PrioritizingTheFaith: How Do I Talk to My Boss About Withdrawing my Compromise?

PrioritizingTheFaith wrote [June 27, 2016 2:57 pm]:

I basically know what I need to do, but I would like your opinion on something. [...]

When I interviewed with this employer this year, I was asked about the schedule I wanted. I told my boss I could not work Sundays (as any shift would take me from the meetings) but I could work any other time, and he offered me the day shift as that's what he needed. He told me I would not have to worry about Sundays. He did not tell me about the projects that would require me to work some Sundays. But I'm ok with giving him some Sundays.

Shortly after getting hired, I had to work two consecutive Sundays because we have projects on the weekends at times and they will not stand up to the customer to get this changed. We do not have the manpower to have a non-negotiable Sunday project day, but that's another story.

I had to miss a meeting two Sundays ago because of this, and I have public talk July 17th that was scheduled on May 25th, and my work schedule is out, and I have to work Sunday July 10th, and Sunday July 17th (the date of my talk).

There is no way I'm missing my talk. It was scheduled over a month ago.

The advice I would need is exactly how to approach him about this. He told me I would not have to worry about Sundays, but since I've been hired, I've missed about 6 meetings this year on Sunday, and now I'm being asked to give up two more, including my talk, in back-to-back weeks.

Of course, this is upsetting and nonsense because I believe I was lied to. He knew the weekend project day, and did not tell me about it.

Any advice would be appreciated, and I am going to Jehovah about this.

JW Advisor: I commend you for seeking advice on this matter in spite of knowing what you need to do. (Proverbs 15:22) It shows humility. I can understand this situation, and did it myself once. But you should understand that the fact that you compromised after telling him you needed Sundays off gives him ammunition to use against you. (Daniel 6:4-5) So if you want to stand your ground now, it could be seen as grounds for termination and you would have to accept the consequences. However, if there is paperwork establishing that you needed Sundays off, you may have legal recourse, though the fact that you compromised weakens your case.

The fact is, if we want to represent Jehovah well, we need to be people of our word. (James 5:12) If you say you need Sundays off, never compromise, stand your ground. Don't accept their attempts at finagling your meetings. Even if you have personal issues that cause you to miss meetings, your stand in the sight of people in the world should not change or be able to be compromised. (Proverbs 29:25)

The fact is, you have a dishonest employer who is seeking to test your commitment to your ideals and your willingness to compromise your beliefs in order to put the company first. He wants to see you as a company man, not realizing that to be a good company man, one needs to be a good servant of Jehovah. Without that, you cannot have the other. (Luke 16:10-13) They hired you knowing that you did not want to work Sundays and explained to them why. If I were you, I would emphasize that to them when they try to say, "But you have worked Sundays." Also emphasize that you felt pressured and threatened by the potential of losing your job but that you are ready to correct the situation.

But before any of that, I recommend explaining tactfully that you believe you compromised your principles when you gave up even just one Sunday for work, and that you don't think it provided your employer with confidence in you to be able to represent their company. The company needs people with high standards whom they can rely upon. By compromising your stand for your faith, you showed that the company also could not rely upon you when the chips are down. But now you wish to correct that situation and stand firm and be someone the company can put their trust in for loyalty and steadfastness.

So now, as to how to provide a solution if your boss still needs more, you might be able to negotiate a work-around. (I recommend attempting that before giving a flat-out refusal to work Sundays. Maybe you could choose one other day in the week to put in some extra hours to make up for the hours you miss going to meetings, and maybe come in early or late to put in a couple of hours on Sunday before or after your meetings. But you should make it clear that your service to God comes first. Our standing firm serves as a witness. (Matthew 10:16-18)

Next time, remember that the firmness of your stand marks you as either a faithful Witness or an unfaithful one. But Jehovah is forgiving so long as you make correction to do what's right in this matter from now on. (Acts 3:19)

Jehovah loves you and will help you to succeed. Pray to him about this matter and continue to pray no matter how it goes and he will guide you. I will also pray for you. [Jun 30, 2016, 2:15 pm]

DefendingFaith: How can I maintain self-control in a religious debate?

DefendingFaith wrote [May 26, 2016 at 10:49 am]:

Hello, I was just curious as to your thoughts on the growing number of people spreading the lies about JWs. [. . .] I myself have tried to help people [on Youtube] to understand the belief but it appears they tend to pay more attention to the myths as apposed to actual truth. [(Mostly just to point out to those who could be mislead by those apostates. I try not to say anything to other people on their channels but I have gotten caught up in some arguments online with folks in the past. Only assuming they could just be misguided sheep perhaps part of Christendom or otherwise. I generally keep to myself, I do find it difficult tho, not to speak up when I hear people making accusations or posting mistruths online. So I almost feel compelled to say something on the matter.)]

I have used Elijah Daniel's blog as one of my main tools, but as usual most tend to discredit them cause they are biased, so I was also wondering if any other sites or individuals make unbiased arguments for the faith. I am a returning member of the orginization, was raised in the faith but fell out, now have had a reinvigerated spirit to learn and teach the truth. Been back for a little over a year now. Feels great, but cant seem to get over all the lies being spread. Always wanting to correct people or call people out even though I know how the bible feels on arguments. I have gotten caught up in some debates online, tends to get heated and I take the high road out of the situation.

JW Advisor: First, their numbers are not as great as they seem. The great majority of former members simply get on with their lives. Our opposers are simply becoming more outspoken because of the increasing news coverage. The reality is that all they do is parrot the statements of those who came before them. None of them give any real thought to the information from an unbiased perspective. They left because they have a complaining spirit and lack any sense of loyalty. (Jude 16-21)

However, we should never get into discussions with them. It is a disfellowshiping matter to unrepentantly talk to disfellowshiped or disassociated individuals. (2 John 8-11) They want you to get into debates with them so that they can wear down your faith and your loyalty and spread their complaining spirit to others just like gangrene; but we must reject such debates if we wish to stay loyal. (2 Timothy 2:16-19) Can bread remain free of corruption while in contact with corrupted bread? (1 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Instead, we must let the dead bury their dead. (Luke 9:60) Our ministry is not to the self-righteous not seeking treatment, but to those lowly in spirit seeking a physician. (Matthew 5:6; 9:11-13; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1) My site is for disseminating the truth about these matters without debate so that some may be snatched from the fire. (Jude 22-23) Besides, deleting comments from our opposers without answering them turns out to be pretty cathartic.

I am not comfortable talking about other bloggers, except Elijah Daniels. Many either are apostates themselves who think they're doing some kind of noble thing, or else post their debates with apostates on their site, or simply share their own ideas instead of sticking to the facts or upholding established doctrine. I consider them all persona non grata and refuse to allow links to their sites in comments.

I have only made an exception for a single person because the scholarly research is very helpful despite improper linking. I link to his posts in the posts about the 607 BCE date, the UN N.G.O. issue and our policies on Child Abuse. Though I will eventually replace the two articles he does that in with my own articles.

I hope this helps. [May 26, 2016 at 12:06 pm]

JW Advisor: I hear ya, DefendingFaith. But there is a saying by Winston Churchill: "You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks." [June 26, 2016, 5:16 pm]

DefendingFaith wrote [May 26, 2016 at 12:45 pm]:

Thanks, yes this helps. I have already made some videos pertaining to these matters. Only for the sake of helping other discern, as you say pulling them out of the fire. I have had dealings with them, i have foolishly got into arguments but have since tried to steer clear of these things as i know they have ulterior motives or chips on their shoulders i suppose. Is there possibly alternative sites with the same objective as yours. I had mentioned Elijah Daniels as he has linked to a number of places such as yours for further info. Very great stuff you guys are doing here. I commend you for all the work you and the other brothers do. I'm sure this takes years to all get down packed and then put it up on a site for others to gain from.

JW Advisor: There's only one thing that matters: absolute loyalty to Jehovah God, Jesus Christ and to the organization that has proven its humility and faithfulness in holy spirit.

I know of no others that maintain as high of standards as mine and Elijah's. (Though our standards differ in a few areas, higher in some and lower in others.) That is why he is the only one I trust. [May 26, 2016 at 6:17pm]

JW Advisor: I agree. They really aren't growing in number as much as they're simply getting louder and using the same lies that others use. The internet gives them the venue.

You can get over the lies if you continually reflect on why you believe we have the Truth. If you have doubts, do not ignore them as if they do not exist. Settle them. This is where personal study is truly beneficial, and blogs like these. The links above were a big help. It gave me the organization's actual teaching on the matter in depth, and I began to see that apostates really lie a TON on the organization.

There was a bad week for me last year. I was so down spiritually that I did not even prepare for the meeting. There was an unresolved issue as regard a facet of our belief system and it had me down. But I researched and read many articles on the WT library one evening for a couple of hours, and got the organization's view on it.

After that night, I was fine. That's my recommended path of getting over lies. Check our actual teachings. Its like studying real money to spot the counterfeit. You don't study counterfeit money to know real money.

I also hope this helps too. [May 26, 2016 at 12:48pm]

Here's just a small example that popped up in my mind when thinking, DefendingFaith. Apostates will repeatedly claim that the Governing Body wants "rock star treatment" since the introductions of JW broadcasting. Do they? Well, if we just take what they say without thinking about it, we will believe that lie. But what comes to the mind of thinking Witnesses is how the GB have reduced their own roles on the station -- appearing every other month with a helper taking the lead in the month between.

Also, the article "Love does not behave Indecently" from the January 2016 WT clearly states concerning the GB and other well-known brothers:

"Second, realize that while it is good to respect these brothers and their wives, we would not want to treat them as celebrities".

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-simplified-january-2016/we-want-to-go-with-you/

That's how you deal with lies. Just check our views on the matter. [May 26, 2016, 4:53pm]

Sometimes, I look at apostates as a husband that divorces his wife, yet, he claims to have moved on but continues to stalk her and make up lies about her.

In the same vein, they "divorce" themselves from the organization, yet they read every publication that we print, every video we make, every JW broadcast episode we release, and make up lies about what we were saying in those things.

Anyone would look at them as crazy if they were doing that to an ex wife. But they got a new term for it, called "activism".

Imagine a man, standing outside the front of his ex-wife's home trying to convince her new husband that he is being "deceived" by holding up picket signs. Is that "activism" or craziness? [May 27, 2016, 12:18pm]

JW Advisor: Completely nutters. Apostates themselves are the reason I find apostasy repulsive. I would have avoided apostasy to begin with due to my strong sense of loyalty, like avoiding extramarital sex out of loyalty, but when the one trying to tempt you to fornicate is a diseased, shriveled crank-addicted transvestite with scraggly hair, a beard, cusses like a sailor, smokes like a chimney, and talks like Harvey Fierstein, it's pretty easy not to be tempted unless you're one yourself. That's how repulsed I am by apostates. [May 27, 2016 at 2:49]

JW Advisor: One more thing I wanted to point out about how "loud" opposers are is that they over-sell the negative things that go on in the organization with their daily accusations. This is simply designed to discourage us under the false notion that God's true organization would not have problems, or would never get anything wrong. I do not know where they got that from other than their own imaginations.

This is not surprising, as Revelation 12:10 says Satan is the accuser of our brothers "day and night" before God. [May 30, 2016 at 8:02pm]

DefendingFaith wrote [June 20, 2016 at 1:52pm]:

Yeah, I see the overall point. Its just as Satan wants it to be, he has his hands in every facet of life. We as either studies or full time ministers must be as pro active as possible at dismantling and setting things straight. All they want to do is slander Gods holy name and the people who serve him.

[. . .] So if I were to make a response to some of these lies and rhetoric thrown about online. What should be my way of presenting it. Should I bullet point topics commonly misinterpreted or just go out and call all the channels and websites out for what they say. Id rather not stir the pot on these subjects but rather use tact and just point out the flaws in reasoning and so on. I just need a little direction in the best ways to do this.

Like what should I reference if they want unbiased sources of info, since they tend to think they are a cult and the information is controlled and all that. Not sure how to effectively go at that one. Most of the sources iv found are of the JW faith, which is fine but just in case that don't fly, id like to have a stacked deck to combat that issue.

I'm sure this wont really get through to many of those individuals, I would rather cut off the attempts made to distort or misguide other people from the truth. That is really my main goal in the first place. Helping others discern since they don't have that ability as of yet.

JW Advisor: I'm going to reiterate what I stated in response to your very first query: We should never get into discussions with them. [Period] They are not seeking to learn from you. They are not curious about the Bible. Their cup is already full and you can't empty it for them to refill it. Leave them alone and walk away. Who cares if they think you're copping out? We shouldn't care what they think at all. They have already made up their minds. It's not up to us to change them.

If someone wants to argue about doctrine, policy or anything else, just leave them be. There is no good approach to such discussions at all. Nothing good can come of it. Anything you say is simply throwing pearls before swine. As Jesus said:

"Into whatever city or village you enter, search out who in it is deserving, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, greet the household. If the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from you return upon you. Wherever anyone does not receive you or listen to your words, on going out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more endurable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on Judgment Day than for that city." (Matthew 10:11-15)

If a student has questions, you will have plenty of time to answer them, but anyone that wants to argue only wants to either hold you up from going door to door or to convert you.

As for online, you should not be posting on sites of our apostates and opposers. Whether you read them is a conscience matter, but to post on their sites is to bring dishonor to Jehovah. Jesus did not go chasing after the Pharisees, but the Pharisees went chasing after him.

As to making a website to defend our beliefs, or the organization's decisions, as I have done at Opposers Dismythed, it requires deep research, careful reasoning and simply putting those things in writing, but not posting anything that appears weak or lacking careful thought. Also, every article requires stating what apostates say on the subject as a matter of course in order to be addressed, but we should not directly quote any statement made by an apostate, nor post transcripts of debates. The audience does not need anything more than an accurate depiction of the facts. The more they are exposed to lies, the more likely they are to get to believing those lies. Also, try to get each point across with as few words as possible. Our apostates tend to be insufferable bores who love to hear themselves talk. So inversely, truth-seekers should be people of few words who humbly say only what needs to be said. [June 22, 2016 at 3:01pm]

JW Advisor: I completely agree. They are not seekers of truth, and that's why they're apostates to begin with, so reasoning with them is out of the question.

Some may reason that if we have the truth and are confident in it, then reading and interacting with them should pose no harm to us. I like the illustration used by the organization that if you instill strong morals into your children, would you then deliberately expose them to pornography? After all, they should resist if their morals are strong enough, right? The fact is, you protect against harmful influences by identifying them and avoiding them, not by exposing yourself to them.

This is the faulty reasoning used to lure our brothers into poisoning their own minds. If you have the truth, then what are you afraid of?

My answer is that I am afraid of believing lies.

I say that because its not that the organization is hiding something from us that they don't want us to know so they instruct us to avoid apostates. Part of the reason is that the organization has dealt with apostasy in the past, and they know that the goal is to lure you out of God's organization.

I can also understand the urge to defend the faith. Lies hurt, so I will be honest about that, and they can make one angry. But you can successfully defend against accusations because they are made out of ignorance, or misunderstanding​/misconception. You cannot make a defense to folks who simply don't care to learn, or who deliberately spread lies like apostates. [June 22, 2016 at 8:51pm]

Here is some information that I think will serve you well that can help you be aware of apostates tricks. The most often used trick is "appeals to emotion". Examples of this are: "your organization doesn't care about children", or "you deny 'life saving' medical care", and the most often used one, "you break up families".

The goal is to get you angry and to accept their statements as true based on that emotion, and since these statements trigger our inborn protective instincts, we are more prone to react by removing ourselves and others from that alleged harm, without considering whether or not the harm is real or imagined.

In your case, they want you to leave the organization, and they want non-witnesses to fear joining.

You can have better self-control when you have realized the trickery used, and the purpose of it. [July 29, 2016 at 5:58pm]

Welcome

Welcome to where you can get biblical advice and counsel on anything and everything related to Jehovah's Witnesses. There is no judgment and only loving concern to help you serve Jehovah and Jesus Christ, increase faith and remain loyal to Jehovah's organization or simply to discuss how to interact with Jehovah's Witnesses.

If you do not feel comfortable addressing your concerns to the elders in your congregation or to family, friends or your Bible teacher, and do not want to take the chance of a letter you write to the address in the Watchtower getting forwarded to your local congregation, you may post your concerns here.

Whether you have doubts, have sinned and need courage to confess to the elders, having trouble with personal sins not quite severe enough for discipline, are seeking to return to the organization, need courting advice, having trouble getting out, or simply looking for encouragement, you can post whatever questions, needs or concerns you have and we will be happy to respond with scriptural advice and counsel from the heart without judgment.

The History of This Site

Some years ago, I don't remember when, I started the website, "Ask Jehovah's Witnesses", in which I answered questions about Jehovah's Witnesses and it ran for a few years. But it was presented in a way that mimicked the publications. So when an article in one of our publications came out addressing websites designed to provide spiritual food, I discontinued the site. I want to help people, but I don't want anyone to see my site as a source of spiritual food or a replacement for any of our publications.

Then, in 2006, I got involved with the Yahoo! Answers group as a means of correcting people's understanding of Jehovah's Witnesses. Then, in 2007, I came out with the website: A Personal Witness. However, a couple of years later, I got another reminder, I think it was at a convention, that we need to avoid providing spiritual food, which the site had become a place for such.

So in 2009 I decided to start a new site that focused strictly on responding to the accusations of our opposers in order to help protect some from falling prey to their lies. It is not that the organization needs defending, but that individuals need protecting and recovery from poisonous lies. It filled a niche. I called it Opposers Dismythed and I have run that site ever since as it lives up to its purpose and does not compete with the organization's literature. However, I did not eliminate my other site, but simply took it offline, because it still had plenty of articles that I found very enlightening.

Lately, though, I noticed that there are many people, though having friends in the truth and appropriately confessing serious sins to the elders, still have a hard time expressing themselves, and for some, this can lead to a sense of being alienated, through their own self-imposed isolation, which in turn can lead to apostasy as they lose faith and drift away. (Proverbs 18:1; Hebrews 3:12)

There are also many non-Jehovah's Witnesses who have questions about how to interact with Jehovah's Witnesses, whether to turn us away, to ask us to stop calling or because they want to understand or address the actions of a Jehovah's Witness associate or the organization in general.

Thus, on Sunday, June 20th, 2016, I had an idea come to me fully formed, in which we (My blog-writing partner and I) could provide such ones with a place to anonymously air things they do not feel comfortable seeking elsewhere; or to simply provide them with a place to express themselves without judgment, sans apostasy.

After considering whether it qualified as spiritual food or was somehow competing with other services of the organization, we concluded that it was no different than any other personal conversation and fell outside the abilities of the organization's services. We simply need to avoid presenting it as anything more than personal assistance. So the next day, I posted this site.

It is not that the arrangement of the organization is lacking in anything from the Bible, nor that prayer is somehow not enough for them to have a relationship with Jehovah, but that sometimes simply having someone say what they may be unintentionally ignoring or missing, can help them to resolve issues. It is also a place they can receive "hands-on" training, so-to-speak, in becoming better servants of Jehovah.

Additionally, approaching someone who knows who you are can be intimidating and cause you to lack the desire to speak about what is bothering you in fear of the consequences or changing their perceptions of you. This site is for removing those obstacles to seeking help.

What Are Our Qualifications?

Someone may wonder how we are qualified to do this. That is a very fair question, so the following are the answers in honesty. While the advisors are anonymously listed by number here, they are not identified by number in any of the responses to those seeking advice and counsel.

JW Advisor #1: I was born in 1973 and baptized in January, 1998. I am not an elder, nor even a ministerial servant. Because of my current circumstances, I do not yet qualify for those services within the congregation, though many in my congregation find my comments and counsel to be uplifting and spiritually focused.

But the fact is, avoidance personality disorder, a severe anxiety disorder perhaps exacerbated by childhood trauma, has kept me from doing as much as others. I do not have the tendency to worry, but simply am not able to do what I want to do because my thought processes shut down when confronted with any task or thought that somehow feels daunting. It is similar to the feeling of dread some have when tax season comes around. Otherwise, I have a strong work ethic and boundless willingness, and am fully motivated the second anyone asks something of me.

To handle the anxiety, I tried medication for a little while. Unfortunately, it caused me to sleep a lot more, and I ended up missing more meetings than my disorder caused me to. There is little I want more than to make every meeting. I also suffered from a life-long depression up until 2011, which I received treatment for in 2010. For these reasons, I have failed to qualify for greater privileges within the congregation. But that does not disqualify me from being a Bible teacher and friend to my brothers and sisters.  The elders call upon me for whatever services they can outsource to me. I love my congregation and feel loved by them.

Now, why do I think I am qualified for being an anonymous counselor online? Because since I came into the truth, preserving the faith of my brothers and sisters has always been of foremost concern to me. I love the house to house preaching work, and making sure my brothers and sisters are well cared for is very important to me. I have always wanted to protect them from the lies of our opposers and to help them to reason properly, not succumbing to the false reasonings of Christendom or our opposers. So I proceeded to learn to do deep research and to improve my thinking ability, and over years of practice I got better and better at fact-checking, going down the rabbit hole no matter how far it leads or how uncomfortable it seems until I get at the original sources and the truth, going much further than our opposers dare to go. This has allowed me to vindicate the organization at every turn. I believe Jehovah is the one who has gifted me with this desire and capability and I use it to the full.

I must now allow a boast, but not boastfully and not for myself, but for those who need someone to trust, to demonstrate these qualifications. Many have expressed thanks for my efforts and my writings have been used by Jehovah to touch the hearts of at least a couple of apostates that I know of, prompting them to repent and return to Jehovah's organization in full submission. One former opposer has become my Bible student. Others have thanked me for stopping them from falling away because they had been poisoned by apostate lies. Still others have thanked me simply for helping them to answer hard questions, adjust their thinking and strengthen their faith. Since this gift is from Jehovah, it is he who deserves thanks and praise.

So my qualifications are that I have already done this for almost 2 decades in one form or another and have helped ones to return to the organization. However, my best qualifications are in the desire to strengthen the faith of my brothers and sisters, in sticking to the Bible as my sourcebook, in encouraging ones to stick to the organization and studying our publications, in promoting love for the governing body, faithful and discreet slave and the elders among us, and most importantly, in promoting faith in Jesus Christ and Jehovah God's Kingdom.

JW Advisor #2: I think this sounds good, and of course, there is no exaggeration!

Born May 18th, 1982 and raised by Witness parents. I was an unbaptized publisher by the age of 12 and gave my first talk in the Theocratic Ministry School the same year. However, I left the truth at 17 years old, and spent nearly 10 years in the world.

I decided that I needed to return to Jehovah in April 2005 while in trade school, because I had no direction in my life and no future, and the happiness I had as a youth was gone. I then obtained a Bible and began reading. Before I finished the first chapter of Genesis, I made up my mind to return home. I was baptized in April 2007, appointed as a Ministerial Servant in Nov 2010, and have happily served ever since. Having been raised in the truth and fallen away in youth gives me a valuable perspective, allowing me to give advice from those various points of view.

I met my wife in 2008, and we began dating in June 2011. We were married on May 5th, 2012. Jehovah has really blessed me with this wonderful woman. I could not successfully serve without her support. Marrying only in the Lord allows us to share not just our lives together, but our service to Jehovah in unity. Nothing is more satisfying than having two people reaching for the same goals!

The training I have received since being a regular contributor to Opposers Dismythed has not only made me a better researcher, but it has made me a more careful one, teaching me to verify sources, and to check facts. I have also studied logic and reasoning and critical thinking and am well versed in the Bible and the organization's literature. Having close association with my fellow advisor allows us to bounce ideas off of one another, laugh together, and work closely as a team!

JW Advisor Team: We have qualifications by virtue of our examples, desires and abilities, but we have no authority to command anyone, nor to enforce commands by means of this website. We can only show you the Scriptures, and it is up to you to decide if you will follow the advice and counsel we provide by means of them. We will not judge anyone for choosing, by their own free will, to not follow Biblical advice and counsel.

What Does God's Word Say About It?

We have considered the Biblical basis for this service, and here are thoughts to consider:

"For just as we have in one body many members, but the members do not all have the same function, so we, although many, are one body in union with Christ, but individually we are members belonging to one another. Since, then, we have gifts that differ according to the undeserved kindness given to us, if it is of prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or if it is a ministry, let us be at this ministry; or the one who teaches, let him be at his teaching; or the one who encourages, let him give encouragement; the one who distributes, let him do it liberally; the one who presides, let him do it diligently; the one who shows mercy, let him do it cheerfully." (Romans 12:4-8)

"On the other hand, we urge you, brothers, to warn the disorderly, speak consolingly to those who are depressed, support the weak, be patient toward all. See that no one repays injury for injury to anyone, but always pursue what is good toward one another and to all others." (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)

"All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) 

"Beware, brothers, for fear there should ever develop in any one of you a wicked heart lacking faith by drawing away from the living God; but keep on encouraging one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you should become hardened by the deceptive power of sin." (Hebrews 3:12, 13)

"Therefore, openly confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. A righteous man’s supplication has a powerful effect. . . . My brothers, if anyone among you is led astray from the truth and another turns him back, know that whoever turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save him from death and will cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:16, 19, 20)

"To the extent that each one has received a gift, use it in ministering to one another as fine stewards of God’s undeserved kindness that is expressed in various ways." (1 Peter 4:10)

As you can see, these are the responsibilities of all members of the congregation. So we are fulfilling these things, but doing so in a way that allows members to remain anonymous in order to more freely unburden themselves. We are not assuming a position of authority, but are using our spiritual gifts to help our brothers and sisters and provide answers to those in the world about Jehovah's Witnesses in a personal, 1-on-1 witness online.

Disclaimers

JW Advisor is a place for spiritual counsel, not spiritual food. Get your spiritual food from the faithful and discreet slave at the weekly meetings and in Jehovah's Witness publications.

This site is not for doctrine, personal opinions or organizational policy issues. For those issues, you may go to our sister site at Opposers Dismythed.

Please exhaust spiritual research in our publications available to you before coming here to receive advice or counsel that you are unable to receive elsewhere, or you are simply at the end of your rope. But most certainly we suggest talking to us before making rash decisions to leave the organization.

We are well-versed in psychological issues and are good at researching what we do not know, but we are not mental health professionals. What we are are Jehovah's Witnesses and are proficient with the scriptures, our publications, the organization and Christian history. That said, it is very healthy to have someone to talk to and to see your own feelings expressed in writing, and especially to have answers to your concerns.

The anonymity of this site is not for ones to deceive in hypocrisy, (Psalm 26:4) but to give our visitors the strength to express themselves honestly and openly to find resolution to their issues so that they do not have to hide them from anyone anymore and can deal with them and move on.

Commenting

Comments must be approved and may be edited for content. This is not a forum posting board for interacting with other commenters. Comments directed at other commenters may be rejected or edited. Trouble-making comments and comments professing to be from disfellowshipped or disassociated individuals will be rejected. (Using hypothetical "what if" scenarios is recommended.)

At the bottom of the comment form and in the contact form on the sidebar, there is a means of entering a unique pseudonym. It is recommended that you choose a pseudonym for your comment that reflects the issue you wish to discuss. (For example, "WeighedDown".) This makes it easy to locate your posts at a glance while remaining anonymous.

When you comment to this post, I will reply with a link to a new post or direct you to a related post where your personal matter can be addressed.

If you still feel too uncomfortable to post your concerns publicly despite the anonymity, you can contact us by means of the Contact Form on the sidebar.

We hope you find the answers uniquely suited to your personal questions that you are seeking here.

To our opposers: Our opposers have thousands upon thousands of websites they can go to in order to post their grievances, or they can write to the address in the Watchtower or talk to elders. This is a site for people with honest and sincere questions, not personal vendettas against the organization or trying to convert us or anyone that visits this site. If people want to seek out lies about us, they know where to find you.