Sauerkraut

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Posts by Sauerkraut

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  20

  MEET MOJO!

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. family

  see, i can do fluff too!

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  Sauerkraut

  Nicolaou, that's a cute little guy. Can I come and visit?
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  7

  Daily Text

  by Sauerkraut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  sometimes i still take a quick glance at the daily test, usually to remind myself what i don't miss.

  yesterday's and today's texts caught my eye, they were both very guilt inducing, as usual.. yesterday's text:.

  "thursday, october 18- here i am!

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  Sauerkraut

  @Jgnat: serving God is far more individual than Witnesses believe, I'm still getting used to that myself. We can choose what we can and want to do for God, as Witnesses it's always about someone elses standards and expectations. The publications teach we shouldn't do anything out of compulsion, but everything in Witness life is about compulsion.

  "It is supposed to be easy, I said, that is what Jesus promised. If the chore is burden, it is not from Christ." Well said.

  @BoC: guilt and fear, exactly! I'm only now fully realizing all the fear I had inside.
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  7

  Daily Text

  by Sauerkraut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  sometimes i still take a quick glance at the daily test, usually to remind myself what i don't miss.

  yesterday's and today's texts caught my eye, they were both very guilt inducing, as usual.. yesterday's text:.

  "thursday, october 18- here i am!

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  Sauerkraut

  Sometimes I still take a quick glance at the Daily Test, usually to remind myself what I don't miss. Yesterday's and today's texts caught my eye, they were both very guilt inducing, as usual.

  Yesterday's text:

  "Thursday, October 18- Here I am! Send me.—Isa. 6:8.

  Gaining God’s approval involves the proper exercise of our free will. This is because Jehovah does not coerce anyone into serving him. In Isaiah’s time, He asked: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” By recognizing the prophet’s right to decide, Jehovah dignified him. Imagine Isaiah’s satisfaction in responding with the words of today’s text. Humans are free to serve God or not to do so. Jehovah wants us to serve him willingly. (Josh. 24:15) Any who begrudge God their worship cannot be pleasing to him; nor does he accept the devotion of those whose true intent is only to please other humans. (Col. 3:22) If we rendered sacred service “hesitantly” by allowing worldly interests to interfere with our worship, we would not win God’s approval. (Ex. 22:29) Jehovah knows that serving him whole-souled is good for us. Moses urged the Israelites to choose life ‘by loving Jehovah their God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him.’—Deut. 30:19, 20. w11 2/15 2:8, 9"

  It's no wonder that very often I thought it was impossible to please God and get throught the Great Tribulation safely. Sometimes I no longer even cared if I'd make it or not, not being alive didn't seem so bad to me. The thing is, the Org makes worship tedious, boring, uninspired, a matter of keeping up appearances. You are constantly pressured to do this and do that, do more, stop wasting time, don't think about yourself and your needs and wants. You can do that later. Under these circumstances how can people not serve begrudgingly? It's hardly surprising. In the last years I noticed that the majority of Witnesses are tired, worn out and just want the end to come, so they can be done with their routines. Life is passing them by. It's really great to be free of all these tedious routines, it's refreshing for the mind and the whole being.

  The writers always like to speak for God, their version of God is one that is never pleased, always demanding, seems to like watching his servants tire out and have as little joy as possible.

  Here's today's text:

  "Friday, October 19- Let us also put off every weight . . . , and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.—Heb. 12:1.

  Likening the Christian life course to a long-distance footrace, the apostle Paul recommended the above. His point was that we must avoid needless pursuits, needless weights, that will tire us out. It may be that some of us are simply trying to squeeze too much into already busy lives. So if you often feel tired and under pressure, you might benefit from reviewing how you meet the demands of secular work, the frequency with which you travel for pleasure, and the intensity with which you pursue sports or other leisure activities. Reasonableness and modesty should move all of us to recognize our limitations and keep unnecessary commitments to a minimum. Do not let fatigue cause you to miss out on eternal blessings. Every trial—whether caused by temptation, tiredness, or discouragement—will pass, if not immediately, then in God’s new world. w11 1/15 4:16, 18"

  It's fascinating how these two daily text comments tie in nicely. Again there is this "do more, stop wasting your time you idiot" undertone. Who decides what needless pursuits are? Everything is needless to the writers of these articles. If you're not pioneering, you have to be caught up in plenty of needless pursuits! They live in their sheltered little WT-Disney-World not having to worry about daily chores, about making a living and providing for yourself and your family, trying to not let your home become a mess... it seems easy for them to worry about needless pursuits. Perhaps they should cut down on meetings, one weekly meeting and folks might be doing better already. They just might be less tired out. But nah, they have to be under control, kept on a tight leash. Life as a JW= "trying to squeeze too much into already busy lives". But the problem is hardly the secular part of life, it's just a part of how we have to live these days, if we want to survive. How many people have little funds to even think about travel for pleasure? How much traveling do the members of the Governing Body do, for which they don't have to pay, but the hardworking, hardpressed Witnesses do? The Org leaders are the ones who force too much into already too busy lives of people. The most unnecessary commitment anyone can make: become a Jehovah's Witness. Even if you believe in God, like I do, you can serve him far better by not being a Witness.

  I bet all the Witnesses who read these daily texts are feeling so much better now. They must be overflowing with energy and positivity.
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  14

  Annointed JW Website Responds to "New Light" on FDS

  by Eustace in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on october 7, 2012, we received the following comment and inquiries:.

  today there is a new post [on another website] commenting on the "new light" of the governing body about the identity of the "faithful discreet slave.

  " i think this "new light" from the governing body is intended to weaken the new stand of witnesses who are partaking in the emblems.

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  Sauerkraut

  @Pterist: Thanks for that info, it seems you are right. I had always been a bit puzzled by the somewhat esoteric/New Age-ish beliefs that they seem to have.

  ---

  
  Here is the latest article on their site: https://anointedjw.org/Governing_Body_Myth.html

  T he most interesting part to me: "... In spite of the clearly expressed model of Christian organization in the Bible, the fact remains that the Governing Body is at the helm of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses and is exercising authority according to its own understanding of its role. So how should we as individuals respond?
  
  Is this an opportunity for us to attack our Governing Body as false leaders? Should we berate them as apostates? Should we revolt? No! Definitely not! When knowledge causes one to attack, such an attacker has only gained facts, not truth...

  A wiser course is to appeal to our governing brothers’ sense of reason and their own representation that they ‘follow the lamb wherever he goes.’ (Revelation 14:4) At the same time, we stand firm in our loyalty to the Father and to the Christ, and we obey men only so far as such obedience does not infringe on our superior obligations to the Father. (Acts 5:29)
  We must acknowledge that such a change may take time. Perhaps our governing brothers are trying to pivot to a position more in line with the scriptures and with the leadings of the Spirit of Truth. We will know more when we receive the article explaining the “new light” about the identity of the Faithful and Discreet Slave, which we expect in January 2013... "
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  10

  Mark 3:5, "And he looked at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart..."

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is a quote from the book continue follow me:.

  15 we can be sure that the king is angry when he sees the lovelessness that prevails on the earth today.

  we might recall how the pharisees criticized jesus for performing cures on the sabbath.

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  Sauerkraut

  Good thought Londo. Thanks for sharing.
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  1

  Sauerkraut youve got mail :)

  by Gefangene in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  Sauerkraut

  Angekommen. Thanks.
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  98

  Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT

  by LostGeneration in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  solomon alluded to it yesterday in a thread, i found the online large print pdfs here, not sure where the regular version is yet.

  here are the full paragraphs, grab your barf bags .

  19 on the other hand, if you choose the path of resentment.

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  Sauerkraut

  ^That's really sad Xanthippe. It's hard not to become bitter with people who treat others like that.
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  39

  My first own thread on here. Woken up and still in :(

  by Gefangene in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been around in this forum a lot but haven't written much yet.. also i had a more or less rude awakening when i realized that the religion i grew up with, the religion i sacrificed a lot for and considered to be the 'truth' is nothing but mere bs.

  it's quite a brick to digest.. my parents both are jws, elder and pioneer.

  very good people but also very brainwashed.

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  Sauerkraut

  @Gefangene: you have a PM. Which German exJW forum do you mean?
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  40

  I posted Cedars vid on Gerrit, higher education and OCD on my real jw friend's facebook pages . Greetings from Norway to GB and Gerrit! Love from Healthworker

  by Healthworker in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jc on the way!

  story to be continued!.

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  Sauerkraut

  Hi Bro,

  I'm sad it's come to this, but also impressed by how brave and courageous you've been. Keep your head up!

  "So the elder asked me yesterday if I believe that God uses the GB. My reply was that I simply cannot say that for sure. But that I believe that Gerrit is mentally sick maybe suffering from dementia and that he should not travel the world with his crazy talks." That is priceless!

  Remember: they elders have no real authority, they're just willing puppets.

  Best wishes Bro!

  -Kraut
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  14

  How Many Hours Did You Spend Going to the Meetings and Ministry?

  by God_Delusion in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i spent far too many.

  in fact, i recently created a spreadsheet and documented how many hours i spent in total per week.

  it's so depressing.

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  Sauerkraut

  I really, really don't want to even think about it.