JWs who have been disfellowshipped and have been trying to get back in good graces?

Question

JWs who have been disfellowshipped and have been trying to get back in good graces?

Answer 1

Only jehovah knows the heart . Brothers do not . If one is sincerely trying to return and once again become one of Jehovahs people. He will be able to do so . The brothers will be there to help . If ones do not talk to the Elders though , and let them know they want to be reinstated, Then how are they to know .Just showing good behavior alone will not alert the brothers to the fact that one wishes to be reinstated.

Answer 2

Jehovah has great love for his children, his servants. He guides them in a way that will be pleasing to Him and that will bring them the greatest happiness. As the Great Father, Jehovah also provides for the discipline of his servants who err. This he does, not because he hates them, but because he loves them and wants to keep them on the way to everlasting life. “My son, do not belittle the discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by him; for whom Jehovah loves he disciplines.”—Heb. 12:5, 6.

Jehovah administers correction to the wrongdoer through his visible organization. (Isa. 32:1; Matt. 24:45-47) The disciplinary measures taken depend upon the enormity of the sin and upon the attitude of the offender.

The fact is that when a Christian gives himself over to sin and has to be disfellowshiped, he forfeits much: his approved standing with God; membership in the happy congregation of Christians; sweet fellowship with the brothers, including much of the association he had with Christian relatives. (1 Pet. 2:17) The pain he has caused may even survive him



You ask if they are they repentive as they can be. the answer is, are they truly repentive. I was disfellowshipped once, I came back. disfellowshipped ones are coming back all the time. and they are truly repentive.

remember, Jehovah corrects those he loves!!! It is not the brothers doing the correcting. look at the scriptures i stated above, they are from God's word and not from man.

Answer 3

The Bible says the human heart is wicked. (Jer. 17:9) The organization is wicked so it's a perfect fit. Those who are truly seeking repent and leave!



Troll alert! Vegas S aka Heathenly Eyes looking to delete questions!

Answer 4

Let us ask, Would you rather be disciplined and be loved by God or be undisciplined and unloved by God? Can you be loved by God and not be disciplined by him? No, that is not possible. Observe further this statement, at Hebrews: “My son, do not belittle the discipline from Jehovah, neither give out when you are corrected by him.” Why? “For whom Jehovah loves he disciplines; in fact, he scourges every one whom he receives as a son.” (Heb. 12:5, 6) Not only is discipline an evidence of the love of the Father, Jehovah, but also of the love of Christ Jesus as shown by the words of the Son: “All those for whom I have affection I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev. 3:19) Spurning such discipline would mean spurning such love.

Forgiveness, a Christian Obligation



We have these warm assurances of our Father’s willingness to forgive: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so as to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “I am writing you these things that you may not commit a sin. And yet, if anyone does commit a sin, we have a helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, a righteous one.” (1 John 1:9; 2:1) Is forgiveness possible for a disfellowshipped person? Yes. At the time of disfellowshipping someone for unrepentant sin, elders who represent the congregation explain to him that it is possible for him to repent and receive God’s forgiveness. He may attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall, where he can hear Bible instruction that may help him to repent. (Compare 1 Corinthians 14:23-25.) In time he may seek reinstatement in the clean congregation. When elders then meet with him, they will try to determine whether he has repented and left his sinful course. (Matthew 18:18) If that is the case, he may be reinstated, in line with the pattern at 2 Corinthians 2:5-8. In the event that he had been disfellowshipped for many years, he will need to make a concerted effort to progress. He may also need considerable help thereafter to build up his Bible knowledge and appreciation so that he becomes a spiritually strong Christian.

Answer 5

Pestie58 we love you & know you will be back soon.

I don't know Papa Bear

Do you have their permission to use them to run the Jehovah's Witnesses down ?

Answer 6

"I can't for the life of me imagine why anybody would spend even one second trying to get back into a church which was like this. Run away and read the Bible for yourself. You will know more than they ever do."



Wow! Great advise! :)



Source: I ran away and I'm reading the Bible for myself!





Edit: "What if that person is an unrepent child molester ? would you welcome him with open arms or would you move him from one congregation to another to hide his sins ? "



Apparently Pestie has never heard of "Silent lambs"



Proof in point that the disfellowshipping and reinstatement processes ARE flawed. Anyone whose sins would bring public disgrace on the religion is actually protected to maintain the pristine image, in the exact same manner that Pestie suggested.



Hard Evidence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLAC9kS_EqM

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_C_trial06.439464c.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZpScLCMqEk



Supporting "Circumstantial evidence":

http://www.silentlambs.org/answers/23720.cfm

http://www.silentlambs.org/personal_experiences/index.cfm

http://www.lambsroar.org/db/index.php?showforum=15

Answer 7

Your not one of them & not disfellowshiped ?

Then what makes you think you are qualified to judge them ?

Maybe you should worry about your own standing with God than the standing of others.

Answer 8

I spoke to an old witness friend of mine a couple weeks ago... I asked after her younger brother, who had been disfellowshipped last I heard....



She told me he was still disfellowshipped. She spoke to him on occasion on "legitimate family business." Otherwise, she didn't associate with him, his wife, or children.



He had asked her why she would talk to their nephew, a few years younger than he (both in their 40s now), who had done things far worse than he had ever done. She told him that he (the nephew) had never gotten baptized so he was never disfellowshipped.



So her brother, treated harshly by their widowed mother since his father died when the boy was three years old, and bullied into baptism, is the pariah. (I was very close to this family, this is first-hand observation.)



Then my old girlfriend made this comment: "Of course, [congregation name withheld] was really disfellowship-happy back then. If he'd been in another congregation... " and trailed off. "Oh well," she said.



Apparently her brother has not felt the need to try to become reinstated. What his "spiritual" life may be, I don't know. Whatever it is, I suspect he's far more mentally healthy than had he let himself be manipulated.



Suzanne

Answer 9

It's in very poor taste to use people's names without their consent in a lost effort to discredit Jehovah's people. I'm sorry I don't see the sincerity in your question, it certainly lacks humility -something Jesus so often taught his followers to display. We can all improve in that area.



When I was disfellowshipped I was far from repentant. If they had just accepted me back with open arms I could have spiritually damaged many young ones in my congregation through my behavior. How run amuck congregations would be if serious wrongdoers were never disciplined! When I made the necessary steps to be reinstated I never felt that I was being judged or that the elders themselves were forgiving me - they relied heavily on God's Word to offer me comfort, instruction and help me continue to grow spiritually and prayed with me. If you read your Bible you'll notice that the same was done by first century Christians. Jehovah "disciplines those that he loves." How thankful I am that He personally cares for me! He has shown me more forgiveness than I thought possible since my return. It's only by way of true repentance (which requires action) and Jehovah's undeserved kindness that sins can be forgiven. How grateful I am that Christ made such a sacrifice for us to make this possible.



***Any of you trying to return to the worldwide brotherhood ~ we love you dearly and cannot wait for your return to pure worship! Don't let discouraging people or circumstances keep you from praising Jehovah's name. As the Bible states at Luke 15:10 . . ."joy arises among the angels of God over one sinner that repents.” This is also true of your brothers and sisters.***



Repentance takes action simple and plain - I'm not getting the Catholic connection because to my knowledge you're veiled in a box, tell them what you did and the Priest does a cross sign with his hand and says you're forgiven. Is there work you have to do? Does the Priest even use the Bible when counseling? Does one have to demonstrate that they are trying to stay on the narrow path? Does the Priest encourage you to read the Bible through, be in attendance at all meetings, do personal study, pray earnestly for forgiveness? Many have stated what would happen if someone were to die before they were able to return - If they're heart condition is such that God deems them worthy of a resurrection then he will do so. All God's judgements are just and righteous. Jesus is head of the Christian congregation, if any elders are in the wrong and are not shepherding Christ congregation lovingly then they will have to answer for that ~1 Peter 2:25. The elders carry a heavy load ~with their weighty responsibilities of teaching, shepherding, taking the lead in the preaching work, raising their families, and handling problems in the congregation and NOT being paid a dime to do so. Any failure or mistakes on the part of certain elders would not justify an insubordinate attitude on our part. Jehovah does not bless disobedience and rebellion. ~Numbers 12:1, 2, 9-11.



I'm not judging you...I said "I don't see the sincerity"...not that it's not there. If you're truly seeking a truthful answer, I do hope you find it. Have a wonderful day PediCBusy!

Answer 10

The problem I have is that they always say that only Jehovah knows their heart and that the elders are guided by his holy spirit to help them in their decisions but they have openly admitted to making mistakes in the past but the light got brighter. What if they are making a mistake in thinking someone is not repentant when they are? They are messing with people's lives and families here. It's not for man to decide anyway, but God and God alone. To even put themselves in that position is very haughty and self-righteous.

Answer 11

About 8 years ago, I had a brother-in-law who was a Witness, die while he was disfellowshipped. It was actually during the third time he was disfellowshipped that his death occurred.



Do I have hope he will be resurrected? We always have hope. The apostle Paul said in Acts 24:15 that the resurrection will include "the righteous and the unrighteous".



But the decision is in Jesus' hands as directed by Jehovah. If he is not resurrected, then I will know that Jehovah looked at things I and others were unable to see and he knows best.



Jehovah's hand is never short. But He always does what is right and what is best for all concerned. I leave it in His hands to take care of.



Thank goodness I do not have to base that decision of whether a person is resurrected or not on my puny knowledge alone for anyone.

Answer 12

I am not disfellowshipped, (I "faded" purposely to avoid this silly little title, and there a couple elders who would LOVE to get me, but since I am doing nothing they can use as an excuse.....ha!) but I know quite a few people who are. The really sad thing is, I have noticed two very distinct groups among the disfellowshipped people I know. The first group has researched things for themselves and knows quite a bit more about the bible and the history of jw's than they did while in the organization, and they are not about to let some crusty old businessmen in brooklyn tell them whether or not any god approves of them. The second group is people who have done no research; still cling to the rhetoric their parents repeated for their entire childhood, and are the quickest to jump to the defense of jw's. I feel really bad for this second group, because they defend people who were willing to throw them away so easily. Like so many other victims of psychological abuse, they have bought into the lies of their abuser, and don't know how to stand up for themselves. As with other issues, knowledge and information is the answer.

Answer 13

It means that they wait for that one to come forward, petition for reinstatement and go from there. We are all waiting for Pestie to come back in the flock so we can speak with him and we can call him friend and brother. You have no right to mention him or Papa Bear. Their decisions are not your business. They find Jehovah in prayer. That is a privilege no one can take from us. Jehovah knows the heart, and knows who his sheep are. Death before reinstatement is a moot point. Who are you to judge God and what he says in the Bilbe?? Discipline is for the benefit of those Jehovah loves, not for mocking. God only leaves those who leave him and do not want to return. Repentance, change and love bring him back to us. Get your facts straight before you go slandering. No forcing, corersion, manipulating. Personal decision. I admire Pestie and am happy for him.



EDIT The elders are human, they cannot read the heart. Jehovah can. If one dies while disfellowshipped then he is doomed, according to you. Jehovah reads the heart and he alone decides who is resurrected and who isn't. The elders work with what they have for information. Disfellowshipping doesn't erase knowledge of God. The ability to pray is not taken away either. Elders act on what they know and follow the scriptures for direction, along with prayer. They are not perfect nor judges and neither are you and your gang. The Elders have a better understanding of their job, positon then you obviously do. Learn to read before you slam. Get a better understanding of our beliefs instead of twisting them.



EDIT Your question has been fully answered, it just was not what you wanted to hear. You have a preconceived notion and no one, in your mind, tickled your ears.

Answer 14

I'm lost, lol. What does any Church have anything to do with the way to God? If you believe that you have to be a member of some church to get to God you need to do some more studying.

I know of a minister that demoted his own son from preaching because he was caught using money that was tithed to draw interest on. He then used the interest to go and gamble with. For doing this he was demoted and not allowed to preach for 6 months. After that he was reinstated but did the same thing again. Then he was demoted longer but he decided to just leave the church and started up one of his own. He did really good.

But anyway like I was saying, no man can keep you are anyone from God. Only person that can keep you from God is you.

Don't know if that answered your question but I hope it helped. Have a Blessed Day, slowboy.

Answer 15

Most df'd persons trying to get reinstated are doing so merely to get back in good graces with their families and friends. Many are still under the belief that they are just being punished for their wrong doing.



I have a real problem with MEN acting as the spritual judge and jury in the first place! Men are too imperfect for that task, especially when lives are involved! JWs put too much stock in the elders to make very pivotal decisions that ultimately do more harm than good. Allowing this organization to determine your lifes worth AND your value to your family is a crime!



As an advocate for those this cult has hurt, I urge anyone seeking reinstatement to focus on the bible itself and God himself thru prayer. We need to please God, not an organization!

Answer 16

Yeah, it bothers me.

I obviously have spent a little more time on this subject than most as my Ex was DF'd repeatedly !

It's very cruel indeed !



It's like a Joke and we don't understand the punchline !

Answer 17

They are in fact judging others which is directly agaist the teachings of God.

These people who are supposedly so "knowledgable" in the scripture maybe need to refresh their understanding of the passage where Jesus said "Look at the log in your own eye before pointing out the speck in your neighbor's eye."

Answer 18

Who cares what they think?



Why would anyone want to be reinstated??

Answer 19

yes, what sillygirl said.



wanna hear about iraq?

Answer 20

There is no god, so your question doesn't count.