Posts by doubtfull1799

12

Spiritual food from the org on the same level as the Bible?

by CitizenofEarth in

hello to you all again.. i just told my father:"be carefull that you do not put the so called spiritual food at the same level, or on the same pedestal, as the bible.

it is clear to me that they are not.

" to me, at the moment, this is self evident.

doubtfull1799

Great how the subtly imply in paragraph 4 that you are being "selfish" if your research interferes in the "unified Good news" and further imply that any independent research amounts to "foolish questionings." Then they go own to recommend studying a book that is now unavailable and out of print: "All Scripture in Inspired" Who knows how much longer the Insight books will still be relevant.

Notice to how they use a "straw man" argument in paragraph two - they use the extreme case of brothers publishing websites or holding conferences to try and de-legitimise what started out in paragraph 1 as just brothers "meeting together to discuss."

4

Reading Deuteronomy chapter 28 , oh my!

by Crazyguy in

what's telling chapter!

in the first 15 verses if one kept the laws and pure worship of the temples god things were great and you would be blessed.

but starting in verse 16 if you didn't holy cow!

doubtfull1799

Oh my indeed. 15 verses of blessings versus over 40 verses of cruel and horrible maledictions! And we are told, not just that Jehovah will "allow" them to happen, but that he will "delight" to inflict them personally! This flies in the face of JW theology.

41

Observations From an Ex-Elder Part 3 - Searching for the Lost Sheep

by doubtfull1799 in

"what man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?

" - luke 15:4. disclaimer: by posting the following observations i am not complaining.

i am happy to be left alone.

doubtfull1799

I think you're right millie210. There is an element of fear, and in the end they have no real answers, nothing to give.

41

Observations From an Ex-Elder Part 3 - Searching for the Lost Sheep

by doubtfull1799 in

"what man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?

" - luke 15:4. disclaimer: by posting the following observations i am not complaining.

i am happy to be left alone.

doubtfull1799

Thats very sad no-zombie. Thanks for sharing your story. It does seem that the so-called "brotherhood" is very flimsy when put to the test. There are always the exceptional people that will act like true brothers, the ones Proverbs talks about that are borne for times of distress, but they don't seem to be any more prevalent in the congregation than they are in the general population... It's nice that we could enjoy the brotherhood on a superficial level (always have something in common with people no matter where we went in the world), but on a deeper level, that brotherhood disintigrates.

41

Observations From an Ex-Elder Part 3 - Searching for the Lost Sheep

by doubtfull1799 in

"what man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?

" - luke 15:4. disclaimer: by posting the following observations i am not complaining.

i am happy to be left alone.

doubtfull1799

Incredible isn't it wozza that you should be discouraged from "helping" people!

41

Observations From an Ex-Elder Part 3 - Searching for the Lost Sheep

by doubtfull1799 in

"what man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?

" - luke 15:4. disclaimer: by posting the following observations i am not complaining.

i am happy to be left alone.

doubtfull1799

"What man among you with 100 sheep, on losing one of them, will not leave the 99 behind in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it?" - Luke 15:4

Disclaimer: By posting the following observations I am not complaining. I am happy to be left alone. I am happy not to be subject to re-indoctgrination attempts. They are just observations about the true application of scripture vss the lip service they give them.

This week is our Circuit Overseer's visit, and I just realised that this is now the second visit since the one I resigned at. How time flies. It's just hit me that given the two intervening visits, it must be about 12 months since I've been to a meeting.

I kind of expected I would receive a shepherding visit during the last visit but that never happened. So I thought surely this time they would bring the CO round to see me, especially considering my history with the org and that I was not so long ago one of their colleagues. But no, it appears they have no interest or desire to shepherd me with the CO. Of course I do not know if I have been discussed or not and what their reasons are. I can only guess that they feel there is no point as they have nothing to "offer" me that might help or change the situation in their favour. Heaven forbid they call just to see how I am?

As I may have previously mentioned there is one elder on the body that has made some attempts to message me and meet me for coffee and a social chat. And he was willing totally to me about any spiritual matters too. However none of the other 6 elders has even sent me so much as a text message, let alone communicate with me in any other way, such as call me or try to arrange a visit. They seem to think its MY responsibility to get in touch with them if I want help or social contact despite what Jesus said in the above quoted verse.

Surely I am the lost sheep in their eyes? Surely they should be seeking me out?

Their lack of effort in this regard is appalling to me and I believe it shows their true colours. That they are more concerned with, and too busy with, the 99 other sheep who remain in the fold to worry about "difficult" lost sheep like me! When I was still an elder, one of my friends in another congregation had a son that was leaving the truth, turning to evolution etc and on their request I was happy to meet with him every week for hours to discuss and debate with him evolution/creation and many other topics. I did not view him as "lost" or the "enemy" - I loved him, and I was happy to listen to and respect his point of view even though I argued opposite views. Would be nice to have the same consideration given to me and to be treated with the same dignity by all my ex-colleagues, not just one....

52

Australian Congregations announce Child Safeguarding Policy is available upon request

by wifibandit in

this week all congregations in australia have been instructed to make the following announcement:.

if a member of the congregation would like a copy of the child safeguarding policy of jehovah’s witnesses in australia, please see the coordinator of the body of elders or the secretary.. .

childsafeguardingpolicy-eau.pdf.

doubtfull1799

It doesn't even really read like a policy document so much as a list of all their apologetic arguments as to why they they don't need to have policies in place for child abuse.

6

Today's WT.... Modesty & Presumption...Missing Questions

by krismalone in

today's wt study spoke about being modest and avoid presumptuousness.

here are 7 questions that the watchtower forgot to add in the article.

questions to ask: .

doubtfull1799

Don't forget this one:

08. How did the GB show modesty by presumptuously proclaiming for over 100 years that they had been "appointed over ALL the Masters belongings" when they had not in fact received that appointment, as admitted to in the 2013 Watchtower study, which brought out the new light that that appointment will happen at the Great Tribulation?

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

doubtfull1799

I challenged my wife to provide JUST ONE example of a prayer that we have had answered. Something that we could be absolutely sure was Jehovah's intervention, that there was no other possible explanation, such as results due to our own efforts (from working in harmony with our prayers), the random kindness of strangers etc etc

Result: SILENCE

For anyone who still believes in prayer, can you answer the challenge any better? Can you provide one example, let alone a consistent pattern? Something to think about personally.

28

Part of Growing Up - Saying Goodbye to Invisible Friends?

by doubtfull1799 in

i don’t remember having any invisible friends when i was a really little boy, i don’t know if such a thing actually exists, i’ve only ever seen it in movies?

of course it might have looked to others like i was talking to someone on occasions, but i’m sure it would have just been me talking to myself.

the thing is though, i got introduced to an invisible friend in my pre-teens, and i kept the relationship going well into adulthood.

doubtfull1799

@S K Ditta - thank you, I did put it at the top - in the title! The end was for emphasis! ;-)