Mr Incredible

I can remember once getting chewed out royally by my twig coordinator ....

I played music and sang with a couple of buddies for fellowship all the time. It really seemed to bless (shoot I HAVE to get away from all those TWI metaphores!) -ahem- made all the people in attendance happy, and lets face it it beat the heck outta singing some of those worn out songs from the "Sing Aong the Way" while the twig leader waves his hand back and forth like a 3rd grade music teacher........PEW.....

Anyway, my twig leader had asked us to do a particular song, not even a worship tune - just some old Will Rogers type podunk tune. Well, we were kept very busy playing for fellowship and even a limb meeting once, and because we put worship music first we never got around to it...Selfish? Well, perhaps, but at the time we didnt look at it that way...

Anyway we all gathered one night for practice before fellowship as we usually did and he came in and lit into us BAD. 'We didnt care about anyone but ourselves..' and on and on and on...and I'm talking it was done in a very demeaning, cruel fashion. Ouch....(of course his wife sang with us on occaision - but she didnt get b__ch slapped like we did).

Needless to say, we didnt play at fellowship after that....

You are not alone on this one. It's what I like to call "trophy mentality". I don't know where I got the term but I think it describes the situation in a very concise manner.

In the first twig I was in, we had someone who was missing an arm." Hey! kids! let's all believe for total restoration. Wouldn't that be a great trophy to show how we believed a miracle into being!" Ummm, no. It's just cruel to give this person false hope; not false in the sense that God can't heal, but false in the sense that we could somehow "believe" it into fruition. If God wants to give a person deliverance, that's his business and our believing can't alter the result either way.

Then there was the friend of mine who took his own life. I was the one who found him. "If I had been 'listening to God', I could have raised him from the dead". Wouldn't that be a great big feather in The Ways' cap? TROPHY MENTALITY!

Wow Waysider -

That is the best description that I have had in a long time for somthing I have felt and could not put words to....

Thanks so much!

Michael B

I seem to fall into the 'I belived' category too...

Although I must say I still believe in 'speaking in tongues' simply because I can validate it via the Word in 1st Corinthians.

Now, whether or not it was taught properly to be used or manifested properly, the jury remains out on that one --

any thoughts?

Oh my God you guys! This string brings tears to my eyes....its so true!

That reminds me of some of the pain that I feel now.....wow....

How sad....

The biggest thing I remember about handicapped or terminaly ill people (like cancer) is that they always said...

"It is available to heal them if your believing is in the right place..."

In other words if you tried to heal them and and couldnt, then you sucked because you didn't have enough faith. The funny part was, those who professed that seemed to me to have a 'holier than thou' attitude as if they had that type of believing, and you obviously didnt.

I know this because I had a very good friend in high school that had terminal cancer. I went to him with all this TWI dialogue like "it is available to be healed if you believe...I am the man of God that can heal you..." yadda yadda....my God was I stupid....

Needless to say he would not speak to me after that and died shortly after...Why couldnt I have just spent the lst few days/weeks just being his friend??? I still struggle greatly with that....

What I always wondered was ...if they were so well tapped into Gods power, then why the hell didn't they get off their 'holier than thou' arse and do it themselves???

Just a thought.....

One of my favorites --

"Oh, its ok -- it Grace....."

....meaning that you can do multitudes of sin and shrug it off later because you are 'already forgiven..."

What a bunch of BS!

CHRISTIAN FAMILY AND SEX:

A way to soften the blow (no pun intended!) when your spiritual leader asks you for it and what your reward will be for your 'obiedence'....

.....Did I say that out loud? I guess I did huh....

Oh Well....

(crickets singing in the background..)

Tough crowd..

--------------

LOL!!!

hey I enjoyed it at least Mr. H!

Hello fellow GS'ers --

In brief review.... we all gather here on GS in attempt to deal with something ugly that occured in our lives. Something that, at one time, we all thought was the greatest thing that ever happened to any of us in our walk with the Father. Among some of the painful memories we all experience are the relationships we had with people whom were very dear to us; some of those stayed in our lives while others dismissed us as becoming a threat to the religious bubble they were trapped in (and some of those remain in that same bubble today). An now we are seeing some of old tape that we have tried for so long to forget being played out by CES, and (and least for me) stirring up all those painful memories again that have been placed in the deepest of filing cabinets in the mind.

Of course each of us individually have had to deal with their own personal demons brought on by this nightmare called 'TWI', but speaking personally of my battles a question has started coming up in my mind that I would like the opinion of my fellow GS'ers in my quest for my own understanding.

I've said it before, that when it was good, it was really good but when it got bad it was terrible. Would I ever go back to it again? Absolutely not. But I find at times that I look back on the memories I have wistfully, as if I miss......what? The relationships? The fellowship? The gatherings? Even though my mind tells me "YAYYY your'e free!", there is still regret, and for the life of me I cannot put a finger on specifically 'why'.

Perhaps what I am asking cannot be identified by anyone else but me, but have any of you experienced some of those same thoughts and feelings? I would be curious ....

Thanks in advance...

Wow everybody is a long way away from me..... :(

Here in Central Oregon it has been snowing on and off for about a week, most places there is not much more than an inch of snow - the problem is that in the outlying areas around the city what doesnt melt off completly turns to ice - and that makes it a bugger to get back and forth to work but boy it sure is pretty!

I hate fear!

For most of my adult life I have wanted a motorcycle, but never got around to ever purchasing one. Just recently the opportunity arose for me to finally purchase one - a beautiful Honda Shadow 600 VLX. By all the research I read it was one of the best 'beginner' motorcycles out there ...'easy to ride'....'handles great'... yadda yadda...

Anyway, the first time I rode it for real it scared the snot outta me! I had ridden mini-bikes when I was a teen and never had any problems in steeiring and maneuvering them, but boy oh boy this was a whole different world. I became very aquainted with something better known as 'centrifugal force'. I came up on my first curve and tried to turn...turn....TURN! Anyway (no I didnt crash thank God!) I found out you had to lean into corners not just turn. Kind of a scary first experience. :blink:

Ever since that moment I was scared of the bike and to date have not gone faster than 35 MPH...which I know that if I want to ride any kind of distance to really enjoy this thing I need to overcome this fear of it. What makes it more frustrating is that I keep having dreams about riding, like riding to the coast on a beautiful sunny day.

So I know I will overcome it eventually, but in the meantime it really sucks how fear can rob from you.

Anyone else ever had a similar experience?

ooooh oooh oooh! I got one!!!

A big city attorney was driving home from a convention. To avoid fighting the traffic coming back into town, he decided to take the back roads where he would only encounter an occaisional travler here and there. Passing thru a small hick town, the attorney came to a 'California stop' accelerating rapidly thru the main intersection of town. It wasnt long before he saw red lights flashing in his rear view mirror. Frustrated and not wanting to stop he knew he was almost certain to end up with a ticket. "Wait a minute" he thought.."Why should I stop for this backwoods hick police officer? I am a lawer and argue cases for a living, I can easily talk my way out of this!" With this thought he pulled over to the shoulder and rolled down his window.

"License and registration please.." the officer asked blandly.

"Why are you stopping me?" the attorney asked.

"You didnt come to a full and complete stop back there sir...license and reigstration please" the officer repeated.

"Now just a minute. Please explain for me the term 'stop', can you define for me the legal difference between stopping and slowing down to check for oncoming traffic?"

"I think I can sir" the officer replied. "Could you step out of the vehicle please?"

"Certainly" the attorney answered, convinced he had the officer baffled.

Once the attorney had stepped out of his vehicle the the occier drew out his kight stick and proceded to begin beating the attorney to a pulp. In doing so he asked the attorney "Now, would you like me to stop hitting you or simply slow down sir?"

---------------------------------------------

ok ok ok one more....:

Dear Abby:

My husband is a liar and a cheat.

He has cheated on me from the beginning, and, when I

confront him, he denies everything. What's worse, everyone

knows that he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since

he lost his job six years ago, he hasn't even looked for a new one.

All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruise around and BS with his

buddies while I have to work to pay the bills.

Since our daughter went away to college he, doesn't even pretend to

like me and hints that I may be a lesbian.

What should I do?

Signed: Clueless

Dear Clueless:

Grow up and dump him. Good grief , woman. You don't need him

anymore. You're a United States Senator from New York . Act like one.

I hope you like!

GS - a land of whiners and complainers !!! (and now I'm becoming infected too!!!)

"In my opinion anyone who has ever been associated with any offshoots, derivatives, or wannabes of TWI have already been infected to some degree with either erroneous doctrine, practices, mindset or a combination thereof. What I used to think was complaining on GSC I now view as an activated thinking process free of group constraints. I imagine this particular open forum might appear somewhat chaotic or unruly – that may be – but I think it’s therapeutic for anyone formerly associated with a group that fosters groupthink, manipulation, mind-control, etc. "

Wow - well put T-Bone....

With all due respect, to call GS a land of whiners and complainers to me seems somewhat harsh. I think like all of us we ended up here because we wanted to find a safe place to vent our anger, frustration and perhaps even pain. All of us (or maybe most of us?) share a common thread, in that we placed our trust in something that ended up being very tramatic for many of us. And now we are seeing some of those same things occuring with the ongoing turmoil within CES. On a personal note, I have found everybody here to be incredibly respectful and quite welcoming, and it's nice to be able to express yourself and know that it wont get thrown back in your face - especially with what most of us had experienced in the past where it wasnt ok to speak your mind.

Ok, thats enough 'kissing up' for me....

hmmm these are all good ones -- how about:

"Deform-a-Dog": this is when you put a hot dog in the microwave for more than a minuite and it comes out lookiing all bubbly and deformed like a leper

"Face Cage" - I nick name I dubbed for a halter for our horses...

"Snuggle Fest": - thats when my kitty decides that he needs a snuggle fix, so he jumps up on my chest while I am laying on the couch and begins 'head-butting' my chin and massaging me with his front paws...

"Kitty-snack": - Whenever I get up to go into the kitchen -regardless- of why my cat follows me, because of course ANYTIME is the right time for a snack. Then the pitiful MEEOWWW's start...I cant help it, I always give in (like he knows I will...)

I know I have more, I just cant think of them right now darn it!

Oh well....

....thanks socks! Its nice to feel welcomed!

...I just had another thought...

Alvarez also makes a really nice beginner guitar for an affordable price too. Also Ibanez makes whats called a 'jam pack' that comes with the guitar, tuner, case and strap - and if I remember right it is less than $200.00 - that may be the way to go, that way you are all set up!

Cheers!

Michael

Hi there --

I have been in the automotive industry for the last 25 years, not that I want to sound like a 'know it all', but I would like to offer some helpful tips if I may...

In all my years in the biz, I have never seen a car begin stalling suddenly due to bad plugs, wires fuel filter and so forth. Quite honestly there would have been other symptoms leading up to that long before it got bad enough to begin stalling, such as missing or cutting out on acceleration...for this reason I would question the need for a tune up to cure that particular condition. Still if the car does indeed have over 100,000 miles on it as you say it certainly couldn't hurt it. I suspect based on what you are saying that it is more likely that some carbon inside the engine broke loose and either got stuck in a fuel injector or EGR valve (exhasut gas recirculation valve, an emissions component) which would more reasonably explain the drivability problem. One question: is your vehicle a foreign or domestic make? I ask because if it is a newer model it may have a 'check engine lamp' that illuminates on the dash when there is such a problem and I wonder if that lamp ever came on?

I would agree with some of the other posters that it almost sounded like a vacuum line had come off the brake booster as that is a major vacuum source and could indeed cause a stalling problem if the hose is leaking -or- the 'check valve' in the front of the booster sometimes sticks and will cause a similar symptom.

Because this garage is and 'independant', it may not hurt for you to get a second opinion. Independants for the most part can be trustworthy, but for the most part they have to operate on a 'one size fits all' mentality because they do not specialize in just one make of vehicle. With that being the case they sometimes arent familiar with the quirks that some makes of vehicles can exhibit. Dealerships tend to come with a negative reputation because they generally can be more expensive, but they also specialize in the vehicle make and have all the factory information available to them such as service bulletins and recalls that an 'after-market' shop does not. If a problem arises that takes some in depth knowlege of the vehicle, most times they (the after-market shop) wind up guessing and throwing parts at a problem in hopes they can fix it, and sometimes they dont after all. <_<

If you decide to allow this person to do your tune up, make sure you have him save all the old parts for your inspection, Even if you dont know what your'e looking at, he wont know that and if his intentions are less than honest he will think twice about replacing a 'good' part that doesnt need changed. If you choose to get a second opinion, consider taking it to the dealer, and yes its scary if you have never been there but it may end up saving you money in the long run. Remember they cant do any work that you dont authorize and although you may have to pay an initial diagnosis charge in the beginning, even if you decide not to allow them to perform the repairs at least you have a firm diagnosis of the problem.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation, I hope you find it helpful...please e-mail me anytime if you have any questions...

Michael B.

I can't speak from experience Michael but I would be willing to bet you are right. There was this 21 year old in Nebraska when I was living there, he was a virgin and everytime I saw him he begged me to be his first. I told him I just couldn't and his first time should be with someone special not someone that could be his mom. He wouldn't hear it and every once in a while I hear from him and it's the same thing. relentless little bugger.

Thats alright! You should pat yourself on the back for having enough respect for him to tell him that and not just give in. A rare thing in our world today. Besides, you probably would have regretted your 30 second fling later anyway....

Michael.

I have been accused of that too cowgirl. It's usually some 20 year old that wants a mommy to teach him the ropes. I am amazed at how many 20 year old boys are looking to be with their mommy.

LOFL -

This is so true (not speaking from experience!!) - and to expound on this they are looking for some more experienced, passionate woman to rock their world; which considering the age group that looks for these kind of hook ups their 'world rocking' would probably not take more than, oh........30 seconds? :blink:

hey guitar gods... if someone had always wanted to learn to play the guitar, and was thinking about getting a guitar (accoustic), what sort of guitar would someone get?

If someone were thinking that it's OK to get a high quality used guitar because they don't want to mess with buying a beginner one and then getting rid of it and getting another...

If someone had hands where the palm was large in proportion to the finger length... would someone want nylon or steel strings? or would that be something that someone would start out on one type and then move to a different type?

Tell me Obi-Wan-Guitarbee... tell me...er.. someone...

Hey there tom -

In my humble opinion I like Ibanez - I have had two and they make a real nice guitar for not a lot of money. I read someone said dont go too cheap and I agree with that too. The Ibanez I have right now cost me about $600.00 but its an acoustic electric. But for a beginner you can get an Ibanez AE accoustic as inexpensive as $150-200 and it will really sound good too. As far as new opposed to used, like anything else you never know what youre getting with used and if you could get an Ibanez (or what ever you decide on) inexpensive enough you may as well go with new. A new guitar will come with new strings and you will be the 1st and only one to play it.

Hope this helps!

Michael

Its from thr Episonde "Amok Time" where Spock must return to Vulcan because his hormones are going wild. He says this to Staan because he wanted to become one with Spocks wife....of course he also thinks that he has killed Capt Kirk - but McCoy fooled him!

Yeah I know, but I like the show!

I too must applaude Johns heart - but to call it 'pontificating' I would have to politely disagree. What I read was an outpouring of heart - and yes, we all know that 'sincerity is no guarantee for truth' (to coin a worn out phrase), however the words that were spoken were spoken with love and were chosen very carefully as to not be offensive. Thats love in any language in my book...

God bless :)

Hello Cafe -

I guess I am still to new to say welcome because you were actually here before me (but welcome anyway!). I agree with Act2 tho - We all look back on TWI and remember some good times...I must admit it wasnt all bad (but the bad was really bad!)

Hang out - this place can be fun, and theres a lot of fun people here...

Bless -

Michael.

Hey all -

I am still figuring out how to add another type of icon for my pic - anyone got any tips?

thanks!

Hey Excathedra-

Thru this whole heated thread, at least I got you to smile - nice!;)--> -smooooth-

By the way (sorry for the pun!) - what is "mwah"?

Michael B.

computer geekies huh....?

And I dont think youre a monster, just passionate about your views - and honey, passion is NEVER a bad thing!!! (thought it fit under this category...)

So anytime you want to be passionate...oh...nevermind...