Posts by Israel Ricky Gonzales

63

EXACTLY Why JW's Are NOT Christian

by Perry in

a lot of people, ex-jws, believers and unbelievers alike, think that jw's are just a somewhat kooky brand of christianity.

is it possible to "try and follow jesus" and not be christian?

what exactly makes someone a christian?

Israel Ricky Gonzales

JWs are not Christian. They are witnesses of Jehovah, not Christ.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, in all Ju·deʹa and Sa·marʹi·a, and to the most distantpart of the earth.”

Acts 2:1, 4 Now while the day of the Festival of Pentecost was in progress, they were all together at the same place. 4 and they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak in different languages, just as the spirit enabled them to spreak.

Acts 11:26 ... it was first in Antioch that the disciples were by divine providence called Christians.

The do preach a different gospel. Their good news is a paradise earth, no sickness, no death.

Acts 17:11 But some of both the Ep·i·cu·reʹan and the Stoʹic philosophers began disputing with him, and some were saying: “What is it this chatterer would like to tell?” Others: “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities.” This was because he was declaring the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

They are false teachers and false prophets that tickle the ears of the downtrodden with a promise of living forever on a paradise earth that is concocted from numerous unrelated scriptures.

96

Ray Franz was an Idiot

by vinman in

ray franz who gave us insight into the gb due to a crisis of conscience was an absolute moron, with absolutely no critical thinking skills whatsoever like all of us have.

i mean, to have a conscience based on some magic man in the sky.. how stupid can you be?

in search of christian freedom?

Israel Ricky Gonzales

Didn't we all basically do what this vinman person did? Judge people based on their beliefs? I think this post is a desperate attempt for attention, which is working. Well done vinman.

23

Baby steps taken with a grain of salt

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

seeing how my jw wife nearly lost it when i woke up to ttatt and was df'd just over a year ago, she has been showing cracks in her armor.. 1. she has stopped pioneering to resume her good-paying career, working full-time.. 2. she suggested marriage counseling.. 3. she suggested going to a latin rap concert at a casino for our anniversary.. 4. when we reconciled recently and began living together as a family again, she agreed to alternate weeks of jw activity with the kids, one week doing the jw thing with her and the next week not doing the jw thing with me .

5. she hasn't had perfect attendance at meetings or for field service since she started working full-time.

just last night, she skipped meeting to help co-workers prepare food for an employee appreciation luncheon held today.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

I think my kids are playing a role in the cracks in her armor. They enjoyed having their birthdays with me, as well as celebrating XMAS. She sees that we did nothing "pagan"in our celebrations. So, our freedom has to be a factor in her awakening.

23

Baby steps taken with a grain of salt

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

seeing how my jw wife nearly lost it when i woke up to ttatt and was df'd just over a year ago, she has been showing cracks in her armor.. 1. she has stopped pioneering to resume her good-paying career, working full-time.. 2. she suggested marriage counseling.. 3. she suggested going to a latin rap concert at a casino for our anniversary.. 4. when we reconciled recently and began living together as a family again, she agreed to alternate weeks of jw activity with the kids, one week doing the jw thing with her and the next week not doing the jw thing with me .

5. she hasn't had perfect attendance at meetings or for field service since she started working full-time.

just last night, she skipped meeting to help co-workers prepare food for an employee appreciation luncheon held today.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

Seeing how my JW wife nearly lost it when I woke up to TTATT and was DF'd just over a year ago, she has been showing cracks in her armor.

1. She has stopped pioneering to resume her good-paying career, working full-time.

2. She suggested marriage counseling.

3. She suggested going to a Latin rap concert at a casino for our anniversary.

4. When we reconciled recently and began living together as a family again, she agreed to alternate weeks of JW activity with the kids, one week doing the JW thing with her and the next week not doing the JW thing with me

5. SHe hasn't had perfect attendance at meetings or for field service since she started working full-time. Just last night, she skipped meeting to help co-workers prepare food for an employee appreciation luncheon held today. She was never one to miss meetings for anything when we were both dubbs. And on top of that, she shows up to meetings at the very last minute.

So, I'm taking these baby steps with a grain of salt because she has shown zero inclinations of any sort of doubt. But one has to start somewhere when waking up. 👍😉

83

What woke you up?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

in march of 2014, i was a very active jw, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees.

so what woke me up?

an innocent comment from a co-worker about the candice conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

In March of 2014, I was a very active JW, a ministerial servant, gave a public talk, was an attendant for the memorial, and one of 4 cleaning captains for an international convention of 40,000+ attendees. So what woke me up?

An innocent comment from a co-worker about the Candice Conti court case rang a bell that could not be unrung. This led to the silent lambs website, which led to me discovering that 3 brothers in my circuit were registered sex offenders.

After verifying as much as I could about the Conti case and the systemic problem of not reporting abuse to authorities and the 2 witness rule, I discovered many financial crimes/scams on part of the WTBTS, such as the Menlo Park scandal.

Then I found out about the 10 year membership with the UN as an NGO. I took a whole week off of work to call the UN, verify the allegations and make sure if there was any falsification to the allegations. I could find none. I was trying to prove the WTBTS true, but it was too easy to prove them liars. I was mentally done at that point.

I began trying to prove true everything that I ever believed, JW doctrine. Without WT lenses, I could easily see that what I had been teaching was utter nonsense, if not false - such as 607.

This led me to reading many of WTBTS's old, books from CTR and JFR days. I could not believe what I was reading! WOW! Pure ridiculousness!

But the straw that broke the camels back was researching in the WT's involvement in spiritism and its ties to freemasonry in the early days. When I discovered about WTBTS using Johannes Greber in support of their teachings, it made me want to run away from the religion I spent my life slaving for.

From March to July 2014, I went from a ministerial servant in training to be an elder, to full blown apostate.

I can't say there was one thing in particular that woke me up aside from the innocent comment from a co-worker, but it was a mountain of evidence that really did it.

How 'bout you?

43

Was Anyone Disfellowshipped Twice? How About Three Times?

by anewme in

jw
friends

years ago there was this guy ****** ******* i'll never forget him.

disfellowshipped 3 times!!!!

at the last dfing announcement the brother got up there and yelled into the mic .

Israel Ricky Gonzales

I was diaflowshipped 3 times.

1. When I was 20 for fornication, drugs, drunkeness, debauchery, etc. I took off a year of being a JW to do what ever the "F" I wanted. Came back and was reinstated within 6-7 months.

2. DF'd a year later after getting reinstated for having a threesome. Oh the dirty, seedy questions the elders asked!!! I finally got tired of their very explicit questions that I refused to answer any more. And no, I wasn't sorry I had a threesome. It took 2 years of perfect attendance and college brainwashing studying, and 5 letters to reinstated.

3. Third and last time was for apostasy. I told the elders straight up when asked if I believed in the GB/FDS: there is NO way in heaven or earth Jehovah EVER picked this religion, so NO, I don't believe in them. It took less than 5 minutes of deliberation for them to give me the good news.

BTW, how did a 10 year old thread get resurrected?

3

Convention in Denton, TX

by Boeing Stratofortress in

jw
friends

anyone going to the convention this weekend in denton, tx?

it'd be great if there were some signs, or even some peaceful, silent protests organized to coincide with the event.

i'm thinking that a good 'template' might be the billboard design (located in texas, but far from this event).

Israel Ricky Gonzales

I live an hour south of Denton. I used to go there for assemblies. I know my JW wife already went to her convention last month in Irving. Normally the conventions are held in Fort Worth, but that site is in limbo if FW is going to renovate or demolish.Thisconvention must be a small group, perhaps a foreign language group, as this assembly hall holds less than 2,000.

24

Is Satan really a liar, and the father of the lie?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

5 for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.. .

genesis 3:22. jehovah god then said: here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad..".

for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.?.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

I am not concerned about the fairy tale holy bible. Just bringing out contradictions that have probably been already said before.

24

Is Satan really a liar, and the father of the lie?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

5 for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.. .

genesis 3:22. jehovah god then said: here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad..".

for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.?.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

That's a good perspective. I personally don't think Adam and Eve were created to live forever. Like you mentioned, SloppyJoe2, it was by eating of the tree of life that they continued living.

But I don't think Satan was lying and I do believe God was withholding something/information from the first couple

24

Is Satan really a liar, and the father of the lie?

by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

5 for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.. .

genesis 3:22. jehovah god then said: here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad..".

for god knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god, knowing good and bad.?.

Israel Ricky Gonzales

GENSIS 2:15-17

Jehovah God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eʹden to cultivate it and to take care of it. 16 Jehovah God also gave this command to the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will certainly die.”

GENESIS 3:1-2

At this the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 3 But God has said about the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden: ‘You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it; otherwise you will die.’”

EVE EVIDENTLY DID NOT KNOW THE COMMAND FROM GOD. SHE DID NOT SAY THE TREE BY NAME, REFERRING TO IT AS THE TREE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN, AND ASSUMED THAT MERELY TOUCHING IT WOULD RESULT IN DEATH.

GENESIS 3:4, 5

4 At this the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”

THIS IS SATAN'S CLAIM. DID HE REALLY LIE?

GENESIS 3:7

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves.

SATAN SAID THAT THEIR EYES WOULD BE OPEN. IT HAPPENED AND THATS WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT THEY WERE NAKED.

ADDITIONALLY, COULD TWO HUMANS, WHO DID NOT KNOW THAT THEY WERE NAKED, POSSIBLY COMPREHEND THE CONSEQUENCES OF EATING THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT AND COMPREHEND THE CONCEPT OF DEATH?

GENESIS 3:22

Jehovah God then said: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad.."

DID SATAN REALLY LIE WHEN HE SAID: "You certainly will not die. For God knows that in the very day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and bad.”?

ADAM AND EVE DID NOT CERTAINLY DIE THE DAY THEY ATE OF THE FRUIT. ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, ADAM WENT ON TO LIVE FOR 930 YEARS, SO HE DID NOT DIE IN THAT DAY AS GOD HAD FORETOLD.

SOME ARGUE THAT 1,000 YEARS IS AS ONE DAY TO GOD, SO TECHNICALLY THEY DID DIE IN THAT DAY. BUT DID ADAM KNOW THAT 1,000 YEARS ARE AS ONE DAY TO GOD AND THAT IF HE ATE OF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, HE WOULD GO ON TO LIVE 930 YEARS, AND THEN DIE BEFORE HE REACHED 1,000 YEARS OLD?

OTHERS ARGUE THAT IF ADAM AND EVE DID NOT EAT OF THE FRUIT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE DIED, THEREFORE LIVING FOREVER. BUT THERE IS NO INDICATION FROM GOD THAT THEY WOULD INDEED LIVE FOREVER. IN FACT, HE DID NOT ALLOW ADAM AND EVE TO PARTAKE OF A TREE THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO LIVE FOREVER, EVEN ORDERING AN ANGEL TO PERPETUALLY PROTECT THE TREE FROM ALL FUTURE HUMANS.

GOD ACKNOWLEDGED THAT AFTER EATING OF THE FRUIT, THE FIRST COUPLE BECAME LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND BAD, JUST AS SATAN STATED TO THE FIRST COUPLE.

BY TAKING IN KNOWLEDGE, THEIR EYES WERE FINALLY OPENED, THEY REALIZED THAT THEY WERE NAKED, THEY DID BECOME LIKE GOD KNOWING GOOD AND BAD, AND THEY DID NOT CERTAINLY DIE IN THE DAY OF THEIR EATING OF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT.

SO, WAS SATAN REALLY A LIAR, THE FATHER OF THE LIE, AND A MANSLAYER FROM THE BEGINNING?