All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound or strategic from a human standpoint or not.
Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
JoinedPosts by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
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38
Wife came home upset ...
by The Fall Guy in... because she'd stepped into some newly laid concrete.. i said to her, "don't be too hard on yourself.
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Very Lost
by Jrjw inhi i've been a jw for 12 years and got married 2 years ago.
i'm now separated.
my husband hid from me that he suffered from depression, extreme anxiety issues and a personality disorder.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
There is a sister from my congregation who is 23 years old whose circumstances mirror yours. I actually was going to PM you to ask if you are her, until I read your age. This sister has been separated from her husband for two years now. And she has resigned herself to being single for the rest of her life because of her husband's extreme depressive and disordered personality type. Like you, she was lured into the marriage under false pretenses. It wasn't 'til after the vows were exchanged that he showed his true colors. My heart aches for her. Woman in her prime, much like yourself, shackled to a WT-honed conscience that forbids her to move on with her life.
I always wondered about that scripture in Matthew 5:28 where it speaks about anyone looking at another woman lustfully having committed adultery in his heart. As a red-blooded male, there's no way your husband has not viewed pornorgaphic images or oogled another woman he's seen walk by. Does this mean he has given you grounds to divorce? The adultery may have been committed in his heart, but as we know... "out of the abundance of the heart..." (Matt 12:34). Jesus considered the heart condition to be very serious and VERY real. Furthermore, your husband has proven himself to be a liar. Remember the "Walking in Integrity" song from the brown songbook? "I do not sit... with wi-cked men of liiieeess. I hate the com-pa-ny... of those who truth de-spiiiise" (see Ps 101:7).
I know this won't pass over your elders at all who are operating under the strict guidelines set forth in their confidential manual (PDF of Shepherd the Flock of God: https://thetruthofjehowaswittness.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/jehovas-vitner.pdf), but maybe it will ease your conscience so you don't feel so damned by Jehovah for taking a stand and filing for the divorce you so clearly are entitled to.
Another thing to add is, the standards set forth in the Bible may seem timeless and put into practice by Jehovah's Witnesses, but even Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body has admitted that the organization's policies are in tune with sociological changes in this current millennia. Children are not stoned to death for disobedience within the organization. They are punished in ways that preserve their lives. Likewise, consider the marital arrangement among the ancient Israelites: a raped woman was considered unmarriageable. HOWEVER, her rapist was legally entitled to force his victim to marry HIM, should he decide to "own" her. If you consider humans to have been closer to perfection all that time ago, then you'd have to agree that such personality disorders and psychological dysfunction did not exist so close to Adam and Eve in such a simple, non-industrialized society. Therefore, grounds for divorce over such serious matters and psychological abuse were not written about since there was no reference to draw from. It's the same reason Jehovah's Witnesses will not smoke a cigarette. Tobacco use is not mentioned in the Bible because cigarettes did not exist. Yet, the principle has transcended through sociological and technological developments over the centuries. The same should be true for psychological developments.
Please know that should you formally divorce and remarry despite no physical adultery occurring on the part of your current husband, you are, by default, forgiven. This is the whole essence of Christ's ransom sacrifice that is completely brushed aside by WT theology which reconvicts your sins and punishes you also (estrangement from all the people you've become close to and loved in the organization). Romans 4:5 says that "...to the man who does NOT work but puts faith in the One who declares the ungodly one righteous, his faith is counted as righteousness". This scripture is actually contrasting faith with works (in your case, your works would be remaining single/celibate and grossly deceived for the rest of your life).
You sound like a really sincere woman who values her relationship with Jehovah and has put her faith in Him. If you can put your fear of man (the elders and WT policy) aside and concentrate on His word, you may find it heart-warming that God has the magnanimity to justify the "ungodly" - not just the good people - by faith, since faith is reckoned as righteousness. You are righteous, no matter what decision you make in your life, @Jrjw.Reflect on Romans 4:5, Romans 5:1, Romans 3, Romans 10, and Ephesians 2:8,9 (which states "By this underserved kindness you have been saved through faith... No, it is not the result of works..."). You don't deserve to be treated "differently" by the people you once held dear. And if these friends have got you feeling so lost and unheard and resorting to an anonymous online forum just so you can vent... then I have news for you, sweetie. These are not friends. These are acquaintances who have been indoctrinated to like you for who they WANT you to be - another Jehovah's Witness in good standing who fills out the cookie-cutter mold shaped by a religious hierarchy in New York.You deserve to be heard. You deserve to be free. You deserve to be accepted.You deserve to be you. -
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Brain tumor causes woman to become JW (4 times!)
by Anders Andersen inwhy one woman mysteriously started hearing 'divine' voices.
after doctors admitted the woman to the psychiatric unit of the hospital, they learned that this wasn't the first time she felt a strong interest in religion and spirituality.
she described four previous times in her life, beginning at age 13 and again at ages 23, 32 and 41, when she experienced periods of intense spiritual and religious devotion.during these periods, which lasted about a year or two, she would join jehovah's witnesses and then later resign, when she lost interest, according to the report.as part of her psychiatric evaluation, the woman also underwent an mri.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
@pale.emperor Like this:
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Isiah 65:17 (Memory wipe?)
by pleaseresearch in“for behold, i create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.. i need some help with this please guys and gals.
what is this implying?
god will wipe those past memories, the past system of things from our minds?
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
Humans are mere pawns to the Big Guy upstairs. Remember - the issue of sovereignty is being proved to the spirit creatures who witnessed the scene in the Garden of Eden. That's supposedly why God didn't just delete Adam and Eve and Satan and start anew. -
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Positive Topic - ‘Good Elders’ or Extra Special Kindness shown by elders
by Farmer Jim1 inafter the last topic getting me mad, does anyone have a positive experience of dealing with an elder or a particular favourite elder that was a top bloke?.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
@stuckinarut2 I got a bit emotional reading that. Thank you for paying homage to Wake Me Up Sr. This man has such a brilliant mind. He is a scholar in his own right with a capacity for knowledge that sometimes appears to be limitless. And after more than half a century of service to Watchtower, his potential has been completely encumbered. Such a waste that saddens me to no end.
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Charismatic People
by Coded Logic ini was writing about a friend of mine.
i'm a little curious if anyone else knows people like this too.. if personal inquiries were bullets then you’re charisma would be the stuff of ceramic plates and kevlar vests.
i say that because most of these charismatic people i know use their charm to relate to other people.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
There's a chance your friend isn't acting out of malice or sheer calculation.
It may well be that the individual you are referring to is so damaged that they're simply operating out of self-preservation. By cloaking distance with charm and witty repartee, your friend is simply trying to fulfill their human need for social interaction whilst remaining emotionally secluded in safety.
You cannot get hurt when the people around you aren't psychologically close enough to hurt you.
You're dealing with a very broken individual, @Coded Logic. I know this because you may as well have been writing about me.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
What the Society does in court for its pedophiles:
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Is the name Jehovah`s Witnesses a misnomer ?
by smiddy3 ini ask this because from what i read on this board lately is that they jw`s seem to be very reluctant to engage in conversation with anybody nowadays and are only interested in placing literature at carts.. and if anyone brings up questions in their d2d work that challenge them ( like the arc ) they will promptly excuse themselves and move on.
also didn`t jesus say "this good news of the kingdom would be preached in all the inhabited earth " for a witness ?.
when was the last time you heard a jw speak about "the good news of the kingdom" ?
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
@The Fall Guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c1qQ_BaTHI&t=63s
This Witness says that they're called Jehovah's Witnesses because they imitate Jesus' example to give honor to his father, or something.
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
He looks like a Minion in that pic.
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"Are you humble enough to admit you were wrong?"
by stuckinarut2 inthat is a question i want to calmly and politely ask a witness next time i interact with them.
perhaps at a cart.. "the bible says we should be humble.
may i ask, are you humble enough to admit you were wrong on things you believe?
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Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho
@stillin Oh yeah. Also, "I can appreciate you feel that way" - such a word game. It's not a "feeling" we have, but rather cold, hard, simple facts. By relegating what we're saying to a mere feeling, the JWs have no issue mentally dismissing the points we raise. And "well, it seems you've already made your mind up about these things and the Witnesses, so there's no point getting into it further" - I'm sorry... whose mind is the one firmly made up? We're open to reason and discussion and varying opinions. We're not the ones terminating conversations with such a quaint cliche. And "we're not here to debate." Of course not. You're here to preach AT people, no matter how many times you say, "we love to discuss the Bible with people and learn more about them."