Posts by paul from cleveland

121

Am i correct?

by angel eyes in

jw
friends

this is just an obsevation from me...ok i dont mean to annoy anyone but is it true or just me?.

i feel that ones raised in the truth are so much better of than us who came in from the world.

i say that because they have family who are witnesses too.

I don't think she's being self righteous at all, she's just saying she's frustrated. She feels that children of witnesses have a great support system and she doesn't. They're insulated from the world ("wrapped in cotton wool"). Not only do their parents support them by studying with them "forever", other brothers and sisters help them by studying with them as well. She, on the other hand, has to live in the world without that support. Since she feels she's out in the world alone, the witnesses make it harder for her by continually talking about how bad the world is. They just talk about it, she has to live in it! ("they run the world down yet thats my home")

She's most likely here to find the support and 'community' she doesn't feel she's getting at the Kingdom Hall.

121

Am i correct?

by angel eyes in

jw
friends

this is just an obsevation from me...ok i dont mean to annoy anyone but is it true or just me?.

i feel that ones raised in the truth are so much better of than us who came in from the world.

i say that because they have family who are witnesses too.

paul from cleveland

I don't think Angel Eyes was saying that those who are raised in the truth are better than others, just that they have it easier than others (She wrote "better of" but most likely meant "better off") . She mentions that they have the support of their families who study with them and protect them. She's just saying that it's harder for her, coming from the world, having had to readjust her whole lifestyle without a family to support her.

7

Apostates and others meeting in the Blue Ridge Mts. Pa. see video

by the research lady in

jw
friends

a live webcast of the witnesses now for jesus convention will start friday morning oct. 16,2009 and many parts of the program will be broadcast through sunday oct. 18,2009 for you to enjoy on your computer screen.

the upper room ministries website will act as host and staging agent for getting you the right links to receive the webcast.

www.upperroomministriesnewengland.com information regarding a schedule of events and when they will be taking place will be posted on this site by monday oct. 12,2009. during the convention if you have any questions while viewing on line, you will be able to e-mail them to [email protected] please be advised that in webcasting events there can be many technical issues , especially from rural areas where signals sometimes are weak.

paul from cleveland

Is anyone from Cleveland going to this? (Or passing through Cleveland?)

35

Depression in the Org.

by ssn587 in

jw
friends

it never seems to be brought up in jah's so wonderful org.

but depression seems rampant, i can name 7-10 people right now on antidepreswsant drugs.

paul from cleveland

People are depressed because the New Order hasn't come. It was expected to come years ago. (Proverbs 13:12 Expectation postponed is making the heart sick)

48

MY FIRST DOUBT

by goldensky in

jw
friends

dear all,.

i posted my first thread a few days ago and some of you asked me questions i'm more than willing to answer.

but there is so much i want to say to you there's no way i can convey all the information at one sitting, so i've decided to tackle one subject at a time, both for the sake of not boring you and because i'd love to know how you feel about each individual topic.

paul from cleveland

Narkissos, I don't know the answers to your questions. I know there is no such words as "right to life" and "unused right to life" I was just explaining, in my own words, the way it makes sense to me.

If Adam lost his life the day he sinned, he couldn't have any children. In a sense he did die that day (to Jehovah anyway). So, all Adams children are dead to him too. To me, it doesn't have to do with perfection but whether Jehovah gives us permission to live. Maybe we need a certain type of relationship with him to actually live forever. That type of relationship is impossible unless Jehovah wants it. He doesn't want it until certain requirements are met. (All speculation of course)

48

MY FIRST DOUBT

by goldensky in

jw
friends

dear all,.

i posted my first thread a few days ago and some of you asked me questions i'm more than willing to answer.

but there is so much i want to say to you there's no way i can convey all the information at one sitting, so i've decided to tackle one subject at a time, both for the sake of not boring you and because i'd love to know how you feel about each individual topic.

paul from cleveland

I don't have a problem with the teaching of the ransom. (It makes sense to me anyway)

God told Adam not to disobey him or he would die. If Adam didn't actually lose the right to life and die, God would be a liar. Adam couldn't pass on to his children what he didn't have (the right to life). Like an inheritance, you can't give your children what you don't have. Also, God already stated his purpose of Adam and Eve living forever on the earth, multiplying and filling the earth with their offspring who would also have the right to live forever. Was God's will going to be thwarted because Adam decided to sin?

To solve this dilemma, God provided another perfect human who also had the right to life (Jesus). But this time, the perfect man would have to die without sinning thus providing one unused 'right to life'. God took this extra unused 'right to life' that Jesus provided and used it to replace the one that Adam lost. It's as if Jesus adopted the whole human race and left them a great inheritance. The inheritance (the right to life) that we were supposed to get from our father Adam. This way, God is not a liar and his original purpose of an earth filled with Adam's descendents living forever becomes a reality.

The way I see it, God would be a liar if he gave us everlasting life without providing a human sacrifice. (As horrible and barbaric as it seems at first glance)

28

Newly fading and having morbid thoughts about dying....is that normal?!

by 2pink in

jw
friends

i have been having doubts for years about the org, but it's mostly been just the past couple of months that it's really all unravelled for me.

i'm at that stage now where i don't know what i believe about anything...esp about what happens when you die.. and maybe it's just cause i never had to think about death before (was always countin' on that resurrection in paradise earth!

), but lately i can't stop thinking about it!

paul from cleveland

I've had similar fears as your own. I've been to a therapist and have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Perhaps this is what you're suffering from as well. Here is some information from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened.

People with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. They may experience sleep problems, feel detached or numb, or be easily startled.

PTSD can cause many symptoms.

Flashbacks—reliving the trauma over and over, including physical symptoms like a racing heart or sweating

Bad dreams
Frightening thoughts.
Feeling strong guilt, depression, or worry

46

Good News to Make You Happified

by Farkel in

happified is a real watchtower word(tm), by the way!.

if you want to give the wts credit for anything, then at least give them credit for their remarkably simple solution to every ill suffered by mankind.. it is a "one size fits all" solution and might be part of the appeal the wts has attracting people who have a hard time with reason and common sense.. they won't specifically tell you what that solution is, though.

if they did, they would even get less converts than they get now, and currently they ain't gettin' many.

paul from cleveland

Isn't your disagreement with the Bible, not the Witnesses? The Bible is where it says that the road to destruction is wide and many are on that road. Jehovah's done it before, in Noah's time... who's to say he won't do it again?

143

Does anyone think that maybe we're just wrong?

by paul from cleveland in

jw
friends

i was disfellowshipped in 1995. even though i lost my friends and family, i felt like i had been finally set free and was happy for many years.

while i was a jehovah's witness, i always felt so miserable.

i never felt like i was doing enough to please jehovah.

paul from cleveland

Thank you for all your comments!

It’s really a pleasure to have some contact with people who know what I’m talking about. I will read those books recommended.

It’s true that I’m being motivated by fear… Often I wish that I had never heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But the fact is that I have heard. Sometimes the fear is like a black hole that consumes me.

I have to admit that to me Jehovah’s Witnesses are an enigma. For every argument against them, I can think of a logical explanation that refutes it (to me anyway). For example, the NGO/pedophile problems… the nation of Israel (back in the day) did things that were many times worse than anything the Witnesses have done, yet God still used them as his organization (until his purpose for them was complete). Regarding the 1914 generation revision, the apostles themselves had mistaken expectations regarding Jesus’ return. But at least they’re ‘keeping on the watch’ so to speak. Plus, you have to admit the organization has done some pretty amazing things… they really are preaching the ‘news about the kingdom in all the inhabited earth’.

I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness apologist. I don’t want to go back to the organization. The idea of ‘jumping through all those hoops’ again… I don’t want to do it. But, if we’re really living in a time that parallels the days of Noah, maybe we’re supposed to be afraid.

Like I said… I’m torn.

Paul

143

Does anyone think that maybe we're just wrong?

by paul from cleveland in

jw
friends

i was disfellowshipped in 1995. even though i lost my friends and family, i felt like i had been finally set free and was happy for many years.

while i was a jehovah's witness, i always felt so miserable.

i never felt like i was doing enough to please jehovah.

paul from cleveland

I was disfellowshipped in 1995. Even though I lost my friends and family, I felt like I had been finally set free and was happy for many years. While I was a Jehovah's Witness, I always felt so miserable. I never felt like I was doing enough to please Jehovah. I thought that if Jehovah was going to destroy most of mankind, surely I would be among them. I never felt I was better or worse than anyone else in the world. Just before I was disfellowshipped, however, I stopped believing that Jehovah was going to destroy everyone. It didn't seem reasonable to me anymore. It seemed a little like Hitler's "Final Solution". I thought if Hitler is considered one of the worst human beings that every lived, why would we say God is going to do basically the same thing. Purge the earth of all the 'undesirable' ones. I started to believe that Jehovah's Witness had the truth about most things except explanation of Jesus' ransom. I felt the 'ransom for all' meant literally everyone, including Adam. (http://www.biblestudents.com/ransom_00001_1.cfm) I never felt the need to look at xjw websites or anything like that. I just wasn't thinking about it.

Recently, however, I have started to have doubts. Maybe I'm just wrong. I've started to have panic attacks about dying at Armageddon again. I don't know what brought it on.

So I started looking at the xjw websites to convince myself that I was right and Jehovah's Witness are wrong. The arguments I find against Jehovah's Witnesses aren't really that convincing. It's mostly attacking the messenger not the message. The NGO thing, the handling of the pedophiles, etc, could just be interpreted as poor judgment and not an indication of bad motives...

Anyway, now I'm torn.

Does anyone else feel like I do?