Posts by lriddle80

26

conscious of my spiritual need, what next?

by stillhurts in

jw
friends

so once you leave, what next?

have you found anything from a spiritual standpoint that brings you happiness and satisfaction?.

have you been so scarred by the teaching that "all religions are wrong", that you can't see the truth anywhere?.

lriddle80

I was out for about 9 years and I would read the bible from time to time, but always thought I would eventually go back. I was invited to a baptist church and then I started working at a food bank and started reading the bible again, this time with a searching mind. The food bank was a place that had representatives from most of the christian religions and there wasn't much work to do, so I spent a lot of time asking questions, debating and learning. It was so great! I believe in the divinity of Jesus...for instance, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth" and then in Colossians it said that everything was created by Jesus...that was one case where I could put those together and it made sense. I think of it that God is like a family, Mother/Father/Child or someone described it to me with an egg: Shell/Yolk/White, 3 parts, but the whole is called the Egg...so, whatever, it kind of makes sense to me and there are so many more instances where Jesus was worshipped and accepted that worship...so, whatever, I've accepted this after much debate and study. I once studied and researched so much that it was making me sick. As far as crosses/torture stakes go, well, what does it matter, isn't it the sacrfice itself that is important? I missed that whole point when I was in!

Another good book is Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis...he explains a lot about different doctrines!

15

Part 2 of Botzwana's story....The final part.

by Botzwana in

jw
friends

http://monstercafesaltillo.blogspot.mx/2013/03/my-story-as-jehovahs-witness-part-2.html.

again comments are appreciated..

lriddle80

I left the "truth" about 13 years ago and they haven't disfellowshipped me yet...of course, I'm not going to go inviting the elders for a "meeting" to discuss anything...will they disfellowship me if I don't agree to a meeting? The last time I went to a KH was when my grandpa died and one of the elders came running up to me "happy to see me" and asked immediately what KH I was attending and I told him I wasn't and he looked sad and said some witnesses in my area were looking for me, but I didn't give him my address, so...I have to admit, having the "apostate" label would bother me even though I know it isn't true...and then I would lose my mom/dad/sister/brother/aunt/uncles/grandma entirely instead of just half, which is the way it is now...so you're probably gonna be all right in the disfellowshipping dept unless you actually go and have that meeting, I think...

26

In All Honesty Would You Have NOT Given Blood To Your Child If He or She Needed it?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a "faithful witness", i never had to deal with this on a personal level.

i imagine the pressure must be extreme with the elders and others "supporting" you to do the right thing.. do you think you would have given blood to your family member, especially your child if you were in that situation..

lriddle80

When I was in the hospital in labor with my son...they had me sign a paper on whether or not I would let them give me blood if something were to happen...I signed it "no" because my mom was standing right there...but if something really were to happen, I would tell them to give me blood for sure! I think survival would have kicked in, but if I were unconscious, I guess I would have died because I signed the paper...

4

The heartless Witness and his treatment of his two brothers at their aunt's wake!

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

my cousin by marriage had a wake for his mom last night.

he's a jehovah's witness and so are his cousins ( 3 brothers ) .

two of the brothers are disfellowshipped and the oldest brother serves as a ministerial servant.. i walk in the funeral home and see one of the disfellowshipped brothers sitting in the last row of seats.

lriddle80

It was like that when my grandpa on my dad's side died. His son was disfellowshipped, so after the talk, at the after party the elders wouldn't come to it because he was there.

But then my other grandpa died and what bothered me is that he wasn't a believer of JW, so the talk was that they talked about him for about 5 minutes, one of the stories about him being that one day he gave some JW some water when they came over to visit my grandma, who was a JW. Then the rest was about the beliefs of the JW. It was my grandpa's funeral...they could at least have talked about him a little more...but, at least they let it happen at the kingdom hall for my family. Also, they said that after armageddon he'd still have 1 more chance to be a JW after he is resurrected to judgement...I don't even think that is scriptural...

8

I went to church on Sunday, and the world did not come to an end.

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

back story, i left the jws 13 years ago, just walked away, moved to another state, and married a guy i had gone to high school with 28 years previously.

at first i was just happy to be away from the dubs and the thought of any organized religion just made me sick, and as most of you know, the dubs do a good job of tearing down other religions, so my thinking was still influenced by the wtbts in some areas.

i considered myself agnostic for a long time.. i occasionally visited my husband's parents church when we were visiting.

lriddle80

I really like the church I go to. It's a baptist church. They do believe in hell, and the trinity and all the stuff that a typical church believes in, but they don't shun you if you believe differently. They welcome discussion and that is refreshing. I love the music and the preaching is such that it motivates you to go into the world and be a light for God's kingdom. Their idea of witnessing is telling peole your testimony of what Christ has done in your life and that is a lot easier for sure then going door to door, though in this type of witnessing you pretty much have to make it happen! Also, what I like about my church is that it is huge church, so there is the district convention feel to it, but then we have small Sunday school groups and that's more of a kingdom hall feel to it. So it's the best of both! I would say just make sure that the teaching is from the bible and that they teach about Jesus because he is the only way to salvation and the most important piece of the puzzle! Good for you for moving on!

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Things I like to do: work out, go on hikes, canoe, talk about eating healthy, read, drink coffee, watch cooking shows, normal stuff. People are busy...no one has time for friendship...new friendships, anyway...and it's hard to find people who want to work out...

Thanks for the welcomes! Happy to be here!

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Basically, my mom/dad/sister/brother/grandma/aunts/uncles...pretty much everyone. As far as friends, I really didn't have any in the congregation, so that wasn't a problem. I actually don't have many friends now, more aquaintances...except for my husband and son...I've always been kind of a loner anyway, so it's no big deal. I guess if something were to happen to my husband/son I could make some of the aquaintances more than that...but in the meantime...

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

:)

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Doctrinally, yes a baptist church is different, and was a little hard to accept at first. The trinity, crosses, holidays, Jesus' diety, heaven, hell...those things I feel you have to work out on your own using the bible, prayer and lots of discussion. I feel I have a grasp on each of them for the most part...I think the important part is the core: Jesus is God's son, he died for our sins, God raised him from the dead and if we believe that then we are saved Romans 10:9...all that other stuff if pretty speculative, if you ask me! But it's fun to think about and to research, for sure. Surely nothing to argue about, though, as I grew up witnessing and hearing.

25

Another New Member

by lriddle80 in

jw
friends

i have been out of the "truth" for about 13 years, but 9 of those years i was someone who was out but thinking i would probably go back at some point...out but not all the way out mentally.

my family are still active members and i am a little bit shunned, not invited to family get togethers, that sort of thing.

i was one of those people that left and then did drugs and partied for a while.

lriddle80

Thanks everyone! I never did go to the elders to be disfellowshipped, so that's why I am only a little bit shunned and not all the way, haha! I actually don't believe in their disfellowshipping and senseless lables, so that's why I won't do it! I pray for my family, but they are so into it socially and so for them, it would be a miracle if they left! I do think it is a gift from God and am happy to be free...when I think of being a JW in my mind, I am wearing a straight jacket!! In this church that I go to, they don't really tell you exactly how to be and exactly how to serve God in a cookie-cutter way, so for me, I really get serve God in a genuine way...since there are not requirements, I am doing it because I love God, not because of the list I have to obey. So that's really great and when I mess up and do something that, for me, is a sin, then I am able to repent on my own and pray to God, because Jesus died so my sins can be forgiven. I love the freedom to worship God in whatever way I want and so it's been great!!