ex10

All I can say as a longtime poster here, and a friend of John's is that, I'm pretty sad at the responses here. OK call me a wuss, but it hurts. :(--> Beat me up if you want to, but I thought better of most of you.

oh and sky Don't totally give up on being a minister type person. There is great need all around. It's really true what we were taught about a man's gift making room. I don't mean to preach, just encourage you. ;)--> You can still do what you've always wanted to.

I was 19 years old when I went into the way corps. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I had been through 3 years of college, and had an *aha* moment, when I felt like I was wasting my time and my parents money. My take on it nowadays, is, I went off to college too young. :D--> Socks, I felt the same way you did. That what I was doing was maybe not what I would be doing for the rest of my life, but at the time, it was where I needed to be. I knew it wouldn't last, in my heart of hearts. :(--> But I still feel I'm a better human for having gone through what I did. Maybe it's pure ego, maybe it's just wanting to think I'm a better person than I am, I don't know. But somehow, I'm at peace with it all. :)-->

All kids rebel. At least if they're normal. Some are just sneakier than others, but as a parent, I think it's best to expect it, and be prepared. I have 3 teenage kids, at the moment, and I must say they are good, sweet kids. But they have their moments, as all teenagers must. ;)--> I think the secret to success is to not freak out when they rebel, just out-think them. :D-->

oldies You aren't married. Consider me presumtuous, but I think I might I have a clue as to why... Ok, I know that I'm mean, I'm saying 5 hail mary's as we speak....

Shhhh, let's not tell him. :D-->

The funny thing is, since I quit posting, I get way more emails and private messages from old friends who want to reconnect. Thank gawd, I wasn't a jerk that nobody wants to talk to. :)--> I say that with the utmost humility. :D--> Honestly, being an anonymous corps pedestrian, was way better than being an important somebody. People still speak to me.

If exwaydaryl were straight, I'd marry him. :D-->

I don't post as much anymore because I changed jobs, and don't have internet access anymore like I used to. ;)--> Plus, many of the old timers have disappeared. They happened to be the people I knew in a former life. :D--> By the way, nice to see you laleo. I feel like we're old friends.

yeah, who knew, white dove, that it was all about heroin? ;)-->

igotout My thoughts perxactly. No Jesus, no saviour, no christianity. Oh, he was mentioned once. How righteous.

Oakspear, you make an excellent point. Christians have been squabbling for two millenia over the the "truth verses error" discussion, regarding doctrine. The essence of Christianity has to be much deeper than that. Or else it wouldn't have survived the arguments, persecutions, wars, etc. ;)-->

white dove, Miss vickles took the words right out of my mouth. It's not so black and white. We've had this conversation about churches before. The main problem I have with "offshoots" and that I have with TWI, is the arrogance. You know, the "I know more of 'the truth' than you do, so I'm not going to fellowship with you" attitude. The only offshoot I know anything about, (CES)seems to have gotten over that, and even goes out of its way to network with many other christian groups. So maybe I'm a wierdo, because I went straight from TWI to church. But I don't think so, since many of my particular ex-way friends did the same thing. And many are still there. In fact, I've been involved in church far longer that I was ever in TWI. And I have friends and family members that can say the same thing. They don't hang around here much though. Maybe it's just the nature of this place, that those who haven't gotten involved in something else, whether it's a church, offshoot group, or do their own thing, tend to hang out here? Just a thought.....This cafe seems to be a nice little haven for us TWI fugitives. ;)--> And Miss vick, I feel the same way you do about going to church every Sunday. I go when I want to be there. I'm way over attending meetings out of guilt or obligation. I guess that's one positive thing that came out of TWI for me. I've met my lifetime meeting quota.

Galen Think about it. Yeah, VP filmed the class before he started the way corps, but only a handful of church people in Ohio and maybe a couple of other innocent pedestrians, saw it. The way corps was the marketing vehicle for PFAL, along with the WOW program. VP could only be in one place at one time. and only a couple of other people could be "trusted" to run classes, til the way corps came along. That's how "the class" became so widely available, galen. That and the WOW program. That's also why a certain poster's tirade about "mastering PFAL" is such a joke. Anybody who was in the corps practically had the whole thing memorized, bad jokes included. ;)--> Not just memorized, but permanently tatooed in our brains forevermore.

Call me a polyanna, but I was so glad to be able to shower...period. I didn't really care how long I had to stand in line, or how many nekkid bodies my eyes had to be assaulted with. :D--> I got real dirty working at the rock, and it always felt really good to be able to get clean again. I really didn't mind having no place to put on my make-up, or plug my blow dryer or curling iron in, either. :)-->

Galen As I wrote on another thread, you are always going to be an outsider looking in. You will never really understand the insider perspective. Whatever.... Think about this. You would never have your precious PFAL if it weren't for the way corps. ;)-->

Galen You're always gonna be the outsider looking in. You'll never know what the insider perspective is. And I don't think you really care to. Fine. :)-->

Good freaking grief. I've got to agree with Cindy. John isn't dead. He is alive and well and obviously going through an extremely difficult time. Let's just peck him to death like a herd of ducks. (thanks, krys, for the great analogy.) Sheesh.

So socks, are ya hiring? Can I be your head groupie? Or if you already have a head groupie, can I at least say I'm part of your splinter group? :)--> and just pretend I'm an important somebody? :D-->

I really enjoy being a freelance christian. :)--> Yes, I've attended the Methodist church for the past 4 years or so, and I love the service. We support some missions that have nothing to do with TWI. And, yes, I still get tapes from "splinter groups," (most of which, I confess, I can't seem to find the time to listen to.) But I still find it difficult to pledge my allegience to any one group. I often wonder why it seems to be such a big issue with us former cultists? Is it just the need to be identified with a larger group? Just wondering....

Ohmigosh, what Evan said. "Being right" means nothing. I think Jesus had a thing or two to say about that...

And here we go again..... :D--> Somehow I feel like this thread might turn into a rerun. I guess reruns are a necessary evil tho, if one happened to be out of the loop the first 100 times around. -->

Just a thought, but I think alot of "ministering" to people has to do with recognizing need, and then freely giving of oneself or one's resources to satisfy that need in another, in a situation, whatever. I think a big problem entered in when those who had "need" were viewed as somehow "not believing." Or when incredibly tragic events occured, and somehow it was the person's "fault," "unrenewed mind," "lack of believing," "spiritual weakness," ad infinitum. Somehow the mindset was one of codemnation, instead of mercy and kindness. Somehow way doctrine bred that kind of poisonous subculture. I think it had to do with getting rid of the cross, myself. But, we've had this conversation at the cafe before. :D--> As always, just my opinion and experience. ;)-->

A quote worth repeating over and over again, sky. ;)-->

out Thanks for the kindness of your words. It's such a nice reminder to realize that some of us are the same people we were, way back then. ;)-->