Larry N Moore

You omitted the word "true". Haven't quite figure out what it means to be a "true" Christian, but it must be serious. ;)

If it's so simple to understand, then why is it you DON'T know or AREN'T sure what it means? :blink:

How then do you account for the fact that different understandings of the same verses arise? Is God telling one person one thing and then telling someone else something entirely different?

Sunesis, don't you realize that in your previous post you essentially stated that Oldies DOESN'T have a relationship with Jesus?

Ok. Consider this a belated birthday wish. Can I just give you a (((((hug))))) and let that suffice. (I don't know how deep the hole I'm digging for myself is going to get otherwise). :)

:) What do you get someone who has everything?

May you have many more! Oops! My mistake. Oh well. Happy day to you. :)

My hair use to be considered "dish-water" blond. It's now a lot light brown with touches of gray. My eye color is a mixture of green and blue. My height is currently about 6'2". You were close though. :)

Not to worry Dan. Have I ever shown you my shark suit? Besides -- Underneath that shark exterior lurks a beautiful woman. :)

I must say, Suda, it's been an interesting read. Although I found some of your comments contradictory (maybe due to a misunderstanding on my part) I commend you for your efforts. As a observation -- I thought your critique and/or analysis, of what has transpired in this thread, should have been posted in a companion thread. At times I thought it interrupted the "flow" of the discussions. But, what the hey -- if someone has been blessed by it then -- I'm making a trivial point. Let me offer you a bit of constructive criticism. Never make it a point to tell someone else how they should compose their posts. At least not publicly. If someone reading such posts don't understand what the author meant to say -- they can always ask for clarification. I'm sure you're aware of the old adage -- when you point a finger, you have three pointing back at yourself. :)

Eyes, this is exactly how I would have handled it. I would hope that the man apologizes. If not, I could always take my shark teeth outta the glass and persuade him. ;)

I did. Thanks Abi. I'll respond when I find more time.

Ok. I sense nothing short of a miracle will cause us to look at this situation through the same lenses. Your question is an interesting one – in the field of psychology and sociality. Our attitudes develop and ingrain themselves in our psyche over a period of time and once ingrained are difficult to root out. How much of this man's behavior can be attributed to the way he had conducted his life prior to this occasion I cannot say. I would have to know his history. Someone said – perhaps it was you – that we each get out of something what we need (or words to that effect). I bring this up because – I recall from the CFS 1 Corinthians 7 being discussed – especially: "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman." And I wonder – Was the man sleeping during this segment of the class? Or did he predate Clinton (in his thinking) and thought that having the woman touch him was a loop-hole? All of this beside, we cannot know with any certainty what was going through the man's mind at the time – but it brings up in my mind another issue. How would you have dealt with it (assuming you were the instructor or a friend of the man)? Two personal experiences come to mind (one that occurred before I took CFS and one long afterwards). When I first started getting involved with TWI one guy, that was likewise new, made advances towards me. I was shocked! I told the TC that either that guy was to be told not to come back or I wouldn't be coming back. The second incident (that occurred in close proximity to my departure) involved a man in the same twig I was a member of who was a "recovering" homosexual (let's not debate the concept of the term "recovering"). We had become very good friends and he spent a lot of time at my home. Sometimes on Fridays my family (with him present) would watch a movie together. He had asked if we could watch a movie – I believe it was called "The Crying Game". I said sure. I had no knowledge of what the movie was about but he thought it was an excellent one. It didn't take long before I realized that such a movie was inappropriate for family viewing. I got up; went to the television; and turned it off saying: I've seen enuf. I then turned and walked out of the house (my own house). A few minutes later he followed me and we talked about what just went down. He apologized. Now, I wasn't shocked, nor outraged. If I was I might not have been able to communicate with him why such a movie was inappropriate for a family movie night. Oh sure – he would have known that I didn't appreciate what he did if I were to have yelled and screamed at him but would he have really learned anything? So, how would you have dealt with the situation of the 70 yr old man's inappropriate behavior?

Socks, don't give up your day job.

What! Sharks don't go in for Midnight snacks? Hmm . . . wait a minute. It's after midnight. Nevermind. :) The Parable of the Scorpion and the Turtle A scorpion and a turtle stood at the edge of a river. As the turtle prepared to swim across, the scorpion asked, "Will you give me a ride across?" "Absolutely not," the turtle responded. "You are a scorpion, and you will sting me before we get to the other side." "No I won't," the scorpion answered. "That wouldn't make any sense, because if I sting you while we cross, we'll both drown. I want to get to the other side as much as you do. So let's work together, what do you say?" It tok a while, but the scorpion finally convinced the turtle to let him ride on his back as he swam across the river. As they drew close to the opposite shore, the scorpion raised his tail and stung the turtle. "What did you do that for?" the turtle cried. "Now we're both dead!" The scorpion just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Welcome to the Middle East." :)

Thank you (FaintWhispers) for saying so.

Oh what the heck. It might be good for my hemorrhoids. ;) I don't recall that parable. I'm afraid to look it up 'cause I might discover you just took another bite outta my a$$ and the pain would be unbearable. :)

Does it feel anything like a tack? :)

Gosh darn it Eyes! Every day is trick or treat as far as I'm concerned. Piece of candy. Go for a ride. ;)

I didn't think Raf and I were really on opposite sides of the issue. That being -- Was the 70 yr old man's behavior appropriate or not? I thought I made it clear that I considered it inappropriate. I can. However, it's not the behavior I would be excusing. We've already agreed that it was inappropriate. People do the darnest things. Let me give you an example: I was speaking to a friend where I work about something he did for me at home. He asks me how much he charged me. I jokingly said -- An arm and a leg. There happened to be a man in the room who had his leg amputated. As soon as the words came out of my mouth I wish I could have shoved them back in. I felt bad and although innocently said this in his presence I think it would qualify as an inappropriate comment. Oh I know -- it's probably trivial as opposed to what we're talking about here but my point is -- I'm 52 yrs old. Shouldn't I have known better? The answer is -- yes I do know better but, I just wasn't thinking when I said it. No, none of us can know the heart and mind of the man. I don't consider you're being harsh on the man per se -- but rather harsh on the behavior. Isn't there a difference? I did. There was a time when I hated the idea of marriage. Coming from a background of growing up in one that was hell I could never see myself making a commitment to anyone. That class changed my thinking. I met a woman (not a TWIer) and three days later proposed to her. I've been married to her for over 30 yrs. That sounds fair enuf to me. ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

I'm sorry you feel that way John (but I understand). I had hoped that my post on page 65 (#1297) wouldn't be buried in an avalanche of posts and subsequently getting lost. But that's the way these things often go. If you get a chance to look at it and feel like responded to it that would be nice but, if not then so be it. Larry dons his shark teeth (the ones Eyes lost the last time she took a bite outta me) and prowls the waters looking for that post of Abi's that I so wanted to respond to earlier. ;)

Oakspear, do you have me on ignore or did you just fail to see my post where I brought up the same question? Abi, I'll respond to you in a bit.

:) The horror of it all!!!!!!!

True, but who should be the judge of that? If I take that role and apply your thinking couldn't I declare that everyone who proclaims their healing as a result of getting out of TWI should keep their mouths shut? I know of only one example. I'm not arguing that the behavior was appropriate. I specifically stated it was not. The question is: What was in the man's heart? Was he hitting on the woman? Or did he just didn't think about what he was doing because he was besides himself with joy. I guess we'll never know for sure.

If you can't separate the two things then I guess there's no sense in "arguing" with you. I'm not defending the man's behavior. It WAS inappropriate imo. However, getting healed is a beautiful thing. You're right about one thing though -- you are too legalistic.