Oh, good idea, no one has ever tried to start a thread about anything positive that happened in TWI.
When all the Wierwille apologists and PFAL fans stop putting their positive spin on threads that are seeking to point out the negative in TWI, maybe I'll respect a request to keep it positive.
You want to hear good things about TWI? There are TWI fellowships in at least 40 states.
Some of the best parties I have ever attended were with my twig and branch. Halloween was always a hoot. Dressing up in "Biblical attire" usually meant it was like a Toga Party. Always lots of good food, drink, and music. The dancing was always fun.
And New Year's Eve parties. Great times. Same good food, drink and music. No two drink limits. We would pause after welcoming in the New Year and pray and I liked that. Some people would head home after that, some of us would stay and party till the sun came up.
I remember many really sweet fellowship times together when we would study particular verses that were perplexing to us. Learning to do word studies was lots of fun. Sometimes we'd come away with an answer to what we were studying, sometimes we'd come away with an new discovery on a different topic with the original question still unresolved.
Always liked when the person teaching just talked about what they were studying and finding new and exciting to them. Liked it when people talked about problems they had faced and how they had found the answers. Always liked the practical application.
When the twig fellowships stopped being fun and something I looked forward to, I quit going. So the majority of my memories are really good.
IMO, the goodness in any religious or spiritual gathering is when people are excited about what they are learning, be it old or new, and seeing the results in their lives. Think that is why so many churches now emphasize the "Small Group" concept over the large worship services and even Sunday School classes. God is dyanmic and gets lost in bureauracy. He works best in individuals and then in smaller groups, imo.
Have learned that here at GSC it's hard to have "positive" or "negative" threads. The one exception is in the Memorial Threads where most are respectful. Or the joke threads where the purpose is laughter.
Glad to see you still posting. Hope you are visiting lots of threads and learning all that GSC has to offer.
The first year my husband and I were married, there was a strike at Ohio University by the municipal workers' union. This meant that the cafeterias at the campus were closed. Several students were fellowshipping with us, so my husband and I organized the married folk and those who had their own apartments, to pitch in and feed them. Several nights a week we had the whole twig over for a pitch-in supper. We "ate bread from house to house" with gladness and thanksgiving, and it was fellowship in the truest sense of the word.
Then, the snotty little interim WC branch coordinator found out about it, and it came to a screeching halt because, according to him, we were not "moving the Word" and there was no "outreach." Too bad he wasn't around during the time of the Book of Acts. He could have set those apostles, like Peter, John, James, and later Paul, straight.
We had a lot of great times at 2Life & husband's house too, including a toga party she still has pictures of.
You know, when we look around the world there is so much tension and problems and the outrage du jour, it's nice to have a little haven to go to where we can relax, enjoy each other's company and be spiritually edified.
I agree with you on the value of the small group.
There's just less organization.
And I know how threads have a way of degenerating into the same arguments between certain people that they have in other threads.
But in this one I think it would be nice to keep it positive as much as we can and maybe put off some of the enmity elsewhere and maybe love each other a little more than we have before.
Also we can give credit where credit is due to those who did run their twig in a way that was good.
One time we did a "First century twig" where we didn't dress in robes (wish we had) but there were only candles and the coordinator greeted us with the good news that he'd heard from Paul and read an epistle.
The neighbors just saw people going in the house with the lights off and candles all over and looked at us kinda funny....
Looking back, they were *in spite* of being connected to TWI and not *because of it*.
I'm not afraid to remember those times in a favorable light.
I'm just not naive enough anymore to let them skew my realization of what really happened.
If it makes you happy to remember the good stuff, I say go for it.
Just be careful not to feel too let down when you discover that some people no longer have a desire to sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaiya M'Lord.
Blowing off fellowship after opening stuff done and taking everyone bowling just 'cuz, and NO WITNESSING at the bowling alley. Not taking ABS that night so everyone would have some $$ in their pockets.
Smoking the good stuff after fellowship as soon as the tattlers left.
Taking our fellowship to the circus/carnival/rodeo/zoo.
Deciding to announce "close your Bibles" and just talking.
Meals together.
Announcing we're going to the game/concert/event of one of the kids' instead of doing fellowship.
Calling parents and inviting them to stay home with the kids if they'd like to, or offering to stay with their kid while they came to fellowship or some fun night we'd planned.
Loading up to go see a new baby.
Letting the kids go play while we did the boring stuff.
Well our twigs at home were not the best as our TC's were mostly just glorified SOB's but on the WOW field our family coordinator was a gem. Let me tell you a story:
We didn’t require people to dress up for twig, only that they were clean and presentable. I should qualify that last comment. Lars was very comfortable with himself. He would often strip down to only wearing a pair of shorts. And I do mean “ONLY”. One time he and I were sitting in the living room chatting when he uncrossed his legs and planted both feet on the floor. The separation between them was considerable and he was leaning forward shaking his hand up and down with his finger pointing as he made a “point”. When he leaned back against the back of the chair to laugh at my response his “package” dropped partially out of his shorts. At just that time Grant was entering the room from the bedrooms and Sandy was coming in from the kitchen. She had a direct line clear view shot of Lars. “Lars! What are you doing?” She exclaimed half startled and half humorously. Neither Lars nor I had any idea what she was talking about, when Grant chimed in, “Yah Lars, are you trying to show off or something?” Well at that comment and a small nod of Sandy’s head and some pointed looks we both noticed what all the commotion was about. But instead of any of the expected responses Lars simply tucked it all back into his shorts and continued his conversation with me. This action caused both Grant and Sandy to simply lose it, they were laughing so hard that they had to lean on one another to keep from falling. But this brought about the rule that Lars had to wear underwear at fellowships. And no, she didn’t care that it was so hot his balls were sticking together, he would just have to suffer for a couple of hours.
Well now, my first Twig was a blast. We were almost always packed and the teachings were good and simple. People got born again, got healed of sicknesses, and life was grand! And a funny thing. As soon as Twig was over, almost everyone would "light up". Yup, almost all of us kids smoked cigs. And, there would always be a big tea kettle on so that we could all get our "instant coffee". Now, what was up with that? We NEVER brewed good coffe back in dem days! We just happily drank that nasty Folgers crystals, or whatever. Shoot, our Twigs in Maryland with that bunch of WOWs was grand, back in 75/76. One time, my friend's cousin from Michigan came, and after Twig, she asked me and Steve (her cousin); "What are the "manifications?" And so, we told her what speaking in tongues was about, and she said; Oh! So cool!" Then, she went to the bathroom, and when she came out, she was crying tears of joy, and proceeded to say; "I did it! I spoke in tongues! God filled me with holy spirit! Thank you guys thank you! Oh God I am sooo blessed!" And we all got choked up and praised God for His love and deliverance. Yeah, that was one sweet Twig fellowship, no doubt...
I'll chime in here: one thing that could be either a nightmare, or a really good time was...witnessing night. Think about it. You go out to the mall or a park or something and you might get somebody who hates all religion and makes a beeline for security as soon as you say "hi", or you could get a group of smart a$$ high school kids, a few of which may 'condescend' to talk to you.
Once I started talking to this guy on a bench and he feigned interest convincingly and then after about 2 minutes he bolted up and said, "Oh, there's my wife gotta go." and "barely escaped with his life". When it was bad it was bad, but when it was good it was good, even if nobody we witnessed to came to fellowship.
Never could buy into the organized "Witnessing Times". I witnessed then the way I witness now. When an appropriate situation comes up in everyday life and living, and questions are asked that require a "witness" type answer, I give that answer. Some people are eager to hear, and ask more questions, some are not and after a comment or two, they drop or change the subject. It's not something I plan to do every day, I just take advantage of opportunities as they knock. It's natural, it's easy, and my focus is on helping others deal with a situation, not to invite them to a worship service with me. Usually takes several conversations with that person before the ask if they can attend with me, and I'm glad to have them come along because I know they want to be there. Never saw any profit in trying to coerce someone into coming. And it was okay with me if they never wanted to attend a fellowship but did enjoy meeting one and one and discussing things. Guess it's obvious I never signed a lot of people up for the PFAL class, but people often seek me out for spiritual advice and counsel and prayer. And that's the way I like it.
I've had lots of fun with the locals, over the years.
Seems that once a guy had a title, he was no fun anymore, but everybody else was
often a blast, and didn't see a need to stand on ceremony.
In my opinion, that's where the best times were, and where the real love was, face to face on a local basis.
Several times in Chicago, we got fellowships or WOWs together and did a pizza night. We made Chicago style stuffed pizza from scratch. We would divide up into crews-- dough crew, chopping crew, sauce crew, etc. While one crew was working in the kitchen, the rest of us were hanging out in the rest of the house playing cards, board games, laughing, talking, and having a great time. At the end of the night we had the best home made Chicago stuffed pizza you ever tasted. And plenty of sweet fellowship.
We used to get together to help each other out with home repair projects too-- when we could own homes :/. One of our TC's bought an old ramshackle property near the Indiana Dunes. Great neighborhood, nice lot, but needed a lot of work. He bought the tools, the gloves, provided lots of food and drink, and we all chipped in and helped clean up the property, do landscaping, and afterwards, a great party!
Another time in Chicago, we surprised Bxll Fxrris with a trip on the Bible Lands tour. Bxll was a sixty-something year old african-American cab driver who lived on the poor side of town and had run his own felllowship for about 8 yrs or so before we even got there. He was the ORIGINAL South Side Saint. Matter of fact, I commissioned his wife to design that famous South Side Saints T-Shirt. I thought in honor of his service, wouldn't it be great to do that for him as a surprise-- a once in a lifetime, beyond his dreams trip. At that time it was well over $1500 to send him, but we all banded our spare change, I organized bake sales to put on when New Horizons did free concerts inthe park, and we raised enough money to surprise BXll with this tour. There were a few people who couldn't understand why we weren't doing this to send "the Leadership" on this tour. Hell, WE WERE the leadership. The point was, to honor a simple, basic, faithful believing man who had proved himself over the years to be a good steward and servant of Gods people. For the most part, everyone was excited to do this, and when we announced this to Bill, he was speechless. I'm sure it was the greatest thing that ever happened to this man.
At this date, Bxll is probably gone now. I'm glad we did this for him back in the day. I'm proud we did it.
Now-- THAT is a "good time."
Like I said in other threads, I credit God with the inspiration and the unity and the love and the good times we shared together. When I look back on those good times, it had nothing to do with the (ugh) "man" VPW, the organization, classes, or programs of TWI. It had to do with the unity of the spirit and the body of Christ working together to bless and honor one another. NOT honoring an organization. And as far as I am concerned, we had fun in spite of TWI, not because of them. Usually when they got involved (in whining voice: "Why aren't you sending the leeeeeeeeadership or the Waaaaaaaaaaaaay Corps to the Bible Lands?"), they were trying to be spoilers.
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excathedra
oh shut up
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GarthP2000
"Lord, we thank you for the food we are about to receive, and that you cleanse any impurities from it. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen!"
((All the food then instantly disappears))
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pond
lol
"shut up" might be a negative .
he has rules for his threads .
what happens if we disobey?
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Oakspear
Oh, good idea, no one has ever tried to start a thread about anything positive that happened in TWI.
When all the Wierwille apologists and PFAL fans stop putting their positive spin on threads that are seeking to point out the negative in TWI, maybe I'll respect a request to keep it positive.
You want to hear good things about TWI? There are TWI fellowships in at least 40 states.
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Suda
Deciderator,
Some of the best parties I have ever attended were with my twig and branch. Halloween was always a hoot. Dressing up in "Biblical attire" usually meant it was like a Toga Party. Always lots of good food, drink, and music. The dancing was always fun.
And New Year's Eve parties. Great times. Same good food, drink and music. No two drink limits. We would pause after welcoming in the New Year and pray and I liked that. Some people would head home after that, some of us would stay and party till the sun came up.
I remember many really sweet fellowship times together when we would study particular verses that were perplexing to us. Learning to do word studies was lots of fun. Sometimes we'd come away with an answer to what we were studying, sometimes we'd come away with an new discovery on a different topic with the original question still unresolved.
Always liked when the person teaching just talked about what they were studying and finding new and exciting to them. Liked it when people talked about problems they had faced and how they had found the answers. Always liked the practical application.
When the twig fellowships stopped being fun and something I looked forward to, I quit going. So the majority of my memories are really good.
IMO, the goodness in any religious or spiritual gathering is when people are excited about what they are learning, be it old or new, and seeing the results in their lives. Think that is why so many churches now emphasize the "Small Group" concept over the large worship services and even Sunday School classes. God is dyanmic and gets lost in bureauracy. He works best in individuals and then in smaller groups, imo.
Have learned that here at GSC it's hard to have "positive" or "negative" threads. The one exception is in the Memorial Threads where most are respectful. Or the joke threads where the purpose is laughter.
Glad to see you still posting. Hope you are visiting lots of threads and learning all that GSC has to offer.
Suda
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Watered Garden
The first year my husband and I were married, there was a strike at Ohio University by the municipal workers' union. This meant that the cafeterias at the campus were closed. Several students were fellowshipping with us, so my husband and I organized the married folk and those who had their own apartments, to pitch in and feed them. Several nights a week we had the whole twig over for a pitch-in supper. We "ate bread from house to house" with gladness and thanksgiving, and it was fellowship in the truest sense of the word.
Then, the snotty little interim WC branch coordinator found out about it, and it came to a screeching halt because, according to him, we were not "moving the Word" and there was no "outreach." Too bad he wasn't around during the time of the Book of Acts. He could have set those apostles, like Peter, John, James, and later Paul, straight.
We had a lot of great times at 2Life & husband's house too, including a toga party she still has pictures of.
WG
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Deciderator
Ours didn't disappear.
Either fowls of the air would suddenly appear and swoop in to take it or lightning bolts would come down....
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Deciderator
Suda,
Nice reading what you posted.
You know, when we look around the world there is so much tension and problems and the outrage du jour, it's nice to have a little haven to go to where we can relax, enjoy each other's company and be spiritually edified.
I agree with you on the value of the small group.
There's just less organization.
And I know how threads have a way of degenerating into the same arguments between certain people that they have in other threads.
But in this one I think it would be nice to keep it positive as much as we can and maybe put off some of the enmity elsewhere and maybe love each other a little more than we have before.
Also we can give credit where credit is due to those who did run their twig in a way that was good.
One time we did a "First century twig" where we didn't dress in robes (wish we had) but there were only candles and the coordinator greeted us with the good news that he'd heard from Paul and read an epistle.
The neighbors just saw people going in the house with the lights off and candles all over and looked at us kinda funny....
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GrouchoMarxJr
Good times in twig?...Lemme see now...
...hmmmm...ok, I got it! I remember how good it felt when it was over and I could go outside and have a smoke...
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Deciderator
You have to share a songbook with me, that's what.
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doojable
A Blue one...?
I never did throw mine out when they told us to do that... hehehehehe.
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waysider
Yeah, I had some good times in the Good Old Days.
Looking back, they were *in spite* of being connected to TWI and not *because of it*.
I'm not afraid to remember those times in a favorable light.
I'm just not naive enough anymore to let them skew my realization of what really happened.
If it makes you happy to remember the good stuff, I say go for it.
Just be careful not to feel too let down when you discover that some people no longer have a desire to sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaiya M'Lord.
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dmiller
I guess I would differentiate between having a good time AT twig;
versus having a good time WITH the twig -- at other *worldly* functions.
:)
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coolchef
many good times at "twig" we did it at our house
some time on twig nite we would pray etc and then i would put a walt disneny in the vcr good twig nite for the kids!
other times just prayer and a bbq by our pool
other times just a small hike into the woods or a short trip to a nearby lake and thank god for the beauty of it all
yes i have very fond memories of twg at my house
we were friends and that was first and foremost to me
and i am thankful that 20some years later we still are
good times at twig oh yes as long as you did not let the heaveys come in
but some of them were great too
jim doop was a guest at my house {And judy} often they were great can you say pot! oh yeah it could be sweet untill the assholes took over
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Shellon
Blowing off fellowship after opening stuff done and taking everyone bowling just 'cuz, and NO WITNESSING at the bowling alley. Not taking ABS that night so everyone would have some $$ in their pockets.
Smoking the good stuff after fellowship as soon as the tattlers left.
Taking our fellowship to the circus/carnival/rodeo/zoo.
Deciding to announce "close your Bibles" and just talking.
Meals together.
Announcing we're going to the game/concert/event of one of the kids' instead of doing fellowship.
Calling parents and inviting them to stay home with the kids if they'd like to, or offering to stay with their kid while they came to fellowship or some fun night we'd planned.
Loading up to go see a new baby.
Letting the kids go play while we did the boring stuff.
Just a few
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Eyesopen
Well our twigs at home were not the best as our TC's were mostly just glorified SOB's but on the WOW field our family coordinator was a gem. Let me tell you a story:
We didn’t require people to dress up for twig, only that they were clean and presentable. I should qualify that last comment. Lars was very comfortable with himself. He would often strip down to only wearing a pair of shorts. And I do mean “ONLY”. One time he and I were sitting in the living room chatting when he uncrossed his legs and planted both feet on the floor. The separation between them was considerable and he was leaning forward shaking his hand up and down with his finger pointing as he made a “point”. When he leaned back against the back of the chair to laugh at my response his “package” dropped partially out of his shorts. At just that time Grant was entering the room from the bedrooms and Sandy was coming in from the kitchen. She had a direct line clear view shot of Lars. “Lars! What are you doing?” She exclaimed half startled and half humorously. Neither Lars nor I had any idea what she was talking about, when Grant chimed in, “Yah Lars, are you trying to show off or something?” Well at that comment and a small nod of Sandy’s head and some pointed looks we both noticed what all the commotion was about. But instead of any of the expected responses Lars simply tucked it all back into his shorts and continued his conversation with me. This action caused both Grant and Sandy to simply lose it, they were laughing so hard that they had to lean on one another to keep from falling. But this brought about the rule that Lars had to wear underwear at fellowships. And no, she didn’t care that it was so hot his balls were sticking together, he would just have to suffer for a couple of hours.
Good Times!
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J0nny Ling0
Wow Eyes Open, that was pretty funny!
Well now, my first Twig was a blast. We were almost always packed and the teachings were good and simple. People got born again, got healed of sicknesses, and life was grand! And a funny thing. As soon as Twig was over, almost everyone would "light up". Yup, almost all of us kids smoked cigs. And, there would always be a big tea kettle on so that we could all get our "instant coffee". Now, what was up with that? We NEVER brewed good coffe back in dem days! We just happily drank that nasty Folgers crystals, or whatever. Shoot, our Twigs in Maryland with that bunch of WOWs was grand, back in 75/76. One time, my friend's cousin from Michigan came, and after Twig, she asked me and Steve (her cousin); "What are the "manifications?" And so, we told her what speaking in tongues was about, and she said; Oh! So cool!" Then, she went to the bathroom, and when she came out, she was crying tears of joy, and proceeded to say; "I did it! I spoke in tongues! God filled me with holy spirit! Thank you guys thank you! Oh God I am sooo blessed!" And we all got choked up and praised God for His love and deliverance. Yeah, that was one sweet Twig fellowship, no doubt...
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johniam
I'll chime in here: one thing that could be either a nightmare, or a really good time was...witnessing night. Think about it. You go out to the mall or a park or something and you might get somebody who hates all religion and makes a beeline for security as soon as you say "hi", or you could get a group of smart a$$ high school kids, a few of which may 'condescend' to talk to you.
Once I started talking to this guy on a bench and he feigned interest convincingly and then after about 2 minutes he bolted up and said, "Oh, there's my wife gotta go." and "barely escaped with his life". When it was bad it was bad, but when it was good it was good, even if nobody we witnessed to came to fellowship.
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Suda
Never could buy into the organized "Witnessing Times". I witnessed then the way I witness now. When an appropriate situation comes up in everyday life and living, and questions are asked that require a "witness" type answer, I give that answer. Some people are eager to hear, and ask more questions, some are not and after a comment or two, they drop or change the subject. It's not something I plan to do every day, I just take advantage of opportunities as they knock. It's natural, it's easy, and my focus is on helping others deal with a situation, not to invite them to a worship service with me. Usually takes several conversations with that person before the ask if they can attend with me, and I'm glad to have them come along because I know they want to be there. Never saw any profit in trying to coerce someone into coming. And it was okay with me if they never wanted to attend a fellowship but did enjoy meeting one and one and discussing things. Guess it's obvious I never signed a lot of people up for the PFAL class, but people often seek me out for spiritual advice and counsel and prayer. And that's the way I like it.
Suda
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J0nny Ling0
"Oh shut up?"
Nice...
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ChasUFarley
Corny as it sounds.... I LOVED game night with the fellowship. That was always fun~
OK - who's done it???!
WHO has tithed or ABS'd playing Monopoly?
Hands up.... show yourselves - ADMIT IT - YOU'VE DONE IT!
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Suda
No, I haven't. But does sound interesting.
Is this where you sell all your property, and abs on the gross, not the net profit?
Suda
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WordWolf
I've had lots of fun with the locals, over the years.
Seems that once a guy had a title, he was no fun anymore, but everybody else was
often a blast, and didn't see a need to stand on ceremony.
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Catcup
In my opinion, that's where the best times were, and where the real love was, face to face on a local basis.
Several times in Chicago, we got fellowships or WOWs together and did a pizza night. We made Chicago style stuffed pizza from scratch. We would divide up into crews-- dough crew, chopping crew, sauce crew, etc. While one crew was working in the kitchen, the rest of us were hanging out in the rest of the house playing cards, board games, laughing, talking, and having a great time. At the end of the night we had the best home made Chicago stuffed pizza you ever tasted. And plenty of sweet fellowship.
We used to get together to help each other out with home repair projects too-- when we could own homes :/. One of our TC's bought an old ramshackle property near the Indiana Dunes. Great neighborhood, nice lot, but needed a lot of work. He bought the tools, the gloves, provided lots of food and drink, and we all chipped in and helped clean up the property, do landscaping, and afterwards, a great party!
Another time in Chicago, we surprised Bxll Fxrris with a trip on the Bible Lands tour. Bxll was a sixty-something year old african-American cab driver who lived on the poor side of town and had run his own felllowship for about 8 yrs or so before we even got there. He was the ORIGINAL South Side Saint. Matter of fact, I commissioned his wife to design that famous South Side Saints T-Shirt. I thought in honor of his service, wouldn't it be great to do that for him as a surprise-- a once in a lifetime, beyond his dreams trip. At that time it was well over $1500 to send him, but we all banded our spare change, I organized bake sales to put on when New Horizons did free concerts inthe park, and we raised enough money to surprise BXll with this tour. There were a few people who couldn't understand why we weren't doing this to send "the Leadership" on this tour. Hell, WE WERE the leadership. The point was, to honor a simple, basic, faithful believing man who had proved himself over the years to be a good steward and servant of Gods people. For the most part, everyone was excited to do this, and when we announced this to Bill, he was speechless. I'm sure it was the greatest thing that ever happened to this man.
At this date, Bxll is probably gone now. I'm glad we did this for him back in the day. I'm proud we did it.
Now-- THAT is a "good time."
Like I said in other threads, I credit God with the inspiration and the unity and the love and the good times we shared together. When I look back on those good times, it had nothing to do with the (ugh) "man" VPW, the organization, classes, or programs of TWI. It had to do with the unity of the spirit and the body of Christ working together to bless and honor one another. NOT honoring an organization. And as far as I am concerned, we had fun in spite of TWI, not because of them. Usually when they got involved (in whining voice: "Why aren't you sending the leeeeeeeeadership or the Waaaaaaaaaaaaay Corps to the Bible Lands?"), they were trying to be spoilers.
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