Twinky

Well, I'm back. Someone Freecycled me a computer with internet connection just this morning. Aren't people kind? It's a few years old and it's dial-up but he has fitted it with whatever is necessary for broadband when I can get round to organizing that. So i can talk to you guys again !!! It's slow after the broadband connection at work but hey, I'm very grateful. It may not be long before I have to get broadband... If any of you don't know what Freecycle is - check on Google. There may be a group near you. People just give stuff away. Some of it's pretty good stuff. All free. Everyone I've met has been lovely. Thank you all for your birthday greetings. Had a lovely day out. As customary at the church I go to, the congregation sings to everyone who had a birthday that week and the birthday people choose a choccy from a basket of Quality Steet. And the birthday people are prayed for. It's rather nice. And I have seen two jobs that i really like the sound of. Only two - but then I only need one...

This thread is not to discuss one version of the Bible but to discuss whether Peter and the other apostles really carried out the instruction of the Lord Jesus Christ in speaking the message, the good news, the gospel, the tidings of his resurrection and all that meant, in the way instructed - or whether they did what they thought was right and did in fact seem right - but a better way had been directed. The difference, perhaps, between sense-knowledge thinking ("Look at all these people! Let's stay here and teach them!") and following the instruction to get out into Judea, Samaria, and everywhere else known about.

Thanks, Pond. Well I guess I have to leave it to them. I do think Tallie is getting a raw deal but if she won't stand up for herself, I can't make her. Would like to encourage her though. She looks miserable, slinking around very low on her legs and ultra wary. It's easy to forget Tillie is also fragile. She acts very bold in the house, following me about, rubbing up against anything she can (even my bicycle chain today, yeuk, and she wouldn't be scared away) but she is easily frightened and is being untouchable again today. They do seem to play together and sniff at each other in greeting. Tillie is the instigator with everything.

Too true, Pond, cats do watch and enjoy TV! Just dropping in briefly, got i/net access but not for long. Guess what? PROGRESS!!!! Tillie allowed me to stroke her yesterday and again today. She also made a low gutteral sound that was rather like purring. My, she has a wonderfully soft coat. She seemed to enjoy a good ear and neck scratch and let me stroke her back and tail both times. She does not welcome it but was submissive enough. She jumped over the food bowl which is by a wall and let me touch her as she did that and gradually let me stroke her more strongly. She put up with it for several minutes and then turned and hit me (drawing blood) but hey, I'm happy. I need to stop her beating up on the other cat, which now comes out to play but is very hesitant and plays with half an eye on Tillie. She can only play with Tillie's permission and likewise eat only with Tillie's permission. I may need to imprison Tillie in the kittening cage (if I can catch her) when I play with Tallie. I have been putting 3-4 drops of Rock Rose and 3-4 drops Mimulus in their drinking water (which is a good sized mugful every day). I wonder if the product has a diuretic effect, as they seem to wee a lot, but they definitely seem calmer. They also get a quick squirt of Feliway near the food bowl and behind the couch (Tallie's current residence). So getting there - slowly slowly but moving forwards.

Thanks, Pond: Thanks for the suggestions.

Leaving my job today...it would be nice if I had another to go to... No internet access at home yet so will be offline for a while. I will miss you guys. Have a piece of birthday cake and a cup of coffee on me, on Sunday.

Dooj - "eliminate strong smelling chemicals"? This for two cats - that had to be ejected by force from their home inside the sink unit, with all the smelly cleaning chemicals in there? Ha ha. Seriously, Tallie is a very timid cat. She was the runt of the litter and even in the womb seems that she wouldn't stand up for herself. I got them playing last night (well, 2 am - yawn) and Tillie is bigger and more outgoing and just pushed Tallie aside or cuffs her, and Tallie just slinks off and might have another go at playing if she can't see Tillie - or if Tillie will let her. They use the same litter tray which by their choice is in the bathtub (they started using that instead of the litter tray!). But Tillie does not cover her leavings. Tallie does. Tallie now lives behind the couch on top of the cushions for the garden furniture, which are inside for the winter. She stays exactly in the middle just out of arm's reach. But I can peek at her from time to time. Any more suggestions from your book greatly appreciated. They will be starting on Bach stuff from this evening.

"The Word of God is the Will of God" How many times have we all heard that? Who believes it? Some of the splinter groups still proclaim that on their websites and other information. First, we have to define what is “the word of God”? Do it mean, the entire Bible? Or does it mean, the prophecies contained in many books? Or does it mean, the Old Testament? Or just the New? Does it mean everything that’s in the book known as “the Word of God”, like the bad behaviour of David, for example, in his adulterous behaviour with Bathsheba or the engineering of her husband’s death? Surely that is not the will of God? For instance: 2 Kings 20:1 (NIV) 1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover." So that was the word of God to the prophet. Was that God’s will? I don’t think so. Because Hezekiah prays and lo and behold, God “changes his mind.” 4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. But – there is no shadow of turning with Him? That seems to me a complete about-face! There are many other such examples in the OT. From the NT: Acts 5:1 (NIV) 1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ... 8 Peter asked [sapphira], "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price." 9 Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." 10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. That was the word spoken of prophecy. But was it the "will of God"? Who is the author of death? Wouldn’t God rather have had her (and Ananias, when he was confronted) rather to stay alive with the possibility of repentance? Paul’s address as he sets sail for Jerusalem: Acts 20: (NIV) 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. This happened! Was it the "will of God"? I don’t think so!! I know we all believe the “good things” (prosper and be in health; healing, etc, not to mention the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and all the stuff in Revelation) and accept those as “the will of God” – but do we accept the bad things that are foretold also as being “the will of God”? What I’m saying, basically, is that this cute little phrase that slides so nicely off the tongue sometimes conceals more than it reveals. I’m just being a bit provocative here. I know what I believe, and I know what (who) I believe God to be and what he is willing to do. Do we think, ie, engage brain, about this phrase?? (edited because some of the punctuation came out strangely)

Having practiced matrimonial law for many years, what I see is that marriages break down for the simple reason that the parties fail to communicate with each other. They may use words and speak to each other, but a real deep inter-active communication, with a full sharing of heart and mind, is what kills it. It's more than just words. Especially if one of the parties then goes and gets that inter-active sharing with someone else ("my wife doesn't understand me..."). It's the betrayal of the heart rather than the betrayal of the body that kills a marriage. Next question: why won't one (or both) fully share? Usually insecurity. Imagined control over the other (rarely recognized by the controller) by witholding information or by refusing to listen. Anal-retentive two-year olds in 20- or 30- or more aged bodies shouldn't get married. Both of them are probably at fault - they need to spend time together away from everyone else with NOBODY else to distract them (no entourage, no waiters). Anybody know a desert island to ship this unhappy pair off to?

I'm okay, I'm okay. Not feeling picked on. All versions of the Bible have something going for them and all have problems. I don't exalt one version above another. I'm just bored with KJV having read it for so many years and I find more modern versions easier to pick through and get to the gist of it quicker. I think the point made in this thread about the Hellenists being of Jewish extraction is a good point. Why else would they be in Jerusalem at Passover time? Too many just to be traders. But I am not moved from the idea that the apostles should have got out there pretty soon after Pentecost to hold forth the word to EVERYONE - Jews, Hellenists, Samaritans, Syrians, Arabs, Europeans, and all the world. Their first focus would naturally be the Mediterranean area. I am considering the course of Paul's ministry, back and forth, back and forth, spending a while in an area, moving on, returning, ordaining leaders for that area, moving on, going back or writing to strengthen them. He spent a lot of time in Antioch and seems to have used that much as a base, returning there time and time again. Who knows what the apostles could have achieved if they had gone out two by two as they had previously been taught, all in different directions? When we see what Paul achieved in just a few short years - okay, they were not all "Pauls" but God works with heart not natural ability alone - what is some had gone to Egypt, some to more south in Africa, some to Babylon, some to other parts of Asia Minor, some to the islands? Paul wanted to get to Spain but he didn't make it there. It's an awesome prospect.

Give'em that Spiritual Abuse book that is so recommended on this site. They really need to know that stuff.

Ah stop boasting. Petrol is about £1.10 per litre in the UK. Say US$2 per litre. Not sure how many litres to a US gallon there are, one converter puts it at 3.7852. (Assuming that is a US gallon which is smaller than a UK gallon). That's US$7.57/gallon in the UK. Now go cry in your beer at your $3/gallon fuel.

VP said: truth is still truth even if it comes out of the mouth of the devil (or words to that effect). That same mouth spouts lies also. With the truth it adds a bit, subtracts a bit, twists a bit... so it sounds like the truth but it actually isn't. That's what THW's point is all about. If it doesn't change the speaker's point of view, as T-Bone points out - where is the power in this "truth"? If there is no power in it - it isn't setting [the speaker] free - so why should anyone follow the speaker's example?

Hi Dooj. Yes, I'm toying with Rescue Remedy as an alternative. Or Mimulus. They both use the same eating and drinking facilities (Tillie is no respecter of dishes) so it has to be something that will suit both. I got two books from the library at lunchtime: "Emotional Healing for Cats" Stefan Ball and Judy Howard and that has a great big initial section about Bach remedies and later talks about other natural remedies; and "Attitudes, Emotions and the Psychology of Cats" Dr Nicholas Dodman. I thought the first was over the top pop psychology when I first saw it but since then several people have recommended the Bach stuff so perhaps it's worth a go for that and whatever else is in it. The second I just saw on the shelf... Did "The Natural Cat" recommend that anything might be appropriate for cats of 16 months?

Hi Squirrel, thanks for the request. Here is the latest: Tillie: A score on March 25 with the cats, or rather Tillie. I got some liver (to eat) and most cats love liver. I offered her a little which she ignored. I persisted and got her quite interested in this new thing. Gave her a little of the blood which she lapped up and thoroughly enjoyed. She got very interested in reaching up to the countertop to try and grab the liver in a dish. I chopped a bit into tiny pieces and proffered it to her and got her eating from my fingers, even licking them and gently nibbling (in case they were more liver). She will not let me touch her but I am hopeful that that’s one more barrier down and she will permit me to approach her and may soon take munchies from my palm. That’s the plan, anyway. She took a small piece of ham from my fingers this morning. Slowly slowly catchee cattee. Tallie has got used to my routine and when I leave home in the morning she is looking keenly at the door. I fear she might make a dash for it one day when I am manipulating my pedal cycle through the door. The longterm intention is of course for her to come and go at will, but I don't think she is quite ready yet to go out. I am trying to teach her skills for an outdoor life - like stalking, catching and tearing at prey. If she runs off once let out, at least she stands a better chance of survival. She is still terribly nervous but compared with what she was on the day she arrived, she has come on magnificently. She is quite bold with me and even though she won't let me touch her, she will now sniff my clothes and follows me around the house. If I go to the bathroom, she is outside the door within a minute. She throws herself down by my feet and rolls on her back, playing and having fun, so clearly she is relaxing somewhat. I am tempted to catch her by throwing a cover over her but just at the moment think that might undo the good work and the trust that she is putting in me. Tallie: Tallie has now moved out from behind the built-in fridge to behind the couch. At least I can peek at her behind the couch and she isn’t shying away too much. I left some pieces of liver near her lair (behind the couch) but she would not take it. At least she is behind the couch not behind the fridge – a slight improvement. Best thing was Good Friday. I was playing with Tillie with this whip thing that she likes to chase the tail of. Tallie emerged from under the sink unit and peered at us. Gradually she crept closer. Tillie meanwhile was having a ball chasing this whip, leaping and rolling over and having fun. Tallie crept closer and closer , eyes glued on the whip, so I gently started flicking the end towards her and slowly she crept closer and began to play with it and try to catch it. She did that twice on Friday and again last night. She plays hesitantly but given long enough gets quite enthusiastic. She allowed herself to get within 3 feet of me without going into a panic. Amazing progress! She is more scared now than she was when she came (or rather, shows it more, she was frozen in fear when she arrived), but she has not hissed at me recently. There was a time when hissing was progress because she made a noise at all. I need a new name for this cat. Heidi springs to mind. But whoever called their cat "Heidi"? She might be called Hissing Sid but that doesn't seem an edifying name either and not appropriate currently. A couple of helpful tips: People have recommended Feliway to me – I have the spray but a diffuser might be better. Someone else has recommended Bach’s Herbal Remedies – Rock Rose for terror, put a drop in the drinking water and it should have a calming effect. I will try this out – the product is not expensive.

Well, Eyes, having read the exerpt from your website, I see you include adultery and other behavior in the same category and make the point that we don't wave banners outside divorce courts. You know what? You're right. We don't get all het up - because we have become used to adultery as "normal" behavior. A century or two ago it would have been considered deviant and therefore punishable. I do believe homosexuality is wrong. But: I'm not a flagwaving anti-homo such as was taught by LCM in his spit-sessions. We are all wrong in many facets of our lives (what about pride, arrogance, "knowing it allness," to mention a few?). We just try to line up better each day. God accepts us complete with imperfections and knowing that we are steeped in sins some of which we consider heinous and some of which we think of as, perhaps, "white lies" but which are all short of the standard God seeks. The minister at the church I now attend gave a wonderfully tender answer when someone asked how we should behave towards homosexuals. He said that we should make sure we look at the individual and consider his or her needs; that homosexuality was just another sin like so many other sins we all commit; and that we shouldn't make a big deal of it. Those who seek deliverance, seek deliverance, not rejection. I have met homosexuals who are more pleasant and honest than some folks at TWI and far more willing to help with nothing to gain from it. Do we stop being friends with someone because they tell a lie? Or are proud? Or are fearful? Or are shortfused about something? Or have an affair with someone else's spouse? Or, or, or... Or do we enjoy the things we can enjoy and leave the contentious things to one side? Anyway - well done with the book. It is always good to research, study and find out not be spoonfed.

Happy birthday beautiful one. Have a great day. Love, Twinky

Unfortunately I did endure this and there was many a Corps night lashing about it. No tthat LCM would want to make anybody suffer under a load of self-condemnation and misery, of course (tongue in cheek). If you left but hung around you were "harassing." If you contacted anybody who had left/been flung out, you were "unproductive" and they were "destructive." I never understood it then and even less now (actually I had almost forgotten about this). ...Isn't it good to know that NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD, that neither God nor Jesus Christ want divisions in the church, and that we should be very wary of those who cause divisions among us - by introducing, perhaps, false concepts of what kind of evil they were deluded by - especially when it might well have been their sound mind that took them away from TWI!! Now (perhaps) back to the regularly scheduled topic... (sorry, was I being a bit "unproductive"?)

Romans 2:23 (again) Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. You aren't arguing with me, Oldies, when you say that the preacher's lifestyle doesn't negate the message preached. Seems to me that a higher authority has rather strong words to say about it. (edited for emphasis)

A bit "off topic" this, but a couple of months ago there was an article in the NZ newspaper and on the UK news about some man who decided to emigrate to New Zealand "before he got too old." He uprooted and took his wife with him to start their new life. What's amazing about that? He's 92 and his wife is 86. Good for them!!!!!

True, Oldies, we all commit sin. But in context this is getting at those who set out to teach one thing whilst deliberately doing something different. We're not talking about the occasional falling short of the mark but a persistent abuse, a failure to even try to live up to the standard, a teaching of that which the teacher knows in no way matches his lifestyle. Try reading Galatians 5 about the works of the flesh. Very interesting if read in different versions. One version even talks about fits of rage and explosive outbursts. Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (NIV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: (KJV) Paul (the former religious zealot known as Saul, much given to works of the flesh, including murder) tells us to be "followers of him" but I don't think he meant in the things of his sinful nature. And I do not see that Paul continued in the sinful nature but rather that he made such an about-face that those approving of his former lifestyle persecuted him.

That's if we can even get past the incredulous look, to start explaining...

Ithought this bore repeating...

I think it rather that it negates the so-called "teacher" - who clearly isn't living what is taught - and therefore disqualifies himself from teaching and is a disgrace to God Romans 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law [or of whatever is being taught - grace, in our administration], and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law [or, grace]; 19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law [or, grace]. 21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law [or, grace], through breaking the law or abuse of grace dishonourest thou God? 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. I b'lieve the usual word is "hypocrite."

Two points from this thread: 1. Internationals as well as FC usually did two years back to back. It was hard to convince the issuers of the US study visa to grant a one year study visa then out and then another one year study visa, and they would not grant a three year study visa. So Internationals did Yr 1 Apprentice; Yrs 2 and 3 - in rez; Yr 4 =- practicum year (often helping at a Branch or going WoW). Same for FC but I think that was to prevent too much disruption to the education of children. 2. I know two successful ministries run by non-graduated Corps ex-Wayfers. Both international; neither huge, but they are both growing. In different countries. One wasn't Corps at all and the other left after a few months in rez.