oldiesman

14 hours ago, Nathan_Jr said:

I really despise these euphemisms, but charlatans and criminals wouldn’t leave the house without them.

The media seems to have normalized this linguistic apologetic by referring to rape as sexual assault, which is easier on the conscience, I guess. Hearing or reading about rape is supposed to make people uncomfortable. Euphemisms are anesthetic.  

Numbers in Scripture (Bullinger)

Competent to Counsel (Jay Adams)

The Challenging Counterfeit

Babylon Mystery Religion

The Thirteenth Tribe

None Dare Call It Conspiracy

Dale Carnegie Books

The Myth of the Six Million

The Way Living in Love

On 12/11/2022 at 4:05 PM, Rocky said:

Life is NOT about being perpetually chained to a group because one doesn't want to lose God's "hedge of protection." 

If you want to stay attached to twi because you genuinely love the lifestyle, more power to you.

But if you harbor hidden cognitive dissonance, you CAN break free and won't be in any more danger from the trials of life if you go.
 

This brief discussion of (emotional) antifragility may help. There is light at the end of the tunnel. There are communities where people understand and relate to what you've been through.

 

One really simple way of shedding the group and the waybrain is to do without it for a month!  Remember what VPW said in PFAL...  take a month and shed the world and exclusively delve into the PFAL materials?   So try the reverse and see what happens..    Surprise surprise.

Prayers 

17 hours ago, Stayed Too Long said:

 

Is Jesus Christ coming back sometime in the future? There is no “evidence” or “proof” that it will happen, only the word of some writers in the bible.

 

Catholics believe in a concept called "the community of saints."       One example of this in operation is prayers for souls in purgatory for the purpose of releasing them --  it's said that God releases souls from purgatory into heaven this way.  Don't ask me if or how this happens, have no idea and am still somewhat of a sceptic although I do pray St. Gertrude's prayer anyway.   Regarding Jesus' return, does God respond to believers collectively praying for Christ's return?   Scripture says we don't know the time, but does it say that believers have nothing whatever to do with helping make it happen?   ("Thy Kingdom Come....")       Then there are the 'preterists' who believe it already happened!    

10 hours ago, penworks said:

Just for the record, from my files:

Wierwille's contradictory teachings on "soul life" 

1971:

Wierwille's Power for Abundant Living book, Pg. 237

“The soul life is in the blood and is passed on when the sperm impregnates the egg at the time of fertilization.” 

1977: 

Christian Family and Sex class, 1977 syllabus, Pg. 12

“The most dramatic part of the birth is the crowning because this is when the baby takes its first breath of life and becomes a living soul.”

1979:

Advanced Class on Power for Abundant Living, Segment 9 (on tape which I no longer have):

“The first breath of a child is soul life, until that time, there’s no soul life.”

Hi Penworks, thx for that!    I know of one other interpretation by TWI that was posted on GS once, from Free Spirit Magazine arguing against late-term abortion written by D. Craley that if the baby can live by itself outside the womb, it's presumed to have its own soul and shouldn't be aborted.   I think the piece was from the 80s.    But that quote from 1971 is amazing and should have settled it!