Why I Think Its The Truth!

by normie67 56 Replies latest jw friends

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  normie67

  This is normie thoughts on the threads about the Truth....

  I have HUGE doubts about a lot of things about the Org. I have been a JW for 20 yrs and still active(family reasons). But nobody but NOBODY has refuted to my mind, the fact NOBODY does the evangelizing work Jesus did. I mean what Org on the face of the globe compares to the witnesses!! With the sole goal of helping people know about the bible!!!I have searched the web and see the discrepencies, but nothing has totally convinced me that any other Org, Group..i.e, has laid claim to trying to bring others to Christ???????

  Sorry normie's thought and why I'm still in....I think???

  normie
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  expatbrit

  Normie:

  An interesting post.

  Some questions:

  1 - Why are you sure that the society's evangelizing work is the same one Jesus did?

  2 - Is the WTS sole goal to help people to know the bible, or to know WT publications? What about societies that publish the bible exclusively? Is not their goal as worthy as the WTS's?

  3 - The WTS may have laid claim to trying to bring others to Christ, but are they really doing so, given the discrepancies you have found?

  Expatbrit
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  trevor

  Hi Normie,

  You should stop doubting it is a sin in the eyes of witnesses. Stand by your beliefs. Get out there and pioneer and don't let anything fleshy get in the way!
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  normie67

  Trevor

  Pio for 2yrs and honestly the most satisfying yrs in the Org, even better then the MS days!!!

  No there is the direct commandfromthe bible to PREACH(Matt. 24:14), and no response to this question has satisfied me!!!!
  We preach aboutgods kingdom all over theWorld, Jesus even said that this would be done..."works greater than this"
  normie(Of the Sheepish Class)
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  Gopher

  Hi Normie. I don't think we've met yet. I'm a "newbie" and probably cannot give as fine an answer as some others who have been around longer, but I want to share a couple of thoughts. You asked, right?

  Before I go on, let me say that these discussions are at the "thoughtful, rational" level, and not meant in any way as an emotional appeal to leave an organization. Everyone must decide for him or herself. No family members or no posters can take that responsibility away from you!

  And more before I go on, you can read more about me in the "Meet new Friends" forum. I was, er, dismissed from the organization about a year ago. My parents & grandmas are still "in", my sister is "out", and I live on my own. (So much better to have time to respond on these forums.)

  Your post focuses on the "Works" done by Jehovah's Witnesses. And that too was my reasoning (both inwardly and when asked out in the ministry) as to a major reason why we have the truth. This is not to totally eliminate the value of "works", because even Titus 2:14 says that God would cleanse for himselves a people zealous for fine works.

  However, the main identifying feature of Christians is to be love. You know that John 13:35 backs that up. When an organization grows as large and autocratic as the Society has, often love gets replaced by efficiency. In terms of human emotion, where that costs most is the disfellowshipping/shunning arrangement. I never seriously thought about that until recently, because I had never personally come in contact with it. I believed the "company line" (oops, I almost typed "company lie") that it is a LOVING thing, for the GOOD of the families and the accused.

  I now know from personal experience and from seeing others affected that this in fact runs rough-shod over people's feelings. (See Esmeralda's post, "A Child's Innocent Question".) The whole arrangement is so unnatural and forced, and unnecessary. There MUST be a better way to deal with accused people than this.

  So the way I have come to view things is this: Remember the WT study about the dragnet, where organizations that use the Bible capture both suitable and unsuitable fish, and the unsuitable are thrown out? I have come to believe that JW's, along with many other Bible-teaching religions, constitute that dragnet, and that good people and bad people exist in all such organizations. The beliefs between the organizations may be somewhat different, but the point is they're all being exposed to the Bible's message through the WORKS of the various churches (which is carried on in different ways and in different degrees), and then Jesus can go through and in his ultimate wisdom (granted him by Jehovah) sort through and see who is worthy of salvation. I cannot believe any other way. I have seen some really fine people who happen to associate with religions whose views I don't agree with. But I must say, their personality certainly looks like Christian fruitage to me!
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  SixofNine

  Re-read your last sentence normie:

  ...has laid claim to trying to bring others to Christ???????

  
  I don't want to be mean, but it seems almost silly; doesn't it?

  I remember struggling with the gist of your question. But think about how little emphasis is put on "bringing people to Christ". Think about how many times you would have to convince people at the door that, "Jehovahs Witnesses are a 'christian' organization." Crazy isn't it? 100 years in existence, and most folks know the name, but many don't even know JW's as Christians.

  Think about people who have published the Bible, and Bible study aids on the web. Alot of work, but the WT society certainly has the resources. Just not the inclination. I daresay a searchable bible on the web is of greater spiritual merit than pushing a book or magazine that is going to be considered "old light" in a few months or years.

  I remember the last few times I tried preaching. I thought, "just what the hell is my messege, and how does it compare to Jesus' messege?"
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  normie67

  Gopher

  Interesting post, I might add.......
  But You mention Jehovah...the name "Jehovah"....Where did you first learn that name??? The name of our Creator????

  normie
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  normie67

  6of9

  Good post to my situation....
  To be honest IMHO the emphasis within the Org is JEHOVAH. This is our Creator and Maker!! The Org in no way put Jesus to a lower status, Heis the REASON for our SALVATION...the Greatest Human Sacrifice!!!!
  Some say because the Org does not have any books with Jesus in the title, they say he's not recognized. But any True Christian Knows Christ is the Way and the Truth!!
  Please don't confuse JEHOVAH..the CREATOR and his precious son Jesus Christ, JEHOVAH is to be worshipped, and his son, the sacrifice, the reason we have any chance for an ETERNAL FUTURE.....

  normie
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  Gopher

  Hey Norm, I just got back from lunch. (Burp! Excuse me!)

  Now to your question about Jehovah's name. I was brought up to use that name and see no reason at all to discontinue the practice. JW's did not invent the name Jehovah. It has been in common usage in our language for well over 5 centuries. So it's factual. If people have a hang-up about it, well I don't. (Jehovah, Yahweh, at least use a personal name.)

  Yes, I learned Jehovah's name from JW's. I'm not ungrateful for the truths I learned while in the organization, including "No Trinity" and "No Immortal Soul". I don't agree with some of the more esoteric teachings of the WT Society. That having been said, there are other religious organizations (such as Unitarians and Moslems) who believe in one singular Creator. And I know JW's are not the only one who share their teaching about "soul".

  My point is, there are different teachings that have been combined to make up the body of doctrine of each religion. Some of the differences we might find quite distressing indeed!

  However, the main difference I have with JW's now is what I had posted earlier about the lack of love in certain hard-line organizational practices of JW's. So important as the name "Jehovah" is, even MORE important is how do you individually (and by extension, I guess any group we choose to belong to) represent that name, not by WORKS but by LOVE.

  If we choose to associate with an organization, than we bear community responsibility for its decisions. (The Watchtower has even said that about God's judgments, past and future!) That's why, based on personal experience, I cannot go back to associate with God's organization. I have found certain practices to be unloving therein, and so my re-association could not be wholehearted.

  Sorry to ramble.
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  SixofNine

  Just to set you straight very quickly, normie67, I spent all of my 37 years within "Jehovahs organization" so please, don't waste a minute infering that I might confuse "JEHOVAH..the CREATOR and his precious son Jesus Christ".

  It's funny to hear myself say this, considering that 8 months ago or so I was still going door to door, but I have to ask; why the big hang up about the name "Jehovah"?

  If it is so important, why not use Yahweh? Jehovah may have been an honest mistake, but it was a mistake none-the-less, wasn't it? (I'm open for informed comments on this, but I think it has been proven that Yahweh is a much better, more intelligent guess. And our intelligence did come from God, didn't it ) Also, if it was so important, why would he have allowed the Isrealites to hush it? If it was so important, why wouldn't Jesus have made using it a focus of his ministry? If it was so important, why is there even a legitimate question as to how it should be written and pronounced. Why does the Bible say that Jesus was to have the name that would be above all names?

  But frankly normie, isn't it important to establish why someone should believe the bible in the first place, before you start argueing what emphasis to place on what particular piece of the Bible?

  So please, do that. Explain who wrote the Bible, and why I should believe God guided them. Tell me exactly why some scriptures and books are excluded, and some are included. Show me Gods hand in writing the Bible. Show me Gods hand in deciding what books to include and what to exclude. Tell me the messege behind the flood account, and why it looks so much like it didn't happen.

  Oh, and while you're doing that, be sure not to paint a picture of God that is small, petty, inconsistant and vindictive. Cuz that would just be wrong on your part.

  You figure all that out, and life is going to get so much simpler for you. The bonus is that you won't be a danger to others anymore.

  I think it was Jesus who said the truth will set you free. True-er words have never been spoken, whether He was really a historical figure or not. And believe me, I would love to have it proven to me that He was.