truthseeker

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Posts by truthseeker

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  31

  Anyone pissed at their parents for raising you in the cult?

  by blownaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  my mother was not the most emotionally stable person.

  she was a follower and instilled in me the idea we were better than those worldly people.

  its hard to go to school as a child and you can not be friends outside of school, you can not celebrate any holidays, and you are told all these people are going to die.

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  truthseeker

  Gawd yes.

  Thirty years of misery.

  I'm over it now but still get bitter sometimes.
• 
  29

  Pioneers, Prayers and Pills

  by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  looking back on my two decades as a jehovah’s witness, i’ve come to realize how the constant theme of endurance is playing a detrimental role on the individual's psyche.. jehovah’s witnesses have become far too good at keeping going.

  they’re experts at surrendering to the demands of the watchtower, living up to what’s expected of them, and getting on with the priorities that those in power have defined and imposed upon them.

  they keep showing up, presenting themselves a dutiful pioneer or ministerial servant.

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  truthseeker

  @Wake Me Up,

  Did you read my last post on that topic? I added an update.
• 
  20

  What Did You Imagine Jehovah To Look Like?

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  what did you imagine jehovah to look like?

  i always pictured him like this:.

  .

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  truthseeker

  It tells you right here at Exodus 24:9-11

  "9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank."
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  29

  Pioneers, Prayers and Pills

  by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  looking back on my two decades as a jehovah’s witness, i’ve come to realize how the constant theme of endurance is playing a detrimental role on the individual's psyche.. jehovah’s witnesses have become far too good at keeping going.

  they’re experts at surrendering to the demands of the watchtower, living up to what’s expected of them, and getting on with the priorities that those in power have defined and imposed upon them.

  they keep showing up, presenting themselves a dutiful pioneer or ministerial servant.

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  truthseeker

  I loved your post Wake Me Up. Very insightful and spot on.

  Staying in a perpetual state of urgency, which is what Watchtower encourages, is extremely unhealthy and over the long term, unproductive.

  It kills the human spirit as far as self development and spirituality goes.

  JWs are encouraged to postpone their interest and hobbies until the New System. In the meantime they are on a hamster wheel of Kingdom activities.

  Truthseeker
• 
  13

  A different viewpoint of "many will come in my name saying I am the Christ"

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  most jws are familiar with the scripture at matthew 24:5: "for many will come in my name, saying, ‘i am the christ,’ and they will lead many astray.".

  it is implied that people would come in jesus' name declaring that they were christ - but could there be another view on this scripture?

  could this also mean that jesus said many would come in his name saying he is christ?.

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  truthseeker

  Thanks, I will look into this more. I know the guy who did the podcast said to double check what the Bible is really saying about Matthew 24:5.

  Appreciate your feedback.
• 
  13

  A different viewpoint of "many will come in my name saying I am the Christ"

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  most jws are familiar with the scripture at matthew 24:5: "for many will come in my name, saying, ‘i am the christ,’ and they will lead many astray.".

  it is implied that people would come in jesus' name declaring that they were christ - but could there be another view on this scripture?

  could this also mean that jesus said many would come in his name saying he is christ?.

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  truthseeker

  Yes, that's what I'm trying to say. But it's hard to explain because we're so used to hearing just one interpretation.

  Jesus said this to his disciples before he was known as "the Christ."

  Imagine you're one of his disciples. Jesus tells you "look guys, many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ"
• 
  8

  Street Work With the Sisters

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "be there at 7:30" i'm told.

  that's where the action is.. it's early saturday morning in passaic, nj.

  it's january and i'm bloody freezing.. i'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares.

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  truthseeker

  I add more...

  On one occasion (I did not personally witness this), during field service, some of the friends saw a man chase his wife down the street with an axe and kill her. This happened in 2008 in Passaic NJ. It shocked a lot of people being that it happened in broad daylight.

  There's an article here...

  https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/passaic_man_convicted_of_killi.html
  
• 
  13

  A different viewpoint of "many will come in my name saying I am the Christ"

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  most jws are familiar with the scripture at matthew 24:5: "for many will come in my name, saying, ‘i am the christ,’ and they will lead many astray.".

  it is implied that people would come in jesus' name declaring that they were christ - but could there be another view on this scripture?

  could this also mean that jesus said many would come in his name saying he is christ?.

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• 

  truthseeker

  I get that totally. It was difficult to explain.

  I was listening to a podcast the other day where the speaker said we may have got the understanding wrong.

  It may not be people saying "look, I am the Christ" but "many would come in my name [Jesus] saying, Jesus is Christ" implying two different people.

  If you think about it, it's lunacy for a person to say they're Jesus. Obviously that doesn't stop people from doing so, but it wouldn't necessarily mislead people unless they were able to perform signs and miracles. So the scripture must mean something else.

  It's kind of like me saying "Wake Me Up" is "Truthseeker"
• 
  8

  Street Work With the Sisters

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "be there at 7:30" i'm told.

  that's where the action is.. it's early saturday morning in passaic, nj.

  it's january and i'm bloody freezing.. i'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares.

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  truthseeker

  ha...I'm just getting started
• 
  8

  Street Work With the Sisters

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "be there at 7:30" i'm told.

  that's where the action is.. it's early saturday morning in passaic, nj.

  it's january and i'm bloody freezing.. i'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares.

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• 

  truthseeker

  "Be there at 7:30" I'm told. That's where the action is.

  It's early Saturday morning in Passaic, NJ. It's January and I'm bloody freezing.

  I'm standing on the street corner in my black trench coat getting ready to ply my wares. Besides me is a sister holding some tracts in her hands. Sisters outnumber us three to one. Not many brothers want to do street work. But I have to get my time in.

  We're getting ready to work the streets. My hands are so cold I can barely hold the magazines.

  There's about a dozen of us out on Main Street.

  I can't speak a word of Spanish but this sister can and she babbles away to random strangers and leaves them Panda tracts. I stand there not understanding a word of what she's saying. All I can think about is the nearest Dunkin Donuts.
  

  We start at one end of the street and dutifully walk to the other end before crossing the road and going back down. The residents are mostly Spanish - Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and some Mexican's. They don't pay much attention to us.

  For some unknown reason, Randy Crawford's lyrics from Street Life come into my head. I mentally swap "Life" with "Work" and make a few other mods and it seems to make sense: "I play the street work, because there's no place I can go, street work, it's the only way I know, street work, I placed a 100 mags today, Now I've played my life away."

  I have some Spanish literature and hand it out to strangers who pass us by. They must think we're a weird lot.

  In half an hour I've placed all my magazines at the laundromat and the sister working with me shows no signs of slowing down.

  Finally it's 8:30 and we meet up with the rest of the car group.

  "Does anyone want to get coffee before the meeting for field service?"

  "Yes please"

  We're 5 mins away from Dunkin Donuts.

  Due to the cold weather the line is short.

  "I'd like a hot latte with extra sugar please" I say to the girl at the counter. I skip the donut. I don't like eating in other people's cars. Especially one covered in powdered sugar.

  The hot cup warms my hands. I look at the clock. It's 9am. The day has barely begun. I think I've got at least an hour and a half in and placed 20 magazines. At least the people in the laundromat will have something to read.