socks

Summer school, 1971, first morning on the way to the BRC for some breakfast. Mist coming off the pond, birds chirping. Slight nip in the air and a sweet quaint atmosphere permeating the place, rural, pastoral. Seeing others slowly walking up and in from various spots around the grounds and then suddenly... "Beautiful Ohio" hit the air. Scared the crap out of me, first time.

a lA- Songwriters call that a success. :D--> :D--> :D-->

Shaz, be happy to and glad you asked. Joyful Noise members in the first draft were actually coal miners prior to taking up musical instruments and striking up in song. This accounts for why some of the JN male members weren't tall people, being former miners and of a stature that allowed for burrowing and wriggling around down in very tight places underground. Also the odd hair styles in the early years of JN - it took several years for the hair to actually return to a normal look after so many years wearing those little hard hat helmets down in the mines. Little known fact - mining small amounts of coal and other minerals and ore provided JN with the means to support itself on many of the later itineraries. We were able to sell it and trade it for petroleum products like fuel and oil for the vehicles as well as groceries, guitar strings and miscellaneous toiletries. It was amazing! It proved to be a very useful means of... Wait. Wrong life. Sorry. ;)--> :D--> Ted wrote that song (I think...) if I remember correctly, for a theme album titled "All Aboard!' The theme was derived from teachings and topics related to "the mystery" teaching. It was a play on words, sort of, mining the ore out of the ground, mining the Word for truths, that kind of thing. I can't remember where the imagery of coal miners digging away with bibles in hand came from exactly but that's the general idea. As far as any relationship to coal miners, we weren't trying to come off that way although it's occurred to me now I guess someone could have though that. Outside of maybe using charcoal briquets now and then I don't think we were alleging to have any actual first hand experience with mining. Although we did use picks of course.

Exerino! Plurality Palace...ah, yes. So much abundance....the Plurality Plate seemed so strange to me, don't know why. Not the sharing so much as the fact that there was this plate of moderately tepid food sort of congealing around on this plate and sitting there, "available". :)--> Hmmmmmm... "does anyone want this other biscuit that was on my plate and I put back a 1/2 hour ago and now has carrots on it?" "that's not a biscuit, that's my jello!!!" eeeerrrrrwwww!

On a return visit once to Na Na Land, I was befuddled to hear this one at the lunch table during mealtime: "Plurality Plate". Anyone else remember that?

Hey Mark, couple things to try- go here and download the free Hijackthis! program and install it, run it and see what it finds. It can help get rid of some very persistent pests. There's also a program called X Cleaner, you can get the freeware version here. Install it and go to the Expert tab and view what's in your startup and delete stuff. (It will also put itself in your startup so that it will run when you reboot, which you may or may not want to do forever) AdAware too, as IGO pointed to. Run these, they'll find stuff and you can find out what's on the pc. Might help.

Brother Tom, it's time for that love, the most amazing! love of all, the love all the kids are talking about, the love that gives 100 per cent more protein and 100 per cent less cavities... Sea Monkey love!!! Tell your neighbor you love 'em while singing "Hey Ya!" by OutKast. Now, tell them you're name. Here's mine. (Yeah, he stole it, but he made a very compelling case and I didn't want to embarrass him)

Sooooo....let me see, Paw...if everyone here did that, there'd be some pretty short threads, but very loaded up email inbaskets. Are you working for Hotmail Sales now? I'm just kidding. I was mostly kidding above in my post. I would hate for you or anyone to get out the Rule Book. That's gotta be just....BAD!!!!

:D--> Ha, OM! Personally, I'd like to see Pat taken out and thrashed right now. Enough is enough. :D--> Did you really put their first name up, Pat? That's not kosher ever. What a quote though, and worth reading: "Things have changed and our ministry is stronger than ever"...that's like the captain of the Titanic saying "Waddya mean the boat sank??? It just changed direction!"

This new development is, in fact, both exhilerating and joyous for many many people I'm sure. The Way Internationale Carnivale, answering their phones, answering simple questions, and actually selling books to - not just the Holy Roller Disciples, but anyone, average people, perhaps even people who can't read but just want them for the pictures. Wow. What next? Maybe next, if everyone prays REALLY HARD, they'll actually let the staffers have antennaes for their TV's so they can watch the Lima news. (smack!) Stop it socks! Baby steps! Baby STEPS!!!!

I see the unborn baby, the fetus, the child in it's earliest and later stages of growth as a living person. I agree that the baby doesn't as yet have it's own "breath life", that is independent (of the mother) life and consciousness to the end it can decide important things yet, like if Wendy's fries are better then MacDonald's, but I don't think that makes the unborn baby any less a living entity. Jesus's teachings on obedience to the law figures in to my thinking here. Jesus taught that a person could do wrong before God in their thoughts and intents, not only in their actions. If you cheat on your wife, you commit adultery. If you think about it and want to do it, the wrong is the same as if you did it. As in, it's not simply the end result in action that is meaningful, it's the desire to do so. Intent. I consider that in regards to this - whatever the path to it, the human's formation in the mother constitutes a life which, if it follows it's natural course succesfully, will produce a human being. The intent is life. I'd also want to see every option for the health and safety of both the mother and infant available. High risk situations would need to be considered as such. I guess I'm "pro-choice" but with a few asteriks. Choice with responsiblity and direction.

I responded there, Jonny, guess it'll appear later. I'm really sorry to hear that. You're in my prayers, friend. I know it's a loss, a big empty hole. It will fill with all of the love and thoughts you have of him. You and your family are in my prayers. 1 Cor. 15:51, 52, 58

Happy Happy Birthday, A la!!! That's amazingly wonderful!!!! So good to see everyone. JL, must hear the stories you have to tell! The desert experience really answered some things for me. I'm sure there's evidence there of a past colony of highly advanced Amazing Sea Monkeys! For instance I found some "Shrimp Plants", or "Justicia brandegeana", a flowering desert plant whose blooms resemble...shrimp!!! They're beautiful, and could be the remanants of the huge aqua-cultures believed to be grown by the ancient ancestors of today's sea monkeys! (Dr. Frederick G. Gilley's "Big Book of Brine" speaks of these legendary aqua-cultures in chapter 3, page 1277, noting that while the western USA was once covered in water these "Shrimp Plants" could be proof of the incredibly advanced technologies of ancient Sea Monkey! colonies in that even now in the dry desert, they still grow! and resemble those original brine-shrimp farmers that grew them underwater! Think about it - whole watery ranges of Shrimp Plants, grown with love!) It's all so amazing!!!

Hmmm...wonderwon, some people that want nothing to do with the ministry have other reasons besides hurt. Doctrine, for one. If you disagree strongly with what the Way teaches in one or more area. Besides the tripe that Craig Martindale came up with the last few years of his residency at the Way they pretty much haven't grown in what they've taught or believe for many years. They hold strongly to the idea that they have it all wrapped up in the basic precepts of the original PFAL class. Add to that the muddled mess of what LCM came up with - prevailing in the promised land, "WOW" being accomplished, etc. etc. and they're not much good for anything to a person that really wants to know Christ and understand the bible in a constructive way. I don't really agree with you that when we get hurt we don't make change as a result. If an employer is dishonest, you'd be advised to quit if there's nothing you can do to change it. Better to quit than be a party to the dishonesty. If a marriage partner is abusive and won't stop or get help, you'd be advised to get away from them. Unless you like being abused or figure you'll put up with it for one reason or another - the kids, the house, the family, etc. Those can be pretty sorry situations for the people that get stuck in them. We all hurt each other. When we make a practice of it, rationalize it and defend it and continue it, something's wrong.

Sounds like a real uh, blast.

Brother Tom, the trip to the desert was illuminating, to say the least! Reams of data, so much to collate! I'm still sifting through it all. I want to pass on an event that was extremely unusual, to say the least. I still can't quite explain it, but I'll try to describe it. It was the 3rd night out, approximately 75 miles north east of Barstow, out in the open desert. We'd just finished dinner, cooked on an open fire, and were feeling tired from the day's exploring. Clear night, nearly a full moon and the heat of the day was quickly being replaced by a refreshing cool. Nothing like that desert cool, where the sand's still a little warm but the night air starts to chill. Off to the right a small jack rabbit came ambling up, cautious, probably smelling the food. He kept getting closer, moving up then back then up again. I reached in the pot of stew still out over the coals of the fire and pulled out a small carrot piece and held it up. His nose wiggled and he stopped and watched intently as I let the breeze catch it's scent and then I tossed it off about 20 feet away from the camp. What happened next...well.... He went around in a circle, cautious, and came up from the right side to where the carrot was laying and stopped. I suddenly noticed there in the dim light a slight shimmering in the air in front of him, between he and the carrot, much like the way the air above the hot sand shimmers during the day. It seemed strange as it was getting cooler and it was nearly dark. But I could see a distinct movement in the air almost like a shadow, but clear. It's hard to describe even now. I leaned forward for a better look and indeed, it seemed the space from just in front of where the carrot lay was quivering ever so slightly, as if diffused through a filter. The more I looked the clearer I could see it although I hadn't noticed it at all earlier in the bright sun - a space about 4 feet wide and 5 feet high of pale, undulating gray-ish white light. I was just about to move closer to see what it was when the little rabbit hopped forward to get the carrot and crossed over into the shimmering space. And suddenly, he was gone! I sat there for...several minutes? I don't know how long really. Staring, trying to see where the rabbit had gone. It seemed like the entire desert had gone silent. Off in the distance the wail of a coyote broke through and I jumped a foot! Scared the crap out of me! I got up and stepped forward and then suddenly, just as quickly and clearly as he'd disappeared, the rabbit stepped back into view...out of nowhere! I could't believe it...he looked at me for a long second and then turned off to the other side and took off. In a second he was gone and I was alone again. Mrs. socks came out of the tent and sat down, I guess the look on my face caused her alarm. She asked me what I was doing. I just looked at her and said "I don't know". What this has to do with our Sea Monkeys! research developed over the next two days. I'm still typing out the notes. All I can say is, it was amazing!!!

Ha! Bluzeman, is it an "Aquamarine Blue" book? :D--> By the way, I just about popped a gizzard on the Wonder1 thread, Bluzeman. You openly stated the real purpose of GS! I hope everyone can handle it! :D-->

I can think of several answers that might apply- 1) This is America, the Good Old USA, home of the brave and the one-finger salute. Asking an American why they bitc H is like asking a tic why it bites. Why? Because we can. 2) "If the ministry was really that bad" is a relative perception. Some people like what was taught but didn't like the nut cases running it. Some people didn't agree with what was taught or the nut cases running it. Some people didn't like being treated like severely retarded dogs with bibles. It goes to show one thing - if you screw enough people enough times and think you can get away with it you're not going to get much slack and you're going to hear about it. 3) Ask the mother who started MADD why she's so peeved about drunk drivers. When it happens to you, it's personal. 4) I left the Way about 15 years ago. I tend to not talk about it a lot. When I do, this is a good place to do it. The real purpose of this site is what Goey stated. If you think it's something else, say on.

Yeah, like housisarockin' say! There's a part of hip hop that's really humorous, the sounds. A lot of "rap" is just so over the top hilarious I kind of like it. As long as nobody gets hurt. The Amazing Sea Monkeys! are lovers, not fighters! And it's time to wage war! Uh, hey. I'm your neighbor, right? Tell your neighor ya lub 'em. :)--> And swim......swimmmmm! It's all so amazin' !!!

Do a search for Outkast. They've been around for awhile but hit it big in the last year with the radio friendly and highly funky tune, "Hey Ya". It's has a rock feel and a killer chorus. It's been all over everywhere it seems, check it out! They wear various costumes and looks. The two lead singers actually have very good voices, sort of r and b stuff. I should add it's not quite G rated entertainment in parts, but it's such a silly goofy song it's good.

Oh yeahhhhh! SWEET! How were they? Wild? Crazy? I wanted to catch it, missed it. Heyyy yaaaaaa! :)--> Says it all. End of story. Bada bing bada boom.

If you say "God bless you!" 50 times a day but then feel weird saying it when someone sneezes, you might be in a cult.

Outdoor bathing, in and on your premises was common at that time. Nothing in the record indicates Bathsheba did anything out of the ordinary. David's armies were out battling, he was hanging around at home, being "king". David should have been popped for his transgression by Law - Lev. 20:10 and Deut. 22:22. The penalty for adultery was rather stringent, although probably not applied at all times. That's why when Nathan confronts him and David repents Nathan tells him he won't die, ie, be forced to pay the penalty. Which says something about David because for all he knew the next step could have very well been to accept that penalty at that hand of Nathan. But by that time he'd been living in guilt for a long time. David had gone through months of guilt and condemnation over what he'd done. Figure when this whole thing set up he was hanging around at home diddling around when his armies (and Uriah) were out doing battle. David was a warrior king and had made his reputation on the fact that he led his armies and had killed his "10's of 1,000's". David had no problem killing people in fact he seems to have been pretty good at it. At this point he's off the field and staying home. When Nathan tells him the story about the guy and his sheep, you can see how out of balance and self-righteous David had gotten. The penalty for stealing another guy's animals was restitution, but David puffs up and declares "Kill the guy" in addition to that. No doubt he embraced the chance to declare how bad someone else was and make them an example, given that he was living with his own condemnation and hiding it. David as recorded was certainly a man of unique ability and one who did great things. But he was also a man who managed to pi$$ away his life at that point. What he did with Uriah and Bathsheba is indicative of where he was at.

Those minkees be smilin'! Now we're having fun!

Greetings, seekers of Amazement! :)--> It's good to sea everyone!