Posts by lriddle80

4

The heartless Witness and his treatment of his two brothers at their aunt's wake!

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

my cousin by marriage had a wake for his mom last night.

he's a jehovah's witness and so are his cousins ( 3 brothers ) .

two of the brothers are disfellowshipped and the oldest brother serves as a ministerial servant.. i walk in the funeral home and see one of the disfellowshipped brothers sitting in the last row of seats.

lriddle80

It was like that when my grandpa on my dad's side died. His son was disfellowshipped, so after the talk, at the after party the elders wouldn't come to it because he was there.

But then my other grandpa died and what bothered me is that he wasn't a believer of JW, so the talk was that they talked about him for about 5 minutes, one of the stories about him being that one day he gave some JW some water when they came over to visit my grandma, who was a JW. Then the rest was about the beliefs of the JW. It was my grandpa's funeral...they could at least have talked about him a little more...but, at least they let it happen at the kingdom hall for my family. Also, they said that after armageddon he'd still have 1 more chance to be a JW after he is resurrected to judgement...I don't even think that is scriptural...

8

I went to church on Sunday, and the world did not come to an end.

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

back story, i left the jws 13 years ago, just walked away, moved to another state, and married a guy i had gone to high school with 28 years previously.

at first i was just happy to be away from the dubs and the thought of any organized religion just made me sick, and as most of you know, the dubs do a good job of tearing down other religions, so my thinking was still influenced by the wtbts in some areas.

i considered myself agnostic for a long time.. i occasionally visited my husband's parents church when we were visiting.

lriddle80

I really like the church I go to. It's a baptist church. They do believe in hell, and the trinity and all the stuff that a typical church believes in, but they don't shun you if you believe differently. They welcome discussion and that is refreshing. I love the music and the preaching is such that it motivates you to go into the world and be a light for God's kingdom. Their idea of witnessing is telling peole your testimony of what Christ has done in your life and that is a lot easier for sure then going door to door, though in this type of witnessing you pretty much have to make it happen! Also, what I like about my church is that it is huge church, so there is the district convention feel to it, but then we have small Sunday school groups and that's more of a kingdom hall feel to it. So it's the best of both! I would say just make sure that the teaching is from the bible and that they teach about Jesus because he is the only way to salvation and the most important piece of the puzzle! Good for you for moving on!

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Things I like to do: work out, go on hikes, canoe, talk about eating healthy, read, drink coffee, watch cooking shows, normal stuff. People are busy...no one has time for friendship...new friendships, anyway...and it's hard to find people who want to work out...

Thanks for the welcomes! Happy to be here!

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Basically, my mom/dad/sister/brother/grandma/aunts/uncles...pretty much everyone. As far as friends, I really didn't have any in the congregation, so that wasn't a problem. I actually don't have many friends now, more aquaintances...except for my husband and son...I've always been kind of a loner anyway, so it's no big deal. I guess if something were to happen to my husband/son I could make some of the aquaintances more than that...but in the meantime...

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

:)

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Doctrinally, yes a baptist church is different, and was a little hard to accept at first. The trinity, crosses, holidays, Jesus' diety, heaven, hell...those things I feel you have to work out on your own using the bible, prayer and lots of discussion. I feel I have a grasp on each of them for the most part...I think the important part is the core: Jesus is God's son, he died for our sins, God raised him from the dead and if we believe that then we are saved Romans 10:9...all that other stuff if pretty speculative, if you ask me! But it's fun to think about and to research, for sure. Surely nothing to argue about, though, as I grew up witnessing and hearing.

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Thanks everyone! I never did go to the elders to be disfellowshipped, so that's why I am only a little bit shunned and not all the way, haha! I actually don't believe in their disfellowshipping and senseless lables, so that's why I won't do it! I pray for my family, but they are so into it socially and so for them, it would be a miracle if they left! I do think it is a gift from God and am happy to be free...when I think of being a JW in my mind, I am wearing a straight jacket!! In this church that I go to, they don't really tell you exactly how to be and exactly how to serve God in a cookie-cutter way, so for me, I really get serve God in a genuine way...since there are not requirements, I am doing it because I love God, not because of the list I have to obey. So that's really great and when I mess up and do something that, for me, is a sin, then I am able to repent on my own and pray to God, because Jesus died so my sins can be forgiven. I love the freedom to worship God in whatever way I want and so it's been great!!

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Hi Everyone!

I have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years I was someone who was out but thinking I would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally. My family are still active members and I am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing. I was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while. It was fun, but that kind of fun only lasts so long and then the guilt sets in. I was invited to a baptist church about 4 years ago and was scared! I prayed to Jehovah that if he didn't want me to go there then make something happen to stop it, but he didn't so I went. It actually wasn't as bad as I had imagined and they preached just about the same stuff. After a while of going I really understood what Jesus' sacrfice meant and asked for him to save me. I got rebaptized because the first time I was baptized I was just doing it to get a party and gifts (I was 14). My family pretty much thinks I worship the devil, but we don't really talk about it anymore. I have been slowly learning the "truth about the truth" and sometimes I read stuff and get judgemental inside thinking they are all clueless as to believe that, but then I'll read somewhere in the bible about how we shouldn't judge anyone else regarding if they are true believers and I feel a little bad about it. I didn't know that their bible was changed in so many places, or the history of the changed beliefs, or the amount of mind control that is used. It is hard to be a JW and then leave. The mental anxiety is tough, but eventually it does get better. Lingering doubts still sometimes arrive, even after all of these years. I discovered this site when I was looking up information about the district convention last year and learned how they do the mind control there, it was fascinating! Then I decided to become a memeber here when I read about the "new light" and it's just been really refreshing to be amongst people that really understand what it is like. So, thanks for everyone here and I'm glad to be here!!

31

What do they want from me?

by MrFreeze in

jw
friends

okay, so the jws (and my mom) would be so happy if i started going to meetings again.

i've made it clear i don't believe what they say so why would they care if i went to meetings?

do they want me to go meetings and be an open dissenter?

lriddle80

My mom is sad I don't attend because she "won't see me in the new system" and that makes her very sad. Going to the meeting, being a Jehovah's witness, going door to door. None of that will save you! Only believing in Jesus sacrifice and being covered in his blood will work...but they don't see that...going tot the meeting and listening to the "great and powerful faithful and discreet slave" will make any difference!

54

Could the JWs sway you back...?

by new22day in

op based on mr. freeze's topic - could attending the meetings/studying again sway any of you back to the org.

hearing the propaganda over and over again is pretty powerful i'm sure.

(i'm a non-jw, non-christian (no offense), stubborn as a bull and even i had moments of pause based on some of the doctrine (lasted 30 seconds) but i never had family/friends at stake or a background in this.

lriddle80

I was born-in and currently all my family (mom/dad/brother/sister/grandma/uncle, etc) are still heavily in. The only way I would ever go back is if my husband and son died and I wanted to be close to them. Oh, the praise I would get if I ever did go back, my mom and dad would be "so proud" of me and the whole congregation would be full of smiles and talk to me again. But that's not the reason to go back....I was considering going back about 6 years ago, had some sisters over to my house and everything, but then when the elder showed up and gave me a stern lecture about repenting...I walked away sad...if they had given me the prodigal son reaction, I might have considered it. When I started going to a baptist church and learned that the sacrifice that Jesus made paid for MY personal sins, that's when I wanted to repent and give my life to him...something I never understood all the time I went to the meetings. That's because they were too busy arguing about what he actually died on, which isn't as important as the sacrifice itself. It's hard, though. You grow up believing that JW are the ONLY ones to be saved and they make you feel like you are leaving the ark if you leave them. I just have to trust Jesus and God's promises and leave my doubts behind. One thing, though, is that I will not go and get disfellowshipped because I don't believe my baptism was valid (my family gave us a party and a special bible when we got baptized, that's the reason I did it) and I don't want my entire family to shun me (there already is a little shunning because I go to a baptist church, according to them, I worship the devil) and also, I am not an apostate and I don't deserve it!!