So great to hear from you, Little Red Flag! Sometimes the sheer volume of bad advice and destructive directives (to put it mildly) from shepherds, DRs, and the like seems overwhelming. The drinking culture in most of the churches was out of control and wildly inappropriate. Communal homes--another awful idea meant to control--brought on terrible stress in many cases. I never quite understood how the weird "healthy" diets went with the copious amounts of booze. Now I think I know how these two opposites are related. They are both control mechanisms meant to lower the sense of self and isolate members from non-cult family and friends. : (

When we reflect back on all the fads we went through over the decades, be they Elijah/Elisha-Paul/Timothy 'arrangements', communal homes, food fads, Franklin Planners, Country/Western dancing, Bible software, 4th of July and Xmas truck, etc. (feel free to fill in what I'm forgetting), some were 'scripturally based', but many were not. Top that off with trying NOT to be religious through copious amounts of alcohol seasoned with foul language, and you have the recipe for an 'alternate reality' indeed.

I am not quite sure if all cult-leaders go to CULT UNIVERSITY to learn all these techniques. In some sense, I don't believe TLW in either the JRS or the G&M era were all that sophisticated.

This may be indicative of a "religious spirit," but my advice to anyone here who is considering drinking more...is to (if possible) stop drinking when you're only church function drunk, and avoid transitioning into the sh*tfaced drunk level. You could probably carry a breathalyzer around with you to (kinda) ascertain where you are at ...but I think it would be more accurate to rely on revelation. Good luck!
/s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2020 01:26AM by changedagain.

Speaking of stampedes (a subject no one has brought up)...during one late 70's violent prayer service presided over by John, I remember almost being trampled as I was trying to make my way up to the platform to deliver an earth changing prophesy. I've always been pretty good staying upright in a very physical environment, so did get my prophecy off. I have no recollection what I spoke, but I'm pretty sure it rocked a few principalities.
/s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2020 03:06AM by changedagain.

Being full of 'piss & vinegar' barely covers how high and lofty we thought of ourselves. In reality, it is a good thing all of our 'bluff & bluster' prophesying fell to the ground void. The world is probably much better off.

(C H A N G E D : Your prophecy was the lone exception.)

I remember the direction for prophesying the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Castro, and Kissenger. Oh, yeah, and Martha Stevens. My wife loved Martha. Martha was very kind to her when she worked at the Blix House in 1976.

kBOY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Being full of 'piss & vinegar' barely covers how
> high and lofty we thought of ourselves. In
> reality, it is a good thing all of our 'bluff &
> bluster' prophesying fell to the ground void. The
> world is probably much better off.
>
> (C H A N G E D : Your prophecy was the lone
> exception.)

Thank you, kBoy. I continue to believe that.

typer wrote:
I remember the direction for prophesying the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Castro, and Kissinger. Oh, yeah, and Martha Stevens. My wife loved Martha. Martha was very kind to her when she worked at the Blix House in 1976.

Thanks for sharing this, typer.

T Y P E R

"I remember the direction for prophesying the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Castro, and Kissinger. Oh, yeah, and Martha Stevens."

To quote myself in confirmation, "In reality, it is a good thing all of our 'bluff & bluster' prophesying fell to the ground void. The world is probably much better off." (Except maybe JFK.)

Typer, I agree that Martha Stevens was a good and loving person. There was nothing wrong with her. Her husband had a roving eye and didn't feel that his ministry could survive a divorce. So what does any self-respecting Apostle to the Kingdom do? Tell people to pray for his wife to die, of course. Simple. Fortunately, it didn't work. JRS actually died sixteen years prior to Martha at the age of 63.

Changedagain, I'm sure that your prophecy was awesome. Glad you didn't get trampled too bad. ; )



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2020 10:52PM by Reepicheep.