Give a witness on FB (was Re: Have fun at the aquarium)

[MsTexan]

Hello Sis LaRhonda, I don't see you on FB lately...I guess you rather spend here. :-) My purpose is to give a witness to friends who are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses, the ones are my three nieces and two friends through online in the past and one I met her recently in Colorado, we lost our contact since 1984. So, that is why I talk to the sisters over there in the open and allow them read our replies, etc. Anyway, I miss you. Agape, Susan

[Brother_Bliss]

My purpose is to give a witness to friends who are not one of Jehovah's Witnesses, the ones are my three nieces and two friends through online in the past and one I met her recently in Colorado, we lost our contact since 1984. So, that is why I talk to the sisters over there in the open and allow them read our replies, etc.

I feel the same way about the 100 or so friends I graduated with. Now that they have friend requested me on Facebook, they have to listen to me talk about the truth all the time in their newsfeeds. Bwa ha ha ha! ;)

- Bob

[MsTexan]

HI BOB,

I HOPE THAT THEY MAY DRAW TO THE TRUTH THROUGH OUR WITNESSING ON FACEBOOK. :-D

[Shannon4Jah]

I love witnessing on Facebook because I have former co-workers, relatives, acquaintances, not in the truth and it makes me feel good to share links to our official site, etc. I don't even know how many read or even care (those non-Witnesses) but I cannot give up. Actually I had one worldly acquaintance "like" one or two of my links to the WT site so maybe she read the articles!

[Micah]

I actually had to remove my oldest brother since he is a proclaimed apostate. Any post that I would put on or respond to, he would have some rude comment about the Witnesses. Gave him a piece of my mind and removed him. Blocked him as well!!!

[Brother_Bliss]

I actually had to remove my oldest brother since he is a proclaimed apostate. Any post that I would put on or respond to, he would have some rude comment about the Witnesses. Gave him a piece of my mind and removed him. Blocked him as well!!!

I had to do the same thing with my brother as well. He is not an apostate, but has made his bed with them. He's annoys me. I'll tell this story when I have some more time.

- Bob

[aPeacefulButterfly]

HI Sister Susan. I haven't been on the computer much lately. My daughter and grand daughter came to visit for 3 weeks and I was at the Lake a good bit, too, where I don't get a signal on my laptop so I have been out of touch with the outside world.

I also caught a lot of heck from "friends" about going to JW sites and them not being approved by the society. I even had a sister tell my friend Sheryl to Watch out for me because I had met a man on the internet. This is a sister who...before I had even met her, I was told she was the congregetion gossip and to never tell her anything because she would tell it to everyone. And she was "warning" Sherly to watch out for me because I talk to JW's on the internet!!!! I was so furious!!! I have met a lot of wonderful brothers and sisters here and on facebook. Jon is a great guy, too but because of all the crap I was catching from the friends here, I broke it off with him. I just wish people would stop throwing their consciouses off on others and then trying to make them look bad. I am not a bad person, neither are all of you. I love chatting with all my JW friends from all over the world and talking to all of you helps me keep my sanity due to being so lonesome! UGHHHHHHH!!!!! Sister Gossip has a lot of nerve, doesn't she!

Gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe!!!!!

Can I gripe a little more!!!!

Well, so for now.....I'm going to visit my friends on the internet and just keep it all to myself. I'm going to keep my business to myself and I just wish everyone else would keep their noses on their face!!!

OK....whew!!!! Thanks for giving me a chance to GRIPE!!!!

Love, LaRhonda

[Brother_Bliss]

I also caught a lot of heck from "friends" about going to JW sites and them not being approved by the society.

I find it funny that people will go to the far left (or is it the far right?) when it comes to statements like this. As if not being approved somehow meant that it was forbidden, as if the Faithful Slave imposes all sorts of rules to control our lives, which of course, they do not.

As far as I know, Diet Coke is not approved by the Society. Neither is my favorite Mexican restaurant. I better not eat there and heaven forbid I ask for a soda since it is not approved by the Society

The Faithful Slave gives us wise counsel to help us to protect ourselves. The responsibility to protect ourselves is still ours. Naturally, the cautionary statements they publish about internet usage and social networking sites is warranted.

Jon is a great guy, too but because of all the crap I was catching from the friends here, I broke it off with him.

You don't mean here do ya? We weren't giving you any doo-doo about it.

Well, so for now.....I'm going to visit my friends on the internet and just keep it all to myself. I'm going to keep my business to myself and I just wish everyone else would keep their noses on their face!!!

I've learned who I can talk about my internet activity with, and who I can't. Some of it makes for an amusing story. There are some in my congregation who love the internet, and then others who quake with fear whenever you mention the word. Have to use discretion :-)

Your brother,

- Bob

[Shannon4Jah]

Yeah same here. I have a close friend. She is also inactive. As much as I care for her, sometimes she worries about my Internet activities. She uses it as well and has a FB account but doesn't use it much. She doesn't like to play around online. She does a lot of business with people through work and all so she has to email and she does a little bit of shopping online but as for joining forums and all that. She doesn't do that.

I have to tell her I am very careful online about who I interact with. I guess it's fear of the unknown. But it's up to each person to decide what they will do regarding the Internet. I am finding I spend more time with online friends in the truth and feel so much better that I can talk about the truth more openly and everybody has appreciation for the encouragement. On a worldly forum which I use as a support group for one of my illnesses, a person has to be tactful when talking spiritual things. They even have a spirituality thread and I try to witness now and then but really it is not that upbuilding. I hope someday I can break away from that site. I am better. I think I would miss it in a way, but really there are a lot of negative people there and I am a moderator so sometimes I have to filter hateful remarks and spam, etc.

I find I am spending less time on that. It's not so easy. it's a little unnerving. But anyway, we just gotta use a sound mind. Sometimes our conscience will speak good for us and tell us what we are supposed to do on certain areas.

I've learned who I can talk about my internet activity with, and who I can't. Some of it makes for an amusing story. There are some in my congregation who love the internet, and then others who quake with fear whenever you mention the word. Have to use discretion :-)

Your brother,

- Bob

[aPeacefulButterfly]

No Bob....it wasn't anyone here on this site that was giving he heck. I meant "here" in my congregation. I even had the elders come over and do a sheperding call because of me visiting JW internet sites...and they said that they would see how I appreciated the "headship" arrangement by seeing how I handeled the situation with Jon. So, here I am, alone, observing the headship arrangement. But at least I did it, huh? Jehovah must be proud of me for that.

I think if it weren't for this site and a couple of others, I would be in the bed totally depressed every day. Lonliness kills the will to survive.

i'm with you, Bob. As far as I know, the society just says use extreme caution when associating with people on the internet, but thats is the same as in any aspect of our lives. We have to use extreme caution when we work with worldly people, too. Or what about when we attend sporting events or concerts...should we avoid them, too because they are full of worldly people?

I am just disgruntled. I have a high school reunion coming up and I mentioned it to a sister. Of course, she said I needed to do research on this because it was wrong, too!!! I haven't seen some of my high school mates in over 30 years. How can we witness and encourage people if we are never around them? I just wish I could live by my own conscious and not have to have others push their's on me.

Gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe, gripe...here I go again. I'm so sorry. I am usually a very upbeat, optimistic person, but have just been beaten down these past few weeks.

Thanks to all of you for being there and listening to me gripe!

Love, LaRhonda

[Brother_Bliss]

I even had the elders come over and do a sheperding call because of me visiting JW internet sites...and they said that they would see how I appreciated the "headship" arrangement by seeing how I handeled the situation with Jon. So, here I am, alone, observing the headship arrangement. But at least I did it, huh? Jehovah must be proud of me for that.

Huh? They kinda lost me on that one.

I think if it weren't for this site and a couple of others, I would be in the bed totally depressed every day. Lonliness kills the will to survive.

i'm with you, Bob. As far as I know, the society just says use extreme caution when associating with people on the internet, but thats is the same as in any aspect of our lives. We have to use extreme caution when we work with worldly people, too. Or what about when we attend sporting events or concerts...should we avoid them, too because they are full of worldly people?

Caution is needed, because none of use wanted to be carried away as Satan's prey. Worldy association in real life and the internet could lead people astray and it has actually happened. So the warnings are necessary.

But again, there are no rules, just counsel and caution for what is really a conscience matter. A group of us went to see No Doubt in concert this summer. We loved it. Other brothers and sisters would have had a heart attack if they knew we were their. Were we doing anything wrong? Absolutely not, but it would harm the consciences of others, and we do not want to stumble our brothers and sisters.

So when it comes to my internet activity, once I sense how someone might feel about it, I know not to talk too much about it with them.

I am just disgruntled. I have a high school reunion coming up and I mentioned it to a sister. Of course, she said I needed to do research on this because it was wrong, too!!! I haven't seen some of my high school mates in over 30 years. How can we witness and encourage people if we are never around them? I just wish I could live by my own conscious and not have to have others push their's on me.

Ya know, we get counsel in the magazines all the time about not imposing our consciences on others. I read this above and thought 'who in the world would say attending a classic reunion would be wrong?' and then so confidently state 'do the research'. Why not just tell you why it is wrong? It is because they do not know why either. They are probably just repeating something they heard.

How's this for research?... I type "class reunion" in the WTLIB2009 CD, and this was they only search result...

IN 1975, through the generosity of my brother’s widow, I returned to Wellesley College in the United States for my fiftieth class reunion. The natural beauty of the campus near Boston, Massachusetts, has changed little, but the same couldn’t be said of the dozens of us former classmates—fifty years does take its toll.

‘What have you done during the past fifty years? How have you used your life?’ We were curious about one another. And it was interesting to hear the kind of lives that various ones of us had lived.

I hadn’t accumulated material wealth as some had. Nor did I have a prestigious position or worldly fame to show for my fifty years. But after listening to others, I do believe that I’ve had a more exciting and, yes, happier, more rewarding life than any of them. And it wasn’t just my years as a news reporter that made it so. Let me explain.

{more excerpts}

One day in April 1933 I drove mother to a baptism talk in Boston...

I gave up my newspaper work, and on September 15, 1941, became a pioneer.

We received an invitation to attend the fifth class beginning in February of 1945. Our missionary assignment was Chile, where we arrived in Santiago late in 1946. (emphasis mine)

So my research tells me that if a pioneer sister and Gilead graduate can attend her class reunion, so can you

Your brother,

- Bob

(I should probably split this thread and make it it's own thread)

[Micah]

You know I was just thinking about what you said... She, the gossiper, needs to read the scripture, and for some reason I can't find it now, it was read at our convention for people to be quiet and MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS!!! My wife and I dated others in our congregation before we met each other and it was not a good outcome!!! We met online, talked on the phone for a long time, our elders called each other, our parents talked to each other, then I moved to Ohio, met her face to face, and the rest is history!!! Don't let that sister get you down!!! If you love Jon, get back with him!!!! Tell the sister to mind her own business. She can be seen by the elders for gossiping!!!! Sorry that just irks me that you are going through all that!!! My heart goes out to you, Sister!!! I don't mind you griping here!! That's what we are here for. To help you and encourage you!!! So keep griping! )'>

[Micah]

Jesus turned water into vino, yet if you mention beer with some bros and sis, they get highly offended as if you're not allowed to drink. I know exactly what you mean. I used to listen to Marlyn Manson (sp?), because an elder and his family did, I thought it was okay, my wife saw the CD, the day they picked me up from the bus station, on the drive to her house she went through my CD's and saw it, she said, "Nope we don't listen to this here," proceeded to roll the window down and fling it out the window. LOL!!!

[cheba]

Stay away from people like Sis Nosy/Get-in-to-everyone's-business. There is one or two in every cong. Over the yrs I have learned to ignore them. I find these friends are really unhappy and want to rule others. I invited a sis to join facebook, we have not seen each other in 29 yrs. She said no. Yes I was disappointed, but respect her views. Everyone does not understand and therefore in their eyes its wrong.

This site as well as fb has been of encouragement to me.

[aPeacefulButterfly]

Sister Gossip happens to be an elders wife and one of the sisters who, when I did the poll asking the sisters if, given the chance, would they get married again or stay single....she was one of the ones who said she would stay single....LOL!

Thanks you all for being fo encouraging. I have always been a "what you see is what you get" kind of girl, and don't try to hide anything, but I have learned that somethings are better left unsaid to others.

I don't think there is any ''getting back with Jon. I think I hurt him and he doesn't even want to talk to me anymore. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. We had such great plans for the future, too. I was really looking forward to my life with him, but I let everyone else decide my future for me.

Oh, well. I have always had a hard head and had to learn things the hard way.

Thanks again, everyone!

LaRhonda

[MsTexan]

Hi Sis LaRhonda,

I am sorry to hear about your break-up with Jon. You mentioned about your class reunion...well, you just be cautious because the worldly people use the profanity and dirty jokes. A reason? I went to my reunion last summer in June and I had a nice time, though BUT one of my school buddies talked about sexual nasty which was offended. I let her know that I am one of J.W. that I don't use the dirty jokes anymore and yet she still talked dirty jokes so I ignored her and moved on to talk to other people as two guys respected me so they said sorry so I accepted their apology. So, I stopped by my long time friend who was my teacher for the bible study on Sunday before I returned home to Texas the next day...anyway, I told her about what happened at the reunion that I would never want to go through the influence by them. That one who talked nasty, she said she hates JW so I told her why they kept coming to her door because Jesus' command to go and make disciples of all nations...Matthew 28:19 so that is why we must obey to his command since we are to carry out the good news of God's kingdom. LaRhonda, it is your choice that you want to see your old friends from your high school and perhaps you give a good witness to some and who knows, they are one of J.W. All you do is pray for guidance from Jehovah. I wrote a post in the JW discussion about a stumbling block about a sister who avoided me and my guess that she might not feel comfortable around me because I enjoyed chatting with her husband and he is very versatile (sp?) like Jesus' example on earth. Another deaf sister didn't apparently feel comfortable around me, either. I have Jehovah's love for me and all of you. Remember, I can be sensitive in some way. Of course, we are imperfect due to our weakness as I try to understand those prude sisters toward me. I love you and all on fb and here, Susan

P.S. Don't feel sorry for yourself...we are there for you and pray for your strength. You are not alone and I am also feeling sad and sorry for myself.