potato

here's a recipe to start us off: BRUNSWICK STEW 2 cleaned squirrels 1 tbsp. salt 1 gal. water 1 chopped onion 1 pt. lima beans 6 ears of corn 1/2 lb. salt pork Peeled potatoes 1 tsp. pepper 2 tsp. sugar 1 qt. sliced tomatoes Cut squirrels into pieces. Add salt to water and set to boil. Then add onion, lima beans, corn, salt pork, potatoes, pepper and squirrel pieces. Cover and simmer 2 hours. Then add sugar and tomatoes. Simmer 1 hour longer. I'm trying to figure out my class syllabus right now... oh, I mean, God's working in me with some hevy-revy. so far: cooking and sex for the christian couple. session 1: cooking... is it really ok with God? session 2: how to use root vegetables. session 3: thou shalt not consort with squirrels. session 4: what to keep in your cookie jar (be prepared for every situation). ... sorry for continuing the derailment.

HAHA! Mr. Ham and I keep getting lumped together. tell you what Hammy, I'll steal your class materials... I mean recipes from you and you can from me, and I won't sue you for ripping off my ministry... I mean restaurant name, ok?

that one broke my heart. I was ready to start my own ministry and then found out my calling was running a potato cafe :(

you can call me sweetpotato :) you can even tell potato jokes if you like, although I think I heard them all pretty quick once I started visiting the chat room ;) we were offered the blinders in pfal. the promises on the green card are emotionally compelling. once you put the blinders on and start chasing the carrot, you (I mean I/we/anyone) become like the rat with the choice between two levers, that will basically masturbate until it dies. maybe vpw didn't set out to take advantage of thousands of people, maybe he was just looking for a comfortable living (there's lots of info to peruse here that indicates it wasn't quite that shallow a decision) but it didn't take long for him to see the potential, and the fact that he chose to give into his base instincts rather that follow a higher path as a minister of God's people speaks volumes about his character.

it's not about investigating people with money, it's about for-profit corporations illegally using a non-profit status to avoid taxes. just because you're selling religion doesn't mean you're entitled to non-profit status.

jeffsjo, thanks for that honest statement. I don't know if I believe in the return anymore, but I guess we'll see. at least I'm not afraid of it anymore, and if that's one thing I learned in all my years of bible study then that's enough for me. yes, there was good information in pfal, lifted from the work of other men and women. thank God it was there so we could learn it, although I think the really useful stuff could have been covered in an hour and we could have easily skipped vpw's self-serving set up as the MOG, and I'd also like to say that if pfal hadn't been there to pull us off the path, many of us would have continued to seek truth instead of stopping on the wayside and putting on blinders. I agree with cman. I wish I'd stopped at pfal. it was the first step into hell candy-coated with seductive promises, like being able to have a personal relationship with God. that early gift was stripped away a hundred-fold over the years.

oh man, flashback!

I got out a year plus a couple months ago. no SIT alerts for a long time, but I think I was pretty much a fringe element liability for the past few years, so if there were SIT alerts no one would have bothered to call me. personally I kinda doubt whether the current administration cares if anyone prays for them.

exactly, jeffsjo... but, defending in court the right to use a non-trademarkable or -copyrightable name would destroy a small church, whereas twi has years of invested ABS to use to intimidate smaller organizations. that's why it's easier to back down when the bullies come after you when it comes to a public domain name like "the way". it's unfortunate, too, because it just makes the bully worse. I should run a test. I'll start a church called "the way of potato, international" and see how long it takes to get a letter from their lawyers. I just need a couple of people from various countries to join my church. no, better yet... a non-profit called "the way incorporated" the sole purpose of which is to raise funds to help small churches defend their right to use the public domain name "the way".

I participated in many mandatory SIT sessions, but exactly how the alerts came down I don't know. as far as I remember they came down (yeah I know it's supposed to be up, but I know where I actually stood on the food chain) through the tree, so I'm sure it's possible anyone high enough could make up their own if they wanted to use people to divide off part of the ministry spoils.

especially if the target is a small congregation that actually uses its money to help people instead of retain expensive lawyers to protect the corporate interests.

oh, I thought LU was referring to twi lawsuits protecting "their" name.

I'm down. I'd spend the copious number of hours it would take going through my notes and reconstructing the 20 years I was in, plus what I went through the past year recovering, and I'd call all my friends and interview them, too. call it "the way: living in hell"

that's one way to look at it. another way is that he was a opportunist who saw a way to get attention. I think scripture was a means to an end for him and not a way of life. his way of life was dirty and his bible studies gave him a way to whitewash it. it's not really so obvious the "adversary" "took him out", it's a lot more obvious that his extreme narcissism and lack of character in general drove him to build an empire and in enjoying the fruits thereof, destroyed himself and others. he had a choice. the devil DID NOT make him do it. I think he did it himself because he was self-absorbed from the get-go. why should she? what do you mean "get on with" her "life"? because she has a laundry list of destructive acts that were commmitted against her in the name of gawd you want her to shut up?

I put a lot of thought into this subject because I wondered why innocent children are born with horrible disease, die of cancer, or need major surgery to survive. the only logical way to look at it if you're christian is that over the centuries since creation the devil's had plenty of opportunity to introduce genetic anomalies using the environment. so, they get carried on. spontaneous mutation is usually harmful but sometimes passed into the general gene pool. no one gets punished with disease. your parents can't "believe" for a healthy child. you can't sin enough to get a genetic disease. lcm put a lot of blame on people. there were no signs miracles and wonders following us because we were so spiritually anemic. I can't exactly remember, but I think lcm stopped teaching it after he blamed lack of healing on our anemic believing. it was all our fault that God couldn't heal people so it would figure that there was no point in him teaching it anymore. I remember him heaping blame and acting disgusted all the time, especially after anyone died tragically.

there was no lockbox. information about me was circulated amongst top leadership, lest I become a liability, and our local leadership freely talked behind the backs of whoever he pleased. what motivated him? the simplest and most direct answer would be to incite a situation of disapproval by peers, i.e. bringing peer pressure to bear in order to get people to do what he wanted when his "suggestions" weren't being followed.

I remember that one really well! starting in wow training and just escalating for years. I think they started backing off on that one after lcm got the boot, but there was never any public retraction of the doctrine that I was aware of.

wow Roy, that is really good! thanks for posting it. your story shows the blinders us humans tend to wear.

fear of making decisions because a wrong decision means: 1. out of fellowship, the devil can have his way with me, maybe my kids would die and it would be my fault 2. getting yelled at by leadership and spouse

#9!

dude! the "potato rodents".

thank you jeffsjo :) I also enjoy reading your posts. you have a great heart! bumpy does seem to thrive on flinging insults and hurtful words. not sure what he's trying to prove, but I don't consider them helpful or kind at all... although in the midst of the insults he tossed out he did give me an idea for a band name.

Dave, how long did it take you to "get over it", meaning that you don't feel any anger or sadness when you think about getting screamed at or called names by twi leaders, or over the deceptions that were used to dupe you into handing over money and time or giving up friends or hurting your family? you said you left 20 years ago and you did feel angry for a while, assuming you worked it out so it no longer bothers you. how long did it take? did you get any outside help or did you just study the bible? I do want to know your answer. I also want to comment that I find it very amusing but also disturbing when people label others "whiners" when you can't hear their voices. I've seen people called whiners here who are giving factual accountings of their experiences. it's interesting to see how people add tone to what they can't hear.

I did. by example from lcm down. I heard people reminisce about vpw's temper tantrums. perhaps it WASN'T a written doctrine "thou shalt attack thy brother and break his heart and spirit" yet they did. remember the teachings on doctinal error and practical error? some of twi's errors were doctrinal, but some were just plain and simple practical error... teaching some good bible then twisting it when it came to practice, especially in the categories of money, love and sex.

thanks for this post, Hammie.