Posts by inbetween

25

Faithful and Discreet Slave

by stillin in

i'm sure that this has been discussed before, but bear with me while i share my little insight.. the scripture about the fds is found in jesus description of the last days in matthew 24. not in mark 13, nor luke 21. those other writers didn't consider it important enough to include it in their writings.

it is the only mention, as far as i know, of any such "arrangement," yet on face value, if you are just reading the bible, it seems more like one of jesus' thought-provoking rhetorical questions, rather than a part of the sign of the last days.

no "two or three witnesses," yet this one scripture has become a rallying cry for a whole religion, consisting of millions of adherents!.

inbetween

I agree, however, no matter if born-in, like me, or joined later, this scripture is one of the doctrines, that you will hear later in your "biblestudy".

First they present "truths", with quite some support in the bible, like no trinity, no hellfire, no soul etc..

Once you accept that, yuo also built trust in the org, for sharing such precious truths, you let your guard down, and the critical thinking behind, then you are ready for all this doctrines, which are very loosely bible-based or just a twist of scriptures like faithful slave, blood, disfellwoshipping etc...

35

They "can give gifts on any day of the year"... But do they?

by Albert Einstein in

jw
friends

how many times we had heard from jw (commenting on christmass, mothers day or bithdays) "they dont need a pecial day set to give gifts, because the can give it on any day" .... but whats your experience if you compare jw and non jw ... are they really giving?.

my sons (7) example:.

he has non jw grandparents: gets all kinds of gifts all the time, sweets, magazines, toys,.

inbetween

yes, i give gifts and receive them , mostly between family members, sometimes even to friends...so it does happen, but maybe not that often as it appears to be...

181

It looks like I will become an elder this week!

by outofthebox in

jw
friends

that's right guys.

as i told you before, they boe have been considering me for the eldership.

which i don't care for, but since my family is stuck in this cult, i guess i can use the new position to help them see that the holy spirit has nothing to do with me being an elder.

inbetween

thats the big issue for us still in and having privileges,

if leaving the org is out of question (for family reasons) what ist best:

1) keep the rpivileges, use the "power" too soften the strict rule, to help others see the "truth", to prevent other elders running wild ?

or

2) stepp down, for your won conscience, sooner or later you get into conflict with what you know and you either show your true colour or you violate your own conscience,

These two option are in my mind lately, even during the night, praying to God (whoever he is) for direction...

21

Elder wants to come for shepherding call

by 2pink in

jw
friends

we are newly fading (actually, mostly disappearing).

i haven't been to meetings in about 3 months maybe and hubby hasn't gone in a month or more.

i certainly don't plan on returning, hubby is still undecided.. anyway, an elder called and wants to come do a shepherding call.

inbetween

just to set things strait: most likely its not a witch hunt, it may even be sincere concern.

however, maybe the elder is the type, that feels uncomfortable doing sheperding calls (many do), but he feels he must do the duty.

so help him out, by following the advice of the other posters, thanking him for the concern, but atm you are not able to receive him.

you may do it a few times, then he will give up, in a way even satisfied, because he thinks, he tried as much as he can.

then he has an excuse to himself (or other elders or CO).

20

Were you always honest with your reports?

by Newborn in

jw
friends

i was.... the last years i only did 4-5 hours max/month and they offered me pioneer support...huh...which i refused btw.. now i regret i didn't just put 20-30 hours every month without in fact going out in the booring service at all!!!

just to keep them happy.. .

inbetween

did the same, calling on NH, just to start time, later on, I thought thats ridicolous, and counted time as soon as I was on the way to the territory, dressed up and ready, thats were service started, not at a fake call on somebody most likely not home...

always hoped this reporting would stop one time, its not only not bible based, its even against bible principle, or do you write on a report how much you donate ?

20

Were you always honest with your reports?

by Newborn in

jw
friends

i was.... the last years i only did 4-5 hours max/month and they offered me pioneer support...huh...which i refused btw.. now i regret i didn't just put 20-30 hours every month without in fact going out in the booring service at all!!!

just to keep them happy.. .

inbetween

honest, yes, looking back, i should have been not honest, and put in much less hours than i did, would have saved me from "privileges" ;-)

14

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 11-01-09 WT Study (ATTITUDE)

by blondie in

jw
friends

comments you will not hear at the 11-01-09 wt study (september 15, 2009, pages 7-11)(christ's attitude).

review comments will be in red or headed by comments.

wt material from today's wt will be in black.

inbetween

thanks Blondie, always read your comments.

still, I think, the article was quite fine, in theory at least, we all can learn a lot from Jesus, especially the WTS (compare Jesus treatment of the women with the harsh blood-policy of the WTS)

19

Fade rapidly OR jeopardise the fade by helping family/friends learn the truth and remain part of our lives?

by LUKEWARM in

jw
friends

can i say from the outset that i feel grief and frustration over family/friends that are not aware of the truth about the "truth".

they are good people who genuinely believe - as we all did at one time- that they are in gods organization and that this is what he requires of them.. .

how liberating for us to have come to know the real truth and how sad they remain guilt ridden and under mind control that fosters these conditional friendships that bother us so much.. .

inbetween

well, its a tough question. Personally I could just get up and run, but it would kill my family, I have to take it slow.

I always think back, how I was a year ago, though having doubts in some teachings or practices, I did not question the WTS as being Gods organization.

I may try to slowly expose hypocrisy, and Pharisaic behaviour among the Borg.

Sooner or later I may have to stepp down from my privileges, but not yet, not yet. I may use my influence carefully to help others...hopefully no crossroads for my conscience comes too soon...

We have some great and sincere Witnesses among our congo, as well as some competitive overzealous selfrighteous ones...

17

what level of movies would you watch when a jw

by rockmehardplace in

jw
friends

i know some jw's who only watch movies with specific ratings.

some will watch only pg and g. others will watch pg-13.

but i know which ones i can watch these with and which ones not to.

inbetween

my choice of movies was my own criteria, most movies I had no problem with, just very brutal or pron movies I avoid.

however, I keep it to myself, my wife and very close friends, what I watch,

one time I got almost in trouble for stumbling somebody, since then I`m very careful,

First time I heard of the general rule of not watching r-rated movies was from American brothers..its not so strict in Europe I think.

With one exception: I heard of a case, where an elder was removed for allowing his son watching "Lord of the rings"

well, I watched them several times,and have all the dvds, love them...

75

Question for believers: How does God set priorities?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

while waiting for the bus yesterday, i overheard (wasn't trying - but due to his volume, impossible to avoid) a guy on his cell phone talking to someone about his likely imminent dismissal from his employment.. but he then went on to say that he had full confidence that god would take care of him, and he wasn't worried at all about finding new employment.. then i got home, watched the news, and found out that 4 million kenyans are in danger of starving to death because of a year-long drought there.. so i got to thinking - how exactly does god set priorities?.

the guy at the bus stop is not the first christian i've heard express his confidence that god chooses to intervene and help in the lives of individual believers.

he saves them from car wrecks, he helps them find jobs, he lends some sort of invisible emotional support to help them cope with the death of a child, and so on.. on the other hand, millions of people suffer excruciating pain for months or years before finally dying covered in mud with flies crawling on them - no relief from god in sight.. why does god help one middle-aged guy who's never been hungry in his life find a new job in time so that he doesn't miss his $3000 mortgage payment, but not send a little rain to help a land where millions of people are already living in misery and filth?.

inbetween

good question, I think, maybe God does not intervene at all, (I do not believe these stories, how he helped especially JW being save while in the kingdom hall, while earthquake etc)

however, he sends his spirit to endure things, and will fix anything bad in the future/afterlife/paradise whatever...

I also always wondered, when there are experiences, where someboidy prayed to God for the truth, and he listened by sending JW there..ok, on the other hand, we say, that anybody, who does not pray to Jehovah in the right way will not be listened to...so, was this person a JW before ? hardly, so he must just have prayed to the wrong God (according to WTS) and still he listened....kind of contradicts itself..