waysider

"Did other people share their concerns with you?" That was forbidden or at least dismissed as an attack of the adversary. I realize this might not have been so pronounced at the local twig level, but, as one moved upward into positions of increased responsibility it took on greater importance. In session #7 of the PFAL class, the stage was set for this practise. It was there that VPW expounded on the multi-step process the Devil used to trick Eve. Let me see if I remember correctly. First she "listened" and next she "considered". The subsequent steps were inevitable and led to certain downfall. Surely no one would want to follow her tragic example now would they? Bottom line: Keep any concerns you have to yourself or risk being exposed as the "bad apple". Remember now, this teaching originated well before the time of LCM. He was nothing more than an example of what these seeds of mind control can grow into if cultivated and regerminated over and over. "Military technique----What form?" Well, we once had a weekend "lockdown" in Fellowlaborers that was designed to break your spirit of individuality via a boot camp like tear down session complete with screaming and public degradation. One person actually "snapped". They considered her outcome a SUCCESS! Of course, in the military, the next step is to build you back up. They seemed to have missed that point. And there was plenty of isolationism and sleep deprivation. Sound military enough? Imagine being hauled out of your bed at 2AM and being told to report to a location 30 minutes away within the next 20 minutes.Impossible, of course, but at least you gave it a try. Once there, you are informed you have failed to meet a directive and the entire program you had sold out to has been cancelled because you(as a group) are failures. But wait there's more. Next morning at sunrise you are informed you are being given another chance. Don't blow it. I could go on but I think you get the gist of it. Again, this was during VPW's time but it certainly didn't stop when he died. edited for spelling

Once when my new bride of a month or so and I were on house cleaning detail, we decided it might not be such a bad idea to clean our own room.(Nudge,nudge--Wink,wink) No, we were'nt caught but our absence from the herd did not go unnoticed. I was summoned to appear before the limb leader, who was a half hours' drive away with no explaination of what I was being called in for. I really did not have a clue what he was calling me in for. She was not summoned, only me. Oh, yeah,Clergy. That was Rev. J!m M!lne. As he pesented his case to me about how the adversary was using "it" as a trick to let my guard down, I began to do some serious thinking about how he seemed quite fond of the new Mrs.(I better not take that thought any further here).Well, we were part of that "any 2 can make it work" deal who just couldn't make it work.But the thing that strikes me is how they had to control even the most private of moments and always try to make you think you were the one who was missing some big spiritual truth.

(or is it?) I dig the Bradbury quote at the end of your post. That is one of the few movies I thought surpassed the impact of the book.(And I used to read LOTS of Ray B.) The parallel (of the story to TWI) is so uncanny it boggles the mind. To those who have not seen it-----------RENT THE MOVIE!!!

This was NOT unique to LCM. I saw the same "goon" technique used during the reign of VPW.(1978 or 1979) A particular believer who lived hundreds of miles from Int. HQ, spoke out against some things he had experienced while outside his local area. Within days, there were "goons" at his front door informing him( matter of factlly) that "bad" things could happen to him if he continued to speak out against what he saw.( Not "spiritual" things, if you get my drift.) It was not an open discussion. He got the message and stopped speaking out. I didn't know what to make of it at the time but this person was someone I knew very well and not prone to fabrication or exageration by any stretch of the imagination. It confused me greatly. I haven't talked to this person in decades. Geography has a way of helping people drift apart.(especially in the pre- internet era.)

I agree. But, at the same time, I think there is room for yet a third category, those who were "once bitten twice shy". I think this is where the concept of "spiritual rape" enters the mix. These are people who really want a relationship with God but are conditioned to avoid it based on previously unpleasant experiences. Just my opinion ----- I could be wrong.

Suda That's a good tune. I don't want to be a hog so I won't answer it. When the title is revealed, though, do a search on it and you will get all kinds of cool trivia.

" Then there was a fellow who would simply go to sleep and drool on his Bible." Hmmmm!-----I think I may have solved the mystery of that nasty stain on the cover of my Cambridge.

When Jesus was born, Timex was still awaiting approval of their watch patent. Hence, Mary wore no watch and could not have told you the exact moment herself. If it wasn't important enough for his own mother to know, why should I give a flying pig's ear? Now, I recognize there is a difference between a fool(even a fool could not err) and someone of low intellect, but it is hard to believe that God would exclude someone with Down's Syndrome simply because they lacked the ability to conjugate verbs in the Greek text.(Heck, I can't even do that.) Just my opinion.

Thank you, I apologize to anyone I may have offended by generalization in my post. Waysider

MStar There is a juke in Clarksdale called Ground Zero Blues Club which is co-owned by Morgan Freeman. On 4/25, Bill Perry will be there and on 4/26, James Montgomery will be crankin' it up. You can't miss with either one. Ps. Someone asked Morgan Freeman why, with his financial well being, he would live in Clarksdale. His reply was simply" Because I can."

David Thank you for that info. I couldn't help but notice that quite a few are within easy driving distance of my current location. I wonder if any are doing live gigs. I'm all for supporting live music. As to Mississippi: A great place to start looking for things to do in "The Delta" is www. Cathead.biz.

Even though I was never in the Corps, this thread still hits home for me. In Fellowlaborers, we had FL night every Wednesday night. There was no way to "ditch" because there were only fifty of us. You couldn't even miss "5:30 AM meeting and run" without someone noticing. Every night we had supper at limb HQ at 5:30-6:00 and then worked until 9:30 or 10 before evening fellowhip at 10:30 Every night, that is, except Fellowlaborer Night . That night we would eat at our house tables as usual and then clean up and set up for FL night at 6:30 or 7(?) We ,too, had to change into "nice" clothes for this one. Ties and coats for men and dresses for women. Quite a chore getting changed from work clothes into nice clothes in such a limited time while 20+ guys tried to do the same in one dinky men's room. The first year wasn't too bad. Howie Y. was Limb leader/ FL coordinator. He had a very mellow approach. (Plus, he played us tons of Tower of Power, Cold Blood and Sons of Champlan.) Lots of motivational stuff too but none of the screaming rants and verbal disembowelments that were to follow the subsequent years. The second and third year were like night and day from the first. Howie was recalled to Int. HQ and Jim M. came in as Limb leader. Every FL meeting was like a mystery series on TV. We never knew from week to week what we would be screamed at and belittled for and we looked forward to Wednesdays with" loathing and fear".(Ummmm---that's Greek for "wonder" and "amazement".) Every week we came to the meeting asking ourselves" How did we totally blow it THIS week?" Never fear, though, Jim M(or was that Jim "BM") was sure to point out our every failure and was kind enough to give an individualized critique in front of 49 other people. Then, of course, the 49 others were reamed for allowing a brother or sister to fall so far away from God's love and protection. Ahh, Yes. Warm and fuzzy memories of Wednesday nights, long ago, in land where The Book of Acts came to life right before our eyes. Cough!! Cough!! Cough!!

Man!! 40+ years since it hit the airwaves and it still gets regognized at the drop of a hat(or "high-hat" in this case) All I can say is "Go, Man, Go"!!!

The Wanderer-----------Dion The last time I was down there, I lost my shoes They had some cat shoutin' the blues The people was yellin' and shoutin' for more And all they kept sayin' was a "go, cat, go". Silly trivia/ hint: the band was named after the drummer.

Thanks, Mike That helped me a great deal. I now understand how to use the "ignore" feature. (Something I hadn't even considered until now.)

WHAT!!!! A shill in a preacher's audience?!!!! Please say it ain't so. :biglaugh:

I have no idea if it is still taught but I do remember this being quite a big deal in the AC in 1973. It wasn't only anger but the whole spectrum of emotions. In other words, if you suddenly felt unexplainable fear, anxiety, sexual desire etc. when in the presence of someone, this was supposed to be the Christ in you speaking to your spirit via the five senses. This is on page 8 of the AC "silly-bus" and is called The Great Principle. God's Spirit teaches His creation in you which is now your spirit and your spirit teaches your mind. Then, it becomes manifested in the senses realm as you act. The graphic for it shows God as a triangle(interesting choice for an anti-trinitarian group,no?) directed toward a circle that had "spirit" directing to "soul" directing to "body" and directed outward as you speak out. I guess the speaking out part would only apply if you subsequently divulged your revelation. Seems like a long way to go just to say you had a "gut feeling".

GEORGE!! You could have just posted a lyric! You didn't have to reveal your personal life!

Mike Maybe I can help you out on the mirror question(Left/right;Up/down) The answers you seek to that question can be found in any Physics 101 class. Pay particular attention to the properties of light and lenses. Some areas you may want to focus on(no pun intended) are: 1.) Snell's law of refraction 2.)The differences between "real" images and "virtual" images.Those are physics terms, Mike, and as such are objective and quantitatve in nature. They are not subjective or profane terms. 3.)Internal reflection and critical angle Hope that helps On the PFAL= revelation thought: Are you suggesting that B.G. Leonard originally got this revelation directly from God and since VPW "borrowed" it from him, it is therefore "new" revelation? Just curious.

Close enough for me,GSG. The actual title is" Your Love Keeps Lifting Me" but people often call it "Higher and Higher". Rock on, Bro.

Oh, I don't know. I'm a bit curious to see the response to my question on post #41.

Thanks, Belle I had no idea you and I work at the same company.

Mike Can you be a bit more specific on that "He added a bunch to PFAL too." statement? What things do you think God added via PFAL that were unknown previously?

Sorta-----Because they lack the protective qualities that pigment provides, they are very prone to things like skin cancer and blindness due to the absence of a filtration mechanism to defer harmful wavelengths of light. Of course, age has a tendency to make us want to rest more also. Like a lot of us here at GSC, the Winters ain't gettin' no younger if you catch my drift.

You know, once I was downhearted Disappointment was my closest friend But then you came and he soon departed And you know, he never showed his face again