. . . . . . . . On a recent thread here, for instance, I just realized that the "more abundant life" is not about THINGS in abundance in a person's life, or necessarily the quality of his possesstions, but about an "abundance of TRUTH". That is what Jesus Christ came "that we might have".
I will always want more of that, and am happy that I learned how to find it for myself.
Thanks for listening!
SPEC
I guess I see it a bit differently now Spectrum. I don't search for more "truth" about God. . . I seek God Himself. The person of Jesus Christ. That is who my relationship is with. . . He is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.
Truth is a "who". . . not a "what". . . For me. . . it is about an abundance of Him.
God is no respecter of gray matter. . . He protects the simple and the pure of heart will see God.
I can't see JL as any type of believing authority now, though I did when we first left. The nose spider stuff pretty much did it for me. I figure he and many others who have paying ministries(livelihoods) built on TWI will try to call the flock back now and then. That's their audience. Their power lies in continuing the movement of the Word like it hasn't been known since the first centurty church via VPW.
I have not found worldly people to be more shocking and live in shocking ways. I'm not talking about gang bangers, meth dealers, addicts, hookers etc--my life rarely if ever intersects with those type of lifestyles, other than what I hear on the news.
I was surprised when I got out of TWI(20 yrs in) that people in the world were more kind and generous than we had lived with our last decade or so in TWI. More concerned with their communities, schools and willing to donate time and energy to those. Hobbies and interests brought zest to their lives, and many had maintained friendships from childhood and were deeply involved with their families.
Hubby and I are still somewhat social misfits due to all our years of isolation-- while others were maturing and building relationships, we were working very hard to stay obedient children in a small circle of people, putting aside interests etc because of our bizybizy ministry lifestyle.
Heh - my stuff went into a landfill 23 years ago... What am I doing with "what we were taught?" Ignoring most of it. It is far far easier to simply be an honest and decent person than to toddle down the road of TWI and it's various uppity little offshoots.
Do you think I learned anything about eternal life, how to get born again, speaking in tongues or how to overcome fear from the Roman Catholic Church?
Here's what I did with what I know…The TWI turmoil in 86 got me started on a long journey of reexamining everything. It's been a combination of reflecting on certain personal experiences, exploring various systematic theologies and dialogs with folks at Grease Spot. I put two and two together and came up with something a lot more shocking than four crucified. I was deceived by a great con artist who was also a sexual predator!
Every horrific story I heard from vp's victims was like a slap in the face to my prideful ignorance – one of the many intellectual deficits hidden by a cloak of invisibility, the TWI mindset. His toxic immorality was always there – right below the surface. You could catch a glimpse of its shadow through the depraved & ungodly ideas he'd spout off in teachings and casual meetings. His statements like "Anything done in the love of God is okay" or "I've so renewed my mind that _______ [fill in the blank with any type of activity] doesn't bother me" say a lot for him being a sociopath. His degenerate views expressed in the CF & S class were taken to the Nth degree by his example around Corps. I've talked here before about being at one of his pajama parties in residence, where he showed Family Corps [including teenagers] his favorite porn video as he added commentary with the above listed statements.
What am I doing with what I know – warning others!
Here's what I did with what I know…The TWI turmoil in 86 got me started on a long journey of reexamining everything. It's been a combination of reflecting on certain personal experiences, exploring various systematic theologies and dialogs with folks at Grease Spot. I put two and two together and came up with something a lot more shocking than four crucified. I was deceived by a great con artist who was also a sexual predator!
Every horrific story I heard from vp's victims was like a slap in the face to my prideful ignorance – one of the many intellectual deficits hidden by a cloak of invisibility, the TWI mindset. His toxic immorality was always there – right below the surface. You could catch a glimpse of its shadow through the depraved & ungodly ideas he'd spout off in teachings and casual meetings. His statements like "Anything done in the love of God is okay" or "I've so renewed my mind that _______ [fill in the blank with any type of activity] doesn't bother me" say a lot for him being a sociopath. His degenerate views expressed in the CF & S class were taken to the Nth degree by his example around Corps. I've talked here before about being at one of his pajama parties in residence, where he showed Family Corps [including teenagers] his favorite porn video as he added commentary with the above listed statements.
What am I doing with what I know – warning others!
the part in this post about the "christian" family and sex class made me think of the documentary Cult Killer: The Rick Rodriguez Story , and so do a whole lot of my experiences as a kid forced to partake in the way international's insanity, so what exactly can i do with what i know besides vomit it out of my brain and do what i can to heal? and i'd like to meet this "christ" that would ask such an inane question of people so horribly abused in the name of "god" because i feel like punching him right in the mouth as many times as i could until i was worn out and then get my breath and start in again.
the part in this post about the "christian" family and sex class made me think of the documentary Cult Killer: The Rick Rodriguez Story , and so do a whole lot of my experiences as a kid forced to partake in the way international's insanity, so what exactly can i do with what i know besides vomit it out of my brain and do what i can to heal? and i'd like to meet this "christ" that would ask such an inane question of people so horribly abused in the name of "god" because i feel like punching him right in the mouth as many times as i could until i was worn out and then get my breath and start in again.
I did not address the Christ question in my post, cuz I'd get into a whole other vein. I'm assuming the statement in the thread title was posed with good intentions, but even so…or maybe it's just me – but it hit me as reminiscent of the manipulative mind games & hypocrisy that TWI was/is so proficient in.
But ok – I'll tell you what I think Christ would ask of me – "After all the high moral standards and how to deal with sin & the sinner that I've talked about in the Gospels …and especially remembering the priority of loving God & neighbor with all your heart, soul, mind & strength – are you just going to stand there and let someone whitewash over the gross iniquities of TWI?"
Do you think I learned anything about eternal life, how to get born again, speaking in tongues or how to overcome fear from the Roman Catholic Church?
In the greater scheme of things, what makes *all that* such a big deal?
generally, what I've observed people "learned" from da way, is a persistent arrogance and rancid opinion that they've got the almighty where they want him..
Do you think I learned anything about eternal life, how to get born again, speaking in tongues or how to overcome fear from the Roman Catholic Church?
Does that really matter? What does matter is that TWI never has held the keys to any of those things. You could have found any of those things by being involved in any number of religious organizations, or not.
what i did with what i knew was throw out the trash. including my marked up king james bible . bought a new bible and think nothing of the WAY CRAP INTERNATIONAL anymore when reading it . what i learned in the 15 years plus was how to use the word as a weapon to hurt others that were not in the HOUSEHOLD OF THE WAY INTERNATIONAL lost many friends & neighbors by the lack of love thy neighbor unless you belong to the way!!!!
If you'd like to see what I've done with "What we were taught", it would neccessitate rummaging around in old disposable diapers, pop cans, and leaking garbage bags.
I'm not much of a fan of superstitious drivel anymore, especially the kind that is so agenda-driven. I echo the others in that it's good to see you back, but I don't share even a tinge of your apparent fondness for our WayWorld experience, anymore than I would wax nostalgic for my days of selling Amway products...
I thought that what George said last March summed it up quite nicely...
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waysider
Cool stuff, spec!
Sounds like a well balanced approach.
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spectrum49
Why, thank you Waysider!
I have to admit I was rather proud when I penned "Doctor Wierd-wille".
I sort of made that one up "on the spot". I have not seen it elsewhere.
(HA!)
If if has already been thought of, I do hope I don't become accused of
plagiarism myself! (Har! Har!)
Spec
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geisha779
I guess I see it a bit differently now Spectrum. I don't search for more "truth" about God. . . I seek God Himself. The person of Jesus Christ. That is who my relationship is with. . . He is the way, the TRUTH, and the life.
Truth is a "who". . . not a "what". . . For me. . . it is about an abundance of Him.
God is no respecter of gray matter. . . He protects the simple and the pure of heart will see God.
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eagle709
Forget the past and enjoy the now. I still couldn't handle a church though.
Eagle
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Bramble
I can't see JL as any type of believing authority now, though I did when we first left. The nose spider stuff pretty much did it for me. I figure he and many others who have paying ministries(livelihoods) built on TWI will try to call the flock back now and then. That's their audience. Their power lies in continuing the movement of the Word like it hasn't been known since the first centurty church via VPW.
I have not found worldly people to be more shocking and live in shocking ways. I'm not talking about gang bangers, meth dealers, addicts, hookers etc--my life rarely if ever intersects with those type of lifestyles, other than what I hear on the news.
I was surprised when I got out of TWI(20 yrs in) that people in the world were more kind and generous than we had lived with our last decade or so in TWI. More concerned with their communities, schools and willing to donate time and energy to those. Hobbies and interests brought zest to their lives, and many had maintained friendships from childhood and were deeply involved with their families.
Hubby and I are still somewhat social misfits due to all our years of isolation-- while others were maturing and building relationships, we were working very hard to stay obedient children in a small circle of people, putting aside interests etc because of our bizybizy ministry lifestyle.
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Rejoice
This just makes my blood curdle....
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tagalong
Do you think I learned anything about eternal life, how to get born again, speaking in tongues or how to overcome fear from the Roman Catholic Church?
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waysider
Have you ever taken a closer look at the things you assume you learned in The Way?
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T-Bone
Here's what I did with what I know…The TWI turmoil in 86 got me started on a long journey of reexamining everything. It's been a combination of reflecting on certain personal experiences, exploring various systematic theologies and dialogs with folks at Grease Spot. I put two and two together and came up with something a lot more shocking than four crucified. I was deceived by a great con artist who was also a sexual predator!
Every horrific story I heard from vp's victims was like a slap in the face to my prideful ignorance – one of the many intellectual deficits hidden by a cloak of invisibility, the TWI mindset. His toxic immorality was always there – right below the surface. You could catch a glimpse of its shadow through the depraved & ungodly ideas he'd spout off in teachings and casual meetings. His statements like "Anything done in the love of God is okay" or "I've so renewed my mind that _______ [fill in the blank with any type of activity] doesn't bother me" say a lot for him being a sociopath. His degenerate views expressed in the CF & S class were taken to the Nth degree by his example around Corps. I've talked here before about being at one of his pajama parties in residence, where he showed Family Corps [including teenagers] his favorite porn video as he added commentary with the above listed statements.
What am I doing with what I know – warning others!
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brainfixed
the part in this post about the "christian" family and sex class made me think of the documentary Cult Killer: The Rick Rodriguez Story , and so do a whole lot of my experiences as a kid forced to partake in the way international's insanity, so what exactly can i do with what i know besides vomit it out of my brain and do what i can to heal? and i'd like to meet this "christ" that would ask such an inane question of people so horribly abused in the name of "god" because i feel like punching him right in the mouth as many times as i could until i was worn out and then get my breath and start in again.
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T-Bone
I did not address the Christ question in my post, cuz I'd get into a whole other vein. I'm assuming the statement in the thread title was posed with good intentions, but even so…or maybe it's just me – but it hit me as reminiscent of the manipulative mind games & hypocrisy that TWI was/is so proficient in.
But ok – I'll tell you what I think Christ would ask of me – "After all the high moral standards and how to deal with sin & the sinner that I've talked about in the Gospels …and especially remembering the priority of loving God & neighbor with all your heart, soul, mind & strength – are you just going to stand there and let someone whitewash over the gross iniquities of TWI?"
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Ham
In the greater scheme of things, what makes *all that* such a big deal?
generally, what I've observed people "learned" from da way, is a persistent arrogance and rancid opinion that they've got the almighty where they want him..
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WordWolf
Actually, there are people who've learned about eternal life, getting born again, and overcoming fear from people
in the Roman Catholic Church. I'm not one, but I've met some.
As for speaking in tongues, some Roman Catholics, among other groups, are "charismatics",
and do teach on speaking in tongues.
Whether THEY or twi are more correct on speaking in tongues is a matter of differing opinions.
I'm at least suspicious of the man who supposedly taught us on it- when the approach was mechanized and
linear, and the results ended with him always using the same handful of syllables whenever he supposedly
spoke in tongues as an example.
And yes, the Roman Catholics I saw who learned that didn't need to be infested with love of
filthy lucre, plagiarism, or doctrines approving rape when they were taught.
(The Catholic Church, at the very least, never teaches God's ok with rape or molestation- but vpw himself
taught that to people in his inner circle and set the stage with much of the way corps.
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Tzaia
Does that really matter? What does matter is that TWI never has held the keys to any of those things. You could have found any of those things by being involved in any number of religious organizations, or not.
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Ham
Sooo.. what's your point?
:)
don't disappoint me with a drive by post.. inferring we oughter be what da manogawd claimed to be or some such nonsense..
I'd like to see post number three..
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STAYAWAY
what i did with what i knew was throw out the trash. including my marked up king james bible . bought a new bible and think nothing of the WAY CRAP INTERNATIONAL anymore when reading it . what i learned in the 15 years plus was how to use the word as a weapon to hurt others that were not in the HOUSEHOLD OF THE WAY INTERNATIONAL lost many friends & neighbors by the lack of love thy neighbor unless you belong to the way!!!!
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oenophile
What have I done with what I knew. Hmmm, maybe become a two-fold child of hell than they are themselves.
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WOG
:huh:
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OldSkool
That question exemplifies the importance TWI places on knowledge over weightier matters such as love and mercy. Knowledge puffeth up.
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GrouchoMarxJr
I thought that what George said last March summed it up quite nicely...
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