Welcome!!
I lived in Houston for a short time in the 80's. My brother still serves as an elder there.
I'm glad that you have done your research - knowing the facts makes it so much easier to break free.
Posts by Dawn
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23I finally opened my eyes
by Texas Apostate inhi from houston,.
after 2 months of investigating the wts, i have finally confirmend what my heart and mind told for a long time.
i have kept up with the post in here during that time, and i want to say thank you to all.
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Dress up like JW for Holloween!! LOL
by mamashel ini was just thinking that holloween is just around the corner.
woulnt it be a scream to dress up in a dress and hubby in a suit and tie and go "door to door" for holloween???.
hehehhe!
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Dawn
I'm going to a costume Halloween party and told my friends I was thinking of coming as a JW. I thought it was hysterical!! - but they told me they'd throw me out if I showed up that way.
So I'm going as a cat. How boring...........
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New Here
by rwagoner informer jw..new on the board and glad to see it so active.
the latest round of "new light" in the recent km has reversed the rules and once again my family has been told to shun me.
i da'd in my early 20's after being very active since childhood and have been out of the "borg" now for nearly 18 years.. i look forward to reading and posting as i get more familiar with the names here.. rgw.
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Dawn
Welcome!!
You will find some unbelievers here, and some that are now born again, and some that are still waffling which way to go. But one thing we all have in common is that we're survivors.
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11
Living life on the outside!!!
by haujobbz insince leaving the jws faith i have become a very naughty boy.
since i left i have started to lie and not care,i swear a lot,i have even stolen something like a choccy bar or drink,.
i suppose i feel mislead and have become a very rebellious boy, i wonder if any of you have experienced these changes in your personality.. but what pees me off , is say there is a god and hes watching me, i suppose im dead meat in his eyes due to being an unrepentant sinner.. so what would you do lead a life independent of god and do what you like when you want or would you take a chance and be good and assume there might be a god and hope to go to heaven or wherever.. but i am very happy thank goodness.
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Dawn
I also started doing a lot of partying when I was DF'd. Like others here I figured, "why not - I'm going to die anyways". I agree with the other posters that this is sometimes a natural outcome after being in such a restrictive environment - it's a rebelling period.
To reason that you are going to die because of the bad things you did.....then the opposite must be true, that you can live forever if you're good. If we could be good enough to gain eternal life on our own works then what was the purpose for Jesus' sacrifice? If WE had the POWER to gain eternal life on our own then why did he bother to come down here & die for our sins? Of course - this isn't true at all. You don't gain life by your works......you can't earn your way there and you don't loose your prize because you screwed up somewhere along the way.
The bible is very clear that the ONLY way to salvation is through accepting Jesus as your savior, which means accepting him into your life and putting him first. It's a heart thing - not a works thing. And once you have accepted him, it changes your heart so that you WANT to do the good things. You start to live by the golden rule not because you HAVE to but because you WANT to. That's exactly what Jesus meant when he said "my yoke is kindly and my load is light" - you might have to work really hard at some hobby but if it's a hobby you like to do then the work doesn't seem hard. Same thing with living your life after you accept Christ.
So my suggestion would be - don't beat yourself up about what you've done wrong. Put your focus on reading the bible (really reading it now without the Watchtower's help), and do your research on the history of the JW's - that helped me get over a lot of the guilt I felt. In time you will begin to feel better about yourself - and you'll move in the right direction.
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Do You Believe Any of "The Truth"?
by XBEHERE ini've been lurking for several months, its my first post here.
i am currently an active jw.
i have a very jw family so i have to be careful.
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Dawn
Hi XBE & Welcome:
I also struggled with what to believe - some of the JW doctrines made sense - some didn't. I thought it had to be an all or nothing (which it does with dubs) and I couldn't seem to find another religion that I could believe EVERYTHING they taught.
Finally.....a teaching of Jesus came to mind. Remember the parable of the wheat & the weeds? He said that weeds would grow up and be indistinguishable from the wheat until it was full grown & ready for harvest. I believe that this means you can not find ANY church that is completely true in it's teachings. ALL have some wheat & some weeds - the trick is to sort out for yourself what YOU, by reading the BIBLE, believe to be the wheat doctrines and follow that.
It is intersting to me how the JW's use John 17:3 (this means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ). They use this scripture and apply it as intellectual/factual knowledge. In fact, I've heard some quote it and throw in the words "accurate knowledge". They think that if they can accurately interpret the scriptures then they have everlasting life. Unfortuantely they have missed the boat completely. The greek word used in the original manuscripts for "knowledge" was not the factual type knowledge but the tense as to "know someone". The real meaning of this scripture is that it means everlasting life to really KNOW God & Jesus in a way that they are a part of your life and that you have accepted them into your life. To KNOW them as a friend, father, helper.
Yet the JW's put the "faithful and discrete slave" between themselves and God so they are unable to have a personal relationship with him - they are following men. Putting the "faithful and discrete slave" as your guide to God completely goes against Jesus' teaching. He told his disciples shortly before he died that he would send a counselor to them - the holy spirit. The holy spirit was to be the one that worked within you and helped you to understand the bible, to guide you to God. The FDS have basically eliminated the holy spirit by saying (1) it doesn't really exist, and (2) they took it's place. I would say that the FDS is in a very tough position when their time comes to answer to God.
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More things the JW kids are missing out on.
by Dawn inmany of you already know that i started going to a new church 2 years ago.
it's very focused on kids and has lots of activities for them.. this year they started up an additional program for the grade school age - it's open to everyone from the public.
every wednesday night from 6:30-8:30pm they meet at the church for a sort of "camp" - they're learning some songs & dances to perform for the church, they do crafts, play bible games, and learn a new bible verse each week.. i decided to sign up as a helper.
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Dawn
Many of you already know that I started going to a new church 2 years ago. It's very focused on kids and has lots of activities for them.
This year they started up an additional program for the grade school age - it's open to everyone from the public. Every Wednesday night from 6:30-8:30pm they meet at the Church for a sort of "camp" - they're learning some songs & dances to perform for the Church, they do crafts, play bible games, and learn a new bible verse each week.
I decided to sign up as a helper. It was a TOTAL BLAST! We have 80 kids so far that show up each week - and they're learning so much but in a fun way. Tonight they played a maze game to help learning a verse from John and they made T-shirts to take home with the bible verse. Next week they'll break up in teams to play a sort of tag race putting together another verse, etc. etc
As I watched these kids, learning about the bible, developing a love for Jesus and meeting other friends - I couldn't help but compare it to what the kids in the "truth" got. I can remember being so excited the few (very very very few) times that the society actually put out a book just for us - and it was so cool to be special enough (the right age) to sit in a reserved section at the assembly to receive that new cool book. Only to wait years before any other crumbs were thrown our way. And learning the bible........well.......all we had was to sit through the boring meetings that were totally over our heads at grade school age. The only thing we really learned was to behave, sit quiet, follow the rules, or else you'll get a beating in the back room.
Tonight - when 8:30 rolled around and parents came, there were kids begging their parents to let them stay for one more bible game, or to sing one more song, even kids who wanted their parents to start attending Church because they want to come on Sundays too. Did you EVER see a JW kid begging their parents for the KingdomHall talk to be just a few minutes longer?!
Not only are they having a blast - but they're learning. And they're learning A LOT - these kids know as much about the bible as I did at that age. It's amazing - they know ALL the stories, can quote scriptures, can apply them to modern day situations. The major difference is that these kids will grow up with fond memories of Church, and the knowledge that someone up there loves them - they won't grow up with fear of Armageddon. And I'll bet that the majority of them will grow up to be Christian because it's what they WANT to do - not because it's what they HAVE to do.
The JW's are loosing their young ones left and right - yet they still don't get it.
PS - after hangin' with 80 kids tonight it's time for a Bud Light!! After all.......I do need to "regroup"
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Why are you looking forward to 2005?
by Nowhere inanyone heard anyting of 2005?
i've spoken to some witnesses here, who are really worried about 2005. they say it was pretty obvious at the last convention, that the world may end in 2005. because of 1975 and the fact that jesus was 30 years old, the last time he preached on earth... .
what have i missed?
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Dawn
I'm looking forward to 2005 because my son will have graduated highschool and be in college....wait....am I on the right subject here?
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The Old the Young, and the Forum
by forgetmenot ini was just wondering the age of most people on this forum.
i am only 18. i was just wondering if there is anyone else out there who posts and is so young.
or how old you were when you (1) left/faded from the jw organization, (2) how old you started posting here, and how old you are now.
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Dawn
I was raised a JW.
DF'd at 19 - got reinstated 6 months later (thought it was my only option...armageddon and all)
DF'd again at 24 - knew I didn't want to go back but didn't know what else to do.
35 yrs old - started attending a non-denominational church - learned a lot of things I NEVER knew about God and found out what I did "know" wasn't necessarily right.
35 yrs old - found this site. Helped me tremendously - learning about the false prophecies, UN scandal, etc helped me to let go of the guilt and fear of questioning the "society". That helped me to open up my mind to learn more about the bible. I was baptised last fall as a Christian (no denomination).
I'll be 37 in 2 months. My how time flies............
Edited by - Dawn on 21 September 2002 11:7:22
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DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF?
by minimus inare you pretty much satisfied with yourself or do you feel unhappy, as a rule?
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Dawn
I feel great!
For years as a dub (even after I was DF'd) I carried guilt - lots and lots of guilt. Felt I could NEVER live up to the requirements - I must have had a bad heart, I was just a looser, yadda yadda.
Those feelings are gone now. Sometimes I still get down on myself - but it's for things that I know I need to change and CAN change - not just everything like it used to be. Now I find that I'm striving to do the right things not because of fear, or because of some requirement, but just because I want to and it feels good. That makes all the difference. There's no more heavy burden - just the desire to do good for others.
Now - if I could just loose these extra 10 pounds....
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Making known the truth about "The Troof"
by ozziepost inone of the heartening things about enjoying freedom, is that you're in a great position to make known the truth about "the troof".
that was the happy position that mrs ozzie and i were in this evening.
we were invited to visit a baptist church in sydney who had a arranged a special evening.
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Dawn
Great job Ozzie!
There was a time when I was so scared to speak against the Org - I just KNEW it was the "unforgivable sin". Now I feel compelled to tell others the REAL truth.