by lynnmelo 175 Replies latest members adult
Fred, shouldn't you be going door to door to get this time in? As field service goes, camping out on the forum is a bit of a stretch.
There's enough snow and slush on the ground up here to make going door-to-door undesirable. Preaching on this board from the comfort of one's own home or office is a much easier way of getting time. I wish I thought of it many years ago. I would have found myself out of the cult much sooner. W
Fred Thank you for participating on this board. It is always refreshing to be reminded of the way Jehovah's Witnesses think. I especially enjoyed your justification for directing Jesus to the back of the bus, so that the Governing Body can take the wheel. By creature worship do you mean the way the geezers in Brooklyn are exhalted, or the PO's and CO's and elders are treated just a little bit better than the rank and file?
I suppose one way to have an exclusive God is to name him something, then claim to be the only one who knows him. I think they call that creature worship.
r's "wordly" hubby
Fred, shouldn't you be going door to door to get this time in? As field service goes, camping out on the forum is a bit of a stretch.
That's certainly an active imagination you have, although I appreciate the compliment. I'm still in the applications-for-reinstatement phase. I must say that I do find these boards quite stimulating.
Welcome to the board, Fred. I do hope you hang around during your full reinstatement phase, and get a good dose of clear thinking in the process.
While you are at it, why don't you look up the bible principles around reinstatement? Is there something divine regarding the six month reinstatement period?
Thanks for the welcome, jgnat. This certainly gets me out of my isolated trap. A solid several months of this stimulation for my mind (a.ka. focus factor, clearer thinking) in the process should definitely do wonders.
You ask: While you are at it, why don't you look up the bible principles around reinstatement? Is there something divine regarding the six month reinstatement period?
For me, it's about breaking free of useless thought patterns and behavior cycles. With boards like this, I don't feel that I'm in a rut mentally the way I was. I'm sure it will influence how I do in the rest of my life.
Interesting journey you are on, Fred. If bible study is not your bag, and you are critically examining your own thought patterns, perhaps you would benefit from some practice of critical thinking techniques? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking
Interesting journey you are on, Fred. If bible study is not your bag, and you are critically examining your own thought patterns, perhaps you would benefit from some practice of critical thinking techniques? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking
Actually, Bible study based on the chapters for the day in the Examining the Scriptures Daily booklet is the core of my daily research, which takes about an hour on average. I underline and make marginal notes in 2 different NWT personal copies currently, one specifically with the references in the Revelation Climax book, the one contains all the references to the Bible Teach book. I have numerous Bible translations in my personal library, as well as Strong's Concordance and Hebrew & Greek tools. Since my sleep is very irregular and I have multiple-chemical-senistivities thrown in, my schedule currently only has the 5 meetings and a couple of recreational outings set for each week. Most of the rest of my time is spent with my computer, with some TV watching thrown in, and a little bit of time talking with my roommate, who is my non-Witness mother. This switch to the JWD has really reduced my TV watching, and has virtually cut out the genealogy research that has formed the core of each week's time. The problem with that was that I was obsessing about my screw-ups, which only caused me to act out more. Sure, it was just in private, but it still prevented me from moving forward. That wikipedia article on Critical thinking actually represents the way I do things anyway.
I'm surprised you haven't moved beyond the Watchtower materials, though. That in itself limits your search.
I'm surprised you haven't moved beyond the Watchtower materials, though. That in itself limits your search.
My Scriptural study has really been very much language based. During my teens, I got into the KJV since that's what was standard for the non-denominational group I was born into. I developed several pages of a glossary in the endpages of my KJV, updating the English: words like concupiscence and shambles. I liked to discuss the Bible in those days over a good game of chess. It seems that war & peace made a good fit. I and some of my family were anti-Trinity and others were pro-Trinity. Since it was non-denominational, the group tended to stick with non-controversial topics, generally.
At about 22, I added the WTS Creation book and Live Forever book into the mix when JWs knocked on my door. With that came the NIV and the NWT, since I started occasional discussions with 2 different Evangelical Christians at about the same time as I got into a study in the Live Forever book with JWs, which I enjoyed so much that it quickly became a twice-a-week affair, some studies lasting 3-4 hours at a stretch. During all that time I refused virtually all magazines, although I do remember taking one on Children of Divorce.
By about the end of my 2nd year studying with JWs, I'd say, I had switched to using mainly the NWT and starting attending all the meetings on a fairly regular basis. I left the group I grew up with then when I moved in (for a couple of months) with an MS and his wife.
The meetings, even without much association, provided me with a glimpse of a more socially-healthy interaction. SInce I wasn't with my family for worship now, my family background wasn't brought up as much.
That gives you a bit of the background, and might help explain things a little better.
I still find your research and your choices to be rather limited. Try this: http://www.blueletterbible.org/
