Thanks for the nice welcome Forty Dawg, I have read crisis of conscious by Ray Franz it was an eye opener for sure, but I have not read In Search of Christian Freedom...right now I am reading captive of a concept and am finding it enlightening also.

It still amazes me that I fell for that whole God's organization here on earth/faithful and discreet slave baloney, I think I'm reasonably intelligent and really don't understand why I believed what they taught but I did, I pioneered, I was always prepared, I gave talks without much advance preparation, the brothers doing the watchtower study would tell me that they knew if no one answered I would raise my hand and answer, so it's not like I was just there I really gave my all and really believed in a religion that turned out to be a cult!


I am not interested in any religious organization I consider myself a spiritual person but not a religions person

I know how you feel Desert Rose....I'm positive in my heart that JW's are wrong but I also tend to think other religions are also wrong, I don't think there is a religion on earth teaching what Jesus taught...I think they have all thrown in man's ideas of what Jesus intended, and all interpret the Bible the way they see it...of course that is just my humble opinion.

I hope so John, thank you for the welcome.

blindersoff, First off welcome!!! Second, your story mirrors my own in so many ways. I left the Org 3 years ago (not DF'd), and my husband is inactive but will not turn away from the JW beliefs. It makes it hard at times because you really love your husband and your instinct is to pull your loved ones out of the pit before they drown but you cant help the ones that dont want it. The way I deal with it is having a great deal of patience. I can wait, and I do all I can to do as Jesus would do. I am spiritual as you said and am very afraid of other religions. God is within us all and I believe all we need is faith and a drive to do whats right. I have no desire to celebrate Holidays since I never had any. But I have recently started to celebrate Birthdays, and I am not guilty at all. I found out about the lies the WTS told by the same way you did. I googled Jehovah's Witnesses and nuff said. I have files on different subjects and I have many Rutherford books. I just found a set of Russels books. Its all very good reading. Many things were hidden from us and to find the deceit and lies is hurtful. But the more you find out the more you want to know the real truth. New Light is your own personal awareness and understanding of the Bible through study and life experiences. What helps me feel good about leaving is knowing all will answer to God there sins and no one will answer as an Org. I would rather make my own mistakes and answer for them then make someone else's mistakes. Hope that makes sense.....
Anyway nice to have you on board and we are all here to help. We certainly understand what you are going through and are here if you need us.....

Hi Sandi and again welcome to the forum.

I remember those feelings so well and I am sure many here on the forum do also. After I was out for a few months or so I began to realize that the Watchtower Organization makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible much more complicated than it really is, in my opinion they do this to increase our dependence on them. The more complicated they can make the Bible and our salvation seem the more dependent we are on the Watchtower Organization for explanations.

I also came to realize that God does not work through an organization or a church, He works through individuals. We may join a church, but we do so to fellowship with other Christians not because we identify that church as the Lord's only means of salvation.

I also realized that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is very simple, “believe on Jesus and we will be saved”. As Christians there is a lot more we want to learn about God, Jesus and the Bible but to be saved that is all we need to do.

Just my 2 cents and I hope this gives you a starting point in you studies!

That makes so much sense to me...thank you!

Right now I'm looking at the bible and Jesus from an historical view point and getting all the information I can, the bible itself really confuses me because the god of the old testament to me was a mean vindictive god (like worship and obey me or I kill you) and the message Jesus set fort in the new testament is a more kind, loving, forgiving and far more understanding of human emotions and actions.

I hated the way Jesus was given a back seat to Jehovah in everything, true enough that Jehovah gave his son for our sins, but Jesus gave his life's blood for us and suffered a horrible death and to me that is far different and a much greater sacrifice.

My husband says he doesn't understand why I can't just let go of it and live my life...well I can't because I truly believed I was doing what I should to please God and I did it whole heartedly for 26 years of my life and when I found out I had been deceived by that cult and didn't have a relationship with God at all, I was devastated and felt betrayed and still do!
I was definitely a captive of a concept, believing that the Watchtower Society is God’s organization, however stupid that was on my part I truly was a believer!

Hey blinder's off,
I'm originally from south ms, poplarville area, so kind of close to you.
I hate to see you blame yourself over your joining and staying in the WT. I truly believe that God uses every circumstance in our lives for the good. Don't give up on Him You never know, God can use this in your life to help other people come out of WT control.

As far as contrasting the God of the old test. with the God of the New...to me it's helpful to read Psalms...also remembering that God is the God of second chances. Yes, he would get angry and so mad at Israel b/c they kept turning back to idols and kept forgetting the goodness of God, but notice God always gave them a second chance. I think also that God in the Old test. was so unapproachable, that's why they had to sacrifice and go through priests. But when Jesus came, he made a way for us to see God and approach him.




lauren

Hello Lauren, yes Poplarville is very close to me so hi neighbor nice to meet you.

Sandi

Well Hi There blindersoff! So glad you've joined us on the forum.

I can tell you it took 18 years of disassociation from the WTS before I dared look into it's history, and I totally understand the anger you feel at being deceived so many years. I used to have nightmares thinking Armaggedon was going to do away with my family and me, all because I'd stopped going to meetings and doing everything according to WT rules. I also believed in my heart that the WTS was the truth; it wasn't until Jesus revealed to me that He is the truth (John 14:6). What freedom! I can't begin to explain it. Since then I have a relationship with Jesus Christ and while I attend church, I don't call myself a "religious person". I am a Christian. It is what we are called to be, followers of Christ. May I recommend to you, to just read the Bible? As witnesses we read WT literature and very few Scriptures except the ones that were in the books and magazines, and those taken out of context. Get a good translation (not the NWT, which is translated to mimic the WT instead of the other way around), and begin with the Gospels. Jesus does love you, so so much. The Father loves you too, and once you read the Gospels you'll see it more and more. I was also afraid of the Old Testament God, until I began reading all the context and realized that He is actually a loving God who warned His people of the dangers of becoming like the idol worshipping nations around them. As Lauren stated, He is a God of second chances. I felt awful thinking I'd spent so many years (since the age of 3) believing the JW's were the truth, but God has shown me that He hasn't given up on me, and I believe He'd never give up on you either.

I hope your reference to Scrappy is because you're a scrapbooker - I am and I love it! It's addicting but also very relaxing.

God bless you,

Mrs. R

I have been doing some of that Mrs R and the NWT is trash to me I will never read that again.

.

Yes, I do digital scrapping with paint shop pro (have never tried paper scrapping though) and I'm totally addicted to it but since that's my only real vice I guess it's OK.

Sandi