shortfuse

Oooh, the adversary did a number on "Touchdown Jesus". And during the Advanced Class too. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/15/jesus-statue-struck-by-lightning/?hpt=C2

Something about the phrase "get over it" just makes me bristle. This is what our abusers demanded of us. Don't talk about how you feel. Don't acknowledge the negative, the unresolved hurt that still stings, still lingers. Get over it. Go witnessing. Move the Word. Speak in tongues. Do anything but honestly deal with reality. They kick the crap out of you and then chastise you for any sign of pain, any whimper. Get over it. I want to be over it too, but I'm not. And that'll have to do. Friend, take your time, and don't feel like you have to be over it. Ed H, you get over it. Rosalie, you get over it. All you other F*ckers that have shut down a hurting soul with a cliche when you should have been listening. You know what to do. Get over it.

On the topic of seed of the serpent ("SSsssssssssss"), I love the comment I heard numerous times that whoever was selected as Time magazine's "Man of the Year", later "Person of the Year", was seed of the serpent. That's who these media empires are sold out to and who they esteem. "Person of the Year" was a sure sign of having committed the unforgivable sin. Then a couple years ago I picked up Time's yearly issue on this subject, only to find a mirror like surface on the cover. Person of the Year is..... YOU! "Gah! When did I get born again of the wrong seed. When did we all?!!" Oh wait, never mind, it's crap.

Um, with due respect, weren't there only like 5 of y'all to begin with?

Bingo.

That place makes me think of what the Way must have been like circa 1971. Really got the young people sucked into the so called Emergent Church.

Random memory crossed my mind this morning. When we were in the Way Corps training, we were expected to keep a diary. You know, a place where you record your most personal thoughts? A place to record your experiences, perhaps for posterity, perhaps for catharsis. But even in our diaries, we were instructed to "keep it positive". Never record anything negative in your diary, just the "blessings". It was even stated openly that a diary could be subpoenaed and presented as evidence in a court of law. We had such a persecution complex in The Way it was easy to view this as protection from outsiders. It occurs to me in hindsight that this was more in the interest of The Way International to prevent us from recording things that could be used against them. They had us censoring ourselves all the time, even in our journals.

Once got with Sarah Silverman in the House of His Healing Presence...

LOL, "Yes ma'am". Good one. There's a lot of 'em alright.

The Way International is a destructive cult run by enormous bags of douche. That is all.

XACTLY!

word. total troll.

Um, yeah. Pretty sure y'aller one in tha same.

This topic sucks. Your use of another person's death and obituary so casually and sarcastically is in bad taste. This was another human being, and a good person, not the organization you hate.

What I've learned so far on this thread... Don't anger the nerds! Regarding the "no nerds" policy, it was not a policy but simply a prerequisite to participate in certain classes and ministry programs. Oh wait, that was the "No Debt" policy/non-policy. What I remember was LCM and minions saying was, "We're looking for 'the best and the brightest'..." The folks in this category being those described already - well put together, upper middle class, people of some means. A side consequence of this was a learned apathy toward people with the greatest needs.

Talking to the "innie" Way Corps, as I at times do... You've got about a month until those assignment letters come out and you are asked to commit anew and accept in writing your annual Way Corps assignment. I believe a lot of you read these forums, that's why I'm addressing you here. The fact that you are reading these forums suggests that you have your doubts and concerns about your role in The Way International. That doubt you have been taught to fear and distrust is actually your conscience - the voice of reason. There is still time to act, time to refuse that assignment you are about to receive. Listen. I understand where you are coming from, as do several generations of Corps grads you can find on this site. You feel a strong compulsion to reform the ministry. The ministry is flawed because it's made of people. Where others have tired and given up, you will persist and succeed. That's admirable. Completely unrealistic, but admirable. There is an unpleasant truth awaiting you who have taken up the mantle of the Reformer. The Way International is not going to change. That bears repeating. The Way International is NOT GOING TO CHANGE. Think I'm being pessimistic? Stop for a minute and look around you. How much real change have you seen in the last 9 years or so since LCM was removed? How much has Rev. Rivenbark changed The Way? Very little, if you are honest with yourself. It's gotten more boring to attend classes, fellowships and special events. That's a change, but hardly a good one. The Debt Policy (the one that's "not a policy") we thought would surely go away after LCM left, is still in effect. It's more subtle now, but the culture is still very controlling. Still a lot of pressure for you to produce, "moving the Word", by running classes you aren't honestly excited about. It's not getting better. I'm sorry, but it's not, and deep down you know it. Still don't believe me? What do you want to change in The Way? Talk to Rosalie about it. Chances are she has heard it all before, but she will give you the impression of listening and caring. Then ask when it is going to change. I promise you, if you press the question you will get the answer. The change is not coming. Period. There are some of you who are even willing to wait things out. By that I mean to wait until all the impediments to change (read "board of directors") are out the way. You tell yourself they can't live forever, and you are right. But there's an even more important truth you must face. You can't live forever either. The truth is, life is short. Chances are you've already given years of your life to the cause. You can't get those back, but you can do something about what you have left. Don't let another year slip by. Seize the opportunity to reclaim your freedom. Seize the opportunity to live your life in the pursuit of what brings you joy. God is on your side. I can't promise you it will be easy. But it will be worth it.

The evidence keeps flowing in... ...thanks for making it easier to leave.

It would be interesting to learn if profitability was the real reason the ROA's ended. Perhaps being an unprofitable wineskin was the reason it became an "old wineskin".

Oh, it's in place alright. It's not something that is highlighted much, but it's there.

I care, that's why I asked :) It's "lie".

Hammering on that cotton wood was so stupid. The mauls would just bounce right off. I got clean cotton off the log cabins though with a "webster". Good times. LCM got so iritated with the cotton he issued the edict to cut them all down on Camp G property. Such a jackhole. The whole valley is full of cottonwood trees. Cutting down a few hundred trees doesn't even put a dent in it, and the cotton blows right over from the neighbors. Good use of the work force, craiggers! When the labor is free I guess you don't give it much thought. Think of how expensive and worthless the project would be if they actually had to pay the workers.

Yeah, I guess when we are creeping up on forty it's hard to claim youth anymore. Those were all the newer, young-ish cabinet folks I could think of. Got to go through the cabinet if you are going to be in those director roles usually.

Most of these younger folks have bounced - from the cabinet anyway. Hampt0n went on the field. Br00ks left. J0hns0n left. I think M0ynihan is the last of the young guys standing. You are right people are expecting Rosie to step. I think it will happen in the next year. But again it won't matter because she will remain on the board, pulling the strings.

Linder is most likely one of them, right? Do you guys know who the others might be? Rico? Longley? Gary F? Donna? Rosalie? Just curious.

Ridiculous that anyone should have to guess. The reason given by the directors in recent years is that the information about how they spent money would be used against them by the "cop outs". The law doesn't require it (aside from the small amount of disclosure required in Arizona) so they don't do it. Personally, I doubt there is any misuse of the funds for the personal benefit of the directors. However, I know they .... away the money they do receive. If you broke it down, they spend the bulk of the money on the weekly (weakly?) Sunday service. When you take in all the building maintenance, support staff, etc it takes to do the service - the bulk of the "ABS" is spent on the STS. If wayfers knew how much of their contributions were going to these painfully dull productions, many of them would be angered. Some might stop "giving".