ex10

no, she ain't joking.

Another thought on this subject.....Who was VP accountable to? Most churches or ministries that I know of and have been acquainted with, have some kind of "board of elders," that the pastor/minister answers to. VP adamantly stated over and over again that he didn't have to give account to anyone but God. :blink: Virtually every true "minister" I've ever known stands accountable to those whom he/she serves. He surrounded himself with yes men, who didn't question his mog status, and condoned and enabled his troubling behavior. Anybody who was on staff or in the corps during his reign, knows that anybody who challenged him was publicly humiliated.

exwaycorps I was "blessed" to meet you in chat.

Wow, Sunesis. What you said. Funny you mentioned VP's true motive in going to San Franscisco. I too, heard that he went there to explore the "free love" movement among the Jesus people. I can't remember who first proposed the idea to me. Probably JAL, but I can't remember for sure. There is a presence on the Internet of Christians who believe in "free love," "open marriage," etc. Hard to believe I know. So evidently the idea is still alive and well. I know from the counseling classes I've taken that sexual disfunction normally starts in adolescence. So I find it rather difficult to believe the VP was a man who "succombed to temptation," in the sexual area. Nobody becomes a pervert older in life. It just doesn't happen that way. As far as whether or not VP was born again, well I think he was. But just because someone is saved, doesn't mean they don't sin. And sin badly. Even narcissitic psycopaths can be born again, I think. But anyway, the question of whether or not he received Jesus as his Lord at one point in his life, is pure speculation. No one can ever know for sure.

VP's "manner of life" thoroughly, and yes, throughly ;) disqualified him from being any kind of "minister," much less a teacher. Ok, we all know the "qualifications of a leader" from I Timothy 3. Geeze, I wonder why God had Paul write those things? Could it be that when a sexual deviant of the alcoholic type (or anyone else of questionable character) becomes a "minister," he/she teaches other "ministers" to become what they themselves are?

:lol: :lol: :lol: Mister P!! I did ask for that one, didn't I? :B) Ok, that's not exactly what I had in mind. Since we will have a couple of minors in attendance this year, we will definitely keep things G rated. ;) Or ok, well at least PG anyway.

Wishing you lots of sunshine inside and outside dear Raf! Hope you enjoy your day with those who love you!

Son of the Master That was a really kind and touching post.

The Pharisees of Jesus' time were all about "accuracy of the scriptures." They were into the finest details about keeping the law, etc. Yet, when the "Word Made Flesh" was standing right in front of them, they were blind. The irony is, that the scriptures they were so concerned with being "accurate" about, all pointed to the coming Messiah, the Promised One, the Hope of Israel. They were the most well-educated and learned men of Israel, yet not only did they fail to recognize their Redeemer, they persecuted and crucified him. Isn't there a lesson in that somewhere??? Sheesh. So much for "accuracy."

Not only that, rascal, most well adjusted middle aged men do not do these things, as Alfakat pointed out.

Thanks for telling it, sisex. :wub:

And also, I should add something. Here in TX, we have the TX Workforce Commission, which is a great service provided to help job seekers as well as employers. They offer free training classes in all kinds of computer related skills, including keyboarding. It's great because you can do it on your on timetable. I don't know what state you live in, but maybe there is something similiar available? Also, I've been told there are online typing and keyboarding tutorials that are good, and free too. Of course the advantage to those is doing them from home. Good luck!

Likeaneagle, I used to teach typing (among other things) at a vo-tech school. Typing speed is something that can be easily improved, just by practicing. I taught beginners, and had students enter my class who had never touched a keyboard, and who ended up typing at least 65 words a minute by the end of the quarter. (That was the requirement to pass my class, which was pass/fail.) My advice would be, don't let something as simple as a typing speed requirement stop you from pursuing something you are interested in. :wub:

Yeah, Groucho. You reminded me that "having the true word" can't be about scholarship or academic prowess. If that were the criteria throughout the 2,000 year history of Christianity on this planet, hardly anybody could qualify. Jesus taught "ignorant and unlearned men." Yet there were able to "know the truth" and spread it over the then known world in just a few years. Heck, from what I understand, there are still spoken languages that the Bible hasn't even been translated into yet. "Having the true word" has got to be much bigger than knowledge acquired through academic study. I suspect it has more to do with imitating the character of the "true word," Jesus Christ. And letting him lead, guide, and direct his church.

I find it pretty ironic that TWI was so into "accuracy," when so many "leaders" couldn't even figure out that adultery is sin, according to the Bible. Duh.

Yes, the BBQ will happen Saturday, Nov. 3rd and Sunday Nov. 4th. Hope you can make it this year, ex70's. Yes, we have a grill. But we might smoke something this year. Still deciding on the menu.

Ha! Mr. P-Mosh. We shop at HEB too, for the same reasons. Plus it's right down the street.

Yeah, sky, at some point along the way, knowledge of the bible according to VPW, replaced a relationship with the one and only "man of God for our day and time," Jesus Christ.

Skyrider I think the problem is that the "Living Word," our Lord Jesus Christ was absent from the picture. After all, his words as recorded in the Gospels were "for our learning" only. Sheesh. Way doctrine totally negated the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives day by day. We weren't followers of him, as most Christians at least claim to be. We became followers of men who claimed to have the "righly divided word," while we ignored the supreme teacher and leader of men. Very sad.

Warning: the following is a true story: I have some dear friends who moved here a few years ago from another country whose major language is English also. They had been in their rented house about 15 minutes when they realized they needed asundry household items. So.....the dutiful husband, hunter and gatherer that he is, volunteered to go to the grocery store, to purchase said household goods. So he drove to the neighborhood Super Kroger, full of the kind of confidence naivete engenders. Unfortunately for him, toilet paper was on the top of the list. Well, he navigated Kroger successfully, and eventually discovered the paper goods aisle, without a map even. Little did he realize what was waiting for him around the corner. Yes, he found the toilet paper, but .........egads! there were about 75 varieties of toilet paper. Shock and awe overcame him, and his optimistic confidence quickly drained. So after spending an hour or so, pondering which kind of toilet paper he was supposed to buy, and deciding he needed to do more research on the matter, he moved on to salad dressing. Ooops. There was an entire aisle of salad dressing spanning the length of the store from north to south. And not one bottle of the desired dressing resembled anything he had ever seen before. Well, instead of panicking, he did the sensible thing, and went home empty handed, and offered to babysit. Meanwhile, his beloved came to the resuce, called a friendly neighbor, and recruited her to teach her the nuances of grocery shopping in the good ole US of A. And I must say, they are both quite the professionals nowadays. She and her beloved have since moved on to other countries, and have both confidently mastered the art and science of grocery shopping on many different continents. But they both still allege, the USA was their Everest.

Hope you have the greatest day, Mark!

How great to be able to celebrate with friends, Act2. Enjoy!

Ok, I confess to being a bit confused by this thread. I understand the concept of standing up for one's self. Get that. But, aren't there times in life, where we extend a hand of kindness and compassion, mercy and grace, where ourselves don't matter so much, because someone is in dire need of ........for lack of a better word.......help? I'm not talking about being codependent, or an enabler, I just talking about the ole milk of human kindness idea. Yeah, Jesus took a stand, but he never expected people to come up to his standards, he met them where they were. Maybe we are talking about different subjects.

socks Reading your post reminded me how passion for music, and passion for Jesus, are pretty much always a winning combination. Mix in a little youthful exuberance, and "anything's possible," unfettered, joie de vivre, and voila! Something happens, and people take note.