T-Bone

Have a great one, Excathedra !!! Love, Tonto & T-Bone

The "law of believing" is to the TWI lifestyle what special effects are to the movies - a clever illusion to sell the big picture. For sheer entertainment value it's cost-effective, providing a cheap and easy way to escape from reality... sometimes for years on end. Special effects may vary, depending on one's "believing".

Knock, knock. Who's there? Drummer of. Drummer of who? Keith Moon.

Have a good one, Oak! Here's looking at you, kid...

Good questions, Twinky! That's always a tough one to think about from a human perspective – creatures confined to a certain space & time. Imagine yourself in God's shoes – and seeing down the road that a certain person will pray for a particular situation. Being God, you have it in your power to orchestrate things ahead of time to accommodate that prayer. That prayer is actually part of the means for what comes to pass. In other words, if that prayer was not made the outcome from the chain of events would be different. It's mind-boggling to consider the complexity of contingencies in any situation – yet to an infinite being [not bound by space & time] – God's perspective may be as one who can fast forward/rewind/pause a movie. That analogy isn't the best, I suppose – maybe it's more like an interactive game than a movie. Being interactive – everyone – including God – is a player. All of this is mere speculation, of course. The Bible doesn't offer any technical information on how God, prayer, or foreknowledge works. God knows what we need but we're exhorted to ask Him for what we need. Perhaps God wants us to have a sense of partnership with Him.

I love Dave's stuff! He wrote a sequel to the Colonoscopy Journal called Left Behind.

A termite walks up to a fence at the Grease Spot Café and says, "I like your post."

Great idea, Rottie! I think that would be such a stress-reliever at the work place. My wife and I have actually talked about such a thing several times "Wouldn't it be great if we could take one of our dogs to work." Unfortunately, that just won't fly at either of our jobs :( . Nico looks like a real sweetie. I got a kick out of the side comment: "Nico, her Rottweiler, acts as a greeter at the office she manages in Oak Brook and gets along well with many of the other dogs." The key word is "many" – I pity the few that don't get along so well .

Glad to hear you're feeling better...still have you in my thoughts & prayers...my dad was a medic in WWII, seriously wounded from a mortar shell and suffered from post traumatic stress - and I remember him complaining about some of his VA treatment being pretty shabby. He moved from the east coast to mid west - me not being a vet but from what I heard from him it seems like some VA Hospitals are better than others AND sometimes he had the help of my sister in getting better treatment....Thanks for serving our country.

Have a good one, love Tonto & T-Bone

Listening with a purpose questions Name some of the ways to get ordained discussed on this thread? T-Bone writes TWI flim flam method Send off from the back of a matchbook cover Over the Internet [edited by the right reverend so-and-so over some spacing details]

Jeff ! or...........What do zeroes call eight? Siamese Twins. One vulture says to the other, "I've got a bone to pick with you!" A bar walks into a rabbi, a priest, and a minister and says "Am I where Monadism Anonymous is meeting tonight?"

Welcome to Grease Spot, Aball001 ! I hear ya on TWI's interpretations coming to mind as you read KJV. I was in TWI for 12 years. I've found as I progressed in personal study AND explored other viewpoints [systematic theologies, commentaries, discussions on Grease Spot and some Christian websites] – those annoying TWI pop-ups were squeezed out by my own developing viewpoint. There's a lot to be said for learning how to read intelligently. And to that, I recommend How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren. That book reminds me of a very simple idea I came across in another book and that is - read the Bible as you would any other book [from Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli]. For in doing so – I think our mind takes on a more active role in processing stuff. I do believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that the Holy Spirit oversees the written Word and speaks to every searching soul – but I also take very seriously any Scripture directives that encourage the reader to engage the mind, reflect, meditate, etc. I've read KJV so much - that still to this day, it's quicker for me to recall a KJV phrase and look it up in a Strong's Concordance [ I recommend The Strongest Strong's fully revised and corrected by John Kohlenberger and James Swanson]. Since I left TWI in 86, my favorite version was NIV [that's some useful stuff by Word Wolf in post # 38] but has been eclipsed by NASB. I have about 34 different versions of the Bible on my shelf [some just NT] and a bunch more on software. But for comparative study purposes, I often use two handy books: The Comparative Study Bible with NIV, KJV, NASB, & Amplified and The Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible with NKJV, ESV, NLT, & The Message. As far as commentaries go, I find the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary by Kenneth Barker & John Kohlenberger affordable, handles key Greek & Hebrew words and since it is an abridgement of the 12 volume set Expositor's Bible Commentary [which I also have in software form], it doesn't get bogged down with a lot of cumbersome technical stuff. There's some good systematic theologies out there [there's a few I highly recommend – if anyone's interested, PM me – as it is this post is way too long already - my apologies to Just Thinking and everyone else on this thread…actually it's just a poll…man oh man, I'm outta control here!...but I haven't posted much lately, and I gots to keep up with my quota dontcha know ] – but there's one I especially like – again it's affordable and simple: More Than Redemption: A Theology of Christian Counseling by Jay Adams. Doctrine affects practice – and much of this book got me to look at the practical impact of doctrine. With regards to your mentioning "the law of believing" – one of the first books I read after leaving TWI was Beyond Seduction: A Return to Biblical Christianity by Dave Hunt. It gets into certain deceptive doctrines and is still very timely today, IMHO. Not long after I left I found myself quoting from it quite a bit in letters to those in my Family Corps.

Have a good one !

That would be hand-to-hand combat…er…uhm…or hand-to-something combat. In the Ahogamiento del Pollo galaxy, masturbation is a very touchy subject.

Maybe the dog thought he was dealing with an imPAWstor.

Without all the rules and regs of TWI, my interest in the Bible has definitely increased after I left. Ah, freedom...it's a beautiful thing!

Happiest of days to ya!!!!! ...Every time I see your name I still think it says "bow tie"...

Great - thanks, Polar Bear!

Welcome, to Grease Spot! I disagree. A Monday morning quarterback is one who offers advice or criticism after an event. Ralph did no such thing – there was no sermon, commentary, or advice given as he told his story…he merely related his experience of the events – for he was right in the thick of things! Ralph hits me as a straight shooter – with a lot of spiritual savvy and some pretty big cahojones to confront TWI's upper crust! I'd like to re-name this thread cutting through the BS - cuz that's what he did. I think you've got it flip flopped, saying he missed revelation. [Ya know, I can't help but think all the stuff the board of trustees claimed to be a revelation manifestation – was a bunch of BS, anyway – it was the mumbo-jumbo-magic-means to validate their own sinful desires]…Yeah – I'm not real impressed with their "in-depth spiritual perception and awareness" which cannot even see that adultery is wrong – when it's right there in black & white - in the Bible or Schoenhei+'s paper [your choice]. Anyway - nothing against you personally - I'm just offering my own Monday morning quarterback advice after listening to Ralph's interview - we cut through the fog when we remove the PFAL-colored glasses and take another look at things . love & peace, T-Bone [edited for dramatic impact]

He only took tips. A Benny shaved is a Benny urned. Okay - I give up. What did you do with the boat?! Your question is so easy that I'm going to let my chauffeur answer that one! Some people can tell 'em - and some people can't. By the way, Ron - there was a lady in one of our twigs who had a whole notebook filled with just punchlines. She said it was easier to remember the rest of the joke that way...maybe a comedic shorthand or something. [edited to add "Some people can tell 'em - and some people can't." - the punchline of a classic joke that sort of goes along the lines of Ron's idea with this thread. I told the joke one night in chat - general idea of the joke is a bunch of convicts on a chain gang - telling the same old jokes over and over again they just gave each joke a specific number....anyway can't say much more cuz this threads only about the punchline. ]

Amen to that!!!!!! Thanks for sharing all that, Don't Worry Be Happy !

IMHO, one of the biggest things affected by involvement with TWI is our creative & critical thinking processes. "Good" TWI followers have a misplaced confidence in the mindset they've adopted. Followers are encouraged to absorb rather than analyze. Over time, the thinking "muscles" become atrophied. Everyone processes things just a little differently. What has helped me the most was talking about it with someone – usually with wife & friends [like the folks at Grease Spot ] – I did seek professional help too. Belle recommended some great books! Getting back to the atrophied thinking "muscles," I recommend Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life by Richard Paul & Linda Elder. It's one of the things that's helped me regain confidence in my ability to think clearly.

Have a good one !

Who came first - Jim Hensen or the frog? And for that matter, who's on first?