has anyone seen this post on facebook?
the comments below it are staggering!
so many suffering from depression... along with the few judgementalists.
Julia, I couldn't have said it better. One of the last district conventions I went to had three + hours telling you how you could not trust you own thoughts, "the heart is desperate, who can know it" scripture. After hours of telling you this, then they had two and a half days of telling you that you needed to listen to the GB. Unbelievable.
JO, I appreciate your comments. Your right on.
has anyone seen this post on facebook?
the comments below it are staggering!
so many suffering from depression... along with the few judgementalists.
When I served in different Bethels around the world, a common denominator of the morning worship was that it was never encouraging. You were reminded of how your inner most thoughts were sinful, you weren't ever good enough. If you felt accomplishment in your bethel work, that was a worldly feeling, you are a "good for nothing slave" and you should have done the work anyway. If you felt accomplishment in the local congregation, you weren't sent there to work in the congregation. What ever you did, it was never enough, you were a pathetic slave, who the Branch had to put up with, and you should do more and ask way less, be content with the crapy meals and judgemental attitude.
Believe me, I saw people depressed while working at different branches, and I'm included. God I'm glad I've left.
i notice a trend that suggests that many ladies either have a one carat or bigger diamond ring or much smaller if any.. do you have a diamond ring and if you do, what size carat is it?
?.
"4 Cs-- Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat".
I had a ring made for Mrs. Jake and the jeweler said that you don't need the big carrats for the bling, he suggested buying high quality smaller carrat sized diamonds, and making an arrangement of the larger and smaller diamonds. The last ring I bought off the internet and it is around 3.5 total carrats.
let's say that a brother, joe, is walking to kingdom hall and he passes a store display featuring a christmas tree.
"wretched pagans!
" he mutters to himself.
Personally, I always loved how the "pretty trees" were decorated and how attractive they were. Some women can wear a potato sack and still be sexy. There is beauty that cannot be covered up. Why did God make such beauty if we were not able to enjoy it, or at least be around it in a KH?
apropo of nothing, i just wanted to share some thoughts.
i have started reading and posting here recently.
i have previously mentioned that i am an active jw, an elder who conducts the wt study.
I'm sorry to hear the difficulties that your wife is experiencing. Tough decisions indeed. May you find peace for you and your family.
these guys are real company men when they have mass lay off of older bethelites tossing them to the curb and making the congregation they are assigned to carry some of the load, so that the watchtower corporation can cut costs of providing for these nolonger young people who have devoted theirs lives to the corporation.. they are heartless bastards aren't they?
i wonder what kind of undercurrent this is causing at headquartes?.
I spoke with an ex bethelite that went to Brooklyn in the 1960's at 18-19 years old and they let him out when he was 60 years old. He is struggling to make a living. He said, "I'm not trying to be rebellious, but I believe that a formal education is a good thing".
He indicated that he is in accounting and is not a CPA. Every Potential customer that comes in asks, "where did you go to college"? I don't know what his response to that is but I'll bet he is not telling them that he has read the Awake magazine for years and that is equal to a college education!
many friends i've spoken with are becoming discouraged.
because of this it's becoming tempting to privately share my views with friends, but i know this is still too dangerous.
most witnesses in my circle are intelligent free thinkers.
SOP said, "You can only take so much. People are tired. They hear about preachers like this Joel Osteen and others who may not speak much about the Bible, but their congregations are thriving and happy."
I agree, I talked with my sister who is still active and aging and she mentioned that apathy is a major problem in the congregations. People going through the motions, elders not wanting to appoint ones who show them up in meeting attendance, field service, etc.
I am reading Joel Osteens latest book "Breaking Out" (don't ask me why) and when he does talk about the scriptures it is with a different spin than the WTBTS. It is all in a very positive way, it's encouraging, and makes you think that God wants you to be successful beyond your expectations as opposed to find contentment in washing windows or shinning floors at night.
Olsteen repeated mentioned in his book that perhaps your not expecting enough from the God of the Universe. How Jehovah, (and he used Jehovah) blessed the Israelites with abundance beyond their expectations, like when they wanted meat and he had quail come in for three days journey each way. How not to concentrate on the size of the problem, (like with David and Goliath).
"God used a simple slingshot to thrust David to a new level of his destiny. My question for you is this: Are you overlooking something small, something ordinary, that God has given you? Are you sitting back thinking, "I don't have the talent, the education. I don't know the right people.? You have exactly what you need. It may seem small, but when you take these steps of faith God will do for you what he did for David? He'll breathe on your life and what was ordinary will become extraordinary".
Anyway, short of giving an endorsement for the book, I found it refreshing for someone to use the same scriptures that WTBTS has used to beat us into submission with fear and guilt but to have a positive outlook on the examples in the scriptures as to why Jehovah wants you to personally be successful, and as he emphasizes, beyond your expectations.
well ive missed my 5th meeting in a row..decided to watch football/soccer instead.
wife has also missed 4 in a row...still havent discussed ttatt
There was a time if you missed five meetings in a row that your phone would ring off the wall of curious/encouraging brothers/sister and elders. My how times have changed.
the last report i gave in was for the month of may, meaning as of today, i have missed 6 months of reports, and am officially inactive!
(though the last time i actually went out was march, gave fake reports for april and may).
feels like a milestone.
Congratulations!
lurkers, debaters, haters, lovers, the lost, the found, and the misplaced.
it's been a while, and i wanted to pop in.
the point isn't to agree.
Thanks All time Jeff. Wonderfully said, good advice and direction.
