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[judster]

Hello!

My name is Jud and I am new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself.

 I was raised a Jehovah's Witness and stayed in that scene until my late 20's. I got married in my 30's and my wife was a Methodist, so I joined, we never went to church much, except on Christmas and maybe Easter. We have a couple of children, but have since divorced.

Anyway, I never had believed in the hellfire doctrine, but the idea that the majority of humans would   be  annihilated forever , never made sense to me. I remember as a kid looking at a picture in one of the books that the Jehovah's Witnesses had ,that was suppose to be of Armageddon. All the so called evil worldly people were being destroyed. I remember going to school and thinking that they were not any worse that me. I would try not to sin, fail, feel guilty and wonder why I could not do it. I finally got tired of the controlling hypocritical organization and left.

A few years back I was searching for info on universal reconciliation, and came across Bible-truths.com. At first I read a little and stopped, and did not want to read anymore, but God has kept pushing me back. Universal reconciliation, no problem. No immortal soul,check. Etc.. but then I came to the part about Free will, God being responsible for all ,including evil, and Satan not being a rebellious angel, but part of God's plan and a tool that God uses. Now that was hard to accept. I prayed studied the scriptures. Read more. Got a copy of eSword, started looking up the strong's numbers( Wow, end of the  world really means end of the age!!!) etc.

Now I have to say that the the teachings that bothered me the most are what brings me the most comfort.

 Due to God blessing us, with the insight that he has given to Brother Ray, I am able to understand more each day.

Jud

[Stevernator]

Hi Jud,
I would like to extend a warm welcome to you. Thank you for sharing your story. There are some helpful transcripts from some of Ray's audio teachings that are very valuable so I encourage you to check those out if you have not. Also, if you go on google video and search "l ray smith" you will find some videos. There is also a video on free will that was posted on the forum.
Steve

[WhoAmI]

Welcome,

 You bring out a great point in that the things that troubled us then give us joy when we see them.

 Is it not amazing how we kick against the goads.


 But thanks be to God, I am happy to hear you have been given much freedom!

 

[Beloved]

Welcome Jud:


You are certainly right, God has made Ray a good teacher and he has made it possible for many of get pat mans rubble.

We all must study to show ourselves approved and learn to live our lives in Christ.  It is the only way to following the Father's will.

Hope you enjoy the fellowship,

beloved

[Rene]

Hi Jud,

Welcome to the forum.

I, too, was once a "practicing" JW.  I can now look back and see how necessary that experience was in my life.  I appreciate even more now the joy of being taught the real truth of His word as revealed through BT.  It has been an amazing journey, and I'm glad to know that the Lord is directing it all and not me!

René

[KristaD]

Welcome jud!!

[OBrenda]

Hi Jud,

A Warm Welcome to You!
 
Brenda

[Kat]

Hi Jud,

Glad that you joined us 
I would say that the teaching that there is no free will is the most difficult to comprehend.  Even when we except that we have no free will, God's total sovereignty is still hard to grasp.  Our discussions here are very helpful as we share the bits and pieces that God gives us.
I hope you will join in our discussions and ask questions as the need arises.

Here are a few linksd to help you find your way around the boards.

The forum rules, it will help you see how this forum is moderated.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,4558.0.html
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,3614.0.html

Forum Indexes & lots of Info.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,14.0.html

Ray's Audios 
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,2641.0.html

Transcripts of Ray's Audios
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,12.0.html

child boards for;
Inspirationals, Writings, Poems, Etc.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,15.0.html

Who Am I? (members pics and personal stuff)
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/board,16.0.html

mercy, peace and love
Kat

[iris]

Hi Jud,

Welcome to the forum!


Iris

[Heidi]

Welcome Jud....like you I have found that the things I have learned and struggled to comprehend, such as free will has now given me the most peace.  I will go to bed still questioning certain things in my mind and wake up the next morning with a peace in my heart that surpasses all understanding.  And I know that it is right!

Hope to enjoy this journey together in Christ

Heidi

[hillsbororiver]

Hi Jud,

Thank you for introducing yourself here!

I hope you find fellowship, edification and encouragement in the Forum.

Peace,

Joe

[Richard D]

Hello Judster and God bless you, I just wanted to say hello to you and also let you know I’m new on this forum as well. I’m finding it a great blessing wit wonderful people here who enjoy helping who ever they can.

P.S.  I had read somewhere Ray had said at least Jehovah's Witness don’t teach about burning forever. I was born in the Roman Chaotic faith but both don’t teach us Gods truths. I’m so thankful God lead me here and I’m sure you will be too.

[judster]

Hello Judster and God bless you, I just wanted to say hello to you and also let you know I’m new on this forum as well. I’m finding it a great blessing wit wonderful people here who enjoy helping who ever they can.

P.S.  I had read somewhere Ray had said at least Jehovah's Witness don’t teach about burning forever. I was born in the Roman Chaotic faith but both don’t teach us Gods truths. I’m so thankful God lead me here and I’m sure you will be too.

Thanks  for the welcome Richard.

Yes it is true they don't teach the Hellfire doctrine. But all of Babylon has false teachings. That is why we come out of her. I think that it is comforting that the time we spent in the various churches that we all belonged to, is not wasted time, but prepared us for where we are now.

Jud

[Linny]

Hi Jud! Welcome to our forum!
Glad to have you join us.
I look forward to hearing more from you.

Lin

[faith2faith]

Hi jud and welcome to you and i myself am new to this forum, but i just wanted say hello.
I think many, but not many of Gods pepole are coming out of all denominations of churchs
around the world, I heeded the call of God last year, i thought is it just me or can anyone
else see whats happening in the churchs christiandom today, metaphorically specking
and i felted so comforted to find that nope I'm not the only one, praise God.
one night I prayed this prayer " Lord I want the truth and nothing but your truth"
that night he spoke to be in my sleep, and said, " stay in my word read my word follow my
instructions" I awoke the next morning and couldnt stop thinking about the words that
kept going through my mind, and so i answered and said ok, i will, i picked up my bible and
said lord where should i start, i was lead to this website L ray smith, and God has revealed
More and more of himself through the scriptures and guide lines that ray set out for us follow
it has been an eye openner and I am so bless by this site and I know their are many who
are blessed as well, i just wanted to share that with you and again welcome to and my prayers
are with you and all whom are blessed of God.

God Bless 
 

[Samson]

Welcome Judster,

                         Glad you joined this Forum. I was a JW for 20 twenty years(1983-2003) and felt much like you about people being no worse than me and many times felt they were better. Insofar as I'm concerned, the JW Organization are Pharisaical control freaks. Please feel free to send me a Personal message about the JW topic, only if you want. Also we have a couple of EX-JWS at this Forum. Randy, Pylady, myself and possibly a few others.

                         Just a side point, in The New World Translation, they render the Hebrew word Ohlam as Time indefinite, instead of Forever in the Old Testament, yet they translate Aion as System of Things(ok so far), but Aionios they render like everyone as Everlasting instead of Age-lasting or Age-abiding. They almost had it right, but make the usual error regarding God's Punishment for the Unbeliever and the Wicked. The thing that really used to bug me is the teaching that infants. babies and children would be Annihilated after the beginning of Armageddon. Also the idea that someone could die a week before the start of the Great Tribulation and receive a Resurrection, but that same person wouldn't receive a Resurrection if still alive a day after. None of us bothered to consider that this individual is primarily the same person before and after.  .

                         Anyway, look forward to your fellowship in the days to come, 

                                        Kind Regards, Samson.