T-Bone

There's a lot of wisdom in that…thanks, Ex10 – I've been mulling over your post for awhile…I know it sounds kinda hokey – [and I'm probably butchering some of the details from my faulty memory] but I liked an analogy Stephen Covey used in Seven Habits of Highly Successful People talking about a genuine commerce between hearts – only when we have made genuine deposits into the other person's emotional bank account will a relationship develop and even allow withdrawals [drawing on emotional support] when needed. A give and take process. Thanks for posting all that stuff, Bagpipes. I love all that cognitive therapy stuff. Those cognitive distortions can do a real number on one's reasoning skills and trying to assess a situation. TWI has got these manipulative tools down to a science!

I hear yah loud and clear, Tom – yeah that must be it – [theme from Dirty Harry starts playing] – quality control at Time Magazine has been really going downhill [quickly strapping on shoulder holster with heavy duty crucifix – 44 Magnum Monsignor series with silencer – Jesus with forefinger on pursed lips saying “ssshhhhh”]. Yeah, Tom why don’t yah just stay put where yah are and look through the rest of the magazine…see if they left anything else out [selecting several choice wooden stakes carved from the timbers of Gunnison, Colorado and Judge Judy’s gavel to drive my point home]…Yeah, don’t think you’ll be going outside right now anyway – it’s still daylight – I know how sensitive you are to sunlight [verifying cell phone has Blade’s number in speed dial]… Tell yah what…maybe I ought to come over there and double check that magazine myself [spraying Essence of Garlic behind ears, on neck, underarms and in socks]. Hey we’ll have a blast reminiscing about the good old daze, kicking back, sipping on a couple of Bloody Marys.

Tom, look at the magazine cover...now tell me...who do you see?

Phew!!! Man that was a speech CK, you missed your calling – you should have been a writer […just a few remedial English classes and you're on your way…and always be humble…remember some people have a way with words and some people…not have way]…no…on second thought…scratch that idea…after considering your signature: "Thank God for DR.VICTOR PAUL WIERWILLE and the teachings of this wonderful man apostle" How about being a lawyer? I bet every sexual predator in the country would want you as their defense attorney…I mean - it would be a cinch for yah…You've already got that blind-allegiance to the criminal element going for yah! I'm sure any little obstacles like attending law school, reading books or passing a bar exam wouldn't stop you – not with those amazing powers of believing you've absorbed from your first client, VPW. I can just imagine your closing remarks to the jury: "Ladies and gentleman of the jury, the ball is in your court. It's up to you to decide. Are you going to believe the…hmmmm…ahhh…rather large multitude of witnesses that have testified of the sexual misconduct of my client – whom I have never met by the way – or are you going to believe me? And if you don't believe me – then more is lost besides just my case. There will be a great big tear in the very fabric of the believing of the sexual predator community. And their loss is your loss because you decided disbelieve the truth, and that is why you lost."

This Time Magazine cover is the greatest thing since rightly-divided bread! What a tool for discerning of spirits! I’ve been taking a little survey in my neighborhood – showing people the cover and asking, “Who do you see?”…Sorry to report – wrong seed have totally infiltrated my neck of the woods…except for this one guy – who cast no reflection on the cover. Ran him off by brandishing a crucifix. If that wouldn’t have worked I was gonna show him the business end of a wooden stake…I’ll show him what splinter-group I’m with.

That's an interesting response to TWI's "law of believing", Motherof2 – and I think most noteworthy! In my opinion, you're putting the emphasis on God's will – what God wants – that's what true Christianity is about. After I left TWI I started taking all matters of faith back to square one…still working on that one…geez, they made things so complicated...I thought I would try a novel approach in my Bible study – I would take Scripture at face value – I felt TWI doctrines got too complicated, confusing and even speculative. In the kingdom of TWI I was taught to get clear on what I want in my mind [oh yeah bet I can still quote parts of Release from your prisons – whoop-dee-freakin'-doo], fixate on what I want. It's the ol' switcheroo – instead of God being the object of faith – more money, a better job, etc. becomes the object of my faith... The more I studied in this fashion the more I would find application of some TWI's doctrines flat-out contradicted commands in the Bible. Such as their materialistic orientation with the "law of believing" eclipses Jesus' simple instructions to make the kingdom of God our top priority in Matthew 6. Matthew 6:25-34 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Stephen Renn's Expository Dictionary of Bible Words says of this "Do not worry" in verse 25 is the Greek word merimnao which means to take care, be careful – but used in the negative sense here implies being anxious…It does not always have a negative sense and after looking at other occurrences I think perhaps another way to translate it might be to say "to be concerned with." A few select verses where merimnao is also used: I Corinthians 7:32 "…He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord…" I Corinthians 12:25 "…that the members should have the same care one for another." And Philippians 4:6 "…Be careful for nothing…" I think all that mental rigmarole TWI put me through "to raise my temperature of believing", yammering about the believing images of victory, positive affirmations – is a royal waste of time and mental processes…It's really just camouflaged worry – it's being overly concerned with material things shrouded in a cloak of spirituality ["oh you may think I'm spinning my wheels but I'm working myself up into a believing-frenzy!"]. I think Jesus laid out a simple agenda in Matthew 6 – pursue God's kingdom and righteousness – and with it will come the full care and provision of God! Courtesy of our loving heavenly Father [not my believing] – free of charge, no strings attached, no mental baggage, no bad side effects. In my opinion, TWI is nothing more than an unnecessary appendage to the life of a believer. Why do I need them? I can read the Bible for myself. I can pray. I can thank God every day for my existence, basic provisions, strength, wisdom and opportunity to earn an honest living. Many followers of TWI are not aware how their insidious doctrines shift the focus from God to self. Somehow, this "more abundant life" is about getting more of what YOU want. They somehow equate spirituality with financial prosperity – like VPW's booklet Christians should be Prosperous. A warning in I Timothy seems appropriate to bring up here. I Timothy 6:3-10 3 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. I think so much of TWI's draw is in their appealing to the materialistic taste buds of the average person. I have an old flier from the PFAL syllabus of when I first took it in 1974 that unabashedly states "You can have whatever you want." And I still remember the big one-liners when selling the PFAL class to someone: How would you like to increase the power of God in your life? How would you like to learn how to pray effectively? Want to learn how to increase prosperity?...Geez – this stuff is just plain gross…embarrassing…they're not peddling anything even sort of close to Christianity…it's a sleazy little sales campaign to sell a genie-in-a-Bible…I'll tell yah what I think – TWI's idea of godliness is a means to financial gain - - for them! Yup – it's like those darn get-rich-quick-books – the only one who's getting rich quick is the author of the book! Yes sir…keep pumping your money into their coffers – and some how your powers of believing will grow stronger...And isn't it funny how I Timothy 6:8 hearkens back to the same basic provisions of food and clothing mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 6…And maybe that's where I'll stop this sermon since I seem to be going in circles .

In regards to your TWI questions, some of my post # 60 addresses TWI's wishful thinking doctrine…and any followers who manifest evidence to the contrary of this imaginary-genie-in-a-Bible formula [for example something bad happens] are condemned for violating one or more of the gazillion rules in this mind-game: rule # 4,787,259 = perhaps you didn't rub the Bible exactly three times – you have to do that or the genie won't come out…rule # 4,787,260 = perhaps you were murmuring against the genie or complaining about the genie holding out on you… As a Christian I also believe in the power of prayer. I like WordWolf pointing out in his post # 39 TWI's playing more of their mind-game tricks – dubbing any medical treatment –even an aspirin – as "third aid." Thinking back now on our stint in the Family Corps it saddens me to recall the needless suffering, discomfort and mental anguish TWI subjected people to – all for the sake of the integrity of their doctrine. I remember the third aid administrator heaping the guilt-trip on us over our wanting to give our kid an antibiotic – "Well, if you want to put those chemicals in your child…" said with such disdain as if we wanted to give our kid a glass of paint thinner. I think the context of James 5:16 may imply that pray is to be utilized in conjunction with medical treatment - - and that there is a moral aspect and humbling perspective to our prayer life. James 5:14-18 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. Some interpret the anointing of oil as a reference to ceremonial anointing; some take it in a metaphorical sense of the elders' comforting the believer; and some [myself for one] thinks James had medical treatment in mind - in other words our prayer of faith is used in conjunction with medical treatment. The thing that also intrigues me about this passage is the moral aspect with references like "If he has sinned, he will be forgiven…confess your sins…The prayer of a righteous man…" "If he has sinned" in verse 15 uses hamartia in Greek and according to Expository Dictionary of Bible Words edited by Stephen Renn is the Greek dynamic equivalent for the Old Testament Hebrew word for hattat and refers to the general sense of violating God's law, failing to meet God's revealed moral, ethical and ritual standards. "…confess your sins…" in verse 16 is from the Greek word paraptoma and Renn's Expository Dictionary says it's a dynamic equivalent for the Old Testament Hebrew word pesha with the dominant sense of transgression, trespass, rebellion, sin or offense and can refer to an offense against God or people. What does all this sin stuff have to do with effective prayer? In my opinion…plenty – after coming out of TWI-land! It speaks to my attitude in prayer – it reminds me be humble and accept a Christian reality – I am a sinner…And yes God does hear sinners…good thing or I'd be s.o.l. many times – but what I see in this passage as in many other sections about prayer is the submissiveness we are to have towards God. I no longer see prayer as dropping off my wish list at His throne and saying "guess I don't have to tell yah how important it is to handle these items quickly" as I hurriedly head out of the throne room. Or that I have some right to demand these things from Him…Or that I am sin-free and deserve any of this stuff…More and more I see prayer as part of my ongoing relationship with God – a communing with Him. I'm not telling Him what to do. I'm acknowledging I'm powerless, a sinner…and asking for His help in the situation – and submitting to whatever way He sees fit to handle things. That reminds me of Paul's predicament in II Corinthians: II Corinthians 12:7-10 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I believe God always answers prayer – but the answer is not always what we think it should be. As in Paul's case. Paul thought "God, just take my problem away." However, God did not do that – instead He provided Paul with grace and power to handle the problem.

It doesn't matter one iota what reason, experience or Scripture will tell you – TWI's "law of believing" is one of their best kept secrets on self-hypnosis…it may be helpful to paraphrase their formula so as to reveal the actual governing principle of this "law": believing equals perceiving. If you believe TWI's magical-gobbledygook-explanation of what's controlling reality…then that is what you will perceive as controlling reality!...It would do any serious Christian a lot of good to take to heart Oakspear's advice in post # 48: "…it's not "waybrained" to hold fast to what you have seen and experienced. A good case of waybrain is usually characterized by clinging to Way doctrine that isn't supportable by either experience or the bible…" I think TWI had another key on how THEY interpret the Bible…this is one not published in any TWI books or classes and is the evil-twin of Scripture build-up…it's called Scripture cover-up. And it works like this…TWI selectively stockpiles verses by yanking them out of context and/or omitting any specificity, moral honesty, submissiveness to God's will or limitations implied in the verse or context. And that's only half the cover-up! The other half is to ignore any passage that runs counter to TWI's teaching on the subject… Running counter to What the Hey's and TWI's idea that you'll have exactly what you say you have is an admonition written in the book of James. James 4:13-17 13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Some technical questions…If someone says they know in the future they will be a prophet – doesn’t that mean they’re a prophet already? And what qualifies them as being false? And – if this person is not yet a false prophet – why are you avoiding them now? Or is it the other way around? How do YOU know being a false prophet is in this person’s future? Are you a prophet? Are you a false prophet?

Happy Birthday, DrtyDzn!!!!!! hey do me a favor...tell me which one is you in the picture...or are you all 12...

The following translation is actually a composite from two different documents: The Extreme-Egomaniac Persnickety Text and The Hypocritical Insinseriously Text. Exodus 20: 1-21 1 And Shyster spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the lord thy god, which have brought thee out of the land of Christianity. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth – unless you run it by me first – and if and when it meets my approval said graven image shall beareth tribute to me. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to anyone else, nor serve them: for I the lord god Shyster am a jealous Shyster, visiting the duplicity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate my agenda; and make sure there's a parking spot for my motor coach when I come to visit; 6 And shew mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not mix a drink in the name of the lord god Shyster in any pure grain alcohol save Drambui; for Shyster shalt lay such a guilt-trip on you. 8 Remember Uncle Harry day, to keep it holy – and I won't give a rat's ar$$ what you do the rest of the year. 9 Six days shalt thou labour for me, and do all thy other work that pays the bills on your own time: 10 But the seventh day is Shyster's Day: in it thou shalt not do any of thy other work that pays the bills, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates [unless of course they are earning extra money to pay for my class]: 11 For in one day the lord god Shyster made this two-bit operation, yah see, and all that in it is, and rested thereafter on his lazy ar$$: wherefore the lord god Shyster blessed Shyster's Day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father in the word and give me your mother: that thy days may be long within my two-bit operation which the lord thy god Shyster giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill time with any hobby or recreation that taketh away from your duties, responsibilities, and required meetings of aforementioned two-bit operation. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery – that's my job. 15 Thou shalt not steal – that's my job too! 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against Shyster – and if thou should be dumb enough to do such a thing then thou shalt surely die…the slow death of character assassination by way of but not limited to being labeled demon-possessed. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his foot, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's – as I said before and for the last time – that's my job! And let's keep it simple – bring the neighbor's wife and maidservant around to my motor coach – all the other stuff drop off at my treasury office [but use some common sense if it's big like a house just bring the title deed]…oh and touch base with me later as far as what to do with the manservant. 18 And all the people saw Shyster's hissy-fit of thunderings, and lightnings, and the noise of the ar$$-trumpet, and the smoke coming out of his earballs: and when the people saw all these things, they removed their brains, and stood afar off from their brains. 19 And they said unto Shyster, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not reason speak with us, lest we also die the slow death of character assassination. 20 And Shyster said unto the people, Fear not: for I have come to prove you, and from henceforth this fear of me shalt be re-labeled "love." 21 And the people continuously stood afar off from their brains, and Shyster drew near unto the thick darkness which he claimed was due to snow blindness in the middle of July.

Your advice sounds very pious and appealing – to people who defend the perpetrators of evil. But as any serious Bible student who intends to obey biblical commands will tell you – you're advising Christians to ignore what Jesus said: Matthew 7: 15-20 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. But of course you would miss Jesus' teaching on discernment by starting at Romans…It is slightly amusing to see someone who has never met VPW, has a very brief experience with TWI and demonstrates a shallow understanding of Scripture application – come on GSC and declare he's going to "raise hell" with those big guns. It's more like you're trying to raise VPW from the dead…But lest your idol remain idle – let's put it to good use here…by re-interpreting your post according to how I know TWI actually operated [note: the following statement is to be read in a hypnotic sounding monotone for the full effect]: "I think we should subject ourselves to whatever Dr.Wierwille or LCM say we should do – whether or not it's clearly stated in the Bible."

The Abbott and Costello Text was VPW’s prooftext for his study “Who is the Word?” in The Word’s Way.

Love it, Rascal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's one of the funniest incidents I've ever heard. Thanks for sharing that. ...Guess as parents we could really use a straitjacket for the kids sometimes- - or a muzzle...

I assure you my research department is the finest available. It just so happens that the text in question does indeed say The Rodney Dangerfield Text on the cover but in the title page it does read The Henny Youngman Text. This is either a proofreader’s oversight or a deliberate misrepresentation by the publisher…And if that don’t work for yah I’m gonna pull out the time-traveling-plagiarist-machine that Henny kept under wraps.

The following is a satire about a cult-like organization and is humorously submitted as a Forrest Gump meets Star Wars meets cult kind of a thing… Farce Wars Episode I: The Patriarch …A long time ago at a multi-level marketing kingdom in a galaxy far, far away…all was peaceful. Wars did not exist in this harmonious kingdom. People from all walks of life peacefully co-existed – lawyers with janitors, carpenters with surgeons, women with dogs. The cohesive element that made life in this kingdom really gel was the Farce. The Farce was an amazing power discovered by Lord Fodda Innawort one snowy day while pumping gas at a remote weigh station. Back then, he was only a level 2 manservant, with no title of distinction save “Wort” – the shortened version of his surname that co-workers called him after they found a makeshift still in his locker. Name-calling didn’t phase young Wort one bit. It may have been out of spite that he began marketing his special brew – which he would proclaim as “from the best damn brewery in town.” Perhaps it was simply that folks couldn’t make out what he was saying in his typical drunken slur – but that feisty bootleg came to be known as Drambui. The day he achieved lordship was while re-fueling a transporter before it was driven onto the weigh station’s scales. The driver, a burly young man himself, looking down from the cab quipped “You gonna tell the weigh master to knock off some for all that gas yah puttin’ in there? Wort, you guys got some racket – why didn’t yah put the pumps after the scales? Geeez!” Something came over Wort. There was a gleam in his one good eye. “Yes, Mister Gearhead – I will make it so,” Wort replied. To which Mister Gearhead snapped back “Yeah, right…” and went back to reading a dog-eared copy of “How to be a fiend and ruin people.” Wort went over to the weigh master’s booth as he pulled out the hip flask of his signature moonshine. “Here yah go, Wally,” handing the flask to him. “Ain’t got my wallet on me, Wort,” Wally said as he jotted down the tags and specs of Mr. Gearhead’s rig creeping up to the scales. “Aw shoot, Wally – it’s on me!” Wally was so tickled he got anything free from Wort that he maintained a tight grip on the flask – first a short nip, then another…time seemed to slow down…and so did his reaction-time. He dropped the flask onto the console, its contents spilling into the main control switches and field-effect-transistors. Sparks and smoke spewed out. “Crap, Wort – it’s dead. Yah know what it costs to get one of these babies fixed?!” Wort’s plan was only to distract Wally from noting the scale readout – but this worked out even better. “No big deal, Wally – I’ll take care of it.” Wort ripped the weight ticket out of Wally’s scale readout pad, puffed up his chest, muttered something that sounded like “I and me Fodda have won” or “I and me Fodda are one.” It was hard to understand him with that drunken slur. “Here you go, Mr. Gearhead,” as he handed the ticket to him. “Very funny, Wort. I know I got sumpin’ like 175,000 pounds after my last vendor pick up. Yah got me here at 20,000. Ol’ Wally been nippin’ at your hooch, eh? Now get me a real weight ticket so I can pay the damn road tax and blow this joint.” Wort looked over at the road tax booth – a government owned cubicle that sat like a greenback-guzzling sentinel near the far end of the lot. Wally and Wort watched the transporter pull out from the road tax booth and crawl slowly onto the main-transporter-way. Wort’s head was awash in dreams of riches, glory and power. He had discovered something…or maybe it discovered him…He always believed labels were important – and obviously, the turn of today’s events called for something just short of ineffable. His thoughts convulsed in a delusionary reverie, “It was such a simple trick – and yet effective – what power – this…this…Farce…I will be lord of all I ‘weigh’ …” His convoluted daydream was interrupted by Wally’s voice, “This worked out pretty good - tell me again what you said to him, Wort.” Wort turned to him, and squinting at the gas pump where it all began answered, “I merely said there’s a problem with the scale calibration system and any donation on his part would surely offset errors that may occur – possibly in his favor…and in a manner of good faith asked him what weight he originally intended to transport.” Wort’s moment of fortuitous inspiration blossomed into a solid business plan – the co-conspirators even changed the name of the remote weigh station to The Weigh Intentional.

Why yes! The toxic fruit from their liberal arts program.

Oakspear, in my opinion how much a follower invested is a huge factor – as well as what was their bottom line, what items were negotiable, etc.! Excellent points!!!...interesting…I started looking at this in terms of a business deal…Some people when they get burned on a bad investment will garner what lessons can be learned from the experience, and move on. Bet they won’t make a mistake like that again.

My research department tells me the Rodney Dangerfield Text does have the word "please" at the end of the verse.

Great posts everyone!!!!!!!!!! Mark, after I thought about your post for awhile…maybe TWI got the processes mixed up. Leadership applied critical thinking skills in their analysis of the arts, and applied creative thinking skills to come up with novel interpretations of Scripture.

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none since I joined TWI, but such as I have left give I thee, take my wife and kids.

Excellent points, Goey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For ol' VPW and following it was the lordship of his skewed interpretation of the Bible. I can remember lots of meetings where he'd yammer on about what he might allow in his life maybe wouldn't be right for someone else, it's just a walk, or "I've so renewed my mind that I can handle _ _ _ _ _" [and any TWI follower can use this as well, just fill in the blank with the sin of your choice]."… This is some risky business for anyone that takes their Christian Faith seriously. Just because there's always the possibility of a wrong interpretation or misapplication of a passage…Your post really got me excited pointing out how TWI's version of renewed mind pretty much killed any personal relationship with Christ. And what a powerful sedative to the conscience this TWI-renewed-mind really is!!!

Hilarious!!! I'm watching the video - and by one quarter of the way through I'm thinking you gave the wrong link or something...I mean they're singing about making love...on and on...then the line "...before we get down to love I just gotta finish this level..."

I think it does, Potato – just as you spoke of it being a skill. And I tend to think these skills come back with a holy vengeance when you’ve been burned as much as some of us have by TWI’s run amuck dictators. I really think there’s a therapeutic and strengthening process experienced at GSC. After someone is injured they must do physical therapy to gain their strength back. A healthy person must do physical exercise to maintain their strength. I see GSC being like that for everyone’s thinking process.

Say, brother – you’re darn right there – I used to call it that too when I was in TWI. However, since leaving I have repented of such presumptuous sins. Especially since Jesus forbids us to make anything other than the kingdom of God and His righteousness the object of our care and concern [Matthew 6:25-34]. TWI followers are sold a get-whatever-you-want type scheme. It’s such an elaborate process that tasks the “believer” to marshal their thinking to get clear and focused on what they want, to work on their believing, confess what they’re believing for, do Bible studies on believing, make sure they’ve found out what’s available & etc., you know the drill…And to be honest all that rigmarole looks like camouflaged worry to me…Yeah, my regret is that I should have spent more time seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness back then – I wouldn’t have wasted so much time chasing TWI’s fantasies that they dangled in front of everyone’s noses! Probably would have left a whole lot sooner…nah…I would have gotten booted out for rocking the boat.