Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/27 17:53polemotheos wrote: genlado, If you are or were a witness tell me who the king of the north is;
that's my funny two cents, Mars
ps. dont tell him.
Is it Santa Claus?
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genlando
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Posts: 10
Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/28 03:43FlowerChild Said: Are you having a spiritual meltdown because of the WTBTS sins or just something that had nothing to do with that?
Actually, it's a little of both: At first, I looked around my congregation, and realized that there are a bunch of unhappy people there: Lots of sisters on antidepressants; children mistreated or neglected by their parents; things like that. I started wondering if my congregation should be referred to as a congregation of "God's People," or the "congregation of Medicated People." And then, it hit me: The same situation has been the case in all of the congregations that I've been associated with.
Then, I started thinking about how the various elder bodies that I've been a part of over the years acted: I've seen cases where one person is thrown out of the congregation for getting caught smoking 1 time; in another case, the PO and several other elders felt that a married man moving into an apartment with another woman wasn't cause for even having a judicial committee. The difference in these 2 instances? The latter was a friend of the Presiding Overseer.
That takes me to this year. At the start of the year, the whole concept of 1914 as a significant year started to bug me. I also started wondering about the validity of the NWT Bible (ie, why does the WTS translate the NWT into other languages, rather than doing a fresh translation from Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic to the new tongue? Could it be that a little manipulation is going on here?) I could go on and on...
Prior to becoming a Witness, I didn't believe in the Bible. I could write a book on why this is the case, but suffice it to say, I simply don't find any of the teachings found in mainstream "Christianity" to be compatible with the truth. I thought that the JWs had a handle on what is really true, but now I see that they don't.
One thing that's different than where I was before becoming a Witness, is that I absolutely can't deny that our universe provides ample evidence of a Creator. So, now, I'm back to where I was back in 1978--however, I think I'm closer to the Truth than I was before.
I don't see any chance of reforming the organization from the inside, and I don't want to waste all my energy trying to knock down the Witnesses from outside. All I want to do is re-integrate with normal society.
Last night, I told my wife about my concerns. At first, she freaked out, but then, she said that she's going to keep doing what she believes no matter what I do. In turn, I said that I wouldn't do anything to attack her faith or that of our children. I would do everything I could to support them. At least we ended the conversation peacibly. However, I'm sure that in a couple of days, I'm going to get that visit from 2 elders... I think I'm ready to face whatever comes next.
The General
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Flowerchild
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Posts: 55
Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/28 05:48Dear Genlando
at first I was concerned for you , when you said you did not believe the bilble was inspired (my dad also just thinks it is another uninspired book written by men), but then you said that you knew that our universe provide ample evidence of a creator.
A word of warning , I hope you don't get off track in all the metaphysical theorys and subterfuge, that is a whole new can of worms, that is like one of those worm holes in the universe, don't get sucked into all that.
The wonders of the universe is like getting into awe with the creation, instead of the Creator that created it!
I have always wanted to get into astronomy, to me science just brings me closer to the Creator as being in nature, this all as you said makes you know there is a Grand and intelligent designer/Creator.
Hope you don't go from one extreme to the other, and just exchange one set of misinformation for another set, that would be like divorcing your mate for problems and marrying a mate with a whole new set of problems, its best to work with the problems you have and work at solutions.
I'm sharing what I feel I have some wisdom and knowledge of
My brother the one I told you about who is an atheist, in trying to reason with him, that where does he think life came from, a pile of rags, life comes from life and someone had to put it there to even evolve, if you want to go that route.
Or Ok a man and a woman evolved at exactly the same time and then they had offspring!!!!!!!???????
anyways he said he thought God was cruel, so he knows there is a God but he thinks he is cruel, that doesn't make him an atheist as he said, he just says he is happy with his life , him and his wife has their life and they enjoy their selves, I guess he doesn't have the need to worship, said he was never so unhappy as when he was going in field service, that he hated it, he was so close to becoming a elder.
Whatever you decide Genlando, I'm sure you will be making a good choice.
I think a lot of JW are starved for the Christ and don't even realize it, but we each have to find our way, in this journey
I do know that I'm happier now than I've ever been scince understanding that there is no other way to the Father but through the Christ, He is the Door , the Key, and to honor the Son is to Honor the Father and most JW haven't any idea what they have been missing and needed
much peace to you
Sandra
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Warrior
User Platinum Boarder
Posts: 128
Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/28 18:28Flowerchild -
people would do well to listen to you, you give very wise advice indeed.
Shalom.
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polemotheos
User Platinum Boarder
Posts: 530
Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/28 21:09genlado wrote: Cute, Mars. As you know, the Society's discussion of the King of the North petered out sometime in 1993. They said that "only time would reveal" who the heck the K/N is supposed to be. Even though "good Witnesses" aren't supposed to speculate on stuff like this, I personally felt that the title would go to China (while I still believed in the Bible).
Oh, as an update: I went to my county's GIS site, and looked up who's listed as the owner of our Kingdom Hall's property. It lists it as belonging to the "Jehovah's Witness Trustees". Tonight when I'm @ the meeting, I'll look at the congregation files, and see what the paperwork says.
If the deed says that the property is fully owned by the WTS (even though it's been paid off for over 10 years), our Service Meeting in a couple of weeks is going to be interesting: after all, I'm scheduled to handle this month's Local Needs...
One other thing: I just noticed that I fat-fingered the spelling of my ID on this forum. Therefore, following this post, I will be changing my username to what it should've been: Genlando. You'll probably be able to figure out why when you look at my avatar.
The General
Hey someone has to be cute around here, it might as well be me. Besides it took you an entire day to figure out the answer. Me eyes are watching you
How did you come to believe the bible was inspired in the first place?
Re:Where I am today... - 2005/05/29 01:10How did you come to believe the bible was inspired in the first place?
That's a good question. I come from a religiously mixed up background: My mother was and still is a Baptist; my father became a JW in the early '70s; and I attended Catholic schools from 1st - 12th grade. Additionally, I was a voracious reader of everything scientific. You can see what happened:
Baptist+Catholic+JW+Science=Atheist.
At the time, I called myself an atheist; however, deep down inside, I had to acknowledge that the universe is far too orderly to attest its existence to mere happenstance. But at the same time, my experience with Catholicism and the Baptist church was completely unsatisfying (in high school, most of my religion teachers spent the majority of the day punching holes into the Bible. Meanwhile, the "teachers" in my mother's church could barely find the book of Exodus).
Finally, my dad started talking to me about the Bible from a JW perspective. The teachings sounded so logical, that I jumped in with both feet. After I acknowledged the existence of a creator, I quickly accepted the JW doctrine. This included believing that the Bible (that is the NWT), is the inspired word of God. I was baptized in 1979, and have called myself a Witness since then.
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Besides it took you an entire day to figure out the answer. Me eyes are watching you