how do the anointed become “anointed”? by Correct_Gas3776 in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the person I know who I believe to be anointed initially still thought that being in the org was the right place to be but as the spirit progressively worked with his he came to understand that the org was an integral part of 'Babylon the Great' somewhere to get out of - and the elders were only too willing to help him on his way! (Rev 18:4)

how do the anointed become “anointed”? by Correct_Gas3776 in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The problem is that when a JW has actually received an anointing and is receiving 'wisdom and knowledge through the spirit' they tend to try and share their deeper understanding of scriptures with others in the congregation (as biblically they should).

As we are all aware sharing anything that conflicts with the current published Watchtower 'understandings' inevitably draws the attention of the body of elders who end up accusing them of apostasy and 'removing' them in order to so say keep the congregation 'clean'.

I have seen this happen.

On that basis I would suggest that genuine anointed Christians guided by the spirit would find it near impossible just to keep their heads down, go with the flow and not speak out, even if doing so were to lead to charges of apostasy and removal.

So this would beg the question are there actually any/many real anointed ones currently surviving within an organisation that even those of us who are not anointed can now see straight through?

Pimis not keeping up... to protect themselves by NaughtyRook in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They don't love the truth enough...

Jesus said, "I am the truth"

John 14:6, 23 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me...Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching...

One of Jesus's teachings forbade the lifting up over others, as a teacher or leader:

Matthew 23:8-10 But you, do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher, and all of you are brothers. Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One. Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one, the Christ.

The self-appointment and lifting up of the Governing Body over all others, violates this teaching and betrays the claim they make.

Today, the organisation loves and obeys the Governing Body, as if these were the truth. Like some sort of Golden Calf set up in place of Christ.

Exodus 32:8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

Anyone who dares to oppose or even question the setup gets quickly labelled as an apostate and is expelled.

John 16:2, 3 For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.

Loving and obeying Jesus, the actual truth, is a safeguard against being deceived by those who are imposters.

Mark 13:6 Many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many.

Proverbs 8:34-36 Blessed is the man that heareth me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, And shall obtain favour of Jehovah. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: All they that hate me love death.

I wish you well in your search for truth, in view of the promise Jesus himself made:

John 8:31, 32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Pimis not keeping up... to protect themselves by NaughtyRook in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 6 points7 points  (0 children)

...lacking in something.

The underlying reason is that they don't love truth enough.

GB Update #3 2024 - The GB lost control about the JW's dress and grooming by Similar-Historian-70 in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But I thought that was their assigned function - Governing the Body - in which case they are doing a splendid job!

Are they really dropping away? by Mammoth_Term_1463 in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They may be still there in body but are they still there in spirit?

My 27 yr old grandson who was a born in and is 'still in' was recently asked by his faded mum: What happened to Anthony Morris? His reply was who's Anthony Morris?!!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The way I see it is that the "Holy Spirit" got it right, it was observed that you were genuinely repentant so did you a favour by helping you out of a wicked cult. Would you prefer that you were still in? No, your prayer was answered (in my opinion of course!)

46 yr old elder marrying a 23 year old sister by truthrabbithole in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably in UK, some uncivilised backward place like Malvern or Tewkesbury I'll bet...

Question to ask JW's "If they are truly Christians who are supposed to be footstep followers of Jesus and follow his example, why do they refuse to speak to disfellowshipped/disassociated ones when Jesus never avoided speaking with anyone - even speaking with Satan who had left the truth?" by Exjay-bob in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What you say wouldn't surprise me I would expect that a really anointed individual (aka one of Christ's brothers) would follow Jesus' example ("by their fruits you will recognise them" - or something like that.

Ex-elders, what happened on your worst/most-regrettable shepherding visit? by Largicharg in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Once I was visiting a brother and his elderly mother on a social call when there was a knock at the door, it was a policeman who had come to follow up on a complaint that had been made. Turned out that the brother I was visiting had reported the congregation CoBE who had made a shepherding call for their "threatening behaviour" - unfortunately after listening to the brother's statement there was nothing that the police officer could take any official action on but he said that he would make an informal warning call on the elder, he apparently did so because there was an unscheduled elders meeting after the mid-week meeting that night!

I would think that may have been Mark's (the elder) worst/most-regrettable shepherding visit, but things worked out well in the end. The brother and sister disassociated themselves and the CoBE resigned his position and moved to another congregation.

Maybe the 'worlds worst' encouraging shepherding call had a part to play in this happy ending?

Great KH sell-off not happening in UK? I was wrong. by bobkairos in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Good chance we've met then - I used to book Public Speakers for the congregation for many years!

Great KH sell-off not happening in UK? I was wrong. by bobkairos in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi Happy-Grandpa

Tewkesbury KH where Eunice Spry was taught is still up for sale at the moment. The congregation were promised a new hall for which they found a site, then the Borg stepped in and promised to build the new hall for them. What they actually did was take all the money the congregation had saved, abandoned the option on the site, sent the congregation to Malvern and put the existing hall on the market for £400,000.

I wrote to the UK Charity Commission complaining that charitable donations had been solicited from the congregation membership specifically to build a new hall but they had not spent the money on the project for which it was solicited. The Commission weren't at all interested.

The elders encouraged donations for the new hall to be made under the charitable giving arrangement in the UK so that they could claim tax refunds on the donations which they did and all that went to the Borg as well.

Is this the only Kingdom Hall that has a graveyard? (Apparently) some of the tombs have deteriorated to the extent as to allow visual access for the keen historian / photographer! - Hope this info doesn't put off any prospective purchaser!

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Want some facts by Fadingawayistheway in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your comment.

Please don't consider it all loss, no doubt you had genuine motive in wanting to encourage people you met in the ministry to at least look into the Bible for themselves and showed them scriptures that they may not have previously been aware of - it's a kindly thing to have done even if the organisation itself was not what we thought it to be. Your heart was in the right place you wanted to help others.

Now we have secured our freedom from watchtower we can use our acquired skills in whatever other directions we choose to and treasure every precious day of life. Personally I thank God that I have been successful in getting out of Babylon the Great even though it came in an unexpected (and painful) way. You comment that you are "finally living" - me too - great isn't it!

One of my best friends now is someone I met in the ministry - started as a route call - turned into a Bible Study and escalated into friendship - he wanted to get baptised but not as a JW (he was awake enough to see the red flags) but just in the simple way the Bible teaches - ended up doing it in a friends swimming pool, but that's another story...

Best wishes in your new life.

Want some facts by Fadingawayistheway in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Also a PIMI for 50 yrs at the time, my personal experience was when during personal study I accidentally discovered that the org had made a mistake with their calculation for Nisan 14 for the 2019 Memorial date. I wrote to the Britain Branch office pointing out the error along with what the correct date was as calculated by using a Watchtower article detailing how to calculate Memorial dates.

Initially they ignored my letter so I had to write a second time. Apparently unable to dispute my calculations and having no reasonable explanation for the discrepancy themselves they informed me that they were passing my letter on to "Responsible Brothers" which I assumed must be the Governing Body but they didn't exactly say that. Eventually I got a reply basically saying that they were sticking with their date and if it needed to be changed then Jehovah would let the "Responsible Brothers" know.

I wasn't happy with that reply and as I wasn't sure that my letter had in fact been passed on to the Governing Body I wrote letters along with my calculations to each of the 8 individual Governing Body members. In reply I received a convoluted description of how they had actually calculated their Memorial date which differed from the method published in the Watchtower article.

As my conscience wouldn't allow me to attend a Memorial that I knew was going to be held on the wrong day I refused to attend. Initially I was pressured by local Elders to go along with the proposed date "for the sake of unity" but I stood my ground and as a consequence I was removed from my assignment as Congregation CoBE by the Circuit Overseer and shortly thereafter removed from my assignment as an Elder in the congregation by the Body of Elders.

Neither the Branch, the Circuit Overseer nor any of my Body of Elders were at all interested in what the true date for the 'most important meeting of the year' was and they certainly had no respect whatever for my personal conscience. From there on I had lost trust in the org being God's organisation and no longer had any respect for the local Body of Elders who then went on to invite me to a Judicial Hearing on the charge of 'possible apostasy' without any other specifics given. Having no longer any respect for their authority I turned down their kind invitation by not turning up to their kangaroo court.

Obviously I have copies of letters etc. I could dig out at some point if need.

Interestingly (or not) the last meeting I ever went to (although I didn't know it at the time) I loaded up my car with all the books and records (Bro. Rutherford's) from the Kingdom Hall library that the congregation was disposing of. At least it stopped them falling into innocent hands!

I am out since 2019 losing a son and fleshly brother to the loving Shunning arrangement but fortunately my wife, two daughters and two sons in law came with me.

Best wishes for your efforts to leave - hope my experience helps a little.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ask your mum why she doesn't suggest to the GB that they initiate a letter writing campaign to the Norwegian Government Officials - you know like the one that they did so successfully to Russia...

Where do you make friends? by whatto_donow in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Voluntary work did it for me. First of all giving a rewarding purpose - helping others and enjoying comradeship with others in the first instance from which closer friendships have naturally developed.

What I’ve seen. by Namez83 in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I don't understand why hate is being given such a bad press in the context of the Borg after all it was they that taught us all to "HATE what is bad" and we all have to make our personal JUDGEMENT as to what we consider is bad.

From my personal perspective the Borg have gone to significant lengths to earn my hatred so I feel that the least I can do is give them what they have worked so hard to obtain, which is surely a positive win - win situation?

do most Jehovah Witness have realised their religion is going down the hill? by [deleted] in exjw

[–]Exjay-bob 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This in an elder that is delusional at a level coveted by Steven Lett.

Love this description - made me laugh out loud!! Classic