Twinky

Thomas, where do you get this information from? That's 6 allegations, of which I don't have too much difficulty with (2), but the other allegations? (BTW - "dilemma").

Hmm, Ham...you know you isn't really a Doctor, don't you? But is you really a Master? Is you even a squirrel? Hey, man,,, congratulations. It was a long hard slog, lotsa work. Well done. Time now to enjoy ...

Very pretty, Paw, but what does it do? I can't post a "hi!" on it.

I love camping. But when I got to RoA, it was as Corps and I slept in a huge tent with who knows how many other Corps women. And one year I was in a hut thing - were they called Corps-tels? Too many bodies, too hot, too sticky. Ugh. Give me the fresh air of a tent any time. I quite liked what I saw of the Rock but then I didn't have anything to compare it with. Hard work. Not too much time to explore and find out what was going on. This might be my venue for this year: Greenbelt Thousands of people. From a huge variety of Christian backgrounds. Or maybe no Christian background at all - they just want to be there. Loads of events, performances, teachings, presentations, stuff going on. Some noisy. Some quieter, more contemplative. There's a camping area for those who want; there's other accommodation ranging from cheap B&B to posh hotels. I might volunteer...they need stewards on the camp site. Edited: double post. (Why does it do that??)

Y'know, Waysider, it was all a part of his big joke at our expense. Here's a common colloquial definition for the verb "to doctor" - see definition 3 below doctor 1. Informal To give medical treatment to: "[He] does more than practice medicine. He doctors people. There's a difference" (Charles Kuralt).2. To repair, especially in a makeshift manner; rig.3. a. To falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to oneself: doctored the evidence.b. To add ingredients so as to improve or conceal the taste, appearance, or quality of: doctor the soup with a dash of sherry. See Synonyms at adulterate.c. To alter or modify for a specific end: doctored my standard speech for the small-town audience.d. Baseball To deface or apply a substance to (the ball): was ejected because he doctored the ball with a piece of sandpaper. Free Dictionary You'll find similar definitions of this colloquial meaning in other dictionaries. So every time he was called "Doctor" - it was an acknowledgment of his fraud - that he had "doctored" the Bible that he taught. So despite your "he wasn't a real doctor" bit that you put in frequently - that's exactly what he was! But in a different sense. After all, it doesn't have quite the same positive vibes, to say, "Well, Fraudster said..."

Hard to "stand on your own" when your legs have been cut out from under you. Don't you remember in PFAL that VP said a believer will never have to stand alone again? Of course, that wouldn't be those who have been M&A'd and other believers have been forbidden on pain of their own "excommunication" from speaking with them.

No, no, Chockfull. It does stand on its own. Its own people, that is. Tramples all over 'em, in fact.

When were these photos taken, OldSkool? (Year) What would be attractive about her? To another of her persuasion, I mean...like her best friend, naming no names, but when last seen had a similar hairstyle. Is the attraction being the "power behind the throne"? (Though to be fair, perhaps some of us here aren't exactly the finest specimens of humankind, either.)

It's a good question, Roy.

Well, OldSkool, your lack of attention to detail shows you are at serious spiritual risk. Your whole Christian walk could be compromised. You are leaving the door wide open to the adversary. Should we mark and avoid you - or encourage you to carry on, LOL.

What's "Ramdon" anyway - or is it a mistype for "random"? Rosie looks ... so ... lovely.

The Amish reputedly have a very strong community spirit - they just don't want to go along with the modern world of the USA. Their community values include compassion, tolerance and forgiveness. See the items below. Shoot me first Amish school shooting Can you really imagine anything like that happening at TWI, an organization with paranoid people touting guns so that they can shoot first; that bans, and emotionally and mentally massacres its own people; and spouts that there is no forgiveness without repentance (which is not in fact a Biblical concept). TWI isn't so much reclusive as secretive.

And it should be different, speaking to others outside one's family? ?? "Especially if the outsider is trying to harm/disrespect you?" - um, maybe because you disrepected him first, could it be? How disrespected is the following? Acts 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him [the Ethiopian eunuch], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest ? 31 And he said , How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer , so opened he not his mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away : and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. That some serious disrespect. Taking away an innocent man to be executed. Do we read about Jesus verbally abusing his abusers? Either at the time of his arrest, or any other time? Have you ever been that badly disrespected, Johniam? No? Then practise the self-control of the Master. Or alternatively, you could turn the other cheek (literally) and just walk away and leave the bully blustering away to himself. Ideally, walk away early before it gets to major conflict, brawl and battle of words. Did Jesus make a habit of bawling people out? No, he only bawled out specific groups - the hypocritical Pharisees. And what we read isn't the first time that he's spoken with them. Before that there has been extreme provocation and "baiting" of him. It's not random abuse. Johniam, have you ever tried Jesus's approach to abuse: Bless those that persecute you? Bless, and do not curse. Pray for them...and for yourself. Mt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless , and curse not. Note what's not included in that: "Give 'em a mouthful of abuse." And that's not limited to "enemies" - whether within one's family, household, community, or total strangers. The examples you gave are way off point. But what's news...? Good for her. Maybe more of us should have done that. Nipped it in the bud. Just emulating their example, of course. But she was reproving him for not being an example of Christ-likeness.

The ancients... who, exactly? No doubt ideas have varied considerably over the pre-Christian millennia. What did Stone Age Man think? (Never mind the thoughts of Greek philosophers over an extended period.) What did Egyptians of relevant times think? What did Assyrians think? Are there any common "ancient" concepts? "Locations" for heaven? Or is it simply a recognition of there being something "much bigger" than us and our planet? Is heaven a manmade concept? Is, indeed, God, a manmade concept? ...Is it perhaps time I went to bed (it's 2AM)? Since my bedroom's way above street level - will I be in heaven?

After reading that list that Kit posted, perhaps next number: 23 Leave the entire packet on the store shelf. Sounds dreadful stuff.

Let's just back up a bit here. What would Jesus do? Did he yell and scream at his disciples? It doesn't seem so. He did reprove them, sometimes sternly - but lovingly. He didn't belittle them, tear them down. He certainly didn't aggrandize himself. How did he treat others - hangers-on? He taught them kindly, using words and expressions, graphic examples, what was around him, that they could relate to. Have another look at the sermon on the mount (for example). What would Paul do? He was skilled in argument. He argued with the best. Not arguing rudely, aggressively, or belittlingly. He argued persuasively about "the unknown God" in many locations. In fellowships, he taught at length, in detail. He didn't bellow at those who were listening. Even when some sleepyhead fell out of the window, Paul didn't bellow at anyone for their lack of believing, or lack of attention / falling asleep. Those are the models that should be followed. Therefore, our handling of others, whether in "sermons" or "teachings" or just everyday matters, should be with goodness, forbearance and longsuffering. Not with screaming, yelling, foul language, and belittling, which fits more into this category: Compare and contrast.

Took me quite a while to get used to how "gracious" people were ... kind, generous, willing to help, "let-you-get-on-with-it" kinda easy living. Too many kindnesses to even begin to quantify. I was so suspicious - thought they were all out to "trick" me. What a numbskull I was! ...Embarrassing to reflect on what shameful, evil, thinking we had been taught... Be kind. You never know what weird stuff people are dealing with in their minds. Even if they look and act "normal."

Long time before I could read a Bible of any type. When I finally got to opening one - it wasn't KJV which had become totally incomprehensible to me - but The Message. About as far apart as you can get. But readable, startlingly different in its paraphases, and got me thinking again. Now I most regularly read Holman Christian Bible, which I rather like - but other versions come to hand sometimes, when I prefer a change. If we'd been encouraged to read other versions in the first place, a lot of TWI "teaching" would have been dispensible because it would have been easier to comprehend what was written plainly, instead of wrestling with 15th century English as well as the meaning of the message being conveyed. But hey, that would have denied too much scope for "teaching" and "literals according to usage."

I wonder if Pond knows this place is still open? She hasn't been at the Cafe since Feb 24. Does she go to exwayvision or the Facebook page? Hello, hello? Calling Pond!

Waysider! Where do you get all these amazing photos from? Whatever the topic, you seem to be able to find something a propos.

Well, you folks with the wild ideas. Thought I'd give you an update. I am currently doing people's gardens and housecleaning. I just love working in gardens. The gardens is a bit iffy because it's not feasible when it's raining, and it's rained a little bit lately. However, lovely when the sun is out. Come winter, there won't be so much work. Certainly not the same amount, weekly. So I don't want to build too much dependency on that. Not my only or core business. I have also done some "spring cleaning" for a couple of people and they are delighted with the results. Both of these will lead to regular work, one once a week and the other about once a month. I happened to mention that I was setting up doing more or less anything to an acquaintance from church. His eyes lit up - turns out he runs a (high class) letting agency in town. He has regular cleaners but is always on the lookout in case the regulars can't do something. He gave me a job - it was to clean a range with double oven and 6 burners. It took quite a few hours but he was delighted with the end result so maybe more work will come that way. There have been some referrals and I did a leaflet drop earlier this week and got two enquiries that evening and did the work for the clients today. So work is building up and it's looking "survivable." Not sure that this is what I want to do long-term, but it gives me a base to move out from. I work more or less when I choose to, and it all fits with the other activities I like to do. There is still time to do the voluntary work that I do one day a week, together with any team meetings or training related to that work. I'd like to keep the voluntary work up, because that is giving me an "in" to advice work and/or debt management work that I'd like to do. I do get interviews for those kind of roles, but always seem to be a runner up. I have had 3 interviews in the last 7 days for jobs that I'd like - well, two of them would have been perfect for me - the third I could do but it didn't hold the same excitement - with "the usual result." In other words, nobody wants me on their payroll. Still can't work out if it's genuinely that there are better candidates (sometimes, I know others really are more suitable) - or whether it is something about me. There are so many people chasing so few jobs. Maybe I'm just too old. Y'know, the wrong side of 25. (That's only just a joke.) (Not the "25" bit - but sometimes I wonder if, despite there not allowed to be age discrimination in the job market - there actually is age discrimination.) Anyway it's definitely better to be more in control of myself, my finances and my job prospects - not to mention my state of mind - in doing "Whatever" than in applying for zillions of jobs and never hearing back, or being rejected after interview.

They don't leave because the word is at steak and they want some peas. Oops, sorry, wrong thread... LOL

My mouth's watering already. Good to see ya, DWBH. Are you sure that was "peace" you were talking about ... not ... peas ... with that steak? Peas Peace :)

Very tasty, Froggy, thanks. Let's dine together again sometime.

Are you sure he didn't say, the integrity of the world is always at steak? Waiter, mine's medium rare, please!