joelbear

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Posts by joelbear

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  105

  Issue Facing Apostates

  by Mishnah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  most of the stuff posted here is negative, hateful, and blasphemous against god.

  even if many of you are right in saying that the jws are wrong on many and important issues, that does not make you right.

  so unless you are convinced that there is no biblical god you are facing serious trouble when you die or if the lord comes during your lifetime.

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  joelbear

  I don't consider myself at risk. I try to follow the biblical principles of having love for one's neighbors and even for one's enemies. I certainly don't always succeed and for this I ask forgiveness.

  After reading The Mystery of Christ and Why we Don't Get it and In Search of Christian Freedom, I am finding myself more and more at peace with the idea of God. I still haven't changed my basic belief that God is love and that by practicing love we are closer to god.

  Again, I know I don't always succeed at this.

  hugs

  Joel
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  6

  My Favorite Spot

  by Undecided in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is my favorite place to read and contemplate the world and it's meaning.

  i read c of c and in search of christian freedom sitting here.

  i also like to listen to the birds as they sing and build nest around in my back yard.. my little 5 month old grand daughter loves it out here also.. i think everyone needs a place to relax and think.

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  joelbear

  I love swings in the backyard.

  We have a hammock we put up sometimes on our lower deck which faces the woods and a creek.

  I'll have to post some pics of our house.

  hugs

  Joel
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  40

  My Epiphany

  by Farkel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, folks.

  i just had a minor epiphany.

  its a wonder it never dawned on me before, because it should have been so obvious.. we can forget about doing any more research or any more exegesis.

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  joelbear

  eng,

  I have caught the looney tunes sound myself. I love the song, some day my prince will come. Its a regular in my shower repertoire along with Doh Re Me.

  I also sing on roller coasters. My 3 favorite songs for coasters are Delta Dawn, Home on the Range and Help!.

  I liked the march sounding songs the best. Firm and determined in this time of the end, prepared are god's servants the good news to defend. We must have the faith. To whom do we belong. But they did all basically sound the same.

  Mitch and I have this musical game we play where we try to get everyday sayings to fit into the melodies of songs we've heard. A couple of kingdom songs are among those that come up. His favorite is the one that goes, Kiss the son, lest god be angry (of course he probably subliminally likes this one for other reasons). I'll often hear him saying, Mow the grass, lest god be angry, or others.

  farkellike hugs

  Joel
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  5

  Old Memories

  by Abaddon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today for no particular reason i was mulling about the door-knocking.

  perhaps it was the enui and dispair generated by having the second laptop go down on me in two days... and it's not nearly as interesting as it sounds.. anyway, i was musing; as with many of us i've knocked on a fair few doors.. however, i've only had my door knocked on twice.

  once as a dub, by some moonies, and once after i'd left when i was in sunday morning debauch girlfriend mode and asked them (jw's) to call back which they never did.

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  joelbear

  Hi Abaddon.

  I absolutely have tendencies to be that way. I am right. My ideas are best. I need to be in control for this to be a success.

  I think, in myself, this comes from low self esteem and the need for me to constantly get feedback as to how smart or good I am. Along with my OCD, this makes me very hard to get along with.

  Therapy has helped me. Mitch has helped me. Having close friends that tell me to shut up when I need to be told to shut up has helped me.

  Now, when I feel one of these "I'm right and the world is stupid" episodes coming on, I am able to block it (most of the time). I practice by letting others make decisions like where to go to eat, etc. The more control I give up, the better I feel, when I am able to do it.

  hugs

  Joel
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  23

  Turning the Tables

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no conclusions, just thoughts.. should we disfellowship all of our friends and family who are jehovah's witnesses in order to protect ourselves and in order to wake them up to see how dangerous a path they are on?.

  would like to see a discussion of this.. thanks.

  joel

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  joelbear

  I agree Tina, that that is reality.

  I will never be happy with that reality.

  I may have to accept that I will never be happy.

  hugs

  Joel
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  23

  Turning the Tables

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no conclusions, just thoughts.. should we disfellowship all of our friends and family who are jehovah's witnesses in order to protect ourselves and in order to wake them up to see how dangerous a path they are on?.

  would like to see a discussion of this.. thanks.

  joel

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  joelbear

  I thank everyone who posted their thoughts.

  Being shunned by my family and former friends eats at me every day. True, I have new family and friends, but I am just not the kind of person that can cut off my feelings for someone.

  I don't hold grudges. I love people. I love my family. I love my old friends, people I have known since I was a child.

  To be honest, this emptiness sets the stage for my life more days than it doesn't.

  I have tried to bury it with career, material things, travelling, philosophizing, lots of sex, etc. None of it works. My friends, inside my family and out, are all that matter to me.

  The laughter of a group of friends is a treasure to me. I imagine myself in what I call a "dancing in the kitchen scene", you know the kind from the movies where an old song is playing and everybody is singing and dancing in the kitchen, with friends from all parts of my life there sharing a good time.

  Indeed, my main goal for the new system was travelling the world and getting to know everybody. I love listening to people's life stories, what they think about things, what they love, what makes them them.

  Well, thanks for listening.

  hugs

  Joel
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  51

  for those who "grew up in the borg"

  by zev in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at this late, middle stage of my life, i've started wondering, now that i know what i know, about the things in my life that i "lived" with.

  having been raised all my life in the "borg" i have known nothing else.

  when questions began forming years ago, it started me thinking.

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  joelbear

  My life now, as with all of us, is affected by decisions I made earlier in my life. But, the main lasting affects have to do with my mental processes.

  1. Continued disillusionment. I expected everybody to be as dedicated to the organization as I was and follow the thought process that the only way to be wholesouled was to not seek gains for yourself. Of course people are all over the board as to how much they are willing to give up. Some, like my parents, gave up everything. Others gave up nothing but basically lived the way they wanted to and just slapped the label JW on top of it. I still find myself expecting people to adhere to some "we're all in this together" line of thinking. This makes me gullible and frustrated and sometimes deeply depressed. I have come to an understanding that people, like animals, are simply following evolutionary survival strategies that, in the end, serve their own interests. Is cynical better than gullible? For me, for now, it is healthier for me to tend in that direction.

  2. Continued feelings of abandonment. I made no plans for my life. When I was a small kid I used to count up how old I would be in 1975 when Armageddon came. When I was about 16, teachers at school began to tell me that I was gifted. I never thought of myself that way as my parents were firmly on the "have low regard for yourself" strategy side. I was getting all this conflicting input. I was excellent in academics, but my witness friends and their parents treated me as suspect. I was marked for engaging in such heinous school activities as joining the Foreign Language Club and Beta Club and for working on the Year Book staff. Talk of college would bring my mother to tears and my father to violent fits of anger, usually followed by him leaving for the evening to get drunk. I was very confused and developed a deep fear of abandonment. I still have a very hard time making even minor decisions, usually needing 2 or 3 other people to agree with me that it is a good decision before I will do it. I have come to an understanding that life is trial and error and that I don't have to fit everyone else's idea of perfection in order to be successful. The risks I have taken, in the stock market and in my career choices have paid off fairly well. But I am never happy with my accomplishments. I am always questioning my worth.

  hugs

  Joel
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  3

  Macon Ga convention dates

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think i just want to go and wander around.

  with my beard i'll stick out.

  maybe some cute attendant will shadow me into the bathroom.. woofy hugs.

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  joelbear

  Anyone have these?

  I think I just want to go and wander around. With my beard I'll stick out. Maybe some cute attendant will shadow me into the bathroom.

  woofy hugs

  Joel
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  59

  What is your favorite nickname for the Society?

  by slipnslidemaster in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've heard the borg alot.

  one of the recent posts had the matrix.

  some the firm.. i think that i like the matrix, so far.. what's yours?.

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  joelbear

  How Bout

  The "Is is here yet?" sand snorkeling confederation.

  snorkel hugs

  Joel
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  23

  Turning the Tables

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no conclusions, just thoughts.. should we disfellowship all of our friends and family who are jehovah's witnesses in order to protect ourselves and in order to wake them up to see how dangerous a path they are on?.

  would like to see a discussion of this.. thanks.

  joel

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  joelbear

  Is it stooping to shunning or is it reflecting ridiculous behavior in order to teach a lesson?

  Just discussing, not taking a position.

  hugs

  Joel