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Twi has been sending out ornaments to their fellowship coordinators with the following comment attached: "The Remnant: Those that stay behind after all others have left. The remnant in the biblical sense, was actually the best part of a piece of clothing, or material due to its quality or durability. So it is spiritually. Throughout the old testament, within every generation, it always came down to a small remnant of believers who stood and believed when all others had left. We can see it in every generation. Still see it today. Stay strong oh ye remnant of the Lord!" Now, all i can say is this appears to be a pretty cheesy effort at damage control since so many folks split with revival and restoration. Im gonna do a tshirt that says "i stood as the faithful remnant in the way international and all i got was this crappy ornament."

Look, in support of my positive viewpoint, OldSkool has produced an artist's depiction of the Board of Directors at the return of Christ.

Over the years I have noticed more and more that any conversation with the Way is a one way conversation. The Way presents material to the follower. The follower does not present material to the Way. As I have reflected on this, it is such an extreme cognitive distortion. In a normal human exchange there is give and take. This is in a personal sense, in a community sense, in an educational sense, and in a professional sense. What happens in a personal relationship where communication is only one way? Divorce. What happens in a community relationship where communication is one way? People don't feel understood and leave What happens in a professional business setting where communication is one way? People lose customers. In just about every setting you can imagine, one way communication is a poor choice for running anything or interacting with anyone. Yet the Way simply cannot modify its culture to listen. They don't have the ability. All the policy of the Way is set by a very old Common Core trained schoolteacher who didn't actually do the teaching job for that many years before starting to climb ranks at the Way for a job. Yet she sticks doggedly to that approach that has even in the educational system proven to be ineffective. http://edpsycinteractive.org/topics/instruct/instruct.html In this article on psychology in education they compare instructional methods. Basically direct instruction is geared towards standardized tests. And it is far less effective at students retaining information than other interactive methods such as cooperative learning. http://edpsycinteractive.org/topics/instruct/cooplrn.html Cooperative learning is where teaching is going now, not 50 years ago. It shows higher retention of material and greater satisfaction in learning. Could the Way ever make this shift? Sure, all you would have to do is remove all the hierarchy. And the cotton out of their ears.

The Way is a cult. Expect it to behave like anything else and you'll be disappointed.

not sure if The Way International could make the shift, Chockfull, from what I remember when I was in TWI I Think many folks accepted that limited form of communication in most situations – whether it was a class format, fellowship teaching, one-on-one counseling…whatever. It was often a one way street - - with the flow of traffic being subliminally directed to give deference to the TWI-mindset……it wasn’t just some jargon folks used as if there was an official way-speak lexicon - - actually, I think it was more along the lines of a cunningly mandated collective consciousness…whether we realized it or not we were led to think, speak and act a certain way as TWI hierarchy set the example. As the dynamics of group-think tends to go – we follow the flow - - an artificial collective consciousness, if you will. Two-way communication was often stymied by the simple things: - Listening to a teaching tape does not allow students to ask the teacher questions. Also having students hold their questions until the end of the class is a good way to have students forget about the importance or context of their question. - Answering a question with a question avoids an exchange of information. - Pat answers are a quick, evasive, and oversimplified attempt to resolve problems...such as: just renew your mind…why don’t you do a word study of “forgiveness”…you really should take the blah blah class – it would really help you in your walk. - People were never encouraged to speak freely - i.e. say how you really feel or think about something - rather always frame your ideas and even personal issues in a positive TWI-centric format. == == == == I tend to think that the only reason TWI hierarchy has ever had an ear to the ground was so that they could have a heads-up on talk and trends that would threaten their reins of control...It was never about catering to the needs of the "customers" but about securing the needs of the hierarchy.

Nice discussion. I also know that trained psychologists recognize what is called a "triggering event". This would be the event that led them to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment. As we go through life, events happen. Most of them would not be of the category that could trigger change. Humans are creatures of habit. So it is usually some kind of dramatic event and impact that drives a person to make a big life change. Without a "triggering event", most people although they have the opportunity to reflect and change after any event they do not tend to do so until impacted by a "triggering event".

Technically speaking, I'd expect more than one sociologist says that, so technically "sociologists" say that. It's the brainchild of Dr Morris Massey, Sociologist, marketing professor, and maker of training videos. His statements just happen to make it easier to sell his training videos. (Useful to the hypnotherapist in the link, also-good for drumming up business.) When stripped of mysticism, the idea is simple-which is why it's not a cornerstone of PSYCHOLOGY (the study of the individual). (The man's degree was in sociology, which addresses the motivation of GROUPS- for which I have a respect but I accept the limitations of the field as I accept the limitations of Psychology.) As we all live, things happen. When some of those things happen, we have a moment to reflect, a moment to have an "aha", a moment to have a moment of clarity, under any of a number of names long preceding this guy. ANYTHING can trigger this, so long as it gets us thinking (or reacting), and it doesn't have to look significant to others to do so, provided we actually thinking (or reacting.) The moment where people get sick and tired of being sick and tired is one. In the parable of the prodigal son, there was no "instant" thing, but the youth had such a moment while doing his manual labor- that he was better off starting over than continuing what he was doing. But change doesn't have to be preceded by UPHEAVAL or anything dramatic. For many people, upheavals or dramatic changes CAN result in thinking, but that's not an equation. Most people tend to keep moving forward without a lot of self-reflection unless something changes-THEN they look around and think. Not everyone needs an "event" except in the most technical sense that tortures the meaning of the word ("I was pouring milk on my cornflakes one morning when it hit me...") Not everyone needs it to be "emotional", but things that can affect the emotion are more likely to get the attention of the average schmoe. And "significant", as I said, is HIGHLY subjective. Living through the tumult of a 9/11 may produce no "significant" emotional event for someone and they go on as they did before, while waiting at a traffic light may produce the moment. It's neither a cornerstone of Psychology (which studies these things) nor Sociology (which does not any more than, say, Linguistics does) that adults NEED some sort of tumult to change "big things in their lives." Some people may just keep plodding along until something big grabs their attention or prevents the usual, but that's no guarantee. Changing beliefs and changing support networks can change based on logic-and they certainly don't need upheavals to change. Granted, some people DO change after those. However, some people leave a burning building because they're carried out- and some just walk out or run clear. Not everyone will need to be carried out just because that's how SOME leave the building.

In the Bible, almost all the references in the KJV to the word "remnant" are specifically referring to Israel. In fact, the NT only uses the word six times. In Matthew 22:6, it's used in a parable about the kingdom of heaven. The remnant REJECTED the kingdom. In Romans 9:27, it specifies it speaks of a remnant OF ISRAEL. In Romans 11:5, it's in a whole passage talking about ISRAEL. In Revelation 11:13, it's a bit ambiguous who it's referring to (i.e., are they part of those who tortured the 2 prophets, etc.) In Revelation 12:17 it's positive. In Revelation 19:21, it's NEGATIVE- Jesus slays the remnant of the worshipers of the beast and false prophet, wiping them out.

I have seen so many people do so many stupid things because some leader thought they had a great idea for someone.

That’s some good wisdom, Waysider I think it’s a sign of growth…especially in developing critical thinking skills when you can reflect on ANY phase of your life to not only be able to draw out lessons learned but to savor the good experiences and relationships…you can’t redo the past – but you can certainly garner insight, inspiration, and a million things as your depth of reflection grows. Being raised a Roman Catholic, I first found enjoyment in just reading the Bible and learning biblical Greek through TWI. Probably should have left shortly after that – when my local leadership kept redirecting my attention to review PFAL material rather than pursuing any personal interests with the Bible…met some great people along the way too – including my wife – still married to her after some 41 years.

Sociologists say that it takes a "significant emotional event" for adults to change big things in their lives. Disrupting a person's entire religious belief system and social support network are big things that one doesn't change based on logic.