WordWolf

"All freshmen are required to take a humanities course." "What's so bad about that? " "Well the choices are absurd. Listen to this one. 'Humanities 1. Man, society, civilization, and the universe.' How am I supposed to relate to this stuff?" "Just don't talk in class, and they'll think you're one of them." "I'm in college to learn about money, not people." "There's more to life than just getting rich. 'People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.' " "People who have money don't need people." "I know, 'Every cloud has a silver lining.'" "No, silver's down this week. Say 'Every cloud has a zinc lining.'"

"On a dark, desert highway"

"It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday, and the manager gives me a smile 'cause he knows that it's me that they're coming to see, to forget about life for a while."

Um, they each feature a Grand Slam?????

Differences of opinion! Differences of opinion are allowed at the GSC! Politics are verboten. Anyone who takes a position that "vpw was the greatest man of God since the apostle Paul" will find they've taken a VERY unpopular stance and will be debated. But they will be allowed to post- as will everyone who disagrees with them. Differences of opinion, agreeing to disagree, and independent thought are not allowed at twi, and never were. So, people used to twi and ex-twi ONLY may find freedom to think unsettling. But it's an asset.

I'm going to speak purely for myself, here. There's some thoughts I've had for a long time, now, but never stopped to articulate them. I just never felt it was the right time, or possibly not the right thread. So, I'm giving them their own thread. Yes, these thoughts are "About the Way" and about "About the Way" discussions. 1) I've been having these thoughts on and off for over a decade, so it was never a SINGLE poster who I've thought of. (So, if your immediate response is to get defensive, it says more about you than about my post. I'd think about that for a moment.) 2) A number of posters over the decades have all sounded almost identical. It was as if someone had given all of them the same canned responses somewhere, and they just learned to parrot them back- rather than consider whether or not the canned responses reflected reality. For ex-twi, I think it can either be very, very easy to get that to happen (for people who have left twi, but twi has not left them, spitting back what leaders said without ever thinking if it was sensible is how twi has always run things, and that's true now as well as then), or very, very hard (ex-twi who have a violent, knee-jerk reaction when someone tries that same bs on them one more time now that they're wise to it), or anywhere in between (depending on where the person is in their personal growth.) A long time ago, before the internet, I saw a local leader do such an egregious job of it that I was THIS close to keeping packets of Saltine crackers in my pockets, prepared to hand him one every time I caught him do it. But he seemed to have caught himself JUST as I was getting ready to start. I think I had a pack ready in my pocket at the time.) 3) There's this depiction- a pretty consistent one- that paints the GSC as a place where people do nothing all the time but hate on twi. It's not even true of our time on the GSC. A lot of posting is pretty neutral. Want to see examples to the contrary? Make a ridiculous claim that twi made or makes. Then, when posters correct you, you can claim they spend all their time hating on twi. It makes all the same sense as claiming a traffic cop signaling you past a hazard is "wallowing in hate" over the location he's signaling you past. 4) There this depiction- a pretty consistent one- that claims that GSC posters spend all their time doing nothing but hating on twi. First of all, check my posting history. That's not even true of the time I spend here. Second of all, you only see me for the few minutes I spend here, and not remaing 23:45 I spend in my day. Imaging I really spend any of that time on twi is a better example of "thinking evil" than anything I've ever said here. 5) There's this idea that warning people about twi or ex-twi groups is "thinking evil." No, it's warning people not to get their car stuck in the ditch! "In vain is the net spread in sight of any bird." If you're determined to spend your money and time on twi and pro-twi things, supporting them and propping them up, I certainly can't stop you. But if we warned you, and you ignored the warnings and went on and got caught anyway, that's entirely on you, we did what we could. 6) There's this idea that not being open to even considering you may be backing the wrong horse is a good thing. vpw claimed that the first mistake Eve made was "considering." No, it was paying heed to a dangerous, harmful predator who disguised himself as someone looking out for her, who got her to expose herself to danger by ignoring the sensible thing to do and trying to join a "privileged group" known as "wise." Is it wise to never look around and consider whether you are headed down the wrong road? I'll leave these quotes that I think are relevant. John Maynard Keynes- "The inactive investor who takes up an obstinate attitude about his holdings and refuses to change his opinion merely because facts and circumstances have changed is the one who in the long run comes to grievous loss." Paul Samuelson- "Well when events change, I change my mind. What do you do?" 7) There's this idea that people who- like GSC posters- warn others about the dangers of twi can't ever even think of anything positive to say about twi, vpw, etc. No, that's confusing the obvious warnings for EVERYTHING. There used to be something touted as a miracle mineral, something that saved a lot of lives in buildings by preventing the buildings from going on fire. That miracle mineral's name is ASBESTOS. I'm sure many, many, many people owe their lives to being able to escape a fire because asbestos impeded a bulding fire or prevented it. However, if you look around, you don't find people going around saying it's such a fantastic thing, and touting its praises. Why not? As you probably know- now if not decades ago when asbestos was popular- the thing has been responsible for a lot of deaths all on its own! Breathing in asbestos fibers is incredibly harmful to one's lungs, and can lead to a problem with its own name- asbestosis. (Feel free to look it up.) You might say that all people have to say about asbestos is negative now, and they ignore the good it's done. I think most people would reply that asbestos may have done well- and I would say it's saved lives- but it's more important to point out the incredible dangers of exposure to this dangerous substance than to focus on some of the benefits and IGNORE the dangers that could suffocate you or kill you. I, myself, started a thread to discuss vpw and wanted his positive traits included alongside his negative traits. I did the same for lcm and rfr. I found it fascinating that, of the three, nobody was able to come forth with even ONE positive anecdote about rfr, which was not true about either rapist/molester. Trying to focus on vpw's positive traits, now that I'm aware of a far more COMPLETE picture of the man, keeps reminding me of a quote, "Now you fellas have said some pretty mean things...some of which were true under that fiend, Boss Grissom. He was a thief, and a terrorist. On the other hand he had a tremendous singing voice." We've even discussed how Al Capone helped feed people in the Great Depression, but nobody ever focuses on the good he accomplished. It's as if people can't even SEE the good he did, they have to only focus on the negative. That's what's on my mind on this at the moment. Every once in a while, I get curious about what source people are parroting that they come off, all reciting the same things. Then I get on with my life because it's neither my concern nor my problem where people get their delusions or their misinformation. I do know that it would concern me if I were on the other side of things- if I could only recite what others had passed on to me...at least at my age. In twi, I was a lot younger, and a lot more naive. I fell for it then. If I fell for variations on the same themes decades later, it would concern me. I don't know why others are fine with it, but it does illustrate some people are really different from other people, on fundamental levels.

If you are CHARLIE, then those are your ANGELS. ("Charlie's Angels.")

This was Smash Mouth (or The Monkees) with "I'm A Believer."

I was hoping for another quote, but this is Styx' song "Mr Roboto."

But you helped me escape when I needed you! Thank you. (You might need to post another quote.)

It's possible to conflate the two- mainly because vpw himself worked hard to conflate the two, and convinced a lot of us, ONCE, that it was so. vpw plagiarized his way through BG Leonard's class, JE Stiles' book, and everything Bullinger ever printed, and made a comfortable living off of it, claiming he was learning all this from God Almighty. When some of these people came up, vpw claimed he "got the error out" of their works- which was a bogus claim. That gave him materials from people who understood God Almighty more than he did- although if they made a mistake, he just copied it over because he lacked the depth of understanding to "get the error out" for real. But he could sure claim he did- and people bought it. The real results came when vpw hijacked the hippies. He read about the legit Christians at the House of Acts- prayer, healing, REAL movements of God- and all by naive young folk whom he could hoodwink. So, he did. He went there, and performed his full act. Trying to serve God, and sure nobody would lie or deceive them, they became convinced- based on all the plagiarized stuff they thought he'd learned on his own- that this man was the great power of God. In this manner, he bewitched them. He managed to convince some of them to join twi. This was how he managed to strangle a new movement of God Almighty among the people, a move that the Devil no doubt applauded. He took people who were already serving God, seeing miracles, etc, and turned them into twi's sales force, quenching the spirit, and making them into income sources. Those people recruited people to twi, and those people they recruited did the same. Any real movement of God's people in twi was entirely due to those people. So, there are people who had godly experiences in twi- due to those people- and were told it was due to vpw, which was all a smokescreen. They still tried to serve God, but inadvertently advertised a movement of a man. Once those people started arriving, vpw was able to put into practice some things he'd always wanted to but never had the chance- namely, rape and molestation. He was able to put together really elaborate social structures to find him victims, groom the victims, isolate the victims, and cover up anything, and silence the victims if they seemed ready to come forward. Confusing twi for a " reformation of the church" is possible if one has no idea what happened, why, or who did what. The House of Acts was real, vpw was a fraud. In twi, both interacted. It's that simple.

You mean, like when Jesus overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and chased away the folk that made the temple big business? Jesus walked with God (and, technically, with Jesus) and he was vocal about some of the crimes done on his watch.

If you're so motivated, please send $20 via the donate button. If you're not, no one is going to bust any part of you over it. But, yes, it costs money, and donations are cheerfully accepted and rarely solicited. BTW, I've been to groups where I was never pushed for donations. Of all things, I was involved for a time with a Catholic church group that never hit me up for donations....although we once did a project to feed homeless, and we did it out-of-pocket. Nobody asked me to, but I opened my pocket.... and in that instance, it actually made a big difference.

They've all been televised.

I don't think that's going to fly with twi in any era, now any more than before. twi was always organized to make a profit, to say nothing of the investments made with the money they squirreled away when they were shaking us down long ago. But, you and them will have to sort that out, it certainly doesn't affect me. (I think it's a good idea, but I don't think they're going to agree, and you'll get an earful, sooner or later, probably with a nice, diplomatic phrasing nowadays.) As for Luke 6, I think Jesus was making a point by way of hyperbole. Luke 6:31 (NASB) "Treat people the same way you want them to treat you." I think that was the main thrust, and a challenge to aim higher. Luke 6:36 (NASB) "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Of course, you're free to disagree. But I think that verse was making a point, just not a direct, literal one. I don't think Jesus was literally ordering us to be victims of every robber who comes along. (And if he was, I'll never be spiritual enough to do it, nor to teach my kid to do it.)

Thank you very much.

"If we're going to just disavow the word isn't there some nice satanist forum out there!?" I've encountered lots of groups over the years, and twi was only one of them that said "You can agree with us or you can disagree with GOD ALMIGHTY because we're 100% in accordance with him, and leaving us means leaving GOD ALMIGHTY." I wasn't sure if that's what you meant, but it certainly could be taken that way, and it sounded like that to me. Of course, you might have meant something completely completely different, in which case, a little clarification would be appreciated (by me if by no one else.)

II Corinthians 9:7 (KJV) "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (NASB) "Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Ah, a REQUIRED 10% or required 15% is "of necessity", "under compulsion." In twi, it's required. I'm sure someone can engage in sophistry about the word "required," but the reality is that it is required. Try to be in twi without records showing that you give, and see how long that lasts. There will be "friendly discussions" about how you should be, and so on. You'll get leaned on. I'm not sure they'll kick you out like in the old days, but it's still required- the only difference would be in the sanctions should you try to disobey the requirement. There will be SOME sanctions either way.

Welcome. Lulu. You may find that there's different types of people here. Some are no longer Christian- partly because twi really made a bad case for Christianity. Some of us are still Christian, and even still believe the Bible's really important (Hi, that includes me!). Some people are Christians with varying beliefs- either far from what twi taught, or pretty close to what twi taught, all depending on our journeys. None of those positions is required to post here. You're welcome either way, and posting friendly is appreciated. Goodness, we've had so many discussions about how foolish, unbiblical and nonsensical the no-debt policy was. Even vpw's uncle Harry claimed you should never go into debt EXCEPT FOR A HOUSE OR A CAR.

I found each of those useful for different things. WhatsApp I use on my phone and find it best for that. Zoom I use for groups with a presenter. Skype was flexible for general and casual chatting, and sometimes for a small group. I even find Discord has its uses. And so on.

That's the one. I still remember the newspaper articles. Larry Hagman suggested JR's mom shot him, and so on. The NYPD detectives got simple. "Forget the motives. Forget the clues. Whoever did it is going to have to leave the show. The only actor scheduled to leave the show...."

Yes, that's it.

In case it's news to you, Skype is shutting down as a service. If you're interested in keeping it, you can open it now while it's still in operation (another few days at most, so move ASAP!) and follow the prompts. It will lead you through downloading Microsoft Teams, and transfer your Skype data directly to Microsoft Teams, where you will still be able to text, audio chat, video chat, and share screens. I figured some of you would like to know that. That is all.

Just FYI.... It sounded like you might be agreeing with Arthur Koestler's "the Thirteenth Tribe." If that's so, you might be interested in hearing that it was disproven beyond any reasonable doubt. We all know that book was pushed by vpw a lot. Then again, if anything was anti-semitic, vpw pushed it whether or not it made sense. "Myth of the Six Million" was also disproven. In case you're unclear, genetic tests prove that the modern Jews are descended from the historical Jews because they share genetic markers that the rest of us do not. Also, there were more than 6 million people killed by the Nazis, but at least 6 million of the murdered were Jews. Some time ago, we went over those rather finely.

Ok, next show. This show has had a successful run, and it has a short-lived attempt at a revival some time later. At its height, it seemed like everybody in the US was talking about it, even those who weren't watching it. A summer cliffhanger where one character attempted to murder another got the entire US (I don't know how other countries responded). In fact, the US Daily News did a feature on it one week that summer, with different people giving their ideas on who was the attempted murderer. Everybody had their own guesses. The day with the correct answer? The day they interviewed detectives of the NYPD and asked their opinion.