TheInvisibleDan

Perhaps Jesus (or the writer/editor) wasn't very informed about birds. I find the possessive "your heavenly father" to be quite curious as well.

OnefineCustom - Me too. Though I realize now my 'gut' was shouting toward the end of my time with "the old gigantic cult" (lol). It's interesting to see others here having gone through and going through the same "red flags" popping up in the back of their minds. Danny

Steve, Outside the argument pertaining to corrupt leaders running a group, I don't entirely agree with this. It's a different matter when considering the followers in a group. The problems and abuses arising from our involvement with cults old and new - at least so far as I see it - stems from the fact of people NOT relying on their own hearts, their "gut", their minds. Shortly after leaving the Way ages ago, I realized that one of the reasons we became so screwed up and screwed over was because we were taught essentially to be afraid of our own minds, fear our own hearts. We were taught to: Trust God. Trust the Book. Trust the teachings. Trust the tapes. Trust the leaders holding the Book. Trust the leaders beneath them. But dammit, DON'T listen to your own self. People leaving cults and religions need to believe in themselves for a change. To trust themselves. To toss aside all the religious "white noise" if only for a while, if only to discover who they actually are, as opposed to wasting their lives kissing the a$$es of both gods and men. Danny

http://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/index.php?showtopic=12513

Is he the One? (lol) Welcome back Steve. Danny

No, that's "E-li! E-li! Oooooh!"

I vote for neither "lord" nor "apostle" for VP's titular adornment - he would rather have preferred "Fuhrer" because (according to him) "Hitler was a hero, doncha know?" Feels kind of funny responding to old comedy threads.

Just a few thoughts on CES’s “prophetic” ideas, which came to mind over the course of reading this thread. It’s as if the leaders of CES had been gravitating toward becoming modern day Montanists (an ancient “follow the spirit” movement led by a guy named Montanus and his two prophetesses) . Just as other “heretics” of old had been observed doing; like Simon Magus, who many here are already acquainted through Acts ch.8, which however doesn’t tell us everything about Simon. For additional info, one needs to explore the writings of the Church Fathers, such as Tertullian and Epiphanius. Simon attained the title of “God”, apparently in no small part by virtue of his prophetess, who accompanied him everywhere in his preaching. “Doncha know”, Simon had to maintain his connection to God, so “the Prophetess” went with him. Likewise Apelles, a former Marcionite, left that Church and started his own thing, being led about -- by a prophetess. It’s interesting to see this still in practice today. The prophetesses accompanying both Simon and Apelles were also said to have been regarded by both men (or as far as we know, their opponents) as no less the reincarnation of Helen of Troy - on whose account the city of Troy became demolished. Danny

Moryan, Simply talk to her. Ask her - challenge her -if she would still love you - respect you - if you followed a different set of beliefs from what she believes, and vice versa. Establish right now with her whether or not she would exercise as much tolerance and respect toward what you choose to believe as you would toward her. People of different faiths do marry . These arrangements can work, but only where there is the commitment between the partners to exercise mutual toleration and respect for one another with personal/religious/mystical beliefs. If she says she will exercise this same toleration toward you (you might ask her), will her group? And if they don't...? - is the hypothesis you both must pose to her, and both need to consider. Best luck to you. Danny

IMHO, the whole damn lot of them ought to "step down" and let such folks here such as Jeff, Billy D, and Captain Crunch take the helm. Danny

Please forbear my earlier "jesting", which indeed appears all the more trite by comparison to a situation far worst than even I could have imagined. Man, those letters...ooo-eee-oooo. Danny

I mean, can we really imagine clicking on the STFI link to be met with: THIS WEBPAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. We have recently encountered false prophets and dreamers in our midst. Please excuse the inconvenience, while we root them out. You're impotent to us. God Bless You. Standing erect with you, The new STFI STAFF STFI. Ugh. Sounds like a brand name to a spamming pharmacutical.

DMiller, Hopefully "Captain Crunch" might provide additional info, but seriously, if such sorts of things were afoot, would you really expect STFI to air those things on the opening page of their website? Danny

I can't imagine any group dubbing itself "STFI" being bound toward a happy ending...

Pretty spooky stuff. Kind of reminds me of the small town of the final scene in the movie "Frailty" for some odd reason. Danny

Free Beer! That's not a bad idea. :)

Don't beat yourself too much over it. Even the Beatles dabbled in the cult of Maharishi (no relation) in their day. Bob Dylan went through his born-again phase before catching onto the greed and corruption of whatever group he was involved with at the time. Cripes! Consider how cultic our country has been for the past 6 years under the Bush Administration.

BTW, DMiller, Musiciansfriend is offering "blem" models of the Rick 330 for about $700. Would love one with the fireglow finish. But alas, for now, I need to sink some $$$ into the guitars I already have (lol). Socks, do you think the Tunamatic-like bridges such as those for the Ricks in your links would be better for intonation than the original roller bridge on my old axe? The roller bridge on my old guitar appears to be in good shape still; in fact I adjusted the roller saddles the other day, which seemed to improve the intonation a bit more. Project guitars, gotta love 'em. Danny

Socks, Thanks for the excellent advice- the neck bolt-on screws were indeed a tad loose, as well as some of the srews holding on the tuners. In fact, some of the tuner screw holes felt stripped - I'll need to either fill and re-drill them, or use slightly longer screws. We'll see. Considering the condition of a couple of the old tuners, I think a new set might still work wonders. DMiller - nice mandolin! I've also been considering the Gotoh tuners as well, priced about the same as the Grovers, but presenting a few more choices in style. Unfortunately nothing as stylish as your mandolin tuners. I adjusted the truss rod awhile back, when I replaced the strings, and I'll need to replace the strings again. I recall last time I went with lighter strings, but the feel is a bit flubby. I may go with some medium strings, or a combination of medium and light strings to get the right mix. Chas, replacing the pickups and doing a overhaul on the pots & knobs will be on my things to do list. The pricier Rick toaster pickups look very nice, though I might do just as better with some P-90s, which look about the same size as the old ones. Waysider & Kathy - excellent advice on saving the old parts, and trying to maintain the guitar's original appearance. Danny

Over the past month, I had pulled out a no-name, old 12 string semi-hollow, sunburst electric guitar that I've had in my closet for years. Its body style a 335 copy. It ended up with me years ago through a friend of a friend of a friend. Strange how some guitars end up finding me. I hadn't messed with it all that much because it never stayed in tune. Which is why I think the previous custodians never did that much with it either, and passed it on. But it has a helluva sound, a certain, jangly "mojo". I finally learned earlier this evening via ebay what kind of guitar it is. A Univox "Custom" 335 copy made in Japan dating circ. 1968 if not earlier. I'm thinking that a change of machine heads might do this instrument wonders (The machine heads on there are ancient for goodness sakes, and were probably cheap back then) - I'm thinking of switching to some Grover Rotomatics. Any other suggestions for machine heads/strings for a guitar this age? the neck and fretboard are straight, and the action good. Changing the nut in this is probably overdue too. Danny

Well if I was Stephen Hawkings I would most certainly smoke dope if I could. I bet you would too.

Do any of the phone companies carry a direct line to Hell?

They'll need to change their "bad name" first in any effort on their part to turn that around. And I doubt that would even do it, so long as the "Cafe" remains open. "The Way International" is indeed a "bad name" that carries way too much baggage. That's why all their efforts to even advertise on TV will come to nought. Just one look at a search engine will bring people here. It wouldn't surprise me if they try to change their name sooner or later. It's much easier than actually changing themselves.

We should've had a station on the moon by now. And have had astronauts to Mars a couple of times already. Little wonder some people doubt that we've ever had people on the moon. So the future is here - where's the flying cars? The moving sidewalks? The tin foil jumpsuits? The modern Jetson houses? Robots!!!? I'm quite disappointed in this present future.

likeaneagle, Over the years I've also enjoyed watching Dr. Scott on late night TV, and listening to his show on the shortwave. He was a brilliant man; quite the character and a very entertaining lecturer. I think exposure to his broadcasts (as to the work of others) made it all the more easier for me to leave the Way in 87. There was far better stuff out there. His lectures on Demonology/Atlantis/Amityville Horror/Pyramids/Bermuda Triangle/Roswell are a trip. In certain ways, perhaps even trailblazing so far as the presentation of supernatural subjects presented through the media. For example, in the mid 80s, I heard Dr.Scott's teaching "The Spear of Destiny", - the relic reputed to have been the Roman lance used to pierce Jesus at His crucifixion - which centuries later, Hitler had sought. Scott's teaching was my first exposure to that legend. Well years following Scott's teaching, the subject of "Spear of Destiny" could be seen making its rounds through a number of "supernatural" documentaries on "The History Channel", Geraldo! and others. He was the kind of preacher I would imagine sitting at a campfire telling good, scary stories (lol). As I said, very entertaining. I just recalled reading a "MOJO" music magazine months ago devoted to the late Johnny Cash, who made mention of watching Gene Scott, and practicing his rite of communion. Danny