JustThinking

VPW was Magneto My vote is for Magneto. Coincidental similarities? True for each (from the X-men movies): 1. Good guy turned by weird childhood experiences (Local german minister bans dance hall vs. parents taken by Nazis) 2. Draws objects of his desire to him with strange powers 3. Wore weird hat at times 4. Wore even weirder clothing 4. Hangs out with VERY strange characters 5. Opposed by many others, some of whom are a bit odd themselves 6. Had his own aircraft 7. Had his own vision for the world 8. Weakness came in the form of a woman Could I make it any simpler?! ;-)

Rascal, Thank you. Glad to know I'm not completely senile. :)-->

Rottie, That was taught in the video class because I asked my FC's wife about it during PFAL. She was a nurse and coordinated the class with her husband. She told me that she was taught in nursing school that the blood was produced by the genetic material from the sperm and that the introduction of the mother's blood could prove fatal to the fetus. Now I'm going WAY back to when my kids were born: What is it called when the mother's blood affects the fetus. If I remember correctly, there is a medical for that. (Can you tell it's been a while?) Anyone able to help a feeble mind remember?

I MUST HAVE BEEN ON MARS I didn't go to the last two when I was eligible and no one seemed to give it any thought. I must have been in a different state than everyone else here. It's been encouraged but that's about it. Once I said yes or no, it never came up again. It was never a big deal either way. However, I do remember people in the 80s though who treated every ministry event like it was a life-or-death moment. If you had those types for leadership, I feel VERY bad for you. They always seemed to be people who didn't have a life before TWI. JT

From PFAL Page 237: ------------------- Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh in in the blood... The soul life is in the blood and is passed on when the sperm impregnates the egg at the time of fertilization. --------------------- RG, is that what you remembered?

DWB, Amen. I believe there is. Can you think back to those who you feel helped you? If you had good habits before, you got them somewhere. Who gave them to you? Are you a parent? If so, you are in probably one of, if not the, best places to do good for someone right down the hall. If not, you probably have family or neighbors. Not to be simplistic but others most likely appreciate the same general things you do. If your focus is on doing the right thing, you probably are already doing a decent job of it right now. I know that kind words from Ex, for example, make my day better. And I get to help my kids become better people every day by loving and teaching them. Life is so great when one lives this way. (IMO)

Sadie, It sounds like, based on a lower cost area like Nashville, the rates are right in line with the prices Insurgent posted. Chicago is fairly expensive for meetings. I can't speak for Dallas as I haven't booked there before. In general, the costs that always kill me are the meeting room rates. They nickle and dime you to death. And if you need a large ballroom, they really get you for items such as coffee service, etc. You have to use their staff so...

Ex10, The ACS was never mandatory in my experience. Can't speak for Def's group. JT

Def, How long are you there and what type of facility do they use? Also, what is the typical group size? JT

Quote: ------------------ If they was loving you would stay free and the food would be free but watch out because they may charge you rent for the chair at the teaching ------------------- I would like the name of any religious group which pays for the cost of its members to stay in a large, downtown hotel, books ballrooms for meetings and feeds them. Like TWI or not, these places are expensive. The cost for use of facilities like this (I book them for my company) is very high. Roy, if you or anyone else is offering to be "loving" and pay for my next meeting, let me know. I can save 10s of thousands of dollars. Heck, if you want to pay my freight, I'll teach on any topic you like. ;-) Also, with venues like this, it is common for organizer costs to be borne by the hotel as part of the package. For large group meetings of this size, the hotel usually provides suites at little to no cost to attract the business.

Ex, I don't remember ever reading in the Bible that God promised he would stop war and sickness in this life. Not a disagreement with you. It's more that when I see some like Mike talking to OTHERS about the power of God in their life, without actually knowing their life in detail, it seems iffy. TWI often presented a false image of success. For those who tell me that the ONLY 3 possibilities in life are 1. Follow VPW, 2. Follow someone I don't know or 3. Give up, I become curious about their own life. How much "power" is there in their life? Not being jaded, just asking people to show me the proof.

Maybe I lived in better areas too. I can't recall ever being told to control my wife. I've taken CF&S and LCM's class and don't remember it being in either. If someone still has a syllabus or notes, perhaps they could check? The way being the head was explained to me was being in the position of FINAL decision maker. Not the only one involved while sitting on my most holy throne. The examples given left me with the clear understanding that my wife was to be involved as much as possible and I should defer to her in areas where she had more expertise. Overall, still in charge, but in a way that made my wife know she had a say and comfortable trusting me. The idea of being FINAL decision maker was put to me as someone needing to take responsibility for the decisions. In other words, even if it was my wife's idea, if I went along then I shouldn't try to blame her later. Seemed pretty reasonable to me. That was what I heard in the 80s and 90s. Now controlling the kids, I did see... But that's for another thread.

I once asked the question of a very early corps (2,3 or 4, can't remember) grad. The response was that they were given the option of ordination upon graduation. My experience later in the 90s was that you couldn't be anything other than a TC/FC without being corps. It was after LCM made the change one night to turn the corps into only leaders of 10s not 10. If you didn't want to be a BC or above, you were dropped immediately. Have a nice day! Oh, you were also ridiculed on Sunday teaching tapes occasionally. Later he adopted the term corps alumni but it came across as if his mom made him be nice.

Mark, Maybe his plan was to rebuke the bullet(s) to impress the guy? ;-) JT

Dawayback, It just occurred to me that you may not want to think of this purely in the past tense. For example, I wouldn't have gotten to "meet" people like Ex if it weren't for TWI. Twisted logic perhaps but I'm thankful nonetheless.

I'm not aware of any misbehavin' that did NOT involve WC. Not that they're the only ones but just my experience.

Johnny, Thanks. Forgot to add the key point that I'm a guy.

CW, If you're still here... I was "hit on" by a guy at my first Limb meeting. Being a naive kid from farm country, it went right over my head at first. He was an assistant BC and seemed to be so "spiritual." Like a lot of VPW imitators, he went around spouting "deep thoughts." I was very impressed by this very charismatic person. I gave him a ride home and he tried again and I finally got a clue. After informing him that he should first make sure he had good medical insurance before continuing, he got out and walked. I tried to tell my TC but he said I must have been mistaken. I "probably just wasn't used to such loving people." What BS. When pushed, the guy tried to turn it around and say I hit on him! Yuck! It wasn't long after that incident that he just disappeared. I found out later that my TC and this guy were good "buddies" and both had a history of such behavior. Nice to know that others knew and did nothing! (Yes, that's sarcasm) Not that there was any physical trauma but it was very disturbing. How could people like that be at a church function?! (Told you, I was a naive farm kid)

Dawayback, I have wrestled with the same question for the same reason. My thoughts for MY life are that my own experiences were mostly real. Like anything in life, others may have ulterior motives but you may or not find out about them. Great experiences happen all the time despite bad people being around. If others were phony or had ill intentions, so what? Now if they harm you or someone you care about, that's another matter. JT

Techno, insurgent said they had everything and no longer needed a research department. When did TWI make such a claim?

A really bad one: Q. Who was the first carpenter in the Bible? A. Eve. She made Adam's banana stand.

Q. Who was the shortest man in the Bible? A. It was Nehi. Now it's Bildad the Shuhite!

Vickles, If you're willing to say, were you able to work it out? Hope so. It speaks well of you that you would take the first step. Others might just ignore it or somehow put the blame on him.

Serious question: Does anyone know if there really is still a research department at TWI? Even if it's just a title? Otherwise, LOVED the picture! :-) Power for Alien Living? ;-)

Well...since nature abhores a wildness vacuum... ;-) I once witnessed to a gentleman while exercising at an athletic park with my TC. Turns out he was a local minister. He was so impressed that two "very young" people knew so much about the Bible that he invited us to teach at his church on Sunday. What a blast we had! Lots of fun and they were great people. Not sure that qualifies but it was one of my "wildest", if you can call it that, moments. Who da' thunk?