Twinky

A gun??!! What, they couldn't believe for God to protect them? What sort of branch leaders did they think they were? Somebody gonna steal The Word from them (they surely wouldn't have "earthly treasures"?)

Hmm, so the Soup video has made it onto the Cafe's front page. Funny! :) Not so sure I like the comments that are accumulating on the blog at the bottom of the video. It's one thing to work out issues at the Cafe, but quite another to wrangle in public on the blog. Enough there already to raise questions in the minds of any searchers after truth.

Well, do I have a fusspot cat or what! Tuxedo is getting oh-so-friendly. She has taken to prowling on the couch near my desk when I am at the computer in my "study." Yesterday I captured her (several times) and made her sit on my lap (not a popular choice). In the late evening, I captured her and she struggled a little but not fiercely. When she was calm I carefully cradled her and carried her off to another room. Sat on the couch and she calmed down. Lay on the couch with her on my chest and she stayed quite still and calm. We lay like that for quite a while, an hour or so. She does not relish this, but does not fight or bite or struggle to get away apart from a perfunctory wriggle. I always make slow and gentle movements and talk to her reassuringly, saying her name, and make sure that her eyes reduce to nice little slits and not the staring-eye no-pupil scared look, before I try anything new. Her fur is oh-so-soft and very gleaming. She is, however, a very bony cat, no fat, nothing spare, on her at all. Despite that she appears to eat constantly. She was jumpy this morning and would not let me touch her first thing, but she has overcome that now and as I sit at my desk, she is again roaming the couch so that I can fondle her. She also puts her head near mine, so has obviously realized that I am not about to eat her (or whatever does frighten her) (trying to think "cat" here). Other cat will still only allow me to stroke her and not pick up. However, when I was carrying Tuxy about and when we were lying on the couch Crypto's very concerned face appeared to watch what was going on and (for the first time) she put a paw on the couch and gazed deeply into my face, while I was cradling Tuxy. Maybe she had in mind to rescue her sister, though just a stare at her will scare her away. Nobody could call the look she gave me friendly or participative. I always try to ensure that Crypto can see what I'm doing with Tuxy. She watches carefully and if nothing happens with Tuxy, she will have a go at it herself (eg, a new toy or something different to eat). So if she sees Tuxy enjoys being fondled, maybe she will realize it's an okay thing. She does like to be stroked and brushed but not picked up. So things are moving well and remembering where they have come from, it's just lovely.

Enough already. When I laid me down to sleep last night, that dammed Renewed Mind is the Key song kept flittering through my brain. I felt like lying on my back and sleeping with the pillow snugly across my face. (But obviously I didn't.)

DWBH: "Chairman of the bored."

This gives them soooo much publicity. Years ago they would have "died for it." Now - it's all the evil demons, sorry, devil spirits, of the internet poking fun of the Word. There were some really talented musicians and other performers at TWI. Maybe there still are. But all the talent is squished into "one size fits all" and all joy and spontaneity removed - in the name of being "decent and in order." Over-choreographed, and with plastic smiles that look like they have come from pinning the sides of their mouths to their ears. It's sad.

The essence of this is that when Jesus appeared, Paul changed his mindset completely and followed Jesus. Then later he had further visitations and revelations from him. TWI claims to receive revelation about certain things but we only have their word for it and as such revelation sometimes runs contrary to clear scripture on like matters, one has to ask, was there any revelation to begin with? And if so - from whom? And TWI is hell-bent on being Pharisees. Legalists. You must do it this way. You must obey. You must do what we want even in the face of scripture stating the opposite. And actually they don't really want "gladness". That would be an "emotion" and therefore to be squished. Any expression of joy of heart, or excitement and enthusiasm, outside the carefully trammelled proscriptions of TWI is not "decent and in order." King David with his whrling and dancing in his gladness of heart would have been severely dealt with. His wife Michal's condemnatory attitude condemned her to childlessness - she was barren. Is it any surprise that TWI's joyless condemnatory watchfulness makes it barren and unfruitful?

You have the complete collection, OutinTexas? (tonque in cheek)

Beer actually wouldn't be too good because it will end up making you thirstier. You will need extra water to deal with the dehydration from the beer. In Houston you will never need to buy firewood ever again (even for the BBQ) and a significant inroad into the cost of repair and recovery could be made by selling the pre-chopped matchsticks that places like Galveston and Crystal Beach turned into. (Gallows humor, apologies in advance if anyone's offended. I'm real sorry for those folks.)

Super dog. Looks like he enjoyed life. Eyes so firmly fixed on his owner but that great big smile on his face. How much more fun can a dog have? (Wonder if cats can be trained to dance? (ha ha) Would be nice if mine didn't run away when they saw me coming.)

TLB: What's in my own purse is a mystery even to me! Sudo: I know. Anyone else would laugh. The church I go to launched an event called "Hope 08" which is supposed to be outreach by all the churches in the city to the city as a whole. It was launched in January. Everyone knew we were preparing for it from about October. Goey: Exactly. Oldiesman: Glad you found the Lord within TWI but in later years, he was a bit hard to find. But it was mighty easy to find homosexuals. So, is anyone asking Paw for an application form to serve as wait staff in the Cafe?

A sneak preview of forthcoming events, can't tell you how I got this info so don't ask. Specially announced over the Cafe megaphone but not yet announced within the walls of Zion: The theme for the next ministry year at TWI, to be announced on October 5, 2008, is (drum roll): Serving the Lord with Gladness There will also two new programs, one taking place in the first part of the ministry year and the second in the latter part of the year. These are to enable believers "to serve on the field" in their current location, sort of "Way Disciple" but without compulsory relocation. A splendid reward awaits participants. Those signing up and completing will get ... a certificate. Anybody excited about returning to TWI? Ready to sign up? Innies - get ready to serve! (I believe there are wait staff positions available at the Cafe for those who prefer not to serve TWI!)

I think his point may be that we don't need to follow Jesus Christ but look straight at God. Yeah, I thought it was an odd comment, too. Is this a verse TWI uses to justify the "absent Christ"? Spoudazo, love your expression, "'truth' as a theological sport."

I heard from an innie contact that HQ lost power and the phone hook ups were canceled. I guess this was all the wicked hand of the adversary, out to stop the movement of the word: all that destruction from Ike just to get at TWI. Perhaps there will be something, some spiritual insight, on the next SNS that comes out (this coming Sunday?). Jim, you're excused from listening. Actually I would be surprised if they don't have a generator somewhere to provide essential power for food storage and emergency lighting in the main buildings. And they are pretty good and quick at fixing things that are physically wrong.

Who knows, John, you might find help and support here to sort out some of your remaining residual issues. This stuff, as you know, is very pernicious. I got talking with an elderly friend of mine and her two daughters, who are both about my age, about their experiences in the Plymouth Brethren. It was interesting - they had to deal with many of the same issues that I (and others at the Cafe) have had to deal with. They still have residual issues even though for them it is over 20 years since they were out. They just attended their local congregation - not any pseudo-leadership training to further ingrain it. For me it was good to see that other cult survivors had suffered similarly and I wasn't such a freak. Like ExCath, I suffered profound depression after I got very viciously expelled (marked and avoided) and the idea of suicide briefly crossed my mind (but I though I'd be a failure at that, too....). As Corps and having taken a salt covenant, my sense of failure and my desperation were absolute. Nervous breakdown? Mental illness? Perhaps, nothing diagnosed; I just know I wasn't functioning anywhere near properly. Knowing (via the Cafe) that others including Corps have been through the same stuff has been immensely healing. And every day gets better and I'm more thrillingly alive. I hope your chat group / group therapy brings closure and release to the participants. And to you, too.

Too funny!!!! Maybe it needs to be marked and avoided?

Hi John, nice to see you back here again. You say: "my cult" (speaking of TM) which is presumably a sort of shorthand. I can't think of TWI as being "my cult" but rather, "the cult that I was in." To call it "my" cult implies more ownership and buying-in than I care to acknowledge or be associated with now. But maybe that's just me. Have fun and enjoy life!

Good to know all's well with you! ((Ex10)) BBQ still going ahead then. Never mind the crane to remove the tree on the roof, get the GSers to heave it upright or chop it down for firewood for that fire pit of yours!

RG, that's horrible and completely ungodly. Your son needed love and compassion. Just a kid...kids fidget, make little noises, mess about, and rarely seem to be paying attention. Yet ask them about it later, and you may get a surprisingly full version. Perhaps your son couldn't do that but if you have managed to raise him, with his disabilities, to love God, you have done wonderfully well. "Suffer little children" means "Allow little children" (to come close to the Lord) - not "endure" little children. The "lovingly adopted by the child’s free will. Each individual grows up with freedom of will" bit really got to me, having seen how some parents hit their children for just being kids. There have been threads at the Cafe about the ill-treatment meted out to children; I wondered how some of our patrons who had been say Family Corps felt about their freedom of will. Some kids weren't raised with a silver spoon in their mouths but with a green card there.

That's what I saw on my first visit to TWI HQ - smart and talented people doing menial or even workless jobs. Seriously underutilized. I asked one or two about it and the stock response was that they were happy doing whatever was needed to move the Word, or some variation on that theme. To me, it seemed like they had been bludgeoned into a back alley, but then I thought I was just seeing them at a quiet time. Later, I realized that most of them really were desperately bored. What a waste. Obviously STFI didn't consider better utilization of ability something worth changing.

For Cafe visitors who were raised in TWI. Your examination question for today on the subject of Living in God's Power: From the Way International website, April 2008: "Our Powerful Examples of Young People in the Word "In the Bible, a young person is referred to as a youth until he reaches 30 years of age. To walk in truth and to stand for God, young people need purehearted love for Him, for His Word, and for others, which they learn from the example and training of their parents. They also need the self-discipline to carry out the Word, which is built by the training of their parents and then lovingly adopted by the child’s free will. Each individual grows up with freedom of will and becomes accountable to God for his own life. " Discuss, with particular reference to the words in bold type.

Oh I dunno. There's a cute bit where the man does some "moon walking" in the middle of it. LCM admired Michael Jackson's dancing ability. Looks like this is a bit of a copy... old LCM thinking, too... And the other lot... so disorderly. Hands not waving in unison, not smiling exactly the same, no gestures exactly matching, and one of the principal singers singing to himself off mike while the principal girl singer was singing her bit. ...Hooray for a bit of spontaneity!

T-Bone...nobody in the world could call "mark and avoid" subtle. Not even TWI with their amazing ability for double speak! Love your posts, T-Bone, and often read the books you suggest. Am working through one of the Linda Elder books on critical thinking right now. One day I might get to be as sharp as I was (or clearly wasn't (!) ) when I took PFAL and had all those niggling questions and concerns. Tzaia: "like mindedness" is one of those concepts that was abused. We are to put on the mind of Jesus Christ - not the mind of the "man of God", "President", twig leader or whoever else fancies being in authority. Also, we are to be "imitators" (followers) of our leadership as our leadership is itself imitators of Christ (1 Cor 11:1). TWI demanded followship of the rank and file but forgot about or ignored their followship of Christ.

The essence of Waybrain is not so much the doctrine as the absolute control over what we thought. We were not allowed to consider any teaching/doctrine other than what TWI gave us and our critical thinking abilities were crushed. Coupled with that, we were taught that we were better than other people (and specifically, better than other Christians), and others were to be treated with suspicion. I think (yes, I think nowadays) that if we can get rid of that superiority idea that we are the only ones God will speak to, but instead learn to respect other people (especially other Christians); and if we can examine such doctrines or beliefs as we still subscribe to, in light of what we learn from others (especially other Christians), we can with honesty consider ourselves "de-Wayed." WD, nobody is asking you to abandon all your beliefs as taught by TWI. Some of them are required for any Christian (a belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus, for example, which appears in PFAL but doesn't receive much publicity later). It's a matter of examining one's beliefs carefully and honestly, and adjusting where necessary. And also of continually adjusting, where necessary, as we learn and understand more and we are reminded of other scriptures which throw a different light on a belief. It is essential to understand the difference between what God instructs, and man's instructions. In other words, thinking about and not just absorbing what has been taught. So yes, with an open heart to God, it is possible to be "de-Wayed" - though as a specific time of our lives, it will always be part of our history.

I lived in a country that had a serious risk of earthquakes and every year the government would send around to every household a list of what to do and where to keep it. In addition to what TempleLady says: Don't forget a first aid kit of some sort - band-aids, bandages, scissors, some kind of disinfectant. Advice also included putting a note (actually back cover of the tel directory, preprinted for the purpose) on the door or some obvious place, to say that the property had been cleared of people. Saves rescuers some time, don't have to search known vacant and potentially dangerous sites. A small tent may be better than a tarp. A camping stove may be better than an open fire. Use lightweight pans (not cast iron) which require less energy to heat them. A windup radio is helpful. A windup flashlight is also helpful but if you can't get a windup one, then any other flashlights and make sure you have spare batteries. Some emergency food in cans (and some way of opening the cans!!) Have an agreed plan where to meet or how to contact other family members if you are not all at home when disaster strikes.