Ham

Coincidence of a lifetime.. my sweetie just came back from the video store.. take a guess what movie she chose for me..

Hmm.. yep. I'm starting to think about carrying my towel.. I've thought about sticking out my thumb lately.. a couple of times I've found myself saying, "hey you bunch of yahoos.. I hope you don't plan to just leave me here.." I think we need the Strange one to make a few comments on this thread..

So.... where is gear this evening? hmmmmmmm. Could be.. maybe, maybe, just maybe.... maybe he's pulling up in a broken down jalopy at a farm somewhere in Georgia, stepping out, and sizing up the lay of the land.. you'll have to read the book to get this one..

Ex 10, technically, I think the word is "slithered", not "snaked". But I'm not exactly a stickler for "accuracy" or anything..

Not complaining or anything, but a tear came to my eye, not seeing the ad for urine removal at the top of the page.. where'd they go?

Lest I offend our favorite Mr. Word Wolf.. maybe I should modify it.. they aren't wolves.. they are more like werewolves..

Not to mention, drink a gallon of good beer, or so.. as quickly as one can, too. Like the pub scene in Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy..

Yeah.. I was just thinking. I'm not laying blame to the leader of that church, primarily because I'm not acquainted with the whole story. But what is the real purpose of a pastor? At least a REAL one? For one, I'd expect him to watch my back.. not give in to every religious scam this side of the Mississippi.. off chasing prophecies, other kinds of nonsense. Somebody has to figuratively club the wolves.

Yeah.. the sad thing, is how someone can so blatantly violate basic principles and deceny in life, and actually get people to debate how far over the line person went, in christian terms.. for decades. I think evil is, evil does. at fifty years old.. I wouldn't even dream of drugging or taking advantage of anybody. Caldwell wrote that little play about one of these hucksters in the depression days.. he is so descriptive, it has to be based on a true story or two.. the economy isn't SO bad right now.. now they don't travel around, they start a little home church, then some kind of outreach complex.. and people have enough money and resources to come to THEM. Not the other way around.. I think if the economy really sours, we'll see the hucksters roaming the land for sustenance, like in the days of Judges, once again.. God have mercy on America..

It would be a first for me.. I wasn't looking for the doctrinal intricacies, but if people want to discuss them, that's OK with me. my first thought about this though, was.. suppose a person really DOES have the inside skinny on a disaster of "biblical proportions"? Where to go? Besides going to live on the moon, or drilling a dwelling several miles below earth's surface.. there aren't exactly very many options.. It's just not very logical. Now if an organization can SELL mitigation for such an event.. maybe we're on to something.. "Because of our GREAT believing and faithfulness, the earth failed to fall off of it's axis, today.." :)

"journeyman" by Erskine Caldwell.. Go to Amazon, anywhere.. buy it today.. your cult recovery may depend upon it Not quite as "dry" as "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse".. Not quite as "subtle" either.

Honestly.. I would rate the book up there above "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.."

I wonder how many here have read "journeyman" by Erskine Caldwell.. I think the "right reverand" Semon Dye is probably a fairly close comparison to these hucksters.. Here is the review on Amazon, "from the publisher (University of Georgia Press) http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...18485&itm=3 A VERY good friend gave me this book in the late 80's.. I think it planted a few seeds for my "cult recovery". I remember a lot in this book.. the second main character in the story, at the end of the book.. after the "good" preacher helped himself to his wife, his money, his car.. the best I can remember.. a tear in his eye.. "Well, at least he wasn't boring"..

Soooo.. where's gear this morning. Maybe.. maybe.. hmmm. just maybe, he's being run out of town on a rail by an angry mob in Hackensack, New Jersey..

I dunno.. don't me get wrong here.. I'm not being mean or anything.. but sincerely, I can hold on to the illusion if it keeps me out of the looney bin.. I do find myself returning to some of the old beliefs, simply because sometimes there is no better explanation. What if you woke up one morning, and found that everything you believd in, and invested in was wrong.. I'm not trying to load any "new age" thoughts on you either.. :)

I don't think you can change a man's basic nature by throwing holy water on it.. I know another "minister" here.. very destructive, very abusive, chases women.. I don't know about drugs or alcohol, but that's a possibility.. I would give him a "loy" rating, in intensity and rudeness. and you could hardly tell the difference between one of his sermons, and vics, when vic was at his "best".. he teaches about "the POWER of the name of Jesus".. "the AUTHORITY we have in his NAME.." "the VICTORY in his RESURRECTION.." leans a hundred times as hard on the congregation to give financially.. but the people.. "but he TEACHES.. such AUTHORITY, WOWWWWWW.." they are literally "spellbound".. Is this guy just a wittle itty bitty lamb gone "wrong"? Evil seems to wear Jesus' cloak rather well.

even for over forty years.. they get more adept, year after year..

Faithfulness is in the details, in action, not word.. A lot of this reminds me of an old "friend".. "GRRRRRR, don't you DARE touch MY righteousness.." not that I'm perfect either, but all I had were a few questions along the practical side of life.. I think righteousness, which should be a given for a "minister" who just MIGHT have a few problems.. isn't a cloak that can be put on, and put off.. time to teach: cloak on.. time for drambuie, young girls.. cloak off.. I think righteousness is not a cloak to be worn.. if it is real, if it makes a difference, it's a cloak which wears the individual. A false minister can be pretty good at changing wardrobe..

soooo.. where's Gear.. Maybe now, just maybe.. he's busy witnessing door to door and in malls in Hackensack, New Jersey, trying to put together a new class..

hmm. Well.. maybe if the "baby" is forty eight years old, weighs 257 pounds.. maybe it doesn't NEED the bathwater. Doesn't need tossed out necessarily, but it would be nice if it got a job and it's own residence..

I dunno.. people like vic make me question the efficacy, if not the validity of the new birth and redemption. I mean.. is redemption such a SMALL thing.. and the new birth SO ineffective, that a *man* can simply carry on worse than before, but now! He can preach the bible.. At best I think they are trying to pollute the Lord's blood..

True.. maybe "they" were right, evil is like a parasite.. the organization really exists because of the generosity and longsuffering of others. They could take such a substantial beating from Bullinger publication trust, Kenyon, etc., etc.. maybe people who DO take the bible seriously just don't have the heart to beat the snot out of a little do nothing, take all organization..

No, I think it was Clarence. I thought the name was familiar.. but apparently he's not related..

nor I Corinthians 13, for that matter..