WordWolf

I knew about this back when cordless phones were new. Electromagnetic fields near the body are never that great. I don't sweat temporary exposure, but I'm not surgically connected like some people. There used to be something you could buy that partially insulated a phone's magnetic field. I wonder if you can buy it for a cell phone...?

How about saving the gloating and nose-tweaking until AFTER you win, and saving as many surprises as possible for court? Sun Tzu would slap you for telegraphing your moves.

Sounds like he may have decided his handwriting wasn't that special-looking, and so he NEVER used his own signature. Instead, he used other people's handwriting for his own. This is pretty consistent with his established M.O.... "yeah, vpw did everything, nobody else did anything..."

Hello, Joe Believer! I'm reasonably certain that wasn't meant as a slander. If you've been catching up on the many threads all over the place here, you may have seen the following things... (among others) A) posts where people expose covered-up things from twi B) posts where people expose errors and problems in twi's teachings C) posts where people expose the origins of twi's materials D) posts where people claim it was never really bad E) posts where vpw has always been God's favourite-according to some F) posts where pfal has always been God's special class The posts in the latter category tend to impede the healing of people who are coming to grips with how much was hidden from them, how many lies they were told, and how good God is once you remove the thousand-and-one shackles twi doctrine hobbles God's grace with. These posts come anyway. Some people claim the ONLY purpose some people have here is to say bad things about vpw and twi. Usually, these people claim that there were never any lies, vpw never raped or molested anyone, vpw was never a control freak, pfal was never ripped off from other Christians, and things would be as perfect as they once were if only we went back to pfal.... We get that from time to time, from people who refuse to move forward- then accuse others of being unable to move forward. So, your post made it sound like you might have been advocating that. Me, I'm thankful for the results I did see and the legitimate things I learned. I'm also thankful I'm free of the organization that would have sucked the life out of me as I sought to be my best for God. It might be unclear if you feel the same way, or if, instead, you meant to say that the horror stories some suffered thru never actually happened. So, that, I'm sure, was the thought behind the pointed question.

Puts that old "each one, reach one" in a different light, eh, Socks?

Have any of you heard about the confessions? Some people who committed crimes came forward and confessed after watching the movie. They were convicted of their own consciences. (No, really. I checked the story directly off the Reuters website to confirm I was getting it right.)

Galen, you could be going in any of a number of directions from there. If you see a pattern, please pass it along. I may agree, I may not. I get enough of the pedantic thing on certain other threads, and I know you're capable of better, so please don't make a liar of me.

It's amazing how many people seem to know the exact global map of things after Revelation 21:1. It's also amazing how few of them can cite a verse for their precise map. I at least admit I can wait and see, mainly because I have no fricking idea how it's going to look. I can make a considerable case for one thing, and, for the life of me, it doesn't make any sense at all, so I don't. (It has to do with New Jerusalem.)

CW, I think it's at least partly so to a lot of us, not necessarily all at the same time.

I quote what George Carlin said about his Catholic school experience. His pastor talked the diocesis into trying out progressive education. No sweating out grades, boys and girls together, no uniforms, movable desks not in a row... "In fact, there was so much classroom freedom that by 8th grade, many of us had left the faith! They had made questioners out of us, and they didn't really have any answers. They always fell back on 'Well, it's a mystery.' 'Jezuz, mystery...thank you faddah...mystery (what's he talking about?)' "

Idiot. If he's carried the logic all the way through, he'd have said it was NOT the result of the battle between 1:1 and 1:2, but God's renovation work in 1:9 and 1:10. The results were very good. Then again, those of you who are not Gap theorists think the entire subject is silly. So, he makes even LESS sense to you...

Well, it could be stated as 100%, but, like all absolutes in society, it would be an error. :)--> You served where you were sent, and worked your little heart out for God's people, was my point. Others worked their way to Limb, and, I expect, other places, because they wanted to get to fancy-schmancy titles and perks. You didn't scheme to get to where you were sent.

I think Galen just proved my point about wc and leadership. The ones who really wanted to help people stayed on the field and worked their little hearts out locally. The ones who wanted to be in charge climbed the ladder, and circled the Limb locales like vultures. Those are the ones Galen saw.

Hm. Something else for me to look up on the Reuters website....

First of all, I agree with the intent behind this line of questioning. We were hosed once, and would like to keep from being hosed again. I think we can all agree with that-almost all of us, anyway. I think pamsandiego put a good start on this answer. I'll add my own touches. Each of us, or most of us, had questions, and other people didn't have the answers. We were then sold the idea that TWI had the answers. Starting with the answers we needed-which was the "proof" they had ALL the answers in existence-we were sold the idea that TWI was THE group with THE answers, as taught by THE Teacher. Many or most of what they taught was backed up with Scripture one way or another, so we gave the rest the "benefit of the doubt" rather than scrutinize it all. After all, if they're this diligent on what I understand, they must be equally diligent when I'm NOT looking. Further, all the evil stuff was done behind closed doors and in secrecy. (Bread eaten at night is sweet.) So, we were all sold that things got MORE (not LESS) Godly as you got closer to the epicenter. vpw came up with a perfect class to teach all the answers he got after he put aside all his reading materials, and he was THE dude God worked with to educate us. In overt and covert ways, this was the lie that was perpetuated, and most of it's still taught at twi and in some offshoots, even. We were taught that we were better than everyone else-as if ability to recite Greek words and memorization were the MOST important things to God. "We thought we were invincible. We thought we could do anything." (Wesley Crusher.) So, the lies came slowly, and disguised in blocks of truth. Someone slipped some arsenic in a banquet, and we ate at it. Some eventually died, many of us got sick, and some of us still haven't purged all the poison from our tissues yet.

"This is not your father's Oldsmobile, This is the new generation of Olds." My favourite commercial of that series was the one with Ringo Starr and his daughter. His daughter saves him from screaming women who are old-time Beatles fans by zooming up and letting him in-she's driving an Olds. His line after getting in...."This is not her father's Oldsmobile." I forget her line. My favourite spoof of this.... We see Miss Daisy being driven, and she's giving her driver a hard time as always. He pulls the car over, opens her passenger door, and offers her his arm to get out. Miss Daisy: *getting out* "I didn't tell you to stop here." Driver: "I know, Miss Daisy, I know..." *gets back behind the wheel* "But it's 1992 now!" *drives off leaving her in the dust, literally* The song: "This is not Miss Daisy's Oldsmobile...." =================================================================== Figures lcm was ungrammatical when sub-referencing a commercial. Insurgent, thanks for clarifying their "we're not REALLY the only real Christians, but nobody else is a real Christian anyway" position. THAT never changed, though the buzzwords did.

They ran the research dept out of town on a rail back in 1989 for refusal to kneel before Zod. (That produced a temporary problem where they had nobody to write stuff for the way mag, which then began using lots and lots of illustrations as filler space in their articles.) I had no idea there WAS anyone there as of 1990 who could do REAL research. Of course, twi's STILL convinced they're better than all other Christians, even though I can find better results from people who've never heard of them, their classes, their books, or even Leonard or Stiles. Sad, really.

Doesn't matter WHAT subject they cover-each article is just variations on the same few things.... A) we're supposed to circle the wagons in the household, f* everyone else B) we're supposed to give money to the organization C) we're supposed to do whatever the boss tells us to do D) tack on a few terms like "promised land", "prevailing", "prevailing in the household", "prevailing household", etc. Doesn't matter what the subject is. Work those in, stir, and you've got a waymag article. Anybody remember "gmir"? Didn't there actually used to be information in there once, and not just a handful of buzzwords?

I don't know, but what will they do for a class when the Coulters finally get fed up and leave? I see they managed to stick in the "prevailing" and the "household" words that they like to ascribe new meanings to. (As in, prevailing does not mean prosperity, and household refers to a tiny handful of Christians who agree with us.) It's like the word "lifestyle". "You realize what a b.s. word 'lifestyle' is when you realize that, from a technical standpoint, Attila the Hun had an 'active, outgoing lifestyle.' " (George Carlin.)

I think the uncorrupted leaders, the ones who genuinely wanted to do their best for God, were local and not high up the "food chain". For the most part, if you were in it to "climb the ladder", you didn't stop at territory coordinator-you pushed for more. If you really were in it for others, above territory coordinator the others become faceless, and that can't be good. So, the best, in my opinion, were kept down due to their "ambition" to serve, which only helped us because they could make a difference in OUR lives since we could find them. This is not to say every territory, branch or tc was so motivated (some were already trying to climb the ladder), but I think that's where most of the uncorrupted leaders were.

The other problem with the phrase "present truth" is that it's WRONG. "Hogwash, WordWolf. You're barking up the wrong tree," you might say. "It's in the Bible." Well, yes and no. The English words in the KJV say "present truth". However, just like the "replenish" being in English but not in the originals, the "present truth" doesn't mean what you think. It's not "present" as in "past, present, future". It's not "present" as in a gift, either. As someone already pointed out at the GSC, it's an indication of location. The truth is HERE! No more waiting for truth-it's arrived and it's ours! This nonsense about truth being something that changes when leadership wants to teach something else is unbiblical and illogical.

The letter you're referring to, Oldies, is the one where lcm said he was canning (insert-names-of-all-leadership-in-the-state- who-didnt-fall-in-a-prostrate-manner-before- lcm), and was a form letter, as someone else pointed out. I doubt he knew anything else about the people canned in it other than their failure to "bow, kneel, yield!" (In hindsight, I wish someone had slipped a few fake names in there. I would have LOVED a letter saying he was firing "Heywood Jablome, Mike Easter, Seymour Butts, Amanda Huginkiss, and Al Coholic"...) It made a passing reference to some Bible stuff, and cited the one and only verse that mentions "marking" and "avoiding". As I was taught in pfal, I read that verse..."Why don't they ever read the next verse?" "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron..." (Wait-wrong next verse.) Romans 16:17 ( m & a) is followed by Romans 16:18. (BTW, 16:17 says the offenses are "contrary to the doctrine"-lcm skipped that mention also.) Romans 16:18. "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." He named a lot of people. I'd interacted with some of them before that, and a number of them AFTER that. None of them had the sun shining out of their navels, but none of them were greedy, servers of self, fond of putting on a false front, or afraid to live with almost nothing. Contrast that with the man making the accusation, who had never worked a day of labour outside the corps or twi grounds as an adult. (I don't know if he had a paper route or something as a kid.) He was quite public about things being about money for him. I prepared a letter specifically asking him for the proof of this accusation he was levelling, since that is indeed a very serious charge he was insinuating without stating outright. (I was not aware it was a form letter and it was not at all based on the people it accused.) I elected not to send it when I found out someone I know had already sent a letter and gotten a response, which was, in essence, "none of your business why I make this accusation-you just follow without question". I elected not to receive this letter. (In hindsight, I wish I had sent it, so I could get a "none of your business" form letter, also.) BTW, I hadn't heard anything from any of those people involving badmouthing lcm. In fact, I don't remember hearing anything AFTER that, badmouthing lcm. (Contrast this with lcm's insults...) I DO say there's a difference between being a "conscientious objector" and being an "agent provocateur". As others have said, this was not stated as a corporate decision. This was specifically stated as a spiritual decision, and the people were all said to have placed GREED over SERVING GOD. (So I had to fire them. Here's your tithe envelope, as always. Don't forget to send us your 15% on schedule, since those greedy idolators aren't sending it here.)

Rafael: In that 7-minute speech, Donna called lcm "our spiritual leader" twice and "our spiritual head" once. She didn't need to seek a better word if she misspoke- she could have called him "our spiritual leader" all three times. Still ridiculous, but at least less blasphemous.

EVERYBODY got the loyalty letter in the mail. I still HAVE mine, and I've posted it before. For those of you unable to read PDF documents, the main GSC page has an option to read it with your web-browser, same as you read this page. If I recall correctly, the "it's over the world" announcement was done at the last ROA, according to posters here. That would have been 8/94, I think.

LLP, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. According to the rules at the GSC, you are also entitled to POST that opinion. I'm entitled to the same, so I can note that I've just had a good long laugh offline with someone else who noted all the opposition he faced in FILMING the movie, finding no investors, accusations of anti-Semitism and smear reviews from many people who DID NOT SEE THE MOVIE, accusations which mysteriously seem unable to CITE WHAT SCENE this mysterious anti-Semitism is hiding in, (I couldn't find it, and I was also looking for it), the interviews of his 90-some odd father (as if this bore any relevance to the movie except to air his father's POV), and the attempts to stop it from reaching theaters. This, of course, was followed soonafter by people who found it to be a reverent, respectful movie (contrary to the anti-Semitic claims) and one that drew- and draws-crowds (contrary to the "it won't sell" claims). We both noted how NOW the critics all love this financial success and find it respectful. (Ebert & Roeper were the only originals who liked it from the start.) Except for a few critics who still push the anti-Semitic claims, but nobody's listening to them. If you spent some time away from twi and the GSC, you might discover there are actually OTHER CHRISTIANS online! They've/we've been discussing the movie. They would each prefer little details have been different, but agree the overall resulting movie was very reverent, very powerful, and possibly LIFE-CHANGING. So, you are entitled to your opinion. You are also entitled to just accept and repeat back AS that opinion whatever twi says your opinion should be. I'm entitled to disagree and make my case. I also hope Mel Gibson makes an arm and a leg from this movie, and eclipses movies like "Titanic". He took all the risks, financially, he gets all the rewards, financially.