i was thinking about this question recently after being at the meeting when new pioneers were announced for the 2013 service year.. we have a dozen or so pioneers in the congregation, and most are in their 20's.
some absolutely love the things they are taught and can't wait to spread the good news.. others in the congregation are going through the motions, tired of hearing the same old same old but have no way to change things now.
then there are a couple like me.
I started waking up in my early thirties but it took me until my late thirties to stop attending meeting and fs. Getting out into the work force and actually being around "worldly" people helped me see the world in a different light;
I guess you could say I had "new light" or like Hank Williams, "I saw the light!"
i happened to be reading this part of acts yesterday, ananias and sappira getting zapped for lying about keeping a portion of their profits.
it occurred to me, that is, like, oh my gawd, soooo old testament!
is there any other place in the new testament where a person was immediately executed by god for their error?
I found this on Gateway.com, Just googled ananias and sapphia. Seems the consensus is that God zapped them. I also understood the text to mean that God killed them.
"As Ananias listens to this expose (NIV's when Ananias heard this does not do justice to the simultaneous action indicated by the present participle), suddenly he falls down and dies (exepsyxen, used primarily in accounts of death as a result of divine judgment--Acts 5:10; 12:23; Judg 4:21). God, the knower of all hearts, has assessed Ananias's unrepentant heart and immediately judged him for his sin (contrast Acts 15:8).
Such a punishment, "death at the hands of heaven," was a recognized penalty in Old Testament and Jewish law....
Such discipline certainly has its deterrent value. The hasty, unceremonious burial of Ananias shows the believers recognize that God's judgment has fallen on one who by his embezzlement had violated the transparent unity of the Spirit-filled assembly (see Lev 10:6; Semahot 2:8). The young men (young in age, not office) cover his eyes and wrap his body in a shroud (synesteilan; the word systellontos, referring to a functionary related to burials, has been discovered on an inscription in a synagogue in Beth Shearim--see Safrai 1976:776). Without the traditional rituals of mourning, Ananias is taken outside the city and buried.Beautiful Conspirator (5:7-11)"
PHG
a member suggested this i am disassociated 3 years and divorced one with a life of hell marriage and brain washed but worn out fighting to get back that is nothing but a bunch of back stabbing people in that organization, brain washed and taught to divide familys, they want you in but not, its like football with them same type of plays.
i now have found people where i go that doesn't teach love the live this.
i had a abusive marriage, was wife of elder and 3 kids who lived hell because i was to follow the submission of a wife.
Welcome, Carla, we are here for you. Yes, we are from the same life, and what a HELL OF A LIFE that has been. There are brighter days ahead for you.
PHG,
when my children were young my ex and i looked forward to going to the fall fair.
we chose a rural fair as it was more interesting.
there were cattle shows, a chicken barn with all breeds of chickens, and of course all the displays of fruits and vegetables.
nuthouse escapee, like you, I have always enjoyed the Fall Fairs. My SIL once won first place with her cake. JWs find fault with everything; so glad I am out and can enjoy whatever I want.
Wing Commander, excellent answer, jws pick and choose their scriptures; disregard the ones they don't like or agree with.
PHG.
i happened to be reading this part of acts yesterday, ananias and sappira getting zapped for lying about keeping a portion of their profits.
it occurred to me, that is, like, oh my gawd, soooo old testament!
is there any other place in the new testament where a person was immediately executed by god for their error?
One of the reasons I stopped going to the meeting was because I felt I was not good enough and could not live up to all the borg required and that I would be zapped like those two. OH! the guilt trips. What type of God would
kill you without a trial, even the US doesn't do that re: Drew Peterson. He is not even going to be executed. I have alway found God to be very unfair; killing a man for trying to keep the Ark of the Covenant for falling?
PHG.
hi guys!
well the caca hit the fan!
a friend asked me why i am leaving the org and i told her.
Hang in there Sophie, I know it's hard. Your family may never understand but you have to do what is best for you. I hope they don't shun you but I am afarid they will. My last cousin, who was not in the org, decided to become a
jw and informed she would start shunning me and I was no longer welcome at her house. OUCH, THAT HURT! It is what it is. Stay strong for yourself.
PHG.
hello all, just wanted to update you all on my further steps in the exiting process (a process that may never end in some respects).
to set up a context for my update: my story in a nutshel-.
did a quick fade in the fall of 2009 to start going to university and escape a very unhappy living situation.
So glad things are going your way. What jerks to tell you you have to remain single until the "new order"/ sheer stupidity! So wise to get a University education; wish you all the best and keep us updated.
PHG
let me know how you get your fiber?.
jgnat, thanks for the infor.I have gone off wheat for weight loss, haven't lost any yet after 2 months. I have bought rice flour to try an make some biscuits and have tried quinoa. I eat chickpeas from a can. I will try the others you have mentioned.
university is going really good!
i'm meeting alot of different people.
friends are so much easier to make here with 'worldly ' people.
MsGrowingGirl, I am so happy for you. Enjoy yourself and as Billy said "don't get distracted and fall behind. Good to hear you joined a club and are making friends.
the recovering thinker.
hi, my name is bob, and i am a recovering thinker..... it started out innocently enough: i began thinking at meetings now and then to loosen up.
inevitably though, one thought led to another and soon i was more than just a theocratic thinker.
I think you have some thinking to do. Right now I think I'm going to bed. I think I need to get up early and continue reading my book, "The Anatomy of Thought."
Goodnight, PHG
