Thanks!

[Dot Matrix]

I am speaking to all kinds of different individuals here so what does not apply -- then pls disregard.

Hugs and kisses to many

Dear GS family:

I love and miss so many of you!

I wanted to thank those of you who spoke up for me and let you know it does mean something to me. I love you. For those with whom I used to have a wonderful time swapping posts – I miss you and I love you. For those of you who did nothing or held your tongue, I love you still. For those of you purposely trying to hurt me – I am human and working on loving you because frankly, I don’t like you very much, but I serve a God who loves you.

The Way International hurt us with its covert devilish doctrines discussed in inner circles and applied in (some) training. But God loved us. He never for one moment forgot you, left you or forsook you. God had your heart in his hands and I am sure all of you KNEW when to leave and talked yourselves out of going for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you were caught in the circular thinking of how could the class be so good and Leadership so bad if they taught the class which was good etc. Or by the time you knew something was not right, your whole life, friends, livelihood, etc., was so woven into the fabric of The Way you just did not know how to leave.

Some of you limped out of that little shop of horrors because of what people did to you. Many have given up on God for how could he be “love” and allow us to get involved with The Way?

We can wonder ourselves to death. And these questions can lead you on a path where you just do not want to try anymore. Or we can hold onto things we know to be true in our hearts and ask God to help rebuild what the devil tore out of our lives.

We can start with love. God loves you.

We can build with communication to God and ask him to show us his love to release your hearts from the pain we received while trying to serve him. I know these are painful steps and some are afraid to trust God, after all, it was because you loved him you wound up in places like Emporia having your hearts ripped from you by a vein popping leader who exuded nastiness… Or on the WOW field when you tried your heart out to get a class together and your religious leader demanded you do better all the while underminding your loving efforts… It all hurts.

But if we call upon him again, from the core of our being, past all questions he will hear and answer.

This site was set up so we could come here and share our experiences in The Way & swap our portion of the truth behind the curtain of lock boxes and perverse leaders. And it has been a place of healing. Sometimes that healing involved some tempers and arguments where we were all concerned.

But in its own remote way it offered a corner of the world to talk about what happened. Since we have seen the arrival of people from other cults there has been an upheaval. If this were my board I would have stopped it then and there but that was not my decision to make. And because the powers that be (Whom I respect and he has his own reasons) allowed the personality/complexion of this site to change, I left because I did not want to engage in fellowship where Christ was openly bashed (even if only in a title)by people who did not even have any Way affiliation to be here.

That is my choice and my decision.

However, this decision I made here, with you all has been dragged to another site where I have been dissected and mocked. All the while the person (s) responsible for that was sending a message to me via other people who participate here of how sorry he was for posting something that offended me. This all sounded good to those who heard it but when the real “heart” of this individual was exposed on the XJW site many of you were shocked at the display of my words and the berating that followed, as was I.

Some of you don’t care and joined in. Oh well, that is your choice. All of these things are choices that we make.

To those this is applicable to, I cannot make you care about me, I cannot make you hate me, I cannot fix your hearts. But I do know that if you surround yourselves with such callousness, and begin to rage in anger it just leads to more rage and meanness and hurt feelings. Yes, by those you rage at, but also yourselves. It will change who you are if you let people lead you to a place without the “hope” of Christ and where it is okay to be as nasty as you want to be. Is that who you wish to become? A nasty God rejecter who hurts people randomly without a second thought? And even the God rejecters don’t wish to be mean and nasty – who wants that in their eulogy?

Some of you have taken words of mine and used them against me by twisting them and taking them from their context. Somehow this validated your hatred and or anger of me. If that is how you find joy and satisfaction in life then I am glad I could assist you.

But I write this now as I was told my handle of Dot Matrix was registered on the XJW site and I have not done so. And I am being told that again I am under attack. How cool, as I have not have this much coverage since I took on the doctrines of the inner circle with VPW and a few of his hechmen/women. This causes my current friends much pain for me and anger. It is so nice to feel some kindness when it seems everyone wants your head on a platter.

So, I have thought about this long and hard. What makes bad things stop? What makes evil go away? Is it fighting and if so what kind of fighting secures a win in the battle?

Curiously, my sister called and said the devil never stops fighting not ever – never. You cannot fight “evil” from a human stance it has to be giving the battle to God. Committing yourselves unto the Lord and the devil will flee. And she was probably pounding back a few beers while we were talking just in case you think I come from a “religious background” as some define me as "crazy and religious".

On one site I am on, a man, who also posts here, who claims to be “searching”... I thought he might really be “searching” so I shared salvation with him. After all HE came to a Christian site, I did not go knocking on his door. I asked where do the people go who do not believe in Jesus as a thread title -- seeking a Biblical answer. He responded that we created our own heaven and hell...when we treat people well we are in heaven...etc. I asked where he got that from as a Christian? He said he didn't know if he was one nor did he really believe the Bible. So, I witnessed to him.

And he was then reminded that site was Christian and to let us have our small corner of the world to talk about the Christian things. (gist) But was WELL aware of the rules of the site when he showed up, now I see him complaining in a thread here. He was not set up. He was on a Christian site promoting non-Christian views and was asked to let us have our space. That was neither cruel nor a set up. He then removed his own posts. By the way, he is acting all innocent here but he was challanging my beliefs and I responded in kind.

This caused him to view me as crazy and religious. I was told he posted that very statement on some site perhaps the JW site. Oh well... What a compliment to be viewed as such by you. Thank you so much! I loved that! On the day of Pentecost I hear of a few guys with cloven tongues like unto fire -- and people thought they were drunk. So, I feel pretty elated that one such as yourself is insulting me. How cool, maybe I am finally doing something for God!

And to the “one” who took my letter to a site I was unaware of, I have been tracked down and asked about healing – so thank you for helping me spread the power of God to other areas. Although originally I sat in anger and shock – and I still think what you did and the heart behind it was wrong – what you meant for evil God meant (turned it into) for good. (Gen. 50:20)

So this brings us back to the battle. I am a Christian therefore I seek a Biblical answer. For some of the non-Christians what I have to share will either be ignored – your choice-- or ridiculed – again your choice, or with my agnostic friends tolerated because they love me...

To those of you I have had an exchange with over the past years – I love you – even if you do not agree with me.

My husband thinks we should all just pick an uplifting favorite verse and share it with each other and that might not be such a bad idea!

Here is what I want to share with you. This way it cannot be brougth here in pieces and turned in such a way that makes me look differently than I actually look.

With all this fighting I wanted to see how to fight & how to win.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7 KJV)

It says submit yourselves to God. What does that mean? Be a door mat for Jesus? Or be a fighter bringing out the sword of the spirit?

Our strength must come from the Lord. When we try to do things in our own strength or our own ability, we will often fail. The reason for this is we do not have as much strength or ability as we think we have. When we go in God’s strength, he is there to compensate for our own weaknesses and to help us through unseen dangers and snares.

Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

"There is a battle to be fought. One of the things that is commonly misunderstood today is that the child of God is in a battle, and the battle is being fought along spiritual lines."

Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, vol. 5, pg. 277 © 1983, Thomas Nelson Publishers

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:

22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.

23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

:)-->

So, one thing is for sure God gave us a cute outfit in which we can go to battle (wink) 'cause after living in California, I have learned that clothes are very important. :)--> But seriously he does not leave us naked and alone to face an attack.

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Not all trouble is because we sinned. One reason for trials and temptations is to work patience in us. Patience's work in us makes us perfect and wanting nothing. Since we will never be completely perfect in the body of this death, so we are never done with temptations and trials in this life. It is not a sign of failure nor is it always chastening because we sinned. It is designed to perfect us.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. The crown of life come to those who endure temptation and love the Lord. If we love the Lord we will strive to endure temptation. 1 Cor. 10:13, 1 Peter 1:7. When we endure it glorifies God. Rev. 2:10 also mentions the crown of life in this context. (For other crowns see: 1 Thess. 2:19, 2 Tim. 4:8, 1 Cor. 9:25, 1 Peter 5:4.)

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: God cannot be tempted with evil, but God can be tempted. He can be tempted to do righteousness, to execute the fierceness of His wrath upon sin and wickedness, to chastise those that do not fear Him or walk in His ways. Matt. 4:7, Acts 15: 10, Heb. 3:8-9, Exo. 17:7, Ps. 78, 1 Cor. 10:9 God cannot be tempted with evil to sin, Heb. 4:15.

:)-->

Here we can count it all joy and maybe even get a crown! Again with the clothes – who could not enjoy this God who is so into fashion! In heaven, move over Diana, that little crown might be for one of us!

Gen 50:15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him."

50:16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying,

50:17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." ' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

50:18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."

50:19 Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?

50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

50:21 "Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

:)-->

So, let me see even if you seek to do me harm God can turn it into a really cool thing. Yeah God! And of course people will call you "crazy" when you speak up for God. In an effort to discredit you or have any "who maybe seeking" turn away. So, hey maybe someone throws something in your path which, in turn, God uses to catapult you to something better and to reaching more people. (Remember the crucifixion? Why now the devil has to deal with “Christ” in so many people – big raspberry to the devil and a hundred yipees to God)

Matthew 10:32:,33--Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

:)-->

And Gee we do not need to make concessions to “fit” in. If you believe in Jesus as the Christ go ahead and say it. And if someone’s rejection bothers you – he may have the right to reject – but you have the right to publicly disagree with that rejection. If you want to do so!

To whom it applies, if you think going and being nasty on a site which allows and almost encourages it, will not change who you are, think again.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Don't be deceived! Evil companionships corrupt good morals.

And to those of you here with the express purpose of hurting people or leading people away from God:

Mathew 18: 4-7

Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

Lastly I wanted to share some of what this guy wrote:

We Are Called To Oppose The Devil

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, and we Christians are called to assist in this destruction.

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil

sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of

God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of

The devil." (1 John 3:8 KJV)

The devil is our adversary, intent on our destruction.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,

as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may

devour:" (1 Peter 5:8 KJV)

We are called to resist the devil.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and

he will flee from you." (James 4:7 KJV)

We are not called to attack the devil personally, or to injure him or to kill him.

Jesus never attacked the devil personally. Neither

did any of His disciples. Nowhere in Scripture are we called to do so, either. Rebuke, yes; attack, no.

Similarly, we should avoid direct insults ("railing accusations") of the devil, following the example of the Archangel Michael.

"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil

he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring

against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord

rebuke thee." (Jude 1:9 KJV)

* * *

"Well," you might say. "If the devil (Satan) is our enemy, why shouldn't we attack him and insult him whenever we get the chance?"

We should resist the devil, yes; destroy his works, yes; oppose him on all fronts, yes. This our job as Christians, and all the spiritual principalities understand this and respect it. But we should not engage in personal attacks against him or "railing accusations" (insults). To do so is to overstep our authority and to invite Satanic retaliation, from which the Lord in His wisdom might not always protect us.

We cannot fight the devil we can only resist him and the way to do that is to submit to God.

We do not fight the devil – we just grow closer to God and let the Lord rebuke them. The Lord rebuke you for he hath said, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Judgment

The title is taken from Matthew 7:2. The previous verse flatly states: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Yet we find other scriptural commands to make judgments:

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:2)

“...Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?” (1Cor 6:5.)

“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1Cor 15:29).

“...You have tested [tried] those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars” (Rev 2:2).

Are the scriptures in conflict on the issue of judgment? No! There are times when we are to judge, and times when we are to withhold judgment. There are two apparent cases when His saints are called upon to make judgments: 1) when they are asked to judge an issue by another and 2) to determine if others are teaching truth. This last category of judgment is usually a personal issue; we are to decide for ourselves who is teaching truth...

Carry on. I hope the healing nature of this site returns. But you may have to clean up the neighborhood (wink). I love you, but better than that -- God loves you!

edited for typos

Edited July 31, 2004 by Dot Matrix

[rascal]

(((Dot))) Thankyou, I hope that you are not horribly dissapointed in some of us.

You are much loved, and your point of view is sorely missed ....I hope that you can forgive those of us that let you down....I hope that you will continus to share your compassionate point of view here at grease spot.

I feel just like I did in twi....when all of the *good* folks were getting bullied out....when done...it simply left the bullies in the majority.....free to hurt people unencumbered.

I am dissapointed in the conduct of the posters over at jw sight...It makes me ashamed that I spoke up for their right to be here.

[alfakat]

Dot -- glad to read your post. I was on a self-imposed hiatus when this all came down and am sorry I was not here to speak up for you.

I am not particularly surprised at what happened with the other ex-cult folks; in fact, I could have predicted the trouble. For all the surface "commonalities", they were involved in a very different experience. I know ex-jws and theirs was a much longer intrenched doctrine of bondage. No surprise they are much more full of venom...

Say hi to sis, I owe her an email.

love to you and yours, alfakat

[Dot Matrix]

I have nothing but love for you rascal. I understand why you fought for their right to be here, I cannot explain it here or I will be attacked on that as well, but I KNEW there was more to the smiling package. I met a very similar package who was corps and well... I just knew.

Alfacat

I am so glad to see you as I am absolutely wild about you! If you need me you have my e-mail. Sis says hello!

Kiss & hug

Edited July 31, 2004 by Dot Matrix

[CoolWaters]

I was just getting to know you in a most awesome way.

Dang.

[dmiller]

:)--> :)--> :)-->

Hiya Dot!

Good to see you here again, even if you may not be staying. You are one of the more stellar ones here.

Great post. You should have called it:

Clear your calendar, grab some coffee, you're gonna be here for a while! :D-->

I hit the xjw site now and again, and am getting an eye-opener about the true feelings of some of those who used to, and still do post here. Not real pretty, but as you say, if that's the way they feel - change may not be forthcoming.

By the way -- THANK YOU AGAIN for the link to www.christianforums.com An awesome site! :)--> Am having as much fun there, as I am here. Lotsa good bluegrass talk over there!

You take care. :)-->

[Abigail]

((((Dot))))

I am truly sorry for what is going on at the other site. When I saw what was being said about you over there, as well as about others from here at the cafe it literally made me nauseaus. It makes me wonder about the state of humanity when people are so vicious and cruel to someone and worse yet, take pleasure in it. It is exactly that kind of cruelty that made me want to hide out in the "safety" of a little cult. Not that it was really safe, but you know what I mean.

You take care of yourself and I hope, when things quiet down, you will pop in and let us know how you are doing.

[def59]

Hi Dot

Great post. Loved every bit of it and you too.

have a great day and stay hot for Christ! :)-->

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Dot,

Though I saw some of the fireworks in this site, I didn't read any posts that attacked you personally, until someone copied one of the posts at the XJW site. I have no particular interest in that site, so I don't know how much nonsense went on. What I DO know is, don't give up! Take a look at Stephen's example in Acts 7. He faced a crowd of God-rejecters and didn't budge. I hope to see more of your posts HERE soon.

George

[Zixar]

Dot: It took guts to do what you did. 'Twas downright inspiring... ;)-->

God bless!

Zix