by MsGrowingGirl20 67 Replies latest jw friends
Coincidence. You're counting one hit. How many questions have had misses i.e. no "answer"?
Would you base your life's direction on one affirmative instance of good timing, ignoring everything else?
People have doubts all the time. Church instills faith, hope and allays doubt. You chose to go to church. The conclusion is self evident, ;)
4 years ago I was sitting alone in my back yard in the dark of the night. I was looking up at the stars meditating about my relationship with God. At that very moment there was a shooting star and automatically the thought of making a wish came to my mind...right away I wished I won a substantial amount of money. Of course as a JW I immediately felt guilty for having this thought. A few months later I was given a free lotto ticket with the purchase of a meal at McDonalds, ticket that I put in the glove compartment of my car with my gas receipts...a few weeks later I found the ticket and checked it only to find out I had won $50K! Was it a sign from God or was it Satan putting me to the test? At that time I was a MS and any publicity on my winning this money would have me disqualified for my privileges and I was considering forfiting the prize...but there was a loophole. On the back of the tickets the rules are both in English and French (Canada) and with the French rules I was able to claim the price by mail without having an interview or have my name or picture published in the news paper and remain a MS....was it a sign from God or Satan?
During the same time I lost my job after almost 30 years at the same company...I prayed God to help me find a new job and a few days later I found a better job...God had listened to me...but that job had me travel all over the world and I missed many meetings...and started falling away from the faith....was it a trap from Satan?
You see MsGG20 you can see signs into in every event...and they can lead to many conclusions...but these events are random...not from God or Satan...One thing is for sure: facts are facts and if you found out that the WTS lies or falsly prophecied, protected pedophiles then no "imaginary" signs can change that.
And let me throw another angle at you.... Whenever i gave a talk (i decline these days) i was always told ahead of time what the needs of the congregation were.
Dear, its very likley that he was told there some with doubts and chose that talk for that reason. If you want to do the fleece thing, remeber gideon forst asked for wet fleece and dry ground then wet ground and dry fleece. And told no one btw... You need a better sign :-P
Dear MsGrowinGirl20, they are always giving talks about doubts, and how to ignore them, I remember many of this talks, never paid any attention to them, you shouldn’t either. All I can say to you is that if you are not happy that means that this is not the right place for you.
You don’t need this people to tell you how to live your life. The decisions you take now, will affect your future, you are the one that will have to live with the consequences, not them, so don‘t let them decide for you. If you feel suffocated in a place, it’s a clear sign to leave.
Take all this as a learning experience in your life, and move on. You don’t need to become a bitter apostate, just fade, tell them you are very busy at college, and find new friends and occupations. When the elders call you, tell them you don’t want to speak with them right now, you are busy, keep giving them excuses, you owe them no further explanation. Stick to your family and help your mother as much as you can. Take your cousin with you, explain to him that this is not the truth and that from now on you will both go to another church. Don’t make a drama out of it, just be honest with him about the whole situation, and help him in his own search for the truth.
There are many other churches that you can join, that are not so judgemental, controlling, and where you can serve God and still be your own person.
Please, be brave and leave this liars behind. All the best for your future.
http://www.joelosteen.com/Broadcast/Pages/ThisWeeksMessage.aspx
MSGrowingGirl20 - It's either what EE said, or consider this: the Watchtower discusses so many different things that the talks and articles will always apply to someone. Most people can find something in the talks and articles that applies to them - happiness, depression, family life, and on and on. Giving a talk on doubt is not particularly significant since it can apply to lots of people - most people experience some sort of doubt. It's kind of like on pages 4-5 of the Bible Teach booklet where the study coordinator asks the study if he/she can see something in there that he/she can identify with. Well, of course they can since it covers various subjects like pain, sickness, death, and food shortage.
well... didn't read all the posts but that is a typical talk. Why Because doubts DOUBTS is what all JW's have. They have this because there is part of all there brains that KNOWS something is just wrong!!! That is why that talk was given.
FS
There's already been a lot of good opinions about your sign. I just want to ask you to think long and hard about taking your cousin to the meetings. Please research the evidence of the child molestation that goes on in the congregations and the subsequent cover ups.
Giving a talk about "doubts" and having it strike a chord with someone in an audience full of JW's is like shooting fish in a barrel. A talk on "doubts" is a one size fits all, fill in topic suitable for any such emergency such as when a speaker doesn't show up. To think God is sending you little "hints" sounds a bit egocentric especially when there is so much suffering in the world and there are so many who in dire need of the basic necessities of life and who need his help urgently yet receive nothing .
Ms Growing Girl
Just wanted to say I really admire your courage.
You have read CoC, brought your concerns to this site and planned higher education. This, given your upbringing and the controlling nature of your religion is extraordinarily brave. Your willingness to disclose the nature of your sign is a further example of this bravery.
Any God who cares about the moral values of this children cannot be displeased by courage and a willingness to test and lean. This IMO is confirmed by the Bible.
With this attitude, and your care for your cousin, I'm sure you will both find your way. I hope it will be as painless as possible.
Best wishes, Retro
Sad to say but you might not leave until like all of us on this site you are damaged by this cult. I have 50 yrs experience with them I know.
They destroy
Lives
Families
Marriages
and actually have killed people men, women, babies, by their misapplication of jewish dietary law in the bible ie blood doctrine .
They are a Publishing corp that morphed itself into a religion . They even still call their members "publishers" which means workers for
a publishing company. You still may need to do deep research into old publications . It all becomesvery clear once you have more info about
the REAL history of the Society. It started out as a Charles Russell cultof personality. Then his attorney took over , who made it a
more corporate structured entity driven by litigious attornies . Interesting to note Rutherfords first job was a a book salesman
working his way through colledge selling encyclopedias door to door . follow the facts the history it will make sense.
Remember Elders cannot honestly answer your questions without deflecting and trying to turn it back on you. Or attacking the sources of your
questions.
Be honest with yourself would a org with the real truth warn you over andover and over again not to do research about them. They protest SO much
for a very good reason THEY HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE period.
