WordWolf

*lightbulb* No, it's when they encountered some Borg sometime later, and Seven of Nine went on the Away Mission, and found out the Borg Queen wanted to assimilate her, but not as a drone. This was a 2-parter. We also saw flashbacks to her childhood aboard the SS Raven, where her mentally-unstable dad was actively searching for borg, even over refueling. Which makes this "Dark Frontier."

I'll take your word for it concerning where it started and where it spread. They're also prone to permanent eye damage if they don't wear their welder's mask. Correlation does not equal causation. We know he exposed himself to bright lights over a 2-week period, that he smoked and drank a lot over a few decades, and that he went to the bathroom on a regular basis. We know he later got cancer and died. Some, all, or none of those may relate to the cancer. We can eliminate going to the bathroom as a cause, since it's not known to be one. (No pun intended.) We can NOT eliminate over 20 years of smoking, since it's a known carcinogen. As for vpw being genetically predisposed to ocular cancer if exposed to ultraviolet light, I'll say "maybe". For the sake of the discussion, I'll even go with "sure". That is not synonymous with saying "bright studio lights for 2 weeks in the early 70s is a possible or even likely source of cancer a decade later." If his eyes were THAT sensitive, they would have been endangered as much by the bright sunlight on the farm. (I, personally, wore anti-UV sunglasses during the day out there. Even on overcast days.) He was exposed to bright studio lights for a period of 2 weeks. If you have any studies suggesting bright studio lights are a cancer risk, please share. I'm not aware of them giving off significant amounts of UV light unless your studio is doubling as a tanning salon and uses UV bulbs (which are LESS bright in the visible spectrum and are unsuitable for filming.) I find it perfectly reasonable to believe that he hurt his eyes from bright studio lights. I do NOT find it reasonable to believe that the same incident gave him cancer from studio lights. Again, if you've got some hard science, please present it. So, perhaps he was vulnerable to eye problems in general regardless, due to a genetic predisposition. Perhaps he might even gotten eye cancer and died before now even if he'd lived an ascetic life as a farmer who never smoked or drank. Cancer doesn't follow a neat formula. However, I stand behind my statement that he placed himself at needless risk for cancer by exposing his immune system to large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time, and to constant amounts of a KNOWN cancer-causing agent over a long period of time. Would smoking cigars and cigarettes lead to an eye-cancer? Sure. The tissues of the eye are pretty porous to substances in the air. Continual exposure to particles WILL affect them. And if his eyes were VULNERABLE, as you say, then they might get cancer from exposure faster than the more usual targets of the lungs, larynx, and so on. Someone without that vulnerability might have gotten cancer a bit later, and had throat surgery or something. So, I consider eye injuries during pfal to be indicative of eyes vulnerable to damage, not the moment they were exposed to a cancer-causing agent. (Unless someone can find me where studio lights kill people- and LOTS of people get LOTS of studio light time. There should be a body count from these things in Hollywood.) And I'm equally concerned with trying to keep the facts straight, but we seem to be interpreting them differently.

WordWolf: LG: I have strong grounds for that conclusion. Do you really need documentation that alcohol use, in large amounts over long periods of time, damages the liver and the body's filtration systems, leaving it vulnerable to illness? I thought that was COMMON KNOWLEDGE by now. Let me know if you need documentation. Do you really need documentation that tobacco use, in large amounts over long periods of time, exposes the body to cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and risks giving the user cancer? The American Cancer Society issued warnings of this in the 1940s, and hasn't stopped since! I thought that was COMMON KNOWLEDGE by now. Let me know if you need documentation. Do you need documentation that vpw drank large amounts of alcohol and smoked large amounts of tobacco? All the people who worked with him personally have testified to it. He held morning meetings with a "coffee mug" with alcohol in it, and privately had a cigar or cigarette in his hand all the time (basically, whenever that hand didn't hold a drink.) Why do you think he ALWAYS had those breath-mints around? It wasn't to cover eating 3-day-old burritos... I thought that was COMMON KNOWLEDGE by now, and the documentation is all over these forums. So, he weakened his liver and immune systems, then exposed his body to cancer-causing tobacco. And he got cancer of the liver. You don't see this as logically proceeding one from the other? Granted, I can't absolutely guarantee that the smoking and drinking caused the tobacco, and weakened his body so it would have the full damage it did. However, beyond a REASONABLE doubt, this is the EXPECTED CONSEQUENCE of taking actions known to have those results. So, it is MATHEMATICALLY POSSIBLE that something else caused the cancer. However, the logical conclusion of his stated actions was to get cancer. He got cancer. The overwhelming likelihood is that he got the cancer BECAUSE he did the things that GIVE you cancer. This is not necessarily true of all people who get cancer. However, you can DECREASE the odds of getting cancer by not doing the things known to CAUSE cancer. Don't want skin cancer? Don't tan in the sun. And so on. The man increased his odds to get cancer dramatically, and multiplied it by weaking his immune system. If you consider it insufficient to say that he set himself on a course TO get cancer, that's up to you, but few educated adults who aren't trying to defend vpw would agree with you. (Unless they work for a tobacco company.)

It was all photocopied from the works of others. Are you in awe of his xerox machine? He warmed himself at a fire he did not burn, and sold a product-taking credit for it- that he stole from others. Guess he should have heeded some of his own speeches to the corps aboutself-control, moderation or temperance. If he had, he would have taken in far less tobacco and alcohol than he did, which would have meant he wouldn't have caught cancer- at least as young as he did- and he might have lived to 90. He was rather big on "do as I say and not as I do", and was brilliant at manipulating his PUBLIC image. That's why so many people who never interacted with him daily remember him as FAR more dignified, far more temperate, far less of an abuser of people, than others remember him- those who DID spend time with him. Feel free to be thankful to be working God's Word. And remember that God Almighty is greater than any book containing His Words, and greater than any person, class, book, or recording medium used to teach it. You also might want to check and see if people knew things you didn't. Even lcm's own reports of vpw reveal him as abusive of others.

"Are the Dead Alive Now?" was from books like ""The Rich Man and Lazarus: An Intermediate State?" and "Saul and the Witch at Endor: Did the Dead Rise at Her Bidding?", complete with the question format. Those of you who haven't read it recently should read this now... http://www.greasespotcafe.com/editorial/pl...m-wierwille.htm It should help those of you who actually care whether or not you're telling the truth (which is not everyone, but is many people) what plagiarism IS and IS NOT.

Honestly couldn't tell you, but someone else may know the answer.

Is that from the Schizoid Man? ======= Oh, the 47s. It started with a joke in college. One teacher claimed all numbers can eventually be proven to equal 47. So there's a running gag at the college about it appearing everywhere. Then one person who was in on the joke began dropping the 47s into Star Trek, and other writers have picked it up. So, 47s appear every time a random number shows up in a story. That's not the original series or the cartoons, but all the series from ST:TNG onward. Here's some examples: Rule of Acquisition 47: Never trust a man in a better suit than you. Crew complement of a Defiant class vessel: 47. Crusing speed of a Danube-class runabout: Warp 4.7 Captain's Eyes Only Secure Code: Code 47. My favourite usage was when Sisko was wrongly anticipated to go meet Cassidy Yates. He said he was going to Deck "Four?" "Seven." Whenever there's a rescue operation, or emergency, you'll find 47 people in danger, or 47 people recovered, or 47 still unaccounted for, or something along those lines. Some of them are pretty well-hidden. The one I mentioned above was an example of one of the really, really well-hidden ones. Sometimes 2 numbers are mentioned, and the difference between them is 47 or something like that. Or a run of 46 previous of something is mentioned, which makes the current one we're watching the 47th.

Well, I'm waiting. We have here a thread which is not dedicated to just insults or badmouthing. It has provided entertainment, demonstrations, and Scripture. It's also had a direct indictment of "personal prophecy" as claimed by CES/STFI. I'm still waiting. Can anyone from CES/STFI offer a reasonable response DEFENDING this so-called "personal prophecy" CES/STFI practices? From what we've seen, it's easy to fake, and blatantly counter-Scriptural. Can someone offer even a reasonable ATTEMPT to demonstrate otherwise? I'd like to hear the other side of the story if there IS an other side. As it stands, it looks like the answers here are the truth and CES/STFI is hiding and hoping the answers will be silenced, and people won't read them, or will forget them. Is there any kind of answer to the charges in this thread? An answer with more substance than "buy the book", "hear the tape" or "don't read this thread"? C'mon, ONE of you has got to know something...

This is pretty much how pm's are handled on boards all over cyberspace. Almost all the pm's I ever received ANYWHERE have been nice notes, or at least neutral. Very rarely-and to my recollection, not yet at the GSC- do I get an impolite one. I reserve the right to alert a moderator and block someone from sending me pm's at any moment, if I feel such a response is warranted. I'd say less than 1/10 of 1% of all the pm's I ever received were ever considered for such responses. And my usual alerts to moderators, regardless of boards, tend to say something like "please remind them how we handle disagreements on this board." And usually if I complain about pm's, I get a note back from a moderator saying that the SAME PERSON has been sending pm's that generated complaints to OTHER POSTERS. Few people just single me out to make rude or offensive pm's.

CORRECT! It's the episode "Far Beyond the Stars." Grandpa Joe Sisko played the minister on the corner, who quoted Scripture at least once. In this case, II Timothy 4:7. (Another example of the "47s" in Star Trek.) Miles O'Brien played a writer who liked to write robot/technology stories. Jake Sisko got to say the only usage of the word "nigger" in Star Trek to date. (At least to that date.)

"Don't worry. I added king-size flippers. Now it can carry a heavy load.... Even a FAT one!" This was after Fred's initial tests of the Barneycopter showed he couldn't get lift, and he went over a cliff, ignoring Barney. "I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll. I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll. I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll." "Are you feeling alright, mister?" "Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." "Good. Good. You just stay in here and rest. That hot sun out there is a killer." "Poor guy, he must have been standing in it for hours." Fred was trying to talk himself into liking his mother-in-law. "Scoodly-wah-wah-wah! Contact!" Hot Lips Hannigan was in town, the old beatnik musician who was old friends with Fred. "Whale on the beach! Whale on the beach! " Fred took a swing at Barney and fell to the ground. "It says here to fold in one egg. *splat* And I say it can't be done!" "What do we need 2 tons of parsley for?" "Don't you know anything? You put a little on each customer's plate, so's the customer can t'row it away!" Both of these are from when Fred and Barney tried to run the Brown Turban (like the Brown Derby in Hollywood) Drive-In. "Judo chops." They were playing secret agent, and escaped by using judo chops on all the mooks. AFAIK, this is the only place you'll ever hear judo chops mentioned. That's because "ju-do" (translation:"the gentle way") has no punches, kicks OR chops, and consists entirely of grapples, grabs, holds and throws. So, every time they used a "judo chop", it was just another piece of fiction in a fictional cartoon. ("A' judo, chop-chop-chop." )

CORRECT!

"I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." "I like robots." "Well I got news for you... today or a hundred years from now don't make a bit of difference – as far as they're concerned, we'll always be niggers."

"Don't worry. I added king-size flippers. Now it can carry a heavy load.... Even a FAT one!" "I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll. I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll. I love my dear sweet mother in-law. My mother in-law is a doll." "Are you feeling alright, mister?" "Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." "Good. Good. You just stay in here and rest. That hot sun out there is a killer." "Poor guy, he must have been standing in it for hours." "Scoodly-wah-wah-wah! Contact!" "Whale on the beach! Whale on the beach! " "It says here to fold in one egg. *splat* And I say it can't be done!" "What do we need 2 tons of parsley for?" "Don't you know anything? You put a little on each customer's plate, so's the customer can t'row it away!" "Judo chops."

Because if language can be treated as exact, then we can plug in some formulas, and get McBlessings in seconds. That was one of the big draws of twi/pfal to a lot of people.

As someone else pointed out, God gave a very simple standard- and a very simple consequence- for telling TRUE prophets and words from God, from personal prophets and words from other-than-God. Deuternomy 18:20-22. (KJV) " 20But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." For those of you who missed it, here it is in the NASB. " 20But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. 21You may say in your heart, 'How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?' 22When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. " This is very simple. If a prophet speaks a prophecy, and ANY prophecy he speaks fails, he is a false prophet. If 99.999% of his prophecies come true, and 1 in 100,000 fails, he is a false prophet. What were they to do with false prophets? They were to kill them a lot. Thus, prophets whose prophecies "USUALLY" or "OFTEN" were accurate, but OCCASIONALLY fail are false prophets and should be killed. As we've all seen, even people trying to justify the utterances of the CES/STFI "personal prophetess" have said she's not accurate 100% of the time, which the Bible says makes her a FALSE prophet, and Israel was supposed to kill those. Fine, we don't kill them in the US. We don't even slap them in the face. We can AT THE VERY LEAST follow GOD'S injunction and not respect them any more. And I still want to know why their entire organization needs an anonymous outsider like me to explain all this when they've had over a decade to work it out. If I was a supporter of CES/STFI, I'd have some burning questions concerning the management of the group, and just how well they really understand the Bible if they could make mistakes of this magnitude.

Oh, and someone wanted to know where to find "personal prophecy" in Scripture. I direct you to "personal prophet" Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah. He's in I Kings 22 and II Chronicles 18. Here's the KJV on him in II Chronicles 18. ================ " 4And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day. 5Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand. 6But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? 7And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. 8And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla. 9And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 10And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed. 11And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 12And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou good. 13And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak. 14And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand. 15And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD? 16Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace. 17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? 18Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. 20Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? 21And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. 22Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee. 23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee? ============== Let's look it over. " 4And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day. 5Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand. 6But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?" Wow, 400 "personal prophets", and not one of the LORD among them. "7And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. " Ohh, what a bad boy that Michaiah is! He's always speaking all those negatives! He must never have learned that Godly communications are REQUIRED to be all cheerful and light, never saying anything bad, never warning about problems, never exposing evil, and never confronting evil. " 8And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla. 9And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne, clothed in their robes, and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. " Wow, they got the full act. " 10And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed." Zedekiah really knows how to wow an audience. He's got flair and drama in play while he delivers his personal prophecy. " 11And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. 12And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of their's, and speak thou good. 13And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak." That Micaiah is NOT a team player. He also doesn't know about tailoring his message to the audience like the 400 other guys. " 14And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand. 15And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the LORD? 16Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace. 17And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil? " Real prophets risk their lives giving messages they know the people won't want, and accept they are set at naught and despised for it. REAL prophets don't get cushy jobs. " 18Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. 19And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. 20Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? 21And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. 22Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee. " So, we see there are 2 ways to be a personal prophet. One is to speak words from one's own self and claim they are of God, the other is to speak words from a lying spirit and claim they are of God. " 23Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee? " That Zedekiah knows how to keep his stage-act up. Even exposed, he's trying to discredit a REAL prophet and claim he HIMSELF speaks the truth. ========================

We started off with the general "how could he know this?" stuff. Who's NOT at least a little concerned with becoming more like their parents? Who doesn't have SOME issue about their clothing, of SOME kind? But the next part is ESPECIALLY nasty, ESPECIALLY insidious, and rates special attention. NOW we see something the "personal prophecy" people might recognize directly. It's JUST as generic as the rest-some possible car problem- but it's dressed up completely. We have the special mystical imagery, and the interpretation. The net result is that it looks like a special message. It's just a lie with a lot of setup. What if there's not even a LITTLE car problem? Then, obviously, the caution has prevented it-disaster averted! The charlatan wins with this one no matter what! Again, I pulled this from generic predictions, and just dressed it up to sound just like these "prophetic" messages. Is it crystal-clear NOW to everyone just how easy it is- with a little work- to make up all sorts of "personal prophecies" and make them sound real and holy? We can make up more examples if necessary, but I hope it's clear to just about everyone now, if not before.

Again, we see the principles at work here. Who here ISN'T having "some sort of difficulty with a family member"? That could mean a kid with a simple tantrum or not eating his greens, it could mean shouting matches with a sibling, marital distress or a simple argument, a cousin with a stealing or drinking problem, whatever. Just about any relationship with any relative could be squeezed to fit this. Who doesn't have a "health issue" concerning them? The youngest posters here-teens and 20s- MIGHT not, but certainly those over their 40s each think about SOMETHING with their health. Could be a cold, a bruised shin, an allergy, hypertension, obesity, or any of hundreds of other things. Who isn't thinking about money and needs to relax about it? Only the very wealthy- and they think about it EVEN MORE, mostly. This comment could apply to just about any money issue at any level. Career changes? Whose career couldn't use at least a SMALL improvement? Oh, and the last part was especially insidious- which means you've probably heard it at least once. People LIKE to hear how great they are. Of course everyone WANTS to believe they're growing and maturing. Even if it's completely false. They will WANT to believe a "personal prophesy" that says they are, and WILL believe it if they can. Who would dare to argue with "God is happy with you"? Who would WANT to? Personally, I was surprised to find the references in the one I randomly selected for you. It sounded like it COULD have happened, certainly, moreso for you than some people when it got to that. I suppose most people have had SOME sort of offer at SOME sort of level at SOME point in their life. I think, however, it illustrates how "personal prophecy" can so specifically hit the "there's know way she could have known that-it must be real" aspects, but still have been 100% balloon juice.

Again, I took a completely generic "prophecy" I pulled off the internet, and applied it to the next person, who was Belle. I did NOT select for ones that I thought would fit- I deliberately went with the order of the posters, in the order that I pulled the predictions off different websites. Then I dressed it up with lots of holy speech and physical drama. Those who know Belle may think this sounds like her. Which it might. It also might apply to EVERYONE in the thread, and most people READING the thread. It only SOUNDED specific to her. If she WANTED to believe it was genuine, she would have walked off thinking that. Of course, I made it clear in the first post that these would all be FALSE before we even began. However, they may sound awfully familiar to those of you who supposedly have heard genuine ones.

This one should be obvious, given the context. Someone posted a warning about supposed prophets. So, IMMEDIATELY, the charlatan began prophecying "spin control." "Oh, God has said that someone will tell you I'm making this up. God said to ignore them and never doubt I'm speaking for them." All of you ex-twi people should remember the tactic of silencing the opposition, which is still a common practice among some ex-twi'ers, even with the nasty qualifier twi gave, which is that if you're questioning THEM, then you're questioning GOD ALMIGHTY and that's sinful. This may sound VERY familiar. ESPECIALLY to those of you CES/STFI'ers who are reading but not posting. As Raf has pointed out, turning your advice, counsel and directives into "the Voice of the Lord God Almighty" is silencing dissent. You're saying that it's PERFECT advice, PERFECT counsel, and it's fighting against God to even mull it over.

Now, let me go into more detail here. Most charlatans will exercise their "prophetic ability" FACE TO FACE. This allows them to use the hundreds of nonverbal cues people give off to supplement their generic statements. You've seen the generic statements-now we add more specific ones. This is called a "cold read" or a "cold reading." One stage magician (and Christian) explained this sort of thing when on a show WITH a cold-reader (who fled when the stage magician was revealed and after she was tricked into making a false "cold-read" on him.) One woman asked about her daughter, in college. He asked her a leading question about her social activity level-is she outgoing? Now, either she WAS or she was NOT. If she WAS, then the mother is concerned the daughter is partying and not studying. If she was NOT, then the mother is concerned the daughter is studying too HARD and not taking any down-time and socializing. So, then, based on her answer, he begins "prophesying". That's how cold-reading works. That's the USUAL method. HOWEVER, if the "personal prophet" can actually get PERSONAL DATA on the person they're reading for, then they're SET. They can tailor the "prophecy" to tell all sorts of things the person WANTS to hear, or DREADS HEARING. This is called "HOT-READING." Raf did that one here. He knew a hobby of the person he was "reading for", and dressed it up in dramatic "personal prophecy" imagery. Now it looks like he's getting a message, when all he's done is a little research. If you know PERSONALLY the person you're "reading for", you can easily figure out what's on their mind, what concerns them, what they fear- then you can compose a "personal prophecy" that directs them to act as you wish, since it seems to be "personal", when all it did was utilize what a friend would know, added holy trappings, and labelled it "of God", and thus BEYOND QUESTION. It seems we've seen this sort of thing mentioned in the letters. Any friend COULD dress up advice this way, but only one lacking a conscience WOULD. And that's a "hot-read."

That, of course, was the window-dressing. Here we have another generic "prophecy" I pulled off the internet. I added the holy trappings, and personalized the language slightly, but the substance was ALL from the generic prediction. "Amazing" how it SEEMS to fit, no? Bet it would seem that way if 1/2 the posters here were told this applied to THEM. The next-to-last paragraph is one of the more convincing things. How many people here are "concerned" about someone "close to them"? Right- EVERYONE! So, the generic "pray and stand ready" SOUNDS specific, but it's like a Dr telling you to get plenty of sleep and fluids- it's general good advice that doesn't hurt. We ended with the sales pitch. Sooner or later, the "personal prophet's" "prophecies" will lead to them getting money from the marks- either thru donations ("prayer offerings"), sales, or some other form. Normally, it's said separately, but the connection is still there. Again, it may feel familiar, if you've been asked for money in some way after getting a "personal prophecy".

Well, We could play this game longer, but I think we've gone as far as we need to. So, now I'm going to explain. What you saw in this thread was a demonstration of some of the ways charlatans make up "personal prophecies", no matter what they call them. They can sound remarkably accurate, and some may draw from the personal information of what is known to the speaker. In all cases, it has to be dressed up in a package, a format, that the person is willing to accept. Please note that usually, the person WANTS to believe this is true prophecy, and will leap on any chance to believe it so. Now, EVERY SINGLE "PROPHECY" I posted on this thread, I pulled off the internet, and I applied them in the order that I pulled them, with NO attempts to make them apply to people, no matter what I knew about them. In each case, I DID dress up the language with pious platitudes, phrases from Scripture, and in a few cases, slight comments on what was already said that were based on what I knew. However, the substance of every "prophecy" was completely GENERIC, and could have been used interchangeably for ANY of the posters who lined up, or anyone else, for that matter. (In fact, some of you may have heard some of them "prophecied" to you already.) Every single one was a con job, as I said. Did anyone get the joke I snuck in here? (Say it out loud and you might.) But the packaging of a "personal prophecy" must match the form the listener (aka the pigeon, the mark, the gullible) is willing to receive. Remember, in general, the audience ALREADY WANTS TO BELIEVE. It is more difficult to convince the skeptic. All of that was window-dressing.Now, here comes a generic "personality profile" that's written so that ANYONE could read it, and think it applied to them. Now it may renind you of "personal prophecies" you may have heard before, done face-to-face....

Paw moderates with an exceedingly LIGHT hand. If you get some significant moderation from him, you really had to work for it. Most posters on most boards I frequent (translation: rank unbelievers online) wouldn't earn such a penalty. They're mindful of simple courtesy when posting. They may not be able to recite Scripture on it, but they understand posting with the Golden Rule ("do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). or at LEAST the Silver Rule ("what you don't want others to do to you, don't do to them.") I'd think about that. The unbelievers are posting nicer than you.