Leaderboard

Scary reading this stuff and seeing the same old results from the same old characters. The conclusion I have come to is that TWI leadership principles as taught to everyone AND ESPECIALLY to the Way Corps are beyond flawed, they are downright hurtful. All of these former leaders coming out of TWI at various times and trying to put new wine in old skins and then what happens? They burst. I just read the comments about WC of CFF teaching - the core word seemed to be BORING! This seems to be the MO for all of these groups - study,study, study and never do anything real in the community. And then of course the CONTROL issues that come up - who is going to submit to whom, so if this cannot be negotiated amongst former Corps then we end up with 50 or more little splinter groups all headed up by Men Of God (snicker). Whose books, tapes, cliches are the best? The smart people have moved on. I have seen some Way Corps successfully move on. Many get stuck in these groups because they are comfortable with the various leaders & people personality wise, and they are familiar with the teaching cliches. I know of one guy 7th Corps who is a big mental head case and should really be locked up by now but powerful relatives cover for him. Overall I would have to say while some good was learned, that overall the principles taught in the Way Corps were a disaster. I would prefer to forget them, ignore them, and follow the words of Jesus only. Hang out with your neighbors - the people who live next door and down the street. Build a new better legacy than the one built by VP and Craig and Geer.

fyi Waysider, i think that tune is tongues without interpretation...unless it's straight prophecy in their own language

Well, Geshem the Arrabian................how about this up-to-date info from March 2016: 30 Years is more than enough Quote from post: <takes a seat and pulls out a menu> Hello All- There's quite a bit to unpack from 30 years. Bare with my rambling thoughts as they all get down. A third-generation "legacy", I only knew TWI as truth absolute. A child of the 80's, I remember growing up and having The Way being the only way. I took each class in the entire class series the exact week I was eligible, and repeated every chance I could. I only knew LCM as the fount-head of all things godly, and worshipped with (at) him through the birth of the new class. I soldiered on through his fall and stood behind my identity as a chosen part of the faithful remnant throughout the early 2000's. I pursued a degree and lead fellowships, certain I held forth what I knew to be the epicenter of the spiritual world. Once I got close to graduation, the promise of getting a job became VERY real. In a market the began to shrivel, I went from interview to interview, each time putting in hours of deliberate, thoughtful prayer and reflection, certain that the God I knew dwelt in my fellowships and that I was told would never let any wrong befall would come through in the clutch. Each time, nothing. Each time, disappointment. Each time, words came from those more seasoned as "Renew Your Mind", "It's not the spiritually best for YOU!", "God's got something bigger for YOU!". This was the first time I needed to prove God had my back. Long story short, I cobbled together enough to get by, but nothing close to the Eph 3:20 I was told time and time again. I got married, to an amazing and supportive spouse, who left her church to join up. She realized if she wanted tot be with me, she had to drink the Koolaid, and drink she did. She practically did a keg stand with that Hawaiian punch. Together, we weathered many situations that were far from the rosy scenes painted on STS tapes (or CDs or VHSs). Real life was hard as hell, and the God of the lectern and the magazine was not as quick to come through. There was always an explanation, mind you, but should not have to be this hard. "Maybe we're not studying enough. Maybe and hour daily is just a start.". "Are we giving enough? We're at 20%, but could we do more to prove our commitment to God and not our paycheck". We ABSed our meager earnings, lived in apartments, drove our terrible, leaky, beaten cars, and gladly taught others on how much God loved us and would provide. Any positive event in life was championed as proof of TWI's system. It began to seem like a lens that made all the bad not their fault and any positive thing their cause. Perspective. Fast forward to a fourth generation being born. Numerous requests from insiders to go on Staff and change from within. By this time, my life had changed. The grind of finally getting (and keeping) a real job meant hard work. I began to feel like everything in the ministry was a motion. Same old collaterals. The articles in the magazine were SOOOO predictable, as were the overly scripted services. Title, personal anecdote, verses, three main points, conclusion, blanket "Let's continue to..." statement... repeat. I felt as if I wasn't learning anything. To challenge myself and scratch my own spiritual and intellectual itch, I started my own studies and digging. ANy time I would bring these up, I was chastised for going solo and delving into what was already researched. I should re-search what is already available. By this time, I could hear an introduction and immediately know which verses would come up. One STS, I wrote on my wife's notes five verses. Sure as dang, each one was ticked in the course of that scripted speech teaching. I stopped taking notes. I stopped putting time into my teachings at fellowships. I started coasting. I could see others going through the same motions. I used to talk about all of the interesting connections and parallels the moment a great teaching was done. Now I saw how quickly others began talking about their week, their boring lives, their.... anything but the bible. Truth was, it was the collaterals being taught again and again and again. LCM was disavowed, never to be mentioned. All that was safe was the collaterals. So that's were everything went, and still are. Last flash is to the moment I realized how crumby the long-term TWI plan is for those out in the field. Find a menial job, work hard and don't rock the boat. Try to witness but we only need seats for the class- if it's just a connection, move it along. SELL SELL!!!! Find an apartment, move every few years, drive a 5 year+ model car (and keep that cardboard so you don't mess up the driveway). Long-term planning? You don't need that. God's got you. I woke up one day to realize my parents have no retirement and no equity of ANY kind. I didn't want that. I began looking at houses and tried every way to get one without getting a loan. Couldn't do it, so I tried to ask permission. Another post needs to explain this hot mess, but needless to say it was not on the menu. I forged ahead to the disapproval of many. Kid number two arrives- I stop going to STS. Our last trip, I don't even open my bible. I hear and scrutinize the entire presentation better than I had every encapsulated with my notes. (Oh the notes, but I digress...). On our way home, my wife says "What an electrifying teaching!". I let the air clear for about 5 seconds and say "Was it?". Her face was as white as the audience at any given STS. We then discuss very openly our current role in the ministry and where we saw our spiritual lives. Needless to say, it was the beginning of the end. We limped along for a few more years, mainly because of the sweet people that genuinely did care about others and the large family/friend connections. This is certainly a fact that cannot be overlooked, but we were killed with kindness and not won by spiritual truth. We eventually decide to skip fellowship for any convenient reason, attend other church services on Sunday mornings, and try on many religions/denominations. It came to a road that lead to us moving and telling our new coordinators we were out. I felt it necessary to go out on my terms, not middle-fingers a-blazing, but with a truthful talk. We left about two years ago.............<snip>

Hi Grace! Welcome to the Spot! Glad to have you here. You'll find out PLENTY as you read along. Enjoy! As long as Ros-a-lie and Lombardi are alive, they'll have control over de Liar. Skyrider knows all about de Liar. Only thing you really need to know about the new cult leader is that he was picked by the old one! That says it all. One case of walking amoebic dysentery recognizes the same in the other. Guaranteed he's as much of a putz as dictor paul wierwille was, but nowhere near as "charismatic". And, no matter what, no one will ever be worse than da Forehead! LOL! Any one picked by TWIt to run TWIt is a guaranteed social moron and "spiritual" idiot. The intellectual prowess of a lava rock, and the compassion of a maggot.

The artificial smile is disconcerting. Hope God is able to help JAL connect with reality. Seems like a long shot, but...who knows...

It sounds like JAL is making a commercial: "Help! I'm talking and I can't shut up!"

I heard from a friend that the STF leaders laid out all reasons and events that led to the firing. All of JAL's behaviors from his TWI days up to his current behavior was made plain. It was a shocking revelation to many. As I told her, the root of TWI still remains in all these offshoots; the rotten root and fruit still remains. A rotten tree root cannot be grafted and produce good fruit---period. Ask any farmer!

Legitimate Question: One that warrants a legitimate answer.

Marriage involves compromise - and lots of it. TWI and STF try to get around that issue by instilling the need for like-mindedness within a marriage. I don't care how much two people think alike, compromise is still a necessary element in a marriage. Compromise is not seen as a good thing in TWI and STF. The overlying goal is to get the women to be in subjection to the husband. When that isn't the way it is, things get very ugly.