so an old friend of mine from the congregation hit me up today.
the story goes like this when we were jw's:.
- this guy used to be madly in love with me but i didn't see him as anything more than a friend.
How about:
Thanks for your concern. I'm good. Great, in fact. I don't know whether you can say the same as an elder now, knowing: (proceed to list all the reasons you left).
Take care,
Babygirl
Simple but effective (i.e., most likely, you won't hear from him again). I see no need to refrain from preaching. He did the same, with an emotional hook.
i've had this question on my mind for the last two years.
first off, i'm still a follower of jesus.
second, i don't go to church but rather a topical skype bible study with some fellow ex-jws.
It's not quite paranoia as much as caution. I've never been a dub. I don't particularly go for some mega churches. You can't possibly know 10,000 members. The house churches of Acts were much more of a community.
That said, I don't think everyone who invites you to church is being disingenuous about wanting to be your friend. I invite friends or family to my church who show an interest, have mentioned they're looking for a church, or if we're having a special event. It's an open invitation and they're welcome anytime. I don't do this to gain membership for my church but because I attend there (I've picked it from among weeds and can give some sort of personal recommendation). It's not perfect because we're all imperfect but it's doctrinally sound and we're all striving to be more like Christ. I simply don't know that about other churches.
If I extend an invitation and they don't come, I don't stop talking to them. That's a HUGE difference from JWs. My churchgoing friends are the same. I'll give an example.
-When I moved, I was looking for a new church. I visited many I heard about and one on the invitation of a friend. I went once and it wasn't my scene for whatever reason. We're still friends. I'm going to her son's birthday next month.
-I made friends with someone who goes to another church. She invited me but I haven't gone because I feel I'm at my church for a purpose. There are no hard feelings. I'm seeing her tonight in fact. It's not about competition in my mind. I'm glad worship is going on in other parts of the city.
Visit churches as you feel comfortable and take your time. They're not all the same. And there's nothing wrong with just continuing your Bible study in a small group. Church should grow you as a Christian. You don't need a building for that.
(i never was a dub).. this is something which has intrigued me for a while.
i don't know whether it's dub-speak, or us-speak.. it's the use of the word 'ones' as in 'interested ones', 'worldly ones', 'disfellowshipped ones' and so on and so on.. in the 'normal world' we would probably use the word 'people'.. thoughts?.
Joe, thanks for this OP. It's something I wondered about too, a never dub in the US. All of that to say, it stands out quite a bit to us worldly "ones". Such an affected way of speaking is not by accident. Interesting to hear how subtle, yet powerful, it is in stripping individual identity (you're just a number) and dehumanizing anyone outside the group.
My other least favorite affected/loaded terms: Christendom; true Christian; and system of things. I guess they can't just say the end of the world since the earth won't pass away
Yeah, this is pretty bad. Words fail at something so blatant and shameless So, I'll talk about the art instead...are those cows (and stacks of paper??) in the picture next to the Watchtower sign? Definitely no cows in Brooklyn so looks like they're subliminally preparing people for the move to the boonies.
can anybody answer this for me?.
whenever i tell people i'm ex jehovahs witnesses, they always assume that i'm against the jehovahs witnesses, but i am more so against the watchtower then anything.people assume that i'm anti-jehovahs witness, but now that i've done more research i've realized that its the watchtower thats more harmful then the jehovahs witnesses, even though theres a lot of jehovahs witnesses i dont like, i'm not against jehovahs witnesses as a group.. can anyone explain this to me?.
Finklestein: JWS are the designated and indoctrinated sales representatives for the WTS.
Not to mention unpaid. They just don't know it.
I told some JWs that they work for the Watchtower and they adamantly denied it. If that's true, why is the primary identifying mark of a JW a Watchtower publication? Just saying
a thought struck me...... the very generation (no pun intended) of people who the society is focussing so much attention on, that is the children, should not even be here!
(think caleb and sofia etc).
their parents, who are probably aged between 20 - 40 are the very generation too that should not be here if the societies strict guidance from the 70's and 80's was followed by their parents...ie to not have kids "because the end is soooooo close!".
I've thought about mentioning this to someone born in 1976 (and thus would have been conceived and in utero in 1975). But the significance would be lost on him as he's probably never heard about the 1975 mania. So much darkness in the midst of all this new light
this is short and quick but maybe it's a seed to plant in the 10 days until the memorial.
i have talked to jws who tell me their reason for not eating the bread and drinking the cup is because that was only a new covenant with his disciples (and in their wonky extension, the 144,000).
but i just thought of a few things.
This is short and quick but maybe it's a seed to plant in the 10 days until the Memorial. I have talked to JWs who tell me their reason for not eating the bread and drinking the cup is because that was only a New Covenant with His disciples (and in their wonky extension, the 144,000). But I just thought of a few things.
First off, that's not even true because in John 6:53-54, Jesus was talking to more than His disciples. But let's assume that's true: why are they doing other things Jesus only told His disciples about? Like the preaching work. The flimsy proof texts given for the need to preach for salvation were only spoken to the disciples: Matthew 24:14 (see verse 3, He told the disciples these things "privately"); Matthew 28:19-20. In two accounts (starting Matthew 10:1 and Mark 6:7), Jesus tells them to pair off and preach; only Luke 10 talks about the 70 (or 72) disciples but just say "well, the 12 is equal to the 144,000, why aren't they equal to the 70? The accounts are otherwise the same." The fact remains, in the most-cited reasons for the "preaching work" (in Matthew), Jesus was talking directly to His nearest and dearest disciples. If the Lord's Supper is only for His disciples who will rule with Christ in heaven, why should anyone but that anointed group preach? Or: why are they disciples for the preaching work, but not for the very act that symbolizes that they're a part of the New Covenant?
Thoughts?
we both are 21 years old.
we both are 21 years old.
i am almost done with my study and working on to become one of an unbaptized publisher.
Oh, young love. I was 21 once and loved someone then, not the same as who I love now. I know right now it seems like the pain of heartache will never go away but somehow we go on. I first started looking into JWs because I had/have a romantic interest in an inactive, but still indoctrinated, JW. For me, even inactive-but-indoctrinated was too much because I kept thinking about the future. What would it look like? Never able to share birthdays or create special memories at holidays with someone I loved so much. More of the same with any future children because they would live "the best way of life"(TM)...er, because of manmade rules with no rhyme or reason. Every discovery about the JWs has been shocking. How has a web of lies been so effective at keeping 8 million-plus people in bondage? So I've stepped away for now, but who knows what may the future may bring?
Maybe you and your girlfriend can make it work. Just know indoctrination is real and human love does not conquer all. You'll have to decide for yourself whether it's worth it. Don't get baptized and ask questions while you can. Make the decisions about the girl and joining the religion separately. If it's a package deal, from what I've learned here, you're setting yourself up for a lifetime of unrest.
hi, i am a christian and i would like to know jehovas witness's belief in god and whether you believe jesus is god.
please, any statements back up with biblical verses,thank you and god bless, in jesus's name.. i am new on here, so please be patient with me :).
For me (I've never been a JW), the JW perspective of Jesus as a lesser being made even less sense to me. If Jesus is a lesser god, that means someone other than God now has all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18) and will have that authority again during the millenial reign. How is it possible that God--a jealous and sovereign God--will share His glory and honor with a created being, even requiring us to honor the Son just as we honor the Father (John 5:23)? In the Bible, worshiping a deity goes hand in hand with serving it (e.g., Exodus 20:3-5; Jeremiah 25:6; 2 Kings 17:35-36; Joshua 24:14-15). Yet the apostles identified themselves as bondservants (slaves) of Jesus. Why did they follow and serve another god that is not God?
Christ is God and man. As the Son of God, He is equal to God. That's why the Jews wanted to stone him for "making Himself equal to God" (John 5:18). As the Son of Man, He is less than God because human nature is less than God's nature. With His death and resurrection, Jesus was glorified again to the glory He had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5).
As for the JW "proof text": so God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28)...I understand to mean "when all of this is over, the differentiation of the Trinity will no longer be necessary because we'll know God face to face." Overall, though, I agree with others that this isn't the make or break issue; receiving Jesus is.
well it finally happened!
we have been waiting about a year for this, my dfd husbands family asked us for money.
even though his own father hasn't met our 8 month old son.
To echo Rebelfighter, this does happen in the nonJW world but it doesn't have the extremely ANNOYING additional feature of coming from people who believe they are morally superior to you and shun you to prove it (when money isn't involved, of course). Strong Haiku is also correct about how it often plays out (you fund their fun while making cutbacks to do so).
It's ultimately your decision but I'd say do only what you feel comfortable with. Don't think it will win you any points. Don't lend money you can't afford to lose. As a general rule, think of it as a gift, not a loan no matter how much they say they'll pay you back... broke and financially irresponsible people are struggling to pay their own bills. Paying back someone, especially someone they don't respect, is not high on the list of priorities. I know it's hard to say no to family, so do what you're comfortable with and don't feel guilty about drawing the line there. All the best :)
