No doubt watered G, no doubt.....The point was that in this silly movie, van wert was indicated as the location of the individual that was to be the next applicant for the barganing of their soul.....
Would splain a lot ..... no???
I wonder if somebody one time affiliated with twi had a hand in this as some kind of inside joke.....lol
It was just a wierd coincidence, something that we found humorous is all, no offense intended to the many upstanding residents of van wert ohio.
Maybe it's a coincidence circumstantially, but not spiritually. When was the movie made?
I remember in 1985 Glen Frey had a song out called 'You belong to the city'. This song got a ton of airplay for exactly 2 months right after the ROA. How would you have felt if you just came off the WOW field and heard lyrics like...
When you left this town you were on the run, trying to get away from the things you done. Now you're back again and you're feeling strange, so much has happened; nothing has changed.
I really don't think Glen Frey ever heard of TWI, nor could have known about the schedule of WOWs. But I didn't think it was a coincidence.
Nothing personal meant by this response, but humans are not good at "coincidence" we have very poor natural grasp of randomness and risk. And we have a natural tendancy to find patterns in things (whether the patterns exist or not).
This has had great benefit for our survival as a species, but now that we have adapted our world so that the risks we face are much different from those we evolved to face, perhaps these traits don't serve us as well any more.
I do not believe in coincidences, simply because I believe there is a Power above us all, Who has nothing better to do, than look out for the likes of us. (That is a para-phrased rendition of my belief in God).
Mea Culpa -- if that seems irreverant, but that is how I look at life, and honestly -- if it were not for this "lack of coincidence" that I so firmly believe in, I would not be here today.
There have been quite a few times that I have cheated death, and I do not consider it a coincidence. It was not "coincidence" that certain things have happened at certain times, causing me to be one minute too late, or for that matter, one minute too early in a situation that really could of meant the end for me. I am not being dramatic here -- I act stupidly all the time, and it is by Providence alone that I can tell you this tonight.
I can tell you about 4 serious car wrecks, where I walked away (literally) unscathed (I am talking roll overs here, not just a fender bender),and 2 very near misses where I knew what to do, yet did not. And that doesn't even include a few other instances where God was slapping my forehead, saying "Listen Up!"
No -- I don't believe in coincidences. I knew (at the time) what I needed to do, yet me and my stupid brain said "Awww -- it's ok. Go for it". Well --- the short of the long of it is -- I'm still here, and the older I get, the more I ruminate about my past, checkered though it is.
And the kicker about all this is -- imho I have done nothing to deserve this, I feel like I should be more productive for God, yet I am not. The things that have happened to me in the past could certainly be called a coincidence, but I -- as a bible believing person, choose to give the credit where credit is due.
Every last time I was "saved" from one of these experiences, I always wondered (and still do wonder), "Why am I important?" "Why didn't I die?" "What is there for me to do?"
Well --- the answer to that is I still do not know. And as you look at these words typed on an internet page, I know you don't see the intensity of what I have been through, but regardless --- none of it was any coincidence. I see it as Someone looking out for me. Things happen that cannot be explained, that I will grant you. But to lay it all in the lap of ambiguity --- No --- that I cannot do. :)-->
I think it explains a lot. Of course, when it happens to oneself, it's a lot easier to think that it MUST have been a miracle. I guess it would anyway. I never had anything all that miraculous happen in my life. The laws of physics still seem to have me firmly within their grasp.
Geo -- Hey there, hi. One of those "coincidences" happened to me at a job site you referred me and another person to here, back in the early 80's. Guess I might not have told you about it, or maybe you just forgot about it.
Either way, it was a serious accident at the work site. It's been a couple of decades by now. If you don't remember it, that's ok. I do. If the result had been just a coincidence, I might've forgotten about it by now as well.
While I am usually skeptical when somebody tells me that a set of circumstances had to be God, I don't dismiss it out of hand either.
I'll assume that the incidents that you describe were indeed God's intervention. Does that mean that EVERY event in every location involving every person was organized and set in motion by God? I don't see it.
But I suppose that you and I can both effectively and convincingly argue both sides of the issue :P-->
quote: Does that mean that EVERY event in every location involving every person was organized and set in motion by God?
"Organized and set in motion by God". Hmmm.
Now that is a good question, and deals with the "sovereignty" of God --- whether He is in absolute control all the time, or whether He "sovereignly decided" to give men absolute freedom of will, while He takes a back seat to our decisions, and allows us to make our mistakes.
I've been reading (off and on), THE GOD WHO RISKS, by John Sanders. There are some really interesting ideas in there that I had never considered before. Example --- God doesn't really know what we are going to do until we do it, because he gave us freedom of will -- although He has a pretty good idea of what our decision will be, since He is God.
Well -- that flew in the face of all my Catholic/Jesus Freak/Pentecostal/twi/etc., upbringing -- but what he says makes sense, and looking at it in the perspective of your question --- I am unsure if it validates or negates the "no coincidence" theory I hold.
So -- to answer your question, I really don't know. I am of the opinion that God does NOT "organize, and set in motion" every event, but when "coincidental things" happen in our lives, I do see it as Him getting involved, without affecting our freedom of will, to help rectify a situation that we got ourselves into.
Thanks dmiller for the considered answer. That's why I like you: you don't get all huffy that an unbeliever is questioning your beliefs, you go "hmmmm" and think it through, and give an answer that (usually ;)-->) makes sense.
HA! You don't know Larry (one of the clients at the house I am at). :D-->
He "challenges" both myself, and other staff daily, and though I get along with him quite well, there are often times when the totally unexpected happens, and "we've got a problem". -->
He can be more "fractious" than any 5 GS folks put together in a small room with vpw, or lcm. Perhaps it's "coincidence" that I work with him daily. After handling, and dealing with his outbursts, Grease Spot discussions are a relief!
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OnionEater
spoooooky
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Watered Garden
It's Van Wert. My husband's from there. He's a wonderful man.
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CoolWaters
Maybe someone involved in producing the movie is extwi?
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rascal
No doubt watered G, no doubt.....The point was that in this silly movie, van wert was indicated as the location of the individual that was to be the next applicant for the barganing of their soul.....
Would splain a lot ..... no???
I wonder if somebody one time affiliated with twi had a hand in this as some kind of inside joke.....lol
It was just a wierd coincidence, something that we found humorous is all, no offense intended to the many upstanding residents of van wert ohio.
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johniam
Maybe it's a coincidence circumstantially, but not spiritually. When was the movie made?
I remember in 1985 Glen Frey had a song out called 'You belong to the city'. This song got a ton of airplay for exactly 2 months right after the ROA. How would you have felt if you just came off the WOW field and heard lyrics like...
When you left this town you were on the run, trying to get away from the things you done. Now you're back again and you're feeling strange, so much has happened; nothing has changed.
I really don't think Glen Frey ever heard of TWI, nor could have known about the schedule of WOWs. But I didn't think it was a coincidence.
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dmiller
I have a hard time believing in "coincidence".
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My3Cents
Nothing personal meant by this response, but humans are not good at "coincidence" we have very poor natural grasp of randomness and risk. And we have a natural tendancy to find patterns in things (whether the patterns exist or not).
This has had great benefit for our survival as a species, but now that we have adapted our world so that the risks we face are much different from those we evolved to face, perhaps these traits don't serve us as well any more.
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Oakspear
Why dmiller?
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dmiller
Why not??
-->
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dmiller
Oak -- Hey bro -- I respect both your opinions, as well as your questions. You deserve a better answer than that, so hang on. It's coming.
:)-->
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dmiller
I do not believe in coincidences, simply because I believe there is a Power above us all, Who has nothing better to do, than look out for the likes of us. (That is a para-phrased rendition of my belief in God).
Mea Culpa -- if that seems irreverant, but that is how I look at life, and honestly -- if it were not for this "lack of coincidence" that I so firmly believe in, I would not be here today.
There have been quite a few times that I have cheated death, and I do not consider it a coincidence. It was not "coincidence" that certain things have happened at certain times, causing me to be one minute too late, or for that matter, one minute too early in a situation that really could of meant the end for me. I am not being dramatic here -- I act stupidly all the time, and it is by Providence alone that I can tell you this tonight.
I can tell you about 4 serious car wrecks, where I walked away (literally) unscathed (I am talking roll overs here, not just a fender bender),and 2 very near misses where I knew what to do, yet did not. And that doesn't even include a few other instances where God was slapping my forehead, saying "Listen Up!"
No -- I don't believe in coincidences. I knew (at the time) what I needed to do, yet me and my stupid brain said "Awww -- it's ok. Go for it". Well --- the short of the long of it is -- I'm still here, and the older I get, the more I ruminate about my past, checkered though it is.
And the kicker about all this is -- imho I have done nothing to deserve this, I feel like I should be more productive for God, yet I am not. The things that have happened to me in the past could certainly be called a coincidence, but I -- as a bible believing person, choose to give the credit where credit is due.
Every last time I was "saved" from one of these experiences, I always wondered (and still do wonder), "Why am I important?" "Why didn't I die?" "What is there for me to do?"
Well --- the answer to that is I still do not know. And as you look at these words typed on an internet page, I know you don't see the intensity of what I have been through, but regardless --- none of it was any coincidence. I see it as Someone looking out for me. Things happen that cannot be explained, that I will grant you. But to lay it all in the lap of ambiguity --- No --- that I cannot do.
:)-->
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George Aar
Here's a neat little article on "coincidence".
http://skepdic.com/lawofnumbers.html
I think it explains a lot. Of course, when it happens to oneself, it's a lot easier to think that it MUST have been a miracle. I guess it would anyway. I never had anything all that miraculous happen in my life. The laws of physics still seem to have me firmly within their grasp.
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dmiller
Geo -- Hey there, hi. One of those "coincidences" happened to me at a job site you referred me and another person to here, back in the early 80's. Guess I might not have told you about it, or maybe you just forgot about it.
Either way, it was a serious accident at the work site. It's been a couple of decades by now. If you don't remember it, that's ok. I do. If the result had been just a coincidence, I might've forgotten about it by now as well.
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Oakspear
dmiller:
While I am usually skeptical when somebody tells me that a set of circumstances had to be God, I don't dismiss it out of hand either.
I'll assume that the incidents that you describe were indeed God's intervention. Does that mean that EVERY event in every location involving every person was organized and set in motion by God? I don't see it.
But I suppose that you and I can both effectively and convincingly argue both sides of the issue
:P-->
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dmiller
"Organized and set in motion by God". Hmmm.
Now that is a good question, and deals with the "sovereignty" of God --- whether He is in absolute control all the time, or whether He "sovereignly decided" to give men absolute freedom of will, while He takes a back seat to our decisions, and allows us to make our mistakes.
I've been reading (off and on), THE GOD WHO RISKS, by John Sanders. There are some really interesting ideas in there that I had never considered before. Example --- God doesn't really know what we are going to do until we do it, because he gave us freedom of will -- although He has a pretty good idea of what our decision will be, since He is God.
Well -- that flew in the face of all my Catholic/Jesus Freak/Pentecostal/twi/etc., upbringing -- but what he says makes sense, and looking at it in the perspective of your question --- I am unsure if it validates or negates the "no coincidence" theory I hold.
So -- to answer your question, I really don't know. I am of the opinion that God does NOT "organize, and set in motion" every event, but when "coincidental things" happen in our lives, I do see it as Him getting involved, without affecting our freedom of will, to help rectify a situation that we got ourselves into.
But as I said --- That's just an IMHO!
:)-->
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excathedra
**
dmiller, i think the old guy who left the coins and those fellas from the group home are reason enough
hugs
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dmiller
In a word --- Yes.
:)-->
Tanks!!
;)--> I think you're right. 
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Oakspear
Thanks dmiller for the considered answer. That's why I like you: you don't get all huffy that an unbeliever is questioning your beliefs, you go "hmmmm" and think it through, and give an answer that (usually
;)-->) makes sense.
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dmiller
HA! You don't know Larry (one of the clients at the house I am at).
:D-->
He "challenges" both myself, and other staff daily, and though I get along with him quite well, there are often times when the totally unexpected happens, and "we've got a problem".
-->
He can be more "fractious" than any 5 GS folks put together in a small room with vpw, or lcm.
Perhaps it's "coincidence" that I work with him daily. After handling, and dealing with his outbursts, Grease Spot discussions are a relief! 
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