Twinky

Outfield, Enjoy! Now if you want to go the whole hog, you get a delicate little porcelain (china) cup (not a pottery - clay) mug and sip your tea from that. Some would say you should make the tea in a porcelain teapot (because it's very thin and therefore does not leach the heat from the beverage). (That's the reason for the lid on the tea pot, not to mention avoiding scalding spillage.) There is the perennial argument about whether tea should be drunk with milk or lemon, or neither; and if milk, whether it should be put in before or after the tea. Now let me just go and put the kettle on... time for a brew. Twinky

So pleased for you, Nero! God is good. That is so far from having the life support system switched off that some members of your family should be very ashamed. Rejoicing with you, Twinky

Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall And if one green bottle Should accidentally fall Ther'd be Tom Strange crying Underneath the wall

This is good fun! Had a few goes and I keep coming out with a TIQ of about 110 which looks good but I know a few of the obscure places in Oceania (huh???). As for Africa... Do we wonder why there are such problems in "helping" Africa when many of us hardly know one country from another (let alone one city from another). Some time ago a friend and I were thinking about how little we know - there are 53 countries in Africa (about the same as States in the US in an area perhaps a little larger) - try writing down the names of the 53 countries, much less placing them on a map. How close is the closest anybody got to a location? I got 22km for Boston. Just to make up for that, I put one location completely the other side of the world, you couldn't get further away.

I'll vote for that in the shops. So much better than "White Christmas" (gag me)

Hey Beautiful One Have an purr-fectly gorgeous day. May lots of good things happen to you. You're so special!! Love you, Twinkeeee

You can get jammers (illegal) for mobile phones. Cuts off the signal. Probably not a good idea on a plane though. Pilot might get upset. Might be good in trains/buses/public places. I like the "cult leader" idea. Amazing how people can woffle on about Mother Nature/whatever their own personal philosophy is, but think you're weird if you talk about JC. I like most of the people I've sat next to in planes. And buses. I met an out of work actor once on a Greyhound bus. He could quote huge chunks of Shakespearean plays. Kept a little group of us highly entertained.

Ha ha surprised the dentist didn't say, Go out and get drunk on Friday night. Get in a fight. I know some good divorce lawyers...

Maybe it was funny - clip says "No longer available". Obviously got "pulled".

SACRED WORKS???

And of course when those people "failed" either in rez or WoW, for whatever reason, it was another big stick to beat local leadership with, because they had failed to spot the person was unsuitable.

Wow, Lifted, he must have set a great example, if you wanted to sign up after only 2 months. But did you have any idea what you were getting into? I do know someone who was rejected right at the start because of not having the right level of education. There was a bare minimum requirement (basically, you could read and write, and have a cert to prove it) and if there was no cert to prove it, rejected until it was produced. There were others in my Corps who were also very recent after PFAL, less than 12 months, with little previous Christian experience, so newness in the Word wasn't a disqualification. (edited for spelling)

Hope y'all had a great and Thankful day. Lots to be thankful for, sound mind, healthy(ish) body and freedom from unrealistic expectations. The gook in the brain, is that a new name for a devil spirit? (Oops, this isn't About the Way...) Have a bunch of fun, over-the-pond buddies.

Paw! Happy birthday! Your very good health, sir. T

Oh my goodness. Are we the Pres of the USA or something??? The greatest leader is the greatest servant - so would this preparation be to make sure there were crowds of people who might be sick - perhaps so that they could be healed by touching the hem of his robe, or his shadow falling upon them?

Interesting, Bumpy. When in rez we got (had) to watch a Michael Jackson video (Thriller??) and LCM said that there was something to learn in the way things were done if they were done well, even from worldly things. We were to look at Jackson's skill and ability in dancing and his "moon walking". Now how much more weird can you get than Jackson? I don't think Mozart or Beethoven were in his category, really. As if nothing worldly could be well done... As if there are no skilled people out there who just like to do a really good professional job at whatever it is that they do...

Special Thank you to Winking Belt Productions for the wonderful CD of photos.

Outfield, that's a major cringe (ouch!!) But what you can do is microwave the cold water to boiling point, and when it reaches that, then drop in the tea bag and let it steep for a few minutes (covering the cup/mug is good). This would work for the single-cup tea bag (eg, the Lipton stuff) but if you have stronger tea, it'll get too strong OR if you remove the bag before it gets too strong, you will miss all the blend of the tea and just have the harsher notes.

Thank you all very much for your replies. They are heartwarming and I feel comforted at your generosity in supporting the in-rez WC and kindness in letting people grow and be where it was right for them. Edi - I echo your long post. I knew all of my SPs personally and some of them sent quite a lot of money. Few of them had much to give but I deeply respected all the financial assistance they were able to provide. Two at least of my SPs later went into the WC (one left of his own volitiion - "afraid of leadership"); the other may have graduated. One is dead; several went into rez in the year or two after me - current status unknown; at least 3 others are WC still with TWI. One couple is now divorced. One man ran a CFFM fellowship for a while. The rest I don't have a clue about. It would be lovely to catch up with so many of them - perhaps some even post here. I think it was right for me to go into the Corps and it's definitely right to not be there any more. I'm (now) glad I was kicked out because I probably wouldn't have left under my own volition (or left so soon, at any rate!). The only thing I regret now is that it took me so very long to get my head back in order afterwards and to start to live life (I'm talking a decade). My Dad has been so very good to me now that I humbly seek his love and kindness and am willing to receive it! A couple of times in rez I had my sponsorship for the block and with the agreement of sponsors, donated some of their funds to other in rez Corps who hadn't made their funding by the required dates. (We didn't tell the Finance Office of this arrangement.) I too had been told sponsorship was over and above ABS, which didn't seem right at the time and seems distinctly contrary now. Tithing was to support and provide for the needs of the priests and their families - which would include "trainee priests" as these could only come from certain families/tribes. What else was the in rez Corps except "trainee priests" and such as should have been supported from ABS?

It’s many years since I completed the Corps program and very soon thereafter got myself kicked out - as with so many, not really for doing anything wrong but because my face didn’t fit, in somebody’s opinion. (Actually I followed the example set the guy who kicked me out, but he didn’t like what I had done…) No doubt I was disparaged and generally abused and accused of who-knows-what, after my departure - that’s if I had been spoken of at all. I often wondered what my spiritual partners thought. Did they feel ripped off? That the funding they had lovingly provided (and it wasn’t easy for some of them) had been wasted? That I had let them down? That I had had this wonderful opportunity available to me, and I had not taken full advantage of it? Did they look down on me as a fraud, a waster, a cop-out? No way of contacting most of them now, but for those of you who sponsored someone (which will be many at the Café), how did you feel when someone you sponsored left the training program, either voluntarily or was booted out? Did your feelings about someone leaving differ if they had graduated, rather than just being in rez? Did you wonder why they’d left? And did you question the truth of any explanation you were given (which would be from leadership, not from the person leaving)? (I felt so disappointed that I had let people down and wasted their very hard earned cash. Another stick to beat up in-rez with…)

A tea ball isn't cheating at all, it saves cleaning out all the tea leaves!

Listening to this podcast, I was struck by what John has to say about prayer, coupled with TWI arrogance in expecting God to "deliver" (or just expecting the delivery without even considering the deliverer!). Were we taught to pray? Really? Remember, in an early session of PFAL we were taught that "the Lord’s prayer" isn’t something that we can pray. It’s not relevant to us. Although one aspect of that prayer was pointed out as having been already provided (like we don’t need our daily food any more, ha) in fact, subtly throughout the class and in subsequent teachings, the whole prayer and the structure of the prayer were dismissed. What about recognizing our unique personal relationship with him, as a loved child? What about recognizing the holiness of God? What about recognizing his might, power, kingdom, authority? What about recognizing that it’s his will that is to be done? What about recognizing his forgiveness and grace? What about recognizing what he truly has done for us and will do for us - his deliverance? What about recognizing his gloriousness? We were taught (by example) to "thank God for having already provided for us," and to simply to appropriate it. By "believing." But not by recognizing our relationship with him as our Daddy, his loving kindness, his grace. We were taught to behave like spoiled three year olds, kids at the check-out demanding candy. It’s good to recognize what God has done for us, and to claim what we have been given. (The weakness of some churchy folk of thinking illness is sent by God to test them drives me crazy!) But within TWI, I wonder how many were genuinely thankful and how many simply learned to "thank God" simply as a matter of rote as they presented a list of demands? In the same way, we finished our prayers, "in the name of Jesus Christ" almost as some magic formula, rather like we were hiding behind our big brother, not standing in the confidence of what he has made available for us. Words - not wholeheartedness. Where were we taught the *humility* of prayer in the manner that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked how they should pray?

English Breakfast tea, of course! Common sorts available in the UK are PG Tips and Typhoo and they come in bulk packs of 240 bags and are cheap. Soooo--- ----do join me in a cuppa!

You're right on that. I recall the WoWs who witnessed to me were young and enthusiastic - but didn't really know anything about life and real practical help in dealing with problems (including "gray areas" which so much of life is!). One WoW went into the Corps but he was slightly older by a few years and he wasn't long there. I wonder if so many would have been so keen to sign up if it had meant going to a seminary for four years and actually training for priesthood/ministerial/pastoral responsibility in a more usual setting? But what would the TCs (or whoever) have to say about such young and enthusiastic kids? Was it any different for FC applicants? Were their children also subject to references or otherwise vetted for suitability?