Posts by lovelylil2

119

My Apologies to Christians.

by AK - Jeff in

i have, on occasion, pissed off many or most of the christians on this board.

i have forthrightly ridiculed you at times, but more often, i have lathered satire, or frothed sarcasm at what appeared to me to be inanely ludicrous viewpoint.. i must apologize, for i have seen the light.. i now understand that all of mankind's' plight can indeed be traced to a day in a perfect garden in iraq.

an eloquent snake overcame a naked woman with words that rang truer to her than the words of her master and god.

lovelylil2

I didn't read anywhere where Tammy or anyone else said human kindness was introduced only 2,000 years ago by jesus Christ. Just the opposite, many have shown there is kindness in Christianity as well as Atheism. But that BOTH these groups could at times be condenscending towards the other group and jugemental. However on this particular thread it was an atheist who started mud slinging first by attempting to tear down all christians for their beliefs. I think the Christians have been very kind and fair in their responses. Lilly

119

My Apologies to Christians.

by AK - Jeff in

i have, on occasion, pissed off many or most of the christians on this board.

i have forthrightly ridiculed you at times, but more often, i have lathered satire, or frothed sarcasm at what appeared to me to be inanely ludicrous viewpoint.. i must apologize, for i have seen the light.. i now understand that all of mankind's' plight can indeed be traced to a day in a perfect garden in iraq.

an eloquent snake overcame a naked woman with words that rang truer to her than the words of her master and god.

lovelylil2

Jeff,

Out of curiosity, which of your morals would you say are superior to that of Jesus Christ and why?

20

Why Did God Commission Russell to Preach to People Who Would All Die Before Armageddon?

by neverendingjourney in

i've posted this thought before, but i've yet to get a lot of feedback.

it's also not a point i see brought up very much on jwd, but it seems like a very simple, logical way of disproving witness doctrine/eschatology.. witnesses believe that the parable of the wheat and the weeds is having its fulfillment in our time.

that's to say that jehovah began to gather his people in these last days so that those rightly-disposed can survive armageddon.

lovelylil2

look plain and simple, Russell made the proclamation that the end would come in 1914 and that this was God's date not his. That is a prophecy and so he was a false prophet. There is NO evidence that God appointed Russell to do anything. Russell like many others in his day were self appointed men not satisfied with the religion of the time and they started their own. The problem is he left orthodox Christianity and thus became an apostate of Christianity.

Any attempt to whitewash his establishment of the the WT organization is just that a whitewash. Fact is he did establish it and if he really wanted to stay away from organized religion he should have left well enough alone because he was the one that gave birth to the beast known as the WT bible tract society that since has enslaved millions in its false religious, publishing world empire. Lilly

17

I'm going to the Kindom Hall to please my parents

by Joshnaz in

my parents are visting from florida and i agreed to take them to the kingdom hall for a meeting, but i'm just doing to make them feel comfortable while they are here.

i told them i'll be sitting in the back with jeans and sneakers playing with my i phone.

i made shure they didn't get any wrong impressions about me returning to the kingdom hall.

lovelylil2

bring your own reading material I say. Some suggestions are; crisis of conscience, In search of Christian freedom, the kingdom of the cults, Jehovah's Witnesses monuments of false prophecy or the like.

Just kidding, it is nice of you to take them. I myself literally could not stomache going to another kingdom hall in my lifetime. Good luck you are doing the right thing and hopefully you will have a nice visit. Peace, Lilly

24

Marking 7 Years out of the Watchtower

by lovelylil2 in

jw
friends

boy oh boy where to start?

lots of changes over the last seven years.

this week i had been reflecting on just how drastically my life has changed for the better since loosening the grip of the watchtower society.. in brief, my life seven years ago this month looked liked this; my family was very unhappy after nearly a decade of serving the "happy god" of the watchtower and being part of the "happiest people on earth".

lovelylil2

I do not belong to a denomination either. I personally believe to do so would be dividing the body of Christ. We are Christians because we follow Christ. I think the bible likens the Christian church to belonging to one body for a specific reason. Jesus did not come to start another religion, there was plenty of religions already available in his day.

Instead, he started a new way..........something radically different than what people experienced up until that time. His words pointed many times to this new way before the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. For instance, when he met the Samaritan women at the well she said to him "my forefathers have worshipped on this holy mountain", but your followers say to worship in Jeruselem", and Jesus told her "the time is coming and it is now when you will worship in Spirit and in Truth". He also said "the father is looking for such like ones to worship him". This is a very profound statement. Jesus was really saying the PLACE of Worship Is not important at all. Another verse that comes to my mind is this "God does not live in temples made by hands". (John 4:19-26, 1Corinthians12, Acts17:24)

That is because We (the church) are now part of a living breathing entity, the body of Christ. This is not a brick and mortar establishment. We are literally the living temple of God (our bodies) wherein God's Spirit dwells.

In my studies on early Christianity, this is exactly the view the early church had. That THEY (the people) were THE church and met together in many private homes, along the road, etc. with no building with roll calls or denominational names. Not that there is anything wrong with a Christian attending a brick and mortar church but we need to keep it in perspective. We are simply Christ's followers first and foremost. Our allegiance is to him, not our denomination. If we can keep that in mind we will do just fine on our path. Peace, lilly

24

Marking 7 Years out of the Watchtower

by lovelylil2 in

jw
friends

boy oh boy where to start?

lots of changes over the last seven years.

this week i had been reflecting on just how drastically my life has changed for the better since loosening the grip of the watchtower society.. in brief, my life seven years ago this month looked liked this; my family was very unhappy after nearly a decade of serving the "happy god" of the watchtower and being part of the "happiest people on earth".

lovelylil2

Thank you all for your comments.

I will keep your family members in my thoughts and prayers. There is one ministry I associate with that hosts an annual day of "Prayer for the Captives". It is for captives in false legalistic religions. I often think about the JWs I knew when I think about this prayer day.

The best advice I can give someone with loved ones still in the WT is to be very patient and love them unconditionally. This is something they are simply not used to because they are only loved (and its a fake love) if they work, work, work for it. No matter what remember their adverse reaction to you is one of fear and let them know you love them. Even if they remain in the WT.

Do NOT get into screaming matches over doctrine. It simply does not matter what you or they believe about the bible. Simply tell them as I told my husband, if you want to remain a witness I respect that and will support you but that life is not for me. I have chosen a different path, then explain briefly without putting them down. If you are still a christian you may say, I do not believe I need the WT organization to interpret the bible for me because Jesus promised Christians the Holy Spirit and that spirit will teach me.

When I said this to my husband he could not respond. Because if he said this was not true he knew he would be refuting scripture. So he let it alone. Eventually when he saw the kids and I were happy with our new path, happier then he was in a works oriented cult, he left. He told me if the elders were concerned about our spirituality they would have come by and corrected us lovingly with the bible and prayed with us, etc. But since they did nothing and ignored him even though he was still an active witness, they condemed themselves in my husband's eyes without me having to even open my mouth.

My journey has not been easy, my husband lost his faith completely for a while but has regained it in the last few years. There has been a lot of angst, lot of crying, lots of therapy and rebuilding our lives. For 10 years our lives stood still, it was as if time stopped when we entered the cult. We stopped trying to exceed at work, learn new things, attend family functions and stopped making new friends. We lived in the same area for two decades and did not even know our nieghbors. Once we left the Tower, we found that time kept going and everything and everyone around us changed and grew and we had to figure out what the heck we are going to do with the rest of our lives. How many people in the world do you know who have to do that in their 30's?

That is what a cult does. It stunts your growth and keeps you captive. We really were in a prison for 10 years. Peace, Lilly

24

Marking 7 Years out of the Watchtower

by lovelylil2 in

jw
friends

boy oh boy where to start?

lots of changes over the last seven years.

this week i had been reflecting on just how drastically my life has changed for the better since loosening the grip of the watchtower society.. in brief, my life seven years ago this month looked liked this; my family was very unhappy after nearly a decade of serving the "happy god" of the watchtower and being part of the "happiest people on earth".

lovelylil2

thanks woody.

The body of christ is supposed to be like a family. We love and support each other and although some variations in belief, Paul said to let our "love" cover these differences.

I found the so called christians in the Watchtower to be judgemental, gossipers, ready to turn in those of different opinions to the elders or big brother as I like to call them.

So glad you have a positive experience in your new church home. lilly

24

Marking 7 Years out of the Watchtower

by lovelylil2 in

jw
friends

boy oh boy where to start?

lots of changes over the last seven years.

this week i had been reflecting on just how drastically my life has changed for the better since loosening the grip of the watchtower society.. in brief, my life seven years ago this month looked liked this; my family was very unhappy after nearly a decade of serving the "happy god" of the watchtower and being part of the "happiest people on earth".

lovelylil2

Thank you Stephen and Sylvia,

The thing about the born again experience is that it is personal and unique to all who experience it. Yes there are some similarities but there are differences as well. Not everyone hears a voice inside them, not eveyone feels and feeling of peace and harmony but some do. For some it happens instantly and for some it is a longer process.

Like the bible says Gods spirit "testifies to our spirit" that we are children of God. I remember reading this account in Romans many times as a jehovah's Witness and thinking oh well it must only happen to the 144,000 because I do not understand it, nor have I experienced anything like this. I also thought about when Jesus was asked "how can a man be born again?". I never fully understood the answer to this Q when I was a JW.

These spiritual terms are NOT understandable UNTIL God's Spirit reveals the fullness of them to you. And that is what happens when you are born again.

For me, yes I had the emotional experience and I am glad I did. If not I would have taken the pils and ended my life.

What happened? Well something like this although I cannot fully explain it even 7 years later.

I asked Jesus to send the spirit of God to dwell inside me and he did. IF you wish to know the simple way I asked him to do this, then pm me and I will tell you in detail.

At that moment, I felt a warm breeze enter the top of my head and travel all the way down to my feet. This breeze when it entered enveloped me with what felt like a warm embrace. It instantly calmed me and I felt just then as if everything would be alright. It was as if the wieght of the world that was on my shoulders a second before was instantly lifted off me.

That night I kept thinking about jesus and how he said his "load was kindly and light" and he tells his followers to "come to me all who are loaded down, I will refresh you". That is how I felt in the WT. I was loaded down with a heavy weight of works and guilt in not performing enough works. I wanted to be refreshed and asked jesus to help me.

Looking back on it, if this did experience did not happen I would not be here today. I needed positive proof that God was with me and I would be ok because I was seconds from taking my life. But I also know from experience, this sort of thing does not happen to everyone at their moment of being born again. And really it was only the beginning of the road I was on but I knew I would be ok from that point on no matter what happened.

After this happened, I still had a lot of spiritual work to do. It took a year to fully get rid of the WT indoctrination. But as I read the NT scriptures about Christ, it ALL started to make complete sense to me. Including the verse on being born again. When I read the bible, and even today I feel like it was written to me. It is hard to explain but it is not just words. I experience the love and feel it in my heart and soul. Perhaps other born again Christians have this experience too when they read the bible.

I never had this before. Yes I did believe the bible was God's word but did I experience it and feel it applied to me? No! Now every word made sense and applied to me. it literally was like a veil being lifted off my eyes and the spiritual eyes were opened and now I could understand even the deeper thoughts in the bible.

One of the biggest scriptural reversals I made that took the entire year to accept but I finally did it was that I accepted the diety of Jesus Christ. I really feel that God was with me through out my new found faith in Christ and was patient with me because it took time to break down all the old beliefs. But each day, each week I grew more and more in knowlege, accurate knowledge and my faith deepened even more.

During this time in order not to be influenced by others I stayed away from all other churches and just read the bible myself and asked the Lord Jesus to teach me himself what he thought I needed to learn and frankly he did. I am still growing and learning every day so my conversion is still a process because I am on the right road but need to stay on it. But I now truly believe it is not the job of man or any religion to teach a Christian. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to work with the members of Christ's spiritual church and anyone who asks for and believes in the Holy Spirit will recieve the promised spirit and will flourish in the truth. Amen!

I have many friends with similar experiences especially about the veil being lifted. The bible is not a difficult book to understand but it does take spiritual undersanding not just reading skills. It is a book for people of faith too. Not everything will make sense right way but God promises if we keep seeking we shall find. Peace to all, Lilly

119

My Apologies to Christians.

by AK - Jeff in

i have, on occasion, pissed off many or most of the christians on this board.

i have forthrightly ridiculed you at times, but more often, i have lathered satire, or frothed sarcasm at what appeared to me to be inanely ludicrous viewpoint.. i must apologize, for i have seen the light.. i now understand that all of mankind's' plight can indeed be traced to a day in a perfect garden in iraq.

an eloquent snake overcame a naked woman with words that rang truer to her than the words of her master and god.

lovelylil2

Jeff,

I kinda sorta agree with you in some ways but for me personally, I believe humans have been damaged by religious institutions, not the idea of religion in itself. These institutions are nothing more than a way for men to control and dominate other men for thier own power, gratification etc. And are more or less money making schemes. They are man made and not ONE of them can claim exclusive posession of the Almighty God of the Universe.

For me christianity is not about religion, it is about a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ and has little to do with bible or other holy book interpretation and has more to do with living the golden rule; do unto others, and showing the love of Christ to all of mankind.

Are there loving people outside of my faith group, absolutely!

Probably those like me who are still Christians would want you to understand that is was not Christianity that hurt you in any way or someone's faith in Jesus but a man made organization claiming (falsely) to be the only representative of God. And sadly there are many organizations just like it masquerading as true Christianity and they have wrecked the faith of many. For when people are spirually abused by those claiming to speak for God, they blame God himself. Even though God does not condone them nor their actions except in their own misguided minds.

Lilly

8

Has Your WT Experience Taught You to Be Wiser?

by cameo-d in

jw
friends

do you think your wt experience has taught you not to be so gullable?

because of the injustices and bad experiences, have you become a more discerning person?

do you find now that you ask many more questions before you "jump" into things?

lovelylil2

Great Question! And YES I am a lot wiser now then before.

Before my experience I thought all people 'respresenting" God were to be trusted. I never thought a Christian could be evil but them I became a Jehovah's Witness and learned the lesson Jesus taught about "beware of wolves in sheeps clothing". Just because someone claims to be godly does not mean its true. This goes for people of varying faith beliefs too.

Also, before getting involved in any organization my husband and I look up information about them and not just rely on what they tell us. We did this recently when considering joining the local Elks lodge in our area.

And as far as Christianity goes, I look up every passage anyone quotes to me and read the surrounding context to see what it really says. My eyes are literally WIDE OPEN from now on.

Peace, Lilly