WordWolf

*staggers in with a lampshade on his head* Wow, now THAT was a party! Oh, sorry Twinky. I didn't realize you'd posted again, since you said you weren't interested, so I thought the thread never updated. Since I have a multi-national family, I've got a few teams to root for- up to 3 of them, depending on who qualifies for the World Cup. If all 3 qualify, then the first week gets really, really busy. If they all make the round of 16, it can stay busy, too. Worse, if they play each other, then we watch on separate TVs then celebrate whichever team moves on. In answer to your question, both the US and England moved on to the round of 16, washing out Wales in the process. It used to be said that "Americans will never embrace Soccer." I think that's been changing over my lifetime, especially the last 20 years. The US' soccer league is looking serious, and we now have US players who have been scouted to Europe, and normally play on European leagues. So, each World Cup, the US seems to be doing better, which I'd expect with more of them playing in the European league (since the US league is still improving.) Over the next several World Cups, I'm expecting the US to provide some excellent matches, and to work their way into the round of 8, at least, possibly the final 4.

I'll get back to this soon. In the meantime, have a happy...whatever.

Wild swing here... "The Saint"????? I've read several of the books, but the movie was only vaguely inspired by the book series.

I should have jumped in with Geena Davis, but I've been running around like crazy. Especially the last 14 hours or so with all the partying. So, the neighborhood has settled down, I've gotten some sleep, and can answer. In this case, let's see... The Producers Will Ferrell Anchorman-the Legend of Ron Burgundy

Based on the "same clothes so footage could be reused", I'm going with the live-action show "The Adventures of Superman." (That black-and-white one.)

Christopher Plummer?

It also played to his strengths. You can plagiarize your way into faking a TEACHING ministry, but you can't plagiarize your way into a HEALING ministry. He could take the work of others, stand up, and with the skill of the barker fake a teaching ministry because it looked like he was really a teacher. He couldn't use the skills of a barker and plagiarizing the writings of others to fake HEALINGS. That's often been a weakness of twi, and some point to that as why its founder wore glasses when he supposedly could believe for perfect eyesight, and he died YOUNG of extensive cancer as the result of decades of chain smoking and heavy drinking when he supposedly could believe for perfect health.

This may be a new idea TO YOU, but it's an old idea to nearly 100% of everyone who ever took a pfal class, because they all left twi and did something else. Many left to join smaller, decentralized groups, if only for a time. So, let the people who care more about the organization than about what God said and what the Bible ACTUALLY said have the buildings and pay the rent, and the rest went off to serve God somewhere else. This is an old idea that goes all the way back to the book of Acts and the School of Tyrannus.

Who is my neighbor? Jesus explained that one with a parable about a Jew who needed help, and, of all people, one of those stinking, lousy, no-good, low-down SAMARITANS was the person who helped him. Jesus made it clear that SAMARITAN was the one who "was neighbor" to the Jew who needed help. It was such a noxious concept that the Jew who asked him couldn't bring him to say "the SAMARITAN who helped him", but said "the one who showed mercy on him." Jesus, having told the parable of the Good Samaritan, said to do like that guy. "Go and do thou likewise" is how the KJV renders it. So, who's your neighbor? According to Jesus, you can't exclude that Muslim, that Jew, that Black guy, that Asian guy, that Pakistani, that African dude, that redneck, that smug anti-Christian, that Pastafarian, etc. Jesus set the standard very high, and said to do that.

In short, if you love God with everything you've got, and love your neighbor like you love yourself, nobody has to tell you not to steal, not to kill, etc,- BECAUSE YOU'LL AVOID DOING THEM WITHOUT SPECIFIC RULES. vpw's own rule was different: "If you love God, and you love your neighbor, you can do as you fool well please." He started with loving God and neighbor, but changed that you would follow the rules automatically (which is interesting because he mentioned that quickly in passing.) Why the difference? vpw went in small steps from what the verses said, to what he WANTED the verses to say. He went from "If you love God and love your neighbor, you'll follow the whole law automatically" to "so long as you love God and love your neighbor, you can do as you fool well please" to "anything done with the love of God is pure" "to the pure, all things are pure" etc. In small steps, he went from "obey the law out of love" to "you can do whatever you want and it's fine". Why did he want that? He wanted to justify doing whatever he wanted and wanted to pretend God Almighty was fine with that. It's no different than when he told Jim D00p that God Almighty was fine with ORGIES and tried to use a verse to justify it. For those who wonder where you've seen the small steps before, it's a very old technique. Someone went from "Has God said 'you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" step by step to go from "you shall surely die" to "you shall not surely die". Whose techniques did vpw copy? BTW, did vpw do that knowing enough about the Bible to know whose work he was copying (knowing he was copying the devil's playbook to rationalize the sin he himself wanted to do) or was vpw that deficient in the meaning of Scripture that he ripped off the devil's own techniques, techniques mentioned right in pfal, out of ignorance? It was either one or the other. (Usually, when there's a conundrum like this, where all possible answers are bad, someone makes a personal attack on me, so it's probably time for that very thing now, for those arriving late.)

"Why VPW would cheat at research? I figured then, no one's perfect. But I was sad about it. Then 1998 rolled finally around two decades later and I got my answer. I was stunned at what I found, when I considered the possibly deeply that the 1942 Promise actually happened. I had treated it as an exaggeration, or a figure of speech or something. I figured he was only 26 then, so no big deal. I just didn't know until 1998. Now I understand." ==================== But the 1942 Promise has been scrutinized from several angles, and has been proven to NOT have happened beyond any REASONABLE doubt. It was never meant as an exaggeration, nor a figure of speech. It was something said by someone, who knew it was not true, who intended that people believe it. In other words, IT WAS A LIE. The several angles are quite easy to review- for anyone who isn't afraid of what they might find. https://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/topic/24980-concerning-the-failure-of-the-1942-promise/

Jacob tried to marry Rachel, and her father agreed- but when it was time for Jacob to marry Rachel, Dad offered Leah instead. Jacob married her and then eventually convinced Dad to let him marry Rachel. So, Jacob had 2 wives- Leah (whom he didn't want to marry) and Rachel (whom he wanted to marry). Jacob/Israel had 2 sons of Rachel- Joseph and Benjamin, and all the rest from Leah. Joseph was his favorite- and when the others faked Joseph's death and sold him into slavery, Jacob/Israel's favorite was then BENJAMIN. Why it was cool with everyone that all of that business between Jacob, Dad, Rachel and Leah was never explained.

That guy took a lot of liberties with his numbers, then "concluded" that 1 in 5 women are in a polygamous relationship, whether they know it or not. Normally, when you end up with a conclusion that's THAT far off reality, a sensible scientist will go back and review all their steps, looking for where error was introduced.

The real thing was a LOT more exciting than you're picturing it. "The huge, stupid, nostalgic error of Paul" was consenting of Stephen's DEATH, and planning to have all the Christians rounded up and imprisoned, including women and children. There's also no guarantee any elder was "possessed". We know one had sons who were really messed up, but otherwise, their problems could all have been greed, pride, and corruption. The banning of the research paper that condemned adultery was completely an attempt to cover up the adultery. By preventing (they thought) any discussion and any thinking on the subject of adultery, they thought they could keep getting away with it- and some of them DID. I Corinthians 13:6 KJV. "6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;" It means that I should not join in when someone suggests that orgies are fine with God and tries to twist the meaning of a verse to allow that. It also means that I should take my joy in actually knowing the truth on sexual morality and base my OWN actions on the truth. There's a great, big world out there. There's lots of opportunities to apply the verses of the Bible, not just the opportunities endorsed by Mike. There's lots of people who need God's Love. There's a lot of hearts that need healing. There's a lot of bodies that need healing. There's a lot of lives to effect. There's a lot of differences to make. In many of them, people welcome the chance to change or get God's help. We don't need to confine our efforts to a handful that have already been resistant to any such help- but if they show themselves ready, we CAN offer them a hand up if it seems to us the time is right- and that's only by our sole estimation.

Somehow I get the feeling the answer is going to remind me of someone successfully making boogie robots and a fart gun.

Mike, there's an assumption about the GSC that completely ignores why it's here. Your assumption is- unless we're interacting directly with people in twi, the GSC isn't getting anything done" is NOT borne out by the evidence. The GSC has been very effective in reaching two groups of people, each in a different way. A) The GSC has been there for ex-twi to learn about things hidden from them, and how life can continue WELL after twi, no matter what lcm said. Many posters have come forth attesting to how important the GSC has been in that department. (I don't remember giving it the credit before, but I'll say now that it helped me a lot post-twi. B) The GSC has been there for current twi to read while still in twi. twi tells them that their lives are forfeit if they leave twi. Then they visit a website where ex-twi people prosper and lead happy lives, often leaving the website behind when it suits them. They also read all sorts of things twi has hidden from them, and learn the truth about many things. Many posters have come forth attesting to how important the GSC has been in that department. The GSC has made a lasting difference in the lives of MANY people, and been a reason many left twi or never returned to twi. If you want to have a chat with people in twi, and have them blow smoke and claim something will change in twi, well, that's your privilege. I'd rather actually make the difference by people leaving twi entirely- which has happened to plenty of people who were in twi, and then started reading around here. BTW, it is still possible for people IN twi to post here. They can remain anonymous and just have us know them by their thoughts- based on what they post. We've even extended an invitation to do that to lcm if he ever wanted to join. So far, neither they nor JAL ever excepted an invite. In the case of JAL, it was clearly the result of not wanting to communicate anywhere he could not control the microphone. I expect twi people have the same problem, lcm included.

Ralph D, to name one, was given the "bums-rush" out- he was forbidden to interact with anyone, and was kicked off-grounds within a few hours. Yes, they had him guarded to make sure he didn't speak to anyone.

Don't rush on my account. I have holiday presents/shopping, end of school semester, and the World Cup Finals to deal with, myself. (And that's all I'm posting about publicly, but not everything keeping me busy.)

twi always silenced ANY dissent. The chance to say ANYTHING that twi didn't fully endorse was revolutionary. The GSC gave the other side. It was such an amazing thing that even twi'ers came to the GSC to learn about what was CURRENT in twi, because twi was silencing even discussion of what they were doing THAT AGREED WITH THEM. That's why twi insisted that the GSC post their rebuttal when they turned Mrs W out on the street when she needed continuous care. They tried to hush it up, it was posted here, and suddenly everyone in twi knew about it. They preferred admitting their people's main source of news of twi was us than trying to do damage control without something posted here. They even forced that guy to shut down. He ran a messageboard that was rabidly pro-twi, and closed accounts of anyone who wanted to discuss twi other than abject adoration, no matter how mature and polite they were. And twi closed him down because they preferred a blackout where they controlled everything and silenced all discussion. That was when we were allowed to edit our own titles. You giving yourself that title didn't make any of it so. If you'd labelled yourself "pea soup" or "apple butter", that wouldn't have changed the contents of the jar of pickles, either. I can't tell if you've really descended to this level of stupidity in truth, or if you're just being rude and know better. 1) The GSC is not a religion, nor does it even have a consensus. The GSC has devout Christians and dedicated atheists, and no catechism of any kind. (There's a number of other religions represented here, also.) 2) Nobody here's "acting like this is a religion." 3) There's no "pure other side", although there are lies and truth. 4) Your points are not only unproven, but they're wild accusations that are even less connected to reality than your usual posts. Perhaps you're on an insufficient dose of medication, or suffering from food poisoning right now. 5) Nobody guaranteed "free speech" on any messageboard. There is no constitutional right to the GSC. The GSC is privately-owned. If the staff says you're no longer welcome- which generally comes only after some EXCEPTIONAL rudeness and refusal to discuss like an adult- then that's that. Arriving at a white supremacist group and condemning Hitler and trying to recommend inter-racial marriage will get you shown the door REALLY fast. Showing up at the GSC and trying to get people to exalt vpw as God's Mouthpiece actually doesn't get you shown the door. Being exceptionally rude about it will get warnings and eventually a ban. But there's been any number of posters who were not banned for it- including yourself.

The GSC is not a "religion" by any sane definition of a religion, nor any definition I can find outside of your own made-up one, whatever it is. The GSC is not a "pure" anything, and there's no "official" party line. Lots of people disagree here and post all the time. That's been true for its entire history. When people post outright lies, however, they are often called out on it, even by people who agree on little else. That you have the nerve to claim otherwise after all the time you've spent here either means your "spiritual understanding" is that deficient it can't tell the difference- and you then turn around and berate others for not agreeing with you and falling in line with your discoveries of "secret meanings", or you know full well that your posting outright lies, and are perfectly comfortable doing so- then turn around and berate others for not agreeing with you and falling in line with your discoveries of "secret meanings."

It's rather obvious when you review the first segment of Session 1. At the very first verse, vpw made it clear that he was talking about financial abundance, material gain. I'm aware that there's always someone willing to try to explain it away, but it's never by actually addressing what vpw said. vpw was very clear and straightforward on the subject.

To say nothing of the fact that Walter DID run his own thing after he jumped ship, and, if he'd had the leadership abilities to actually run things, an entire new ministry would have re-formed around him, with more than 1/2 the ex-twi community following him. There were people who WANTED to take their cues from him at the time, but little came of it- and that was back when 4/5 of the twi regulars had all jumped ship TOGETHER, to say nothing of 4/5 of the local leaders. If he had the ability and the drive, it would have happened organically over the next few years. It didn't happen. It didn't look like it was GOING to happen.

It surprises nobody that you'd endorse that. His "analysis" included speculation that contradicted eyewitness accounts of what happened at the time, and skipped all the responsibility vpw had in the situation.

You never heard anybody say it because it never happened. vpw had the sole power to determine his successor- which is how vpw wanted it. When it came time to OFFICIALLY appoint a successor, vpw went through that sham of having people write down who they thought should be it. He also had the top people vote. Neither meant ANYTHING. lcm was not written in as a serious contender, nor did the top people vote for him. It didn't matter, because vpw had picked lcm long before any of this. When someone asked vpw (at the time, immediately after his announcement) why he picked lcm, vpw didn't hesitate in telling them the sole reason was that lcm never questioned vpw, when vpw gave him an order, lcm did it automatically. vpw only had 2 people, that we can see, who were willing to run off a cliff if vpw said to run off a cliff- lcm, who had been there longer, and cgeer, who had not. vpw had already sent cg to Europe so lcm and cg didn't have to share a stage. When you follow lcm's accounts of the time, it's also clear- although it probably wasn't clear to lcm- that vpw had him in mind several years before his selection- in fact, before even putting lcm in charge of the corps. Once he'd done that, vpw had pretty much locked onto the idea and stuck with that. In fact, it seems the sole reason donna started dating lcm in the first place! lcm's own account mentioned he was interested in her, vpw went off to talk to her, and vpw told donna lcm was going to be the big cheese in twi- which was when they STARTED dating. Her own accounts before that had been that she intended -sometime in the future- to marry a guy who was going to be a rising star in twi, period. So, what made lcm a "serious candidate" was vpw's sole estimation that lcm was loyal to vpw even unto painful death. As it turned out, things didn't work out at all like vpw expected, but that's vpw's fault. The top people at twi had their own ideas who it should be- and nobody said lcm was an excellent choice. The best anyone said was that he'd run the corps, so the corps should go along with him as leader. Nobody ever offered anyone else the big chair in twi. vpw reserved that sole right to himself, and he ignored the recommendations of others and locked on to lcm years before he announced anything. Look back, and you'll see, vpw wasn't very subtle about trying to mold lcm into another vpw. Don't believe me? Why else did vpw give lcm a motorcycle and THEN try to GET him interested in riding one like vpw?

The GSC is still a viable website, with multiple active discussions at any moment- like now. If you only checked one forum, and only checked for who STARTED threads, then you might think only 1 person's starting most of them. (Sometimes one person starts a few threads back-to-back.) There's lots of people posting on the active threads, check all the fora and you'll see. "About the Way", as always, is quite busy.