Posts by Newly Enlightened

103

New here and just sick!

by msconcerned in

jw
friends

hello, i am new and i feel soooo wrong about being here.

anyway i am an m.s and have been disillusioned ever since the new understanding that came out in october.

i have read many things on this board that i have and also have not thought about.

WELCOME MS! I am also a current JW and fairly new here to this site. i know how you feel. I had a knot in my stomach the first time I came here & it took me 4 months before i dared to start posting. I also had several questions and thanks to this site, jwfacts, jwstruggle, jwsurvey I've been able to figure quite alot of things out. Give yourself time. i do not like the term 'apostate' myself, because I am staying loyal to God & Jesus [i don't like to use the name Jehovah anymore because of the research I have done] I've put the link below that you might find interesting: http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/is-gods-name-yahweh-or-jehovah Here's a thought from my husband who served as an MS for 8 yrs and a regular pioneer for 2- As you do your research, eventually you will discover under the theory 'New light' how many things have been changed, flip-flopped,& reversed thru the years, at some point 2 Tim 3:7 has to be considered. "Always learning, yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth" Pray for wisdom and truth. Happy journey, and remember this...If a man/woman does not hold true to their conscience then truly, they have NO conscience. Sooner or later my brother the allusion will meet up with reality. Then your reality will change just like ours. Shalom

50

Revelation 14:3 Who sings the new song???????

by label licker in

in society's revelation book chapter 29 verse 10 on page 201 states the 24 elders are 144,000 and all are singing the same song, how can that be?

in their bible the only ones that can master that song is the 144,000. not the four living creatures nor the elders.

this 144,000 group is standing before the 24 elders.

Newly Enlightened

Then when you read the WTS explanation, it's the most ridiculous sounding thing ever. This puzzled me for years. How can the 24 elders possibly be the 144,000 only in a different viewpoint? Wouldn't they still know the song? Doesn't make much sense to me.

25

WTBTS and the Red Cross?

by The Song Remains The Same in

hi all, i'm new but have read an awful lot here plus jwfacts and jwsurvey over the past months, also the coc book.. i'm not a jw (and never will be) but have a wife who is a 'want-to-be' jw.

this is quite a challenge for me as i already had an idea on some of the points jws stick to, but now with everything i have learned about the high-control methods, the changing doctrines, and the cover-ups, it's a real concern.... anyway, i was putting forward the notion that jw's don't help anyone in disaster zones, except jws, or by giving out wt tracts or magazines (which would be really useful to homeless, hungry and cold families).

she didn't know, and doubted it, so i told her to ask an elder if the wt provides assistance at all anywhere.. she reported back that the elder said the wt does contribute to the red cross.

Newly Enlightened

I know that I'm getting 'off' topic but my friend wanted to add something to my comments above that I forgot to add:

The other thing I thought was adding insult to injury was that in the "Hub"- the warehouse where materials were stored, meals served, work groups organized, etc.- they had donation boxes in obvious places! Really? These brothers all paid their own way to get there, took time off of work, paid their own expenses while they were there, etc., and the WT has the audacity to expect them to donate even more!! How much is enough? You know that the "guilt factor" would come into play- hell, even I donated cash when I saw the boxes, felt that, even though I was already doing what I could, if I didn't give more I was being 'selfish'. Oh, and six months of lost work in addition to no insurance/paying my own medical expenses due to the fungal infection I got as a direct result of volunteering my time- I paid for that too.

11

Faith with out FEARS is dead....

by Fed-up in

isn't that the way the scripture goes?

it's more accurate, i think.. one of the comments on one of the threads (sorry, i'd give due credit, but can't find it again) mentions someone finally being able to size up jw's as one would any other religion.

indeed, he that is under fear has not been made perfect in love.

Newly Enlightened

Welcome to the newly enlightened! I was raised a JW [49 yrs] and as my post name says I am newly enlightened also. You're right! I just watched an interesting documentary called 'Marks of a cult:Bibical analysis' by Eric Holmberg. JW's were the first cult they discussed. It's funny tho, how each one of the cults ALL say they are the channel thru God and you cannot understand the bible without THEM! BS! I'm reading the bible anew in a different light [without WTS blinders] and I got myself several other translations and I'm seeing things for what they really say.

May God bless you on your journey. [I personally don't use the name Jehovah anymore since it is an invented name by a Catholic monk]

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/is-gods-name-yahweh-or-jehovah

25

WTBTS and the Red Cross?

by The Song Remains The Same in

hi all, i'm new but have read an awful lot here plus jwfacts and jwsurvey over the past months, also the coc book.. i'm not a jw (and never will be) but have a wife who is a 'want-to-be' jw.

this is quite a challenge for me as i already had an idea on some of the points jws stick to, but now with everything i have learned about the high-control methods, the changing doctrines, and the cover-ups, it's a real concern.... anyway, i was putting forward the notion that jw's don't help anyone in disaster zones, except jws, or by giving out wt tracts or magazines (which would be really useful to homeless, hungry and cold families).

she didn't know, and doubted it, so i told her to ask an elder if the wt provides assistance at all anywhere.. she reported back that the elder said the wt does contribute to the red cross.

Newly Enlightened

I've been a JW my entire life [49 yrs] and the only information I can find is that they donate only to their OWN organizations and corporations. They do absolutely nothing to help others in the world. After Katrina, down South. I had a friend of mine donate his time to go down and help fellow JW's clean and fix their homes. He was working on a JW crew that would clean mold out of JW's homes. He heard personally on several occasions that when the crews were done with the brother's homes. The supervisor would tell the homeowner. "Now if we were a 'worldly' business we would have charged you $XX,XXX for the work we did. But since the WTB$ is doing this voluntarily and free of charge, all we ask is that when you get your insurance money, consider donating it to the organization." He also said that almost ALL material was donated by someone ELSE and brothers like him had to pay for all their own expenses. He ended up with a horrible lung fungus that almost killed him. He had to go back home and the elders critisized HIM for missing meetings!

13

When Did You Stop Attending The Memorial At the Hall? Celebrate L.E.M. With Friends Online?

by ÁrbolesdeArabia in

i am still new to the business of fading and once i stop attending the memorial with all the dubs around me, my former friends will definitly put my shepherding call on hold.

i am sure some of the friends faded quick and never turn their back toward the kingdom hall again.

i am curious if others took a longer approach to fading and dropping off completly.

Newly Enlightened

Gojira is correct. After 'observing' only, for 45 years, and after thorough research, Her father & I have come to the conclusion that ALL of Christ disciples should partake. So we will quietly be celebrating at home.

Unleaven Bread recipe:

1 cup Whole wheat flour, 2 Tbls Ex-Virgin Olive Oil, 1/2 cup Water. Mix well. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes

30

Should Jehovah's Witnesses be added to the Wikipedia article on Doomsday Cults?

by jwfacts in

there is discussion of doomsday cults at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/doomsday_cult, and much of it aligns closely with watchtower predictions and behaviour, so i was wondering why jehovah's witnesses are not mentioned.

here are some quotes from the article:.

doomsday cult is an expression used to describe groups who believe in apocalypticism and millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastrophe and destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about.

Newly Enlightened

Entirely Possible- Just get a Strong's Concordance and look on page 32 of the Hebrew & Chaldee Dictionary towards the back Item/Line # 1942 & 1943 then go to this link:

http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/is-gods-name-yahweh-or-jehovah

And read where the Name Jehovah came from. IT IS AN INVENTED NAME BY A CATHOLIC MONK IN THE 13TH CENTURY

52

One experience in our old Kingdom Hall that still HAUNTS me

by Newly Enlightened in

the following is a true experience and my daughter gojira101 will verify that it happened to her.

an experience from our family's past that still haunts me and started my questioning whether this is the true organization of god or not.. my daughter, who has always been a good kid, never gave us any problems [she's an adult now] started regular pioneering.

within a few weeks of her starting, she fell on a steep hill and tore open her knee and had to have several stitches.

Newly Enlightened

WOW! That's terrible. I just got done watching a documentary about 'Cults' which helps explain why the elders & higher ups treat people the way they do.

If you can over look their pro-trinity part, its called 'The Marks of a Cult: Bibical analysis" by Eric Holmberg

6

JW Comic Books, eh, "Illustrated Bible Stories"--Seen 'Em?

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/illustrated-bible-stories/.

my mom was showing these to my wife--kind of interesting.

haven't had any chance to look over them myself, though.

Newly Enlightened

A friend of my daughter, a pioneer sister, sent pictures to her showing the great success they're having with the barely illiterate foreign groups on the east coast. I seen the pictures from the pages of these 'comic book' and thought, scratching my head, OMG!

New all time low for WTS

42

I am new here and need help...or just a listening ear

by Fallingaway in

my husband and i have two small children, one of which recently became an unbaptised publisher and joined the school.

my husband is an elder and firmly committed to our family and loves me deeply as i love him.

i would like to find a way for all of us to fade away as we have family in the organization that we do not want to lose.

Newly Enlightened

Welcome dear sister Falling Away. I'm so sorry to hear about your victimization from others in the cong. I would tell the authorities about your molesting. Almost everyone on here hopes that the WTS would be exposed for the damage their child abuse policies have caused.

Our family feels for you because this is the exact same thing we have been going thru ourselves since this past summer. It's difficult because we always have this niggling doubt 'What if I'm wrong?" But the more we research, pray and read our bibles for what it says [without WTS literature telling us what it says] the more our minds get clear and the more we know that we're doing the right thing by 'fading away'. Not that I'm encouraging anyone to do so, that's just where OUR journey took us.

2 Th 2: 1-12 But pay close attention to vs 11 God allows the operation of error to go, so they will believe the lie." Ask your elder husband to read that scripture with you, then ask him if he knows where the lie is? If this is the true religion then we should not be operating under a lie? Here's one lie exposed, go to your Reasoning book pg 89 under subheading 'Cross' in that first paragraph you will see the [...] then the reference they quote. 'The Imperial Bible Dictionary" you can go to http://archive.org/stream/theimperialbible01unknuoft#page/377/mode/1up and you will see that the missing [...] from our Reasoning Book is saying something entirely different. Then as you start your journey of discover you will find, as we did, that 1 lie leads to another.

This past district convention there was a part entitled 'Motivating right-hearted ones to love their spiritual mother" In that demonstration the CO, says and I quote "The bible by itself does not shine thru as life-giving truths just by itself." Publisher "That's why Jehovah provides us with the organizaton." [Youtube has the audio of that demo] After hearing that, it raised a big red flag. To me that was an apostate saying. Since when does the bible NOT shine thru as life-giving truth?

Our recent 4/15 2013 WT http:/jw.org pg 29 A picture is worth a thousand words. If Jesus is Head of the congregation then where is he in this picture and organization? Cedars started a thread on this same website about this picture that you might find interesting.

Welcome again sister and if I could only relay 1 piece of advice do not be afraid of what MEN can do to you! Do not be afraid of exploring these website because the truth can stand up to scrutiny the lie cannot. also check out http:/jwfacts