Tzaia

December 27, 2009 Dear STF Brethren, God bless you abundantly as you stand for our Lord Jesus in this darkening world. I love you and thank God for you. This is a follow-up to my letter and enclosures of October 21, which I hope you received and read. If you did not receive it, and would like to, just let me know. In light of the many responses I’ve received, and what happened at the November 14-15 meeting held by the STF Board, and their shocking whitewash of that in their December 15 “report” on that meeting, I want to communicate with you once again and let you know of my plan to move on and start a new ministry. Once again, as you read this letter, I ask you to consider your personal relationship with me and the fruit of how I have interacted with you since we have known one another. If I have a positive “track record” with you, I ask that you not discard that in the face of vague allegations against me. First, I was humbled by the kind words of so many brethren as to what my life and ministry has meant to them through the years. I know it has been because of the grace and mercy of God. Among the many responses I received to my 10/21 letter, here are some representative comments people made as to their perspective of STF in the past few years: “I knew something was wrong.” “The teachings are bland; they don’t move me like they used to.” “The love is gone.” “It is lifeless.” “It has become sterile and antiseptic.” “It is more like a business than a ministry.” “It is no longer people-oriented.” “You and John S. made a great team, and things are not the same now.” Having been shut out of the loop for so long, I was surprised by how many folks felt that way, and I simply want to provide an alternative source of biblical truth that is presented with love, grace, mercy, honesty, and transparency. A little humor wouldn’t hurt either—seriously. Nearly 23 years ago, back in The Way International, I stepped forward and adhered to the biblical admonition to “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them” (Eph. 5:11). What has happened since I sent my 10/21/09 letter is (much like what happened in 1987): (a) some people believed that what I said was true, especially after hearing the STF Board’s vapid and evasive responses to it; (b) some believed the Board’s rhetoric about me without asking me if what they said was true, and © some have yet made no decision one way or the other. Those three responses are pretty much what Acts 17:32 and 33 shows will happen when truth is set forth. Nearly 23 years ago, quite a few people now on the STF mailing list were then TWI followers in category (b), but what happened over time (my actions and the actions of the TWI Board) proved to them that my assertions about that Board were true, and that my heart was in the right place. I believe the same thing will happen in this situation. I am moving on, but I am very concerned about those who may choose to be part of something I believe is being led by people like those cited in Romans 16:17 and 18, and in that vein, this letter is to try once more to help you see this situation as it really is. After this, all my effort will go toward the new organization that I and other brethren are starting. I know how painful this must be for you, and I want you to know that I will continue to love you and make my life and teaching ministry available to you whether or not you support either STF or me. As far as I’m concerned, my relationship with you is not contingent upon whether you take my side. I am more concerned about your relationship with the Lord Jesus, and that you stand on “the side of truth,” for your own sake. If you are now in category (b) or ©, I ask you simply to consider the undeniable dishonesty on the part of John, Dan, Gary, and Karen in how they have dealt not only with Elizabeth and me, but with you and everyone else who pays their salaries. For the sake of brevity, the following list is not all that could be cited: * They have yet to disclose the truth about what happened with the Graesers, or how they were just as deceived by them about Elizabeth as I was. * They have yet to admit their obvious lack of spiritual awareness and their gross negligence in ever giving Elizabeth and me the so-called “prophecies” in the first place, yet every person (honestly) who read them and commented to me about them was appalled by them. * They have told people that in my 12/08 letter I demanded to be the STF president, which I did not. * The “timeline” they sent out in 8/09 was blatantly dishonest, as they left out whole years at a time, and put forth half-truths and untruths elsewhere. * They did not tell anyone that they revoked my ordination in 2006 for “falling in love too quickly” with someone who I never even kissed. * They continue to bring up my sin from the ‘80s and ‘90s even though in 5/08 they officially listed me in the Emergency Elder Group and said that I “meet or exceed the requirements in Timothy and Titus.” * They never told me, or the STF base, that I was on that list. * For eight months they did not tell anyone that they fired me in January, 2009, and to this day have not cited one biblical sin I have committed since 2000 that disqualifies me from ministering to God’s people. Rather, they hide behind vague terms like “character flaws.” * When they finally did say something because of how much support they were losing, their 9/25/09 letter did not say they had fired me in January, but rather that I had left STF in August, clearly implying that I did so voluntarily. * John Schoenheit’s 10/25 letter said that I had asked people to stop giving to STF, which I did not. I suggested that people consider “voting with their wallets” to show the Board their disapproval with how they have led STF. * They invited people to a November meeting where they would present their allegations against me, but did not allow me to be present to answer for myself. * In their 9/25 letter announcing that meeting, they cited my situation as one of the key issues to be discussed, and later promised to let all supporters know what happened at the meeting, but their report of 12/15 says absolutely nothing about the emotionally charged discussion about me that consumed most all of that Saturday afternoon. If you were one of the 90 or so who attended the November meeting in Indianapolis, even if you had not taken into consideration the above list, the very fact that I was not invited should have, by itself, been enough to tell you that whatever you would hear at the meeting would be just as dishonest as that. And it was. If you were there, and experienced the furor centering on me for most all of that Saturday afternoon, with the steady stream of people at the microphone asking hard questions about my situation, I can’t imagine what you thought when you read the two pitifully vague and dishonest paragraphs supposedly summing up what took place. And they still say that I left STF rather than that they fired me, which of course they did. Once again they did not come close to telling the truth, and, in keeping with their pattern of refusing to put in writing the critical issues, their report said, yet once again, to “call them” if you had any questions. That way they are not so accountable as if they put it in writing. You may have some of the same questions that people asked at the meeting, but their report said nothing about what those were. What does it say about them that they had the meeting without me there to respond to their allegations? How could that possibly be an “open and honest” meeting? One person called it “a trial without the defendant present to answer for himself.” That is biblically unconscionable, and by itself shows the posture of their hearts. I was told that when people asked why they did not invite me, they said it would have gotten too raucous had I been there. How weak, and how typically disingenuous. I have heard many details from a number of people who were there, and clearly the Board did all they could to diminish my contribution to CES and to discredit me in order to justify their groundless assertion that I am not qualified to lead. What they said about me flowed from their ego-driven agenda against me and was slanted, out-of-context, incomplete, and deceitful. Furthermore, they put the focus on me and failed to address some very key things that would have exposed their rampant hypocrisy. I heard that many people did ask some of the right questions, but they didn’t know how to follow up to refute the Board’s dishonest responses. No wonder they did not invite me, for I would have pointed out exactly how they were being untruthful. If you attended the meeting, and did not afterward call me to ask if what you heard about me was true, is that how you would want me to treat you? I’m very sorry that those who went had to endure such a painful experience of seeing people they love pitted against one another. It made me very sad to think that on that Saturday, the 38th anniversary of my ordination, while I was enthusiastically teaching the Word in Washington, D.C. to God’s precious people, my longtime friend and fellow laborer John Schoenheit was dishonestly degrading me. One of the most shocking things I heard was that the Board shared its “regret” for the way CES was founded, supposedly via the mass mailing I and others did that exposed the transgressions of The Way’s leadership and their misuse of the Word to further their own ends. In nearly twenty-three years of working with John S., et al, I have never once heard anyone mention such “regret.” First of all, that is not how CES was founded, as our letter about The Way went out in February, 1987 and CES was founded in September, 1988. Be that as it may, aren’t you glad I told the truth about TWI so you could make an informed decision about staying or leaving? Could it be that their “regret” at the November meeting was all about making me look bad in regard to my October mailing to you that exposed them? I was told that the Board never addressed why they fired me in 2005, or why they revoked my ordination in 2006, or why they never told me I was on the Emergency Elder Group list in 2008, or why they continue to cite things against me that were prior to their own declaration of my competence on that list in 2008. Nor did they cite any Scripture to show how I am unqualified. It’s too bad they just don’t ask the hundreds of people to whom I have ministered, both collectively at teaching weekends and individually, in the past few years. They don’t ask because they don’t care, and must advance their own position at my expense. If you are among those to whom I have ministered, do you agree with the Board that I am unfit to lead God’s people? At the November meeting J, D, G, K did not present anything that was both honest and convincing in that regard, because nothing they can honestly say would convince anyone that I am unfit for ministry. Since 2000 (a sin I came and confessed), they cannot cite any sin or immorality I have committed or how I have violated the Word so as to disqualify myself for leadership, and they know that. In order to smear me, they have even gone so far as to insinuate that there is a continuing pattern of sexual immorality, but they cannot refer to any transgression whatsoever. That is why they brought up my sin from way back in the ‘80s, for which God has long ago forgiven me, as per 1 John 1:9. Throughout these past seven years, J, D, G, K have shown absolutely no brokenness or real godly sorrow, both of which are prerequisite to genuine repentance. Remember, that is all Elizabeth and I asked for, so that we could reconcile with them and work together. They simply refuse to walk in the light, not trusting either God or you enough to come clean about their failures, yet look at all the turmoil in STF that has taken place on their watch. They have yet to admit they were wrong about anything of consequence, and the few obligatory admissions they have made are merely cosmetic, and designed to take the focus off themselves. Simply put, they cannot lead you where they themselves are not willing to go. And now, despite the overwhelming percentage of people who have told them that the composition of the Board is seriously flawed, they are going right ahead with their plan to add only Mike Patten, a salaried employee who is in lockstep with them. That will make the Board three salaried people and a married couple, which is even worse than its current composition. Nothing is changing, and it is obvious that they do not care what anyone says if it contradicts them. Not only have they given no credence at all to the Elder Council members themselves, or to their input, and blown them off at every turn, but they also reproved them and said they are not doing the will of God. It is not easy for anyone to hear that he is being deceived, because we all like to think that we see things as they really are, and our pride takes a beating when we find out someone has pulled the wool over our eyes. But certainly it is better to find that out than not to find it out, isn’t it? I firmly believe that your heart is honest before the Lord, but the Board members’ actions have long ago proven to me, and to many others, that their hearts have become hardened. If, like some, you are asking, “How could that happen?” please remember that the amount of spiritual knowledge one has is not the measure of his spirituality. Rather, God looks on one’s motives and how he relates to the knowledge he has, i.e., how much of it he is practicing with an honest heart in the sight of God and the Lord Jesus. And given the biblical picture of the life of David, God makes it clear that He especially values one’s willingness to admit and repent of his sin. It is painful to hear, but it is clear to me that the following Scripture verses aptly describe the current STF Board and their actions. And if that is true, wouldn’t it be more painful in the long run not to hear it? Romans 16:17 and 18 (NASB) (17) Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. (18) For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. The Greek word translated “unsuspecting” is rendered “simple” in the KJV and “naïve” in the NIV. It is akakos, and is used only one other place--Hebrews 7:26, regarding Jesus (“harmless”). I don’t think either the KJV or NIV has it quite right, and I prefer “harmless” or “innocent” (ASV). It means that a person like you, who is doing your best to be honest and do what is right before the Lord, does not expect people like those on the Board to do otherwise, and it is hard for you to believe that they are. It was hard for us too, but we have lived with it for 7 years, and I am telling you the truth. This is about the Word of God being ignored and disobeyed. The actions of the Board, not only toward Elizabeth and me, but also toward many other believers, fly in the face of Scripture. I honestly believe that both the biblical truth and the facts that I have presented dwarf whatever they have presented to substantiate their flimsy allegation that I am so badly screwed up. As I have said before, God sees, He knows, and He will not be mocked. The fruit will show itself, in both their lives and ministries and in mine. So be it. As per Philippians 1:17-18, I rejoice that STF has great biblical truth to present (much of it material that I and others who are no longer around helped to produce), but if the hearts of those leading the ministry are tainted, it cannot be the blessing it could be if it were coming from people whose hearts were honest and right in the sight of God. And it cannot help but become more tainted, because each of us is either “being transformed” or “conforming”—we can’t just stay in a holding pattern. 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) says, “…Bad company corrupts good character.” If my perspective of the STF Board is correct, the more association people have with them, the more likely they are to be deceived. To vividly illustrate that point, let me cite something I was told happened at the November meeting. It involved someone I’ve known for 25 years, and been close to the last 15+, someone whom I have never done anything but try to love and bless, and he the same to me, but who has in the past year been much closer to John and Dan and had little contact with me. In the context of the Board bringing up my past sins to substantiate their allegation of my unworthiness to lead, my friend stood up and said, “You wouldn’t allow a reformed pedophile to lead children’s fellowship, would you?” I was told that the room exploded with indignation about his malicious remark, but that no one on the Board said a word about it until after a subsequent break during which at least one person I know of had castigated them for their silence. My question, however, is how did my friend’s heart become so venomous against me? Who spoke what into his life such that he would believe such lies about me and even think of saying something so hurtful? Although I have already taken some flak from those who I think should know me better and clearly see my heart in all of this, I have felt compelled to thoroughly and publicly (1 Tim. 5:20) sound the alarm for the many people who I led to CES/STF through the years, and those who now support the work with their hard-earned dollars. Having now done so, I am moving on, and will begin another work so as to have an outlet to present on video and audio the many, many teachings that are bubbling up in my heart and in the hearts of others I know. It won’t actually be a new “ministry,” but another avenue via which I, and others, can exercise our God-given ministries in the Body of Christ. We are in the process of deciding upon a name for the new organization, and a believer lawyer is already working on setting up a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation, which I believe is still the best way to go because it allows people to deduct their contributions. I am working with three brethren who have offered to collaborate in building a fabulous website, on which I will put all the teachings/books/articles I did or was part of doing while with STF—plus much more, including quality work by others. I want to produce a new foundational class, as well as write a book on the administrations in Scripture, and I know some capable saints willing to help. Elizabeth and I will travel extensively as God opens the doors to help connect people in an international fellowship community, one knit together with the love of God, and one wherein grace and mercy triumph over judgment. I would also like to help people, especially our youth, do more state or regional conferences, and camps. Quite a few wonderful brethren have already volunteered their insight about how to set up the new work so as to best hold accountable those in positions of oversight and give them the least chance to go off track. Whatever we do will at least be transparent, with straightforward communication and an annual financial statement made available to each contributor. At the end of the day, I know that people will support something that is Word-based, loving, and honest as long as they see those qualities in those who lead and as long as what is produced touches their hearts and moves them toward godliness. As we go forward, unless you tell me that you do not want to hear from me, I will keep you informed of what we are doing, so that you may partake of what we have available if you like. Although starting over in the second half of my life (I’m aiming at 120) is somewhat daunting, I am excited to see what the Lord will do with our efforts to glorify him. To start with, we will have little compared to what STF has in resources, but if our hearts are in the right place, God will prosper our efforts, and maybe even do an Ephesians 3:20 work. Stay tuned… Back in 1987 when The Way Intenational was falling apart, Steve Lefevers and Lionel Recio wrote a position paper about TWI in which they quoted the renegade Roman Catholic theologian Hans Kung in his work titled: Truthfulness: The Future of The Church. I believe that his trenchant and powerful words, written in 1968, are acutely pertinent to the STF situation today, and certainly to Christianity in general: “People today are looking for a truthful church…in whose structures, in whose institutions and constitutions, truth is not manipulated, the word not diluted, the spirit not carnalized, life not stifled, freedom not despised, justice not suppressed, peace not broken. This means discussion instead of denunciation, comprehension instead of inquisition, communication instead of excommunication…It means dialogue instead of dictation, criticism instead of censorship, frankness instead of concealment…Thus the absolutist, authoritarian…system must give way to genuine order in freedom, hierarchical power to ecclesiastical service, clerical despotism to spiritual leadership” (p. 103). “Truth is put at the disposal of the system and politically managed. Words are used, not for communication, but for domination. Language is corrupted through tactical ambiguity, objective untruth, distorted rhetoric, and shallow pathos…The admission and correction of errors is strictly avoided, and instead a practical omniscience of authority insinuated…free discussion is suspect, dissenters are morally disqualified; within the dominant machinery of bureaucracy truth is the result of political struggle, of the power game of different pressure groups; secrecy is demanded in things that concern everyone…In these circumstances, truth is politically utilized, used up, abused, instead of being truthfully thought out, respected, loved, lived” (pp. 141 and 142). By the grace of God, and with the input of our involved constituents, I promise to do my best to ensure that what we will now put together will be such a “truthful church.” HAPPY NEW YEAR! May it be the best year of your life. I love you. Your brother in Christ, John Lynn

Leafy - The only thing I haven't been able to load directly on Windows 7 are 16 bit programs. MS offers an XP mode virtual machine to take care of that issue. However, you must buy Windows 7 professional version to use the product as the xp mode product geared more toward the business user. My experience with Vista is not all that extensive because I didn't want to deal with it in a business environment, but my experience is that you can't load programs on Vista with a "limited" account and I believe one of the main changes in Vista is that limited accounts are the default - once the administrator account is hidden. Some programs aren't smart enough to tell you that's the reason why they won't load. So go into Control Panel and check your user account to see what kind of account it is - and borrow a dummies book about vista from the library - they really do help.

WG, my experience with people like you describe (whether pastor or lay) is that they either haven't lived long enough to have something really bad happen for which there is no "reason," lived hard enough to have to deal with outcomes, or perhaps they are working feverishly to cover up their own transgressions by paying more attention to other's (apparent) transgressions. The truth is that what the guy said was absurd. Babies, who know nothing about sin are stricken with illnesses. My tendency would be to think it's due more to bad karma over unconfessed sin. At least that makes sense. Your situation was more than likely a genetic propensity towards IDDM coupled with stress and conditions that caused your autoimmune system to start acting up. Having IDDM FORCES you to take proper care of yourself or you die. For all you know, could have been God's way of forcing you to stay out of harm's way. It seems to serve as a natural repellent to over-involvement in harmful religious organizations. I won't go so far as to say Mark Driscoll is a lunatic, but he's definitely got the mind for it and a good start. I do worship planning with a Mark Driscoll junkie and I keep telling him that there's more to attracting the boy/men to church than trying to make a man cave out of the church.

I don't know where all this discussion has gone (haven't read the whole thread), but a couple of humanities classes led me on a tangent a couple of years ago which really altered my idea of context in the "biblical" discussion of homosexuality. My understanding is that in the Greek era, same sex sex were fine as long as you weren't the one that was being penetrated. So it was weaker men and male children who were penetrated. Homosexual sex was an act of over-lording. In the Roman era, same sex sex was encouraged in the armies because it was believed to be beneficial to building relationships, but men would go home to their wives or at some other point get married. The relationship was not sacred. Within the pagan community (which was just about everyone), there was a good amount of ritual sex. Some of that may have been in the context of sacred, but there was probably a good amount of it that wasn't. I think the bible speaks against any kind of sex that is not based on love and commitment as being wrong. It always speaks of sex being "wrong" whenever the act is done outside the sacred relationship. So perhaps it's the context of the act, not the sex of the people that's important.

Perhaps, but I did catch one of our pastors say out loud that what we were doing was indoctrination. I told him I was happy that he could be honest about it. And no, most don't see it in their situations, just other's.

"safe to share" I'm sorry, do you think someone is going to come after you? But if you mean whether you will receive automatic approval - that remains to be seen. As for me, I'm always curious about how people wrap their minds around things. I worked for nearly 30 years to have a "rational" faith and I always wondered why I could just never get that sold out thing going. This year I finally figured out that the more you try to make it all make sense, the more knots you have to tie yourself into. The irony is that until around the 1400s no one really felt there had to be anything rational about faith. A rational faith requires some kind of "proof" and no matter how you slice it or dice it, the "evidence" is anecdotal and circumstantial at best. All the "evidence" in (at least) Jerusalem is anecdotal at best because it was destroyed in 70AD, and back then that meant pulverizing things (but for all the rest of the wall [surrounding Jerusalem], it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited.--Josephus.) I digress - proof was not a necessary factor back then and I think we need to move away from the proof and evidence model of belief. It only causes strife.

Brainfixed made a comment about not getting married because of the vow thing and the possibility of breaking a vow. That caused me to remember how TWI used vows to keep people doing things that they knew were wrong for them. I've been married for nearly 30 years and was married to someone else before that and what I think is that people don't take their marriage vows seriously (at times), but both people hopefully have an inkling of what they are getting themselves into. It's serious stuff and you don't enter into it lightly or blindly. However, it is a reciprocal agreement - both parties have certain obligations that have to be met in the here and now. For instance, you don't pledge sexual fidelity to someone while they promise to be faithful to you in the future. Everyone sees the folly in that. What TWI (and at least one splinter that I know of) did with vows was abusive. I don't believe they gave most people the opportunity to make an informed choice. Signing the "green card" was my first glimpse of how vows were treated. I literally said that I didn't want to take the class and was told I had made a vow. I made very sure after that incident that I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. So when people started pressuring me into going WoW, I looked into what was involved and there was no way I could commit to that. Same thing with WC. There would never be a good enough reason to leave in TWI's eyes after making the commitment. Of course that didn't extend to TWI not being able to kick me out if it wanted to. In CES there were a number of people who signed agreements to attend a Momentus weekend that had no idea how those agreements would be used against them. You "agree" to a certain set of ground rules, never thinking in your wildest dreams that the agreement will come back and bite you. The agreement consists of allowing them to verbally and emotionally abuse you. You agreed to it, and the Momentus team absolutely held people to that agreement. When I questioned the wording of that agreement, it was minimalized by the recruiters what that impact could be. But the reality was that there was no legal recourse on my part if I signed the agreement. I refused to do the weekend because of the lack of accountability on the part of Momentus built into the agreement. I don't know what kind of "hold harmless" or other kind of agreement one had to sign to be a WoW or WC, but I'm assuming that TWI had some sort of agreement in place that kept it from getting into deep do-do in case someone died or was seriously injured during one of those hare-brained "believing" "spiritual growth" exercises. TWI had to have something in place to release them from liability. So in essence, when one made a "vow" with TWI, it was one agreeing to do whatever the organization wanted and absolving TWI from having any responsibility for outcomes. There was no reciprocality (new word I just made up) to the vow other than TWI's "promise" that adhering to the vow would bring you closer to God or cause God to look favorably toward you. Once you think about it, the whole notion of making promises on behalf of God is rather ridiculous.

Apparently so. He discovered that we were people and that sort of brought out a bit of conscience. Conscience, if I'm remembering right, is a weird feeling in TWI-land and to be avoided at all cost...especially if it makes you think about what you're being taught.

Or it could just be a story told to make a point.

Not around for a few days - perhaps someone jerked a knot in his tail.

I'm pretty sure STF-I means weak Christians in the same context we always heard in TWI - as in those who go to a "regular" church can't possibly have a clue what God and Jesus are all about, because they don't know what we know.

It's really standard operating behavior in groups trying to get a following. Why in the heck would one praise the competition? Having said that, I think STF-I is having to dig way deep to make itself into the image of a viable alternative to everything else out there.

I call it bonding by drama. A test of true friendship is to remove the drama-producing situation and see if the friendship holds up after that. Many times it doesn't. However, life does (usually) go on.

It has happened that way, but more along the lines of looking the other way - providing you take care of the landscape, clean the pool, and wash the dishes. You would be amazed. Friends like that tend to disappear as soon as you try to regain your individuality. Friends are not a TWI-only commodity.

No. They believe that tongues is prayer and praise to God - therefore no interpretation necessary. Prophecy is spoken - obviously - not necessarily to the whole group. If you watch a Hillsong DVD you will see praise and tongues being done during songs. Heck Joyce Meyers speaks in tongues.

Assemblies of God do both - think Hillsong Church in Australia - as do many of the apostolic churches.

The heart and soul of the TWI that I remember lives on. That's the trade-off - the permission to freely fornicate in exchange for free labor.

Actually, NPOs are required by law to provide financial records upon request. They can charge a photocopying fee, but that's it. Not really. There are a few of us who are "regulars". Most of the people I know who were involved are now involved in a church. Some are not. It's become largely a non-issue. That's sad. Hiding my inquisitive mind from my "friends" in TWI was probably the hardest part when I was in. I don't have that issue anymore. I read what I want; discuss what I want; and believe what I want - openly. Perhaps to TWI, but it's important to remain true to yourself and to your values. I think it's important to make well-informed decisions. If you feel foolish for that, perhaps you should rethink it.

It is required for a NPOs corporation to carry board and director's insurance. The cost is about 5k per year for organizations with incomes of 100k and no history of litigation (I know because I've served on those kinds of boards). It goes up depending upon the value of the holdings and the litigation history of the organization. 20k is a well-reasoned guess. I'm sure everyone here would be grateful if you were to produce TWI's 2008 financial records. That would undoubtedly provide a line item for that expenditure.

So much for reading "what's written on the page" and "context". Such a rude awakening!

Bringing this back to some semblance of civility - are you aware that LCM was hand-picked by VPW to lead TWI? Are you aware that everything - everything that he knew about the Bible, leadership, and how to deal with people was learned at the feet of VPW? Given the trust that VPW had for this man, don't think the dismissal by the board of his contribution to the organization is wrong? Of course then there is the possibility that VPW completely misjudged the man. If that's the case, then how does that speak of VPW's ability to spiritually discern?

Pretty limiting. Darn shame. Have you ever considered moving from "believer" in "the word" to "disciple" of Christ?

This is a fabulously insightful book. I am about halfway through it and the only pages that haven't yielded a "aha" or two moment are the blank ones.

THX Paw - I know better.

Will one of you ever come up with something new?