WordWolf

Incredibly wild swing..... "HOUSE"?????

What's that noise?

I've noticed that the "proof-text" verses for the supposed keys to walking by the spirit usually didn't have anything to do with what they were supposedly proving.

I remember reading someone addressing this. "There are masters of a thing, and there are Masters of a thing." Even if one is highly skilled at something, there is no guarantee that person is any good at teaching others that same skill. They used the example of Bruce Lee- expert martial artist, champion in tournaments, designed his own effective style from the ground up- but not very good at TEACHING all of that. Jeet Kune Do was learned, and is still taught, but not because he was great at teaching. But, yes, all the fuss about teaching the Bible is not a guarantee anyone at twi is any good at teaching it. For that matter, all the fuss about teaching the Bible is no guarantee anyone at twi is any good at studying or researching the Bible. Oh, they're confident in their own abilities, and confident that outsiders are incompetent, but reality is under no constraint to humor their delusions about either. There's plenty of talented Christians who are never-been-way.

vpw wouldn't know military procedure if it bit him in the ankle. vpw never went into the military. vpw never went into the Reserve. vpw never went into the National Guard. vpw never went into the ROTC. When WWII was in the distance, vpw entered divinity school, which just happened to move him out of the pool of possible draft candidates. Anyone who thinks that's a coincidence when he'd previously been dithering over entering business or music, well, what can I say? vpw never had any immediate family or immediate friends enter the military, or even anything else I mentioned above. All vpw knew about the military was what it said in the movies and on TV. If he'd really loved the Marines, he'd have JOINED the Marines. What he loved was the appearance, the "bark an order and they do it" thing. He had no idea what it was to BE a Marine. He never even participated in tabletop general exercises for fun. So, the only thing he liked about generals was the "I get to bark an order and they have to obey" thing from entertainment. Anything behind it didn't even exist for him.

[While it is BS, it's not really ORIGINAL BS. In twi, the "Keys to Walking By the Spirit" included one that claimed that "Speaking in tongues daily is requisite to revelation." In other words, if you want revelation from God Almighty, you need to SIT first. The only explanation I ever heard of that was that, if you want God to speak to you, you should be speaking to Him. It's so obviously BS I wouldn't know where to start. People speak to God all the time, using a regular voice. People pray to God all the time, using a regular voice. People get revelation all the time, some of whom NEVER SIT. So, other than "that's what this group teaches," there's no reason to believe it. If you're going to follow lcm BLINDLY like he insisted on once, you'll swallow all of this nonsense without questioning it. There's always someone willing to go off a cliff with little justification.]

[Ok, take it as a given that lcm has not matured past his twi experiences fundamentally, and some other people have not, as well. So, why does he do it? He wants and expects an audience if he teaches, and his self-esteem is attached to it, as well. So, he's going to keep speaking and teaching as long as he can find a medium in which to do so. Why is anyone reading/listening to his stuff? They haven't grown up, either. They spent their lives in a holding pattern, circling and want a return to what they think of as "normalcy." One version of that would be listening to lcm. I don't think that's MANY people, but there's a small subset of ex-twi to whom that applies. After all, there was a tiny handful who worshipped vpw and his stuff as if he wrote a new, improved Bible. Again, this is self-correcting over the long run because almost none of their kids would consider following lockstep like this, when other options are so easy to find. There's still plenty of ex-twi who associate with each other, but most of them won't follow lcm like this. And many of them are associating with each other AND OTHER CHRISTIANS. So, even ex-twi groups often differ from twi in fundamental ways like respecting fellow Christians. No, I don't think lcm has addressed his mistakes nor the lives he messed up, and I don't think he ever will.]

Since nobody said so outright, I'll say it so it's clear.... She's as welcome here as anyone else. Her posts are welcome, and if we can help her in some manner, we would like to.

Right! People who actually earned an accredited degree don't insist on being called "Doctor" all the time. vpw's insistence on being addressed by his unaccredited "doctor" is really more about insecurity than anything else.

Ok, I'm not going to use my more obvious connection this time. Tank Girl Naomi Watts King Kong

It is the original "The Producers." You really need to sit down and watch it- both versions. They're very funny. Peter Sellers thought this movie was so funny, he went into his own pocket to buy ads promoting it, since the studio didn't bother- and he made the movie a success, and Mel Brooks a successful producer/director. Yes, it is possible to take in a lot of money, produce a flop, then pocket the remaining money because nobody looked that closely into a flop. On the other hand, if it is a success, you're ruined because you could never pay off all the backers. (If you sell more than 100% of the profits, you can't have a successful production, it HAS to fail or you get caught and can't pay everyone back.) So, they found the worst story, got the worst principal actor, and got the worst director. They sold something like 2000% of the production, and set out to close on opening night and retire to Rio. They accidentally ended up with a successful comedy. "Where did we go right?"

Anyone know where this "stand when a Bible teacher enters the room" nonsense started? Most people will stand for a head of state, and maybe a foreign dignitary. Ever heard of a church or something where this is required- one that isn't ex-twi?

The attempts to pull that on the field had varied results. With New Yorkers, it often had the same results as kicking a bale of cotton- the impression faded the instant you stopped. :) Once, I visited hq in a weekend visiting group. One guy in residence took the slightest pretext to shoehorn in some "reproof". I had said something he hadn't noticed- because he didn't want to. He replied as if I'd challenged the Bible (or even twi doctrine, but it was unrelated to either.) I would have replied, but he was clearly wound up. So, calmly, I let him get where he was going, and at the end, flatly asked him "Been saving that speech up all week?" Oddly, he relaxed after that- I think he was trying to fit in to the situation at hq when I replied like a normal New Yorker when faced with pretension. In hindsight, the whole thing raised some questions, but at the time, I had other things on my mind.

*checks* I'm not familiar with ANY other movie she's done. Unless someone else chimes in, see you in 3 days.

I was in the ballpark, at least. Ok, now I think it was "THE PARENT TRAP."

Had to remember a single reference I heard where someone mentioned Shirley Temple being remembered for her dimples. (And a movie memorabilia place named "Dimples" for that reason.)

Not a comedy troupe. Seriously, once you work out who was in charge of making the movie, the title will suggest itself.

I actually haven't seen them. Mrs Wolf didn't think much of Discovery, and found Lower Decks unwatchable. I'm thinking I might like LD myself. On paper, I like the concept, at least. (But the ship looks awful to me, probably meant as a joke.)

Wild swing- "Freaky Friday"????

OK, based on the supposition I'm supposed to have SOME chance to get the answer, and, having looked at the emphasized clue, I'm going with SHIRLEY TEMPLE.

I suppose, once you get to the people who made the movie, you'll have the answer pretty quickly.

It is definitely NOT a Marx Brothers film. I suppose one might consider it related in some sort of metaphorical way, but it's not as old as a Marx Brothers film.

Harlem Nights Richard Pryor Superman 3

[One of the problems of the internet is that people can pretend to be someone else that already exists. Some time ago, some anonymous person posted in his name on a twitter account or something and posted general apologies for previous action. I'm not sure why they did this. My opinion- which is a guess- is that, given the situation- someone decided to do that in the hopes someone would feel better after they read that. It was done on an April 1, so there might have been some element of prank in there. However, it seems too serious to be a standard prank. Possibly them or someone else has written a different website, apparently, and that's the site you mentioned. Again, my opinion...this strikes me more as less of an attempt to heal others or some mild prank, and less harmless for that matter. I'd probably just let it go, since any attempts to get the site down will probably be a lot of work and probably will just advertise it a lot. So, let it blow over.] [Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I think his current "teachings" aren't as harmful as you do. I'd be surprised if never-been-way are following his stuff, so that only leaves ex-way. Ex-twi numbers dwindle with the passing of the years, as twi becomes even less relevant than before. Any ex-twi knows what to expect from lcm. Any of them who actually choose to read/listen to his current stuff is not being "mislead." They are choosing to listen to him. These are the kinds of people who spend the rest of their lives shuffling between one ex-twi teacher and another, never interacting with all sorts of other Christians out there. This is a bit sad, but it's their choice. By the time someone's in their 50s or later, they should have figured all of this out. If they haven't, this is probably a deliberate decision. In the long run, this problem is self-correcting. They are aging out of the population (as will lcm himself.) So, every year, this "twi only or ex-twi only" subculture(s) gets smaller and smaller. Either people figure it out and explore the rest of the world (among other Christians or among other people) or they age out and are NOT replaced by people falling for the same snappy patter. None of this erases your hurts, but I hope some perspective might help a little.] [Amazingly, some of us worked out that last sentence in the thread discussing the book "VP and Me." lcm wrote it, and the tone suggested that. I'm not sure who or what he was from childhood. We know he was a Christian in high school and university, and was looking for SOMETHING by the time he was in college. The general bluster sounds picked up from coaches and the like (father-figures for team members in high school and college.) lcm went straight from college to twi, with no time for actual life experience- which seemed to have been a persistent deficiency for him. He was unable to empathize with all the normal folk, but mainly he was an excellent target to "soak up the king's countenance" when he met vpw. He copied vpw's yelling, anger and face-meltings over time- sometimes only because vpw INSISTED. lcm wanted answers, and got vpw. lcm really believed vpw's press, and believed that the twi President's passing thoughts were Divine Revelation- which was how some awful decisions were made. On the other hand, vpw KNEW he himself was a fraud, so he covered his tracks. So, for all the hurt lcm passed along, vpw was a far worse person, partly because he made lcm into the kind of person who did that. lcm sincerely thought he was doing the right thing, even when he was doing wrong. vpw knew he was doing wrong. I really do think lcm could have posted here under a screen-name and interacted with people, and been accepted. (Provided he didn't break the board rules and attack other posters, say.) I posted a thread once, asking for personal recollections of lcm. A number of people said he'd been a decent fellow when he first arrived at twi, and long-term contact with vpw/twi was really what changed that.]

Well, you should. This is your kind of movie. If you haven't seen it yet, you've missed something. After they've gone through all the trouble of making it, and everything.