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Clearwater, First of all, Welcome! I believe Raf will be coming around with coffee soon. We seem to have similar viewpoints on this whole JAL/CES thing. Perhaps we know each other?

Cowgirl, Gorgeous pictures! I love hot air balloons too. I've been up a couple of times in a tethered balloon, straight up a few feet, but haven't gone on a ride yet. If I ever get married, I think it would be really cool to take off from the reception in a hot air balloon.

74% Dixie! Abi (I think it was you), actually, tenny shoes are a variation of "tennis shoes." I grew up saying that one. Although I and most southerners refer to carbonated beverages as "Cokes", let us not forget the all-inclusive term "co' drank". "Y'awna co'drank?"

Why care? No, I don't particularly care what John does in his private life, and I do believe "public figures" have a right to a private life. I started the other thread because if John had, in fact, walked away from CES, I believe that would dramatically change the course of CES/STFI. In my five years (ish) involvement with CES, I watched it evolve from a somewhat open group willing to listen to other groups, to a more inclusive, we-got-the-answers-now-again group. In other words, I believe they want to re-create the structure of TWI, sort of like, we can do it right, we learned our lessons. I agree with Satori, people get involved in offshoots because of comfort and familiarity, and sometimes our security blanket blinds us to subtle warning signs. I'm not saying CES/STFI has gone bad, I'm just saying it merits close attention by a forum such as this where so many people have been hurt and taken advantage of in TWI. With John Lynn having resigned from the Board of Directors, I'm wondering what kind of influence he still has in the day-to-day operations of CES/STFI, or is it pretty much MG's show now? I know MG can be very persistent when he gets an idea, and will spend months, even years to see his ideas implemented. He fought for the new name Spirit and Truth Fellowship International, mainly because it was the name of the group/fellowship he had in FL. In spite of asking for an open forum for a new name, I believe MG knew all along what he wanted CES to be renamed. I just wonder if JAL is outside the fence, and doesn't even realize it?

What the duck's goin' on around here? Who goosed this thread?

I like John Lynn, I really do. I was very sorry to hear about his divorce, after such a short marriage. However, I believe handing control of the ministry that he started over to the Gr**sers and letting them heavily influence who he dated, and married, was a painful mistake. He just trusted people a little too much in areas where he could have taken a stronger stand. Sure, he's made mistakes, and owned up to them. I believe he truly does have a heart to love people and want to help them. I hope he is in a place now where he can step back a little and listen once again to the still, small voice in his soul and not to louder, outside "prophecies." He's the kind of guy, personality-wise, that just needs to lead people and have a group. Let the Gr**sers turn CES/STFI into a TWI clone, John. It will burn itself out sooner or later. Follow your heart and your God.

I talked to a friend of mine last week who said John Lynn had left CES/STFI and is now divorced. Anybody else heard anything similar?

Onion, So that's what I missed? --> Interesting stories, with a great range. Some of you had the fairy tale, some were too shy, some were too "cool". I'm still looking at doing the dance thing, but I will need to find someplace to host it free or really cheap, since I don't have a budget for that sort of thing myself. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Having moved back to my hometown about a year ago, I've had plenty of opportunities to relive my youth and things I did and didn't do. Although it didn't scar me for life, I didn't go to my prom (nobody asked me) and so I missed one of the rituals of high school. How many of you didn't make yours? Why not? I've been thinking about organizing a community dance for people who didn't go to the prom, kind of a "second chance dance." It could be a lot of fun, and I'm sure there are a lot of good stories out there. What do you guys think?

Of course, anyone who intensely dislikes me I write it off as a serious character flaw on their part. That said, it is best not to retaliate and it sounds like your boss is very level-headed and not easily swayed. However, I would suggest keeping notes or some sort of diary for your own reference, in case things start to go downhill. If the co-worker decides to hang with the job, she may get even nastier about getting you out of the way, and a record of the events will go a long way in your favor. Keep lines of communication open with your boss and as much as you possibly can, try not to complain about anything the co-worker does. If she establishes herself as a big pain in the a$$, she'll get herself fired.

Sounds like a half-baked premise to me.

I'm one of those people who would say nothing singularly bad happened to me, except that I gave several years of my youth to a group that ultimately didn't care for me personally. The thing that I regret most is that I treated my family like idiots and infidels for a while. Thank God they were wise enough and loved me enough to put up with me until I extracted my "puffed up with knowledge" head out of my rear end. We still have theological differences, but we love and respect each other very much.

Belle, You go girl! I don't think this is idle "what-if" conversation. Either you've met someone and he's asked you out, or you've met someone and you're hoping he'll ask you out. My first date food rules generally run into staying away from spinach (gets stuck in teeth) or something really stinky (like some fish dishes). Italian is good if you both have similar dishes, so the garlic is evenly distributed. Just get a pasta dish with shorter noodles. Grilled dishes like steak or chicken are good because you can cut up the meat in small enough pieces and there's usually steamed or grilled veggies to go along with it. The offensive breath factor is cut down. Have water with the meal (maybe some lemon with it) to help with the breath thing. I agree, many times for a first meeting, it's easier to do a drink and snack thing or coffee, than to go all out with dinner. The last time I went out to dinner on a date, I ordered off the appetizer menu because I know the portions at this particular restaurant are huge. Z, sweetie, do I detect a little bitterness toward the whole dating thing? Maybe you could look for ways to be around women in a non-dating, non-meat market setting, like volunteering for a worthy cause.

I think I dated one back in '98... -->

Girlfriend, you said a mouthful!

Congrats! May you enjoy a lifetime of beautiful sunrises and sunsets together! "Save a horse..." ;)-->

He was the voice of "Underdog". I think he was on some 50's or 60's show. "Our Miss Brooks," maybe?

Does this mean I have to change my handle? -->

593.5! Who da girl!?

Galen, Sorry, I meant the home page for the One God, One Love website. I'm sure there are no alluring women on CES's website, but I haven't checked them out lately. The reason I thought Jeff started the original post is that it's reminiscent of his "Ronco-style" "Hey Gang! Look at this!" method of bringing new light to the poor, unenlightened masses. There's got to be some influence there, somewhere. Mark, I agree that the website is very well done, and perhaps someone loosely associated with CES and CFF has volunteered to set all that up. I'm not familiar with CFF's teachings, but I was associated fairly closely with CES for about 5 years. On any other dating website, the picture on the homepage would be pretty tame. I just didn't think it conveyed the kind of wholesome, biblical based relationship that the rest of the site is trying to promote. George, I think that's exactly what the guy is thinking.

What's a whois search?

One Love, I checked out the website and after reading the "mission statement", I figured it had to be related somehow to either old Way doctrines or CES doctrines. Sure enough, after checking out several pages on the website, I saw John Schoenheit's book "Sex and Scripture" listed in recommended reading. Good job, Jeff! You almost had me fooled. If hanging around CES for 6 years going to meetings, singles activities, and general prayer and good behavior didn't open any doors to meet my "spiritual soulmate" within the CES network, a website's not gonna help either. I would also suggest perhaps a different picture on your home webpage. The current picture of an alluring young woman in a somewhat provocative pose with a guy nuzzling her neck doesn't seem to promote the ideas you're putting out there.

323.4!

I'm praying my money gets converted, like ones into hundreds.

Raf, You need a date. ;)-->