Posts by Acts5v29

161

I am leaving the JW's . I am alone and scared. Advice and help needed please

by scared and lonely in

i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.

i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.

i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.

I am leaving the JW's . I am alone and scared. Advice and help needed please

by scared and lonely in

i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.

i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.

i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.

Acts5v29

Good morning scared and lonely

That is a really kind offer and I am genuinely very grateful. I am outside of the London area (a lot further up the M1) and couldn't afford to move to London but I appreciate the gesture very much.

it sounds like you are too far away from me to meet, but I wish you well. PM me if you want, and we can chat.

best wishes,

475

What is the alternative to JW?

by Formerbrother in

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?

Acts5v29

Good morning Outlaw,

you're asking about beyond the rescue and beyond Armageddon, yes?

We can be trusting of people - become conned now and then, go home and weep a little and carry on the next day a little wiser - or we can distrust everyone and so never be conned; but it is less painful to be conned once or twice by others than to con ourselves every day with paranoia, and everyone around us will see the damage. We have all had questions like yours - I certainly did - but they just prevented me from looking either ahead or around me properly.

You can answer your question yourself, with a little thought... would you like to try?

God could have prevented Mankind from usurping His authority over the earth, but instead let us learn for ourselves that we would bring about our own demise. Well we're learning that, if reluctantly, and He will intervene; it will be hard to imagine how anyone could disbelieve in Him when they see that, or could feel that He is not benevolent. That kind of experience changes people - whatever their demeanour, whatever their distrust beforehand.

His rescue of us marks the start of the return to what the earth should always have been - it has to reach its fruition, because like it or not we do not own the earth: it is His - see the Prodigal Son illustration. It will not be filled with reluctance, nor frightened people as at church, but with people cared for by their Father Who - cruelly - has been deprived of that role since we took independence from Him. Armageddon come because those who will want independence will fight implacably to take everything, which is the nature of independence: it does not settle for what it has.

But others - you mention both gays, those who do not feel much for God, and so on - are bound to be influenced by the benevolence of those years; don't we all draw close to things which are good for us? Besides, is someone just gay, or are they a many-facetted person who expresses some of their love in that way toward some people? Do you know how many people have left interests behind because they find something better? - not through injury, or demand, or censure, but because they find and choose something which moves them forward? Sexuality is one thing, being an artist another, being a novelist, or a teacher - and I loved to teach, but do not now - when we find something better, then that becomes our foremost defining characteristic.

When we look ahead for answers - asking a God we do not believe in to have shown a perfect plan - it helps to consider how some of His more imminent actions will affect us first, before postulating on those far ahead. We might just have a clearer view that way.

475

What is the alternative to JW?

by Formerbrother in

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?

Acts5v29

That does not say we have followers - but for the record, we don't.

161

I am leaving the JW's . I am alone and scared. Advice and help needed please

by scared and lonely in

i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.

i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.

i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.

Acts5v29

In a sense, this thread is testing us out here.

People wonder why brothers stay in the congregation, then are amazed that the prospect of simultaneous homelessness and unemployment are a hindrance.

I'm sure we can be supportive without the "grow up" advice.

161

I am leaving the JW's . I am alone and scared. Advice and help needed please

by scared and lonely in

i am sorry that on my first post i am asking for help and advice but i am at my wits end.

i have been brought up a witness all my life and it is all i know.

i am an ex-elder and pioneer and i don't know anybody outside of the congregation.. i have been unhappy for so long and wanted to leave.

Acts5v29

Good evening scared and lonely,

Firstly accept my sincere concern and best wishes for you in the brave and difficult decision you have taken.

Speaking with people here, you're likely feeling a separation between the brothers whom you are afraid will reject you, and the people here who are empathetic - the two just don't mix do they, so it will take a deep breath before you leave. It is all too easy to leave with anger or a rejection of the Bible, much harder to leave with your own character intact - but you can do it. When we feel the normality, we realise it is different from what we're used to - so different that, we imagine, the warnings that it is wrong resonate feverishly - but don't worry: you've found clear air to breathe.

Advice? talk to people here who you feel comfortable with - they'll feel simply grateful to talk to you! - and let that normality feel safe rather than something to fear. If you still believe in God and see Him as separate from the watchtower - if you still have the heart for Him - don't be afraid to talk to Him; love of God is more than just beliefs.

sincerely,

Acts5v29

475

What is the alternative to JW?

by Formerbrother in

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?

Acts5v29

Good evening Outlaw,

I too can think of and personally know gay people who are far more decent than others who are religious - both gays, and atheists, and quite angry people who are only really angry because they are damaged rather than nasty.

If I might say: you know that religions preach something very different to what our ministry declares and purport to speak on everything - but our ministry just knows about the context surrounding- and the end of- this era, while the reason and purpose for Armageddon is clear simply by removing religions' distortions. Since the ministry is not a religion - more a preaching of a specific message, just as John the Baptist has a specific message - so I would not know how to answer your question of 'ALL PEOPLE' outside of what I've already said: everyone survives God's intervention, and only the rebellious fighters against Christ are killed at Armageddon.

That said: the God I worship sees sincerity and heart - not beliefs, not church membership - also circumstances, and historical damage against us - and life is not about rules, but living. Whatever our foibles (and I have had plenty) I have found there is something better which makes them not really important - or rather, not an issue anymore. If God can do that in people, then everyone has the potential to live very happily without feeling deprived or restrained.

.

52

Does the WT attract needy dysfunctional type of people?

by William Penwell in

in your personal experience, do you think that the wt attracts needy types of people?

over the years, my experience is that they do attract very needy, insecure, dysfunctional, types.

i had an acquaintance that i just basically cut off.

Acts5v29

There is a way forward - show them that God is not judgemental, that He is not expecting us to find truth amongst a Babel of religions, that there is no finishing line to cross - in other words, show that He is not threatening.

83

Christadelphian

by Billy1000 in

my name is stephen and i am new to the forum.

i am a christadelphian and through my discussions with fellow members of my ecclesia it has inspired me to reach out to other religions to find out exactly what others believe to enhance my own faith and further bring me closer to our heavenly father.

in no way do i mean disrespect if it has been caused.

Acts5v29

I think there will be cherry-picking until we give loyalty to God rather than to our church or to our own beliefs. We have to be willing to admit we don't know, or that we are wrong on something - then our recommendation can be for individual cherries rather than the baskets which harbour them.

26

Bets on when the UN prophecy will be dropped?

by marmot in

now that i'm free to bet, i figured it would be neat to start a pool on when the watchtower is going to change light bulbs on the prophecy about the united nations turning on worldwide religion.

there is no doubt in my mind that this prediction will be dropped.

not only is this the longest-running unchanged prediction in the wt's history (1925 and 1975 had much shorter gestations) it's the last detailed concrete prediction the society has left in its bag of tricks.

Acts5v29

Any group which uses fear to make people believe something has no allegiance with God