by Sea Breeze 26 Replies latest jw friends
Sea Breeze - “…To the contrary. I fully intended in never stepping foot in any church again after I left the WT and attended university…”
I never said you were a churchgoer.
I said you were a Biblical literalist.
You’ve stated before that you believe the creation narrative in Genesis is historical record (and once got into an argument here with a Jewish scholar over the subject… I was there).
That is quintessential Biblical literalism.
SeaBreeze: Just pretend that there was evidence for a moment; do you think you would trust Jesus with your eternity?
I would, yes.
Vidiot,
I wasn't a biblical anything for 8 years after leaving the WT. Started off a pretty solid agnostic.
TonusOH,
That's great news! Have you heard of the Dawkins Delusion published by Banter & Twaddle?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQgmRiHt9BI&ab_channel=ReuvenGoldstein
@Sea Breeze
what changed your mind ?
SeaBreeze, I'm not sure I understand the aim of the video. They are trying to... promote credulity?
Stan, It was a process. I'm sort of a contrarians' contrarian. It was about the only tool I had after leaving the WT, since trust in God, my parents, elders, GB, were all destroyed, once I reached my vomit limit with WT lies. So, I believed in myself and rode that horse as far as it would take me. It was an improvement, but not nearly enough, for me.
A university education left me disillusioned. It was really my last hope, I thought. I couldn't figure out why my atheist philosophy professor couldn't seem to teach anything that didn't have something to do with destroying a "Christian" argument. I had already concluded (based on my JW experience) that Christian leaders were at the very least senile, infantile, ignorant and quite possible criminally liable. Why would he stoop so low as to even dignify a Christian argument?
I didn't want to hear anything that had the word Christian attached to it, even if it was a polemic. But, slowly, and ironically, I began to get used to Christian arguments from him. I had never heard anything like it from the WT. My sociology professors were mostly Marxists, which as a businessman I knew to be incredibly unfair and little more than a race to the bottom of poverty. I sensed that the philosphy and sociology professors were on some sort of Jihad against Christianity. I detected that I was being manipulated and indoctrinated.
In time, I reluctanly tried a Methodist church for a few months. Ended up on a homosexual date unbewnowst to me. Then tried a non-denominational church. Ended up getting jilted by a church volunteer leader girl who was in a sexually active relationship with another volunteer man who wasn't interested in marriage. I didn't see much biblical Christianity in either church.
So, I decided to just be a good person and live my life. Someone eventually showed me many scriptures that a person simply will never hear at the Kingdom Hall.
It became apparent to me that people from different backgrounds were all using similar selective information techniques to steer attention away from the simple basic message of the NT. I found this to be very curious. Being a contrarian's contrairian, this naturally pointed me in the right direction.
It is a skill that I naturally have and it has allowed me to start from scratch 2 multi-million $ businesses and one that produced around 700K per yer from my home in my 40 + years as an entrepreneur.
Then, one day I suddenly recalled two experiences that I had 17 years previously while pioneering that I will never forget. I will relate one of them:
I knocked on an apartment door and an unusually beautiful woman came to the door and invited me in. She appeared to be interested in what I had to say. Started a study on the spot. Her husband attended the study off and on. He appeared to be about 5 years younger than her with a mullet haircut. He was a landscaper. The situation was a little unusual. This woman was straight off the pages of Glamour Magazine, unbelievable gorgeous, even after two kids and little to no make up. Usually women like that are millionair trophy wives.
She had a naturally whispy , kind voice and gently challenged me here and there. After about 4 or 5 studies, when we were alone she asked me if I wanted to know what Jesus had done for her? I said sure.
She appeaered to be the perfect wife and mother, so I was interested in what she had to say. Looking at her blond hair, and perfect facial features as she spoke, I began to get pulled into her life story, which she related in some detail. She began to tell me how she was abused as a child and how she had no one that she could trust, how she would hide from her abuser. She related how she grew up and turned to drugs to help her cope with an impossible situation, even needle type drugs. She was "strung-out" was her phrase. She said that for years, she was a very high-dollar prostitute (3k per night in today's money).
She got to the end of herself and Jesus came into her life and saved her. She said that he got her off the drugs, got her out of the prostitution ring, gave her, her dignity back then provided her with a loving husband and two beautiful children. She spoke of Jesus like he was real, like he was sitting right there with us, like he was her best friend, like she really loved him.
I was very shook up by her testimony and was speechless. I am a natural born salesman by nature. Because of that I knew that I had NOTHING in my bookbag that could compare with what she had. She had a superior product than what I was peddling. I had encountered a power far beyond anything I had ever experienced before. I got the hell out of there shortly after that and never went back. I just couldn't process the power that I had encountered at the time. But, I never forgot it.
It wasn't until decades later, suddenly one day, that the Lord revealed to me that she was the one who was studying with me. She was being compassionately obedient to his leading. She went way out of her way, (probably had to deal with her husband too so that he would agree to the unusual situation) just to be able to get me to listen to her testimony with an open mind.
I have my own rescue story to tell. But, in short, it is the raw power of God to change lives and to heal that caused me to become a Christian. Once you encounter it, Jesus becomes more real than your own mother.
Sea Breeze - “I wasn't a biblical anything for 8 years after leaving the WT. Started off a pretty solid agnostic.”
Whoops, sorry man, I had you confused with EasyPrompt.
I don’t know why. 😵💫
