JoyfulSoul

OK, let me try it again. This twist into the 'prophetic movement' has nothing to do with TWI.

This conversation has nothing to do with TWI. Skepticism and critical thinking are basic life skills we employ everywhere. Like most things, some are better at it than others.

Jesus was accused of everything. We have accounts of supernatural stories. There are a million more. One person saw the Messiah. Another saw a drunk and a charlatan. Nothing new under the sun. Interesting the above account of Mike has a lot of Bob Jones's admissions of failures.

I was there one night when a guy was raving that his back was healed through a Chris Reed word of knowledge. I've seen and heard extensively from all of them. I was at the Lakeland Revival when Todd Bentley was drawing International attention. My first visit to Morningstar was 1997.

You're asking if I'm stupid and gullible? Sometimes. Eban Alexander and Mary Neal are a couple doctors and researchers claiming to have had death experiences (more than mere NDEs). Sill, there are countless others including Colton Burpo, Don Piper and a favorite, Ian McCormick. There is a whole stream of Christians claiming to go to Heaven without dying- Justin Abraham; Mike Parsons; Nancy Cohen, etc, etc. Eye witness testimony is perhaps the most prominent evidence used in law courts. By design, the gospel was to be spread by word of mouth. Without 'skepticism' it is impossible to please God. That's not what it says.

Hello Sunshine, Now you want to challenge the specifics of lurking. What a wonderful conversation. Between May 19 and May 31 I didn't post. That can start again and that could grow. I'm trying not to get banned. Lil' secret. If I did I wouldn't care all that much. I want everybody to be happy.

It is fun, and we could do this. There are just a couple who want to warn me all the time. What? Everything has been good natured from my end. I don't know the special environment of every forum. This is the second thread where I made any comment

It's just soft, I don't want any of it. Oh, you're hurting my feelings. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Whateva... All good. All love. Everybody get some Kleenex. It'll be OK.

Most involved, antagonistic "moderator" I've ever come across.

I already said my old "church" had an entire "service" with four or five of them talking about their out of body experiences. NDEs; visitations; caught up; seeing angels, on and on and on... OK with the utterance manifestations at the Way but I don't talk about everything with every Christian group I come across. Other than that, things are just a bit tender around here for me. I prefer to just lurk awhile. Makes me think of cats but...I'm really not here to offend

The mob can dish it out. Taking it? Not so much. I started reading the thread I started to find out why it felt right to be a 'bit' punchy. Lots of snarky and it didn't start with me. It's a balancing act. I'll withdraw from this thread just as I did the other. It was an interesting conversation. Now, I'm done.

Alright, I just glanced at that thread. Still, some seem kind of uptight- like, 'oooohhhh, don't cross that line' So, we toss it back and forth a little, so what? I can't really tell if the criticism is objective or if it's because I'm scoring points? Tough pill to swallow. All of us were brimming with faith at some point. Some continued on with timeless, scared truths. Others of us got wounded and became entrenched in a protective, adversarial belief system. I don't know who said it but the way to fix a wrong turn is to go back to the place it was made (well, I guess there could be a shortcut). That can be a tough pill. As the O' Jays sang, 'if you miss it, I feel sorry, sorry for you.' We weren't wrong when we believed.

It's called a conversation. Things come out bit by but if some self appointed enforcer doesn't blow the whole thing up when someone comes along with a little push back Unfortunately, Chockful evidently got tired of it. I've got .... and vinegar for miles.

See, now this is interesting. I was never told the backstory. I was really disappointed in '93 because my young nephew joined me at the Rock that year. Everyone knows what it's like trying to communicate your faith or the reasons for your faith. Well, the Rock was nothing like I told him it was. It just wasn't worth it. Now I know why.

Since you separated sexual abuse into a separate offense, tell us about the extreme prophetic phoniness. Also, tell us what if any of the supernatural you believe might be authentic. I have some familiarity with all of those groups and frequented two of them many times.

Just trying to understand how poking fun at the logical conclusions of atheism is a worse offense that calling some Christian groups preposterous, pretentious and extreme prophetic phoniness. Maybe you can guide me in this nuance?

I'm just going to tell you my opinion. Of course you can disagree. Respectfully, you're very certain about things you know nothing about. But, I' m not here to convince anyone of anything, either.

As I tell my sister, I am my favorite subject. So OK, the Rock in 87 and 88. Highlights of my Christian experience. Went into the Army. Met up with a guy trying to establish The Way in Germany but nothing came of it. Got out in 93 and joined a twig. Went to the Rock and this time it was awful. Grounds weren't immaculate as they used to be. The love, joy and family were gone. I found LCMs preaching to be caustic and controlling. It was later that fall I had that demonic episode I wrote about. Eventually I split with my twig leader and The Way. In my experience, The Way changed between '88 and '93. I know it is different for everybody, many thought it was over before I took PFAL. A little extra, would Christianity ever be the same again? The Way was gone, was that glorious experience of Christianity gone, too? Sometime around 96 or 97 the providential hand of God (just humor me, OK?) brought me to Morningstar Fellowship in Charlotte, NC. Truly, it was a 'God thing' (read: psychotic event). My walk with Christ (in my imagination) opened up new chapters and new vistas and even though the experience of love in Christian family (no thanks to VP, I'm sure) was never the same, interaction with other worlds became even better- like...way better (don't bogart that bong) ... Hard getting away from my favorite subject but you did ask.

There was already a whole thread about me. Without the hand of God on human history I'm just trying to give some atheists some happiness before the nuclear winter.

If I stick around I'll probably read some of it. To me, I don't much care about the plagiarism. If you're calling him a charlatan at least he copied something ostensibly good to disseminate. Larry Flynt was distributing Hustler Magazine. I don't know how much the women are talking about what is now called clergy sexual abuse. It would be interesting to hear first hand accounts about how he operated and the impact on them- and how many of them were there? Were they all females? Seems I remember hearing both he and LCM had RVs that they used for immorality. Don't know if it's true. First hand accounts would be best. What else? Control. A rotten, angry Spirit? I still say I caught on to a more essential message. Make the word your own and grow in your own relationship with God. Talking about VP? OK. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. VP wasn't the main thing for me.

Dust in the wind. You're all dying. It's depressing. Countdown clock on your head. You're a day closer to dead than you were yesterday.

Take a step back. You'll see I'm being reasonable. I HATE PLAYING PILE ON. I HATE PICKING ON THE EASY TARGET. I HATE CHECKING POPULAR OPINION AND THEN MAKING CERTAIN I'M ON THE SAME SIDE AS ANY POWERFUL MAJORITY. Actually, If I feel pressure to condemn someone for some reason I don't know, I'm probably going to go against the majority Fine, some of you had your trial. VP was found guilty and subject to posthumous shaming. Fine. No problem. As you said, I wasn't around for that trial. Don't expect me to to simply repeat your findings. Nobody gets beaten into submission on a message board. I'll gladly listen. I appreciate all the effort you've put into catching me up. I haven't heard any defense or counterarguments other than my own. I'll reach the same conclusions as you when it happens or maybe I'll never reach the same conclusions? Bong is packed, anyone want to talk about Jesus?

Statistically valid? 95%

You wished me 'goodbye' or something like that in your last post to me. Better if you stuck with that.

A couple moments before work. When the prosecutor lays out the charges that's when the trial begins. Until then, all you've heard are charges. Sometimes atheists are like people describing a bong. Whose is it? Where'd you get it? What color is it? What's it made out of? Idk, idk, idk. I just love hitting the bong. I might like to learn some of that but the color of the bong doesn't change my experience if it. Atheists are extremely without joy, IMO. It's cool to talk about the extremities. Just, while you're doing that, would you pass me that bong?