Posts by outnfree

I don't believe as some do that Jesus was some sort of God in Mans form on whilst on earth. But he did receive all authority (seems to indicate the Kingdom authority) in Heaven and on Earth before his death and resurrection.

and then you cited a post-resurrection quote from Jesus about how all authority had been given him on heaven and on earth.

So how do you explain your contention that he had this authority "before his death and resurrection", please?

outnfree
(hmmmmmming away! )

43

The C.O. and elder came to my house last night!

by Sarah in

jw
friends

please tell me i made the right decision.

last night the co and another elder showed up at our house just 5 minutes after my husband got home from work (i think they were sitting on the side of the road just waiting for him to come home)*stalkers*, anyway to make along story short, the pressure was on.

i felt like they were there to get us to da ourselves.

outnfree

((((((Sarah))))))

I am upset right along with so many others here at the harsh treatment you received. These mean, arrogant men consider themselves "spirit-appointed"?!!! It is plain they are not.

I am also very proud of your husband's reaction and the courage the both of you displayed in the face of the pyschological battering you received. I'm sorry you were physically ill, but hang in there. It WILL get better!

DO send your family the information from the jw-public affairs website that tells them they don't have to sever all family ties.
This will help you as you ease back into "the world" and find that it's not so terrible out there as you've been taught. In fact, it's much, much nicer!

outnfree

32

Message From Faithful And Discreet Slave

by silentlambs in

i recieved a phone call last night from a brother who i was able to verify was of the anointed.

he stated he represented a large group of anointed from within the organization and they wanted to send me a letter.

the anointed remnant.

outnfree

Bill,

I agree with the majority here that unless this letter is signed with names and addresses (or, at least, congregation affiliations) its value as anything other than a pick-me-up to your efforts is nil.

There is no indication in the letter of the actual number of "anointed" who are putting forth this denunciation, apology and plan for action.

DO you have signatures? HAS this letter really circumnavigated the globe and numerous congregations? ARE the signatories (be they 50 persons, 100, 1000) willing to STAND UP and be counted and risk losing what you have lost? If it HAS circulated among all the congregations globally and been presented to each and every professed 'anointed' one, then, surely Brooklyn must know about it?
Some would not have signed?

If it is an activist minority, let them go public and become a VOCAL minority. At some point, conscience must take over and the decisions become hard. You know this. Do they?

outnfree

20

JW Pedophile Goes To Jail

by silentlambs in

poor wt after spending all that money on the pedophile's defense.

man convicted of sexual assault without church testimony.

associated press newswires .

outnfree

To me, this article is disappointing, because it does not make it clear to the averaged reader that the defense attorneys were in any way linked to the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. Is there some way to prove this? and to bring it out by writing to the AP or letters to the editor wherever this is picked up locally?

I, too, agree that until the fact that Jehovah's Witness elders are NOT clergy by their own publications' numerous vitriolic assaults against the notion of a clergy class and the interpretation that Christendom's clergy class = the "man of lawlessness" spoken about in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, there is likely no way around clergy-penitent privilege being invoked in similar cases by the Society on behalf of its elders.

While I rejoice that the Society's money has been wasted on the defense of this multiple child molester, I am hoping that someone, somewhere is working on a challenge to the right of the WTBTS to argue that admissions made in private judicial committees (which privacy THE SOCIETY'S RULES require and enforce even when one would like to bring a friend, family member or other witness along) are in any way similar to the formal confession made in the Roman Catholic church, for example.

The Society is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. There can BE no clergy-penitent privilege if there IS no clergy and all are on equal footing as fellow "ministers" at baptism.

Yes, hippi, metatron, and others are correct in saying that these untrained, unpaid volunteers are in no way the equal of the trained clergy elsewhere. And every thinking person knows that when someone is abused or even just thinks they've been abused (delusional thinking is possible, of course), they need professional advice and care. It should be AUTOMATIC that the elders refer such ones to competent medical practitioners. And it should ALSO be automatic that alleged child abuse be reported to secular authorities for a professional criminal investigation - no matter WHAT the state law demands. It is a MORAL issue and thus should be dealt with MORALLY by an Organization which claims to have such high MORAL standards!

Phew! I could go on... but I won't. You all know this all too well, I think, and I'm preaching to the converted! LOL

Take care, all!

outnfree

10

Mi Familia

by lisaBObeesa in

jw
friends

dear friends,.

i have come a long way from when i was 18 years old and fresh out of my parents house and the borg.

i went throught stages...so many stages... of recovery.

outnfree

(((((Lisa))))),

I think you said something very wise here:

Maybe because I believe my sister is a good person who is misled AND that my sister is doing an awful, evil thing. Maybe I need to pick ONE. Or, maybe the two beliefs are true, but it is just hard to deal with, and I need to deal with THAT. (Emphasis mine)

I visited a therapist recently and was discussing making a move that rather terrifies me. He advised that being terrified was a perfectly rational way to feel and that most people get in trouble because they don't look at things objectively and see both sides of an issue. It is better to look realistically at the positive and negative consequences of any action.

You are seeing clearly. Your sister is a good person who is being mislead AND her shunning actions are evil.

Does she realize how much this hurts you? Are you able to discuss the shunning and its effects with her at all? Not the effects on mom -- whom true-believer sis thinks needs to straighten up and 'get back to Jehovah' -- but the effects on YOU, whom she loves and acknowledges?

Sometimes, when I talk with my sister about trival little things just because we can't talk about anything real, I feel sick.

Maybe you could ask her if she feels as soylibre mentioned:

"if Mom really loved us she'd get reinstated so she could be with us"

and perhaps that would be a starting point for a heart-to-heart talk about how YOU feel as well, and your anguish about the rift in your family.

I'm very sorry for your sadness and for the illogic that allows your JW sister to treat a-never-got-dunked-JW sister better than her ex-sister-in-the-faith mom.

I wish you peace.

outnfree

18

RE: BILL BOWEN

by MadApostate in

jw
friends

in reading posts here for the past couple days, i obviously am only slightly familiar with bill bowen and his crusade.. is bb still regularly attending meetings, and being treated like a proverbial "leper"?.

if so, i say that about 100 of us drive to his congregation for a sunday meeting, attend respectfully, but talk to and treat bb inside the kh like the "hero" that he deserves!

outnfree

Bill,

I'll drive down and pick Tina up at the airport!

outnfree

1

Sept 1, 2001 Peace of the Christ in your heart

by ozziepost in

let the peace of the christ control in your hearts, for you were, in fact, called to it in one body.

- colossians 3:15 .

watchtower view: .

outnfree

Dear Ozziepost,

One of the things I most value about my freedom from Watch Tower control is that I can now freely admit the unity I feel with other Christians worldwide.

Growing up I worshipped at various churches -- Reformed, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Roman Catholic -- and never felt at odds with the congregants at those places over any of the IMPORTANT things:
Christ came, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

My husband is Catholic and my children are all attending parochial schools. The whole time I had been a JW, I was internally at odds with the teaching that only Witnesses would be saved and that only Witnesses were heard in prayer by God, that His holy spirit operated at the Kingdom Hall only and not in all those churches of Christendom!
Preposterous! I knew too many families where prayers were answered, people were living godly lives, and holy spirit was effecting good.

It is an excellingly wonderful thing to feel that unity of the 'one body' once again, openly, without reservation.

Thank you for the reminder.

outnfree

21

Free Home Bible Study

by MadApostate in

jw
friends

a happy future!.

a warm embrace from someone you love.

hearty laughter during a good meal with dear friends.

outnfree

Ok. I am seriously apologizing here. I did not mean to offend or alienate.

I actually meant that I would not be a return visit to any of your similar, i.e., e-mail Bible study type, posts, but I wasn't careful enough with my words.

Please let's kiss and make up, shall we?

(Does it help that I'm a she?)

outnfree

21

Free Home Bible Study

by MadApostate in

jw
friends

a happy future!.

a warm embrace from someone you love.

hearty laughter during a good meal with dear friends.

outnfree

Sheesh! Some people are SO sensitive!!!!

I said I wouldn't make a return visit, and now, out of Christian love,
I feel compelled to come anyway and remove the burden from off my
brother's shoulder!

(((((MadApostate)))))))

I'm the one who asked if you were angry-Mad or crazy-Mad,
remember? lol (I'm beginning to think it's BOTH! -- or did you say
that already? )

outnfree