why i became a Jehovahs Witness

there i was walking along when this blinding light appeared out of the sky, the voice of Charles Russell stated, robbie robbie why are you persecuting me, i said i dunno, but you got a huge beard and big sideburns, he said 'Cool aint they', so anyway after taking copious amounts of LSD and Ganga i got fed up with my life and searching for truths so i decided to give Christianity a try, Jesus had always been a kind of hero, like Che Guevara, or some other freedom fighter, so i asked around.

The Mormons were a little sinister i felt and they could not help me, we argued a lot, so i thought of asking the the priest but then i remembered how my fathers family had boycotted his wedding because he did not marry a Catholic and he couldn't help me, nor could the minister for i had been kind of a catholic/protestant which got me beat up at school a few times, Hari krishnas were too strict and i did not like to beg, my best friend was a Muslim but said i was going to hell if i didnt convert which i thought was unfair, Hinduism was appealing but their gods were weird and occultism and Alistair Crowley was too painful, especially the meditation, then a friend told me that the earth was going to be a paradise, that injustice and suffering would be gone and that there would be no warfare, and being an ecologically minded person who loved to hug trees, i agreed, so down went the Colonel Gaddafi biographies and Gaelic studies, out went the ganja plants and i started to study the bible, here i am fifteen years later a twisted and contorted man, with a beautiful loving wife and a family to care for - happy days!

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
my best friend was a Muslim but said i was going to hell if i didnt convert which i thought was unfair,

So JW's don't think the same?

Originally posted by whodey
So JW's don't think the same?

absolutely not! we dont profess believe in a hell, a place of torment, never have!

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
there i was walking along when this blinding light appeared out of the sky, the voice of Charles Russell stated, robbie robbie why are you persecuting me, i said i dunno, but you got a huge beard and big sideburns, he said 'Cool aint they', so anyway after taking copious amounts of LSD and Ganga i got fed up with my life and searching for truths so i wisted and contorted man, with a beautiful loving wife and a family to care for - happy days!

Well my story Robbie isn't near that cool. My Mom started studying with them when I was 6 years old, so about 1962. The reason she did study is because she never knew God's name, that hell was just the grave we all go to and that she never really wanted to go to heaven as far as she knew but sure didn't want to go to a firey hell. So she learned by many scriptures from her own Bible about the paradise and what the future held out.
So I was raised a Witness but did honestly question things as I got older. But to this day I can honestly say that I personaly have not been able to disprove anything "using the Bible" that this organization is not true. It has had it's growing pains but setting back and being patient with it all, the truth has been fine tuned and as false teachings have been finally purged and thoughts from past misunderstandings have been corrected. This stands as the truth unlike most other religions that are still very much stuck with false and paganistic beliefs that refuse to see and correct them.
We as Witnesses are no better then any other human on this earth. But God did make it clear that he would have a people for his name. The invitation to see what the Witnesses have to offer is open to all as we are just simple teachers.

Originally posted by galveston75
Well my story Robbie isn't near that cool. My Mom started studying with them when I was 6 years old, so about 1962. The reason she did study is because she never knew God's name, that hell was just the grave we all go to and that she never really wanted to go to heaven as far as she knew but sure didn't want to go to a firey hell. So she learned by many ...[text shortened]... ion to see what the Witnesses have to offer is open to all as we are just simple teachers.

well i think its pretty cool, but then i just may be a little biased. 🙂 i wonder if it was tough growing up in Texas as a witness, them were some pretty scary times!

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
well i think its pretty cool, but then i just may be a little biased. 🙂 i wonder if it was tough growing up in Texas as a witness, them were some pretty scary times!

Not really if you can get passed the lynching and stone throwing issues....Lol. But Texas was not a good place to be a Witness a few decades ago. We were run out of many a little country town. I guess the freedom of religion thingy hadn't gotten to them yet.
My deceased wife's Grandfather who died in the later 80's was a very high standing Deacon in his Baptist church in East Texas. But not one black in his church and he freely used the "N" word whenever he could. But his church loved him.. Oh well.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
there i was walking along when this blinding light appeared out of the sky, the voice of Charles Russell stated, robbie robbie why are you persecuting me, i said i dunno, but you got a huge beard and big sideburns, he said 'Cool aint they', so anyway after taking copious amounts of LSD and Ganga i got fed up with my life and searching for truths so i ...[text shortened]... wisted and contorted man, with a beautiful loving wife and a family to care for - happy days!

You would have been better off had you kept up with the drugs.

I don't mean that literally of course.

It is a monumental error to think that Jesus is someone other than who He is.

Originally posted by josephw
You would have been better off had you kept up with the drugs.

I don't mean that literally of course.

It is a monumental error to think that Jesus is someone other than who He is.

yeah like all the churches of Christendom were crying out to tell me! Give it up Joe, 'wisdom', as Christ stated ,'is proved righteous by its works', please learn what this means, then you may have recourse to tell others about the value of their beliefs.

Originally posted by galveston75
Not really if you can get passed the lynching and stone throwing issues....Lol. But Texas was not a good place to be a Witness a few decades ago. We were run out of many a little country town. I guess the freedom of religion thingy hadn't gotten to them yet.

Lynching and stone throwing? I say a picture once where this guy ( a witness) is trying to protect his son from a lynch mob intent to do them harm, the young boy is maybe eighteen and looks terrified! wouldn't you be! never mind just across the border in Mexico i think is the highest rate of Witnesses per capita anywhere in the world 🙂

this is something you never see among witnesses, i never seen it anyway, we have not this concept of black and white, of segregation, in fact its the opposite, a celebration of cultural differences.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Lynching and stone throwing? I say a picture once where this guy ( a witness) is trying to protect his son from a lynch mob intent to do them harm, the young boy is maybe eighteen and looks terrified! wouldn't you be! never mind just across the border in Mexico i think is the highest rate of Witnesses per capita anywhere in the world 🙂

Yes the Brothers in Mexico are so fun and incouraging to be around. They all have so little in material things but always so happy.
We had a family of 6 from Mexico stay with us during one of their assemblies in Galveston. It had different dates then ours so it made it if they needed lodging we could volunteer our homes for them to stay as they could never afford motel rooms here in the States.
So they stayed in our home for 5 days. They couldn't speak English as we could not speak Spanish but it was a blast. But the great thing is we gave them a key to our house and never worried one minute about a thing. They were our Brothers and Sisters.

Originally posted by galveston75
Yes the Brothers in Mexico are so fun and incouraging to be around. They all have so little in material things but always so happy.
We had a family of 6 from Mexico stay with us during one of their assemblies in Galveston. It had different dates then ours so it made it if they needed lodging we could volunteer our homes for them to stay as they could n ey to our house and never worried one minute about a thing. They were our Brothers and Sisters.

its a beautiful thing , isn't it Galvo my friend, A lady here, i think i told you, went to a convention in San Diego. She stayed at the home of a family, in fact every one of those delegates stayed at the home of a witness family for the three or four days. When she arrived she was greeted with the warmest expressions of hospitality and given refreshments and food and looked after. My other friend went to Japan for two weeks and the Japanese brothers and sisters would not let them pay for a single thing their entire stay.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
its a beautiful thing , isn't it Galvo my friend, A lady here, i think i told you, went to a convention in San Diego. She stayed at the home of a family, in fact every one of those delegates stayed at the home of a witness family for the three or four days. When she arrived she was greeted with the warmest expressions of hospitality and given refr ...[text shortened]... the Japanese brothers and sisters would not let them pay for a single thing their entire stay.

And unlike most mainstream religions who have untold amounts of theories of the Bible among themselves...we all believe the same to the letter. I know that has to raise some eyebrows in wonderment.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
absolutely not! we dont profess believe in a hell, a place of torment, never have!

Oh, I forgot. JW's simply believe that you cease to be once you die if you are not a JW. Right?

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
.. Hari krishnas were too strict and i did not like to beg, my best friend was a Muslim but said i was going to hell if i didnt convert which i thought was unfair, Hinduism was appealing but their gods were weird and occultism and Alistair Crowley

that's an interesting thread you have started there, Robbie.. not too sure if you're taking the mickey there though or being serious. I have always wondered (as have other non-believers I'm sure) if, say, you were born in Saudi Arabia, do you think you'd turn out be a Muslim rather a JW ? Surely, when it comes to organised religions geography (as well as education, upbringing, family.. of course, but I'd like to stick to geography this time) plays a significant role.. if someone has actually explored different religions and only THEN has settled on one specific, then fair enough I guess..

Originally posted by whodey
Oh, I forgot. JW's simply believe that you cease to be once you die if you are not a JW. Right?

oh Whodey we are quite objective on the point, we all cease to exist, even if we are Jehovahs witnesses, there is no partiality, not in death. This of course does not negate the resurrection in which we hope.