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If St Vic were alive, he'd probably be in prison.

Happy New Year. Happy Freedom from a cult. When I sit back and reflect upon those days in a cult.........it belied every aspect of "freedom in Christ." None of this was happenstance.......it was deliberate. A snare was set in my path and it altered every decision and direction of my life going forward. But....but.....but "the Bible was taught and you learned so much," right? Wrong. I believe wierwille's agenda and motives were deceptive and dark. The word that comes to mind is.......ENTRAPMENT. So much of twi's history has been further clarified in Mrs. Wierwille's book.........seen here, Click. All of this brings clarity to those who were indoctrinated by wierwille's mantle, "The Man of God" and opens discussion for even more devious motives. Namely, wierwille's past portrays him as a bench-warmer, a back-row participant. So, he spends years and years trying to find an edge, a gimmick, an opportunity to step into the spotlight. And, Leonard's class was that "edge"......except wierwille skewed it to his advantage. The Three-Pronged Strategy of Wierwille's Agenda: Foundational Class......and other classes Outreach programs......WOW and Way Corps The Way Tree structure PFAL was not taught to lead us into "freedom in Christ".......it was taught to herd us to twi's canyon (dependency). Segments 8-12 were driving the herd to *speak in tongues*.......and then, "stand with the ministry that taught you the word. Therefore, STAND." See, it was only twi (cough, cough) that had "the word"........even though wierwille had spent 15-20 years going to other men's seminars and retreats. Oh, the irony....LOL. Outreach programs.........Go WOW: offer them "the class" and if they don't want it, move on. The Class, The Class and nothing but The Class. What about the Christian kindness and goodness that comes with being born again? Nope. Sell the class.....and if they don't sign up, go find someone else. And, the corps program........learn to be the best twig coordinator you can be. Translation: Be better prepared to teach pfal material, run classes and help at ministry events. In other words, be a sycophant follower to the cult. The Way Tree structure was/is a perversion of Christian doctrine and thought. Yes, small groups and bible study are helpful and welcomed.......but not pyramid structuring. The corps program escalated the "social-class structure" and ushered in irreparable damage. Corps versus non-corps? Staff at the spiritual epicenter? Was this wierwille's agenda to embed a striving culture within the ranks? And, even if it was a detrimental outcropping.......why didn't wierwille address it or stop it? Could it be......this was wierwille's conniving agenda all along? Hopefully, more people will find the exit doors in 2018.

Mike is saying it's acceptable to plagiarize Biblical writers because there was an ancient custom that said anyone was free to eat of a fig tree. He said it was the "Peoples' Tree". First, we don't know if this was even a custom, as the only place I ever heard it taught was in The Way. And, as you noted, if the custom did exist, it's not clear why it would be relevant to modern society. As far as I know, there is no scriptural basis for this custom. If, indeed, the custom was authentic, it's still a false comparison, as it's attempting to equate an antiquated societal custom with the legality of modern plagiarism. Sort of an apples and figs comparison, if you will.

Happy new year, people. God bless and guide you in this coming year into peacefulness of heart and joy in His presence.

I guess we have the idea floating around that since "truth is free" copyrights don't matter. i.e. it all belongs to God anyway. This is kind of a "hippy free love" approach to the scriptures. I would say the problem with a hippy free love approach is boundaries. Sure. Love is free. Everyone can share. Except when it comes to these pesky human boundaries that people set up - you know, like marriage, virtue, one wife type of concept. Where violating those boundaries causes injury and / or possibly death to another. Part of that concept of truth includes the boundaries of how humans live with each other and interact in a virtuous way. Without those constraints every man just feeds his lust according to his own belly.

Wait.....maybe we're not thinking deeply enough....

Would that be the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Don't forget that "When you eat of it you will surely die.”

You want cringeworthy? "The Word, the Word, and nothing but the Word." "We have no friends when it comes to the Word" In both instances the Word is not the bible, but whatever Saint Vic says.

Ah, Greasespotters, we have uncovered a new truth in Biblical research regarding the Way. An oxymoron. Smart Folly. Yes, this encapsulates "proven ministry research" - i.e. Research which has been proven to be consistent with other ministry research. This other ministry research has been proven to be consistent with other published works that have other authors names on them. So what exactly does "proven ministry research" guarantee? That you are absolutely 100% dealing with real genuine authentic plagiarized material.

Right! At least that's the façade they try to project. Fortunately, we've pierced their balloon.

Don't confuse me with the truth.

Penworks and DWBH, great posts regarding wierwille’s so-called research and the wealth of info posted at Grease Spot that exposes the biased and misleading info put forth by some…I think that when even one small insignificant question or doubt is given enough air to breathe it can be like a flame to ignite an important quest. In ’86 it only took a few doubts and questions for me to begin checking out commentaries and systematic theologies by non-TWI authors. This is while I was still in TWI – and I wasn’t even making a conscious effort to shoot holes in TWI-doctrine. I discovered a trove of commentaries / theological studies at an estate sale just down the block from our home -it was the home of a pastor …all books just 50 cents each !!!! After skimming through the books I had purchased that day - I went back the next day - many were reduced to a quarter - so I bought more... …It blew my mind to see one author question the viewpoint or interpretation of a verse by some other author and give their reasons for differing…I mean - - this was revolutionary to a mind that never questioned anything that wierwille taught. I was just trying to figure out what went wrong. But the more I read the works of others and could tell they didn’t have some ax to grind, and was so fascinated on how easy it was to track their line of reasoning – the more my mind came up with even more questions and doubts about TWI – it was like adding fuel to the fire. And the bigger the fire grew the more I could see through the darkness of TWI’s propaganda. And like I said – intellectually I was still trapped in the TWI-mindset - - but by this time maybe there was also some sense of there being a box – and I was stuck inside it…a mental prison…the only image I can think of right now that best describes the intensity of investigation I had back then is the velociraptor testing the cage in Jurassic Park – you know eventually it’s going to find a way out.

How about this one: "I'll put you on my lift list." I was told this by an uppiddy-up leader's wife at HQ after I resigned from the Research Team and she thought I might be "influenced" by someone who they thought was "influenced by the Adversary."