first post...nervous

by passwordprotected 63 Replies latest members private

• 

  momzcrazy

  Don't be nervous, most of us don't bite. (Unless you want us to)

  momzcrazy
• 

  digderidoo

  Hello and welcome to the board.

  Paul
• 

  jamiebowers

  First, you will find here that most people will not try to force you to do anything. The decisions are all yours to make. Welcome to freedom. Second, I know a few on here, and from what I've been hearing on this board and in other places, that there is a whole network of elders and ms's who either plan to leave or stay and pick up the pieces when the WTB&TS crumbles. I don't know for sure about the crumbling part, but at least there are some fair minded, thinking people who are still in. Maybe the ones on this board will pm you.
• 

  Homerovah the Almighty

  PP you mentioned you would like to read the bible more without any intervention from the Society please read 1 John 4 : 1 carefully and take in what it is trying to say

  Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit . You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world .

  Contrary to what the WTS says they should never be analise or critique on what they are putting forth or from what spirit it is really from.

  There is an very evil spirit in the world and that is commercialism within religious organizations, are these organizations speaking out of truthfulness and sincerity or

  are they just exploiting the belief in the bible to help market their own published litature.....turn the light on brighter PP and see.
• 

  stillajwexelder

  welcome
• 

  Eyes Open

  Hello there passwordprotected,
  
  Welcome to the site. I too felt nervous posting here for the first time. I didn't want to discuss the issues that were bothering me here (fear of "apostates" fooling me), and I didn't until I had already decided that the organisation which strongly disencouraged me from doing independent bible research (which shouldn't be a problem, right?) was not teaching truth. It took me months to do it by myself, but it was worth it.
  
  If you're intending to concentrate on the bible, as opposed to particular types of interpretation which allow the Society to come up with the teachings they do, may I recommend a book written by a scholar of Hebrew which puts the various types of biblical literature into historical context? It's not "apostate" - it doesn't even mention Jehovah's Witnesses. It's called "How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature - Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference, and What It Means for Faith Today" and is by Steven L. McKenzie. I found it extremely interesting and was amazed at what I was learning about the bible which I had never known anything of before.
  
  All the best with your bible reading and decisions. Don't force any opinions on your wife, and make sure you keep as close to her as possible, reassuring her of your love for her.
• 

  grassyknoll07

  I was very nervous my first time. I am an elder as well.
• 

  Ruth Eeker

  Welcome to the Board!
• 

  undercover

  Welcome password...

  I've been around awhile now and I remember my first post. I was a nervous wreck. I had been lurking, reading. But I jumped in and made my first post. At the time, I was trying to reconcile the new things I was learning about the Society with the things that I thought I knew.

  Deep down inside I knew I had stumbled on to something huge...but was scared it was true, because that meant everything in my life would change. And it did.

  But the folks here understood because they had been there, just as us welcoming you have been there and we're now here for you.
• 

  Cindi_67

  Hello and welcome.

  You are just coming out of the cocoon. You will have many ups and downs, sometimes you will not be sure if you made the right decision. When you have good friends in the cong. it's even harder to leave. I have family members that are very active, and could never think about having any doubts. I have a lot of problems, because I can't openly tell them how I feel. I just tell them I am discouraged and have a lot in my mind I need to settle, but that one day I will return. But I know that, even if I do, nothing will ever be the same. There are many things I don't agree with, and that puts a lot of strain in my decision.

  Many here are "free", they don't feel one bit sorry they left. So, don't get discouraged about continuing coming here and tell your story, or vent whenever you need it.

  I feel like one day, we'll know if we made a good decision. But right now, our consciences are telling us, "YOU DID THE RIGHT THING" sometimes tells you "PERHAPS YOU DIDN'T DO THE RIGHT THING". To me it only takes one look at an old friend of mine for me to say, "I DID MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION", she will literaly drink poison for the Organization, and that's not how I want to live.