is god responsible for every good thing that happens in your life?
i ask this because a brother gave a talk several weeks ago and said that.
he said when anything positive happens, we must not assume it was by mere coincidence, but we have to have 100% confidence that jehovah cares for us and was involved.. however, people complain that jehovah doesn’t answer their prayers and are told you have to keep asking, you need to show him you really want it bad.
One of my pet peaves. I know of ones who pray about what to do about a faulty appliance and Jehovah gives them the idea to ring the manufacturer! Praise be!!
They pray about feeling too sick to go shopping and then Jehovah sends them a friend with groceries.
They believe Jehovah gave them all green lights on a trip home in peak hour and they didn't even have to pray about that.
It makes me so cross that they are arrogant enough to believe he will answer such prayers and not the prayer of others with actual problems - children experiencing abuse for example.
i remember growing up in the truth in the 70s, then the 80s, i was quite young, full of hope, dreams and beliefs that it was a wonderful organization of jehovah's witnesses....soon we would discover the world is not sun shines and rainbows in the jws...for my brother, david, it was more or less the same, he was full of zeal pioneering.then one day, the truth exploded, the teacher much older than my bro, was unmasked, the circus began...elders came rushing in, things went swiftly, only one way, the abuser used the bible to justify sexual intercourse with my brother while he was only 14...and things lasted for many months....my brother left the truth, but the pedophile though disfellowshipped was welcomed back in less than 2 months !all the scandal was hidden, no one came back to bring any help to my brother, they simply ignore him like he was the one responsible of all, no comfort, no care, this is like this.i don't know why i m still in... somehow, i think i have enough, not because i have heard too much, but because i have seen with my own eyes, all the things that they do inside, the manipulation, the pressure... bible is pure, but this... this has nothing to do with the teaching of jesus.
they pretend they are pure and white, but really, they are just men, doing bad like anywhere else.
the worst part, they don't take care of the ones suffering, and they only makes things worse with their stupid policies..
GoneRogue - I had a friend who got DFd at least 3 times. She was reinstated in 3 months each time. 3 months was the minimum time to be DFd in her congregation. I guess it may depend on whether or not the body of elders like you.
When we first got married someone told our families that we were not attending but we were.
Move and don't have your publisher cards sent over to the new congregation. Don't share your address with anyone and live your life and be happy.
Don't give the busy body spies another thought. If you don't start going and they don't have your address it won't take long for them to forget all about keeping any eye out for you.
Then the only thing you will have to deal with are your parents. That is the price of fading.
Hard decision to make because two years is a long time to invest.
Try not to feel guilt about ending it. You studied this religion with an open mind and have discovered it is not the only true religion. Now you are free to continue your search if you want to and broaden your knowledge.
You can feel proud that you are not easily led and cannot be socially influenced to join a group purely because the people are love bombing you.
i have been in crisis regarding the international problem of the way child abuse has been handled in the wt organization.
i have been dealing with serious health issues that made it necessary for me to go on permanent disability since 2015. since then my health has gotten worse making it nearly impossible to attend meetings.
in this period i have received no spiritual or other help of any kind.
Welcome! Your story is familiar. Out of sight out of mind is the norm. Have you noticed how your true, unconditional friends for life are in your congregation and when you move house and congregations you get a whole new bunch of true, unconditional friends and never see the ones from the previous congregation? This is the case even if you only move to the neighboring congregation a few minutes away.
There are unfortunately no true, unconditional friends in this cult. "Friends" are ones that can be seen to be spiritual by their attendance at the meetings and out field service. When you are no longer seen, it is assumed you have fallen away and are no longer considered fit association.
At first this is hard to deal with and you experience depression and then anger. Eventually you will come to a place where you feel free and happy that they leave you alone and you can spend time pursuing friendships with people who like you just the way you are.
i’m not interested in becoming a jehovah’s witness but have nothing against people who are, or whatever religion someone chooses to follow for that matter.
i am here because i have some questions regarding my family and i. .
my fiancé stopped going to church prior to us meeting.
It is commendable that you are the sort of person who will respect his right to freedom of religion and not hold him back from attending and worshipping however be aware that the same respect will not be given to you or your child by him or anyone else in this cult.
Their collective mind set is "if you are not with us, you are against us and worthy of an imminent death at the hands of our loving creator at the great day of God the almighty.,"
He will be pressured to get you to convert and it will cause tension in your relationship.
i think a lot these days about people who train you to be obedient without telling you that's what they're doing.
the thought occurred to me that that could be part of the idea of regional conventions.
it's not like they present much of anything new to the audience, it's the same old talks year after year, the same old information, yeah, repackaged a little, different themes, different illustrations, but the same information, obey the faithful slave, armageddon is imminent, go door-to-door, the usual.
One year when my father was terminally ill, I was sent to the convention for the morning stampede to ensure he got a seat close to the exit. 8.00am. On your marks, get set, go!!
Nearly got bowled over by an elderly woman with a walking frame. Lol.
I got good seats for my parents and sat there awaiting their arrival so I could find some seats for me, the area they were in was only for the elderly and infirm. A few minutes later an "all important" attendant approached me and told me off for sitting there. When I said these seats were for my parents, I got the third degree about how old and infirm they were exactly.
Made sure to come by later and double check that I had moved. I could see them from my seat way up higher in the stadium.
so i went to the memorial the other night, there's a kingdom hall on the bus route back from a local college where i was doing some research and admiring the architecture.
i'm in my street clothes, i look nice but i stood out like a sore thumb.
i went in as it started and got a seat in the back.
I think they share their bibles with those who don't have them as a way of trying to make people feel welcome and all warm and fuzzy. I do not think that lady had any sinister motives.
Too bad the "attendants' were having a "power" feeling and ended up making you feel unwelcome. I am sure others noticed too and they will have less attendees next year because of it.
probably not a popular opinion on here....and haven't been actively attending meetings since 1988....(i know i know a submarine attender) however thoroughly enjoyed attending this evening...was good to see lots of people i remember whilst growing up in this faith, they were genuine and the whole atmosphere was one of love.
sure if i suddenly wanted to become active again and didn't change my lifestyle they would drop me like a bomb.....however i haven't and won't and they didn't and don't.
this works for me.. i cannot demonize the witnesses on what i have seen tonight.
I went to the memorial tonight. Only person who said hello was the car park attendant. No love bombing here and not an atmosphere of love.
Just going through the motions.
I fell asleep too. Could not keep my eyes open.
Just on the love bombing though - I don't think those that are doing the love bombing have a sinister agenda. These are ones who have been socially influenced into believing that if you are not with them you will die very soon at the hand of God. Mostly they are sincere in trying to influence ones they know and were friends with, to return to the fold remember they too are victims of the cult mind control.
