by IP_SEC 76 Replies latest jw friends
LittleToe
I have listened right through the talk you gave. The way you built up to your announcement using scripture was subtle and sincere.
I was both moved and impressed by what you did and the love you expressed for those you were to leave behind. To talk so calmly and control your emotion, knowing what you were about to do, must have taken great courage and character.
Wow. That took some major .
But I thought it was very respectful and subtle. There wasn't anything in the content that any JW could flat-out disagree with doctrinally, but where it led you in your conclusion was the shocker.
I have to wonder what kinds of things were going through the minds of the audience, both during an after. Have you ever received any individual feedback?
I opened your talk through ITunes, LT, and when it finished, it melted into "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. It was kind of surreal.
LOL @ atypical - that truly is surreal!
I reckon I can probably save myself a lot of typing by posting this link here:
Going out with a bang
LT
For a "moderate Calvinist" you rock my friend. May God bless you! He has blessed me, through you!
D Dog
Have you listened to it or, at least, read it yet, Billyboy?
All I can say is, this one Sunday talk was what God saw fit to use in order to change my life in a deeply meaningful way. He knew that I had waited and wished my whole JW life for something just like this to to be said and done in my own congregation.
I was raised in the fourth generation of a family of fervent Witnesses. We had all the Society literature from at least the 1920's on and I was fascinated by every bit of it. I listened to Rutherford's phonograph records. I loved to read, research, and pray. My mother taught me how to use concordances, dictionaries, and encyclopaedias. She trusted that everything the Society gave us was "the truth" and so wasn't afraid for me to do research in old as well as new publications, in books from "outside" as well as "inside."
Gradually she came to regret this as I asked questions that could not be aswered from the Society's teachings satisfactorily. I was constantly warned against being "too smart" and "running ahead" and not "waiting on Jehovah" (which actually meant not waiting on the Organization). The tone as well as the content of their responses let me know that I had to be very careful what I asked and what I said after those initial inquiries.
But what I felt a craving for, even more than intelligent honest answers, was spontaneous Spirit-led expressions of faith and love and wisdom and joy. It was all just so man-ufactured and man-controlled. So stiff, stifling, and fearful. I waited and waited and prayed and prayed. And the only place I could find spiritual nourishment was alone, walking in nature, talking with God.
So I walked and talked with God farther and farther away from the Watchtower, through a variety of religious and philosophical experiences. These were very enriching, but I continued to feel, as I always had, that something was missing. Then came the wonderful, understanding, multifaceted folks of JWD and, among them, LittleToe. I thought if we chatted long enough I could make a great pagan out of him. Then I read his exit talk. My heart broke, I dissolved in tears, and, suddenly, there was the answer to all my prayers and longings. So simple, so startling, so strongly present. Christ.
I couldn't have been happier, more surprised, or more shaken. The one thing I had needed most was the last thing I expected. So now I'm a Christian, embraced by Christ and able to embrace all things, all people, all experiences with love. For this I am truly grateful: that one man was moved by God to speak a truth that he knew so many would find unacceptable.
I wish you all the best with all my heart, Billyboy. Vaya con Dios.
~Merry
"well I've been afraid of changing since I built my life around youbut time makes you bolder , even children get older and I'm gettin older too............."
do you think Fleetwood Mac wrote that about the org!
Billyboy: I didn't hear any malice or ranting and raving in LT's talk. I thought it was done in a very loving manner. Merry: Thanks for sharing that, (((((hope you're feeling better)))) D
D
Billyboy said:
My personal view is that the witnesses come to the meetings to listen to the scriptures developed in harmony with the doctrines developed by Jehovahs’s witnesses. They don’t go to hear a speaker exploiting his position to give vent to his views and opinions which are in direct opposition to the views of his audience and which cause hurt and upset.
That's probably what the scribes and pharisees expected to hear from Jesus in the synagogue, as well...
What a shocker THEY got.
That's probably what the scribes and pharisees expected to hear from Jesus in the synagogue, as well...
Now that was pure genius stillcon. I'd like to see bill's answer to that.
merry- thank you for sharing your experience.... What a journey you've had!
ip- thanks... it just came to mind.
