Belle

Mmmmmmm peanut butter twinkies? That sounds really good!! Sorry, Twinky. I may have found Twinkie Heaven.....if nothing else, lots of ideas for next year. T-bone, ya just put a package of peanuts down inside that thar RC Cola bottle and ya got yer salty snack, too.

Thanks, Eyes. My fins get around the search feature pretty well, just admiring the hypocrisy of some folks. There are quite a few CES folks who watch this board and do really want answers to those questions. John Lynn and the CES leadership should have answered these questions publicly and among their own people without being asked. If nothing else, these issues should have been addressed on their websites. Why won't John Lynn, Jeff Blackburn or any of the other leaders address these questions publicly? Why does he want to only dialog one-on-one? Because he does not want to answer the questions - he does not want accountability - he merely wants to intimidate the questioners into silence. He wants to spin and bullsh1t his way out of the mess he and his two-fold children of he11 have made of their ministry and the lives they have harmed in the process.

Since you demand it of others, I would expect that you would set the example and provide it without being asked. The way you presented the post is mis-leading - first it appears as though you received that communication directly from John Lynn personally, then you say it's a quote from here, but there is no context around the quote and I do believe it has nothing to do with this thread.

Please provide a link to the quote so that we can see it in context.

Thanks, Tom and Mr. P. :)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope it's real sweet!

My sentiments exactly, Tom.

Well, he's posting at John Richeson's website. Dunno why he can't just pop over here to answer a few very simple, straight forward questions while he's online. *shrug* Here's those questions again:

I didn't - had to look it up. John's Biblical Unitarian website says this: And he says that he will respond to questions sent directly to him. Someone did contact him privately, personally via e-mail. John did not only avoid answering the questions asked of him, but also he tried to intimidate the person into silence. The only problem is, he got the person's name wrong and violated several confidences in the process. He may have broken the law regarding client confidentiality as well. John is being held accountable and he is ducking his responsibility, duty and pledge to live according to standards he teaches and claims to have.

No, No, No.... Moon Pies go with RC Colas!

Y'all are talking about the best movie ever made and the greatest heroine ever and didn't invite me to the party? :( I'm crushed! Someone actually said that I reminded them more of Melanie than Scarlett. Imagine that! :P I should be president of the GWTW fan club but I wouldn't have known either, George. You're good, Sudo!

I've recently been enjoying this site that has loads of free mp3 jazz downloads.

Why is this the ad at the bottom of the page on this thread? Is there something y'all need to tell us about the BBQ? :unsure:

Wow - I don't think I have ever stayed at a hotel that didn't have only plastic cups. I guess that's a good thing, though.... as long as I don't think about the bedspreads, that is..... :unsure: You know you're in a redneck hotel when you phone the front office and say, "I've got a leak in the sink." And they say, "Go ahead!"

I have permission to share this much.... JAL got an e-mail from a Blessed Believer asking him the same questions DWBH has posted here. This person also included a link to this thread and some quotes from one or more of the posts. There was a little bit of correspondence and somehow JAL got the person's name incorrect and, in the process of attempting to intimidate this Blessed Believer into silence, JAL revealed quite a bit of very private, personal information that he really shouldn't have. The recipient of this information from JAL is attempting to locate the people mentioned JAL's e-mail to let them know how their confidence has been compromised. It appears to me that JAL has absolutely no intention of living up to nor following the code of ethics and accountability posted on his websites.

That's the last time they logged in, David, not the last time they were here. I have it on very good authority that JAL has personally been told of this thread and asked to respond and even gone so far as to respond to the request to respond. If you want more details, feel free to PM me.

:o You have Howard Stern's Private Parts???

Welcome, Friend! First round is on the house. Can I get you a root beer float or something? Indeed they do. Pretty sick, eh? Spying on their own people....real Christian, doncha think? They say they aren't members - that TWI doesn't have any members, but that's just a technicality because they do own you - they own your whole life and micro-manage every aspect of it down to your thoughts. Amazing how the nicest, brightest, kindest and most "normal" seeming people can be involved with a group as perverted and messed up as TWI, isn't it? Happens to the best of us sometimes. Some folks are born into TWI and don't really have a choice on the matter, others are recruited and get sucked in during very vulnerable times in their life, others are duped by the sales tactics that TWI uses. All are deceived and merely serve as a meal ticket for the upper echelon. That's the million dollar question, there, Friend. :) If we had that answer we'd have not gotten involved, maybe. Maybe we would have gotten out quicker than we did. There are many, many posts on here lamenting that very thing. Some of us have come to a pretty good understanding of where we were, how we were duped and how we came to see the light - others of us are still trying to figure it out. That's part of why some of us are here. Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic.com and Skeptic Magazine wrote a great book called Why People Believe Weird Thing - one chapter of that book is here: Why Smart People Believe Weird Things. In that chapter he says: Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons. Anyway, welcome! Ask away; look around; make yourself at home. Just don't put your gum under the counter near the coffee pot, that's where I save mine.

Sunny, I remember spending a great deal of time a while back looking for proof of a mustard plant that grew to be as large as a tree and unable to find a darn thing. There are different varieties of mustard plants, but none that grow large enough to provide homes for birds. This website is a fascinating gallery and encyclopedia of plants mentioned in the Bible. *shrug* "suggest to my mind" seems to be the operative phrase here. Although, I will say I agree with him that churches should be understated and humble, not the monstrosities run by ministers worth millions of dollars living in palatial homes with $23,000 toilets. I re-read all three accounts of this parable and do not see in any of them where Jesus says it is "false growth". :huh: I don't see where Jesus says any of this that he's saying it does.He's comparing the mustard plant to the Kingdom of God, not the church.... unless they are the same thing? Are they the same thing? I don't think so, but that's my opinion. What the heck does the Rosetta Stone have to do with this?? :huh: I think I'm missing something here.... It seems to be straining gnats to me.... not much different from what we did in TWI. Here's another way of looking at the parable.... Word or words used before - mustard seed = believing (Mat 17:20, Luk 17:6) Seed = Word of God (Mat 13:18-ff) The Parable of the Sower - (at Mark 4:1-20, Matthew 13:1-23, and Luke 8:1-15) - the freshly sown seed is snatched away by the fowls of the air (satan) If the seed is nurtured, fed and properly cultivated it grows so big and strong that the birds can not snatch it away. Sunny, we learned well in TWI how to twist, manipulate and present the scriptures to say what we want them to say. That mustard seed could be the word of God, it could be a church, it could be faith, it could be any number of things.... all of which can be justified and proven depending on how one presents the "evidence". I doubt if any one interpretation is right - there are a lot of lessons in the scriptures and a lot of what we see, feel and learn from them is going to depend on where we are personally in our own lives, what lessons we need/want to be learning at that particular time and so many other influences. I hope that helps, if not, well, it's been a fun exercise anyway. Thank you. :)

You're contradicting yourself, darlin'. :) You said Jesus never reproved anyone for calling him rabbi and I showed you where he did. Not only that, he put us all on the same level and part of one whole - each one equally important. Regarding pleas for money - the folks I know who are genuinely interested in helping folks offer something of value - I see nothing of value on your site - just pleas for money and a book for sale. Given the condescending attitude with which you post here, I tend to think that your book is no value either. If you really want to help folks - why not donate your time? There are plenty of organizations that could use some help - the last thing we need is yet another ministry. I have several lay ministers in my family. They never asked for offerings or money and they have never lived off the tithes of their respective churches. So don't tell me you need to ask for money, honey. I know true ministers don't - they don't need to. Give and it shall be given to you .... what are you giving, other than threats of hell, condemnation and being spit out of some guy's mouth? Is that really how one brings a person to the lord? That's behavior your god approves of? No thanks. I'll take my chances.

:o But, but.... but..... you mean it's okay to get on the internet?? It's okay to question things, read stuff put out by someone other than TWI? You mean we can actually learn something from someone who might not believe every single thing exactly the way we do?? :P Isn't it great to have the freedom to question things - learn new things and talk about it with all kinds of folks with so much knowledge and to have access to resources so much more vast than anything TWI ever provided? I'm just amazed at all that's out there and how very limited our knowledge was in TWI - yet how friggin' arrogant and egotistical we were - knowledge puffeth up but we didn't even have any knowledge to be puffed up about! LOL! Thanks for the links, Bliss. Thanks for the comments on this thread, too. I haven't posted but have been enjoying reading. Jerry, I always learn from you. Thanks for sharing, y'all.

Sky, I was responding primarily to your comment about feeling isolated: Maybe I mis-understood and for that I am sorry. :) I do not think regular attendance at any sort of meeting, church or gathering is necessary for a person's spiritual vitality. In fact I believe that most of the "spiritual work" should be done privately, personally and alone. I do, however, see the benefit of getting together with others to discuss, learn, question and share - including those with diverse beliefs in addition to those on the same sort of path. I enjoy and learn a great deal from it - I've also made some pretty cool friends in the process. I hear ya! This lady was raised in a Southern Baptist family and was at the church every time the doors were open....there was handbells, choir, youth group, Sunday school, GAs, etc. etc. etc.... you name it - I actually enjoyed it, too. :P Not to mention the fact that it was good for keeping this wild child out of trouble. Would that TWI had been that much fun....

Alright, so, I've been craving my tabbouleh - yes, you read that right, MY tabbouleh - no one else makes it as well as I do. Sooooo.... I've got the bulghur soaking while I chop and gleefully prepare the other ingrediments..... I get to the end of the line - the flat leaf parsley - and realize someone put cilantro in the parsley bin at the store and, therefore, I have cilantro and not flat leaf parsley. :o Belle to self, "Okay, don't panic. You like Mexican food. You like cilantro when it's in the right dishes.... think, think, Woman.... how can you save this recipe???" I add the cilantro and leave out the allspice and oregano cause I don't think those will get along well on my palette. I kept the mint in the recipe since I had already chopped it. I must say.... it's not your "typical" tabbouleh, but it IS good. I do like it! I may even do this again. Ever accidentally discovered something cool?

:) I hope so, too, Tom. I did all this years ago and I did anything and everything I could find to stop it. If I recall, it did take a while for things to trickle down to practically nothing, but it has worked. Now that you've mentioned worry about spam... I'm worried if I put the wrong link in. :( Here's more that a person can do to eliminate junk mail. And here.