Belle

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS, GARTH!!! I hope it's truly WONDERMOUS!!!

Thanks, Notta! I knew someone would know.

Welcome, Pink Lady! May I offer you some coffee and a danish? "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" is a book that helped me tremendously! I must have bought and given out ten copies in the past five years. Sadly, most of the folks I gave those copies to are still involved with TWI. :( Oh well, that's the path they've chosen.... It's worse when it comes to children and it makes me furious how TWI and I suppose the offshoots come between parents and their children. I remember craiggers yelling ferociously about how the Bible says to "obey your parents in the lord" and so, if your parents aren't "in the lord" according to TWIt doctrine, you weren't obligated to obey them. Talk about teaching kids to be obstinate and disobedient!! I hope you have a great, positive outcome for your actions! It's very admirable that you're fighting for them and doing whatever it takes.

Skyrider, she does travel to Gunnison. I have heard and read about some of her trips up there. What I don't understand is why, in the latest rag, they call her Mrs. Donna Martindale. I know proper protocol, according to TWI, is to call a wife Mrs. Husband's Name and a single woman would be Miss or Ms Woman's Name. What's Mrs. Donna Martindale mean? Does that mean she's still married, but since he's not involved with TWI (so far as we know), he has become "he who must not be named"?

It was a simple "yes" or "no" question, Greg. If they don't speak in tongues, you consider them to NOT be born again? Another "yes" or "no" question.... You consider your behavior on this thread to be an example of "charity" and how a "christian" should act?

Johnny, it's a real condition where someone is born with both sets of sexual organs. The parents usually make a decision near birth to which sex the child will be raised and it's not always the best decision based on the hormones that are dominant in the child. Others are raised with both genetalia so that they can make the decision on their own when the time is right. I really feel for these families and the children. It's not a common issue and not one many people understand or sympathize with. But, then again, there are many women with hormone problems that result in excessive facial hair - PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) being one example. These are full fledged women in every sense of the word, but they have too much testosterone in their system and it results in excessive facial hair, male pattern baldness and other problems. Many of these things aren't found out till the woman is trying to get pregnant and an endocrinologist runs tests on her. Because it's an obviously embarrassing problem, most women don't seek help for it because they just think they are weird as opposed to having a hormonal imbalance.

Waysider, My parents, too, are the most giving people I know. They give of their time, money, concern, prayers and even rooms in their home for folks and they do it out of the goodness of their hearts not expecting anything in return. Neither of them speak in tongues, interpret or prophecy according to the ways that TWI taught. Are those things not considered charity? Are they not considered "good samaritans"? "good christians" Greg, does someone have to speak in tongues to prove to you (or your mentor) that they are born again? WordWolf and Goey are very logical, intelligent men and they present some pretty good examples, questions and concerns about the assumptions of you and your mentor. Is attacking them instead of engaging them in meaningful dialog considered "charity" in your book? Calling people names? Insulting them instead of offering valid support for your statements? Not any kind of charity or god I want part of if you're teaching by example of what the god you believe in teaches. <_<

When people acted like we were inferior to them or picked on us, Mama would tell us, "Don't worry about them. Their farts stink too." When we were pouting about something, "If you want sympathy, you can find it between sh1t and syphillis in the dictionary." During our teen angst years and we would come home crying because our feelings were hurt terribly, she would sit on the edge of the bed and cry with us, "When you hurt, I hurt." I love my Mama!! :wub:

Tickled to pieces for you, Herbie!!! Congrats!! Way to go!!! Awesome Job!!! I LOVE it when dreams become reality!!! You've worked very hard for this and I'm so excited for you! Thanks for sharing your good news with us!!

Welcome DD!!! As TLB promised, here is our special of the day.... I hope you enjoy your visit here. :) It's always fun to learn from each other and sounds like you have quite a bit in common with some of the others here at the Cafe. Abigail has been teaching some of us quite a bit about Shabbat and some of the other Jewish holidays. It's been very interesting and I've a whole new respect for the Jewish belief. Looking forward to learning and hearing more from you.

Excellent post, Lindy. I wonder which part of the Bible some will choose to believe and which part they will discard, ignore or justify away.... :ph34r: I would add that Christians are not only supposed to forgive but to LOVE their enemies - would that include Hitler? Castro? Saddam? Luke 6:26-35 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the [one] cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not [to take thy] coat also. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.

I heard real pirates never die, they just smell that way. :unsure:

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Kool-Aide.... or was that rum? or maybe a Moon Pie and an RC Cola....

OMG! :o I would just DIE!! :ph34r: I can only imagine what was going through their minds..... Hmmmm....can you imagine potty training someone for that kind of toilet? Might spare us women some of the horror stories in public bathrooms. ^_^

How many people work at Gunnison and how much does it cost to keep that place open, I wonder. The wc students didn't just work for free - they paid to work there. Twice the income for TWI in that regard. Now how much work has to be done to keep it going? It's a lot of work to take care of all that wood, the animals and such, isn't it? Imagine.... "We boast that we have 12 employees to each wc student!" Talk about attention and one-on-one training! Geeze they probably can't even sneak reading material into the bathroom with that many eyes on them. :huh:

She kids you not, RR. :( I wish she was, but, alas, we felth like he was oh so holy and there were pictures of that thing all over the place, too. Rosie was called a prophetess in the prophecy over her when she was installed as vee pee and that used to be referred to quite a bit - probably still is. But I do know that they play up her "business" aspect of being the president moreso than being a woman of gawd. That's the reason they give for having all the different teachers. They say her job is to take care of the business end of things and, I think they say that they will not have another single "man of gawd" again - I suppose that's just admitting that there never was a single "man of gawd" except that TWI gave that title to them. I mean, if the "men of gawd" that they had in the past were truly "of gawd" then who are they to say, and how can they say there won't be another one? :unsure:

LOL! "Adams Family" Well, I guess if the name fits..... DMiller, I didn't look for a report back to the field on the successful snacking during the class. I'll have to read the whole article to see if they reported on that aspect of the spiritually significant events.

:blink: We've got four more years of that long tag line? I forgot! Thank GAWD I don't have to read or listen to that all time any more. Then, I stand corrected. The new theme is: Decade of Victory: The Promised Land of the Prevailing Word: Walking in the Steps of Jesus Christ

What strikes me as funny about this is that whereas they used to brag about being considered a cult - Today, they probably have had an announcement about this and bragged that they were hardly mentioned in that book. Taking pride in becoming more "mainstream" and like all other "religions", but they'll say they've also garnered more respect. Irony upon irony.... Spin doctors who believe their own hype....the scariest bunch of all! <_<

It would be more honest, at least.

I really liked this quote from their cafe. I understand the urge to "rescue" the woman, too, MStar. :) You're a true kind-hearted soul and you never know what kind if impact you may have had on her.

Got my ragazine in the mail. Beautiful fall pictures of the grounds, many appear to be the same stock pictures we usually see, but they are beautiful nonetheless. No people in any of the picutres…. Dunno why that bugs me; I guess it’s just because I know that the grounds usually look like that – pristine, well-manicured and untouched by human hands except for the purpose of controlling nature. Inside the front cover is an ad for the three biographies – Mrw. W’s, Mrs. Owens’ and Hairy’s. Interestingly, of Hairy’s it says, “….he provided a great example of widsom and horse sense in the finaincial realm…..(the book) will encourage you to see the abundant life that God has made available for all who love him AND practice His principles in daily living.” ***************************** Articles: A Positive Mind-set to Prevail by Michael Fort Count Your Blessings, See What God Has Done! By Louiselle Perry Building Up with Our Words by Kathleen Shaffer Reaching Our Mountaintops by Renita Sage ***************************** At the end of Ms. Perry’s article is a “Read and Do” section. About 1/3 of the page looks like a piece of notebook paper with lines on it. The heading of this blank, lined section is Read and Do: How can I apply this teaching in my life? ** I guess this is proof things have changed with TWI – it’s worse!! Now they’re printing homework assignments on the articles right in the magazine??? Are folks going to have to turn these in at their next fellowship? ** ***************************** There’s a nice little poem by Sarah Shroyer on the Renewed Mind. “Doing the Word, our lives sublime with the renewed mind, we can stand for a lifetime!” The sad thing is that she’s talking about standing with TWI most likely – not about standing with God. :( ***************************** There’s a recap of the Advanced Class of 2006 – “Nearly two hundred fifty students seated in the vee pee double ewe prevailing wurd auditorium received over forty hours of teaching….” “Mealtimes were full of greaet food, fellowship, and continued learning as Mrs. Donna Martindale gave instruction on etiquette to help the students be confident and comfortable in any social setting. ***************************** International Outreach Update Interestingly there are no numbers in this section and only two pictures – one of the Moynihans and the Millers and one of the Adams family. From the article: “In the UK, two way corps ministers have been putting forth focused believing action to move God’s Word as Outreach Ambassadors to the UK. Meanshile, at TWI International Headquarters, the international advanced leadership training was off to a tremendous start. “ “They are working together with the country coordinators of the UK, Mr. And Mrs. Rhys Miller, to further the expansion of the ministry in Southampton, a port city southwest of London.” “Since their arrival in the UK, Rev & Mrs. Moynihan have organized a variety of Word-centered events, reaching out to impart God’s Word to those who are new to our ministry as well as to faithful believers. ...” “Of course, as Outreach Ambassadors, the Moynihans have been working heartily to bring the Word to the hungry hearts in their community. They have gotten acquainted with the city and the people of Southampton by going out witnessing. They’ve been speaking God’s Word door-to-door, at neighborhood social functions, and at local shops. They have weekly household fellowship meetings as well as weekly outreach events for their fellowship and others in the branch.” (Yes, the word “outreach” was italicized in the magazine. Interesting…. ) I have a hard time seeing Bob & Dottie going door to door – I suspect that they are actually doing more facilitating the door to door. It hasn’t mentioned how many folks they’ve brought to the ministry nor any classes being run either. ***************************** Way Corps Class of 2006 Graduates I can’t tell exactly how many folks graduated because the picture is confusing. There are FOUR nicely dressed young ladies on the back row and SIX folks in suits or old fuddy duddy dresses on the front row. :/ Surely they wouldn’t send out a picture with SIX leaders for FOUR students, would they? “Commitment was the theme of the evening….Rev. Greg Bolchalk, the WC coordinator, then shared on the significance of the salt covenant…. The WC are to have the salted commitment to teach and live God’s Word in our day and time. Rev. Rivenbark followed by offering the salt covenant to teach of the graduating Way Corps. This was a pivotal point of the evening, as each took part in salting themselves to God, His Word and the ministry that taught them the word.” ***************************** Any article or section in particular you'd like to see more on?

The Promised Land of the Prevailing Word: Walking in the Steps of Jesus Christ Are they trying to bring back the absent Christ? :ph34r: And how effen long are they going to have that "Promised Land...." b.s. in their slogan? 'Twill be interesting for sure to see what these teachings look like. BTW, my information comes from a very reliable source and this is not a joke - you greasespots now have the scoop. I wonder what the poster is going to look like.... :P

A la, "rape" is certainly a very apt and appropriate word. Ya know, when my car got stolen many years ago, I couldn't bare to drive it after the cops released it to me. I had felt raped, violated, exposed and abused knowing that those delinquents went through "my stuff" - that they had gone joy-riding in my car - gone through my glove box - etc. It was the most horrible feeling in the world and nobody ever laid a finger on me. TWI raped us (for some of us, our spouses contributed) - they exposed the dark crevaces of our minds, emotions, feelings that should be our decision whether to share them or not. They stripped away any self-respect, self-esteem and honor we felt. They stripped away our ability to have feelings, to share those feelings and to disagree, debate, muse, ponder. That's why recovery for some of us is so hard in certain areas, imo. We were emotionally raped and now feel very uncomfortable with some of the thoughts and feelings we experience on a regular basis now - are they good, bad, indifferent? How do I act? We weren't allowed to make our own decisions - everything had to be according to TWIt doctrine, whatever it may be for that day. Yes, we were raped. Thankfully, we've got a cafe like this where we can get a warm blanket, a tender hug, a mug of strong coffee and a sweet roll while we heal with others who understand. :)

ROFLMAO!! Thanks, y'all!! This is most likely yet another exaggerated, idiotic unwritten rule that has come about due to the fact that vee pee has stolen and plagarized so much work that he didn't properly quote or credit. So, now, in order to whitewash those facts, rosie the teacher makes sure that everyone gives proper credit where credit is due. And, since TWIts thrive on OCD Anal Retentiveness, this is merely a natural occurence of said new unwritten rule. Stay tuned next week when rosie's winshield gets hits by a rock while driving down Werewolf Road and a new crew is formed with the express goal of keeping all rocks off Werewolf Road for the safety of all TWIts.