If I'm remembering properly, during the advanced class Wierwille talked about going to all sorts of spiritualist demonstrations and activities where God taught him a heck of a lot of stuff about "the spirit realm." Then he told us not to try to do it ourselves, that God had been protecting him so he could learn things and teach us, but since we had the benefit of Wierwille's experiences, God wouldn't protect us the way God had protected him...
Did anybody else come away with that impression? Or am I retrojecting?
No Steve, you're not retrojecting. He as much said those very words. His logic was that there was no one teaching it so God had to teach him directly. Therefore he was protected.
Relating to something said earlier in the thread about Wierwille not being confronted with the demonic, er I mean devil spirits, I once heard a story from a 6th Corps guy. The story goes, and I hear from others that were also present that this guy took someone to HQ for a Sunday Night Service. This person had mental issues but the Way believer thought he would be healed or at least helped by hearing "The Word".
As Wierwille began teaching, this person stood up and yelled, "I am Jesus Christ!" One version of the story says that Wierwille tried to cast the spirit out and failed, then Walter C. and Howard A. each grabbed an arm and escorted the man out. The other story said that Wierwille did nothing and WC and HA escorted him out. I will say that I personally heard WW relate a story where he said that the devil spirit "just wouldn't leave". It was clear, though, whether he was referring to this particular incident.
Where both stories agree is that Wierwille did nothing for the troubled person. So Wierwille was, in fact, confronted by a devil spirit and came up short. That's assuming that the problem with the individual was in fact demonization.
I have no problem with someone who believes in the gifts of the Spirit falling short. We're human and often fall short. However he purported himself to be some sort of super spiritual expert who was so wise he was beyond failure or imperfection.
Sometimes, I think we give wierwille way too much credit.....in many ways,
he often didn't "fake the 9 manifestations" he just sidestepped them.
On stage, he'd instruct us to look at this shiny object [bible verse] and then,
insert a fabricated, personal story and we thought he was really *spiritual.*
When, in fact, he spent his young adult life avoiding farm work and devising a plan
to, somehow, find a niche where adulation and cash flow paid his indulgence and bills.
Isn't a con man one of the oldest professions in the world?
Right up there with.....prostitution?
Confessions of a Con Artist
The first thing you need to know about a master con artist is that his mark, his sucker, his target never ever realizes that he/she has been swindled. The ultimate crook is the one who never gets caught. He or she is either invisible to the public media or is thought of as a respected member and/or leader of the community.
For an example, see the section below, Confessions of a Con Artist. For an in-depth analysis of con artists and how they function, see the page titled: How to Win with a Losing Issue.°
Confessions of a Con Artist:
Imagine for a moment, that you have just found the secret journal of a religious preacher named Argy Rodes. Argy was one of the minority of people who were immoral, unethical, and would do anything to make a buck except work to earn it. Here's the essence of what you found in his journal:
When I was still in high school, I got to thinking that the world out there was a pretty tough place. My dad, on the few occasions that I saw him, told me that there weren't very many life-long, free lunch counters, so I'd better start figuring out what I was going to do to (in his words) "keep my foot out of the gutter." I'm not much for hard labor, so when my dad also told me that working smart was better than working hard, I actually paid attention to him.
I started looking for a work-smart career. My dad was a currier for one of the small-time, local crime families, so I saw first hand that crime attracted the attention of guys with guns and badges and jails. I knew dad's business wasn't for me.
When I was sixteen, two important things happened to me in the same month and when I connected the two, a flash of lightning hit my brain. The first thing occurred when a circus came to town. I went there with my buddy and lost all the money I had in a slick carnival game. When my mom found out, she just laughed and quoted P. T. Barnum, "There's a sucker born every minute." About two weeks later I saw the film, "Elmer Gantry" which was about a vacuum cleaner salesman turned tent preacher in the 1920's. Talking and telling stories came natural to me, so when I walked out of that theater, I knew I'd found my career.
I started reading the Bible and checking out local churches. Mom thought I'd gotten religion and was pleased. She started encouraging me. I never mentioned that I didn't buy into the religious stories because there were just too many things that didn't make any sense. There was, however, one thing that made really good sense to me. I saw hundreds of people giving money to people who talked about God. As a test, I started making up stories that I thought were so outlandish that nobody would believe them. To my amazement, many of my listeners would respond to my stories with an open mouth stare and say, "Really?"
The first time I got my hand into a girl's panties by telling her she was doing God a favor, I knew I was going to be a king of the hill. At that point, I knew that I was headed straight into the religion business; not for Jesus, not for saving souls, or for helping widows, but to make money; to be a pillar of the community; to make easy money; to be safe from those men with guns and badges; to make lots of money; to "live high on the hog," to have a big home with servants, drive or be driven in luxury cars, drink the finest wines, and have lots of great sex.
Over the years, I've made millions, hobnobbed with the rich and famous, been invited to places that most people don't even dream about, and had secret sex with more beautiful women than anybody I can imagine except perhaps rock stars and Hugh Hefner.
There are tens of thousands of dedicated, kind, honest, loving individuals who are leaders in numerous religious faiths and who are truly working for what they honestly believe are God's wishes. To walk among them, wearing their costumes and pretending to be one of them, has been, for me, so simple and so easy that I'm amazed that I don't find very many others like me. But then, perhaps there are numerous others who are as good at the con game as I have been. Who's to say for sure what someone else's motives really are?
As my life nears it's conclusion, there's one thing I can say with absolute certainty: Religion is the home of some of the greatest con artists on the planet. I hold myself up as a shining, but still invisible, example of a master of con artist. I've lived my entire adult life in a lifestyle at a level that is beyond the reach of 99.99 percent of the other humans on this planet and never, even once, got caught at my game.
So the next time someone starts peddling religion to you, look at his life style. If he lives a modest life, he's almost certainly genuine, but if he spends large amounts of church money on himself, watch out. My advice to the world is to simply offer two quotes from Jesus: "Beware of the wolves in sheep's clothing." and "By their fruits you shall know them."
In order to think that there are no con artists hiding among today's religious and political leaders, one has to be either, incredibly naive or believe that Jesus was lying when he warned about wolves in sheep's clothing. The best this author can add to the above quote is to invite you to apply your mind to your religious beliefs and question everything. Become "A Reasonable."°
No Steve, you're not retrojecting. He as much said those very words. His logic was that there was no one teaching it so God had to teach him directly. Therefore he was protected.
Well, I'm confident I've had the Baader-Meihof thing, but what I was referring to was and is most likely intuition. Putting things together without consciously having thought about or analyzed them.
(Here's what I remember offhand, in no particular order...
Revelation given once may change.
Revelation given twice is established.
I don't have the original text in front of me :) but I think the first of these two was actually, "Revelation once given may change," which is a little different. Though, in light of the second, it really would be the same. (Once revelation is given, it may change unless given again.)
Yeah, the 16 keys of walking by the spirit...."God has something to say to you, God has something to say, listen, listen, pay close attention, God has something to say ...
Yeah, the 16 keys of walking by the spirit...."God has something to say to you, God has something to say, listen, listen, pay close attention, God has something to say ...
Oh, what a cute little kiddie-song.
And.....God has something to say via scripture, too.
Stuff like taking another's wife. Or, predation over "the flock."
Adultery is a no-no.
Did wierwille listen? Did wierwille pay close attention?
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skyrider
Now.....regarding the last set of three, the power manifestations,
faith (believing), miracles and healings.....
With martindale and wierwille tag-teamed throughout the annual corps week at hq,
they were miffed that the corps household could NOT believe.....you know, that
manifestation of believing (much more oomph that just regular believing).....
TO STOP THE RAIN.
Did these mogs get "word of knowledge" that with the corps gathered in one place,
that our collective believing would be able to turn the rain clouds away? to sway
the rotation of the earth? or just stop the rain by focused prayer (with believing,
of course)?
Heck, where TWO are gathered (with believing) it shall be done, right?
Why couldn't the two mega mogs just stop the rain?
See, that's the thing about all wierwille's pomp and bluster in pfal....
he couldn't DO what he preached to others.
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Broken Arrow
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Broken Arrow
Relating to something said earlier in the thread about Wierwille not being confronted with the demonic, er I mean devil spirits, I once heard a story from a 6th Corps guy. The story goes, and I hear from others that were also present that this guy took someone to HQ for a Sunday Night Service. This person had mental issues but the Way believer thought he would be healed or at least helped by hearing "The Word".
As Wierwille began teaching, this person stood up and yelled, "I am Jesus Christ!" One version of the story says that Wierwille tried to cast the spirit out and failed, then Walter C. and Howard A. each grabbed an arm and escorted the man out. The other story said that Wierwille did nothing and WC and HA escorted him out. I will say that I personally heard WW relate a story where he said that the devil spirit "just wouldn't leave". It was clear, though, whether he was referring to this particular incident.
Where both stories agree is that Wierwille did nothing for the troubled person. So Wierwille was, in fact, confronted by a devil spirit and came up short. That's assuming that the problem with the individual was in fact demonization.
I have no problem with someone who believes in the gifts of the Spirit falling short. We're human and often fall short. However he purported himself to be some sort of super spiritual expert who was so wise he was beyond failure or imperfection.
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WordWolf
vpw referred to different incidents at different times.
vpw had a fascinating life with many miracles- whenever none of us were around.
Whenever there were reliable witnesses, pfft!
There was some other account in some class where, apparently, he claimed he
was dealing with some devil-spirit, and kept asking it its name,
("Name yourself") and it kept saying "No, no, no." He said he finally
got revelation that its name was "No."
My reaction on reading that account was:
--------------------------
"The spirit's name was "No!"
Well, that sure explains a lot....
Whenever I meet these chicks, & I try to get
their names, they also reply "No!"
They must be possessed by that spirit!
He must work out of singles bars!
He works alongside "don't even bother"."
-------------------------
(In case it's not obvious, I didn't/don't frequent singles bars,
that was a joke.)
"Advanced Class Tidbits" is in the "Twi discussions-Archive"
section. Post 23 was the account. My response was a few posts down
but I reposted the funny part.
All kidding aside, if we were to imagine his account was a real account,
vpw was crap at this "dealing with devil-spirits" thing from the get-go.
His APPROACH was incorrect. It was organized for maximum cheese and drama,
and minimum success. Think about it- who, historically, was the best
performer in the "dealing with devil-spirits" category? JC himself.
What did he do? In ONE incident, he asked for a name. In ALL THE OTHER
incidents, there was no ceremony. He not only didn't ask them for a name,
he FORBADE THEM TO SPEAK, and cast them out without any stage-dressing.
No art to it, no dramatalurgical appeal. He ordered them to be silent,
and he ordered them to leave. That's all we've got. But people tend
to remember the ONE incident and forget ALL THE OTHERS. Why would a
self-proclaimed Bible teacher forget about all the others, especially
when teaching on a subject or carrying out the directives on a subject?
My thinking is that, once again,
he saw somebody claim to cast out devils in a big, dramatic show,
and he claimed he was the one who did it and recounted some of the
highlights that stayed with him. vpw's standard operating procedure
was to do that- observe what others did, draw from the most dramatic
parts, then claim it was him all along. For his purposes, the more
obscure the source, the better, because it was LESS likely that he'd
be caught ripping them off. Although, naturally, he had obviations to
cover when he was caught. "This guy writes like you teach."
"Where he taught error, I got out the error." "He was good with
experience but not with The Word." etc, etc.
And there are people who still FALL for this stuff! The man's been
caught, beyond any REASONABLE doubt, ripping off the accounts of
others, even when he misunderstood them or they didn't make sense!
But those determined to NOT see it will not, those determined to make
a patron saint of the man will say it was good that he did it,
and we're evil for pointing out he was a thief, a plagiarist,
a liar, a sybarite, a rapist, a molester, a simonist...
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waysider
"He was a mean man."
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skyrider
Sometimes, I think we give wierwille way too much credit.....in many ways,
he often didn't "fake the 9 manifestations" he just sidestepped them.
On stage, he'd instruct us to look at this shiny object [bible verse] and then,
insert a fabricated, personal story and we thought he was really *spiritual.*
When, in fact, he spent his young adult life avoiding farm work and devising a plan
to, somehow, find a niche where adulation and cash flow paid his indulgence and bills.
Isn't a con man one of the oldest professions in the world?
Right up there with.....prostitution?
.
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outandabout
You should write a book.
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skyrider
Another aspect that should be included in this thread is the pfal class......the thievery,
the content and the filming of this class. Time and time again, wierwille gets to stand
high on that pedestal because of the pfal class.
Wierwille claimed that it was not just the content, but how he actually "put it all together."
So.....was vpw walking by the spirit of God? was he operating those manifestations when it
was filmed and taught? Wouldn't THIS be, at least, one of the BIG FACTORS in showing the
followers that wierwille, indeed, operated word of knowledge, word of wisdom and kept those
pesky dirty spirits away while the mog walked the walk?
YET......there are blunders piling up that put vpw in physical calamity !!!
Click Here -- The filming of pfal
And also......THIS.
What Maggie Muggins told us about wierwille
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WordWolf
The blatant plagiarism of vpw, who claimed all his teachings were based
on enlightenment from God Almighty rather than plagiarized books from
many authors, that has been documented in detail here.
Questions- BG Leonard
Help! The PFAL class was stolen
JE Stiles the Gift of the Holy Spirit
vpw's plagiarized sources
vpw on the sources of his books
vp plagiarism documentation
Among other threads.
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Rocky
Logic? Surely you jest.
Well, I'm confident I've had the Baader-Meihof thing, but what I was referring to was and is most likely intuition. Putting things together without consciously having thought about or analyzed them.
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GeorgeStGeorge
I don't have the original text in front of me :) but I think the first of these two was actually, "Revelation once given may change," which is a little different. Though, in light of the second, it really would be the same. (Once revelation is given, it may change unless given again.)
George
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waysider
Here's how it appears on pg. 10 of the syllabus:
Revelation once given may change. (God changes the revelation after the circumstances change.)
Revelation given twice is established.
There are scripture references given. They are all OT.
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Twinky
Waysider - you still have that stuff?
Isn't it like witchcraft - you have those books and devil spirits lurk in them and will pozzess you? :biglaugh:/>
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Allan
Yeah, the 16 keys of walking by the spirit...."God has something to say to you, God has something to say, listen, listen, pay close attention, God has something to say ...
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skyrider
Oh, what a cute little kiddie-song.
And.....God has something to say via scripture, too.
Stuff like taking another's wife. Or, predation over "the flock."
Adultery is a no-no.
Did wierwille listen? Did wierwille pay close attention?
Nope.
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