if there was a pill you could give to your jw family members that would awaken their eyes to the truth about the cult, would you give it to them?.
most would probably say yes.. but what about those who are completely institutionalized, the elderly, the super zealous, the geeky kids who have no friends, the misfits?.
some people need "boundaries", they need someone to lead and give them directions, they need a sense of belonging, even in an organization that has no social programs.
Today i think probably if it was my parents I would administer the pill like I do the dog's pill. Friends probably not. No need for a pill for the kids.
I think it would help my parents to have a closer relationship with their offspring which i'm sure they would want.
the gb is guilty of the ultimate spiritual crimes.
blasphemy against god by claiming they "speak for jehovah".
they said it again recently in an article..that they speak the words of jehovah and we should listen to those words.
i'm always glad they never asked me to b on the GB. (I think i was marked at one time)
witnesses are supposed to be the "most honest people in the world".
most jws i know of do not put business deals in writing.
they simply "trust their brother".
yes and no. depending on how you look at it. considering the end was so close.
i have had this document for some time.
i think it was either given out at pioneer school or at one of the pioneer meetings with the circuit overseer.. .
how things have changed in 15 years.
i don't think they had pioneer school when i pioneered. thankfully.
i cant stop the nagging thoughts in relation to the hype about "100 years of kingdom rule" !.
what is the significance?
why make such a big deal about something like that?.
When my parents became witnesses almost 50 years into the kingdom rule I believe they would have been part of the 'over a million persons' mentioned in the Watchtower 1966 page 40 who felt they had 'enabled to "see" the sign of the Son of man' by means of the composite sign.
The title of the article is The Sign Of the Son of Man and on page 37 under the subheading The Most Vital Sign it quotes Matt.24:30. On the following page page 38 it says.
What is shown to be taking place here that Jesus could refer to as "the sign of the Son of man"? It is the act of God's Son in recieving authority from his Sovereign Father to rule in an everlasting kingdom. This event brought the establishment or "birth" of his kingly rule. (I think this scripture is now believed to have a future fulfilment)
The article has the next subheading ' How The Sign is Seen' and quotes from the Greek-English Lexicon by Liddle and Scott.
'Concerning the Greek word for "see" used at Matthew 24:30 and Revelation 1:7, their lexicon (Volume 2, page 1245a) lists this as one of the meanings: "Metaphorically,... of mental sight, to discern, perceive," Yes, the Bible speaks not only of seeing with our eyes but also of seeing with our mind and with our heart.' (page 38)
Later on page it mentions the visible sign that follows on 'after and results fom the invisible "sign of he son of man"'
So I think my parents saw this mentally and with their heart.
Having come to be a Witness they then were from my understanding in the spiritual paradise. They had come to the mountain of Jehovah. In the publication Man's Salvation Out of World Distress At Hand! (WTB&TS 1975) on page 183
'The personality of the Messianic King affects the personalities of his subjects in the spiritual paradise in an excellent, upbuilding way. The prophecy of Isaiah points in that direction.'
It then quotes Isaiah 11:6-8 and on page 185 it says
In harmony with that intention, such a transformation as is foretold by the prophecy regarding the animal world has actually taken place in the spiritual paradise of Jehovah's restored worshipers.
Now my parents are at the end of their lives and i think that Gods kingdom was in their hearts.
The Watchtower 2008 1/1 p13 (Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY Our Readers Ask Is God's Kingdom in your Heart?)
Many today believe that the answer to the above question is yes. For example, TheCatholic Encyclopedia asserts: “The kingdom of God means . . . the ruling of God in our hearts.” The clergy commonly teach this idea. Does the Bible really teach that God’s Kingdom resides in human hearts?
If i understand correctly what the this is saying I would say it was probably true of my parents. There was no literal government that brought 'dramatic changes on the earth' in their lifetime as they had hoped for.
i really wonder about that.
.
just like they say in prayers, that they "love" the governing body---do they really??
yes
i would like to get some opinions from you all.. .
have you known a lot of witnesses that have dealt with demon issues?
have you personally dealt with problems with demons?
Have you known a lot of Witnesses that have dealt with Demon Issues? Have you personally dealt with Problems with Demons?
When I was a witnesses there were two occasions when we thought we had demon problems. The first one was when i was very young and we were never sure but we disposed of some a game i had been given by a magician. Some years later we had another problem. These are some of the things that happened in a short period of a few months.
The fireplace in the bedroom I shared with my older brother was boarded up, but I heard something banging, fluttering against the plywood panel. I was almost 10 and had no idea what it was. I got my older brother who listened and we then got my parents. We all heard it. My father said it's a bird that has fallen down the chimney. He would remove the panel and free the bird. We covered the floor and beds as it would probably be sooty and my father got his tools and carefully removed the panel. All the while we heard the fluttering against the plywood panel as he prised it away. He slowly lowered the board and fluttering stopped and there was a bird a dead bird a skeleton on a heap of soot.
A while later one evening my parents were sitting in the kitchen they were alone in the house they heard a commotion in the upstairs bathroom my mother and father looked at each other puzzled as to how someone had gotten into the house, they then heard someone come out the bathroom and coming down the stairs my father grabbed the kitchen stool he was sitting on and went out to confront the intruder but nobody was there.
Another night my father who was the last one to go to bed turned out the light in the hallway and something pushed past him and went into the kitchen. He raced up the stairs into the bedroom and my mother said she'd never seen him frightened like this before. He came back out to go down a little later and when he got to the top of the stairs he could see the "apparition" about three or four steps up from the bottom of the stairs. I had already seen it myself few days earlier, didn’t think much about it. Thought I heard the dining room door open and close the sound of it the door opening and closing was heard by my mother. She came out of the kitchen as I came down the hallway and we went into the dining room expecting to see one of my relatives that lived in the house the room was empty.
My relative, when my parents were out, described in detail their drive home from the field service although he didn't know where they had gone. Telling me finally that they had pulled up outside and they were at the front door and they were. We were at the back of the house. I asked my parents where they had been and the drive home, which way they had come and my relative was correct
At one time coming down the stairs the front door and surrounding wall seemed to disappear and I could see clearly the front garden, the road and i distinctly remember looking at the roses that grew in the front
There were some other things that happened through this period, lights being switched on and off that sort of thing. My parents believed the problems came from some items that had come from someone (I understood that the someone communicated with spirits) that my relative who we lived with had brought into the house. The relative was not a believer and and my father had an argument with him one evening about it. Sometime later the relative had a change of mind and wrapped up the item and would not dispose of it in the dust bin but took it some way off to a public bin.
We had no more problems.
if you don't like being a jehovah's witness or going to the kingdom hall or the society then leave.... it's as simple as that... .
i left several years ago and have not been hounded, bothered or sought out by anyone.
i still see them from time to time, and yes, they do pour out the love bomb when you run into them, but eh, you know what?
my father wasn't really a believer in mistakes. you have to have a reason and the reason has to be pretty watertight.
so i think upbringing can make a difference.
if you don't like being a jehovah's witness or going to the kingdom hall or the society then leave.... it's as simple as that... .
i left several years ago and have not been hounded, bothered or sought out by anyone.
i still see them from time to time, and yes, they do pour out the love bomb when you run into them, but eh, you know what?
we are all different.
if you don't like being a jehovah's witness or going to the kingdom hall or the society then leave.... it's as simple as that... .
i left several years ago and have not been hounded, bothered or sought out by anyone.
i still see them from time to time, and yes, they do pour out the love bomb when you run into them, but eh, you know what?
i don't think it is that simple.
did i like being Witness? yes and no. i didn't leave because i didn't like being a witness. it was what i believed was right i dont think it was anything to do with liking it.
i needed to be sure it was the right thing to do when i left and it took time. there were others to consider.
