Posts by lriddle80

17

Faithful and Prudent slave? read somewhere that the discreet was going to change to Prudent.

by goingthruthemotions in

read on one of the forums, and maybe this one that the gb are going to start calling themselves the faithful and prudent slave.

my pimi brainwashed wife wouldn't bat an eyelash if they started calling themselves this.

to her it would be new light and they could do nothing wrong.. but, how the not so brainwashed flock take this change?

Why did Jesus piddle around for 40 days in the wilderness?

by nowwhat? in

after all he only had 3 and half years to perform his ministry so every day counted.

instead of witnessing to satan couldn't he have made better use of his time reaching as many people as possible?

just using some jdub reasoning on the matter..

It represented the 40 years Israel was made to wander around in the desert. "Wilderness" meant testing to the Israelites. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they didn't pass the test, but Jesus did. This is a complex study, but on The Bible Project podcast, they discuss this in "Jesus with the Wild Beasts"

31

Disfellowshipped

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

my judicial committee was set for monday.

the message says to call back asap and that he loves me, but he said it like "i love ya, girl" he never has said that to me like that.

so, i call back and he says i have been a hard person to get a hold of and that confused me because i had not received any calls from him.

lriddle80

Thanks for all of the encouragement!! You guys are the best!!

31

Disfellowshipped

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

my judicial committee was set for monday.

the message says to call back asap and that he loves me, but he said it like "i love ya, girl" he never has said that to me like that.

so, i call back and he says i have been a hard person to get a hold of and that confused me because i had not received any calls from him.

lriddle80

Thanks for your kind words everyone!

Anyone is free to hijack my post...I have probably done that to other people, lol! 😄

31

Disfellowshipped

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

my judicial committee was set for monday.

the message says to call back asap and that he loves me, but he said it like "i love ya, girl" he never has said that to me like that.

so, i call back and he says i have been a hard person to get a hold of and that confused me because i had not received any calls from him.

lriddle80

My judicial committee was set for Monday. They knew I wasn't going to show up.

Meanwhile, I had been ignoring phone calls, but I knew the elders were trying to call.

Last night, I get a phone call from my dad,

(who has only called me once ever and the whole conversation was about how much he does for other people and how much those people liked him and how much he does in ministry, otherwise, he has basically ignored me for the past 20 years)

The message says to call back asap and that he loves me, but he said it like "I love ya, girl" he never has said that to me like that. (Manipulation)

So, I call back and he says I have been a hard person to get a hold of and that confused me because I had not received any calls from him. He put the elders on the phone and said they wanted to talk to me. They told me that I was disfellowshipped, which they acknowledged that I already knew that and that I have 7 days to appeal. I asked about shunning because the video from that lawsuit in Canada on YouTube the guy said the family still can interact, just not spiritually, so who is telling the truth. He said if I were to get hurt, then the family is allowed to speak to me, but otherwise it's cut off. I admittedly, at that moment, lost my cool and told them they were wrong and have no compassion and that's not the spirit of Jesus and they were cruel. He politely got off the phone and gave it back to my dad.

I told him that I asked them not to announce it because it would embarrass them and that if they did announce it, the elders aren't being loving to them. I asked how they were doing and he said "great!" With what you can hear is a smile. He was enjoying this. He said he was going to keep serving Jeh, and I declared Me too! And I said he raised a good girl who loves the Lord with all my heart and soul strength and that is why I can never be a jw because of the manipulation, lies and cruelty of the organization. He said that worshipping Jesus was wrong and I offered to send him several scriptures stating the opposite. He said I believed half truths and I said how would he know what I believe? We haven't even had a conversation in years. Plus, I said, how would you know what I am being taught or the things that I have read? Has he looked into it? And he said he would never read apostate literature and I called him ignorant for not knowing what he is talking about. I told him that if he wants to believe lies about me that he made up that he could if that would help him sleep at night. I told him that's what narcissistic people do. I did tell him that Jehovah would judge him and I do regret having that attitude - it's supposed to be please forgive them they know not what they do - I wasn't there at that moment! I did tell him I would work to forgive him. He kept trying to get off the phone. I said, do you really want this to be our last conversation or can we work this out, but he said he was hanging up, so I hung up!

So, it's done! My takeaways:

I saw manipulation, no natural affection, deception, sadism, narcissism, unreasonableness, fear and you could tell they were enjoying it the whole time. Nothing but smiles and lies.

I am hoping this will give me more freedom as I work to forgive my dad and that evil organization. I just have to stop watching videos and reading articles that give me a sense of entitlement towards them. They are white-washed tombs. Wipe the dust off my feet and keep going. If God sees fit to work on their hearts then they will come back to me. But, I have to live in the present and enjoy my freedom!!

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery

Anyways, thanks for listening!!

15

If You Were Invited To A Judicial Committee How Did It Go??

by minimus in

was it awful?

did you feel freedom?

was it a kangaroo court!.

lriddle80

I did go to one when I was 10. I was excited to get to be in the newspaper during school, but unfortunately it featured us kids stapling a construction paper Christmas tree. Well I guess the elders saw it and the Monday night book study came and I raised my hand to answer, like usual, and I wasn't picked. Well, then I started raising my hand for every paragraph and wasn't called on. Then the guy next to me told me to stand up, that maybe he couldn't see me. So, with tears I stood up in these people's living room with my hand raised and still didn't get to answer, with no explanation. By Wednesday, I had my judicial meeting and apparently I couldn't answer for 6 months. But by that time, I decided that I didn't want to ever answer again. That was cruel and it was spiritual abuse. But, I am thankful because it made me check out. I did get over it and got baptized years later, but I was terrified of the "back room" I always experienced rejection by members and my family because that incident when I was 10 and my dysfunctional family life prevented me from accepting the religion all the way. I never did enough to be accepted and didn't want to. I always hung out with the guys who were the most worldly in the hall. I got to escape when I was 19. Now I am disfellowshipped as of last night (20 years after leaving) and am kind of happy, despite my family shunning me. I have other family and friends!

15

If You Were Invited To A Judicial Committee How Did It Go??

by minimus in

was it awful?

did you feel freedom?

was it a kangaroo court!.

lriddle80

Mine was last night, I didn't go and told the elders who showed up at my house it would be futile because if I don't repent of whatever "sin" they say I committed, then the result would be the same as if I didn't go. They said they were just doing their "due diligence" by showing up at my door and inviting me.

22

Any Dogs Returning to their Vomit Here?

by Solzhenitsyn in

i was wondering if any long time jw's that are now pomo's here on the forum now act in a leadership role within another religious organization?.

i do and would enjoy a bit of conversation with this (i assume minority) "sub-culture" of ex-jw's.

.

lriddle80

I have been attending a Baptist Church for over 10 years. I love (sorta) that I grew up as a jw and discovered ttatt because I don't just accept anything that is taught. I have a faith that is strong and I understand that I don't have much really figured out and I don't have to. I just freely worship and trust the holy Spirit to guide my steps. There is meaning and purpose in my life. I see evidence of God as he is shaping my story. There are some hokey things in the religious world, but finding true teaching has been fun. The Bible Project has videos and a podcast, Michael Heiser has an interesting take on cosmology of the Bible and some backstories that are fascinating, CS Lewis is thought provoking and GD Watson's book Our Own God was like air for me at one point. Oh, let's not forget about AW Tozer, either! It's so great to be able to be anchored by Jesus, but get to drift a little in my own studies! I have been in leadership in different ministries, but now I am focusing on raising my son and then I will probably get back into ministry after that. I really love my spiritual journey outside of jw. God is real and he is with me!

24

Heartbroken that my parents are so blind...

by HiddenPimo in

so i sent a letter outlining the scriptures that support shunning versus the 3 times as many that support not shunning.

this is the below response that i received.

i will be announced tomorrow night and wanted them to know since that is the fair and adult thing to do.

lriddle80

The same thing is happening to me. My family is in full shun mode and I will probably be disfellowshipped by Wed. My judicial meeting was set for tonight, but I told the elders that came to my house unannounced last night that I will not be attending it. My "crimes" are celebrating Christmas and going to a different church. The elders reminded me of the gestapo in how they acted. Just following orders, unable to speak freely. I came very close to calling them puppets, but I am glad I didn't. I can't really wrap my brain all the way around the fact that I was brought up in a cult. But, I do have other family and I have a great husband and son and I have people that love me and a great counselor that I see sometimes. Grieve the loss, but move on with your spiritual development. I really love The Bible Project videos and podcasts. CS Lewis writes some thoughtful books, Michael Heiser has some fascinating perspectives and I read a really old book called My Own God by GD Watson that made my heart soar. Wish you the best! Life sucks sometimes, but God is with you if you look for him!

24

My family

by lriddle80 in

i just wanted to get some feedback.

i don't want to go into the whole story, it's too long and it's been told by a lot of people here.

anyway, i think i am disfellowshipped or about to be.

lriddle80

I am thankful for the relationship I am building with my biological father who left when I was 4 months old. I got in touch with him when I was about 26. It's been sporadic over the years. I saw him and his wife and my half sister yesterday and he used to be a jw, so he understands what I am going through. I am thankful I still have some family. So, I should stop whining about what I don't have. Also, again, thanks for listening and putting up with my narcissism. :)