igotout

Quote: "I believe California was one of the states that witheld the ABS from Hq in the late 80's, and most of the WC in California, including the LC, got fired all at once circa '88. Many just transfered to Geer's outfit, lock, stock, and barrel." Yeah and where did those diverted millions go??? Put it this way....some of those leaders now live in very nice, very valuable California homes which were paid for by cashola. The ministry business still thrives in America because there are gullible Waybrain suckers who still live in a fantasy world. Just the other day I heard a person teaching from a spin off podium say something I don't think he meant to say but was a freudian slip which revealed Waybrain at it highest. He said something to the effect of: "Take a moment and look around the room. This is all God has. We're it!" Please......nothing could be further from the TRUTH.

I have enjoyed fellowshipping at Waydale and Greasespot for 7 years or so. I like the diversity of this church.

Ewwww! Truthfully he didn't need one....think about it. I was just thinking today about him. How if he would have some humility he would be better off in the long run. He should be honest and make some public statements of apology, etc. I was even thinking he could possibly make a big chunk of change writing a tell all book something like "My Life as a Christian Cult Leader, from the former President of The Way International" God, the stories he could tell! It would do him some good to let it all out and to express his feelings on the experience. On the other hand........hell is not frozen over yet.

PFAL - not much except when I was deceived by the lies that it was something unique that was given to VPW in a "snowstorm" revelation. Also I was inspired by what we thought were VPW's discoveries in the bible which were propounded as his scholarly works and that these hidden truths were given to him direct from the mouth of God. Many years later thanks to the infiltration of the Internet it was discovered otherwise. When I was a believer of the lies and fantasies I suppose it was fun and a little exciting and added value in some ways. A suicide bomber might feel the same way. They really believed in their cause and it was inspirational at the time........until they got blown up. I would rather have been told the truth in session one. It wouldn't have been that hard for Wierwille to do and I believe he would have had more credibility and success had he done so. PFAL "senses realm benefits" - To me it's impossible to answer that question because it appears to be hypothetical. I suppose it helped me gain more confidence and sales abilities due to our witnessing. But I think I would have been better served with Dale Carnagie series or Zig Ziglar or other motivational classes. If I hadn't taken PFAL or hadn't joined TWI would I have learned these things and had these experiences anyway? Would I have been more successful or less successful? No way to know. No one can really say.

Hey Skyrider - our love to you and your blessed family! You are exactly right. as I recall, 1/3 of the 7th Corps was sent to work on staff, over a hundred I think. Some of us were very capable and diligent workers. For example, my boss Chuck Nevins was a master plumber. And Randy Z was an architect while Mark R was a very smart engineer. Our MONTHLY pay was $75 and I worked my AXXSS off a minimum of 50 hour weeks! I once complained to Howard privately about our pay. So he gave me $200 to buy some much needed clothes and to probably shut me up. Big deal. At the end of the year, when I was leaving, VPW came and sat with a few of us. I could tell he wanted me to stay on board after graduation. He said "Kids, I just can't understand why people won't come on staff and help with the movement of the Word, etc, bs, bs, bs." I told him outright, the reason I am not interested is because it does not pay enough. He looked at me kind of funny but I didn't care at that point because I knew I would never be back to work on staff. Except for the drunken Way Builder parties, I hated it. Ha, ha. But I digress. I would guess $millions have been spent just to keep that property in condition. Material cost have gone up, etc. What about the cost of electricity? Can you imagine the lawn and landscape efforts alone? All for what? A few thousand half hearted participants and some board and cabinet "lifers" who have stayed on as TWI crumbled into the shell it is now? It's like an crumbling estate or castle being maintained by low level, low paid serf's.

None. They just take the millions they would make from the sale and it still belongs to them as far as I can tell. As long as they do not profit from it personally. Howerver according to Pat Roberge (may he rest in peace) Gunnison is a separate corpopration called Camp Gunnison, Inc. so not sure how that would come into play. They should simplify and get rid of that huge headquarters land. It's senseless now in the modern day and times we live in. Reminds me of the Branch Davidian's 77 acre property in Texas.

I worked on staff in Way Builders my entire interim year (1978) on maintenance and plumbing crews all over TWI’s property and buildings. I saw then what a big job it was simply to “maintain” headquarters on a regular basis. It also takes a good bit of money to do so. Back then they were flush with cash and it was no problem. Today it appears that TWI continues to shrink or flounder at best and there does not seem to be any hope of recovery. In my opinion it will NEVER return to its past “success”....NEVER. Common sense would dictate that they sell off some of the property. Isn’t TWI several hundred acres? Also they should sell off some of the homes, crappy trailers and buildings including the silly and mostly empty auditorium and the mistakenly built Presidents home originally called the Corps Chalet. In fact, I think they would be best served selling it all and moving TWI headquarters to their awesome Gunnison property of 100 acres. No shame in downsizing. Failing corporations do it all the time. They shut things down, lay people off and downsize quickly as is prudent for them. It seems to make no sense to have the expense of maintaining “Way World” out there in the cornfields any longer. “YOUR ABUNDANT SHARING AT WORK”. If I were a member I would stop flushing my hard earned abundant sharing dollars down TWI's toilets (and expensive sewer system) until better decisions are made.

Wow Biker, that goes way back. You should have bought a hundred shares of a small company called Microsoft back then. Ha, ha. (Or IBM for that matter.) Those ould be worth millions maybe by now. I still like Vista but I like Pro more I think because I am in a comfortable rut. We'll all be using Vista in a matter of years so I might as well get used to it.

I hate to interrupt but guests are leaving and we need to sing to them. Isn't that what we used to do? Get your napkins. Happy Trails to You

1975 in Kentucky under Doug MacMullen. We had a ball. But at times it was brutal.

Hi Chatty Kathy - It's John in Tampa. Love to you and your family from Hope and me. Hello Pawtucket if you are reading this. Hope you are well. Bless you for all you have done. I have a suggestion that you interview Excathedra on GSR. She is probably one of the most unique and knowledgeable people in GS concerning matters related to TWI. I'll also guess that she is the leading poster on GS. She could tell TWI more about themselves than even they they know. On the other hand.....I don't know if it a good idea. Who am I to know? But I have sure enjoyed her one-on-one conversations that we have had over the years. I have never had so much fun. I miss her and others. See you guys later. I am not on here much anymore. Things happening. John R.

Whatever. Just Google to find all your workable answers and opinions. I don't have time. Use what u think is best. Or you can do like some I know who have decided not to use a computer anymore. Including some young people. Too much work.

Ha, ha. Me too. I went into the Corps fully expecting it to be a 3 year "stepping stone" experience then move on with my life outside the total sold out commitment to TWI. We were told the Corps was for training twig leaders. I never wanted anything more than that. It wasn't until I was entrenched that I was getting the gist that you put the ministry before anything and that you live and die the program forever. Not me! It felt like it was idolatry or bibliolatry at best. Article on Bibliolatry "Fundamentalist evangelicals violate this basic principle every time the put the printed Bible ahead of God, ahead of Christ, or ahead of the Holy Spirit. The belief in the infallability of the printed Bible may be the worst heresy to affect the church today." "As the old hymn says, "the Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord." The Bible is our primary source for knowledge about Christ, but it is not our foundation." Forward to 1999?....you were given an ultimatem to either drop everything, sell your businesses, sell your homes, move and be full time Corps (very bad decision) or get kicked out. I'm extremely glad I did not listen to that false and extremely bad advice. It cost some dearly. Some may never recover. Indeed, it reminds me of a cult. John

Huh? Loading is NOT faster in Vista. I see you have not used it much. Installing is faster...not loading. Anyway,Vista Networking has completely been rewritten from the ground up. Better by far than XP. Macs vs PC's? Read up on this debate. I have never used a Mac. I'm no expert. But from all I've read they suck compared to PC's and slower. Some disagree. I have never liked them. The last one I looked at the mouse was funny. Press down on the shell to click....no way for me. Ipods are hot.

I think I remember it. Happy bday! I am out of fellowship. Anybody got an extra one I can bum?