i am sure people convery to a religion to find peace and spiritual awakening.
i also bet many convert simply for love.
would you to assist " true love" if it required converting to a particular faith?.
I find it difficult to answer.
I felt secure in my belief as a witness and finished with a girlfriend because I was a witness and now I'm not a witness I think there are similarities between all the Abrahamic religions which I think make up 54% of the worlds population.
I have a friend and she is an atheist and married a christian.
probably not today.
i have come to the conclusion that there is no god.
period!!!
if there was a loving, righteous, all-knowing, all powerful god up there somewhere, where is he and what good is he???
my conclusion was he does exist. strange isn't it.
so what are you doing to enjoy yourself?
doesn't have to be for anyone around you, or have anything to do with jw world.
just something that you do for you and only you and that fills your soul (whatever that means).
What makes you happy?
some single malt whiskeys, colour, shapes, my kids, women, music, the seasons. occasionally i lose myself in colouring in, but it takes a while
i used to run miles and i thought there was some sort of natural high that i would get some sort of barrier that i would break through and it be easier but it never happened. it did with art.
according to scripture, none of them ever met jesus.
i was a jw for 20 years and i never knew this!
i thought they were all apostles!
Someone out there please tell me I wasn't the only biblically-challenged-know-it-all in the orginization.
i wasn't a know it all. i didn't know much at all it was so boring. i know more now since i left and that's not a lot but it's less boring now.
so what are you doing to enjoy yourself?
doesn't have to be for anyone around you, or have anything to do with jw world.
just something that you do for you and only you and that fills your soul (whatever that means).
I like drinking beer watching cartoons in my underwear I'm also a bit of a writer
that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.
the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.
so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.
Well, that reasoning can apply to anyone who claims to be a part of the body of Christ.
I was just meaning i think being in the 'truth' didn't relate to whether one believes those who died at Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected on not or whether one has an organ transplant or not or even to a degree to dates that have been mentioned for armageddon but it relates to the 'good news' the 'gospel' evangelion.
I think it came to mean to me whether one was a Jehovah's Witness or one wasn't but it still related to the witness one was giving whether it was door to door or in one's personal life and the way they were conducting it.
I understand there is a connection to the Roman emperors and their messages. They were considered saving messages, world changing for the better and the power of the 'gospel' is and it comes from God.
In my view one would only be in the 'truth' if the gospel is the same as preached by Paul and the apostles. If that is the same then i think one is part of the body of Christ.
In Ray Franz book In Search Of Christian Freedom on page 539 under the subheading 'The foundation and Essence of the Good News' he writes,
'What did the apostles and other Christian writers emphasize in describing that Messianic rulership and its effects? They consistently pointed to Christ's ransom sacrifice, his victory over kings sin and death on behalf of all mankind, the authority the Father has given to his resurrected Son to liberate from the wages of sin and death all those who put faith in him. That was-and is- the good news the Bible itself brings us. The Biblical good new does not draw attention to, nor is it tied up with, some date, whether 1914 or any other date, nor does it attract by offers of alluring physical and material benefits "just around the corner." It is tied up with and event, the event in which God's Son fulfilled his primary mission as the Messiah and gave his life on our behalf, thereafter being resurrected to God's right hand and serving as our advocate there. Only for this reason could Paul say to the Corinthians, "I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him impaled."'
that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.
the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.
so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.
'the entire body of Christian teachings, which became part of the written Word of God is "the truth" or "the truth of the good news" Adherence to this truth, walking in it, is essential if an individual is to gain salvation.'
Insight on the scriptures (WT 1988) page 1132
Just thought i would add this to my post
that is the conclusion you must accept if you are a jehovah's witness as my wife tries to explain to me that even if what they are teaching today contradicts what they were previously teaching, they had the truth then and they have the truth now.
the difference is, they (the witnesses and the governing body) simply believed that what they were teaching at the time was the truth but when they discovered new information they adjusted their thinking.
so since they formerly believed it to be the truth, they were in the truth.. an example she gave involved people who once believed the earth was flat.
this is my view (it could be wrong)
some years ago we had what we called the 'truth' book In th first chapter it quotes John 17:3.
Jesus said i am the way and the truth
the gospel is about Jesus. (1cor.15:1-4) and if the anointed witnesses are the body of Christ and they preach the right gospel of the kingdom then they are in the 'truth' irrespective of what things have been taught at times.
as of now iam making an unbiased examination of evolution.
however one thing keeps me hanging on to the belief of a supreme spirit being; the existence of spirits.
i have heard countless accounts of people who have experienced frightening encounters with evil forces.
on this thread is my experiece when i was young and i think it made a difference in why i still believe in God and still in some ways can't totally dismiss my witness past.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/experiences/194629/1/My-Grandfather
just an addition to it my baby brother used to wail every time he got near the house in those months.
hi everyone!
today i was reminded that just because both of us left the wtbt$ we are not always on the same page.. .
.
With my wife and I, I think the difference is in what we feel we lost. I don't think she feels she did lose that much. I feel I lost a lot. She is a lot more relaxed than me. I'm not. So she doesn't need to talk about it.
