does anyone need to become a member of a religious organization to have access to the "truth"?
i mean, i never did know anything about the bible haven't a jw knocked my door.
it's only when i've had my regular study that i became interested with digging the truth.
sun_dae, you asked ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM... How could that happen without an organization?
It happens the only way it could happen...through the power of the Holy Spirit. Any other way inevitably leads to man dominating man to his injury.
PB
it's has been a hard few months for me.
i am just so sad i don't know where to begin.
i feel so lost in this world and i have lost all my friends and i feel so alone.
Hi Brooke,
Oh sweetie! My heart goes out to you. You're so young and have so much to live for to feel the way you're feeling. God, I hate that religion! But your story is so familiar. Tons of us have experienced it. I personally came from the place where you are. You're sooo much braver than I though. I wasn't able to fully express the state of being as clearly as you or to allow others to see my nakedness. We're all at different stages of the post-Watchtower experience. The good news is that it can and does get better.
I'll add my offer to PM if you want.
Sincerely,
PB
.
i am pretty sure this is what i am.
i would love to chat with anyone else who might want to sort some stuff out with me.. many thanks!.
Hi Im, I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in Nov of 1995. That's when I was born of the spirit. As an exjw, I hesitate to call and/or label myself as a "born again christian" because of all the misconceptions about that phrase. Some people use the phrase so casually that the uniqueness of the experience becomes jaded.
But concerning Jesus' words to Nicodemus in the 3nd chapter of John...yes, I can definitely say that I was born again, the Spirit gave birth/life to my spirit.
Would love to chat sometime. PB
Deceived
ladies and gents, how are you all?
great...now thats out of the way, i need you guys to do me a favour, i have been reading up on jws for the past three/four years, the people are pleasent enough and live fairly ordinary lives....some could say boring....(lets call up susie for a game of cards!!!!!
i come here with a problem....my problem is simple and clear cut, it could even be summed up in one word..."hope".
Hi And1 and welcome to the board. First of all, I think you should be commended for seeking more than one side of an issue. A person's faith is very important, but it is also extremely personal. That makes you personally responsible for the direction of that faith. You said:
when I ask JW friends why ppl fall out of the truth, the answer is "they couldnt handle it" --- "they wanted to do things their way not God's"
These are ridiculous statements. Life is much simpler when a person hands over their every semblance of individualism and freedom to a group of leaders that define, outline and enforce their every thought, belief and action. JW's live a life that's accountable, not to God, but to a psuedo-religious mag/book publishing empire. They share a false sense of security, thinking that as long as they follow their leaders edicts, then that will somehow save them through the great tribulation right into the new system. And if they die before then, they'll at least get a resurrection into that JW filled future. It's simply not so. Nobody can work their way to paradise. And JW's are in for a great disappointment.
The truth is that being free from that religion takes a person of great mental and emotional stamina. It takes a person of immense personal integrity to brave a path in search of Christian freedom. The truth is that many people who've left haven't arrived at that destination yet. They're still on their own personal path. Some may never get there. But to many the journey is better than being smothered under the slavery of an organization that claims they're the mouthpiece of God...a claim incidentally that is blasphemous to the God of Heaven.
I left because the 'truth' is not to be found within the WT organization, or in religion for that matter. I left because a relationship with God is and always has been more important to me than the acceptance of a particular group of people. I left because God wanted me to, and I'd rather do things God's way instead of the Watchtower Society's way.
PB
BTW, the Truth is a person.
here's my situation: .
i have four children (10,7,6,4).
my wife (now ex-wife) and i were not getting along very well five years ago.
Dear Brad,
We had a somewhat similar situation in our family just recently with my son and his girlfriend (now ex). My son let her convince him that the baby was his without doing a dna test. So when the baby was born, he signed the birth certificate and gave the baby his last name. Well, it's been a year now and I happened to do some research on the net about dna tests. There's such a thing as a non-court admissible test. That's the test we used and we purchased it from the link provided by another poster ->www.gtldna.com. The good thing about this type of test is that my son and the baby provided buccal (cheek) swabs, all without the mothers participation or knowledge. We had the results about 3 days after the lab received the specimens (online). The hard copy is on the way. This lab is associated with the University in Las Crucus NM. We were thrilled to learn that the baby is indeed my son's son. They use 16 genetic markers (more than a lot of others). Our results were a 99.999378476646% probability. My son's ex-girlfriend still doesn't know. And now there's no reason why she ever needs to know.
Just thought this might prove interesting...about you being able to look into it without anybody the wiser.
One other thought. When it came down to actually doing the test, it hurt my heart. We've fell in love with this baby and the only thing I could think of was what if he isn't my sons...what would happen to him? Would someone replace our place in his life and give him love? Who would provide for him and make sure he has what he needs? It was an answer to prayer that the results were what they were.
PB
facts and reality can get so distorted in the witness subculture that huge blind spots.
are created.
as the current saying goes, "they just don't get it".
IMO, the top 3 things a witness will never understand are:
1. The truth is a person (the Lord Jesus), and it is ONLY by acceptance of this person, preceeded by repentance (not just intellectually) that one can become a child of God. For this to be reality, one must see themselves as God sees them.
2. Salvation is real and a person can know they have it. But it is not found and can not be given by, earned, stolen, or coerced from ANY religion. IOW's, no religion or practice thereof is going to save anyone, period.
3. Mankind will be judged by how they treat Christ's brothers (they got that part right), but there's no human way of knowing exactly who these individuals are. Hence, Jesus' words to love your neighbor as yourself. Love never fails. (JW's conditional love doesn't meet the standard).
PB
jesus?, a "saint"?
one of the many pagan gods?
or satan himself?.
The God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, thru His mediatorship by the power of the Holy Spirit.
i'm sure there's been several threads regarding this subject.
but, i thought i would start one again.
sunday afternoon is my favorite time to watch movies.
Some of my favorite movies include in no particular order:
Pirates of the Carribean (mmmmmm, Johnny Depp)
Grease (mmmmmm, John Travolta)
Tombstone & Thunder Heart (mmmmmm, Val Kilmer)
Shrek I & II
But my all time favorite is The Matrix. This movie has more symbolic meaning to me than anything else I've ever watched. Too bad the writers ruined it all with Reloaded & Revolutions.
PB
for those here who still profess belief in god i'd like to know if religion is still an important/necessary part of that belief system.
if so, do you attend religious services?
which religion/belief system do you ascribe to?
Hi chappy, you asked:
For those here who still profess belief in God I'd like to know if religion is still an important/necessary part of that belief system. If so, do you attend religious services? Which religion/belief system do you ascribe to? If none, how do you worship or maintain a relationship with God? Do you feel that God looks "more favorably" on any particular belief system? Are there any that He rejects?
I do have an absolute belief in God and in a personal one-on-one relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Having that relationship (an actual event, not wishful thinking, whereby God made me His child)is developed and maintained by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. Religions are human-made institutions created for the express purpose of man's attempt to please some perceived higher power. It is in essence man's creation of god. Like Little Toe said, religion can be a stepping stone to belief in God and salvation, but religion in any form will not "save you." You have to step outside the box (leave the city if you will) and approach Christ directly. And a person must leave all of their "baggage" in the city, because any approach to Christ must be from a pure heart (a condition only God bring about). Baggage includes, but is not limited to, self and any preconceived perceptions and/or ideas that an individual places between themselves and God. A person must stand before God "just as they are" with no personas.
Belief systems are human creations. Various truths can be present in many of them. But that will not "save you" either. God rejects them out of hand as a means of salvation. Anyone that believes they can follow a certain set of beliefs (religion) and that God will somehow be indebted to them, is walking in darkness. Like AGuest said, God has provided a way. It is the narrow road. It is Christ Himself.
When God makes a person His child and places them into the Body of Christ, their very life is derived from Him. There is no other way.
PB
