ex10

Call me if you need me.

Well I am on the premises, and I do have gifts and presents, but not if you don't acknowledge my promises or presence. Otherwise, I'm invisible. Just a pigment of your imagiation, as my eldest used to say. Cheers.

Satori, you night-owl, you. Somehow I knew you would appreciate my vacuity. Or ahem, should I say my non-presence. That's what I so love about you, dear. :D-->

After a cursory reading of this thread, (ok, it's late, i'm off tomorrow and drank a glass of wine) it occurs to me that the promises of Jesus' presence, ie in the Gospels specifically are being brushed aside. Or not addressed or something. We all know the verses...

How 'bout "I have no friends when it comes to the word!" I guess VP forgot about Jesus.....

socks :D--> I just had a flashback of Richie D. performing "Who Has Rolled Away the Stone," and being so drenched by the end of the song, he had to change shirts for the next set. :)--> I bet they never sweat either.......

Maybe they should be called "The Stepford Choir" or something. It's actually very sad. :(--> There's no passion, no excitement, no freaking life. Seems they've had their souls stolen....

Actually, I did see VP heal someone once. I can't remember the year, except to say that it was early 80's. I had a girlfriend (a newby grad) come to the Rock. We were hanging out, and somehow bumped into VP. (I think it was backstage.) She had a really bad cold sore on her lip, as I introduced her, VP reached out and touched her mouth where the sore was. He didn't say anything much, just something like glad to have you here yada,yada. No kidding, the sore dried up and was gone in a couple of hours. Like before the main teaching in the big tent was over. (She'd been stressing over it for days.) We were both kinda amazed. It was a small thing, but big in our minds....

Well, I guess I'll make my contribution to the remebering ancient history thread.... Both times I went Lightbearers the class cost 200 buckeroos. Let's see, that would've been 1980 and 1982. Not a good deal for us at the time. :)--> Jerry was also in the 10th, and I'm just wondering how many signees he got on Lightbearers? A couple of times, he almost got lynched while at Emporia, doing his door-to-door speal.... :)--> I remember thinking the aliens had indeed landed and populated Planet Way World....but heck, what did I know? Ah, memories....... :)--> :)--> :)-->

Unfortunately, the way marked and avoided Jesus Christ a long time ago. Seems to me that he is the only MOGFOT that is still alive and doesn't sin. :)-->

Socketcreep I attend a Methodist Church as well, but my experience is far from what you describe. My church is very prosperous, and sends out alot of missionaries to all parts of the globe, who smuggle bibles, run "underground" bible studies, bulild schools and orphanages, and such things. Needless to say, the words of God are held in much higher esteem. Maybe it would be time to find a new church? One without such a cavalier attitude? Maybe you aren't as waybrained as you think? But are just noticing a certain........um....malaise at your church? Just something to think about. I think that people who have risked their lives, and their careers, etc. for the faith and what they believe in, are much more interesting to "fellowship" with. :)-->

Oldies We're all waiting for you to just get over yourself. :)--> When it happens, will someone please email me? Thank you very much. :D-->

Oak The whole house of cards was built on one man, and his MOGFOT status. So yeah, I have to agree with you. :)--> Radar, the reality of life in the cult might have changed radically after the first storm hit, but you gotta admit, the foundation was built on sand. It was doomed to sink. It might've looked pretty at first, but when the strong winds blew, and the waves came crashing in, the foundation was pretty shaky, and fell down taking a whole lot of unsuspecting folks with it. Seems like Jesus talked about this very thing somewhere in the gospels? Maybe he was smarter than we give him credit for, or have ever thought about. Just my assessment. :)-->

Abi Most Protestant churches I'm acquainted with don't charge anything or require any membership or any thing like that for kids to attend. The Methodist church we currently attend has full-time paid staff who teach and oversee the kids on Sunday, as well as offering lotza free activities during the week. My daughter, who is 17, is very well compensated for her time there. :)--> The only thing they charge for is Parent's Night Out the first Friday of the month. It costs 10 bucks for a night of games and pizza for the kids. All the bible studies, confirmation classes, etc. are free. The church even furnishes the books and bibles.

The irony of all this class stuff is that it really has nothing to do with anything except getting sucked into the cult. As if.....Jesus Christ went around signing people up for a class. --> There is something very wrong with the whole premise, IMO. As others have mentioned, knowledge of one man's bible rantings have nothing to do with "spirituality" or being there for those in need. Oi vey.

Thanks white dove. :)--> Whatever, the point is, somehow me and most of my family and many friends have somehow managed to keep our faith; being PFAL-free for decades. Go figure...

I didn't know I was supposed to keep count. :)-->

As a matter of fact, White Dove, I know the last class I "sat through" was in your hometown, I just can't remember when it was. I do remember that you ran the last couple of classes, didn't you? I'm thinking it was probably in 85 or so, maybe earlier that J and I ran one?

Donald I live in the Houston area now, but didn't in the 70's. Of all the exway folks I know here, I can't think of any that were here in TWI way back then. Sorry I can't be of more help.

HA! White Dove :)--> OM, Nice to see you're still your charming self. ;)-->

shaz, Excellent point. I guess we "truly made it our own" after all. :D--> And rascal, your furniture analogy is perfect, and really makes the point. It makes me sad that so many I know still keep God in the PFAL box. I think of the analogy of the bird who has lived in his cage so long, that even when the door is opened, he won't venture out, because his cage is so familiar and all he knows. sigh....

All I've got to say is, that if anyone feels led to work for a Christian organization, or, God forbid, a church, they pay alot better, have benefits, and a retirement plan. :)-->

I recently had a conversation with a very dear exwayfer friend who suggested I needed to sit through PFAL again. Oi Vey... I'm still a Christian, and I haven't had a dose of "the class" for about 18 years. (maybe longer, I can't remember exactly.) What is it that made us (wayfers) think that PFAL was the ONLY TRUTH (as in Jesus Christ) IN EXISTENCE IN THE WORLD? I still don't get it. and I confess, have a really hard time dealing with those who think they know it all. I'm just venting here, but I sure do wish PFAL waybrainers weren't so dam unteachable....and unreachable.... :(-->

Well, I worked on staff at HQ the summer between my junior and senior years of college. Twas the summer of '78. It was alot of fun. The 7th corps were interim corps and there was 100 of them. There were 82 of us peon non-corps staffers including pets. :)--> It was fun, and the barns were still white. Ah, youth! ( I was all of 19 at the time.) I left paradise to go wow and into the corps. Sometimes I wonder what woulda happened if I'da just stayed a staffer? Somehow I feel I squandered my youth...but then again, maybe not. Too bad we don't get do-overs, ya know? Maybe I shoulda gone back to college and lived obliviously on as a well-rounded college grad... Yeah, I got married in the corps wedding, and yeah, managed to finish school, but...isn't it all what we wrestle with? Was it a total waste of time, or not?

Great topic, shaz. To make a long story short, in the mid-80's, I got to know a girl in my twig, who had been an incest victim, I discovered, from the time she was 2 until she left home at age 18. (and got witnessed to.) Her father actually spent time in jail for molesting her. She had been with the way for 10 years, was in her late 20's and had never received counseling for her ordeal, and was having marital trouble. (What a shock, right?) I immediately hooked her up with a sex abuse counselor I knew in town, and she finally got the therapy and the help she needed, which unfortunately led to her divorce. Long story... But when my higher up found out what I had done, as in refer her to a couselor, I got "reproved" heavily. Just another warning signal that I was in the wrong organization. Duh....