okay simply put i am not of your faith however my faith allows me to learn and study other people's beliefs and faith's.
now i believe at least from what i have seen that you people are humble and respectful, when interacting with me.
and that watchtower book thing u hand out has actually helped me in the past.... taught me that resentment only hurts me and not the person i resented, that was really needed at the time.
I have been a Watchtower follower for over 40 years and was used by them as an elder for over 25 of those years too. I would like to answer any questions you may have.
I would also tell you that however humble and respectful Jehovah's Witnesses may be or seem, they are not a healthy group to get involved with.
But that might just be me ... (shrug) - stay a while and ask away.
i read that many people get their news from facebook.
i look online mostly at fox news and the drudge report.
very seldom do i look at cnn.😎.
BBC mainly. Bit of ITN and Channel 4.
Occasional online newspaper articles. Especially local or specialised stuff.
Anything I want to check out "and google is my friend" and just identify and avoid the tin hat wearers ...
Really important stuff (to me) and I'll check the writer's history and background.
please chime in if you're one of my kindred spirit that happens to literally be trapped in due to strong family/friends ties, or plain fear of being abandoned in old age.. although leaving the org is my ultimate wish and desire, fear of the unknown, fear of how it would change my family dinamics, plain fear alone paralyzes me.
how do you cope in this difficult situation?
dy.
Hobbies? Especially ones you can do alone or with others. Volunteer for the local charity shop?
In England you sometimes get a free parish magazine or community newspaper delivered. They often list what's happening locally for the month ahead. For example in the one round here for June there is the following:
4 Saturday Coffee mornings at the local community hall
1st Monday evening - Free computer advice clinic - neighbouring village hall.
1st Weds evening - Table tennis - beginners welcome at 7pm - experienced 8pm
2nd Friday evening - Pub Quiz. Make a team of four or five or phone xyz678 if you'd like to be in one.
Every other Thursday 7pm - gardening tips from "Old Grumpy Gardener" at the allotments. (Weather permitting)
3rd Saturday afternoon - village tidy up - bring gardening gloves and plastic bag - meet at war memorial - 2pm.
Last Tuesday evening - meet with the local police officer to discuss concerns/initiatives for the area - bring a packet of biscuits - tea and coffee provided.
Movie Night - Saturday evening 25th June - £2.50 entry. 7pm "Dead Poet's Society" - Village Hall. Cold soft drink provided.
i'm having some serious issues with my child, she is now 5 and her mother is teaching her all sorts of things regards god, jehovah is real, in heaven, pray if you're scared, etc.
the problem is the kid is scared of demons at night and also conflicted that i don't believe, she also figured out jehovah doesn't actually help her not to be scared.. i've tried explaining that i'm there for her, watching over at night.
i've tried introducing her to various churches and beliefs so she understands there is a difference in believes and she likes those churches better than kingdom hall.
Oh yeah ... Sulley ... not Scully!
there was a letter read this week, followed by a talk about all the changes that are coming in the next couple of months regarding merging congregations in the area (va/md/dc) - the letter said that the kh's in the area are only being filled to 48% capacity.
this was music to my ears as i have noticed the decline in attendance in all the neighboring congregations.
they will sell some kingdom halls and merge some congregations.
Heard a good one from last Sunday.
A contact I have in my circuit who knows it's (JW'ism) a load of nonsense but goes to keep the peace from time to time said he went to his hall and the public speaker said:
"Normally I address this next part of the outline especially to the teenagers and children, but as there aren't any here I'll speak to the young at heart instead."
I asked what the attendance was like and he said about 50 out of 95 publishers.
just wanted to say hello and thank you for all of your comments.
when i finally figured out this was not the truth it was nice to know i wasn't the only one - it was a surprise to learn how many there are.
february was my last month of service after 43 active years.
Lovely post! Thanks for sharing - really encouraging.
so i spoke to my elder dad the other day, and he asked if i still am sporting a beard.
i said yes, then i said, "i thought the society said its ok to have a neat trimmed beard now?
" he said "no, no, no..if you read the article , it says in countries where it is accepted" so my response was "ummm, its pretty accepted here in america"..which he says "it reflects your spirituality" "if another wittness saw you, they would know you are weak"...i was like, "ok, i don't get it, and i follow christ/god, not men..." then he said in his hall" if a brother came in with a beard , he would not have privelages" then i just gave up, and tried to change the subject..ugggggggggg if these people would just listen to themselves , they would see the sillyness of there teachings...
@Splash
I've read a lot about beards on this forum; I've sat in elders meetings always on the side/leading the charge to allow beards in our hall and when an elder I questioned CO's and made one in particular squirm when he allowed one (long time elder with a beard) brother a position of dept. authority in the circuit, but when a young min. serv was to be offered the same level of authority he wasn't allowed to have a beard.
But your post says everything that needs to be said. Excellent post indeed.
what your thoughts on if gb ruled the world would elders happily administer lethal injections at head offices request ?.
Sadly there would indeed be enough elders "just obeying orders" to do this.
there was a letter read this week, followed by a talk about all the changes that are coming in the next couple of months regarding merging congregations in the area (va/md/dc) - the letter said that the kh's in the area are only being filled to 48% capacity.
this was music to my ears as i have noticed the decline in attendance in all the neighboring congregations.
they will sell some kingdom halls and merge some congregations.
Also in my corner of the UK.
Actually at the KH our cong of nominally 70 (which has dropped 5 since this "service year" started on Sept 1 2016 - from 2 deaths/1 df/ 2 moving) as in bums on seats we get in the 40's and 50's. This last couple of weeks my spy tells me it was down to 33 and 39 respectively.
i'm having some serious issues with my child, she is now 5 and her mother is teaching her all sorts of things regards god, jehovah is real, in heaven, pray if you're scared, etc.
the problem is the kid is scared of demons at night and also conflicted that i don't believe, she also figured out jehovah doesn't actually help her not to be scared.. i've tried explaining that i'm there for her, watching over at night.
i've tried introducing her to various churches and beliefs so she understands there is a difference in believes and she likes those churches better than kingdom hall.
Nice light conversations ...
Daughter: " ... I'm scared the demons might get me."
You: "You silly sausage - demons are just like Scully from Monsters Inc."
Daughter: "Bbbbutt Mommy and Nanna say they're real and if I don't obey Jehovah they'll get me!"
You: (Laughing) "Your Mommy and Nanna are very good ladies but they do believe some silly stuff. I mean - can you imagine a demon wanting to live down the back of the sofa when they've got all those great castles over in Europe where they could go?"
Daughter: "Mommy said if I mock the demons they'll get me!"
You: "I've laughed at demon stories from before you were born! It's a load of old nonsense - now shall we go and get a McDonalds? - I want a demonburger with added Satan sauce! What about you?"
Treat it light light light!
