The TWI Conundrum

[skyrider]

The "twi conundrum" is alive and well even today. For some long-standing twi-ers, wierwille-apologists, and splinter group devotees, they find it difficult to imagine that a ministry which began, at least in part, as a result of rejecting church dogma, legalism and few answers would set out to create a top-down ministry apparatus with the power to indoctrinate and submissively destroy the individual spirit of those hungering and thirsting for truth.

According to Webster......conundrum is 1) a riddle whose answer contains a pun; 2) any puzzling question or problem. As wierwille masked his ministry and mission to lead followers in "the more abundant life"....followers found themselves shackled in perversions and half-truths of what the scriptures declare. And, in deceptive magic....wierwille pointed to scriptures only to later twist and contort them to ensnare the unsuspecting. For example, the "private interpretation segment" is pointedly clear....but it isn't long before wierwille is violating this truth and using it to his advantage. Soon, he is the ONE who is privately interpreting and inserting.

For many, after sitting thru a pfal-foundational class some 20-30 times and hearing wierwille launch into his church vs. truth segments [ie "just when I needed the power, it wasn't there"]....one is conditioned to think that wierwille had the answers. From skittles to candy canes, wierwille repeated how he "searched for 12 years for the answers to the more abundant life"....how the Lord God spoke audibly to him and covered the nearby gas pumps with snow.....that twi is the true household of God. And, with youthful exuberance all-around to reinforce "independence" from church establishments, parents, and authority figures......it's as if, wierwille used their own vain imaginations and vanity to their own peril.

Cliches and one-liners filled the teachings and syllabi with clever slogans:

"The Word of God is the Will of God"

"The Word is the ministry and the ministry is the Word"

"Fear is sand in the machinery of life"

"It's the rocks in the brook that make it sing"

Perversions were supplanted to strengthen servitude to twi"

"Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life"

"We are followers of The Way Ministry"

"Obedience to twi leadership is obedience to God"

"Running pfal classes is 'moving the Word'"

Then, notably......this became a 24/7 lifestyle for staff and corps and long-standing followers. The commune living.....way-homes, wow families, fellow-laborers, outreach programs, inrez-corps, etc all reinforced the indoctrination and conundrum. How does one BREAK FREE when they think that they're already "free?" How does one go about true living when they've become so institutionalized that they think they are living? How does one overcome idolatry when one thinks he is serving God by obeying twi leadership?

A conundrum.......ain't it?

.

Edited December 15, 2011 by skyrider

[WordWolf]

I see the problem as a worldview difference. There's people who've told themselves the following:

"I had good times, learned good Bible, and saw some results in my life as a result of my time in twi.

Therefore,

I have to buy into everything vpw said no matter how ridiculous, and defend every claim of his

no matter how ridiculous, and I am incapable of ever improving my understanding of the Bible,

God, Christ, or Christianity because that's not how we did it when I was young and impressionable.

Besides, vpw was legitimate because when he was in public, he was a persuasive speaker."

They refuse to grow out of their spiritual adolescence. They had some good times, learned some

things, and then refuse to grow past them. The conundrum is confusing all the individual things

for one indivisible thing, so that ONE thing being true means ALL of them are true no matter

how silly.

[skyrider]

I see the problem as a worldview difference. There's people who've told themselves the following:

"I had good times, learned good Bible, and saw some results in my life as a result of my time in twi.

Therefore,

I have to buy into everything vpw said no matter how ridiculous, and defend every claim of his

no matter how ridiculous, and I am incapable of ever improving my understanding of the Bible,

God, Christ, or Christianity because that's not how we did it when I was young and impressionable.

Besides, vpw was legitimate because when he was in public, he was a persuasive speaker."

They refuse to grow out of their spiritual adolescence. They had some good times, learned some

things, and then refuse to grow past them. The conundrum is confusing all the individual things

for one indivisible thing, so that ONE thing being true means ALL of them are true no matter

how silly.

WW....good points.

Yeah, it was confusing AND needed to be accepted in whole....ALL of pfal needed to be accepted!

All of the classes had the wierwille stamp-of-approval. All of corps "training" was beneficial

for spiritual maturity. ALL of wierwille's directives were "of God."

The conundrum?.......wasn't pfal supposed to help us SEPARATE truth from error?

The conundrum?.......don't the scriptures instruct us to SEARCH the scriptures to validate truth?

The conundrum?.......when leadership is at cross-purposes to scripture, who mediates the conflict?

The conundrum?.......when the "office of a bishop" is violated by the twi-president, then what?

The conundrum?.......how do you cleanse a ministry that is being ruled by seductive leaders?

[Ham]

The conundrum?.......how do you cleanse a ministry that is being ruled by seductive leaders?

Just need a big enough fire hose..

Does that match Webster's definition number one?

[waysider]

Early on, Wierwille related how, when he was at a low point in his work as a minister,, he asked/told God to give him a sign or he would quit. The result, of course , is the amazing "snow on the gas pumps" story. Later (Advanced Class, maybe?) Wierwille categorically states that you can't ask/tell God to give you a sign. He uses scriptures, of course, to "validate" his point....."It's like a black fly in your chardonnay bowl of familia."

Edited December 15, 2011 by waysider

[skyrider]

Another conundrum........advanced class teaching that cancer is a devil spirit.

Then, years later.......wierwille dies of cancer.

Puzzling......ain't it?

[waysider]

Conundrum:

Wierwille talks about the impossibility of counterfeiting tongues and then describes how he, himself, had counterfeited tongues.

[waysider]

Wierwille talks about the importance of having needs and wants parallel, yet, he gets virtually anything he "wants" though he actually "needs" very little of it. (Bikes, private jet, classic cars, private chalet, etc.)

[skyrider]

Here's the thing about a conundrum........when you find one, you face another one.

In that, how far and how deep do you search to solve the puzzling item? If cancer

is NOT caused by a devil spirit, WHAT ELSE DID WIERWILLE TEACH IN THE ADV. CLASS

that is not a devil spirit. Then....if wierwille was wrong here, where else?

See the conundrum?........and the follow-up conundrums?

It's difficult to imagine that wierwille/twi having set out on such "spiritual high ground"

would have such destructive ends to many who followed down its pathways. Therefore, the

conundrum? The questions start surfacing......more and more. WHEN did it deviate from

"the truth?" WHERE did twi teachings divert from the scriptures? HOW LONG has this

seduction been going on? WHY didn't "men of God" speak up as the watchmen on the walls?

Once a conundrum starts.......its hard to stop the beating of the conunDRUM.

.

Edited December 16, 2011 by skyrider

[waysider]

Talks about how we need not have any fear because of the Christ in us....then surrounds himself with attack dogs, armed guards and rule-enforcement thugs.

I think maybe Dilemma is Conundrum's not so distant cousin.

[skyrider]

Conundrum:

Wierwille talks about the impossibility of counterfeiting tongues and then describes how he, himself, had counterfeited tongues.

Another similar conundrum:

Wierwille demonstrates speaking in tongues in pfal and how it's a message from or for God. And, further, he explains

that its a distinct language glorifying God.......yet, wierwille's "tongue" was unusually repetitive.

Lo Shanta Malikaseto Lo Shanti.......Lo Shanta Malikaseto Lo Shanto

[waysider]

Says the spirit inside us is perfect.... but...... we'll have to speak in tongues (much) to make it "perfecter".

Why is it so hard to believe positively FOR something, when even the slightest of fears can bring it into fruition?

[skyrider]

Corps Training Conundrum:

Wierwille sits up front sipping his drambuie coffee and chain smoking

while he teaches the corps about strict discipline.

[waysider]

Criticizes the church for following rituals and then promotes elaborate "events" that involve elaborate robes, mantles and religious apparel

[skyrider]

Law of Believing Conundrum:

Weather.....why didn't wierwille believe for nice weather every day?

Why were corps yelled at for not keeping the rain away from corps week?

Healing.....why didn't wierwille believe to overcome his health issues?

Why were staff/corps booted from hq for having health problems?

Outreach....why didn't wierwille believe for pfal classes to run everywhere?

Why were class instructors reprimanded when some students exited pfal?

[waysider]

Why were we expected to live in communes and subsist on pluralities when he....Well, you know what he did.

[skyrider]

Adultery Conundrum:

Wierwille teaches Martindale that he needs to "loosen up" and have plenty of sex

IF he is to become an effective spiritual man of God......YET, if this "doctrine"

was SO GREAT, why wasn't it taught to all the corps men?

[waysider]

WOW training (1976?)

Wierwille tells new recruits..."Keep it in your pants!"

Meanwhile, back at the farm....

[skyrider]

According to Webster......conundrum is 1) a riddle whose answer contains a pun

To me, it's difficult to conceptualize how a ministry that, supposedly, was teaching

truth to set men free.......ended up enslaving those who never missed a teaching.

[waysider]

Wierwille acquires a small fleet of vehicles to help him "move the word" but somehow can't seem to (not even once) visit the FellowLaborers, who are only an hour and a half away from HQ.

[skyrider]

More Abundant Life Conundrum:

Wierwille states in pfal that when he "looked around" he saw more non-Christians

living the more abundant life that the Christians......YET, he later emphasizes

that this "abundance" is spiritual in nature.

[waysider]

Clearly, he used the promise of material abundance to woo new class recruits....

[skyrider]

Repetitive Conundrum:

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again

and expecting different results......YET, even though twi's programs have

crashed and burned, they keep repetitively trudging in dismal failure.

Manifestations Conundrum:

Teach nine manifestations of the spirit and that the elite operate

at the high levels......YET, no one seems to see those "phantom six"

manifestations that demonstrate that God's power is present.

[waysider]

Vehemently promoted abundant sharing but always managed to find himself on the receiving end.

Manifestations Conundrum:

Teach nine manifestations of the spirit and that the elite operate

at the high levels......YET, no one seems to see those "phantom six"

manifestations that demonstrate that God's power is present.

You need "all 9 all the time" to live the abundant life but those non-Christians in session one were doing just fine without them....go figure.

[skyrider]

See.....that's the problem with conundrums.

Once you've spotted one.........the herd runs over you!