Romans 8:28 promises, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” NASV. All of us desire to be close to our God Jehovah and his son, Jesus Christ. We long for their comfort, guidance and encouragement in our lives. We are promised in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” NKJV. Yet when difficult and harsh experiences come, we sometimes feel alone and afraid. In Hebrews 13:5 we read, “God Himself has said, “I will never, never let go your hand: I will never never forsake you.” Weymouth. You are not alone. Your heavenly Father and his Son are watching over you. You are not alone. There are others like you who have experienced hard trials and difficult experiences. Take some time to share with us. To tell your story. To encourage others. That is what this Testimony section is for.
Ken, as a former JW and now BS you’ll be in prayers this weekend. May Jah & Jesus give you the wisdom you need. Luke 21:14-15
Thank you Brother Bob!:0
I did some reading in Brother Russell’s Reprints today and found a freeing thought. I couldn’t help but share it with you. He gave a safe way to judge your present Christian fellowship. He suggested that when meeting with your congregation and discussing a passage of Scripture you should be encouraged to express your views of God’s Word. If you are not there is something wrong. Your light is being hidden “under a bushel,” and will go out, unless you give it more liberty. You must come out of such condition or your light will become dark. (2 Cor 3;17, John 8:32, Matt 5:15)
But if there are meetings at which you have an equal opportunity with others of calling up any portion of Scripture and expressing your view of its meaning, you may conclude that you have found at least some evidence of Christian liberty; for a Christian has the right to give, when asked, a reason for the hope that is in him. And since the belief of each Christian professes to be built upon God’s Word, it follows that each should be not only willing but ready at all times to change his belief for one more Scriptural, if such can be pointed out to him.
So long as you have opportunities to hear others and to express yourself, you may conclude that you are in a safe place. As you progress, in hearing from others, and in expressing yourself to others freely and candidly, you will come into harmony in the spirit of the truth. (Reprint 1579:1) (Let me add, that this is not word for word but my understanding of what I read. As a JW there was no Christian Liberty to my own understanding of the Scriptures. Nor was I ever encouraged to express my own views.)
Yes Sharon you’re right,a christian should be allowed to express their views and as you said; you can’t do that with the Jw’s. I can understand if the speaker doesn’t have enough time to answer questions at a public meeting, especially if he’s on a schedule,however, the real problem that I have is when you ask an elder a question when he’s not busy and he gets angry and upset because he feels you’re doubting the “slave”.
RIGHT ON, Ken!!!
I agree also with both of you. On road today using phone to reply.
My progress.Hello all, I wanted to share what’s going on with me lately: currently I’m in volume 3 of the STS, I ordered a bunch of booklets so I can distributed them all over the place,I finally wrote a letter to the Jw elders in my cong. for reinstaement…haven’t heard anything back yet(deep inside I’m kinda hoping they loose it or something.At least now my wife knows I’m making an effort to come back and seems very happy about it!
You are a good man Ken. Most JW wives know how much easier her life will be without having a husband with the stigma (by cong)of being DF. It is a shame it is about numbers and control. My nephew did the same thing and that little wife just blossomed and smiles. It was just such a burden on her. We are so happy to see her just smile and get her 2 little children dressed for the KH and invite people over to her house. Sometimes a man gotta do what a man gotta do. God Bless and we are praying for you right now Ken.
Thank you so much Jacqueline, I need all the prayers I can get!! Even if I’m reinstated,I’m still going to read the volumes and attend online meetings!As for field service hmmmmm…..trying to work that out, I’m definately not going to hand out anything I don’t agree with, maybe I should just start a Bible study with someone from the local mental ward and call it a day.
Once you are reinstated, that will immediately give her relief. You can just fade away, they can’t recind a reinstatement. You will probably give them new evidence on Apostasy if you become active again, ie, field service report. The decision is yours. I just wanted to remind you of how it can play out if you report time. I reported 1 hour for years because that is what says you are a JW. If I missed one month they could say I wasn’t and violate my restraining order against them as long as I was a member of that particular cong.. Reporting time means you are a member and you are subjecting yourself to their rules. A person just attending or baptized but not reporting time is not considered a JW.The time card means they can DF you if they detect apostasy. Just some things to think about prayerfully. None of this is according to the Bible however, it is just JW Canon Law.
Great! I didn’t know that. Another advantage of no or low field service hours is they won’t give you priviledges
Just another note on my lastest with the Jw’s…on Monday 2/20/12 I’m meeting with the elders to discuss my reinstatement letter…..will let you all know what results are. Ken
Sharon I can feel your joy thru your comments! I also know the feelings you have they almost overpower you. Sorry not to get back to you here, today. Saturday is busy for a lot. Let’s dialogue about youe experience. Others will chime in also. Tell us how your awaken as we like to call it happened. At any rate welcome my sister!!!!!.
I started to write a testimony the other day and I messed and closed the browser without hitting post. LOL Life has it’s little trials. Which, thanks to the help of GOD, have gotten so much less noticeable. I met the Bible Students in Feb 2011. It has almost been a complete year and Hallelujah what a year! I just can’t believe the peace, the joy, and the freedom I have come to know and experience daily. I can’t explain it really. I have learned to be less depressed and fretful. I used to be full of fear and, though it is not gone completely, I don’t recognize it as often as I use to. I used to have suicidal thoughts and death wishes. At 67 I thought my life was over. Now living till 100 isn’t long enough!!! I have too much to share and to do. I want more people to feel and know what I do. One of my favorite verses is Phil 4:4 Rejoice in Christ always! I say again: Rejoice! I pray that each and everyone of you reading this can fill this same Joy I feel every moment of every day. GOD bless and be with you.
Sharon, I feel the same way. The fear I used to have just isn’t anymore. I find joy in reading your comments. Sending my love, Mo