T-Bone

Here’s another "good" bit of bad advice – I heard this on John Oliver’s show: "You are unlikely to get the corona-virus if you regularly gargle with bleach, because you know what they say – being dead is already the best medicine." if you regularly gargle with bleach (....actually you might enjoy watching the whole episode)

sorry I should have pointed out there is some difference between Bullinger’s structure notes and The Outline Bible - which I don’t think was based on Bullinger’s work. It looks to me like Bullinger merely points out the obvious arrangement of and relations, connections, or equivalence between sections of scripture. Maybe it’s like taking a photograph of something. The Outline Bible - in my opinion - takes some liberties to provide a summary or general thrust of a section of scripture - which might be a more malleable “medium” depending on the person doing the outline (Harold Willmington is no slouch on Bible helps - I have a couple of other books by him). In other words, this book may lean towards being almost like a commentary - at times I see where it deviates - does not follow Bullinger’s structure. Maybe it’s more like an artist’s rendition of something. hope that helps

And you’re right, PFAL didn’t get into that much – but I sure did when I got into Bullinger's Companion Bible . I used to borrow my WOW coordinator’s Companion Bible so much that she gave it to me at the end of our WOW year . Years later, I bought a new one since I wore out a lot of the pages with handwritten notes and highlighters. I usually think of structure as the bigger picture compared to the immediate context; structure is a “sneaky” way of knitting together several ideas and communicates something that may not be directly expressed. Not saying it’s a hidden meaning – but maybe more like a director’s commentary on what they wanted to convey in a certain scene of a movie. for example check out Anatomy of a scene in "Whiplash" . While I was drafting this post I found this on structure: “Structure, or form, is the arrangement of story elements according to purpose, style and genre. Structure doesn't just happen on it's own. Rather, it's carefully considered by the author to make sure their intended meaning is conveyed. In order for a story to be truly immersive, the structure must play the part of a skeleton. In other words, the structure supports the story to ensure the most powerful delivery of elements, yet in a manner unseen and not easily identified by the reader”. From: literary devices / structure in fiction writing . There’s also this on the literary structure of the Bible : “Literary structure is one of ancient rhetorical techniques. Literary structure has been utilized in many texts of various cultures. Especially in the Bible, we can find a lot of literary structures from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. Though the word "literary structure" is sometimes used in a broader context, in this document, "literary structure" means a structural rhetorical technique which is composed of several corresponding text pairs.” Besides Bullinger’s Companion Bible I have a couple of other books that focus on the literary features of the Bible. There’s The Literary Study Bible ESV The way it’s set up it reads like a “normal” book with the single column format – the notes, analysis, exposition, literary features are either above or below the body of the text. You can read them or ignore them and just go for the continuity of thought as you read. The other book is kind of an oddball but has grown on me. It’s The Outline Bible . It’s NOT a Bible – but literally an outline of the Bible. So you’ll need an actually version of the Bible to coincide with reading a particular section that is outlined. But it’s pretty handy with organizing passages using a literary device such as alliteration, rhyme, etc, as an aid to see and even remember the point. I like it as another way to analyze a section of scripture…and could be helpful in putting a teaching together too.

not sure - but some airlines are probably winging it right now waiting for the corona virus bailout from the gub'ment

Great post, Socks and thanks for the link to that article

I saw this revision of a familiar motto on Stephen Colbert - - collaboration in light of physical distancing: United we stand divided we fall

I saw this on the news a couple of days ago Italian priest accidentally activates video filters while live-streaming mass

== == == == from WordWolf's thread The Way: Living in Wonderland (page-178, since "Nothing cataclysmic...") Watch this next quote from pg-179. pg-180. ...(snip) == == == == Setting aside the preposterous story of wierwille hearing an audible voice from God – I’ll tell you why I think he was a bold faced liar. For someone who claimed that his “ministry” taught people "the accuracy and integrity of God’s Word" – the hypocrisy of his leadership, scholarship (cough cough) and lifestyle speaks volumes contrary to his claim. (definition of hypocrisy : the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.) Let's look at accuracy and integrity: Accuracy: the quality or state of being correct or precise. wierwille re-defined biblical words to his liking and was often inconsistent in using the principles of interpreting the Bible - you know, all that stuff he plagiarized from Bullinger’s book “How to Enjoy the Bible”. To wierwille "make it your own" means copying someone else's work and putting his name on it. Hmmmmm…accuracy…on another thread Is PLAF theopneustos god-breathed? I talked about wierwille’s method of getting back to the authentic…accurate…precise…original word of God which was given when holy men of God spake...It appears wierwille is somewhat removed from analyzing the actual texts that are still in existence; in the PFAL book, page 128 in chapter 11, “The Translations of the Word of God”, wierwille states: “Since we have no originals and the oldest manuscripts that we have date back to the fifth century A.D., how can we get back to the authentic prophecy which was given when holy men of God spoke? To get the Word of God out of any translation or out of any version, we have to compare one word with another and one verse with another verse. We have to study the context of all verses.” wierwille is not comparing Greek manuscripts – instead he is comparing translations or versions of the Bible! That’s like playing the telephone game - the first person states a message and by the time it goes through a whole line of people the message might sound somewhat different from the original. wierwille is at the end of the line - comparing how one translator interprets a phrase in the Greek to how another translator handles the same phrase. Frankly I don’t have much faith in wierwille’s ability to see beyond his own doctrinal preferences to note differences or similarities in translations since he would come up with goofy phrases that blurred variations like “all without exception” and “all without distinction” – which is the same thing. Accuracy my a$$ - what a fvcking bull$hit artist Integrity: the state of being whole and undivided. wierwille cherry-picked from certain passages to prove a point while ignoring other verses that contradicted his own point of view.. He also operated by a double-standard – teaching folks to obey the moral dictates of the Bible while he himself secretly lived out a lascivious lifestyle. That’s a double-whammy against any supposed “integrity” see Matthew 23 hypocrisy . hmmmm...integrity...In retrospect, it's obvious to many of us on Grease Spot that wierwille didn't give a rat's a$$ about personal integrity either. Personal Integrity is being truthful and honest with yourself and others, always striving to make sure your behavior and actions agree with your value system, moral principles, ethics, etc. It generally means staying consistent with personal values and ethical standards, so that when we speak we mean what we say...please...please...PLEASE re-read Skyrider's first post above - especially this part: "The "wheels of the internet" have exposed wierwille's sexual predation as well. From testimonies here at GSC, and supported by two or three witnesses (at least), women have come forward to tell their stories of sexual abuse, drugging and rape. These facts have followed wierwille thru the years from Van Wert back to his ancestral farm, the headquarters of twi. Fortified by an inner circle of cult loyalists, a doctrine whereby devil spirits would always attack the man of god, and young corps girls who had submitted their innermost secrets and personal history in a tell-all paper that wierwille requested from all corps......AND a rumbling-motel-on-wheels (a motor coach guarded by bodyguards) that stopped at these corps campuses....... wierwille's sexual predation was unleashed. Unlike martindale, who was groomed by wierwille to "loosen up his moral and sexual proclivities" ....... wierwille's sexual predation was self-inflicted. Some have suggested that there was sexual abuse in victor's childhood, but that has not been confirmed (as far as I know). Needless to say.......victor paul wierwille has been in the grave for nearly 35 years now and some have, still, not connected the dots on this. Clearly the scriptures give us warnings on every hand about wolves in sheep's clothing, hirelings, whited sepulchers, deceivers, seducers, etc.......time and again. Yet, throughout the pfal class wierwille weaves this tapestry that he is shepherding the flock of God, not a hireling......he, wierwille, is calling out the Pharisees of organized religion and setting people free...... and he is opening up the scriptures from the deceivers in denominational churches. He claims to speak of a message of liberty.......spiritually and sexually. Wierwille heralds the message of Romans 8......that there is no condemnation to them in Christ Jesus and "who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" Love God and live as you fool-please. How convenient to cherry-pick "spiritual liberty." " personal integrity my a$$...what a fvcking hypocrite == == == == wierwille's “ministry” was based on lies – here’s just a few: he lied when he plagiarized the works of others and led people to believe it was from his own hard work, he lied about taking Moody Bible Institute correspondence courses (he never did – I have proof here ) I can only assume he lied about that to give followers the idea that he really studied the biblical languages, at times he even made up his own definitions of Greek words to support his point of view (like in his teaching of the word “with” in John 1:1), and at times he even pressured the research department to bend to his preference for interpreting a passage - like in the wording and imagery in Ephesians 6 as indicative of an athlete rather than what it plainly talks about - a soldier (you can read about that in Penworks’ book Undertow . wierwille plagiarized big time – stealing and lying on a grand scale, that some con artists may have never thought possible. Was wierwille concerned about the accuracy and integrity of “The Word”? I don’t think so. Actions speak much louder than words. How wierwille behaved was the real “sermon” blasting through a Marshall Amp cranked up to eleven.

A whistleblower is person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. Since we really don’t have any details of the split or of what Peter W knew or didn’t know at the time – I am very hesitant to lay any “should-have-dones” on him. Back in the early days, having Bullinger’s and Kenyon’s books around the bookstore – it may have given the appearance wierwille had nothing to hide...keep in mind the type of folks in his sphere of influence might not have thought it was even such a big deal like we would think today - it's a matter of perception. And really, how many scholarly or academic-type folks did he attract anyway. vpw might have been " hiding the truth in plain sight" (which is a trick on one's perception) – sort of like saying “why would I have all these other authors' books on display if I was trying to hide that I plagiarized from them?”...vpw tells a story of Doc Higgins (i think) - who handed him a Bullinger book and said "Bullinger writes like you teach" or something like that - again there's the idea of putting vpw in the same league as Bullinger. " yeah, just fitting the pieces together in the build-an accurate-word-of-god-puzzle." ...and for that matter, as Skyrider mentioned that it wasn't until the later edition of RTHST that vpw had omitted the reference to Stiles in the preface - was that an ever fomenting guilty conscience trying to do a better job of covering his plagiarism tracks? I don't know - just thinking out loud here...In thinking about that “hiding in plain sight” trick – something he said in “The Way Living in Love” comes to mind – basically vpw said something like he never taught anything new – he just pieced together what others have taught so that it was accurate. Odd though - he doesn't specifically mention any names. Some die-hard wierwille fans will argue that is vpw giving those he plagiarized from the proper credit....yeah right - shame on you ....probably some of that "all truth is God's truth" mentality was around back then too - which softens plagiarism / the boundaries of intellectual property to "we're all really just teaching from the same book anyway - God's Word" There was no internet back then with websites like Grease Spot, TransChat or Waydale. Could TWI followers or former followers have contacted Peter W in Australia at some point about things going awry? It’s possible. But I haven’t heard of any – maybe others have…I think by the time TWI was in full-throttle cult mode Peter W was long gone and too far away to be concerned about it all.

Ok – got it …taking the topic on a flip flop…along the lines of a that-was-then-this-is-now-mashup…and please note: the reader is responsible for doing a little math. John 11 Lazarus raised from the dead Then Jesus, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Good point, Martha. Hey guys leave the stone in place.” Then speaking toward the tomb in a very loud voice Jesus said “Hey Lazarus old buddy, you’ll need to self-isolate for another ten days. We’ll come back for you then - okay?” Luke 24 He is risen On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone was still in place in front of the tomb. While they were wondering how to get in the tomb, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood on either side of the stone. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them “Sorry for the holdup Ladies, but you know what a stickler the Lord is for setting a good example – even though it’s totally unnecessary he insists on self-isolating for another eleven days.”

Yikes ! thanks for sharing that, Waysider. sorry if i misinterpreted your first post...I thought we were going along the lines of giving bad advice (my next bit of bad advice was to "greet each other with a holy kiss").

and remember to ignore social distancing rule of 6 feet.

welcome to Grease Spot, George and thanks for sharing your story...I look forward to your input - and along the lines of what Waysider said, a good, civil discussion helps broaden everyone's horizon.

Skyrider and Rocky, thanks for your thoughtful replies. Skyrider, I think you have something there - about Peter J Wade’s tribute to Kenyon may very well reveal the sterling quality of Wade’s character…and the fact that he wasn’t indoctrinated by the way corps program was probably of paramount importance in keeping those blinders off his eyes. Rocky, I agree with you on the importance of Grease Spot and passing on our stories… ...when I first started having my doubts and questions about wierwille & TWI, all I had to go on for making inferences was what I found out through my own fledgling research (of the Bible, systematic theology, biblical languages – and using Bible versions and books of my own choosing I might add! Not books endorsed by TWI) I began to see just how academically incompetent, dishonest and manipulative wierwille was…but these were merely little red flags compared to his gross criminal behavior I learned about on Grease Spot - some of what I read resonated with me in light of what he taught in The Christian Family & Sex class and even in just remembering how he behaved around the corps - whether he was teaching or just hanging out. He was a dirty old man who was drunk and smoking like a chimney most of the time. Those were major red flags in my book…when those damn blinders from my way corps indoctrination finally fell off I then understood how the unbridled adulation for wierwille overshadowed many red flags. Because in the shadows – you can’t tell the color of the flag – so you tend to write it off as it’s no big deal – after all “that’s just going by your five senses”…or “don’t be so petty – he is the man of God for our day and time and hour”…”the love of God thinketh no evil."... yes - little thoughts like those were part of the "apparatus " of the blinders - that's one of the purposes of indoctrination - with the blinders on you can only see what's in front of you - which is what wierwille and other TWI leadership directed your attention to. Yeah, you don't want to look at anything else cuz that's worldly stuff and wouldn't be very spiritual, right? Just trust me on this one. no wait - that was a trick question!!!! "we don't need no stinkin' blinders!" ever wonder why horses wear blinders ? Blinders keep the horse focused on the most important task - winning the race by going in the right direction - straight ahead - eliminates distractions...the blinders of indoctrination keep followers focused on the most important tasks - like heaping excessive admiration and praise on wierwille and looking to him or "since he daid" looking to current TWI leadership for direction. another thing about analyzing wierwille and TWI - you'll find more of a target-rich-environment (red flag-wise) if you look more into the policies, procedures, and social dynamics than into any particular doctrine. so - three cheers for all the brave and courageous folks who have shared their stories on Grease Spot - - hip hip hooray times 3!

Great post, Skyrider - it got me thinking about a couple of things: What was / were the reason or reasons for Peter J Wade split? I wonder how many folks took note of the omission of JE Stiles from the 7th edition of RTHST. By “took note” I mean to the point they thought something was amiss.

I think it is fascinating to try and deconstruct wierwille’s patchwork theology - though I believe there was something mercurial about him - be it his temperament...mood...thought process...persona ...whatever...I don’t know - I’m not a real behavioral psychologist, I just pretend to be one on Grease Spot ...perhaps "mercurial" might describe how wierwille could assume various roles to fit his agenda (man of god, bible scholar, charismatic leader, a loving and caring pastor, etc.)...kinda like the T-1000 in Terminator 2....ok, that was silly - so here's the real thing where the T-1000 is the tile floor moving like liquid mercury he shape-shifts to move in on his prey. . But seriously - I think you do bring up some intriguing ideas...I tend to get frustrated trying to fathom the rhyme or reason on some of his theology...I mean, he wasn’t an absolute idiot - he had something going for him - after all he had mastered the art of deception ...but thinking back now to some of his live teachings to the corps, PFAL ‘77 and Advanced Class ‘79, I must say :wierwille was sometimes inconsistent in using the principles of interpretation that he himself taught in the original PFAL class and occasionally revealed his incompetency by failing to show the work of how he arrived at a conclusion. I remember times where he would just say “father showed me this”...the reason that bugs me now is because it's along the lines of a teacher suspecting a student had copied off of someone else during a math test - so the teacher asks "the alleged" copycat to "show me the work" and the student can't solve the problems from scratch. busted ! Trying to understand what drove his plagiarism might prove more interesting though. Now I’m no real theologian - but I pretend to be one on Grease Spot . I tend to think the common threads of his patchwork theology were his baser instincts for fame, power and pleasure.... Fame: Plagiarizing the work of others to garner the admiration and allegiance of folks. Power: Construe teachings and policies in such a way so as to manipulate and control followers; use his position of authority to take advantage of others. Pleasure: twist scripture and foster ideas to justify (and also to hide) his sexual predations and lascivious and decadent lifestyle.

Skyrider, WordWolf and any others I’ve failed to mention, I really appreciate the detailed work you all have done regarding wierwille’s plagiarism. I’ve got an open Word doc that I keep amending by copying the link to the starter post of threads that deal with plagiarism – Something I was wondering – there used to be a way you could download the whole thread on the old Grease Spot website – but this new format doesn’t seem to have that feature; if it does, would someone be so kind as to tell me how…I know at the bottom of the page there are various ways to share the page but all they appear to do is provide a link to the page…so again – just to be clear on what I’m looking for is a way I can download the entire thread. ...for now what I've been doing is copying and pasting a page at a time (from Grease Spot to a laptop Word doc); takes a lot of time and since I am a neat freak - I am compelled to reformat and delete all the big spaces in between some stuff. I don't mean to be such a worry wort but I feel if I don't have a neat and complete record of this stuff we're doomed ...just kidding...it felt good to be so melodramatic - even if it was only for A quadrillionth of a second...

Obviously plagiarism was the linchpin of wierwille’s “ministry “.

I noticed this today on TWI’s website: Posted on March 12, 2020 FacebookTwitterLinkedInShare God’s abundant blessings, The Way International is making some schedule changes to help provide safety for our people in light of the pandemic in the United States of America. POSTPONEMENTS 1. The advanced class on The Way of Abundance and Power, June 7–20, 2020. 2. Camp: Demonstrating Our Love for God Camp, June 23–27, 2020. 3. Getaways: July 11–19, 2020 July 25–August 2, 2020 August 15–23, 2020 September 12–20, 2020 We look forward to serving you in the future regarding these events, and we are keeping you in our prayers. Ephesians 3:20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. The Conferences Department here at The Way International will be sending registered participants a letter containing more information. In the meantime, if you have questions, contact: The Conferences Department at The Way International (419) 753-2523, extension 1187 TWI event schedule changes == == == === == == Hi TWI folks, while there’s some downtime from Live-TWI-propaganda, you might try a proper gander at Grease Spot…I triple dog dare you to go beyond my silly “proper gander” pun and actually take a real long look at the many informative and thought provoking threads on Grease Spot… I leave you with a link to one such thread –and I’m pretty sure other Grease Spotters will chime in with their recommendations. Undertow - Escaping from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International

Thomas, thanks for pointing that out - that’s a HUGE credibility gap!

Exactly !!!!! Great point, Waysider !

Both may be true accounts of what wierwille actually said. I don’t think it’s a matter of conflation on wierwille’s part – where he had combined the two ideas. Maybe in a deluded mind that’s usually inclined towards plagiarism the source of the idea for The Way Tree simply “evolved” ... ...and the more I think about it, the imagery of the way tree may very well be the moot point in all this...as far as the structure - how the whole organization was arranged to supposedly function "properly", it does seem to emulate the AA somewhat - although I think TWI's HQ is far more overreaching in authority and control (when compared to the 12 steps of AA ) ....and as far as describing the function of TWI, it's more along the lines of multi-level marketing " ...where the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company's products/services."

on another thread Don'tWorryBeHappy talked about wierwille sharing that The Way Tree was "inspired" by the Alcoholics Anonymous structure from Don't Worry's post: "When I was in-Rez with the 4th corpse in the fall of 1973, 3 Of The new “Advanced Studies” classes were videotaped during our first year. They were “The Renewed Mind”, and “Dealing With The Adversary” by Walter Cummins, and “The Way Tree” by John Townsend. During the taping of The WT, dictor had nite owls in the BRC. During one of said Nite owls, I DISTINCTLY remember him telling us that “The Way Tree revelation” was “inspired” by the “A.A. structure”. He never said how he came across those writings. You’ll notice also, that small little phrases like KISS———keep it simple stupid—, are also to be found throughout the halls of AA. Plagiarism was a way of life for DP! LOL! The Way Tree “revelation” was nothing more than a plagiarized business plan for an MLM scheme called PFAL. And, as EVERYTHING else in dictor paul’s minus-tray, it was stolen almost word-for-Word, and concept by concept from another source and that source, (AA), was never given proper credit publicly. To say that there was ANY part or piece of TWIt that was in any way “original”, is as ludicrous as saying “the Earth is flat”. And, just as accurate!.............peace." == == == == == == alas, I was a sap until I ran out of the way tree

Well…so much for the “Open Letter to Jean-Yves De Lisle” thread alas...another one bites the dust

Thanks for those links, Rocky...Guy Winch’s emotional first-aid talk - when he got into feelings of loneliness and failure that really struck a nerve with me, reminding me of how I initially felt after leaving TWI. I had such a connection with the group (emotionally & socially) and had hopes of achieving great things with them. I guess the mounting questions and doubts I harbored were a big chunk of why I decided to sever all times...something I didn’t anticipate though was the social void that left me in ; I think there was an interim time of ...alienation (?) when I was neither here nor there (in TWI) - between worlds ? ...anyway there’s also the long and drawn out process of unpacking / sorting out the mental baggage. But there’s something to be said for the indomitable spirit within us. That ties into the link you gave on emotional resilience. Great article ! The following is a quote from it: “Psychologists have identified some of the factors that make a person resilient, such as a positive attitude, optimism, the ability to regulate emotions, and the ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback. Research shows that optimism helps blunt the impact of stress on the mind and body in the wake of disturbing experiences. And that gives people access to their own cognitive resources, enabling cool-headed analysis of what might have gone wrong and consideration of behavioral paths that might be more productive.” What is life Like after TWI? reconnecting with old friends and family...making new connections on the journey...mentally rewriting a different narrative for my time in TWI...always developing critical and creative thinking skills.