WordWolf

"South Park." "WHERE does he get those wonderful TOYS???"

I'm skipping ahead a few days and checking. Yes, he was in TWO theatrical movies. One was "Six-Pack" and the other was Longshot Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson Black Adam

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!" "STOP SAYING THAT!"

"The Top Gun Godfather."

"The celebration drew a crowd of over 600 people from all over the United States as well as other countries. Over 900 men, women, and children serving as Way Ambassadors were recognized for completing their nine-month tenure. These individuals reached out with the good news of God’s Word in Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States, and Venezuela." " For two weeks, 246 students from the United States and 11 other countries participated in the annual Biblical Studies seminar, the Advanced Class. This is the third of four Advanced Classes The Way International is running in 2023. Other classes were run in the Dominican Republic and Togo, while the final class will run in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." It's obvious, from the phrasing, that twi wrote this story for them. "In total, hundreds of individuals have received in-depth teaching in God’s Word, further equipping them to live God’s Word and to help others do the same." No newspaper writes like that, it's unique to twi. Running the numbers, twi is pushing hard to increase numbers in the Dominican Republic, Togo, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Venezuela. Cameroon and Venezuela are not moving as fast as the others, whether for local reasons or because twi isn't pushing as much. The DRC was formerly Zaire, IIRC, which makes this an old project for twi. I remember twi pushing locally in areas of the US, where people who were fresh out of the Foundational class were pushed to take the Intermediate, then pushed to become Twig coordinators, then pushed to try for the Advanced class... Results varied wildly, but meant a lot of Twig and Branch coordinators were brand-new people. Judging from how they're being vague about which are from where, it's obvious twi's hiding that most of the "over 900" were outside the US. Naturally, this also doesn't say these people JUST finished their term... they could be recognizing a few years' worth of people all at once by including all of them.

Correct answer. (Although they're not MY initials... so, not me, even in the beginning/initially.)

The Scottish-origin comedy troupe known as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" has had their hits and misses over the decades. Between their television show, their movies, and later their live specials, they've put together old material and new material, and just been funny in their own ways. While doing that, they've spoofed or poked fun at all sorts of things (like kidding Prince Charles to his face that his Mother was still on the throne.) All sorts of things of theirs have been considered quotable by various types of fans and geeks. They have fans all over the English-speaking world, and some fans in places where English is not the main language. One of their comedy skits involved a food inspector who made a visit to a chocolate factory. He was investigating claims that there were unsafe ingredients in their chocolate snacks. The company owner proudly pointed out how he used all natural ingredients- which didn't change how unsafe some of his all-natural ingredients were. Among the problem products were an actual dead frog covered in chocolate, and a "Spring Surprise" where the eater was surprised when blades sprang out to stab their mouth when they tried to eat the confection. A handful of years ago, another Scot was accused of ripping off an idea from that skit. Although they denied any connection whatsoever, I personally think they copied it ACCIDENTALLY but did so anyway. What made it worse was the later "amazing coincidence" of copying ANOTHER snack from that factory- "Cockroach Cluster." This Scot became a household name around the world, and very famous, for what they did which included these ideas (not that these ideas were particularly noteworthy in the final products.) They became incredibly rich, and world famous. It can be said that a multimedia franchise was inspired by a very long train ride, and the first book was partly written with the writer on Social Security. It was submitted to 12 publishers, and all 12 rejected it for publication. It was only accepted when someone's kid read the submission and wanted to know what happened next. What is this Scot's name?

"LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN." "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

"Now, there's something I want you to do for me." "Never. I am a lady. Not if you were a hundred years old, not if I was a hundred years old..." "Calm down. I don't want to go to bed with you, lady." "Why not?" "Why - Why not? I'd be too frightened. God knows what parts of me you'd steal. I'd wake up with all sorts of things missing." "Lord... whatever I've done to pi$$ you off... if you could just get me out of this and somehow let me know what it was I promise to rectify the situation."

It definitely sounds like my kind of line, but the humiliated grapes thing rang a bell, also.

That wouldn't be me, no...... not even at the beginning....

Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi Bobby Deerfield Steve Burns Ivan Travalian Tom Dobb Frank Keller RIcky Roma Arthur Kirkland Sonny Wortzik

"Sometimes you're better off dead, there's a gun in here now and it's pointed at your head."

"PAPERBACK WRITER." (the Fab Four)

The Scottish-origin comedy troupe known as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" has had their hits and misses over the decades. Between their television show, their movies, and later their live specials, they've put together old material and new material, and just been funny in their own ways. While doing that, they've spoofed or poked fun at all sorts of things (like kidding Prince Charles to his face that his Mother was still on the throne.) All sorts of things of theirs have been considered quotable by various types of fans and geeks. They have fans all over the English-speaking world, and some fans in places where English is not the main language. One of their comedy skits involved a food inspector who made a visit to a chocolate factory. He was investigating claims that there were unsafe ingredients in their chocolate snacks. The company owner proudly pointed out how he used all natural ingredients- which didn't change how unsafe some of his all-natural ingredients were. Among the problem products were an actual dead frog covered in chocolate, and a "Spring Surprise" where the eater was surprised when blades sprang out to stab their mouth when they tried to eat the confection. A handful of years ago, another Scot was accused of ripping off an idea from that skit. Although they denied any connection whatsoever, I personally think they copied it ACCIDENTALLY but did so anyway. What made it worse was the later "amazing coincidence" of copying ANOTHER snack from that factory- "Cockroach Cluster." This Scot became a household name around the world, and very famous, for what they did which included these ideas (not that these ideas were particularly noteworthy in the final products.) They became incredibly rich, and world famous. What is this Scot's name?

Um, "Benny and Joon"??

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warwick Davis Star Wars Episode I-the Phantom Menace

"Be excellent to each other. And, PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!"

Sir Robin. To retrieve the Holy Grail. Blue- no PinAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! "Monty Python & the Holy Grail."

Ok. next round. Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi Bobby Deerfield Steve Burns Ivan Travalian Tom Dobb Frank Keller

Ok, I'm finally using this one. The Scottish-origin comedy troupe known as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" has had their hits and misses over the decades. Between their television show, their movies, and later their live specials, they've put together old material and new material, and just been funny in their own ways. While doing that, they've spoofed or poked fun at all sorts of things (like kidding Prince Charles to his face that his Mother was still on the throne.) All sorts of things of theirs have been considered quotable by various types of fans and geeks. They have fans all over the English-speaking world, and some fans in places where English is not the main language. One of their comedy skits involved a food inspector who made a visit to a chocolate factory. He was investigating claims that there were unsafe ingredients in their chocolate snacks. The company owner proudly pointed out how he used all natural ingredients- which didn't change how unsafe some of his all-natural ingredients were. Among the problem products were an actual dead frog covered in chocolate, and a "Spring Surprise" where the eater was surprised when blades sprang out to stab their mouth when they tried to eat the confection. A number of years ago, another Scot was accused of ripping off an idea from that skit. Although they denied any connection whatsoever, I personally think they copied it ACCIDENTALLY but did so anyway. This Scor became a household name around the world, and very famous, for what they did which included this idea (not that this idea was particularly important.) They became incredibly rich, and world famous. What is this Scot's name?

Let's see. Mrs P Van L from the Dick Van Dyke TV show. Who played her..... we had Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie.. was it MARY TYLER MOORE??

Yeah! Party time! Excellent! Your turn.

Here's John's latest advertisement to the GSC and anyone else.... ======================================= ======================================= The Way, It Was - June 2008 letter by John Lynn In the interest of truth, both small “t” (the facts about The Way International) and capital “T” (the Word of God it taught), I am compelled to propose why I think The Way International was (past tense), from a certain perspective, one of the most significant movements in the history of the Christian Church. I do so for the benefit of any graduate of the “Power For Abundant Living” class who still wants to live for the Lord and who may have been unduly discouraged, either by his/her own experience in The Way or by the ensuing barrage of negatives from other ex-Way saints about what was wrong with The Way. Given that I was one of the top ministry leaders from 1967-1987, I speak with experiential knowledge. Furthermore, I have spent the past 21 years continuing to dig into the Word of God along with knowledgeable Christians, and, in the process, re-evaluating everything we were taught. I speak with great thankfulness for the truth I heard in The Way (hereinafter TWI), with no doubt that God led me to it, and then away from it. And though I left with some wounds, I also took with me the resources I had been given that enabled me to be healed from those wounds and help others do likewise. I speak so that you can know “the rest of the story,” as opposed to all the disparaging things that have been said about The Way through the years by the media (much of that false), other Christians (much of that false), and disgruntled former followers (much of that true, some of it false). My purpose is to set forth a much more redemptive view of The Way than what I have thus far read from others with “ex-Way vision.” In some ways, this is a sequel to my March, 1988 letter in which I blew the whistle about what was then going on in TWI. Yes, there was more doctrinal error than I ever realized while I was in TWI, and there was corresponding practical error that became more evil than most of us involved ever imagined. Yes, many precious people were terribly abused. Yes, there was dishonesty about Scripture, there was plagiarism, and there was rampant sexual sin, all of which contributed to many people choosing to turn away from God and His Word. And as I realized these things, I did speak out about them, both publicly and privately, from 1987 until about 2000, after which TWI had marginalized itself in Christendom. Perhaps worst of all, a golden opportunity to make known the Word of God, as it had not been known since the first century, was squandered. I will elaborate upon why that is true from a doctrinal standpoint, but when else in the history of the Christian Church has there ever been such a cadre of thousands of young, energetic, enthused, biblically knowledgeable, logistically equipped, organizationally backed, diverse, multi-lingual, mobile, available, and committed-to-“It-is-written” men and women with leadership qualities who were willing to go anywhere and spread the Word? Certainly not often in the past 2000 years. Thank God that many of these students of the Word became teachers themselves, and were thus able to recognize the errors that crept into TWI. The Way. It was. What was it? First and foremost, it was, from about 1955-1987, the only place I know of where anyone could hear the amount of truth of the Word of God that we heard. Why? In large part because God led Victor Paul Wierwille to the work of E.W. Bullinger, whose approach to Scripture was virtually unique. That is what allowed Wierwille, and thus TWI to an even greater degree, thanks to the quality men and women with research ability whom it attracted, to put the Word together like it had not been known since the first century Church. The sad thing was that I, and many others, became too proud of our knowledge, and failed to couple it with enough of a humble, heartfelt desire to obey God and become like Jesus Christ. We became too arrogant toward other Christians, thinking that our study of truth somehow made us more “approved before God” than they. To a degree, we became more like hearers of the Word than doers, and often deceived our selves. BUT, the antidote to that is not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, because without knowledge of truth, there can be little practice of it. Why did God have a need for The Way International? Actually, He didn’t. But He did have a need for any group of people who would make known what, or close to what, the Apostle Paul taught once the whole of what we now read in the Church Epistles had been unfolded to him. Why was there such a need? Because true Christian doctrine had all but disappeared from the spectrum of Church history by the 4th century. It was then that the Roman Catholic Church began based upon a bunch of fables mixed with Christian verbiage, established a monolithic ecclesiastical hierarchy, and for more than a thousand years dominated the European religious landscape, killing countless dissenters and for the most part silencing the rest. When Martin Luther came along (1517 was when he nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg), thank God he did recognize justification by faith rather than by works, but what we today refer to as the "Reformation" of the Roman Catholic Church was very limited in scope. Much of the Roman Catholic doctrine was assimilated into Protestantism and is still being passed along as Christian groups continue to split off from one another. In a nutshell, that is why even the independent church in your neighborhood today most probably believes that there is a Trinity, dead people are alive, God is in control of everything that happens, the Four Gospels are written to Christians, water baptism is relevant, and maybe even that the Bible is not absolute truth. I don’t know where else we could have heard the “package” of biblical truth we heard in TWI. Admittedly, most of the major doctrinal components of that package were being taught by some Christians, with varying degrees of accuracy, but none that I know of put together as many into a package as TWI did. Let’s begin with what I mentioned about E.W. Bullinger’s contribution to TWI, which was HUGE, because his basic approach to Scripture is what facilitates one being able to discover its inherent keys and utilize them to derive the Author’s originally intended meaning. TWI taught us to approach the Word with the “It is written” conviction that it is what it says it is, and that it cannot contradict itself. That alone is enough to at least identify error about the Bible, and the keys to the Word’s interpretation we were taught enabled us to understand it, take its truth into our hearts, and apply it on a daily basis. Given that the identity of Jesus Christ is the world’s biggest deal, I would have to say that chief among the wonderful biblical truths we heard in TWI was that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (not God), the Man who mediates between God and men, and that the Trinity is a pagan fable. Some ex-Way saints now say this distinction is not that important, but I assert that God thinks differently, given what He says in His Word (e.g., 2 Cor. 4:3,4). Yes, TWI failed to teach us that we can have an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, but there were not too many other places where we could have heard that Jesus is not the “eternally begotten” Second Person of the Trinity. I’d have to say that the next most important biblical truth we heard in TWI was what we then called the “Mystery,” and, correspondingly, what parts of Scripture are written to Jews, to Gentiles, or to Christians regarding either the past, the present, or the future. For the record, we have since learned that “Sacred Secret” is a more accurate way of rendering the Greek, musterion. Ephesians is the apex of the Church Epistles (the primary curriculum for Christian living), and it clearly shows that the Body of Christ (the “one new man” of Chapter 2, verse 15) is the most unique group of people who have ever lived, chiefly because of the permanence of our salvation and our holy spirit equipping. 1 Corinthians 2:8 chimes in with the monumental (and generally overlooked) truth that had Satan known the Sacred Secret, he would not have crucified Jesus! In terms of biblical error that is practically debilitating to one’s quality of life, I see nothing more important than knowing what Scripture is written to whom, when, and in particular what is written to us as Christians today. The Church’s failure to understand this central truth has led to its trying to live in accordance with directives pertaining to other people at other times. It is only in the Church Epistles that a Christian finds his true identity “in Christ,” as well as his true Hope. Simply put, the Word of God will never fit together without contradiction if one does not understand the “administrations” therein, and in particular this current “administration of the Sacred Secret” (Eph. 3:9). Yes, there are quite a few Christians who have a “Dispensational” view of Scripture, but the vast majority of them fail to grasp that Jesus is not God and that he did not know the Sacred Secret. Most think that parts of the Four Gospels and of the Book of Revelation speak of the Christian Church, but that is not the case. The Gospels record the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about Christ’s first coming to the earth to Israel (his suffering), and Revelation records the fulfillment of the prophecies about his second coming to the earth to Israel (his glory). Another major truth we learned in TWI, which is unknown to most Christians, is that of the Giver and the gift, and, correspondingly, that speaking in tongues is available to all Christians because it is a manifestation of holy spirit, not a gift. We also learned the indispensable truth that speaking in tongues is the only absolute proof that one is saved. How many tens of thousands of people did those truths alone set free? TWI also taught us that death is, in fact, the end of life, and that our true Hope for new life in the coming age is to be raised from the dead and meet the Lord Jesus in the air prior to the Tribulation (the “time of Jacob’s trouble” – Jer.30:7). What percentage of Christians do you think know this? Although TWI failed to teach us that Paradise (the new earth), not heaven, will be our everlasting home, thank God we learned that resurrection is much more than an incorporeal “soul” once again getting a body. And TWI pointed us toward an understanding of the figures of speech in the Bible (thanks to Bullinger), of which little is known in theological circles. This included the figurative language in the Old Testament that helped us see that God is not responsible for evil or suffering, nor is He in control of everything that happens. Like I, you may know of some ministries that do teach some of these truths, but I submit that until 1987 there was nowhere other than TWI to find all of them taught as accurately as they were there. That is why The Way International stands out on the spectrum of Church history as an amazingly significant Christian movement. As far as I can see, TWI was also about the most disparate dichotomy of good and evil in the history of Christianity. Like the wheat and the tares growing up together, tremendous truth and egregious evil shared the ministry platform. Many people look back on their TWI experience with nothing but thankfulness, while others rue their free will choice to stay involved as long as they did because of the abuse they suffered. Some have been stymied by self-condemnation due to the abuses they themselves committed. No doubt there are also many who recognize that they heard the Word like they never had, who have allowed the Lord Jesus to heal any wounds they suffered in TWI, and who have since experienced spiritual growth far beyond what they ever imagined back in “the good old days.” I hope you are in that last category, and if you’re not, you can be. Even if people badly abused and disappointed you, you can turn to the Lord Jesus, he who is The Way to wholeness in all categories of heart and life. His love and truth will heal your heart and help you forgive and move forward with him toward the same goal you once had. You have a ministry in the Body of Christ, and he who is the Head longs to help you fulfill that calling. It was neither your heavenly Father nor your Lord who hurt you, nor does whatever happened to you change anything the Word says. God’s promises are still true, and they are yours for the believing. The Way, we were. If you once sat through PFAL, you heard the Word of God taught more accurately than the vast majority of Christians who have ever drawn breath. As a fellow PFAL grad, I identify with you, and have an affinity for you and a desire to encourage you to take advantage of the truth you once heard, if you are not already doing so. Along with me, you will one day stand before our precious Lord Jesus Christ, who will reward you according to how you have lived your life as a Christian. In essence, he will ask each of us something like this: “What did you do with what you knew?” For a detailed list of biblical subjects I think TWI mishandled, click here. If you would like to discuss with me about what I have written, please contact me at jalces@aol.com Please check out what we are doing to keep the Word alive and moving all over the world: www.STFonline.org and www.TruthOrTradition.com Your brother in Christ, John A. Lynn ============================= ============================= [And, again, with WordWolf's replies.] [Here's JAL's latest letter. Again, he's pretending it won't be seen and discussed at the GSC. And that he's not trying to insult the posters at the GSC.] The Way, It Was - June 2008 letter by John Lynn In the interest of truth, both small “t” (the facts about The Way International) and capital “T” (the Word of God it taught), I am compelled to propose why I think The Way International was (past tense), from a certain perspective, one of the most significant movements in the history of the Christian Church. [Actually, twi was a SUBVERSION both of BG Leonard's ministry (having his materials so coldly stolen by vpw was discouraging to Leonard, which is understandable) and a SUBVERSION of the Jesus People movement, since it had them interest Christians in hearing- then swapped the Jesus People they were listening to (like H33fn3r and D**p) for vpw and people he trained personally. From that perspective, it HINDERED the Christian Church on two levels. The one comfort is that, relatively speaking, the numbers of people who were affected (and some savaged) by twi were miniscule. Across a 35 year period, less than 100,000 people took pfal worldwide. That's less than CURRENT numbers of Christians in specific denominations in some major cities (including their metro areas.)] I do so for the benefit of any graduate of the “Power For Abundant Living” class who still wants to live for the Lord and who may have been unduly discouraged, either by his/her own experience in The Way [some were nearly destroyed by twi. A few WERE destroyed by twi. I think those who were will need more than a few slogans to heal up, and they certainly are going to need counselors more competent than those whose claims to "trained" are "I was trained in twi." They also will need approaches more compassionate and gentle than the 2 x 4 favored by Momentus grads in general.] or by the ensuing barrage of negatives from other ex-Way saints about what was wrong with The Way. [That's one of those "barrages of negatives" JAL intends to refer to the GSC without saying the name. Naturally, he's never noticed that some discussions have been neutral, others have been positive. From HIS perspective, the "negative" ones predominate, probably because they interfere with him prostelytizing ex-twi. Hard to tell people vpw was a man to admire when all his felonies and disgusting abuses of God's people are common knowledge.] Given that I was one of the top ministry leaders from 1967-1987, I speak with experiential knowledge. Furthermore, I have spent the past 21 years continuing to dig into the Word of God along with knowledgeable Christians, and, in the process, re-evaluating everything we were taught. I speak with great thankfulness for the truth I heard in The Way (hereinafter TWI), with no doubt that God led me to it, and then away from it. And though I left with some wounds, I also took with me the resources I had been given that enabled me to be healed from those wounds and help others do likewise. [Naturally, the methods for "healing" came from twi, the same twi that crushed Christians with dangerous doctrines and dangerous practices...but the ones JAL wishes to retain are all 100% safe, of course. Also of course, those who wish to be healed up from twi should go to JAL, and also retain most of the doctrines of the organization they need healing from in the first place. To heal up elsewhere is NOT to be recommended.] I speak so that you can know “the rest of the story,” as opposed to all the disparaging things that have been said about The Way through the years by the media (much of that false), other Christians (much of that false), and disgruntled former followers (much of that true, some of it false). My purpose is to set forth a much more redemptive view of The Way than what I have thus far read from others with “ex-Way vision.” In some ways, this is a sequel to my March, 1988 letter in which I blew the whistle about what was then going on in TWI. [in short, if you want to know the truth of twi, you have to discard anything you heard at the GSC, and take your information EXCLUSIVELY from JAL. All other former members, even former leaders, are not to be trusted. JAL's the SOLE exception, and the only approach is a careful PRAISING of twi. Can't be a COMPLETE praising, since the conclusion has to be "CES/STFI is the sole source of accurate Christianity", so praise must be qualified carefully.] Yes, there was more doctrinal error than I ever realized while I was in TWI, and there was corresponding practical error that became more evil than most of us involved ever imagined. Yes, many precious people were terribly abused. Yes, there was dishonesty about Scripture, there was plagiarism, and there was rampant sexual sin, all of which contributed to many people choosing to turn away from God and His Word. [i'd go so far as to say that most ex-twi are STILL CHRISTIANS. They turned to God for healing, but they turned away from twi and twi-style approaches. Of course, to those like JAL whose own "ex-Way vision" require he view EVERYTHING with the color-filters provided by twi, to turn away from twi-style is to "turn away from God and His Word." So, you can join CES/STFI, or you can be WRONG!] And as I realized these things, I did speak out about them, both publicly and privately, from 1987 until about 2000, after which TWI had marginalized itself in Christendom. [Of course, CES/STFI should NEVER be seen has having "marginalized itself in Christendom." Not even if there's spiders coming from people's noses.] Perhaps worst of all, a golden opportunity to make known the Word of God, as it had not been known since the first century, was squandered. [After 20 years of supposed investigating, JAL STILL labors under the thoroughly-discredited, and throughly-discredited- fiction penned by, and spread by, vpw that vpw was some great one, and unique in 2000 years of Christians. We've discussed it so often here. JAL has missed it completely, even though HE's supposed to be superior in understanding Scripture and wants us to come to HIM for understanding. If he could FAIL so miserably at something so SIMPLE to investigate- and had 20 years to find the answer- why would any of us (except the delusional) think he could be trusted in DEEPER matters of Scripture? I will elaborate upon why that is true from a doctrinal standpoint, but when else in the history of the Christian Church has there ever been such a cadre of thousands of young, energetic, enthused, biblically knowledgeable, logistically equipped, organizationally backed, diverse, multi-lingual, mobile, available, and committed-to-“It-is-written” men and women with leadership qualities who were willing to go anywhere and spread the Word? [One is supposing that ALL of those are actually TRUE, and not just how we WISH to have seen ourselves. After all, none of us WANTS to see ourselves as having wasted time, or learned harmful doctrines, or especially HURT OTHERS with harmful doctrines. An approach that embraces truth would admit, however, that those things happened, and suggest a wary approach about repeating the same errors as in one's youth. JAL's approach is an approach that embraces his twi experience, however, and the results are markedly different.] Certainly not often in the past 2000 years. Thank God that many of these students of the Word became teachers themselves, and were thus able to recognize the errors that crept into TWI. [using JAL himself as an example, however, that was only PARTLY successful. He addressed some errors as errors, retained other errors, and added new errors, and suppressed open discussion of doctrines that became the new dangerous doctrines. Since his group is the sole source of doctrine, and dangerous doctrines of theirs are to be embraced, I agree that it operates as a sort-of successor to twi.] The Way. It was. What was it? First and foremost, it was, from about 1955-1987, the only place I know of where anyone could hear the amount of truth of the Word of God that we heard. [JAL should get out more. He, apparently, has never even heard of BG Leonard, just to name ONE. Is it stretching credibility to suppose that NOBODY ELSE taught accurately BESIDES Leonard? I think it is. Leonard himself wasn't even acknowledged....] Why? In large part because God led Victor Paul Wierwille to the work of E.W. Bullinger, whose approach to Scripture was virtually unique. That is what allowed Wierwille, and thus TWI to an even greater degree, thanks to the quality men and women with research ability whom it attracted, to put the Word together like it had not been known since the first century Church. [vpw cut corners, and saw nothing wrong with plagiarizing the work of others rather than doing his own. He insisted on using the title "Doctor" when the place he got it from was unaccredited, rather than going to a reputable theological institute for his doctorate. Until Rosal!nd R!nk3r told him the Bible was God's Word, he had been a practicing minister WHO DID NOT BELIEVE IT WAS SO, BY HIS OWN ADMISSION. (Flip through your copy of "The Way:Living in Love.") vpw claimed God spoke to him about God Almighty teaching him His Word like it hadn't been known since the First Century, if he would teach it to others. For the next 11 years, vpw's ministry coasted and none of this "teaching" business happened, neither from God nor any other source. Then, vpw was ministered to by Stiles, and vpw took the contents of Stiles' book, retyped it, and claimed it was his own book. vpw pushed his way into BG Leonard's class (again, by his own admission), and then taught Leonard's class (with the same contents) as HIS OWN. Plagiarism, and stealing the credit from others, are not unique. To this, after someone told vpw that Bullinger wrote like vpw taught (which must mean Bullinger was like Leonard and Stiles), vpw then added the complete works of Bullinger. Sometimes he gave Bullinger credit (like using "How to Enjoy the Bible") and sometimes he didn't (like the entire contents of Bullinger's book on the Holy Spirit, which vpw claimed was his own work.) Let us not forget that JAL's assuming that Bullinger's mechanized, systematic approach-which DID result in Bullinger making MISTAKES, like the "kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God" mistake- is all correct, and what God wanted, that God wanted a scholarly approach to be the exemplar for Christians, whereas we were told a man should be found "FAITHFUL", not "SCHOLARLY". Finally, if Bullinger's approach was so exemplary, why, then, did vpw renumber Bullinger's "dispensations" into "administrations" with a change that made them make LESS SENSE? This whole "since the first century Church" thing was a fiction from vpw. That anyone is still pushing it is a sad statement on behalf of the person pushing it. Has he truly never read through the book of Acts? There was no "scholarship", no concern about translations from Hebrew to Greek, no intellectual teachings. They had RELATIONSHIPS-with each other, with God. They were concerned with LIVES, with LOVE, and the only money collected was to feed poor Christians. They were decentralized. They were inclusionary- Jesus said anyone who wasn't against him was for him. twi's approaches were the opposite of those of the first-century Church. Further, the entire claim is silly to those who've put in a little look into history. The first-century Christian church did not have Gutenberg's printing press. Until the 2nd century, copies of the books of the New Testament were nearly nonexistent. So "the Word like they knew it in the first century" was the TORAH, the OLD TESTAMENT- and "The Word" as existed IN THEIR HEARTS, not ON THEIR PAGES. Knowledge puffs up, and God's Love BUILDS up. THEY BUILT up. vpw PUFFED up.] The sad thing was that I, and many others, became too proud of our knowledge, and failed to couple it with enough of a humble, heartfelt desire to obey God and become like Jesus Christ. We became too arrogant toward other Christians, thinking that our study of truth somehow made us more “approved before God” than they. [HEY! If you're still claiming you "knew the Word like it hasn't been known since the first-century Church", YOU ARE STILL TOO PROUD OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE. If you're still claiming OTHER Christians don't have it, but your group does, YOU ARE STILL TOO ARROGANT TOWARD OTHER CHRISTIANS.] To a degree, we became more like hearers of the Word than doers, and often deceived our selves. BUT, the antidote to that is not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, because without knowledge of truth, there can be little practice of it. [i noticed this unhealthy obsession with analogies whenever it's time to put all things to the test, and hold fast to what is true. The problem here is, what is JAL's "baby" in his analogy? If I were to say this expression, I might mean "truth" no matter what, I may mean "God's People", I may mean "God's Love." It appears that JAL's "baby" is "an organization that teaches the Bible and is above being questioned"- because that's what he's spent the last 20 years retaining. He may TALK of "truth", but that's not his obsession...] Why did God have a need for The Way International? Actually, He didn’t. [i agree! God is Almighty. He doesn't NEED any of us. He gives us the pleasure in sharing many tasks with us. He didn't, and doesn't, NEED any group of people.] But He did have a need for any group of people who would make known what, or close to what, the Apostle Paul taught once the whole of what we now read in the Church Epistles had been unfolded to him. Why was there such a need? Because true Christian doctrine had all but disappeared from the spectrum of Church history by the 4th century. [JAL hasn't done ANY more reading on Church history beyond what's in "Jesus Christ is Not God", apparently. Among MOST Christians, knowledge BEYOND this is considered EASY TO FIND. There's even information on the internet-he wouldn't even need to go to a library or bookstore for some of it. If it REALLY had all disappeared, there would have been nothing for us to find in the 20th century.] It was then that the Roman Catholic Church began based upon a bunch of fables mixed with Christian verbiage, established a monolithic ecclesiastical hierarchy, and for more than a thousand years dominated the European religious landscape, killing countless dissenters and for the most part silencing the rest. [We agree that establishing monolithic ecclesiastical hierarchies and suppressing dissenters is bad. Why, then, does one of us embrace it when vpw does it?] When Martin Luther came along (1517 was when he nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg), thank God he did recognize justification by faith rather than by works, but what we today refer to as the "Reformation" of the Roman Catholic Church was very limited in scope. [if the doctrine-and the Scripture- was all obliterated in the 4th Century, why, then, was Luther able to FIND "justification by faith" at all? If the Roman Catholic Church hadn't PRESERVED GOD'S WORD by having monks painstakingly hand-copy it in the centuries before Gutenberg's printing press, there would have been nothing for Luther TO find. Once the printing press was invented, the stage was set for an explosion of Bible reading, which resulted in an explosion of Bible discussion and understanding.] Much of the Roman Catholic doctrine was assimilated into Protestantism and is still being passed along as Christian groups continue to split off from one another. In a nutshell, that is why even the independent church in your neighborhood today most probably believes that there is a Trinity, dead people are alive, God is in control of everything that happens, the Four Gospels are written to Christians, water baptism is relevant, and maybe even that the Bible is not absolute truth. A) A lot of Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, no matter what their group teaches. I've spoken to Catholics who do. B) Lots of Christians believe the dead are dead. C) God IS sovereign over all- but, as we know, things in the short-term are allowed to proceed without direct control by Him. Many Christians have no problem understanding this, and there's books about why there's suffering. D) That which was written before the Epistles was "for our learning". The Gospels address the time before Pentecost, but are written TO Christians-the Gospels were written AFTER the Epistles. Don't confuse their order in the book with their order of writing. Even vpw said Thessalonians was the first Epistle written, but the last one in the order in the book. E) Many Christians consider water baptism to be a SYMBOL. Symbols ARE RELEVANT. F) So-called "higher-criticism" is taught in some academic circles, but rarely in churches. I'm sure you can find a church SOMEWHERE that teaches it, but most churches do NOT. In the past 20 years, JAL hasn't learned that other Christians are not all uniformly a bunch of idiots. He's not gone beyond the self-serving claims of vpw, who insisted that to leave his group was to leave any hope of knowing the truth. In fact, JAL's promulgating that HIS group is now the sole source of truth on earth.] I don’t know where else we could have heard the “package” of biblical truth we heard in TWI. Admittedly, most of the major doctrinal components of that package were being taught by some Christians, with varying degrees of accuracy, but none that I know of put together as many into a package as TWI did. Let’s begin with what I mentioned about E.W. Bullinger’s contribution to TWI, which was HUGE, because his basic approach to Scripture is what facilitates one being able to discover its inherent keys and utilize them to derive the Author’s originally intended meaning. TWI taught us to approach the Word with the “It is written” conviction that it is what it says it is, and that it cannot contradict itself. That alone is enough to at least identify error about the Bible, and the keys to the Word’s interpretation we were taught enabled us to understand it, take its truth into our hearts, and apply it on a daily basis. [And yet, supposed mastery of these principles provided NO protection from embracing Momentus as something EVERY Christian should take, and the bizarre "personal prophecy" doctrine that was a major scandal in CES/STFI. The supposed unenlightened Christians out there didn't make those mistakes....] Given that the identity of Jesus Christ is the world’s biggest deal, I would have to say that chief among the wonderful biblical truths we heard in TWI was that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (not God), the Man who mediates between God and men, and that the Trinity is a pagan fable. Some ex-Way saints now say this distinction is not that important, but I assert that God thinks differently, given what He says in His Word (e.g., 2 Cor. 4:3,4). [Must be why he spent whole chapters of Scripture explaining it in clear, unambiguous terms. What? He didn't? Then, he must surely have stated that salvation is dependent upon this. What? He didn't? Then, perhaps God doesn't think this distinction is that important. I assert that matters that are critical, are made clear BY God, and don't require specialized study. God gives light to the simple.] Yes, TWI failed to teach us that we can have an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, but there were not too many other places where we could have heard that Jesus is not the “eternally begotten” Second Person of the Trinity. [There were a number, actually. If one is set on making that the doctrinal make-or-break.] I’d have to say that the next most important biblical truth we heard in TWI was what we then called the “Mystery,” and, correspondingly, what parts of Scripture are written to Jews, to Gentiles, or to Christians regarding either the past, the present, or the future. For the record, we have since learned that “Sacred Secret” is a more accurate way of rendering the Greek, musterion. Ephesians is the apex of the Church Epistles (the primary curriculum for Christian living), and it clearly shows that the Body of Christ (the “one new man” of Chapter 2, verse 15) is the most unique group of people who have ever lived, chiefly because of the permanence of our salvation and our holy spirit equipping. 1 Corinthians 2:8 chimes in with the monumental (and generally overlooked) truth that had Satan known the Sacred Secret, he would not have crucified Jesus! [i reject the claim that any ONE Epistle is greater than the others. Romans explains the path of salvation. Thessalonians explains the hope of Christ's return. Without those subjects, Ephesians doesn't matter much. Furthermore, since JAL took vpw's word that the Gospels are not written to Christians at all, I question just how accurate OR useful the distinctions are between "to whom." Few Christians read the Old Testament and claim it's of equal relevance to Christians as the New Testament-all of which was written after Pentecost, and is thus written TO us, no matter what vpw said.] In terms of biblical error that is practically debilitating to one’s quality of life, I see nothing more important than knowing what Scripture is written to whom, when, and in particular what is written to us as Christians today. The Church’s failure to understand this central truth has led to its trying to live in accordance with directives pertaining to other people at other times. It is only in the Church Epistles that a Christian finds his true identity “in Christ,” as well as his true Hope. Simply put, the Word of God will never fit together without contradiction if one does not understand the “administrations” therein, and in particular this current “administration of the Sacred Secret” (Eph. 3:9). Yes, there are quite a few Christians who have a “Dispensational” view of Scripture, but the vast majority of them fail to grasp that Jesus is not God and that he did not know the Sacred Secret. [Nothing like making an arbitrary distinction between YOUR group and other Christians to define the line between "us" and "them", and make "them" a bunch of idiots.] Most think that parts of the Four Gospels and of the Book of Revelation speak of the Christian Church, but that is not the case. The Gospels record the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about Christ’s first coming to the earth to Israel (his suffering), and Revelation records the fulfillment of the prophecies about his second coming to the earth to Israel (his glory). [i haven't heard Christians claiming these errors JAL is claiming they do, and, apparently, I interact with them in a meaningful way a LOT more than he does.] Another major truth we learned in TWI, which is unknown to most Christians, is that of the Giver and the gift, and, correspondingly, that speaking in tongues is available to all Christians because it is a manifestation of holy spirit, not a gift. We also learned the indispensable truth that speaking in tongues is the only absolute proof that one is saved. How many tens of thousands of people did those truths alone set free? [if that was the make-or-break, surely God Almighty is not so impotent that all the Christians between 99AD and 1941 would have been left in darkness, and nearly all those in the 20th century likewise. As for the manifestation of holy spirit, there's a spectrum of Christian beliefs concerning this. "Charismatic" Christians put this into practice to varying degrees. Also, it's obvious Stiles and Leonard understood this subject better than vpw, if you bother to look into them.] TWI also taught us that death is, in fact, the end of life, and that our true Hope for new life in the coming age is to be raised from the dead and meet the Lord Jesus in the air prior to the Tribulation (the “time of Jacob’s trouble” – Jer.30:7). What percentage of Christians do you think know this? [More than 1%, certainly, which would not be the case if it was a twi exclusive. twi's taught this one, and the non-Trinity, to a tiny fraction of people in comparison to, say, who the Watchtower Society has taught either.] Although TWI failed to teach us that Paradise (the new earth), not heaven, will be our everlasting home, thank God we learned that resurrection is much more than an incorporeal “soul” once again getting a body. And TWI pointed us toward an understanding of the figures of speech in the Bible (thanks to Bullinger), of which little is known in theological circles. [Depends on the figure of speech. Most common figures are evident to a casual read-simile, metaphor....] This included the figurative language in the Old Testament that helped us see that God is not responsible for evil or suffering, nor is He in control of everything that happens. [Yet God is sovereign, which IS the main point.] Like I, you may know of some ministries that do teach some of these truths, but I submit that until 1987 there was nowhere other than TWI to find all of them taught as accurately as they were there. That is why The Way International stands out on the spectrum of Church history as an amazingly significant Christian movement. [Perhaps. On the other hand, where else outside of twi would you have found a supposed Christian organization where its founder claimed to have heard from God when he didn't, where he funnelled the money for his creature comforts and his vices, where the progress of genuine Christians (Leonard, the Jesus People) was STRANGLED to strengthen the organization, where its founder required leadership candidates to write a biography which was then used to help select which of them he was going to rape or molest, or where he implied all his doctrines came directly from God while some of them came from conspiracy/rumor mills? All while claiming everyone else walked in error? In all this, The Way International stands out on the spectrum of Church history as an amazingly corrupted Christian movement. It takes a backseat to the Branch Davidians, but it also damaged more people than Koresh's group did. Harsh? Well, you were the one who wanted to compare twi to other Christians... I think few Christians would be willing to accept a group doing that to anyone in exchange for a greater understanding of the Bible- presuming twi had a greater understanding of the Bible. And most Christians love God and would accept knowing Him better. I think they consider God's Love more important than God's Knowledge. I think they're right, too.] As far as I can see, TWI was also about the most disparate dichotomy of good and evil in the history of Christianity. Like the wheat and the tares growing up together, tremendous truth and egregious evil shared the ministry platform. [i agree about the "egregious evil." I assert that the "tremendous truth" position was largely a matter of "believing one's own press releases", and that this was an unrealistic position, relying only on the constant repetition in twi that it contained "tremendous truth." Many FELT like they had "tremendous truth." I certainly did- but I was young and naive. I have learned things in the past 20 years about God Almighty and about my fellow Christians, and I feel no need to attempt to "continue to wear the footsie pajamas" of twi doctrine when I can "put on the jacket-and-tie" of God's Love and mature Christianity.) (Hey, if JAL can make silly analogies about bathtubs and plates of food, I can make ones about wardrobe.)] Many people look back on their TWI experience with nothing but thankfulness, while others rue their free will choice to stay involved as long as they did because of the abuse they suffered. Some have been stymied by self-condemnation due to the abuses they themselves committed. [And some live in utter denial that they inadvertently took part in things that hurt others, and some KNOW they did INTENTIONALLY and refuse to face it.] No doubt there are also many who recognize that they heard the Word like they never had, who have allowed the Lord Jesus to heal any wounds they suffered in TWI, and who have since experienced spiritual growth far beyond what they ever imagined back in “the good old days.” [And many more recognize that vpw and twi was overblown and didn't match its hype, but think we learned SOME accurate things, went on to Jesus healing us, maturing in our understanding, and grew once we were free of the mental straitjacket of the twi paradigm. Many of us who can say that have posted, or currently post, at the GSC.] I hope you are in that last category, and if you’re not, you can be. Even if people badly abused and disappointed you, you can turn to the Lord Jesus, he who is The Way to wholeness in all categories of heart and life. His love and truth will heal your heart and help you forgive and move forward with him toward the same goal you once had. You have a ministry in the Body of Christ, and he who is the Head longs to help you fulfill that calling. It was neither your heavenly Father nor your Lord who hurt you, nor does whatever happened to you change anything the Word says. God’s promises are still true, and they are yours for the believing. The Way, we were. If you once sat through PFAL, you heard the Word of God taught more accurately than the vast majority of Christians who have ever drawn breath. [/i][if you keep telling yourself that over and over, and hide from all the evidence otherwise, you can spend the rest of your life believing that piece of fiction, that rural myth. If you can't live without embracing a lie, it's not that unbearable. Many of us would rather suffer the consequences of seeing and accepting the unvarnished truth, no matter how ugly the truth is, and no matter how pretty the lies are. Take your pick.] [/i]As a fellow PFAL grad, I identify with you, and have an affinity for you and a desire to encourage you to take advantage of the truth you once heard, if you are not already doing so. Along with me, you will one day stand before our precious Lord Jesus Christ, who will reward you according to how you have lived your life as a Christian. In essence, he will ask each of us something like this: “What did you do with what you knew?” [/i][Jesus' question will be dependent upon our intellectual knowledge? Chapter and verse, please.] For a detailed list of biblical subjects I think TWI mishandled, click here. If you would like to discuss with me about what I have written, please contact me at jalces@aol.com [Lest we forget, here's the commercial one last time....] Please check out what we are doing to keep the Word alive and moving all over the world: www.STFonline.org and www.TruthOrTradition.com Your brother in Christ, John A. Lynn

Revised September 2007 Dearest brother/sister in Christ, God bless you richly in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, our Mentor, the one whose perfect trust in his heavenly Father made it possible for us to do likewise and walk with him. This is John Lynn, and I am writing this letter to anyone who is or ever was involved in The Way International, that is, those with "ex-Way vision." The Real Me, by the grace and mercy of God, is still standing, and still "living in the eye of the storm." The first thing I want to say is, "I love you." The second thing is that, as it has since I was dispatched by TWI in 1987, my heart goes out to everyone who ever sat through the “Power For Abundant Living” class. We certainly did hear much of the Word "as it has not been taught since the first century," and the truth is that there was nowhere else on earth we could have heard what we heard. We were in the right place at the right time. The main problem was that we had an "absent Christ," and therefore, practically speaking, we were like a body without a head. I was only one of the "poor substitutes" that people looked to when they should have been looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God that I was taught the inherent keys to the Word’s interpretation. They are still true, and they are what enabled me, along with my dear friend John Schoenheit (and many others), to see the wrong doctrine mixed in with the right doctrine we were taught, to correct it, and to move forward. If you are interested, we have a list of 26 biblical subjects about which we believe the Word says differently than we were taught in The Way, with links to our books and tapes that cover those topics. Wrong doctrine always leads to wrong practice. I am more aware than most of the grievous abuses laid upon many of God’s precious people when they were in The Way. Perhaps you are one who was so abused. The point is that now the choice is yours as to how you see your past involvement in The Way. In our lives, we are not the sum total of what has happened to us, but rather how we have responded to what has happened. As such, you can ask the dear Lord to help you arrive at a healthy perspective of whatever events have comprised your life. In his infinite resourcefulness, he can somehow turn it into something you can use to help someone else. In regard to your involvement in The Way, you could choose to be a victim, as many have, but may I suggest that is not the best perspective if you desire to live a fruitful life. Frederick Douglas, a former slave and then an abolitionist in the time of the Civil War, once said, "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by those whom they oppress." I like to look at my time in The Way in a more positive sense. I want to "eat the fish and spit out the bones." There are many things I could say here, but I’m trying to keep this letter as brief as possible. I know thousands of people who, in my opinion, have "thrown out the baby with the bathwater." They have spit out the whole fish because of some bones. I know many others who are "tired of the fight," that is, of "not fitting in" with traditional Christianity, primarily because they are branded as heretics for not believing that Jesus is God. In regard to that subject, I encourage you to read our book titled One God and One Lord: Reconsidering the Cornerstone of the Christian Faith. Since 1987 we have been helping people around the world, many who have never heard of The Way, move forward, most especially by getting Jesus Christ in the right place as Lord. Spirit & Truth Fellowship International (formerly Christian Educational Services) is a full service ministry with a wide range of activities and materials for everyone. We are seeing people's hearts healed and seeing them come together to reach out to others in the love of Christ. I encourage you to listen to or read for yourself what we have produced. If you like, we are most happy to send you a Spirit & Truth Fellowship statement of beliefs, and/or put you on our mailing list for our bi-monthly magazine, The Sower. Each issue has an order form listing all the materials we have. I also encourage you go to one of our three websites and see if you are blessed by what you find. They are: STFonline.org, TruthOrTradition.com, and BiblicalUnitarian.com. In closing, let me say that I honestly believe that Dr. Wierwille (TWI Founder) would be very proud of what we are doing. We have taken the keys to the Word’s interpretation that he taught us and used them to evaluate his own teachings, correcting those that did not agree with Scripture. We have never lost sight of the goal of moving the Word around the world. If that is still your goal, or if you think there is any way we could be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Once again let me say that I love you. I wish that I could adequately communicate to you how thrilling life is when the Lord Jesus Christ is a daily reality. Understanding who he is as "the Lord" and living accordingly exalts both him and our heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus is the glue that can knit our hearts together so that we can enjoy the "camaraderie of the committed" and stand together for him. Your brother in Christ, John A. Lynn =================================== =================================== =================================== [For those who have forgotten, JAL has claimed he was around 20 years in twi. After that, he wrote the previous letter. Some 20 years after that-about as long as he was in twi, he's been out, and part of his own organization- he has considered this letter the revision of the previous letter. Having had 20 years to review his previous letter, what insights has he gained since then? Has he gained a full perspective on what happened, on what motivated vpw, how he operated, why he did what he did?] Revised September 2007 Dearest brother/sister in Christ, God bless you richly in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, our Mentor, the one whose perfect trust in his heavenly Father made it possible for us to do likewise and walk with him. This is John Lynn, and I am writing this letter to anyone who is or ever was involved in The Way International, that is, those with "ex-Way vision." The Real Me, by the grace and mercy of God, is still standing, and still "living in the eye of the storm." The first thing I want to say is, "I love you." [still leading off with some flattery, I see. Well, that's the same as the old letter. 20 years hasn't changed this- except to make the opening lengthier.] The second thing is that, as it has since I was dispatched by TWI in 1987, my heart goes out to everyone who ever sat through the “Power For Abundant Living” class. We certainly did hear much of the Word "as it has not been taught since the first century," and the truth is that there was nowhere else on earth we could have heard what we heard. We were in the right place at the right time. He's had 20 years to be exposed to Christians outside twi and outside his OWN organization, but his perspective, if anything, is no LESS narrow-minded than it ever was. Everybody ELSE among us are well aware that the claim vpw made of "the Word as it has not been taught since the first century" was full of hot air, and never approached what was demonstrated in twi. Further, there are plenty of Christians who learned things we did NOT, and demonstrate more love and heart than ex-twi'ers do. If JAL meant to say "only the doctrines that match what we heard" count-which is silly, but he seems to mean that- is he totally ignorant that BG Leonard's ministry is still teaching and still going strong? The genuine of which vpw was the counterfeit? Or is he aware of that and refusing to acknowledge it entirely?] The main problem was that we had an "absent Christ," and therefore, practically speaking, we were like a body without a head. I was only one of the "poor substitutes" that people looked to when they should have been looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. [ONE of the main problems was that vpw declared Christ was "absent", and set himself up as the Head of the Body in any practical sense. ANOTHER was that "special knowledge" and "secret knowledge" took the place of God's Love. Knowledge puffs up- and in twi, that's exactly what it does. JAL seems to have forgotten that, judging from this letter. Oh, and, JAL, can the false modesty, with the "poor substitute" thing. If you thought you were THAT "poor", you wouldn't be making the commercials for your group. Give us a little credit for seeing an attempt to snow us coming.] I thank God that I was taught the inherent keys to the Word’s interpretation. They are still true, and they are what enabled me, along with my dear friend John Schoenheit (and many others), to see the wrong doctrine mixed in with the right doctrine we were taught, to correct it, and to move forward. If you are interested, we have a list of 26 biblical subjects about which we believe the Word says differently than we were taught in The Way, with links to our books and tapes that cover those topics. [We cut to the commercial a LOT sooner, this time around. Personally, I find that an improvement. Let's not pretend this ISN'T a commercial. Oh, and the assumption that they found ALL the error and deleted it is not only arrogant- it is WRONG. Just in this letter ALONE we had errors that haven't been fixed in TWENTY YEARS. Just because JAL has DIFFERENT doctrine from twi in some places does NOT mean they removed ALL the critical errors, or that everything they removed was error. Moreover, DIFFERENT does not guarantee BETTER- "different" includes the "Momentus" program that some people found useful, some people found disastrous, and JAL QUIETLY promotes PRIVATELY but never speaks of PUBLICKLY. "Different" also includes the "spiders-in-the-noses" business that JAL ALSO hasn't repudiated. Also, JAL's clamped down on QUESTIONING and DISAGREEING with EITHER of those. (Probably more as well, but I know of these two doctrines that have proven to be quite harmful to a number of people.) 20 years ago, he lauded the ability "to think, question and disagree." In revising this letter, he's dropped that little detail- probably because those "thinking", "questioning" and "disagreeing" would be thinking about HIS doctrine, questioning HIS doctrine, and disagreeing with HIS doctrine. What a difference 20 years CAN make.] Wrong doctrine always leads to wrong practice. [And sometimes wrong practice arrives all by itself.] I am more aware than most of the grievous abuses laid upon many of God’s precious people when they were in The Way. [No he's not, unless everyone at the GSC is also "more aware than most".] Perhaps you are one who was so abused. The point is that now the choice is yours as to how you see your past involvement in The Way. In our lives, we are not the sum total of what has happened to us, but rather how we have responded to what has happened. As such, you can ask the dear Lord to help you arrive at a healthy perspective of whatever events have comprised your life. In his infinite resourcefulness, he can somehow turn it into something you can use to help someone else. [True. He's made it possible for us to work through what was needed, and find other Christians who can teach us lessons about love and substance that are long overdue for twi survivors. We also heal at the GSC. (Does JAL ever give the GSC credit where it's due for helping there?] In regard to your involvement in The Way, you could choose to be a victim, as many have, but may I suggest that is not the best perspective if you desire to live a fruitful life. Frederick Douglas, a former slave and then an abolitionist in the time of the Civil War, once said, "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by those whom they oppress." I like to look at my time in The Way in a more positive sense. I want to "eat the fish and spit out the bones." ["You could chose to be a victim." Cute little "false dilemma" there. You can just dismiss the harm done in twi- which, coincidentally, was also at the hands of many people who switched over to CES/STFI and retained MOST of the doctrines they learned from the self-serving felon vpw, and claimed they dismissed ALL the harmful doctrines. If you don't, you're "choosing to be a victim." Cute quote-if one wants to SILENCE people. So is "eat the fish and spit out the bones." But, see, this fish was almost all bones, and much of what little meat WAS there, was spit out WITH the bones, and then more bones from a DIFFERENT fish were added. (Some were from the Momentus fish, some were from the PP fish.) I wouldn't bring all that up in the analogy, but HE was the one who wanted to replace DISCUSSION with PITHY SAYINGS. Colossians 2:4 (KJV) "And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." Beguile: "paralogizomai", to use words that don't touch logic "enticing words": "pithanologia", pithy sayings, slogans.] There are many things I could say here, but I’m trying to keep this letter as brief as possible. I know thousands of people who, in my opinion, have "thrown out the baby with the bathwater." They have spit out the whole fish because of some bones. I know many others who are "tired of the fight," that is, of "not fitting in" with traditional Christianity, primarily because they are branded as heretics for not believing that Jesus is God. In regard to that subject, I encourage you to read our book titled One God and One Lord: Reconsidering the Cornerstone of the Christian Faith. [Then again, lots of Christians survived twi, and aren't swelling the coffers of CES/STFI. What a shame that is! JAL wants to sell the CES/STFI bony fish to those who lost their taste for bony fish after twi. Although, in honesty, after the abuses of twi (which were delivered by JAL and others besides JUST vpw), I can understand why some people don't want to claim being Christians, or associate with them. They were told all Christians EXCEPT OURS sucked, and then they saw that OURS sucked as well. So, they concluded all Christians sucked. QED. Oh, and JAL's still saying the other Christians suck, without using those words. Scroll up-"nowhere else on earth", "as it has not been taught since the First Century".] Since 1987 we have been helping people around the world, many who have never heard of The Way, move forward, most especially by getting Jesus Christ in the right place as Lord. Spirit & Truth Fellowship International (formerly Christian Educational Services) is a full service ministry with a wide range of activities and materials for everyone. We are seeing people's hearts healed and seeing them come together to reach out to others in the love of Christ. I encourage you to listen to or read for yourself what we have produced. If you like, we are most happy to send you a Spirit & Truth Fellowship statement of beliefs, and/or put you on our mailing list for our bi-monthly magazine, The Sower. Each issue has an order form listing all the materials we have. I also encourage you go to one of our three websites and see if you are blessed by what you find. They are: STFonline.org, TruthOrTradition.com, and BiblicalUnitarian.com. [We saw a REPEAT of the commercial. He must be SERIOUS about advertising his "product"-a lot MORESO than the previous version of this letter. Shorter letter and TWO commercials.] In closing, let me say that I honestly believe that Dr. Wierwille (TWI Founder) would be very proud of what we are doing. We have taken the keys to the Word’s interpretation that he taught us and used them to evaluate his own teachings, correcting those that did not agree with Scripture. We have never lost sight of the goal of moving the Word around the world. If that is still your goal, or if you think there is any way we could be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. [20 years later, he "honestly believes" that a man who lied about the voice of God, who took credit for the work of others and claimed God gave it directly to him, who carefully arranged a ministry for God's people to satisfy his lusts for filthy lucre, creature comforts, and raping innocent daughters of God "would be very proud" of what he's doing. This is JAL's claim, not mine. He believes that he would have the endorsement of a corrupt subverter of God's people, a human parasite who fed off God's people. Considering his practices have damaged numbers of people and exerted leverage and control over them in God's name (Momentus and Personal Prophecy), perhaps vpw WOULD admire the results! However, it still falls far short of vpw's "accomplishments" since he hasn't been raping the women. Oh, and again, they found ALL the error, and eliminated it, and didn't add errors of their own. JAL says so.] Once again let me say that I love you. I wish that I could adequately communicate to you how thrilling life is when the Lord Jesus Christ is a daily reality. Understanding who he is as "the Lord" and living accordingly exalts both him and our heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus is the glue that can knit our hearts together so that we can enjoy the "camaraderie of the committed" and stand together for him. Your brother in Christ, John A. Lynn