by edwkey 19 Replies latest jw friends
Like many of you I dedicated many years of my life searching for the "true" faith or religion.
After researching and considering religion I came to the conclusion that there is not such.
I decided to worship God in my own temple. I hope you find yours.
The force be with you all !!!!
Thanks, Edwkey, for your post and welcome to the board!
Religion is man's doing. Spirituality comes from within.
Is that your boat??
Hi Edwkey,
Wonderful picture and subject line. Welcome!
Pat
Amen to that! I too searched for many years believing that God had one true religion. That is how I ended up as one Jehovahs (Blind) Witnesses.
I first came online in 98 after falling away from meetings for something I did. I had one been df'd for fornication with my boyfriend whom I had been with before I became a witness. Well, not quit three years after my baptism, I did it again. The only difference is that this time I didn't go to the elders and confess like the first time. I didn't want to go through the shunning once again. It makes you feel less than human. So, I ran. I stopped going to meeting. If the caller ID had one of the witnesses numbers listed I didn't answer.
That same year in June, I bought my first computer. I was feeling so much guilt for not confessing that the first thing I did was to do a search for anything JW on the net. The first thing I found was the jw and friends chat room. I went in there asking for help. What I got was rudeness. Here I was trying to confess online LOL and I was treated as if I had the plague.
It just so happened that there was a man in the chat room who was dating an ex jw and he led me to Bob(DocBob to all who know him online.) He led me to the ex jw room. Sometimes, we would read scriptures when debating the jws. That's when I came across 1st John 2:27. That verse helped me to know that you will not find God in any religion. It is a personal thing between the individual and God, and NO religion will ever again take that away from me.
Forgive my rambling, I just thought I needed to tell my story to get to the point of my response.
My term as a JW pretty much turned me off to any organized religion. I checked out a couple from the periphery, but in every case there was the standard "we're right, you're wrong" mantra. I couldn't cope with that. Nor could I cope with "belonging" to any group that expected me to be at a certain place at a certain time on a regular basis.
I eventually found that my relationship with God was not dependent on a church membership, and I have conducted my spiritual life along those lines since that time.
I decided to worship God in my own temple...
Nice lookin' Church ya got there, edwkey. :)
Flip
Hey, Lilacs,
What's your aol handle? I'm LdyPmprnel....perhaps we've met in the chat rooms.
-----LisaBobeesa
Greetings Edwkey! My sentiments exactly. How anyone can feel closer to God indoors than out is beyond me...
Hi Edwkey!
Glad you're enjoying life! You're on the water with a boat, I'm in the woods with my bike. FUN!
RHW, I agree completely. I've come to hate anything scheduled after I get home from work, unless it's one of the kid's concerts, or a movie.
TR
"Kults Suk"
edwkey
Love the boat, wish I could join you.
RedhorseWoman
Nor could I cope with "belonging" to any group that expected me to be at a certain place at a certain time on a regular basis.
My view exactly. One of the reasons I stopped going to meetings was because I never believed that a God of "love" would expect his "happy" people to live like martyrs. And thats how I view going to meetings 3 times a week, field service on the weekends, study for meetings and bible reading etc on the rest of the nights. And no time for relaxation, entertainment, family life.
To live like this until the end came, I don't think so. My husband and I did it all our lives, no way were we going to inflict this on our children.
BEW "Glad to be free"
