The Demise of TWI was Inevitable

[skyrider]

The demise of twi was inevitable......after all, who among us wanted a top-down command authority dictating our lives? My first couple of years in twi were liberating as I lengthened my stride to "run the way of His commandments."

Way back then.....twigs were short, succinct, and spot-on! Dozens of twigs were 30 minutes tops!! We got in, got out and were on our way to other nightly activites by 8:15pm.....and for a college student, the night hadn't even STARTED! Things were simple.....and I couldn't have cared less about some "organizational apparatus" in Ohio.

But....being a team-player and full of energy, I dived in. Two years of back-to-back WOW Ambassador and then, inrez corps. And, by the end of my first year.....I realized, that unless twi changes course, THE DEMISE OF TWI WAS INEVITABLE. If wierwille was hellbent on accelerating a hierarchy of yes-men and clones, then everything in pfal was window dressing. The left hand (rigid control) was working at odds with the right hand (pfal--walking in christ). Why was wierwille injecting two opposing forces? With each passing year, vpw was moving twi's trajectory towards a top-down denomination control.....I thought this man was "tapped in?"

Obviously, he wasn't........and I knew it!

Perhaps, I became a rebel with a cause.....my gut told me that the establishment was off-base. Here I was inrez corps and highly suspicious of this cloning program. Why can't I be ME? Why do I have to mimic HIM? If pfal taught me anything......it taught me that the 'christ-in-me' is a special, unique relationship that only exists BETWEEN Christ and me. Wierwille was not included in that divine relationship that God established and sanctioned with a covenant. Neither was martindale.

Really....it WAS that simple. And, unless twi changes course, this whole thing will derail. Period.

For years I tried to help. For years, I stayed in twi doubting what I saw as inevitable. For years, another hq co-worker and I talked about what we might do to implement change. We thought "Word in Culture" might awaken the trustees.....writers, artists, orchestra musicians, singers, craftsmen, inventors, sculptors, doctors, psychiatrists, etc. were coming to twi AND into the corps. I held out hope that this would spark a fire and devour the inevitable demise. It never happened....the hierarchy doused the fire.

Perhaps.....martindale's presidency will rekindle the fire?

If wierwille wasn't going to change course, then perhaps martindale is the man of the hour? Some changes, some extra passion, some "athletes of the spirit" stuff........but the heavy-handed trustees weren't going to relinquish their acquired power! The machinery was in place to resist change. And, the dreaming stage of "a multi-purpose auditorium where the word of god is spotlighted on a grand scale" became the focus in the backrooms of the trustees and architects' office. It was going to have an orchestra pit and a rehearsal room .....and, and, and, and it was going to help move the word over the world.

Top-down command..........the demise of twi was inevitable.

Wierwille died. Top corps leaders jockeyed for power. No surprise, really.....the undercurrents of riffs were in play for years. Really, the "ship" had been taking on water for about 10 years.......now, it was going to sink. No surprise.

The trustees were fools to not see the demise.

IT STOOD RIGHT THERE IN PLAIN SIGHT.

.

Edited January 17, 2012 by skyrider

[PatAnswer]

Recently I saw an article on Forbes website. It was titled "The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives" and can be found here.

The seven are:

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment.

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests.

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers.

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them.

Habit #5: They are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image.

Habit #6: They underestimate obstacles.

Habit #7: They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past.

Eerie isn't it? Yep, inevitable.

[penworks]

RE: "Way back then.....twigs were short, succinct, and spot-on! "

Not to be "negative," but that depended on who was running the fellowship. I also caution against saying they were "spot-on". Spot on with what?

I guess I'm picky picky picky...

Cheers.

Edited January 17, 2012 by penworks

[skyrider]

I guess I'm picky picky picky...

Hey, nothing wrong with picky.....when it comes from someone like you.

Yeah, my saying "spot-on" is relative.....to a LOCAL succinct teaching. What I was trying to convey is that

it was uplifting and not condescending or preachy. Just one Christian peer trying to uplift another.

I'll take "picky" from you any day. You're one of my favorites.

[skyrider]

Recently I saw an article on Forbes website. It was titled "The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives" and can be found here.

The seven are:

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment.

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests.

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers.

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them.

Habit #5: They are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image.

Habit #6: They underestimate obstacles.

Habit #7: They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past.

Eerie isn't it? Yep, inevitable.

Yeah.....vanity of vanities!

Business, Religion, Politics, Non-Profit Orgs........left unaccountable, power corrupts!

[skyrider]

Recently I saw an article on Forbes website. It was titled "The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful Executives" and can be found here.

The seven are:

Habit # 1: They see themselves and their companies as dominating their environment.

............MOG rulership

Habit #2: They identify so completely with the company that there is no clear boundary between their personal interests and their corporation’s interests.

............The Teacher / The Dog Trainer / The Hunter / The Harley Guy

Habit #3: They think they have all the answers.

............Searched & Plagairized the world over

Habit #4: They ruthlessly eliminate anyone who isn’t completely behind them.

............Cop-Outs / Tricked by the devil / Mark & Avoid

Habit #5: They are consummate spokespersons, obsessed with the company image.

............Twi Headquarters is anally manicured

Habit #6: They underestimate obstacles.

............Children and Teenagers and Challenges? Oh my.

Habit #7: They stubbornly rely on what worked for them in the past.

............PFAL -- the alpha and omega

Eerie isn't it? Yep, inevitable.

Ummm.....yeah, it does fit. :)

[OldSkool]

well, they have hosed themselves anyway. Between Craig's mass purges and Rosie/Donna's no debt policies, etc., they are withering away.

[socks]

RE: "Way back then.....twigs were short, succinct, and spot-on! "

Not to be "negative," but that depended on who was running the fellowship. I also caution against saying they were "spot-on". Spot on with what?

I guess I'm picky picky picky...

Cheers.

Hey Penly Works. I'd put it as "early on the lack of supervision and imposed ritual allowed for the participants to make their own event".... and..... "your mileage may have varied"....meaning it wasn't the same Approved Product everywhere, there were variances and differences across the country. (In 1970 I went from California, to Wichita KS, to Indiana, to the Way Nash to New York and the fellowships across country were very different from each other, each in good ways).

I went to our local fellowship because I wanted to - wanted to see friends, meet new people, have a good time, hear the Bible, be a part of it. Cool things happened. Good stuff. Sometimes incredible stuff. Sometimes not much at all.

Having presided over some snooze parties myself later on (Central Florida in the summer..................no one should be inside a house listening to a tape of someone in Ohio quacking about anything).......... yeah.

[excathedra]

i'm still waiting for the demise of many........

lol

i mean organizations, not people

[outandabout]

skyrider,

You saw things a lot more clearly than I ever did. All I knew was that I was more and more miserable and then I was happy when I left.

[skyrider]

skyrider,

You saw things a lot more clearly than I ever did. All I knew was that I was more and more miserable and then I was happy when I left.

Yeah......some things I did see clearly, other things not so much.

Had I not gotten engaged and all when I did......I'm quite certain that I'd have exited twi in 1981. But hey, that's a whole 'nother story, and don't we all have our "other" stories?

[skyrider]

THE DEMISE OF TWI WAS INEVITABLE. If wierwille was hellbent on accelerating a hierarchy of yes-men and clones,

then everything in pfal was window dressing.

For a period of time.....I spent alot of time reading the gospels and pondering the life of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees, the religious hierarchy, were surreptitiously engaged in ensnaring him and, ultimately, signing his "death warrant." Jesus addressed their deception and hypocrisy and traditions of men in supreme "undressing and unmasking" terms!

To me, the corps program was wierwille's unmasking of motives.......where "submission and discipline" were the underpinnings of three years in the guise of "leadership training." The academic/study side was pfal rehash.....and the work side was a joke. The program was an all-out assault on individual liberty and dignity. And, the classic bait-n-switch reared its ugly head as corps coordinators implied that we owed our lives to this ministry with a lifetime of service. In other words, you signed up to serve twi.....period!

Wierwille's twi was aligned with Phariseeism........straight up!

[Ham]

Is it possible- that the demise of da way was ENGINEERED?

Look at the larger picture:

art and music was tightly regimented.

A system of useless bureaucracy and unbridled rear kissing instituted..

the "research" department is whipped, leashed and muzzled, before being dissolved altogether.. the organization has no new products, nothing noteworthy to offer..

and especially, the installation of a second-rate buffoon as CEO, whose chief claim is the ability to jump in tights.

and scream.

and fornicate.

Any other hidden talents we haven't heard about yet?

[skyrider]

Is it possible- that the demise of da way was ENGINEERED?

Yes, it is possible......AFTER twi's finance department informed the trustees that twi had reached STATISM

where they were in a position of economic viability without persistent outreach.

$35 million? --> $45 million?.......manage investments/ lower payroll/ shrink operating costs/ sustain image

In today's twi, some have posted that twi has $52 MILLION....

If twi-followers keep sending in $$$$ to sustain payroll/operating/maintenance.....then twi can keep MILKING THE CASH COW.

An ENGINEERED demise crashes all the concepts of "new...dynamic...prevailing...etc"....but what else is new?

.

Edited January 18, 2012 by skyrider

[OldSkool]

Today, someone posted that twi has $52 MILLION....

They had $54 million in 2008, according to the last public balance sheet from the state of Arizona.

[skyrider]

They had $54 million in 2008, according to the last public balance sheet from the state of Arizona.

Thanks for the update.

And.....it just proves the point of accrued interest and investment that twi sits on. Under current conditions,

twi is able to sustain economic viability. And, rosalie will be able to ride this wave if she likes....BUT it

reeks of hypocrisy.

[OldSkool]

BUT it reeks of hypocrisy.

2008 was the last time they published the info and have since stopped. The right thing to do for a 501c3 is to publish their balance sheets so people can see how donations are being spent.

It seems the Arizona filings slipped by them. Anyone wanna bet wayGB dimed out good ole Grease Spot Cafe for publishing them?

[chockfull]

2008 was the last time they published the info and have since stopped. The right thing to do for a 501c3 is to publish their balance sheets so people can see how donations are being spent.

It seems the Arizona filings slipped by them. Anyone wanna bet wayGB dimed out good ole Grease Spot Cafe for publishing them?

Here's a link if you want to check it:

http://starpas.azcc.gov/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=wsbroker1/names-detail.p?name-id=F00256060&type=CORPORATION

After 2008 it wasn't required to file financials so they no longer included the balance sheet. The balance sheets are very minimal, but one thing you can see the trend on is a category called "Short Term Investments". That has gone from around $6M in the late 90's to $24M in 2008. Also, Fixed assets has gone from $27M to $17M in the same timeframe. The sale of campuses can be seen there, and real estate value falling.

So yes, Rosie is sitting on a cash cow, paying workers slave wages, burning through BOD members, and keeping her own little twisted version of Utopia functioning there.

[OldSkool]

After 2008 it wasn't required to file financials so they no longer included the balance sheet.

Crap, I lost my bet. <_<

[skyrider]

Is it possible- that the demise of da way was ENGINEERED?

To me, the $64,000 question is......Did wierwille ENGINEER the way inc. as a pseudo-religious, MLM business model

with the goal of sitting in the big CEO chair?

Yes, wierwille spouted scripture to build his "empire"......but was it all an ENGINEERED ploy to acquire power and

unaccountable authority? I mean, really......major swaths of evidence point towards a man who quarreled with his

Van Wert church board, continued to live on church payroll for 3 1/2 years yet planning to jump ship, "snowstorm stories"

that are highly questionable if not out-n-out lies, a foundational class that was stolen from another reverend, a man who

bullies to get his way, and a 60-year old narcissist who engaged in sexual predation.

Perhaps....."The Demise of Wierwille was Inevitable" as he deserted his pastorate and lusted after the flesh and pride

of life BEFORE twi was a twinkle in his imagination?

Yet.....pearls of spoken truth, when believed, will have impact

....even if it comes from an a$$. [Numbers 22:28]

.

Edited January 19, 2012 by skyrider

[OldSkool]

Yet.....pearls of spoken truth, when believed, will have impact

....even if it comes from an a$$. [Numbers 22:28]

Good point. I can never say that God has not taken care of me, in spite of my involvement with the way international. He has a way of making things right in the long run and that's an understatement.

[skyrider]

Perhaps....."The Demise of Wierwille was Inevitable" as he deserted his pastorate and lusted after the flesh and pride

of life BEFORE twi was a twinkle in his imagination?

With ponderousness........perhaps, "The Demise of TWI was Inevitable" BECAUSE the demise of wierwille resonated in his heart

to inflict and interlace a charismatic, cult personality with cut-n-paste scriptures from numerous sources.

In my spiritual expedition......I found not only the inevitable demise of an organization, but those who would "bite and devour

and consume one another" to retain their positions of power and control. No surprise, really......since the scriptures unveil

this downward spiral to those who forsake the liberty that is Christ-centered.

[Twinky]

I think it's still demisING not completely demisED yet.

h the link on p.1 didn't work for me.

Try this one: My link

[OldSkool]

I think it's still demisING not completely demisED yet.

h the link on p.1 didn't work for me.

Try this one: My link

Wow, Rosalie embodies all but one attribute. She prefers to not speak publicly but a couple times a year. On the other hand, she chairs whatever meeting she is a part of so may be she does qualify. Really, she does the public a favor by not talking publicly that often.

[skyrider]

I think it's still demisING not completely demisED yet.

In my spiritual expedition......I found not only the inevitable demise of an organization, but those who would "bite and devour

and consume one another" to retain their positions of power and control. No surprise, really......since the scriptures unveil

this downward spiral to those who forsake the liberty that is Christ-centered.

Yep......downward spiral = demisING