Watered Garden

If a couple with similar problems attended our church, they would be loved, encouraged, counseled, and if necessary, sent to professionals, such as psychologists and psychiatrists. Prayer would be offered. Deliverance would be preached. Condemnation? Never heard of it!!! I've actually see this happen. It made me cry, and it made me very thankful to be out of TWI. It's hard to forgive TWIbots who said and did these things to us. In one sense, they didn't really know what they were doing. In another, we were not perfect, and perfectly perfected perfection is the barebones minimum standard of behavior for TWI acceptance. So they HAD to force us out one way or another in order to look like God's exclusive chosen ministry. I've learned more about the nature of God in the past year than I did in 23 in TWI. WG

Well, probably debt and weakness. We went into debt to fly to the 1995 ROA from the Left Coast and rent a car. We stayed with my husband's family instead of on grounds. We got soundly castigated for that and were forbidden to attend the Word In Business conference as a result. I got yelled at for asking for my money back. I was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes, a sure sign from God of spiritual weakness. We had a lot of challenging times with our son and were ordered to "get rid of him." Hopefully this meant terminate our parental rights legally and put him in foster care. We did not. Things got worse. We still did not. I was privately told that if we did not TPR him, I needed to make a decision to either stand on God's Word with God's Ministry or stay with my husband. We made the right choices. "I quit!" "You're fired!" was about how it went down. WG

It felt good to quit in 1996, IMO. WG

Oh, my! I am SOOOO blessed to know that I can go back and be welcomed to the hallowed halls of holiness once again! When not one soul has tried to contact me since 1997, and that was by mistake because she didn't know I had been marked and avoided. I should bring my son - do you think the most exceedingly great and mighty men and women of God would STILL want to stone him? Do you think a pansya$$ed jerk would tell my husband he is spiritually weak and spineless because he won't let them? Do you think they would once again tell me I have IDDM because I don't believe LCM is The One Man Of God For This Day And Time And Hour? Or Rosie is always right? Or whatever. Lemme tell you something, Oldiesman: Sepulchers are full of dead men's bones and they stink with or without the whitewash. If you think for one millimicron of a nanosecond that these people are all so wonderful and welcoming, that they are glad to see someone return to the holy walls of Zion who was marked out and avoided to the extent their death was fervently prayed to God for, then you are dumber than the contents of my septic tank! WG

I think perhaps there is a difference between holding a grudge and being cleareyed and clearminded about what really happened, who someone really is, and wanting to warn others so they don't fall into the same trap you did. WG

What are you referring to? WG

I only vaguely remember this book. C. S. Lewis also wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a great allegory on the Christian life, and a great read, period. Grandson and I watched the movie last summer. He wanted Aslan for a pet! WG

There is a passage in the OT that I really don't have time to look up. A person could only be a slave for 7 years, then he had to be freed. If he loved his master and didn't want to go, but preferred to serve him all the days of his life, he was branded and his ear was pierced, wherein he wore an earring with the insignia of his master. In the Greek the word for this is "doulos." It is a slave because of love, not of bondage. WG

How absolutely precious! Nice to see Nico feeling well and looking great, and you too Rottiegirl! WG

It's very difficult sometimes to adequately express what Word Wolf said so perfectly. Thanks, WG

Well, I was a bit older than many of y'all when I got involved. I was an only child of whom great things were expected, and I failed to live up to many of those expectations. My mother was very critical and let me know I had disappointed her. Add to this that I was a geeky, scrawny little kid, in the top 10% of my graduating class but without one date through my entire high school career, no boyfriend, and the butt of a lot of nasty jokes and comments. I had very few social skills other than being obnoxious and annoying, and smarter than 92% of the rest of them. Then, I start meeting TWI people. It started when the 2nd WC started coming over to study healing with the physician I worked for. The first guy over there kept bugging me, even invited me to the Rock of Ages. I was desperately seeking something to give my life meaning to God, myself and just a few other people. So after meeting most of the second WC, I took PFAL. I went to the Rock. I continued to take classes, went out WOW, went in Ohio Fellow Laborers, got married, and was involved for 23 years. I do think the above sounds lke a classic set up to be a cult victim. But I will say this: I don't regret it. I did learn some Bible, met a wonderful man who is a fantastic husband. There were some bad times and some awful times, and while some of what I was taught was BS, some of it was truth. When it got bad, we got out. I was really bitter and hurt and frightened for a while. I try not to be any more. I think TWI is a cult and is wrong and it is sad when they do to people. I would say that God used TWI to prepare me for greater things. I realize that this sounds kind of soft, and may well offend those who want to read nothing but bitter castigation. A lot of times I'm afraid to post like this. I don't want anyone to think I am condoning the evil that TWI has produced and continues to produce, or saying if you got hurt you are responsible. I don't believe that at all. It is reprehensible what happened to a lot people. This is just my own personal viewpoint. I survived and flourished by the grace of God, not by the grace of TWI or my own wits and will. WG

Irony and nostalgia in one clip! Thanks, Waysider! Polar bears, from what little I know, do not regard humans as the top of the food chain, but rather as an alternative to seals. I did hear once of someone describing a test for telling a black bear, which can be almost any color, from a grizzly bear. Irritate the bear in question, then climb the nearest sturdy tree. If the bear climbs up after you, it is a black bear, as grizzlies are too big to climb. If it shakes you out of the tree, it's a grizzly. Best advice; stay away from the critters and give them their space. I don't live so far from Newark that it is impossible I will see a bear munching on my black raspberries some summer day. I have NO idea what I would do, except that I would want it out of there because there are a lot of kiddies in this area. I'd hate to see it shot, though. I think there may be a a bear or two hanging out southeast of here in the summertime, in the Hocking Hills area. Never seen one, though, in Ohio. In fact, we spent a long weekend in Glacier National Park once, noting many bear warning signs throughout the three days we were there, but all we saw was a mule deer. I was actually disappointed. WG

HB from WG!

((((((((((((((((Dot)))))))))))))))) No words. Just love and prayers. WG

Aw, Steve!, I'm so glad for you! You sound exactly how I felt when I got my 99 Civic Coupe. Just fit me perfectly the first time I sat in it. And it was so much FUN to drive, and got great mileage. Congratulations! WG

I'm sure some of the produce and meat did go on the WC dinner tables. Sometimes, however, after working digging potatoes, a bowl of home made tomato soup and a couple of crackers didn't quite fill one up. And the finest cuts of meat and freshest veggies, etc., went to the MOG & Co. WG

That stupid poster was made at a live CF&S class in Indiana. I think it was inspired by one of the L**ns. That was my first CF&S class. I thought it was disgusting. VPW came over in the middle of it, and they gave him that stupid poster as a gift. He thought it was wonderful. I guess I hadn't renewed my sense of humor at that point. I just thought it was dumb. There were a couple other nasty posters made by the staff at that class, also. So he kept the poster, eh? How wonderful. :blink: WG

In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren describes surrender as the heart of worship. It seems to be akin to submission. In TWI we were taught never to surrender anything, especially our free will, to God or anything else, lest we become possessed with evil spirits. Yet, everything I've read and studied post-TWI seems to be indicating that surrender simply indicates that God is the boss, not me. I'm surrendering my own willful self to serve God and not my own desires. Was this just semantics? My memory is fuzzy regarding the TWI teaching, and for a while all I knew was that alarm bells went off in my mind every time I read anything or heard anything taught regarding "surrender." WG

I'd probably get another Civic coupe, only this time an SI coupe. I prefer manual transmissions and a lot of zip, but with good gas mileage. Toyota Solara's look good too, but I doubt I'd get a convertible, since Ohio is either hot or cold, with not much spring and fall as a general rule. A couple would do just fine. The Solstice is a fine looking automobile, too, I might add. WG

I never had much problem with the bed by midnight rule, since I turn into a pumpkin at 11:30. In FL it was the morning fellowship that got me. Up at 5:00, into running clothes and off to a basement full of sleepy, smelly people, some of whom went right back to sleep on the cold cement floor. Prayer, manifestations, and announcements. Then off for a brisk 8/10 mile run down the road and back. Then breakfast of some unspeakable horror (but organic and nourishing) then get ready and off to work. Nowadays, I get up at 5:30, get husband off to work, and go right back to sleep in the nice warm sunroom with Meredith, Matt and Al droning in the background. WG

Susan was my WOW roommate and branch leader 1974-75. She did her damndest. Sometimes she was wrong, but she tried to do the right thing harder than most people I've known. I think she grew by leaps and bounds that first WOW year of hers. Wherever she is, I love her dearly still and pray she has a good life and is at peace with the God I know she loves. WG

To add to Waysider's comments: FL also had about an acre and a half of organic garden behind the limb facility. We grew and canned or froze a lot of produce. It was hard work; in the spring and summer many a Saturday was spent on bended knee, weeding and seeding. Add to this that many city kids didn't know a radish from a ranunculus and cheerfully "weeded" out the baby plants along with the baby weeds. At RC it was worse. More garden, more ignorance and added to the mix were chickens, beef cattle, and pigs! Every six weeks a hapless WC had to drive to the Rome City post office to pick up an order of baby chicks, which replaced the six week old chickens that had been slaughtered. I don't believe the WC were required to butcher the hogs or pigs, at least not while we were around. One would have thought that with all the harvesting and slaughtering going on we would have feasted on fried chicken, chicken fricassee, chicken this, that and the other thing, interspersed with a few filet mignon and the finest roasted pork loin in Indiana. But no! When I inquired about the destination of all the goodies, I was given some mumbled explanation that the Man of God liked to entertain his friends with barbecues and such, so all the beef and most of the other stuff, including the hard-grown produce, was shipped to New Knoxville. I heartily thought that His Majesty should come over and help with the harvest, not to mention the chicken slaughters hissownself, being the primary example of godliness on this earth for this day and time and hour. As powerful as he was, surely he could have bloodlessly slain 600 chickens with his own believing! God being merciful, we never had to participate in the chicken slaughter or anything else murderous. Feeding the little boogers was bad enough. One time I did have to drive to the post office to pick up several cartons of little peeps, however. It was absolute murder getting them back to campus; they peeped incessantly, didn't exactly smell like Chanel No. 5, and I felt bad for their eventual terrifying demise and ultimate end at the MOG's dinner table. So did the hapless FWC get to enjoy the fruits of their labor? OH HE!! NO! WG

Was he from Western Washington State? I think he may have posted here in the past, and if he's who I think he is he went back to WA after leaving the WC. WG

Don't know about the intended viewers, but I find this absolutely hilarious! WG

Good morning, and thanks for your replies. Yesterday, I googled "spiritual gifts" and found several tests on line to determine my spiritual gifts. I took one. It was Lutheran, and from my point of view, pretty funny. Several statements about oneself and one had to answer always, usually, sometimes, never, that sort of thing. Then at the end it was tallied. I got a 90% on "exhortation" whatever that is, and 10% on wisdom, and there were a bunch of others in between. I think about 60% on hospitality. I think as y'all have pointed out, the spiritual gifts and gift ministry stuff is in the Bible, and I don't see "comforter of babies" or "baker of scones" in any list. I honestly don't think God has given me the desire to help in a specific area as a spiritual gift, but that my inclinations and desire to help in a certain area by using an ability that I have developed, the kernel of which God may well have put there (all the women on my mother's side could bake/cook like fiends) are my part in the body of Christ. My husband is a teacher. He was a good teacher of the Bible when we were in TWI and he is a good teacher of business now that he is a professional full time, degree-holding teacher. He has assisted with teaching Sunday school classes and we are now leaders of a small group in our home. However, I don't think this means he has the gift ministry of a teacher. He's got some clear logical thinking abilities, a good vocabulary, and a great, great heart. So he can put those abilities to use to serve God and God's people. It just seems a little weird to me that this ministry business is something that can be tested for. The ladies group leader wants to get this wonderful older minister to come over and give the ladies a test to determine their spiritual gifts, similar to the one I mentioned above. I don't think I"m gonna be there that night, because I think this whole thing is pretty stupid. I mean, what if your test results show that you should be a missionary in wildest Borneo? And you are an 80-year-old great-grandmother? Looks like the test thing is more likely to reflect interests, aptitudes, and whether one is an extrovert or an introvert. There were several questions about praising God and blessing God's people through one's musical or artistic talents, so I guess Waysider at least is gonna rate high on that one. But see, you would have to BE musical or artistic to begin with. Someone who can't carry a tune in a 5-gallon bucket is not going to have a spiritual gift of singing solos in the choir! Anyways, thanks for the replies. Have a great morning and I hope you had a good breakfast (the scones were chocolate chip, by the way). WG