Belle

ANYONE not interested in fast cars has a screw loose, imo. But, that's just my opinion! Oh no! Does that make me a HETERO MAN??

Well, Mike, if you or Alan were to come up to "witness" to me, I'd tell you I'm not interested. You're both over the top, fake, and condescending. I live in a rather large city that's heavily populated and I know almost everyone on my block and nearly every one of them is a Christian and we always help each other out and, even those like me who - GASP! - don't go to a church all the time (some not at all) are more loving, kind and generous than many of the "religious" people you and Alan seem to promote. Like it or not, people DO consider the messenger and in many cases the messenger is the turn off, not the message. Of course, in the case of you two, it would be the message AND the messenger. I know you believe in what you do and Alan also thinks he has a corner market on the truth and an obligation to attack everyone on here who doesn't believe like he does. It's for those very reasons that you two will never "win" anyone to Christ. Pity y'all won't see it. None of your damn business, Mike! Why are you and Alan so hell bent on judging, classifying and labeling people????? I don't get it!!! The FRUIT in Rascal's life shows me it's from the one true God. I don't see any fruit in your life Mike. I don't know you either, but I'd expect I would be hard pressed to find any.

Groucho! Shame on you!!! I'm toasting you with a hefty glass of Pepto-Bismol this morning!

Here's the Theme: T H E D E C A D E O F P R E V A I L I N G The Promised Land of the Prevailing Word Biblical Solutions For Daily Living You can see the new poster on their site. And, in case any of you aren't familiar with rosie's "teaching" she usually just reads a bunch of scriptures :blink: and then tells everyone to be sure to buy the new poster and CD.

Here's what I've heard so far: ...Well, our really long anniversary celebration is over. I heard no new announcement except the new theme (which was announced last week) and new poster and new CD. Harvey taught, Rosie "taught" and Jean Ives taught. YAWN!!! As far as Way Disciples---I counted 25 adults going out. Lots of teams are just one household of 3 or 4. Pretty pitiful.

I think the choir and the singing ladies are tired from having to sing the same damn songs over and over again. Having to listen to the teachings too? That would push me over the edge! Maybe they find some excuse to hang out backstage so they can read contraband material or at least plug their ears.

Funny, my Bible says: Amos was an herdsman and lest we forget, Joseph & Mary, Mary Magdalene, Noah, Jonah, the disciples weren't considered "special" people by society in any way shape or form.... You're contradicting the scriptures, Mike. God has always used "normal" people to get his message across. If someone is too caught up in labels, appearances and status then they're going to miss the message. You have to be humble in heart and able to recognize the spark of divinity in people to learn. In fact, as Groucho so eloquently stated, we're all of one body and WE ALL contribute in one way or another to that ONE BODY, like it or not.

Well, the lie worked the first time, why not use it again? :P

Pity, it looks like he put an awful lot of work into it from the website. I hope it takes off for him and becomes profitable for him and the community. How long ago was that, Lindy? Think it's gotten better since you were there?

I suppose it shouldn't be, but it is amazing to me how they skip over those parts and how absolutely oblivious the other TWIts are to it, especially those who were around during the times when there actually were lots of signs, miracles and wonders going on in TWI. (Not related to any top leadership, per se, but on an individual level where people were just glad to see the power of God at work in them and not looking for something to brag about to the entire ministry)

Just wanted to see if you were paying attention seestor ex! ;) If it gets you out of the woodwork and onto the board, then I'm glad it worked!

Poor Guy! Doesn't he know you're not supposed to share da verd with the egg sucking world? We're not worthy!!

What's it like to have to pee in front of everyone else in the bathroom? How hard is it to keep from looking around given men's general concern about size? What's it like to grow up not being able to be modest if a guy plays sports? What's it like to want to act in theater, dance or do other things considered less than masculine in the eyes of some narrow minded members of society?

Well, if Andy's only going to give me one bullet, why bother carrying the gun?

I miss Fall!! :( :( :( :( :(

LONG LIVE THE KING!!

Judging someone on their looks is another comment from our favorite label maker. BrotherSpeed, maybe you should post your "What is a label" quote here, too. I think of Rock Hudson, Raymond Burr, Richard Chamberlain, Jodie Foster, Marlene Dietrich, Drew Barrymore, Angelina Jolie..... Yeah, it's real easy to label people based on looks..... I have a girlfriend who is a lesbian. When we meet for drinks after work sometimes, the guys hit on her instead of me because she is so beautiful. I've been hit on by lesbians and I don't *think* I look like a "stereo-typical" lesbian. whatever that may be Keep on stereotyping and keep on missing out on some wonderful people that could teach you a thing or two about live, love and the truly more abundant life. B)

Tickled to pieces for you two!! Awesome!!!

Ahhhhhh, the other sex....... :P Yeppers! I've wondered: What's it like to write your name in the snow To never have to wait in line for the bathroom To never have to shave your legs or tweeze your eyebrows To not have to worry about your weight To be able to lose weight just by "cutting back a little" for a week or so To be part of the "Good Ole Boy" club To not have so may obstacles to getting promoted To have someone of the opposite sex make eye contact with you instead of staring at your chest. To have the very hard responsibility of asking the girl out To have the burden of supporting and protecting your family To have the priviledge of playing golf as a "business meeting" To make business deals in the locker room To not worry about panty lines To be able to use "It's Sunday and the game/the race is on" as an excuse for doing nothing To experience the pressure to be "macho" and never cry To get majorly aroused just by thinking of sex Yeah, I've wondered about it a little.... ;)

BACK OFF BUBBA!!!! You want to argue different religions then start your own thread! You're trying to get into a doctrinal discussion which belongs in the DOCTRINAL SECTION where you have been invited on numerous occasions. Why don't you ever post down there, Alan? Embarrassed??? Afraid???? Ashamed???? Just too ignorant??? Just too uncivilized??? Been asked by CFF to quit embarrassing them or to disassociate yourself from them??? I think it's all of the above. This thread was NOT started to discuss what YOU think is wrong with someone's beliefs. Quite the contrary, it was to tell someone how Christ-like some gentlemen in HER religion were and what good examples they were. You would do well to take some lessons from these people, especially Mo, who has so graciously answered your vicious and uncalled for attacks. You would NEVER have anyone post about how kind and loving you are, much less that because of your attitude you inspired someone to learn more about the god (lowercase intended) that YOU represent. I hope that no one continues dialog with this waste of breath life on my thread that was to be uplifting and non-doctrinal in nature.

As they endured and stood on God’s prevailing word they continued to mightily grow to the end they turned the world right side up. The unbelieving Judeans grabbed Jason and the other new Thessalonian believers in a vicious attack but these disciples stood their ground and finally ended up being released. Acts 17:10-11 …These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Look how the Thessalonian believers protected Paul and Silas in verse 10. The believers in Berea received this word and worked it daily on a freewill basis and thus it mightily grew within their hearts. The Bereans continued daily to mightily grow and the end result is found in verse 12. Acts 17:12: Therefore many of them believed - also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. We can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily in God’s prevailing Word. The believers in the seventh section grew mightily. They made better use of their time and manifested greater endurance despite challenging circumstances. How many friggin’ times can you say the same friggin’ thing?? Jeez, the poor kool-aid drinkers are probably beggin’ for them to pass out the kool-aid and put an end to their suffering! Acts 19:20 is the apex of rise, the peak of increase in the quality of the word in believers lives. If disciples of the first century could do all of this then we, the disciples of the twenty first century, can too. Now, we will see how to reach the peak in expansion: In Acts 19:20, the seventh concluding summary, God uses a new and different verb to describe the impact in expansion at its maximum level….prevail. What does it mean to prevail? It means to be or prove superior in power and influence or to dominate in prevailing power or simply proving superior or dominant. Craig’s exact words for the definition of prevail Every true conflict in life between good and evil breaks down to a conflict between the true God…and the false one, the god of this world, the adversary. Acts 19:20 tells us that the word grew with such an impact in the hearts of the believers that with his prevailing word they dominated and proved superior over or stronger than the god of this world. Philippians which uses the same Greek word for prevailed: Philippians 4:13 I can do all things though Christ which strengtheneth me. Do is from the same Greek word as prevailed in Acts 19:20. In the prevailing word, we are strong enough to overcome every circumstance. That reminds me of a wonderful incident, one of many that have recently occurred in our worldwide ministry. It takes place in a Central American country where there is a dynamic work of TWI. Here lives a married couple who coordinate the only home fellowship in their city. This past year, they introduced six people to God’s word and organized a foundational class for them. This was our ministry’s very first class ever run in their city. The day of the opening session, a thunderstorm drenched their town. For the first time in 42 years hail fell, clogging the city’s storm drains and causing the streets to flood. Two hours before class the electricity went out. The couple, who by then had everything set up for class, began to pray that all six new students would make it on time. By 5pm, all six had arrived and were seated. The husband walked to the front of the darkened room, turned, and at that instant, the lights came on. The class burst into cheers. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s God’s prevailing word. This couple was strong enough to overcome the challenges of freak weather and a blackout. God’s prevailing word proved superior as they provided the quality service of our ministry’s foundational class to people who greatly desire to build their Biblical understanding. Still teaching that head knowledge about the Bible is all anyone needs and all TWIts are required to do. Pitiful! How can we reach the peak in expansion of the seventh section of Acts? Expansion at every section in Acts is measured in four distinct phases: Sources or centers of outreach Numbers of people Geographic area Sphere of influence How can we reach the peak of expansion as shown in the seventh section of the Book of Acts? By advancing God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world. In Acts 19 there is a powerful record of Paul faithfully teaching with quality service to the disciples in the school of Tyrannus of Ephesus. In only two years and three months, he and his students reached every person who wanted to believe in what today we know as Asia Minor. And here you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen, God doesn’t care about your good works, your taking care of your brethren and your enemies and their physical needs, mental needs or in any other way…..all they need is to hear you tell them how much head knowledge you have about the Bible and how they, too, can be an elitist TWIt. Acts 19:8-12 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus….And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them. The power of the prevailing Word proved superior and dominated the power of the god of this world. Great deliverance followed the quality service of daily, faithfully teaching God’s word. Quality of service being teaching the Bible? Did he skip over the healings and hands on service that Paul did?? He did just read that verse… Acts 19:18 and 19 And many that believed came….. which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before… …. By cleaning house they were able to grow mightily to the end that the word prevailed and proved superior in their daily lives. We can reach the ultimate level of expansion that the first century believers achieved by advancing God’s prevailing Word with quality service to the world. We have built our Biblical understanding of where we are heading as disciples and how we joyfully get there. …By studying the principles recorded in the seventh section of the book of Acts we have seen that we can achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily. We can reach the peak in expansion by moving God’s prevailing word with quality service to the world. What can we joyfully do? Advance God’s prevailing word to the world. God has written his vision in his matchless word. He made it very plain to us. Let us who have read it run with it. Thank you, Father, for your wonderful, prevailing word that you have given us with which we can grow mightily and reach out to a world that longs to know you and longs to love you. Thank you, Lord, for how we have built Biblical understanding about where we are heading as disciples as your sons and daughters. Thank you for our ministry of The Way and every believer who fellowships in our ministry worldwide. We thank you in the powerful name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Next Sunday - Rev. and Mrs. Jonathan Smith

:P We need the vision that Acts 19:20 provides us. Why? Because if we can conceive this vision, then we can achieve it. If we can conceive it, we can believe it. And if we can believe it, then we can achieve it. Habakkuk 2:2 And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. Vision inspires us and gives us the direction we need to grow in God’s Word, and then hold it forth. Let’s examine why God gave the book of Acts by revelation to Luke, the beloved physician and faithful travel companion of the apostle Paul. We are going to read in Acts 1 in order to study why God had Luke record this great book of transition. Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Theophilus is not the name of one person, but means all the beloved of God. That includes you and me. We are born-again sons of God. We are the beloved of God, the theophilus, for whom this first treatise and this second treatise, the Book of Acts, were written down by Luke. ALL BELOVED OF GOD, or only those TWI says are the beloved of God? What was Luke’s first treatise? The gospel of Luke. We are going to look at Luke’s first treatise. The only other place in the Bible where the word “theophilus” is used is here in Luke 1. We are examining why God had Luke write his vision of rise and expansion for us in the book of Acts. Luke 1:3: It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. Here we have it again, Theophilus, beloved of God. As the gospel of Luke is exact and precise, so also is Luke’s second treatise. Both were written with perfect understanding of the subject. Now God does not repeat all this in Acts 1 but refers to the former treatise, meaning the gospel of Luke and its wonderful standards. Verse 4 shows us God’s purpose in revealing Luke in Acts by the word that. Is this a great leap in logic? And what does this have to do with what he said he was going to be covering? Why spend so much time validating one verse? Luke 1:4 That thou mightest know (experientially) the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. God had Luke write his vision for rise and expansion in Acts so that we, today, might have certainty in our growth and outreach efforts. We need this vision of Acts 19:20 because it encourages us to know that it is certain that it does work and that it will work. It shows us the direction to take; it gives us the certainty that we will obtain accurate results as we carry out God’s instructions for moving his prevailing word. Now let’s look at a record from the seventh section of the book of Acts ….that shows the pinnacle of building Biblical understanding as the household worked the word together. Still hung up on “the household”, I see… Acts 18:4 and 5: And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. “Pressed in the spirit” would be more accurately translated was engrossed in the word. While in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, Paul was engrossed in God’s Word, working its beauty and precision in depth. BUT it doesn’t say that he was studying the word. They didn’t have anything but the OT then. Could it be he was, as Groucho has so eloquently explained on Oakspear’s thread, that he was LIVING and EXPERIENCING LIFE according to his knowledge of God?

Sunday Teaching Service - August 14 Building Biblical Understanding: God’s Prevailing Word Emcee – S Daniel God bless you abundantly and welcome to the prevailing word in the fellowship of the household Teaching at our service……. Reverend Steve Crommett, coordinator of the International Outreach Department here at headquarters Prayer: Thank you, Father, for the many ways that you care for us Thank you for the peace that we can walk with as your sons and daughters and For all the blessings that are ours to claim because of what you’ve made available to us through your word Thank you for our BOD and for their tremendous leadership of this ministry Thank you for our teacher, and for all the needs that will be met in people’s hearts because of everything that you have worked in his heart to teach us from your word We are thankful for everyone gathered here in the teaching center, for our children in children’s fellowship, and for all those gathered at our telephone locations. Thank you, Father, for another wonderful Sunday teaching service ahead in the name of Jesus Christ SSDD Announcement: Thank you, Way Productions. Whenever we reach out to others with the greatness of God’s word, we are witnesses of God’s goodness. We are witnesses of the wholeness he desires men and women to walk in in every category of their lives. That wholeness is available because we have a god who is faithful to his promises. Whenever we believe the greatness of God’s promises and act on them, we can be assured in our hearts that our heavenly father is at work backing up his promises to ensure that they come to pass. That includes God’s promises concerning abundant sharing. As we take believing action and share out of our abundance back to him, God promises us great return in our lives. He promises us that all our need will be met, that all grace will abound toward us, and that we will have all sufficiency in all things. SSDD – but there’s not mention of “The MORE ABUNDANT LIFE” or is it just me??? Have they lowered their standards or just realized how empty the promises the are that they’re trying to sell to others? Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you for your goodness that you continually shower us with and for the privilege we have to give and receive so abundantly in our lives. Mabye I spoke too soon…. We are thankful for your word that teaches us of the great abundance in life that is ours to claim and for the principles of prosperity that we have the privilege to live and enjoy. Thank you, Father, for being faithful to your word in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Still only using “Father” in prayers as Craig demanded. Still the focus is on the Bible and on giving. Idolatry at its worst and so easy to see once the TWIt blinders are off Building Biblical Understanding: God’s Prevailing Word By: Rev. Steve Crommett I would like to thank the Board of Directors of The Way International for the privilege of sharing God’s Word. The title to this teaching is “Building Biblical Understanding: God’s Prevailing Word,” as we continue in our emphasis in Rise and Expansion. SSDD Acts 19:20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. This verse is a figure of speech called a concluding summary. ... ... .... .... ... ... blah, blah, blah, blah The Book of Acts is like our roadmap. It shows us where we are in our progress as we grow and reach out with God’s prevailing Word. The seventh section of Acts is our ultimate destination. In this teaching we will build Biblical understanding of where we are heading as disciples and how we joyfully get there. We will identify what is the apex in the rise and expansion in the Christian church. We will examine how to achieve the maximum in rise by continuing to grow mightily in God’s prevailing word. We will study how to reach the peak of expansion by moving the word with quality service to the world. Service to the world?? I can hardly wait to see what they consider that to be! What do we strive for as disciples? ... It is expressed here in Acts 19. Acts 19:20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. This is our central verse. It is our ultimate purpose as we strive to live God’s word and then share it with others in our communities. What makes this seventh concluding summary so special? Consider the significance of the number 7 in the Bible. The number 7 in the word of God signifies spiritual perfection. The seventh concluding summary in the book of Acts is a magnificent scripture that expresses with spiritual perfection, the vision of God’s prevailing word to the world. By the very nature of the figure of speech used in these concluding summaries, they build one upon the other. Not one of them stands alone. They are like the floors of any building higher than one story. They rest one upon the other. Is it me, or is this the EXACT SAME thing they say EVERY TIME they teach this??? How friggin’ stupid do they think the some 3,000 people left are? How bored must they be!

Mo, I just want to say you are the epitome of class and grace. :) Watching the "sermons" on here has shown the true character of some people and your character, I really like and respect.

I've missed comments that have generated a major part of the discussion on a thread because it was edited long after the fact. :( I've also deleted posts that I regretted deleting after the fact. I, too, think two hours is plenty of time to "get it right". If someone wants to clarify or change the entire meaning of their post, then I see a new post as being the best way to handle that so that people are "lost" when they come onto the thread.