In the U.S. the KHs post their meeting times on the outside of the building. In my community the meetings are listed on the church page every Friday and there is a phone number listed in the phone book under the heading of churches. I think years ago this would not have been the case, as the wts would not want to be lumped together with churches. I think it is now a matter of expediency to be listed these days. More new light I guess.
happpyexjw
JoinedPosts by happpyexjw
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11
Is KH really a place of "Public Worship"?
by cameo-d inhave you ever known anyone to just walk in off the street?.
to me, kh's don't seem too obvious.. the one's i have seen are not too obvious.
they all seem to be tucked away in residential neighborhoods and some have very discreet signs.. none i have ever seen advertise their times of worship services.
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Do You HATE The Watchtower Organization?
by minimus inwhen i read some comments here, it looks like some actually hate the organization.
do you??
?.
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happpyexjw
I don't hate anyone, including the organization. At one time, I think I hated the org., but I gradually realized that it was hurting me to carry that hate. Now I pity those who are still captives of the wts. They are misguided and are continuing to waste precious time serving an organization that can't help them.
VIII I don't agree "that there has to be an element of mental instability in the people recruited and the people who stay." While some may have become involved during a time when they were searching for answers and liked what they saw and heard, that is a situation that could apply to almost anyone at some point in their life. For most of us who left, whether born in, recruited later or brought in as youngsters by our parents, the decision to leave has been a process that has taken time. Leaving may be precipitated by a specific event or by a series of realizations, but many of those who are still in just haven't reached the same stage yet and will eventually leave. Kudos to you for getting out when you did, but please don't insult those who for one reason or another are still in.
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Long Time Reader
by wantarevolution inwhere do i start?
i suppose with "me".
i am mid 20's, born in and live abroad with my wife, "serving" in a foreign language congregation.
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happpyexjw
Welcome to the board. I hope you will soon find your way to total freedom. The family entanglements make it difficult as many here will confirm, but perhaps with time, a way will open up for you. Meanwhile, keep reading and tell us more about yourself.
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Worshipping Jehovah without all the rules?
by ptucker8357 inhi again.... i've been searching around for a few days now trying to understand whether or not there are spiritual folks out there who believe some of the fundamental tenents of the witness religion, but don't believe in all the rules that the gb puts forth... many of the folks that i talk to tell me that the only way to salvation is through acceptance of jesus as god.
i do accept jesus as the messiah, as a perfect man that god sent to atone for the sins of adam, but i don't believe he is god.... i believe there is one god, one son and one holy spirit and they are not three persons in one god... i feel weird whenever i go to another service that exalts the trinity, as well as some other basic rituals of their religion.... am i making sense?.
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happpyexjw
PP - Sorry if I misread your meaning. One thing I have discovered as I have sampled various churches, is that the membership often has a wide variety of ideas and understandings of scripture and no one seems to get overwrought if someone holds a different one from the official doctrine of the church. I attended a Methodist church a few times shortly after leaving the wts and was shocked when they actually encouraged people to read the Bible and try to figure things out for themselves!
JeffT - I did study the trinity as a youngster in the Catholic Church which I belonged to until my mother started to study with the JWs who came to our door. I couldn't wrap my brain around it then and I still can't.
Where I am at right now is to try and keep an open mind about what role God and Christ have to play in my life. I try very hard to live my life in a way that hurts no one and respects the rights and beliefs of others. When I have to decide on the rightness or wrongness of a decision, I ask myself how I would feel if the situation was turned around. I can't believe that a loving, all-knowing God is going to punish me for being a little confused and uncertain about His nature.
Interesting thread.
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Worshipping Jehovah without all the rules?
by ptucker8357 inhi again.... i've been searching around for a few days now trying to understand whether or not there are spiritual folks out there who believe some of the fundamental tenents of the witness religion, but don't believe in all the rules that the gb puts forth... many of the folks that i talk to tell me that the only way to salvation is through acceptance of jesus as god.
i do accept jesus as the messiah, as a perfect man that god sent to atone for the sins of adam, but i don't believe he is god.... i believe there is one god, one son and one holy spirit and they are not three persons in one god... i feel weird whenever i go to another service that exalts the trinity, as well as some other basic rituals of their religion.... am i making sense?.
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happpyexjw
PP. I have considered that possibility, but I really just don't see any logic in the trinity. It simply makes no sense to me. And why did Jesus make it a point to say the Father was greater than him? Also if Jesus was God, who resurrected him when he died? Sorry, but I am not going to reject something simply because it was espoused by the wts. I think they are right on this point. To reject it because they teach it is just as rigid and unbending as we all say they are IMHO.
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Worshipping Jehovah without all the rules?
by ptucker8357 inhi again.... i've been searching around for a few days now trying to understand whether or not there are spiritual folks out there who believe some of the fundamental tenents of the witness religion, but don't believe in all the rules that the gb puts forth... many of the folks that i talk to tell me that the only way to salvation is through acceptance of jesus as god.
i do accept jesus as the messiah, as a perfect man that god sent to atone for the sins of adam, but i don't believe he is god.... i believe there is one god, one son and one holy spirit and they are not three persons in one god... i feel weird whenever i go to another service that exalts the trinity, as well as some other basic rituals of their religion.... am i making sense?.
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happpyexjw
Welcome ptucker. I am new here too, but I have learned a lot from reading the posts of others.
As for your question, I think many agree with you. I have great difficulty with the whole trinity thing and it is the main thing that puts me off when I attend a mainstream Christian church. I cringe when I hear Jesus and God used interchangeably or when Jesus is referred to or prayed to as God.
You make perfect sense to me.
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My JW Daughter sends a Letter to us Explaining her Shunning of Me
by flipper inmy wife and i sent my 22 yr.old pioneer witness daughter and her husband a anniversary card and $ 40.00 and flowers the end of april.
my daughter wrote mrs. flipper and me each our own individual letters thanking us initially for the gifts - and then went into detail as to why she has not spoken to me for over a year and shunned me.. keep in mind as i paraphrase some of the highlights to these letters that the only negative thing i have said about the organization to my daughter in 3 years was to show her the ap news release about the child abuse settlements by the wt society .
i'll quote parts of the letter to mrs. flipper first :.
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happpyexjw
Oh Mr. Flipper, this is so sad, but not without hope. She has not rejected you and still responds to you with kindness and respect. It is obvious that she cares about you. I agree with those who have said to take this nice and easy. Keep your reponses to her gentle and non-religious and let her know that you continue to love her and want only the best for her.
You must be patient and wait for her to come around. I am ashamed to say that I have shunned relatives myself in the past. I realize now that what I did was very hurtful to them, but at the time I was convinced that I was doing the right thing after years of JW programming. For me, it took many, many years to wake up to the truth about this organization. You can never guess what might come up in her own life that might cause her to begin having a change of heart. In the meantime, try to the keep the lines of communication open and don't try to discuss religious topics with her.
All the best,
Mary
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Do you believe in MIRACLES?
by nicolaou ini'll be honest and admit that i did.
the 'moses' miracles, solar miracles, jesus miracles - everything.
so no belief bashing from me on this one, i promise.. all the same, how do you reconcile belief in miracles with that little voice in your head that says "hmmmmm?
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happpyexjw
Hello all - been on vacation for a couple weeks and have missed the forum. This is an interesting question. If you are asking if God singles out certain individuals and heals them, then no, I don't believe in miracles. Why should one family who prays like crazy and whose friends pray for a child or other loved one be blessed with a cure for example, when others who are equally deserving are not answered. That just doesn't make sense to me.
On the other hand, I do believe there are things that happen that are outside the realm of what we understand to be normal. For example, a few years ago my husband had a particularly sinister mass appear in his chest, not contained to the lungs and way too close to the aorta to be operable. Over a period of a couple of weeks a number of studies were done to try and determine what to do. A CT guided needle biopsy was scheduled and he was literally on the table and already sedated when the Dr. literally came dancing out of the treatment room and grabbed me and dragged me into the room to show me the images on the light box. The golf ball sized mass had reduced on its own to a very tiny spot - it had spontaneously started to resolve on it own. The procedure was cancelled and the Dr. said there was no explanation for this. Sooo....crazy stuff happens that we don't understand, and in that sense it is miraculous - it least it was to us.
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Why do so many Xjw's not end up in some sort of trouble?
by AK - Jeff inmy observation has been the opposite of agb's in this regard.
i have known of precisely 0 who have turned to gangs/drugs/prostitution after abandonning the lies known as jehovah's witnesses.
most seem to lead lives of quiet hope outside the mainstream religious community once they leave - but far from dangerous lives [even from the jw perspective].. just thought counter-point might be fairplay here.. do xjw's live like jw's?
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happpyexjw
There are some really insightful comments in this thread. After many years of being away from wts I agree that the fear-mongering about all the terrible things that happen to people who leave is just a control thing. In general, I think we do just as well, if not slightly better (due to experiences we have had) than anyone else.
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Is WTS Behind Stalking, Espisonage and Harrassment of Ex-JWs?
by Scott77 inseveral ex-elders, bethelites, ministerial servants, the rank and files of ex-jws on this site are writing about being stalked, harrassed, having their homes peeped through, car broken into while others such as gubberningbody, reports of recieving unsolicited calls from kh elders from another congregation.
the numerous stories are very troubling.
although some members have denied this existance of this lllegal activity, the underlying question continues to puzzle our minds: is wts behind stalking, espisonage and harrassment of ex-jws?
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happpyexjw
Does anyone else see the hypocrisy here? Stake out someone who is "suspected" of adultery or fornication between two consenting adults, but give a "pass" to the guy who is molesting little kids.
Things that make you go hmmmm...