AGAIN we can't talk to her anymore because thats what the newest watchtower says. They sent my sister away crying after a really good week of seeing her. Deep down I hated the society for that. I was 16. I missed my sister. Then a few years later low and behold they flip flopped again. I thought to myself, "would you make up your mind, can I see my sister or not? If you tell me a year from now that I can't I am gonna puke."
As it is now my parents can spend as much time with my sister as they want because she was never dunked but they don't speak to me, my brother or my other sister because we folded and got dunked when we were kids. Well they aren't supposed to anyway. Aparently things have changed since I was DF because they talk to us now but don't spend a lot of time with us. They can't like come over for dinner and socalize but they can be parents again I guess. I don't know it still confuses me!
i have heard the revelation book is being studied for the 4th time since it's release in 1988. we studied it once before i left in 1992. is it the same edition or has it been revised a few times?
thanks Joe..do they give reasons why?
i have heard the revelation book is being studied for the 4th time since it's release in 1988. we studied it once before i left in 1992. is it the same edition or has it been revised a few times?
I have seen many times on a number of differant threads about the book study being cancelled. Is this just in certain areas or something? the congregations in this area still have them. My parents still have one at thier home.
i wasjust really curious to see what the average of everyone's "history" is here, and also how many "higer ups" we have that have abandoned the ways.
so what were you, an elder?
a pioneer?
born in mom got dunked when she was pregnant with me so the joke was when I got dunked at 15 that it was my second time
aux pioneered 3 years
reg pioneer 1 year, I quit right before my one year actually and didn't get to go to pioneer school because I was wanting to get married and my dad got me a job at the plant he worked at so I could provide for my family, chick broke up with me because I wasn't spiritual enough. I guess god was supposed to pay the bills or something
moved out went to a small town where the need was greater. Moved in with a local elder who was single and wanting to go to MS school. the guy was borderline Homo and I think may have been a pedophile but I was more interested in the local farm girls.
moved back home got an apartment with 2 of my best friends they both made ms pretty quick one went to bethel the other got married. I got bored and ended up DF
in that time I passed mics, was in charge of lit counter, was the go to guy when the needed a last minute sub for a #2 or #4 talk on the school, stage att. grass cutter, worked on the kitchen crew for all assemblys and later at quick builds.
they always said I had a rebellious attitude when it came time for MS. Basically because I would call out the PO's wife all the time when she would gossip about people out in field service about things only her husband should know about.
got sick of the politics involved in getting status in the cong. didn't know what fading was and just wanted out so I got DF. didn't think my parents would actually totally cut me off for 10 years. After my younger brother and sister both got DF I at first got blamed for it but then when they realized I wasn't they now talk to me some and have been pretty supportive. I guess after 3 kids get DF you can either talk to them or you can not have a family lol.
last night at work (i work as a mananger for a fast food reasturant).
one of my employees came through the drive through.
he told me he had taken a drug test for a job at a warehouse where one of the brothers from my old kh was the hiring boss.
I can't see myself taking legal action of any kind but here is what I did do today. I called my dad who used to be an elder but stepped down since 3 of his 5 kids are DF and one never got dunked. I told him what the brother had said and asked him to please let him know that if he talks sh-t on me to my friends in the REAL world it will get back to me and if he wants to assume things maybe it would be better if he talked to me to find out what exactly I am doing. I see his car parked in front of the bar down the street from my house almost every non meeting night so I'll stop in and talk to him. My dad laughed and said ok I'll tell him that. Which I know he will and when he does he'll make sure to scare the holyness out of him when he mentions the bar. My dad can be so cool sometimes.
last night at work (i work as a mananger for a fast food reasturant).
one of my employees came through the drive through.
he told me he had taken a drug test for a job at a warehouse where one of the brothers from my old kh was the hiring boss.
last night at work (I work as a mananger for a fast food reasturant). One of my employees came through the drive through. He told me he had taken a drug test for a job at a warehouse where one of the brothers from my old KH was the hiring boss. The "brother" asked him if he knew me when he found out that the kid worked at my reaturant. The kid told him he did and that I was a friend of his as well. The "brother" then told him he was suprised that he was willing to take the drug test considering he was friends with me. this totally shocked the kid and he asked why so the brother told him that he knew that I was a huge pothead and partied a lot. The kid laughed in his face and asked him if they were talking about the same guy. He then told the brother that I have 2 kids and won't even let people drink around my children. it just really makes me mad that 1) I wasn't disfellowshipped for anything that had to do with any drugs 2) this guy would assume that I am some kinda crack head 3) he badmouths me to my employees and automatically assumes they are crack heads too because they know who I am. This "brother" used to be a good friend of mine we both used to work the rural territory in our cong so we could do more driving than actual knocking and still count the time lol.(a very useful trick since we were both pioneers)
I have never said one bad word about any member of the JWs. I have never even said anything bad about the organization. It's thier choice if they decide to stay or go. why must they keep dragging my name through the mud to people who respect me just because I'm not doing what they want me to do?
Trog
can anyone please give me a little advice on a good bible to use?
after looking around my house i realized that i only have one bible and it is the nwt.
i have tried using the kjv but would like a good one in regular english rather than old english and i have been brainwashed into distrusting all of them.
Can anyone please give me a little advice on a good bible to use? After looking around my house I realized that I only have one bible and it is the NWT. I have tried using the KJV but would like a good one in regular english rather than old english and I have been brainwashed into distrusting all of them. What are some good copies I could check out?
I know this may seem a retarded request to some but after 10 years of avoiding even thinking about god I found this websight and it has helpped me a lot and I would like to learn more without some body of people telling me what I have to believe.
thanks
Trog
it looks like the wt is running out of money fast.
few weeks ago we had the co visit and he told us in the ms and elders meeting that he had never seen a letter from the gb like this one, but then he went ahead and read it.
the letter basically said: "the contributions are down and there is more people in the congregation.
If memory serves me correctly it's only in the states that the literature is given away. The reason they did was because they wanted to avoid paying taxes. If the figured in the tax price then they would have had to pay that tax. Which in turn would have taken away thier religious exception and then they would have been paying taxes on all the real estate and vehicles and other crap they own. I could be wrong though, but, I do remember an elder disscussing it with another elder in the car in feild service once. It grabbed my attention away from staring in space a wishing I was at home watching cartoons
