Ham

The guy who claimed to have the mastery over the "contradictions" gave people problems worse than the contradictions themselves. "faith" may be wonderful.. but let's see the "works". Oh, speaking of contradictions, have you ever seen this? http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/ they say he wasn't exactly "right" after trying to deal with this little hole in reality..

hmm. That is assuming a lot.. 1. That we are mortal.. 3. I think it is far easier for some to willfully ignore what God himself at least attributes to himself as "doing later". I won't share "2."

I don't know if I can agree with the vey commentary on that verse anymore. It's an "escape clause" from supposed damnnation. If one chooses to us the vicster's explanation of life, eternal life, and everything: 1. the vicster spoke in tongues * . 2. it's proof that he had the "spirit". + 3. the "spirit" is SEED, and incorruptible. & If you accept what HE said as truth.. then on the inside, he was clean as the fresh snow.. * this is questionable, at best. Anybody can mutter some pretty weird sounding stuff. Maybe even make it sound like Swahili or something. + I consider it highly unlikely, on account of comments on *. & I just plain don't agree. Too many other places suggest that God reserves the right to "yank it out". :)

I don't know about parsing, but I do see a usage of antanaclasis. Since it is in the same sentence, I don't think it's an anadiplosis.. but what do I know..

There's a manuscript somewhere, if I could just find it.. you stinking research people better get on the ball.. it's there somewhere. "when thou art smitest by der man-o-gawd, think nothing of it. It is thy common lot. For thou are smitest by the king of kings, the lord of.." you have to see it in the original.

Interesting how twi "soothed" harsh pasages, like threats of eternal fire, hanging millstones about heads of perpetrators, loss of inheritance, warnings against adultery, etc. etc. and "harshed" smooth passages, like the lord's return, when people would have to endure interrogation from the lord himself for not standing with der man-o-gawd..

Now they are using it for firewood. Just bleed off enough to warm themselves with a few big salaries, big trips.. should last a decade or so shouldn't it? I wouldn't bet on it..

The whole friggin tree was laced with poison.. maybe not overnight, but it did die from the roots up.. well, maybe as far as longevity of a church, or similar organization is concerned, one might say it died overnight.

and loy, and *almost* every other bot/bod member.. a half a dozen branch coordinators I knew.. several limb leaders and later coordinators.. and more than a handful of "garden variety" "believers"..

Can you imagine "twig" circa 1998 or so.. "your abs seems to be off mark this week.." "oh, I bought some poor guy a coupla meals.." Next line, fill in the blank..

I think James answered that little question too. Why spoil a ministry of "faith" with a few good works.. in fact.. I remember loy discouraging good works.. designated them "second-rate causes".. hmm.

I dunno.. I don't want a way funeral. Please no..

Neither of my kids are involved with twi.. or an offshoot. Maybe that's all I ought to say..

And a new organization that can't answer a few polite, but pointed questions.. "see, this is what happened with the same kind of system and rules. what are you doing to keep it from happening again?" "happened twenty years ago. Doesn't mean anything now.." or "we're just trying to move the word.. what are YOU doing?", or "fighting *them* to keep *them* from doing their thing isn't really a godly, noble cause, you should be doing what gawd wants you to do, in da BIBLE.." kind of answers makes every hair on my body stand on end.. at least there are fewer on top to succumb to this, in recent years..

I just think when the hucksters use the bible to silence their victims, there's a whole other level of betrayal of a human being. And they've trained others to do the same. "speak the same thing.." "only magnify the word.. gawd forbid we magnify da debil with gossip or negatives.." "you HAVE to forgive.." "this little matter is not important. It's da WORD that's at stake.." "wouldn't it just be EASIER to forgive.." It would have been a heck of a lot easier if these gods in their own estimation kept their hands to themselves.. and didn't play with people's lives.

Hey, I knew that friend.. I wasn't asking you.. :)

I think a pretty close comparison can be made. A short exerpt of Michael Reagan's article: http://caglecartoons.com/column.asp?column...D632A462AC14%7D I've heard when they prey on multiple victims, they set the rules of how one is to be treated by the community when he or she betrays the "secret".. da vey's tactics, when things went "wrong"? Threaten them with the prospect that if they reveal the act, that they'll ruin the bible, the ministry, and gawd's gonna be really, really dissapointed. Or if that doesn't work, run them off grounds, mark them as possessed.. or worse. Some were not able to speak of it for decades.. the few who come forward seem to have their motives questioned.. demand of details and evidence to back up the claims.. raw dismissal because some can't remember whether the room it happened had red drapes, or green.. pretty apparent to me that we had a community with a conditioned response. Somebody who'd make such a "wild" claim would just HAVE to be possessed.. we were "owned".. do "they" still own YOU? I think that this isn't really off topic. I think that's part of the pattern of abuse. The community or some in it demanding forgiveness for the abuser.. "aw, he didn't mean it.. it wasn't his fault.. he's just distracted..after all, he feeds us.. buys us candy.. lay off him and just forgive.."

And that is precisely why many were abused, run over, and run off. No personal will.. is it? or is their will what they THINK scripture declares? when something is devilish and harmful, I think the scriptures demand us to SCREAM.. even if it's "after the fact". I was talking with one of my kids about something like this last night. There's a *certain* situation where "they" would merely counter, "well, we don't talk about that kinda stuff.. we just want to magnify the WORD.." she says it's the language of abuse. Their will is broken, as I think you have described.. "no personal will when it comes to the word(?).." they've been TRAINED to not talk about the abuse. that's what abusers DO.. lockbox stuff comes right out of molestation 101. It's a SECRET.

true, but sometimes I think being able to properly pronounce "pneuma" or other such words only applied a veneer of legitimacy on some of the madness.

sadly, the "contest" looks like a group of men wielding clubs.. with bystanders taking bets on who is going to be the last one left standing.. it USED to be, he who knew more greek words and memorized enough of old "doc"'s stuff had the bigger club.

I dunno. I don't think we were ever really dead at any one given time..

"I've become my own grampa.." luckily for me, they didn't live much beyond fifty..

why is it.. some become the "preacher of righteousness" that they despise.. or at least despised at one time in their life..

He's on a mission..

were you? I wasn't. Someone USING the bible taught me how to IGNORE those emotions, how to disregard them, can them up, or "rein them in". How to suck it in, and take one more punch for "the lord".. Put off? No. "Grieve with them that grieve, mourn with them that mourn" must be innappropriate. Just put em off.. Israel MOURNED for what was it.. sixty days for the death of Moses.. mustve been some pretty rotten "believers".. only the priest could not mourn, for father, for mother..