John 12.24to28

Well, in my life I had 21 people who tried to damage me… I kept a list.
Then I realized over time they were dying of auto accidents, strokes, disease, war, and now there is only one left, who I ignore.
Works for me!

At least by making it public, it scared him a bit and he backed off.

Jehovah is the One who has protected us. 

He was after my kids. My husband was too distracted by the drink to notice. Even after my husband got arrested, the COBE and his wife tried to get custody of my kids. He wouldn't stop. Even now, he still sends them gifts.

I wasn't alive when Paul was in Corinth, but I have been alive the past few years and can share what I've experienced with "excommunication" and "disfellowshipping" in the local congregation.
 
Those "seven sins" listed on the first website posted there:
 
"(1) Immorality — adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, incest, rape, sexual impurity, etc.
(2) Greed — The desire to accumulate gain by base methods.
(3) Idolatry — Participation in occult practices.
(4) Drunkenness — Intoxication with alcohol.
(5) Extortion — Robbery, theft, stealing.
(6) Foul tongue — A railer, verbally abusive, reviling, slanderous, insulting, contentious, speech which causes injury or damage.
(7) Heretic — One who causes division by a party spirit, a self-willed opinion, or contentions over false or exotic doctrines."
 
I saw all of those things being practiced in my local congregation. Immorality, greed, idolatry, drunkenness, extortion, foul tongue, and heresy, being practiced by elders or elders wives or former elders. Not one of them was disfellowshipped, even though there was plenty of evidence, and at times the person admitted to the deed. The elders didn't care. The branch didn't care. The flock was hurt because these people were allowed to continue in their midst, but nobody did anything about it.
 
My kids and I are at the point where we are not welcome at the local Kingdom Hall because we told on some of those things that were going on. We were witnesses to the things and it was our obligation to report it and to warn others, since the deeds were still going on in some cases. My kids are baptized teenagers, and my son has been able to take the lead in our once-a-week family worship time for the past couple years. He also says the prayers before meals and before we read the Bible together every day. (We also watch prerecorded meetings twice a week too.)
 
For the year that my husband wasn't home per State order, our family worship was smooth. When my husband came home (which we are glad about) it was difficult for family worship and prayers, because part of the reason the domestic assault incident was precipitated in the first place was his anger that I had reported to the elder body what the COBE was doing, some of those bad things on that list. Anything that had to do with worship or prayer or reading the Bible was an issue for my husband, even though he was baptized and supposedly in good standing with the elders. At that point he hadn't repented about certain serious sins (some of the ones on that list there) and instead of Jehovah's spirit he had a spirit of rage and contention. It was impossible to do any kind of "worship" together with him. So my kids and would hide and do our worship in another part of the house where he wasn't around to get irritated. He would go to the Kingdom Hall and "worship" and we would worship Jehovah at home. We "disfellowshipped" him from our family worship because he kept disrupting it and turning it into an abuse session.
 
We have invited him back at other times since he's calmed down more, but he's not interested. My son says the prayer before dinner prior to when my husband comes in the room. We all eat together, but he doesn't join us for the prayer, or family worship. It's taken awhile to figure out how to get to this point, but it's peaceful for all of us now, as peaceful as possible, and gives evidence of Jehovah's approval. That's how we've done "disfellowshipping".

We didn't need a committee meeting of three elders in a secret back room. We just needed common sense and to pray to Jehovah and meditate on scriptural principles. It wasn't that hard once we figured out to not overcomplicate things.

"John Rambo : [from the Director's Cut]  Go live your life 'cause you've got a good one.
Sarah : It's what I'm trying to do.
John Rambo : No, what you're trying to do is change what is.
Sarah : And what is?
John Rambo : That we're like animals! It's in the blood! It's natural! Peace? That's an accident! It's what is! When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing. When the killing stops in one place, it starts in another, but that's okay... 'cause you're killing for your country. But it ain't your country who asks you, it's a few men up top who want it. Old men start it, young men fight it, nobody wins, everybody in the middle dies... and nobody tells the truth! God's gonna make all that go away?
[pause] 
John Rambo : Don't waste your life, I did. Go home."
 
(quotes from Rambo 2008, imdb.com)
 
I don't know, @Pudgy - I haven't seen these movies since I was a kid (we had TV/movies on 24/7 when I was young, every genre - war/action/horror/spiritism/westerns/sci-fi/classics/musicals - I kind of did a 180 on that when I got to my 20's - now I don't hardly watch anything...) It seems that the John Rambo character was more like the Roman soldiers who didn't know what they were doing. But the GB sounds more like the "few men up top" Rambo was talking about here. "And nobody tells the truth".
 
They (the GB) claim to have special knowledge from God for understanding scripture better than everyone else, but they have grieved the holy spirit by disobeying clear Bible counsel. When we pray for holy spirit and then look at the Bible, we can tell the GB are making stuff up. The holy spirit is like having figurative night vision googles that magnify the light or see in infrared spectrum. John said the anointed ones have the spirit teaching them to understand the scriptures. I'm just some dumb person, but with Jehovah's help I can see clearly that the GB is making up so much stuff (although even atheists can see that) and Jehovah makes clear some other things that the GB has no clue about. If they were really "God's channel" and the holy spirit was helping them then they would know all these things that the holy spirit helps me understand. I'm just a nobody. I'm not some fancy Bible scholar. They should know more than I do if they're really some kind of "channel" thing. (They are not a "channel" - they are actually apostates.)
 
 
 
If Jehovah can make me understand stuff by means of His holy spirit, then He can make anybody understand. I'm low and not important. Jehovah is showing that He doesn't need some fancy governing body to reveal special truths to anybody. He can make a "nobody" understand. Even an "apostate" or somebody "disfellowshipped" or a "lowly woman".
 
As far as "not being to hard on the Governing Body" I don't think it's right when people say mean things about them just to be mean. But Jehovah does tell us to warn people. Jehovah is going to make an accounting with those men very soon. They are not standing in a very good place right now - Jehovah's really, really angry with them - His Word is clear. A lot of other people are going to be angry with them too when they find out all at once they've been lied to.  They'll find out all at once when Jesus pulls back the curtain and exposes their uncleanness, and that about some really important things, "they don't know diddly."
 
 

That would be my advice to you, Audrey.
You cannot stop a locomotive full of passengers determined to ride that train.
That makes them happy.
You make them unhappy.
Those that know, already know.
Besides if you ignore the crazy stuff, it will take you where you, and they, want to go. ( ! )

Thank you, @Srecko Sostar, my brother! Jehovah has a way of turning what others might think of as a "curse" into a blessing for us. 🙂 Someday the others will wake up too (the ones like your mother and two brothers...and the others that shun us). Thank you for your courage and endurance!💖 I have been encouraged by your comments and your example. Thank you!🌈🥰

Jesus ate with them because he loved them first - before they started to love him. Whether or not they turned around, he loved them, because he is like his Father, Our Father Jehovah. That's why Jesus came here, because he loves us just like Jehovah loves us. If we respond to that love, great. If we don't, it doesn't change his love. He loved us first.
 
"When the attendant of the man of the true God rose early and went outside, he saw that an army with horses and war chariots was surrounding the city. At once the attendant said to him: “Alas, my master! What are we to do?”...But he said: “You must not strike them down. Do you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Give them bread and water so they may eat and drink and return to their lord.”  So he spread a great feast for them, and they ate and drank, after which he sent them away to return to their lord."
 
(2 Kings 6:15,22,23)
 
"For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing?  And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing?  You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
 
(Matthew 5:46-48)
 
"We love, because he first loved us."
 
(1 John 4:19)
 
"I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough. In fact, neither are you strong enough now,  for you are still fleshly."
 
(1 Corinthians 3:2,3)
 
"Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive."
 
(James 5:7)
 
You are the precious fruit of the earth. Jehovah is waiting patiently to reward you. He loves you. He is waiting for you.

Thank you for your truly great compassion. Please don't feel like that anymore, because, well, we survived and it's "as if nothing happened". I have three siblings and a mother. Two brothers and mother decided not to contact. The oldest brother makes a phone call from time to time. Wife is JW.
Stay well!

….. sometimes my jokes are just for me …..

For some strange reason, being a heavily armed nearsighted hunchback with a pronounced twitch and a propensity for drooling used to bother my ex-wife.

One day I was sitting at the dining room table, with rifles, pistols, revolvers and other weapons all taken apart and I was cleaning them.
A clean gun is a happy gun.
My ex-wife, who was always afraid of guns, looked over my shoulder and muttered, “What would you do if everybody else in the world didn’t have any guns?”
I turned and looked at her, and said “rule wisely”.
 

Jesus forgave those ACTIVELY torturing him to death … those who had Not repented … because they “do not know what they are doing”.
That is why we should not be too hard on the Governing Body.
Not every soldier is John Rambo, or can be expected to be.

The reason people “twist scripture”, as Fausto pointed out is AWAYS to consolidate power over other people, almost always to get their money.
The easiest way to do this to make people afraid to talk to each other.
The easiest way to do that, is to threaten families as well as the “miscreant”.
 

…… when the receipt calls for powdered sugar ….. don’t substitute olives.

I agree with the general idea of disfellowshipping …. beats being burned at the stake … but the whole of Matthew Chapter 18 tells how to do it.
It’s not Rocket Science.
It’s a cookbook operation with clear, simple, and specific instructions written down in the Bible. 

Very simple, unambiguous, easy to follow instructions. directly from the “Master Chef”.
Are we doing disfellowshipping as SPECIFIED IN DETAIL in Matthew 18?
NO
NOT EVEN CLOSE!
It’s as simple as that.
HOW to handle these things is so important that the founding fathers of the United States of America drew from Matthew 18 to put in the U.S. Constitution as an inalienable human right, protected by law the right someone had to face his accuser, face to face … drawn from Matthew 18:15.
You will know the True Religion of Almighty God, because it is Just, makes good common sense, and does not offend the natural conscience of righteously inclined people.
It’s not Rocket Science.
 

Jesus ate with them because he loved them first - before they started to love him. Whether or not they turned around, he loved them, because he is like his Father, Our Father Jehovah. That's why Jesus came here, because he loves us just like Jehovah loves us. If we respond to that love, great. If we don't, it doesn't change his love. He loved us first.
 
"When the attendant of the man of the true God rose early and went outside, he saw that an army with horses and war chariots was surrounding the city. At once the attendant said to him: “Alas, my master! What are we to do?”...But he said: “You must not strike them down. Do you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Give them bread and water so they may eat and drink and return to their lord.”  So he spread a great feast for them, and they ate and drank, after which he sent them away to return to their lord."
 
(2 Kings 6:15,22,23)
 
"For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing?  And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing?  You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
 
(Matthew 5:46-48)
 
"We love, because he first loved us."
 
(1 John 4:19)
 
"I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough. In fact, neither are you strong enough now,  for you are still fleshly."
 
(1 Corinthians 3:2,3)
 
"Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive."
 
(James 5:7)
 
You are the precious fruit of the earth. Jehovah is waiting patiently to reward you. He loves you. He is waiting for you.

Jesus is the true Spiritual Leader, the true Shepherd of the sheep. Here is what he said:
 
"And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those too I must bring in, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd."
 
(John 10:16)
 
There will be many out of all denominations and even those who are not religious today who will come to Jesus in the future during the tribulation ahead.
 
"What do you think? A man had two children. Going up to the first, he said, ‘Child, go work today in the vineyard.’  In answer this one said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward, he felt regret and went out.  Approaching the second, he said the same. This one replied, ‘I will, Sir,’ but did not go out.  Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said: “The first.” Jesus said to them: “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the Kingdom of God.  For John came to you in a way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even when you saw this, you did not feel regret afterward so as to believe him."
 
(Matthew 21:28-32)
 
There are many who do not consider themselves to be part of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization or who are rejected by the Jehovah's Witnesses organization who are actually following Jesus by means of obeying the command to show love. 
 
There are many who are considered officially part of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization who claim to obey Jesus and yet who disregard the primary command he gave, to love. 
 
Jesus said "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the Kingdom of God." Many of those ones who are despised by the GB and the leaders in the current JW.ORG organization have learned what love is sooner than the GB and the "leaders" did. 
 
"For the Kingdom of the heavens is like the master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  After he had agreed with the workers for a de·narʹi·us a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  Going out also about the third hour, he saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace;  and to those he said, ‘You too go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is fair.’  So off they went. Again he went out about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did likewise. Finally, about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day unemployed?’ They replied, ‘Because nobody has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into the vineyard.’ 
 
“When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his man in charge, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last and ending with the first.’ When the 11th-hour men came, they each received a de·narʹi·us.  So when the first came, they assumed that they would receive more, but they too were paid at the rate of a de·narʹi·us.  On receiving it, they began to complain against the master of the house  and said, ‘These last men put in one hour’s work; still you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’  But he said in reply to one of them, ‘Fellow, I do you no wrong. You agreed with me for a de·narʹi·us, did you not?  Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last one the same as to you.  Do I not have the right to do what I want with my own things? Or is your eye envious because I am good?’  In this way, the last ones will be first, and the first ones last.”"
 
(Matthew 20:1-16)
 
(Better late than never.☺️💖)
 
"...and cure the sick ones in it and tell them: ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you.’"
 
(Luke 10:9)
 
"Love never fails."
 
(1 Corinthians 13:8)
 
 

Jehovah knows who His witnesses are - no counsel of man dictates to Jehovah who "is one of Jehovah's witnesses" and "who is no longer one of Jehovah's witnesses." 
 
"We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
 
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love.   We love, because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And we have this commandment from him, that whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:18-21)
 
I'm not anybody important, @Srecko Sostar, but I am one of Jehovah's witnesses, even if the org mislabels me a leprous mentally-diseased satanic disfellowshipped apostate worthy of everlasting death. I love you, @Srecko Sostar, and I will talk to you if I meet you on the street or the forum. I spent too much of my life following those dumb religious rules that Jesus hates. I don't want to do that anymore. You are right. The Bible is clear how Jesus treated people. I want to follow Jesus and not a bunch of guys who just make stuff up that ends up hurting people and reproaching Jehovah's name.

Lol...well some of the "actions and decisions of people from the past" are recorded in the Bible so that we Don't copy them, so of course those ones wouldn't end well if somebody copied them! That's exactly what we're seeing with the org right now. The ancient nation of Israel wasn't supposed to set up kings over themselves. They had Jehovah. But they rejected Jehovah and wanted kings. It's the same today. The Christian congregation isn't supposed to have kings. But we do. They will be removed, just like the other ones were. Jehovah had them removed. Jehovah hasn't changed.
 
"I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step." (Jeremiah 10:23)

Jesus is the one who will set us free. He said:
"The spirit of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah is upon me,
Because Jehovah anointed me to declare good news to the meek.  
He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And the wide opening of the eyes to the prisoners..."
 
 
Jehovah will gather back all His sheep into a clean congregation.
 
"When Jehovah gathered back the captives of Zion,
We thought we were dreaming.  
At that time our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with a joyful shout.  
At that time they said among the nations:
“Jehovah has done great things for them.”
Jehovah has done great things for us,
And we are overjoyed.  
Do gather back our captives, O Jehovah,
Like streams in the Negʹeb.  
Those sowing seed with tears
Will reap with a joyful shout.  
The one who does go out, though weeping,
Carrying his bag of seed,
Will surely return with a joyful shout,
Carrying in his sheaves."
 
(Psalm 126)
 
I know we can't really apologize for others. I make a lot of mistakes that I have to apologize for. Sometimes we don't realize until later all the harm we have done. 
 
I was a strong supporter of "disfellowshipping" and I hurt a lot of people I love by supporting that doctrine in the past. I cannot undo the pain I caused. I can't go back and fix it - I can only deal in the present and plan for the future - but I know that many people who are practicing this God-dishonoring doctrine today will repent some day and wish they could go back and do it over. They will apologize and say how sorry they are for all the pain they caused and beg for forgiveness and mercy.
 
We can have that confidence. With eyes of faith, it's almost like if we think about it we can already hear them say...
 
"I'm sorry." 🥹🥲
 
I'm sorry, to @Srecko Sostar and @Pudgy and anybody else who has had to suffer rude people and stupid people and cold people because of that dumb disfellowshipping doctrine. I'm sorry you were separated from your family and friends and community in ways that were horrid. I owe you an apology, because I supported that doctrine too, and I would have shunned you just as much as the rest of the org does. I am sorry.
 
You are beautiful human beings made in God's image, Jehovah's children, with so many gifts and strengths. You are my family, and it was wrong of me or anyone else to shun you. You never should have been treated that way, but you already know that - Jehovah has given you the strength you needed to endure and to be refined and to come out stronger and smarter than before. He will keep rewarding you because He loves you.
 
Jehovah's chief enemy thought he could break you, but he didn't. Jehovah allowed the trial because He knew you well enough to know that you would have said "Here I am, send me!" if you knew all the details about the trial ahead of time and the outcome, just like Jesus. Jesus knew the details and the outcome and he went through it anyway. You've had the same privilege in a different way. All of Jehovah's children do. May you continue to rejoice in Jehovah's blessings. I love you because Jehovah loves you. He loves you so very much.💖 It's obvious.🥰
 
"Happy are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Happy are you whenever men hate you, and when they exclude you and reproach you and denounce your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for look! your reward is great in heaven, for those are the same things their forefathers used to do to the prophets."
 
(Luke 6:21-23)
 
"Beloved ones, do not be surprised about the fiery trials that you are experiencing, as though something strange were happening to you.  On the contrary, go on rejoicing over the extent to which you are sharers in the sufferings of the Christ, so that you may rejoice and be overjoyed also during the revelation of his glory.  If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy, because the spirit of glory, yes, the spirit of God, is resting upon you."
 
(1 Peter 4:12-14)
 
Joseph was in the prison hole for a long time. His circumstances changed eventually. Job suffered more than most. Job's circumstances changed in time. Your circumstances are about to change too. Praise Jehovah.☺️🌷
 
"Look! We consider happy those who have endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very tender in affection and merciful."
 
(James 5:11)

Jehovah knows who His witnesses are - no counsel of man dictates to Jehovah who "is one of Jehovah's witnesses" and "who is no longer one of Jehovah's witnesses." 
 
"We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
 
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love.   We love, because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And we have this commandment from him, that whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:18-21)
 
I'm not anybody important, @Srecko Sostar, but I am one of Jehovah's witnesses, even if the org mislabels me a leprous mentally-diseased satanic disfellowshipped apostate worthy of everlasting death. I love you, @Srecko Sostar, and I will talk to you if I meet you on the street or the forum. I spent too much of my life following those dumb religious rules that Jesus hates. I don't want to do that anymore. You are right. The Bible is clear how Jesus treated people. I want to follow Jesus and not a bunch of guys who just make stuff up that ends up hurting people and reproaching Jehovah's name.

Lol...well some of the "actions and decisions of people from the past" are recorded in the Bible so that we Don't copy them, so of course those ones wouldn't end well if somebody copied them! That's exactly what we're seeing with the org right now. The ancient nation of Israel wasn't supposed to set up kings over themselves. They had Jehovah. But they rejected Jehovah and wanted kings. It's the same today. The Christian congregation isn't supposed to have kings. But we do. They will be removed, just like the other ones were. Jehovah had them removed. Jehovah hasn't changed.
 
"I well know, O Jehovah, that man’s way does not belong to him. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step." (Jeremiah 10:23)