just on the off chance someone is interested in hard copies of the following publications (digital version tend to change), i thought i'd make the offer before making the trip to the recycling center.
kingdom ministries- '94-'97, '00, '01.
bound volumes - '84w, 85w, 90w, '93-'97w+a, '99w, '00-'01w+a (2 sets of 97 w+a).
Just on the off chance someone is interested in hard copies of the following publications (digital version tend to change), I thought I'd make the offer before making the trip to the recycling center.
Kingdom Ministries- '94-'97, '00, '01
Bound Volumes - '84W, 85W, 90W, '93-'97W+A, '99W, '00-'01W+A (2 sets of 97 w+a)
Yearbook- 84, 86, 90-92, 94, 96-99, 01
I gotta pass-on this life's water free! Hahaahaaa...
-gafhotrl
just wanted to introduce myself.
i went to the kh for the first time 2 weeks ago...and will go again tomorrow.
i don't believe anything witnessy...(i was raised in the assembly of god church and now the closest thing i "do" with religion is yoga or sometimes the buddhist temple).... but the man i'm in love with is a df'd jw (we've been together for 6 years).... and he wants to get reinstated just to talk to his family again (i can assure you he does not believe it).... and he wants his family to accept me because we are about to get married... so, i'm going to meetings...its very interesting, but only because it shows me more about how he was raised.
I will second what diamonddiiz mentioned about getting married first. His fam will have to respect the already established marriage, as will other witnesses. You're quite a woman for doing this for your love, and his son. Wish you all the best!
What a positive and helpful post from Teary O, who's obviously not miserable. Forget to take the anti-depressants this week? Most of us here are disgruntled; wonder why? Original poster LKM is fortunately sharp enough to see past the bullshit, so save it Teary, or I'll tell the elders you're on an apostate site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3y0cd2cocs.
.
I seen that before.
have you ever aspired to anything?
when you were young did you say "this is where i want to end up" and work towards it?
did you just decide to live by the seat of your pants?
No it's not strange, considering where we've been. We were taught to "disown ourselves". I was born in, and remember hearing that from a very young age. I always felt like I was smart enough to do anything I wanted to do, it just wasn't allowed, and I didn't even know what I would want to do, like you. I'm still young, but old enough to feel odd for feeling like I do. I'm 35 y/o, and am having quite a time learning just who I am and what I want and value. Since leaving the JW life 2 yrs ago, I've had to somewhat start over, as if I was a teen again. As soon as I stopped going to mtgs, though, I did begin school full time, as I knew I wanted an education, a real one. Other than that, I do often feel like what you describe, kind of like I've just been bumbling though life to this point, getting blown in various directions. I suppose it will get better the older we get. And my children do give me a strong focal point and the goal of raising them successfully. I have started a "bucket list" of things I want to accomplish or experience before I'm too old too.
Don't worry too much about it, or stress about having a "direction". Enjoy as much of life as you can on a day to day basis. It seems that things in life have a way of becoming clear over time. I wish you the best of luck!
-reallife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3y0cd2cocs.
.
There is a brewery in Portland, Oregon called "Widmer Bros".
I like to go there when I pass through. But it's very simular to other breweries.
How does their beer effect you? I like the affect it has on me.
if you are an elder or an ex-elder please add a comment.
i hope that the governing body will see this.
it is too bad it has to be on an anonymous forum.
if you are an elder or an ex-elder please add a comment.
i hope that the governing body will see this.
it is too bad it has to be on an anonymous forum.
i'm well into the book, can't put it down, it is just so fascinating and so utterly devastating to the credibility of the wtbts.
i suspect that any jehovah's witness who has a modicum of self respect and intelligence could not but finish the book a step or more on the path to emancipation from this awful, people destroying religion.. i really want my wife to read this book but i anticipate that she will refuse on the basis of it having been banned by the society as the worst kind of apostate literature.
i am genuinely saddened that she will not grant me the same kind of trust and respect she gives so lovingly to her watchtower masters and i will doubtless say this to her when she turns down my invitation.
I'm at a similar crossroads, but only married 11 years and out 2 years. I've been able to get my wife to agree to read CoC by appealing to her sense of "us", our mental health, and our long term viability as a couple. Basically a very soft and well veiled, but real threat. We have 2 young children that complicate things further, as the last thing I want is to rock their world. Both times that she had agreed to read it, she's backpedaled. So, I think that dissed has a good solution.
"Do this for me. Read COC. And after reading it, you don't agree with me, I will never bring this stuff up again. I will put it too rest forever."
This is a huge commitment from our side, so I would add 2 more books that helped me a lot. Captives of a Concept helps differentiate bible from org., and Combatting Cult Mind Control may open her eyes to mind-control methods and how they are used on her. I see this approach as quite a wager, so I'd throw these three books at her and make a deal. If she's a reader, this may not be a bad deal to get you to shut up forever about all your apostate lies!
You're a patient man to have so many years of this under your belt. Two years out and I'm going mad. Best of luck to you Nickolas.
i came on jwd a year ago tomorrow, having realized that jws were not the truth, quite painfully, on march 29, 2008. i was here within a week, and within 2 months i was officially dad by my congregation.. ever since joining, i have never actually wrote down a comprehensive look at why i left the organization.
what doubts caused me to leave?
why did a gilead grad leave what i once considered so precious?.
Awakened at Gilead...
I hope I don't bring up a painful subject, but...
What result did your leaving the "truth" have on your marriage? Can you offer some advice on this issue?
My biggest concern is preserving my family. Wife of 9 years, 3 yo son, 6 mo son.
So much of what you wrote rang true with my story, though I never reached the heights of zeal that you did.
Thank you Awakened at Gilead!
-Getting a firm hold on the real life
"we missed you.....so nice to see you again!
the memorial is thursday ya know.....".
my wife hasn't been well mentally so i agreed to attend some meetings with her...this is the bottom of the barrell for me!
"I cannot sing the words to the songs either, they would stick in my throat. The chairman must see me standing statuesque with a randomly open songbook, but never says anything ..I let my mind wander of in the prayer.
I try to talk to the dubs, if my state of mind allows..Individually they are decent people
No doubt we will not be the only ones from this side of the fence at the Memorial tonight,,"
BluesBrother,
These words were me last night and served as the motivation to register on this board after the memorial. I've been lurking here for 3 weeks and lacking faith in the org for years. I was a MS 10+ years ago (early twenties) and as I've worked to become one again I realized how really controlling, backward and unscriptural the game, er, org is. I've prayed to God for faith intensely for months now, to make my way CLEAR. He did.
I must say I'm glad to have come to this conclusion on my own, THEN come here, and other sites, to have all my concerns and doubts confirmed. I talked to my wife of 9 years the other day about this and she took it fairly well. I'm not pushing her too hard, just letting her know that I am trying to apply Rom 12:2 and prove to myself "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". She is open to talking and cool with me proving it to myself, though she thinks I'll prove the org to be "the truth". Downside is she is 3rd gen JW and ALL her fam is in, and it is a huge and GREAT family that I am very close to and have a lot of history with. I know if we were DF/DA many would still talk to us, but if we faded MOST of them would. FIL is PO, SIL pio'd for years, and wife and I pio'd a while too. I do have one BIL that a few years ago was talking about some very apostate things but seems to be doing "better" now. I am going to innocently talk to him about it and see what ever happened. I am hoping he is still on the fence or just doing it for fam reasons. He and I were very close friends, maybe best friends, even before he was my BIL. My mom is in and "weak", but doing "better" all the time. She would probably drop me like a hot potato if I DA'd. That thought kills me, as the only positive things in her life are me and my kids, her grand babies.
One of the many things that first led to my subversive thinking was that as much as I am in love with my sons, I would never reject a blood transfusion for them if it were the last option to preserve their life. Also, I know of 2 pedophiles that were appointed (1 ms & 1 elder), albeit unknown to the cong elders. I know this firsthand as I was a victim of one of them. But that hit me like a ton of bricks that even if the elders didn't know, God does, and it is supposedly HIS holy spirit guiding the appointments. I had thought about this since childhood, but always just put it out of my mind like a good JW does. I downloaded CoC and am currently reading it also, just confirming more of my thoughts.
My wife and I are in great place to start fading (though I doubt she will at this point), as we have missed over a month of meetings (until the memorial) due to sickness and being out-of-town. Then I was asked to carry emblems the day before the memorial. I didn't feel I could do it. My last talk a few weeks ago I canceled too, it was about why God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's a hard fall down a VERY slippery slope. At least it ends in freedom and in my early thirties and babies at home we still have the hope of a real life. Thus my handle says I'm "getting a firm hold on the real life". I now plan on going back to school, and if I want my boys to be in the Boy Scouts, karate, soccer, and go to college, they damn well get to!
Anyway, enough about me. BluesBrother, thanks for posting what not only I but many others feel. I have always enjoyed singing at the KH, and I still do when it has nothing to do with the org or its specific doctrines. At those times my mouth goes dry, I don't sing and my wife notices. There are so many wonderful ("decent")people there that I love to claim as friends, but that feeling is tempered by knowing that my friendship with them is very tentative.
I realize this is kind of thread hijacking... sorry. I just wanted to thank BluesBrother for his thoughts, then I got carried away... and it feels good.
-Getting a firm hold on the real life
