Leaderboard

II Peter 2: 1-3 fits the cultic-ways of TWI to a T: 1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. The funny thing about being in a cult - the whole time I was involved in TWI - it never occurred to me that I was being exploited...I really believed wierwille was giving his all for God and the ministry - and so compared to him - many times i felt like I wasn’t doing or giving enough. It really took the wind out of my sails when I finally realized he wasn’t a good shepherd that did his best to care for the sheep - all he wanted was to fleece the flock! Merchandise is something bought or sold...A Cult leader makes merchandise of people - their hearts and commitment are bought with lies and empty promises only to be sold down the river...betrayed!

Hey.........take this class, it will change your life! At the end of pfal class.......you need to be sure to sit in the next pfal class that's available. No one gets the depth of it the first time. And then, ........ the Renewed Mind class will be running in a couple of months, followed by Dealing with the Adversary class........and Christian, Family and Sex will be running in July, just before we go to the Rock of Ages. You are now qualified to take your place on the class crew treadmill to help others......i.e. helping others means to get them to take class after class, too. So, you faithfully witness, sign up friends and family and neighbors.........little do you realize, at first, that false teachers using feigned words covet your involvement, because YOU are the targeted product. They want YOU to become the walking, talking billboard of their classes, events, camps, and advanced class specials. These false teachers (cult leaders) want you to follow them in their "pernicious ways" [II Peter 2:1-3]........loss, ruinous, destructive ways. Loss of money. Loss of family ties. Sabotaging marriages and careers........for the sake of zealously moving the cult's classes and agenda. Up your commitment and go WOW or Way Corps.......i.e. putting yourself in a position to "lead others." LOL As you keep co-joining in THEIR agenda, you become complicit in their pernicious, evil ways. If you were paying attention........you will have noticed that the cult hierarchy has dropped the advanced class cliché of reaching spiritual maturity. See.....EVEN AFTER the advanced class, you're not really that "advanced." Same deal with WOW....or the Way Corps. Once you "graduate" from the corps, you start at the bottom rung of "a lifetime of twi-servitude" and are often kicked around in a menial job at twi-hq. Like a cog on a big wheel, you may be on top for a short period of time.....only to find tremendous stress when you're on the bottom, again. You're "free".......as long as you stay committed to twi-servitude. The dirty little secret is that once you start connecting these dots, they VERBALLY ABUSE you with fear! In closed meetings, the cult uses words like "cop-out, possessed, worldly, lost his salt, loss of rewards, greasespot by midnight." How did it turn so ugly? Or, was it always ugly.....and masked to look good? Now, not only do they threaten you with words, they institute the practice of ex-communication. After 15-20 years of institutionalized indoctrination, one is more likely to succumb to cult obedience than to dissent. It's a matter of social psychology, not spirituality. How did it all get so crazy? How did you get trapped in the hall-of-horrors at this amusement park? Simple: False teachers used fabricated classes to indoctrinate the unsuspecting.......and coveted your involvement to make merchandise of you. How could you NOT suspect that splinter groups will do the same....... .

Right... and until we do, we should not suggest specifics about things we don't know. It's fair, of course, to say you believe he grew up in a dysfunctional family.

I have come to the place in my own life, where I do NOT see much value, if any, in constant word battles, and doctrinal disputes, and the uninterrupted history of division, in-fighting, and mutual persecution which seems to dominate the history of Christianity. I have come to the point where I prefer the Jefferson Bible to the KJV, and the rest of the versions based solely upon the Stephens Critical Greek Text Of 1550. That makes the versions based on Stephens as good as the scholarship and available MSS, texts, and translations in various languages and a large number of letters and writings which were considered “scripture” back in the First Century. Who determined what is now the widely accepted Canon Of The Scripture? Why are the Gospels of Mary, Thomas, James the brother of Jesus, and numerous other letters and “books” considered apocryphal?? Who made that decision? Why are the words of Paul in his wordy, Pharisaically trained, Sanhedrin approved, and numerous religious arguments considered to be “godbreathed” while the Gospel Of Mary, Jesus’ mother, the woman who carried The Word Made Flesh in her uterus for 9 months, and raised him from infancy for 20+ years along with Joseph, and knew all the most intimate details of his life, is not considered godbreathed? Who made that decision and WHO SAYS IT’S THE CORRECT ONE?? I assert that Paul’s writings and Epistles are no more godbreathed than all the books and letters in The Apocrypha. WHY should they be?? I don’t believe that most of paul’s writings and letters are godbreathed at all. Why are they any more godbreathed than Mary’s Epistles? Why is Luke’s Gospel okay but Thomas’ isn’t?? So, if I choose to ignore everything Paul wrote, what makes that choice less “correct” or “rightly divided” than to say that the 7 Church Epistles are the “apex of all revelation given TO the Church”? Pray tell! i believe Paul was an intelligent, confident “Pharisee of The Pharisees”, and a highly educated man of his time. He was obviously well-read, and well-trained as a “doctor of the law”, and a powerful voice on The Sanhedrin in Jerusalem for a number of years in the first half of the first century. He was also an accomplished orator and public speaker, spoke Hebrew, Latin, and Greek fluently, and was a man of means as well, able to take care of himself anywhere he went. BUT, I do not place his life, words, and works above those of my Lord and Savior AND Paul’s, Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, not a Paulian. I also think Paul was a misogynist, a strict religious bigot in the tradition of The Pharisees, social conservative, political reactionary, and a vengeful, mean-spirited guy who claims Jesus knocked him of his horse on the road to Damascus, got him healed at the hands of some guy on a street called Straight, wandered around the wilderness of Syria, Lebanon, and Judea, for 3-6 years getting spiritual and loading up on the new revelation of “the secret” no one before him, not even Jesus Hinself ever knew. I think he demanded the same respect and deference from the new Christians as he did from the Jews he used to rule over. Force of habit maybe, but still a pattern of religious authoritarianism imo. So, I don’t consider Paul of Tarsus as any more “spiritual” than any of the other first century Pharisees who claimed Jesus of Nazareth as their Lord! I think his writings are full of personal opinion, confirmation bias, private interpretation, and lotsa nice inspirational words regarding Jesus Christ and Christianity. Like Augustine, Origen, Aquinas, and numerous others, perhaps, or “just” another “church father” among the long line that started with Peter, James, and John, Paul was an influential disciple of Christ, but no more “head writer to the Church” than Luke, Matthew, John, or Mark. That’s my current position on old Paulie-Pooh! Interested to hear some considered counterpoint. Have at it!

Perhaps Loy was freaking out because, right under his nose, his wife and his chief rival for the power of the purse in TWI were doing the nasty. The connection is plausible.

There was an episode of "Gilligan's Island" where the Professor did "word association" with Thurston Howell III. At every word, the first thing that came to Thurston's mind was "money." "Hot." "Money." "Cold." "Money." (Until he finally gave a different answer...) "Child." "Tax deduction." lcm had this fixation that became an obsession with homosexuality. Eventually he started seeing it everywhere. So, "What was the original sin?" "Homosexuality/" "What is the worst sin?" "Homosexuality." "Why did we have problems with this program that's tanking?" "Homosexuality." "How can we make twi better?" "Remove homosexuality." "What's twi's biggest problem right now?" "Homosexuality." "What's the capital of Paraguay?" "Homosexuality." "Who was the 16th US President?" "Homosexuality." "What do you see when you look at art?" "Homosexuality." I don't think it was a matter of plagiarism, as much as it was playing a piano that only had one key.

Rocky.........first and foremost, wierwille was the one responsible for his own conduct and manner of life. He should have desired to be upright and meek before the Lord and labored to serve the downtrodden, the burdened, the broken, and the outcasts to turn their ways to the Lord. The antithesis of the Wierwille-Mystique: Had Wierwille lived his life truthfully and honestly. Clean Slate.........where wierwille didn't need to project himself to be something that he was not [i.e. the wierwille-mystique]. Open and honest history of The Way Ministry starting its independent undertaking December 19, 1957. Keynoting that Rev. B.G. Leonard's foundational class was the cornerstone of wierwille's class-based standard and operation. No Plagiarism from other men's work or ministries. Give J.E. Stiles and E.W. Bullinger credit for research/literary achievements. Never to have fabricated that bullschitt revelation-story about snow-on-the-gas-pumps. That Youth Caravan Chimes Hour Radio Broadcast as the "start of twi".............LOL And, most importantly........if he believed that the 9 manifestations were all-important.........then DO THEM. Walk in power.......and wierwille wouldn't have needed to build this mystique, this myth. If signs, miracles and wonders are happening..............the Lord is present. Now, for us.............."critical thinking" is the antithesis of wierwille's contrived mystique. All of these gaping holes where the "dots clearly don't connect." Personally, I never saw wierwille do ONE of the "big six manifestations".........not one time! And, his temperament, and patience and conduct was NOT suited for a minister and/or pastor. The Scriptures highlighted a list in I Timothy 3......of which, wierwille did not qualify. So, I held out hope that twi would move beyond wierwille and others would rise up and carry the torch. Given that wierwille died of cancer and stated adamantly in his advanced classes that "cancer was a devil spirit".......Huge Red Flags. Having been in marketing classes, I was drawn to twi by its "Biblical Research" aspect. For a time, I really thought that twi and its research team would continue to uncover more and more truths that would empower us in Christian living. My two years as a WOW Ambassador had their God-moments, but were hit-and-miss a large part of the time. My 6th corps wow brother talked me into signing up for the corps program.......telling me that I'd receive the training like no other. Yet, after two months of in-residence corps program, I was deeply disappointed and felt like I was being herded around. I didn't label it "indoctrination" back then.......but it sure wasn't like my college education and open discourse. Wierwille was a narcissist..........and religion was his playground. Grandiosity with expectations of superior treatment from other people Fixated on fantasies of power, success, intelligence, attractiveness, etc. Self-perception of being unique, superior, and associated with high-status people and institutions Needing continual admiration from others Sense of entitlement to special treatment and to obedience from others Exploitative of others to achieve personal gain Unwilling to empathize with the feelings, wishes, and needs of other people Intensely envious of others, and the belief that others are equally envious of them Pompous and arrogant demeanor

Nice set of buns, lol