dmiller

But I cannot allow the bitterness to follow me to the grave or worse, to Christ's return. My hope is that I live righteously by treating others the same way. Perhaps this is what was meant when it was written, "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Eagle

It is always good to "shake dust". Like you, I've reached that point also.

Hello all.

The following is from a fellow Hoosier that's now living in Argentina. Yea, yea - - he's a banjo picker too,

but his perspective is coming from a "local" view that might not be reported in the mainstream news, so I

think what he has to say is credible. Here are his observations:

"This is a very controversial decision here in Argentina. This cardinal is ( was ) "Jorge Bergoglio" the bishop of Buenos Aires but it's also known and suspected that he collaborated with the military dictatorship under General Videla during the 70's and 80's.

This is the same military junta responsible for the invasion of the "Falkland Islands" ( known as "Las Malvinas" here in Argentina ) and the implementation of "El Proceso" which saw the kidnapping and torture and murder of some 30,000 young Argentines during this time period.

They were rounded up, many in the dreaded black ford falcons, taken to detention centers where they were beaten, tortured and then either shot, or more infamously, drugged and flown out over the Atlantic in military helicopters and pushed out alive but in a drugged state.

I am, right now from where I sit, only about 3 miles from a detention center here at the naval base in Mar del Plata where it was suspected that many young Argentines went during the dictatorship and were never seen or heard from again.

When his papacy was announced here at work their was a mixed reaction. Some like him for his "humility" and social outreach, especially amongst the poor in the "villas" ( slums ) of Buenos Aires, but others also remember him for his supposed collaboration, if the claims are true, with these brutal military dictators...many of whom are still in trial as we speak here in Argentina.

Time can heal, and ultimately change character and hearts. Forgiveness is a beautiful gift and a powerful force. Who knows what really went on? Maybe he regrets his past and has made peace with God and/or asked for forgiveness? Maybe he felt like he did nothing wrong? Maybe he didn't do anything at all and the claims are unfounded? Either way its a "bittersweet" mix for Argentina and their first pope."

Congrats. Cool to hear of two souls finally united in love. Nothing finer.

Here's a "Musical Trilogy Tribute" to the two of you, Dot and Groucho .

The band is The New Grass Revival. The banjo picker was one of RumRunner's favorites.

I'm thinking RumRunner would probably approve of this succession of songs, in your honor.

There will never EVER be a band as good as The New Grass Revival. Their acoustic talent reigns supreme.

They done a "multiplicity" (Gee - - where have I heard THAT word before) of songs, and these 3 stuck out.

I hope you enjoy them. Given the order they're posted, I'm guessing they tell "your story" from start to finish.

Happy trails to the both of you, and here's hoping there's many years ahead in your future.

David

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(edited to add - - ) These days I think in terms of wires and wood and lyrics.

Seems like the songs already written can say things better than I.

A friend of mine (Bob Lucas) from southern Indiana wrote that last song (When the Storm is Over).

It was an immediate hit when NGR recorded it. It's one of my favorite tunes.

Here's hoping "The Storm Is Over" for you two.

stand behind him and he sucks.

stand before him and he blows.

stand beside him and he does'nt do a damn thing for you.

Lovely "observation" there. I guess I'd amend it to say - - -

Stand behind Him, and He'll draw you forward.

Stand before Him, He'll propel you on your life journey.

Stand beside Him, and He'll take your hand to lead you on.

But - - - You're welcome to your own opinion.

Oh - - (and as mentioned) He's also like Coca-Cola. He's the real thing.

What did I find??????????

To put it simply - - - The More Abundant Life.

Any other questions?

Sincerity is no guarantee for truth.

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It seems that Pike's Peak Seminary was basically an 8 bedroom residence (house) that a few people with ThD degrees ran a correspondance school out of. From what we can piece together degree requirements probably consisted of some form of writing to be submitted by correspondance, and possibly an in-person evaluation of a sermon (VPW refers to two such presentations). Also some form of dissertation was required.

You can get down a murky path talking about accreditation topics, but I think more to the point would be an examination about the rigor of the core curriculum for the degrees. Certainly in this respect Pike's Peak Seminary would be far less work than any known school's doctorate of divinity, and during that time period a degree from there would be looked down upon for legitimate reasons to the point where we see Wierwille not putting the name of the school on any of his published works.

So yes, VP's doctorate degree comparatively to his contemporaries pretty much was a write a couple of essays,

and send in some cereal boxtops type of degree.

(snipped for brevity . . . )

In order to understand the "in-depth spiritual reality" of docvic's "PhD degree" (Pneuma hagion Deficient degree),

we first have to know what it is NOT. Seems I heard that in a class somewhere a long time ago.

WHAT IT IS NOT - - -

1.) Worth the paper it was written on;

2.) Worthy of the "rock star" status expected by the owner thereof;

3.) A document making him MOGFODAT; and - - -

4.) Worth many years worth of academic work to earn it. (Mail order comes to mind).

WHAT IT IS/ ( or should I say) BECAME - - -

Well - - we all know the end result of that. No need to enumerate or reiterate.

Doesn't take much to get accredited (these days) either academically or otherwise.

Given the "advances" twi made to all of us way back when, I wish I had been as perceptive then as I am now.

Thanks Paw, for the Grease Spot Cafe. It's been an oasis in the "spiritual desert" that twi left us in.

I said "my last goodbye" to twi many, many years ago. No love lost/ no regrets/ no "dog returning to it's vomit" on my part.

Thanks for all you've done Paw. I'm guessing there's gonna be an "extra crown" for you and what you've accomplished here.

I never regretted saying goodbye to twi, but it pains me to do so here. This place has a special spot in my heart.

Since there's no more Southern Comfort Weenie Roasts, or Texas BBQ's, I'll see you all out there in cyber-space.

But nothing will take the place of this place, Paw. Reminds me of the quote:

Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've accomplished much, with little.

God bless us all, God bless us each and everyone.

David

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twi isn't worth the time or the energy it would take to write what should be said.

Why fan flames? All this angst only gets used to fuel the last few remnants of idiots "believers"

to dig and and keep trying to move something that should move on it's own worth.

The "carrot" was dangled. and we all "bit". Much could be said about "the org". dooj is right. :)

Yet Another GS Denizen does the "Goodbye!! I'm leaving now! ... I'll never come back again! ((snif)) ..... See ya!!" routine. ...

... Which should last for, ohhh, about 2-3 days, and then they quietly come back by slipping in the back door. <_<

Ummmmm - - - how long is the "back door" going to be open?

Hey there Janice. There is a GSC Facebook group now. Admin there are Abigail and Bramble. :)

http://www.facebook....1518750241&ap=1

(edited to add - - -) There's 64 of us from here, over there now.

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Spilling wine is alcohol abuse. ;)

I'm thinking it was LittleHawk who did the snipe hunt

Clay Jay: We are just eating breakfast; we have not even thought about dinner. :)

What an analogy!

Shoes for DEFENSE !

Shoes for De Feet!

I'd forgotten about this poem. It's a classic!

For those who (such as myself) find it very difficult to read so many words strung together so closely,

I took the liberty of breaking this down into "more manageable verses" for older eyes to read more easily.

How The Way International Stoled Christmas by Mark Clarke

Share apologies to Dr.Seuss he says. HOW THE WAY STOLE CHRISTMAS

Every Christian in Church-ville liked Christmas a lot. But The Way, with HQ in New Knoxville, did NOT.

They hated religion, and mainstream tradition; They wanted control and our perfect submission.

It could be their heads weren't screwed on just right. It could be perhaps that their shoes were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all May have been that their hearts were two sizes too small.

But whatever the reason, their hearts or their shoes, They put forth their doctrine the don'ts and the do's.

It can't be called Christmas, 'cause it's not a Mass. (You know that of course if you've taken The Class.)

We'll say Household Holiday, or Ho-Ho for short Let's see, what other Scriptures can we distort?

No singing angels, that's strictly forbidden! (The morning stars singing in Job must stay hidden.)

A tree decked with ornaments, lights and such things Is pagan and godless what evil it brings!

It started with Rome and their long winter nights. (Or that's what we've heard, and we know what's right!)

But the biggest wrong Christmas tradition of all Was the date of Christ's birth he was born in the fall!

The Doctor assured us, his teaching was true. (The men who researched it before him knew too!)

So rather than focus on Jesus this season Let's cause more division and argue the reason.

We've got to be different from regular church, So we can grab kids who have started to search.

But some of the folks on the field said, "What gives? Who are you to control us? The Lord Jesus lives!

We're not doing those pagan rituals you fear. We're celebrating Jesus, at the end of the year.

So what if he really was born in September? The main thing is getting more folks to remember

That he is the King that God promised to send, And there will be peace and good will in the end.

The Way didn't like that, not one little bit. It threatened their power to teach Holy Writ.

If they start to think for themselves, then they'd see They really don't need us then where would we be?

So they made an example of the folks on the field By driving them out from their spiritual shield.

You're out of the WOWs and you're out of the Corps, And you won't be allowed in our Twigs anymore.

You're causing division, we'll mark and avoid you For daring to question the group that employed you.

And Satan will get you, you'll all be grease spots By midnight, for thinking outside the nine dots!

They thought they were doing the work of the Lord By keeping such cop-outs from wielding the Sword.

We can't compromise, we must remain strong. We cannot afford to find out we were wrong!

The folks on the field had just heard the news And the Way thought that they would be singing the blues.

But their sound wasn't sad! Why, their sound sounded merry! It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!

You might think that they were the losers that day For having been booted and shunned by The Way.

But they'd sat and they'd read from the Bible last night And concluded that what The Way taught can't be right.

Then they thought of something they hadn't before. Maybe Jesus perhaps means a little bit more.

We're saved without classes, and without name tags, We're saved without Teachers with all of their brags.

And what happened then? Well, in Church-ville they say That the folks on the field grew three sizes that day.

And the minute their hearts didn't feel quite so tight, They knew that they still were beloved in God's sight.

They learned that God gave people brains, and what's more, You don't have to leave them outside the church door.

They read for themselves, and they thought that way too, And found that the Truth's not a What but a Who.

And no matter the origins of Christmas traditions, They knew if they gave them their own definitions

That bright decorations spread gladness and cheer; And we sing Hallelujah, Messiah is here!

Shellon - - You were the only Mod that used your real screen name. Gotta say Thanks for that!

Abi - - - actually, you "outed" yourself over on Refiner's JW MoChat site, but I never made it public.

Regardless of all that - - - all the Mods here have "done good". Here's to all y'all.

Firesign Theatre! !!! Haven't thought of them in YEARS!

Back in college, we used to hang out in one of the local picker's basement apartment/ drink "jug wine",

and when we got tired of picking, fired up the pipe and settled back to listen to these guys. What a trip!

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"The sun is going down!

No, the horizion's moving up!"

<meta charset="utf-8">How social media, web and mobile tell the story of the Nativity. The Christmas story told through

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon..........

Times may change, but the feeling remains the same.

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This is bad --I want to call up Zepps and get the other one I left behind

Im playing hookey from work today and playing these gems, I really have to go to confession or a 12 step program or something.

Which one "was left behind"? The Chuck Lee? Or another cello banjo? Chuck Lee's are awesome!

Don had a massive sale a few months back, getting rid of his stock of guitars in order to specialize on banjos.

3 musicians/ 3 instruments/ 12 strings - - - sounds like an entire dang orchestra.

Mark/ Edgar/ and Yo-Yo. It really gets no better than this. :)

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dmiller, on 15 December 2010 - 03:54 AM, said:

I have the original one copied Garth. Do you need the link? ;)

Sure do. Thanks! :)

All two hundred and five pages of "THE" - - - - - > > > http://www.greasespo...owMessage2.html