When 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.
That letter takes some time to write. Varies from person to person I'm sure but it looks like it took Raf about 25 years. As I read it I realized it held true for me as well. I no longer care what they think or say. Unlike Raf, though, it might WOULD make a difference if they actually still had many members as I would be concerned about them. As it is now, TWI is down to a paltry few and totally irrelevant today. If there were a "Where are they now?" article about cults, TWI could be included as an example of a 'flash in the pan'.
I have no recollection of writing that post; I have no idea why I would make such a smart-aleck statement. Sorry.
I, obviously, can't read minds. My guess, though, is that you were simply playing off the "nothingness" of the song. In which case, it's not a smart-aleck statement at all, just a clever retort.
I address you as TWI because I recognize that I am no longer actually writing to people, to human beings who care about what I think and whose thoughts and feelings actually concern me. I am writing to an entity, an embodiment of the concept of groupthink masquerading as independent thought and "real life, not some imitation."
I wonder, honestly, when was the last time you did something real?
It probably doesn't matter. You're not reading this anyway. Oh, you see the words. But you're not reading it. You're examining it. Searching for indications of devilry, no doubt. You're looking for that quote you can pull out as proof that leaving the prevailing winds of the household of the word's way, or whatever it is you call yourself these days, has some kind of damaging effect on the soul.
There was a time I would care. There was a time I would do the same to you: explore your platitudes and endless quibblings with platitudes and endless quibblings of my own. You had me going for a WHILE, I must admit.
But in the years since I last set foot on your farm, I've grown to realize something.
I don't care what you think.
No, seriously, hear me out: I don't care what you think. I don't care what you say. I don't care what you teach or preach. I don't care what's right with it. I don't care what's wrong with it. I don't care if you sell it to anyone and I don't care if you sell it to no one. I don't care if you have five followers left or if you have 5,000 or 500,000. I don't care what you're calling your class these days, and I don't care who gets the credit for teaching it. I don't care if you gave proper credit to your original sources or if you give credit to those who once contributed to your cause but now reject you.
And I don't care what you think of my apathy.
I am free of you. As free as I am of the gods of Olympus and the influences of the Zodiac, I am free of you.
Aha, you may say, but what about the Word? What about God?
Yes, those are good questions. And I do have answers.
But you are not entitled to them. I do not care to share them with you.
Did you miss the part where I said I am free? You did?
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Ham
sooo.. what do we do now?
I'll tell you.. we go on our way, we develop careers.. enter master's degree programs and more..
if we are lucky enough to have a career.. we often make a difference.. somewhere..
ha.. and there are no guarantees. I'm free from those as well..
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waysider
I'm not sure quite why, but, when I think of the time I spent in The Way it reminds me of
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krys
I would rather simply sign Raf's letter and pass it around for others here to sign....and let it be known that I think the same way.
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dmiller
Well - - - that sucked royally, Waysider. OH!! Wait A Minute!! That was your intention, eh?
Good idea Krys - - - but who's going to "snail mail" it to New Knoxville, since they have no email contact?
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Bolshevik
Dear twi,
-B
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Gen-2
Dear TWI,
Realy it's pretty simple,
When 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.
Back to sleep for you now, I suppose.
Bye!
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Thomas Loy Bumgarner
actually was thinking of Jon Egan's song I Am Free(to run, to dance- Galatians 5:1). Integrity's iWorship @ Home DVD
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Broken Arrow
Waysider, nothing is good about that song.
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Raf
Bump.
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excathedra
dear twi as in rosalie rivenbark and donna lombardi martindale --
i don't care that you are a gay couple
i just wish you could have been caring normal people
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Sudo
That letter takes some time to write. Varies from person to person I'm sure but it looks like it took Raf about 25 years. As I read it I realized it held true for me as well. I no longer care what they think or say. Unlike Raf, though, it might WOULD make a difference if they actually still had many members as I would be concerned about them. As it is now, TWI is down to a paltry few and totally irrelevant today. If there were a "Where are they now?" article about cults, TWI could be included as an example of a 'flash in the pan'.
sudo
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Raf
Thanks, Sudo.
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Broken Arrow
I have no recollection of writing that post; I have no idea why I would make such a smart-aleck statement. Sorry.
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waysider
I, obviously, can't read minds. My guess, though, is that you were simply playing off the "nothingness" of the song. In which case, it's not a smart-aleck statement at all, just a clever retort.
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Grace Valerie Claire
Raf, excellent post!!!! Raf rocks!!!
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Grace Valerie Claire
Raf is a gifted writer, IMO!!
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