time to take a break from debating religion.
take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?
how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?
Thank you Bonsai. We all need a bit of nature to watch and enjoy. It also is a good way to share gardening ideas with spring just around the corner...sighs 3 months and counting down.
Here is another tip:
If you have "ant" problems, plant some peonies away from your house. Ants and peonies have a symbiotic relationship.
time to take a break from debating religion.
take in a breath of fresh air and be healed by the wonders of nature around you.. how many of you have a garden?
how many have a nice flower patch to go with your vegetable garden?
blondie suggested someone start a thread with a list of books that are valuable to read when exiting the jws.. i will start.. i left the jws way back in the early 70s and didn't actually deprogram until into the 80s.. one of the first books i read was "the orwellian world of jehovah's witnesses" by gary and heather botting.
canadian exjws from calagary.
an excellent book and one that still resonates with young people today.
"The Kingdom of the Cults" by Walter Martin from 1983.
It's mostly likely outdated and maybe revised since my copy, but that helped see the lies and open my eyes.
for a while there i was confused as to what clam stood for .. ideas that crossed my mind .
christ left a ministry , or meeting .
children`s lives are mine .....( pedo`s in the borg ).
Maybe they had this in mind with all the dancing at the meetings?
this forum offers the stories of folks with as many variations as there are folks and a “great crowd” of lurkers whose stories may never be offered.
i am an outsider with a broken heart for some insiders that i love more than they know.
after reading nearly every “apostate” book ever written, lurking, being worn out searching the wt cd, i have come to an idea that i present for your appraisal..
findTheLost thanks. (worth more than $0.02) I am wondering if "find the lost" is your identity?
Long time ago before all the information on the internet about this organization, I DA'd myself and have been shunned for close to 30 years.
Right now I am trying to find my lost family members. I recently did find a niece posting here 9-12 years ago and that lifted my hope that others might have gotten out. Maybe I will find others as I lurk here.
As to my moniker...that is the reason...I am trying to FindTheLost.
this forum offers the stories of folks with as many variations as there are folks and a “great crowd” of lurkers whose stories may never be offered.
i am an outsider with a broken heart for some insiders that i love more than they know.
after reading nearly every “apostate” book ever written, lurking, being worn out searching the wt cd, i have come to an idea that i present for your appraisal..
@ Jerryh
If you renounce your belief and become a JW, your baptism will be to the Father, the Son and the spirit directed Organization. But, if you believe that you are born anew of the spirit and you confess Jesus as your savior, there is no room for you as a JW.
That is just my 2 cents for what it is worth.
i mean this with all due respect, i would like to hear from genuine people who think jw have it wrong and then what is the truth?.
im not talking about silly little quibbles here and there.. is jehovah real?
the the bible is word?
To: Formerbrother
Who else aprt from JW's really go by the entire Bible, ALL of it in its entirety? REALLY?
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
A really good explanation of this scripture from The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Pure religion] The word still presents the outward aspect of the devout life. Better perhaps, pure worship.
undefiled] The term seems chosen with special reference to the Pharisee’s scrupulous care to avoid anything that caused ceremonial defilement. Comp. Joh_18:28, “lest they should be defiled,” where the word is that commonly used in the LXX. for polluted, or being “unclean,” as in Lev_5:3; Lev_11:23. St James reproduces the teaching of our Lord, that the real defilement comes from within, not from without, that true purity is found in “giving alms of such things as we have” (Mar_7:20-23, Luk_11:40).
before God and the Father] The last word seems chosen with a special reference to the duty that follows. We worship the Father when we are like Him in our care for the orphans (Psa_68:5).
To visit] The Greek word implies somewhat more than that which we commonly attach to the English; “to care for,” “look after,” as in “God hath visited his people” (Luk_7:16).
Are you sure you want to stand by that statement of yours?
hello and thanks to everyone for participating on this forum it has really been of much value, for those of you that post here know that your words are not lost you never know who is reading your expressions, lives are being changed and nonsense challenged.
i’m not much of a writer so excuse my untrained writing style and grammar but i want to share my story to help anyone who is visiting here to see that we are real people, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who have come here for answers, there is no agenda, just searching for truth.
i hope my story will help others as so many here have helped me..
To: MarkofCane,
Thank you for your time and answers.
Don't beat yourself up to much, we were all presumptuous and condescending that we had the "truth" and everyone else were the poor sops that were going to be destroyed.
Take care
FTL
hello and thanks to everyone for participating on this forum it has really been of much value, for those of you that post here know that your words are not lost you never know who is reading your expressions, lives are being changed and nonsense challenged.
i’m not much of a writer so excuse my untrained writing style and grammar but i want to share my story to help anyone who is visiting here to see that we are real people, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters who have come here for answers, there is no agenda, just searching for truth.
i hope my story will help others as so many here have helped me..
What I really found interesting is this:
"This young couple we studied with never really asked us any question just went along with what the “Teach Book” said and what my take on it was. Well that changed that morning she had some prepared question that I would have never prepared for."
Do you think this "study" waited till you and your wife were more at ease and disarmed before attempting these questions? Do you feel they were waiting to witness to you about TTATT?
And,
Did you ever go back to the "study" and answer the questions or discuss your findings?
BTW, I am pretty new here too, so forgive my curious nature with questions and welcome to the forum.
this topic is not about men living sinfully at the time of their appointment as elders.
it is not about pedophile elders, although i've personally known three, two who were pedophiles at the time of their appointment by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.. first of all a quick summary of what jehovah's witnesses are taught about the appointment of elders and ministerial servants:.
before the visit of the circuit overseer, the local elders meet to consider who, if any, among the local congregation they will recommend as elders or .
