T-Bone

Which reminds me of episode # 89 of The Twilight Zone, "To Serve Man".....Watch out for these guys "To Serve Man" is a...a...a cook book!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday, Roy. You are truly a kind & loving soul ! I always enjoy reading your posts - which bring such a sweetness and sense of wonder to Grease Spot.

Just now noticed this thread since it's been moved…Raf, Diana/Diane and family are in our prayers. love Tonto & T-Bone

This is the current flowchart for TWI [note the convergence of all activity toward Rosie in the center].

Thanks Don't Worry Be Happy for your jam-packed insightful posts! Regarding this thread I've been thinking about a certain verse: Matthew 18:7 NASB Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! …We don't really know what impact a situation will have on another person's belief system. According to Jesus' words the person who puts the stumbling block in another's way shares in the culpability. I don't think suicide is the correct response to a problem, of course – but knowing the treacherous nature of certain leaders and the debilitating mindset of a typical TWI follower, I often wonder how much of the problem a suicidal person dealt with was ministry-related. I'm thinking about my WOW year …One of the WOWs in our branch committed suicide……Since leaving TWI a long time ago, I've tossed that devil-spirit-fixation-mindset – and take a compassionate approach to the human condition.

What qualified vp to teach a class on Christian Family & Sex?...."Christian" + "Family" - He was a bogus preacher who had little regard for families – he expected followers to hold TWI's agenda in higher priority than their own families…."Sex" – hmmm…who would be more qualified than a sexual predator to handle this subject? Makes about as much sense as having Jeffrey Dahmer teaching a college course on rape, necrophilia and cannibalism.

Skyrider – vp's trick of spiritualizing adultery is one of the many booby traps he set for followers – a sinful bomb just waiting to destroy the life of an unsuspecting soul. vp took a weak stance on sin [the incident of vowing to never preach another negative sermon in PFAL, the "softening" of living in sin to "broken fellowship"]. The reason it's a booby trap is because the Bible clearly indicates one cannot commit adultery and walk away unscathed. Proverbs has a whole section on adultery with a stern warning in Proverbs 6:27-29 KJV Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosover toucheth her shall not be innocent.

Cool topic, Brushstroke! I think it’s a good way to develop our belief system – by turning our critical thinking inward. It took me a few years after leaving TWI to appreciate the critical thinking process. I like what you said about putting yourself inside another person’s belief system. That’s the value of another viewpoint – looking at something from a totally different angle. It’s a great diagnostic tool – not that you discover absolute truth – but that you uncover assumptions or some fallacies - in regards to your belief system. At least you’ve become more aware of background processes. Many beliefs that were so firmly set in stone when I was in TWI – are now in a state of flux. And that doesn’t bother me – that’s part of life’s journey… exploring…there’s a lot of things that still remain a mystery.

Pete was one of our sponsors.

Great thread, great posts! You nailed it! A Secret Agenda Society indeed! Their real priority became obvious when you see the mandated response to Schoxnheit's paper – that hit 'em where it hurts!...Yeah, I gotcha greatest secret in the world today right here – vp gave the green light on adultery.

For me, one of the most captivating incidents of the interview was Ralph confronting Craig by the Motorcycle Shed. After Craig tried to justify his adultery by saying vp told him he needed to loosen up in this category to become a leader/lover of God's people – Ralph's simple response was vp was wrong. That's a shocking statement – and a variation on the general theme of the interview – exposing the dark underbelly of TWI. If I were to pitch it as screenplay to a Hollywood producer, I'd describe the interview as a strange brew of Elmer Gantry and The Wizard of Oz. The part of Ralph would be played by Toto – featured in the climactic scene of pulling the curtain back and exposing the con man and his fantastic machinery of deception and manipulation.

My short answer is your dog is not getting enough paper, moisturizing lotion or deodorant in his diet - ....sorry, couldn't resist the setup....Seriously though - there's probably stuff in those items that appeals to his taste buds [don't know about the paper though]...We've got two dogs - one tries to lick the boot creme off my work boots after I've conditioned them, and the other one loves tooth paste....I've heard of pets drinking antifreeze - again something about the taste...We've got to watch out for our babies, dontcha know.

Ever notice how some people throw a little temper tantrum whenever their idol gets tarnished.

I think Ralph cut to the heart of the matter in the way he confronted leaders. TWI excelled in hypocrisy – and used the name of Jesus Christ like a veneer over their agenda. Makes me think of what Jesus said in Luke 6:46 Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say. What Ralph did was call them on that very issue [not doing what the Lord says to do]. They wanted to cover up the adultery, lies, abuse of power, etc, - and Ralph was basically saying that behavior was not kosher with Jesus Christ...TWI was always weak on dealing with sin - and another sweet sermon on Jesus was not the quick fix for the problems of TWI. Just look at how much Jesus confronted hypocrisy in the gospels.

You are one of the good guys - both then and now! I appreciate the time and effort you took to expose the real game plan of those bozos. A gazillion thoughts and emotions are coursing through my head right now. I’m so glad we’ve left that insanity!

Paw, A big whopping thanks to you, moderators, techies and everyone else who keep Grease Spot running!!! I will forever be in debt to you, Paw – for your labor of love…There's great value in another viewpoint – because it provides a little bit bigger glimpse of things. And here we've got a convergence of multiple viewpoints! In Ghostbusters they weren't supposed to cross the beams – but here the union of viewpoints is a good thing – the bigger picture – a window to the real story....So, cheers to you my friend – for providing a window I can peek through and now understand 12 crazy years of a life dominated by TWI…A life dominated by TWI ain't no life at all!......Freedom is great!

Some great points! I fell into the clueless category - the time after the Passing of a Patriarch was major turmoil for me. Because in all that commotion a feeling of dread came over me - that something was very wrong...I could not articulate it at the time...but that's when the technician in me was re-activated - I am a born troubleshooter ...I am a technician by trade and love to figure out how things work or troubleshoot them when they don't...That's when I began to analyze and assess EVERYTHING...and slowly realized that the current TWI crisis wasn't a glitch in the system or a faulty component - it was a faulty design from the get-go.

Yeah - Lucy hung me out to dry a few times...switched to mescaline after that...it was a more "mellow" high...I think...

You've got to include a "maybe" option for the timid or undecided. [edited for some vague and obtuse reason]

Dear Grease Spot person, Your post is very important to us and may be answered at a later date – technological advances permitting, of course. Our mission will always remain in the foreground of the background, making nebulous strides toward an, as yet indeterminate middle ground. We generally like to focus our attention on the blurriest part of some issues while adopting a more speculative approach when details grow dim. Clearly, we live in vacuous times which call for our best ambiguity through the most vacillating means possible. If you feel you have received this post in error, please log out / login and post again.

Yikes, Rhino - that info is unsettling! I heard about it this morning on the radio...I've never felt an earthquake - but it's unnerving to think about a situation where there's NO place you can run to for shelter - like from a tornado.

Do not let the title of this thread intimidate you.

Word Wolf, thanks for a very thoughtful response!

That's a good point, Waysider. Re-defining words and phrases was always a "useful feature" of the TWI mindset – with a little twist, one can re-interpret reality: Fear is believing in reverse or F.E.A.R. is false evidence appearing real. On this topic – the usual vp-apologists are hard at work: vp's plagiarism is re-defined as assembling the work of others by divine revelation, and offering a confusing definition of common knowledge.