TheInvisibleDan

I miss "Bibliofind". Another good site for rare books - http://used.addall.com/

Thank you, Mike, for sharing your experiences and taking all the time to gather and post all that material. You really should start a website, to better arrange all these topics and experiences. Danny

A double cheeseburger "Happy Meal" WITH KETCHUP ONLY. For my son. No chopped onions. No mustard. No pickle. And get it right, Dammit!

Mike- Out of curiosity, had you ever actually met VPW, and seen him in action when he wasn't playing his onstage/class persona? I ask this partly due to a recent discussion on the "Brush with Fame" thread. Danny

Whoa, half-a-century old! Happy Birthday Geo.

Ouch. Sounds like something my German translation software would churn out. :)--> Danny

Mike - "As every good English teacher knows, the more you consideration put into your writing, the more consideration you can expect from your reader. " I hate to nit-pick, but would you please give further consideration to the first part of that tortured phrase? It's late, I know. Happy 4th to everyone here. Danny

I recall there was a thread awhile back discussing what to do with the archives. At the time I was tempted to suggest, with perhaps various exceptions, deleting them periodically. Get rid of them. This thread only reinforces this sentiment. Why keep material online that potentially can be used against posters in certain situations later on? Naturally we are individually responsible for maintaining caution in what we post, and should consider our words carefully before we hit that "Post Now" button. But I still think cleaning out the archives on a periodic basis - rather than allowing them an indefinite shelf-life - might be a good thing, for the reasons brought up on this thread. Danny

Wow, so you're a sculptor? That's a very fascinating way to make a living, indeed! For some reason I envisioned you testing out new fangled video games, or something along those lines. Would love to check out some of your artwork sometime. Do have you have an online exhibit? My son loves video games ("Blockbuster Video" is the center of the universe to him at the moment), and he loves his "action figures" as well. I don't know if he's actually got an interest in sculpting, though he loves messing around with his legos (he's 11 yrs old). Danny

Excathedra, You must be an angel, because my own posts can even put me to sleep :)--> I hope you had an excellent birthday, with lots of rich, chocolate cake! Danny

Steve the Extraordinaire wroteth: "Mike's "advanced Christ formed within" spirit enters into a person's mind through some different, later process than the process of receiving holy spirit. These are Mike's own words. I haven't read anything into them. According to Mike, there is a spirit other than the gift of holy spirit inhabiting his mind. As we've seen in other places, Mike relies on this spirit to reveal hidden meanings to him, meanings that often contradict the 5-senses meanings of both the Bible AND Wiewille's writings. Does it walk like a duck? Does it quack like a duck? What conclusions are we to draw? What does the bona fide, God-breathed Word have to say about these things?" Oh what the heck, I'll attempt to play the devil's advocate extraordinaire. The stuff you point out is quite interesting,- and worthy of the old Advanced Class "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" -though not at all surprising. Yet "possession" is not the only inference that might be drawn from Mike's trip around the proverbial barn, particularly in view of E. Earl Ellis' article, "The Spiritual Gifts in the Pauline Community" in the journal New Testament Studies vol.20 ( which can be located at any decent college library), which goes into the possible relationship between spiritual gifts and angelology (or spirits of angels), and how this may be seen in Paul's writings as well as in sections of the Dead Sea scrolls. That Mike should stumble into the view that there is more than one "spirit" involved amidst his studies may also be indicative of the various odd "ducks" that are to be encountered in the scriptures. Speaking of odd ducks it's certainly open to question at least in my mind how the request in Eph.1:21 should have been taken, that "the Father of glory may be giving you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the realisation of him" - considering that Ephesians was supposedly written to folks who already were bestowed "holy spirit"(?)- a very bizarre passage if taken literally, and if so, E. Earl Ellis' thesis (and Otto Everling before him) would make the most sense. And again, we cannot overlook the inconsistent nature of VPW's teachings on the topic of holy spirit to bein with, which presents quite a parasitical "holy spirit" when accepted literally. Especially in view of VPW's handling of "body" and "soul" in other places, of which inconsistencies I think you done magnificantly in drawing attention to in past posts. Your job sounds like a lot of fun. Is your employer looking for any additional help? Actually it sounds like the kind of job my son would enjoy. Danny [This message was edited by TheInvisibleDan on June 24, 2003 at 12:06.] [This message was edited by TheInvisibleDan on June 24, 2003 at 12:10.]

No, I never did attain the position of an "OLG" - a "CIM" (cog-in-the-machine) perhaps (lol!) My son loves "The Justice League" on the cartoon channel. Danny

Steve wroteth: "Oh... Just one more thing..." (LOL!) "Columbo" is one of my all time favorite detective shows too. Danny

You're welcome, Mike. If you started a website, it need hardly be a "lone" one, - nor would it be necessary to abandon forums -because there are a number of ways you could make known your site, such as providing a link to it beneath your screen name, along with any topics. If you haven't worked on webpages before, it's quite easy and not difficult at all, esp. if you have Word or Wordperfect. And you can add to it each week. And it's a lot of fun. If you decide to give it a go, you may wonder why you hadn't done it much sooner. Danny

With all due respect, I think a few here are beginning to sound rather off-the-wall and frayed around the edges on this thread...except for maybe Garth, who's kept his sense of humor. :)--> Now it's come down to Mike having a "demon" (!?) I don't particularly care nor agree with many if any of Mike's ideas or opinions, or of his approach/zeal/stubbornness - no more than I agree with others or they with me here - but such is life in America, and in an exway forum. Yet if it be assumed that Mike is spinning his brain in Wierwillian delusions (and of his interpretations thereof), then are you (we) really being any further away from the orbit of Wierwille with this demon stuff? Step back and take a breather guys. You're much better than this, I think. Mike - I can only reiterate the idea I offered earlier several pages back - out of respect to others and to yourself - and in view of the considerable volume and length of writing you pour into these posts - you should seriously consider starting your own website. Perhaps you might be able to organize and present your views and ideas more comprehensively than what you're attempting here. Danny [This message was edited by TheInvisibleDan on June 05, 2003 at 3:02.]

Evan - wow! I wish I had attended California public schools back then. What-the-Hay - thank you for the fascinating post on Bob Moog. Do you own a Minimoog Voyager? It looks very impressive. Danny

Evan - if you enjoyed that, check out the video "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey" which features the late Clara Rockmore, who was a virtuoso with the instrument, as well as a history of the inventor. The hilarious interview with Brian Wilson may be worth the price of the video alone. Danny

Theremins are cool! check it out - http://www.thereminworld.com/learn.asp Danny

Guitar, some violin, some keyboards, and now I have my eyes on the Theremin.

My version of Nero automatically converts mp3s to the wave (or "cd") format when burning them to cd, when one selects the create "audio" cd mode. You might consider obtaining a copy of Nero.

Excellent post Dizzydog (glad to meet you, btw). I don't subscribe to everything in PFAL - as I remarked at some length in my previous post, I think there's an awful lot of stuff it doesn't cover. Yet out of respect for those who may still continue to hold to some the various points covered in PFAL, there's no need to confine oneself to such when one may obtain the original material, such as Bullinger's "How to Enjoy the Bible" (as well as other works), or Stile's "Gift of the Holy Spirit", or for that matter, B.G. Leonard's works, or the works of Concordant Concern...Bullinger's stuff must be what? 200 years old now? I doubt if one has much to worry about if posting any of his stuff online. it's all out there. If one is so inclined, one can even cobble together their own "class" or volume, and do an even more honest job this time around, thru a citation of the original works. For that matter, one might even put together a website presenting most of that material, no strings, no commitments attached. One could put together quite the killer website (with hyperlinks to other study sites) or a CD-ROm to give to people. I would do it if I still subscribed to this stuff, - but I don't. But for those who still may be zealous of some of this material, I don't know what they're waiting for. With the world wide web one could knock themselves out with a website, without having to resort to starting a cult, or any number of whacky personalities. Danny [This message was edited by TheInvisibleDan on April 21, 2003 at 9:32.]

About the one positive thing I can admit about PFAL is this: it was my first comprehensive introduction and exposure to the Bible and of the material therein, for better or for worst. Many have effectively covered the errors and failings of the class and of the man who taught it here and elsewhere, so I need not go over those arguments, other than to express, in my opinion, that even if one were to "master" PFAL by heart - or if one may, derive as much as one possibly could from the material of the class, there would remain a vast vacuum enshrouding one in the dark in so many other areas, of topics left largely largely untouched and unexplored by the class, if not passed over altogether. No introduction to the Bible is without it's flaws and failings, and all should be taken with a grain of salt. For anyone who has had and developed an interest in the Biblical literature and biblical theology, PFAL may have served as a starting point, as one had to begin somewhere. But I think it is a tragedy to think one can derive more from it than what it actually offers. In the context of the PFAL material, one will not learn anything about the history behind the formation and development of the canon, of the variety of early Christian movements and of the various controversies of doctrines and literature arising their interactions, or of any other such developments of Christian history, literature, doctrines, beliefs, communities and thought. It is much more complex and mulifaceted than Wierwille depicted, than perhaps one might expect of any one introductory class predicated along literalist, fundamentalist lines. Indeed, if one abides solely in the material of PFAL, and restricts themselves solely to that, chances are one is not going to uncover any deep "secrets" relating to the development and transmission of the Biblical literature, that one might gather when visiting a university library and obtaining access to works ranging from critical Greek texts, reconstructions of lost or earlier versions of texts derived from the writings of patristic literature, a snapshot of beliefs and attitudes that may be derived from extra-canonical pseudepigrapha and apocryphal literature, not to overlook the wealth of studies done by scholars, some of whom have spent their entire lifetimes focusing and researching in certain areas, that Wierwille may have foolishly disregarded and dismissed with a grunt or a wave of a hand. The one example that comes to mind is the study of parables, and of their literary form. Knowing what I know now, from reviewing the works of C.H. Dodd and Joachim Jeremias and others, it's painfully obvious from PFAL that Vp had absolutely no valuable insight to contribute on this topic, or no clue as to Jesus' brilliant usage of these, when sweeping it under the assumptions of "no private interpretation". It's a free country. One may worship a class, a man or the tooth fairy. But I would only express my opinion from my own years of experience, in pursuit of my personal interests which has grown over time - if one thinks PFAL is the end-all, cure-all toward building an understanding and mastery of the biblical literature, which may be freshly renewed by returning again and again to "Start", then I think one may be seriously missing out, rather than actually expanding one's horizons, and enjoying that experience of learning new things from the wealth of information and material which one may access through their local libraries. With the former, there are many serious limitations and even pitfalls - with the latter, the sky is the limit. I suppose it all depends on what any person actually wants, or what they're looking for. If one is happy with PFAL (or any one Bible class) and all it offers and feels the need to go no further, I say fine. People do, and should, approach religious literature in their own way, - or in the ways of others -or can approach it in many respects, ranging from the attitude of a critical historian to that of a "believer". Danny

"Best thing you can do is to throw that computer away. I have one that I will be throwing away soon and it is a Pentium II which I paid $1800 for. It hard to even give older computers away anymore. It is a disservice." No argument from me that my pc is ancient history comparatively speaking - as the new technology you described has probally become obsolete by the time you finished typing your post. But this old horse nonetheless accomplishes what I need it for, and is preferable to having no computer at all. As for "throwing" or giving your old pc away, perhaps you might try a thrift store, soup kitchen or the Salvation Army, or inquire with the local schools or libraries in your area. It would be a "disservice" to simply throw something like that away (providing it's running okay), when I suspect there are a number of folks out there still without a computer, who may not share our fortunate circumstances, who would probably be in heaven to have your garbage. Danny

Thanks Zix. I'll keep that in mind next time I have an extra hundred bucks to play with, or should I require warp-speed in Microsft Word. :)--> I really am quite pleased with my $11 upgrade at the moment. I can't get over how stable this thing is running. And if one can get by with upgrading the cpu at that price, one can take their savings and buy high quality stuff like THIS Danny [This message was edited by TheInvisibleDan on April 03, 2003 at 1:28.]

For anyone who has an old clunker like mine (circ.'98), upgrading the cpu on the motherboard can make all the difference in the world, as it did in my case. I thought my pc was on its last legs - it had been constantly crashing (especially while scrolling down a page), and running sluggishly, despite having added more RAM memory and even replacing the hard-drive. I thought for sure my entire PC was a lemon. It was common for my PC to crash at least 2-3 times a day, if not more. Then more recently my attention turned to the cpu, which in my machine was a Cyrix II 333, which, as I learned in the process of going through reviews, are notorious for overheating. One acquaintance even nicknamed it a "space-heater". These chips may be adequate for office apps but are absolute dogs when it comes to multimedia applications. So I decided to try replacing the old "space-heater" with a new chip. Originally I wanted to replace it with an Intel, but Intel stopped producing chips for the "socket 7" plug on the motherboard. So I went for an AMD K6-2 350. This PC hasn't crashed once (!) in the two weeks since I installed it. Unbelievable. It's running with so much better, with more zip and stability. It's like having a new computer. So if you have an older computer like mine, which has the original factory-installed cpu chip in it, and are disatisfied with the way it's been running, don't give up on it yet - especially if the chip inside of it is a Cyrix - replacing the cpu can make a radical difference. And it's very easy to replace, providing you have the manual for your motherboard (if not you can often find them online).All that is required is changing a few jumpers, taking out the old fan/cpu and plugging the new one in. And the best news of all for those with older computers - new parts are very inexpensive. I picked up a new AMD k6-2 chip on ebay for only $11. Danny