You are so deep and rich CoCo!
I want to live ...
by compound complex 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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anewme
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White Dove
I wanted to live forever just not forever under the WTS eldership rule. I would rather be dead than live under their rules and under a vengeful god. Taliban forever, anyone? Didn't think so.
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White Dove
Hmmm...maybe I answered wrong. Not sure what all of this means. Sorry, must be tired.
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Open mind
Consider my breath bated.
Great job.
Eagerly awaiting the next morsel.
Open Mind
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greendawn
The JWs are a total travesty of Christianity they promote a relationship with god based on the morbid emotion of fear so from there everything goes wrong. Very much unlike mainstrean religions which strive to present God as a friend of man not a stern Lord that is constantly breathing out fire over the neck of his followers.
A reconciliation that makes friends of the two through the mediation of Jesus Christ whom the JWs basically marginalised. -
compound complex
Again, Dear Friends, I am impelled to thank you sincerely for responding to my bittersweet tale, a story that is still playing out day by day. While I frequently wonder at what point in life's journey I truly am, at the very least, I am neither anxious nor worried:
"Life is a journey, not a destination" - trite but true.
We have much in common pertaining to the JW experience. While it may be true of many here, I am aware of few in my JW community who knew as many of the "anointed" as I and were, as a consequence, as deeply influenced by "Christ's brothers." I was highly suggestible, perhaps? ... The leading of the holy spirit?Perceptions are dependent upon the recipient's personal observations and feelings; in matters of religious experience, he evaluates with deliberation this newly acquired data and draws conclusions. Admittedly subjective and offering a guarantee of nothing. Nevertheless, my conclusion as to the identity of these claimants to future heavenly thrones altered my outlook on life and the path I should therefore take ...
CoCo
NEXT: the "anointed" in the field who wrote the Society on doctrinal matters and how it influenced me.
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Clam
CoCo I'm very much enjoying your thoughts, thank you.
Your style of expression is exquisite, Cowardesque I might say. Do you prepare drafts seated at a bureau, resplendent in smoking jacket and with a gin and tonic nearby?
Bless you
Clam
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compound complex
Thank you very much, Clam. Your thoughts mean a great deal to me.
Sometimes "it" just pours out [the gin and tonic or the words?] and other times I ponder and write, ponder some more and excise excess verbage - dead wood, we say. Then I ponder yet a gnu.
There was no indication that I would be taking the road less travelled and that that should make all the difference. What road, you ask ...?
Oh, by the way, Clam - there is no "l" in coward ...
Gratefully,
CoCo
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compound complex
I became particularly close to an older "anointed" sister, who, in an ironically reverse sense of importance to a "Christian Witness of Jehovah," was a natural born Jew. This was all the more wonderful: a direct manifestation to me personally that a member of fleshly Israel was chosen to become one of Christ's "brothers." I fully understood that my future life was heavily dependent upon my recognition of the role played by the "remnant" of the chosen ones. It was not a purely academic exercise on my part; I loved these dear old people who, in many cases, sought out my association.
After a particularly delightful afternoon, eating and drinking in both the physical and spiritual sense, we bade each other adieu. Somewhat later - we saw each other less frequently now as she had moved away and I could visit her only by bus - she told me that she had been very troubled the day that we had visited. I was clueless. She seemed cheery enough. An elder, I learned, was scheduled to visit her that evening after my departure. He never came. Typical elder neglect? No. She called him to say that there was no longer any need to come over. Problem resolved. She explained to me that, in the course of our meandering conversation, I had said precisely what turned out to be the answer to her dilemma ... Was Jehovah using me to bring comfort to a struggling, earth-bound saint who would one day rule over me?
The scriptural significance of 'bringing a cup of water' to one of Christ's representatives on earth was as though I were giving it to Jesus personally. The muse of music - whom I had so gladly forsaken years earlier - had nothing quite like this to offer me. This was drawing me ever closer to the entire body of the "faithful and discreet slave," with whom, I discovered, this dear sister had had more than superficial contact ...
Sister "Dear" was in touch with the Society regarding the revealing of important new information ...
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compound complex
Regardless of the role played - or not played - by the "anointed" today in the Watch Tower Society, Sister "Dear" was emphatic that they were invited to write to the Society, sharing their viewpoints and asking questions. This was significant to me in that I had just returned from Bethel and was yet very much in tune with those highly-charged spiritual vibrations.
She had lived in proximity to the "House of God" and was a personal friend of Anton Koerber, whom I believe she said was secretary [or assistant of some sort] to Joseph Rutherford. Having written the Society on a matter of importance at that particular time in Watch Tower history - further scrutiny of Scripture pointing to the identification of the "anointed" - she chafed when, after a considerable period of waiting for a reply, no response was forthcoming. Brother Koerber reassured her, however, that these matters take time to sort out and that she should simply be patient.
I don't recall that she ever mentioned having received a letter written to her personally. Yet I do remember the confirmation and reinforcement of my own faith when she told me how she found the answer to her query. Though not all the "anointed" were in concert as to how certain Scriptures regarding the "Israel of God" applied, Sister "Dear" felt that this and that Scripture were applicable to "Christ's brothers."
Two years after writing to the Society, she found in one of the publications her thoughts regarding further identification of the "anointed." While she felt satisfaction for "waiting upon Jehovah," as encouraged by Brother Koerber, yet many of the brotherhood, so I learned, were upset at this particular application of Scripture to THEMSELVES. They felt it presumptuous and left the organization. A "sifting" of the faithless, perhaps? A boon to me, however: this dear and patient sister had had some tangible link to the Writing Department, and I was sharing in her joy and past accomplishment, though vicariously.
I had been blessed beyond my wildest expectations. The most wonderful association imaginable was now central to my very existence and, as a result, would shape all that I would do in future. I set upon a campaign, of my own volition and Scripturally-backed, and I would not be convinced otherwise -
Join "us" ten men who have taken hold of the skirt of a Jew ...