TWI the pseudo-Christian cult

[T-Bone]

The Way International – the Christ-free religious substitute…

…just another challenging counterfeit

 

In the final analysis of The Way International it may come down to one of two options. Either TWI was a genuine Christian ministry, and it eventually went downhill, or it was false from the get-go.

If you’re familiar with my other posts on the subject, you already know my opinion – it was a sham from the beginning. My judgement is not based on divining wierwille’s motives or intent – I’ll leave that up to God. My reasoning is grounded in the common knowledge of his written and recorded works, my 12 years of involvement in classes, programs and projects created by wierwille or sanctioned by him.

I afford wierwille a very narrow benefit of a doubt in terms of guessing at his motivations or intentions – was it criminal, delusional, a combination of several things, “the best laid plans of mice and men” as the saying goes. In a court of law, how does a prosecutor prove that a defendant’s state of mind was to intentionally commit a crime? Many suspects make it easy for the prosecutor by fully confessing to the police. A competent investigator will ask the right questions to nail down the suspect’s intent at the time he committed the crime. What if there is no confession? The prosecutor normally attempts to convince the judge or the jury of a defendant’s criminal intent through implication. They will re-examine all the known circumstances, the accused’s behavior and spoken or written words as well as testimony from witnesses who can attest to the defendant’s actions and perceived mental state at the time of the crime.

*See footnotes below for hyperlinks on delusional, criminal intent

 you can tell by the title of this thread, my assumption is that – for whatever reasons – wierwille started a pseudo-Christian harmful and controlling cult. I did not come to that belief lightly. It comes in the wake of 36 years of reflecting on my 12 years of TWI-experiences, observations, reassessing his written and recorded works, programs and projects created by wierwille or sanctioned by him. I know I am not alone in doing this. There’s been many folks who have posted here at Grease Spot Café besides published works like  

Amazon.com: Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International: 9780997874709: Edge, Charlene L, Ruth Mullen, Duane Stapp: Books

The Cult That Snapped by Karl Kahler | Goodreads

Losing the Way: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape: Skedgell, Kristen: 9780972002196: Amazon.com: Books

These books make great gifts to yourself and others !!!!! They are relevant and provide clarity and much needed answers especially if you're still in TWI, thinking about leaving, wondering if you should leave...or you've left and you're trying to unpack the intellectual and emotional baggage from the experience.

 

Just as a matter of survival I think many folks who leave a harmful and controlling cult become somewhat of a profiler to reassess a cult-leader’s psychological and behavioral characteristics – the cult-leader’s  modus operandi  if you will. I think that’s a natural and therapeutic process to identify, evaluate, make repairs, and reinforce one’s intellectual and emotional defenses against the deceptive inroads used by a cult-leader.

Most arguments used to defend wierwille / PFAL / TWI go along the tenuous lines of referencing the 1942 audible promise that God made to wierwille [ see thread WordWolf started  concerning the failure of the 1942 promise ] and that with the help of God’s guidance he was divinely authorized to plagiarize the works of Christian authors and ‘accurize’ it all in the process. There are numerous threads in About The Way and Doctrinal that shoot innumerable holes in that nonsense – you’re on your own to discover and/or review them.

 

My purpose with this thread is to show you the very real possibility that creating a pseudo-Christian cult is not only feasible since it has been done before but in all probability, it will keep happening  - until it doesn’t. [I’m using Nathan_Jr’s  statistical formula “it works every time 60 % of the time”    ]

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Religious cults are nothing new – and it’s been pointed out that Christianity started out as a cult – a religious sect. One can find a number of ways to define a cult   - see  Cult - Wikipedia   . For this thread and elsewhere on Grease Spot Café,   I’m going with The Way International being a harmful and controlling cult. It can also be described as a pseudo-Christian cult since there is a fake Jesus Christ centerpiece – “The Word” which in PFAL, wierwille designated as taking the place of the absent Christ.   [ see   thread OldSkool started   The Absent Christ?]

What is “The Word”? What does that simple buzzword mean to a TWI-follower?   [ see   buzzwords wayspeak ,  cults and social cohesion , the old wierwille switcheroo   ,     ]

It’s  NOT  The Bible, any translation or version. It is wierwille’s plagiarized, mangled, self-aggrandizing reinterpretation of select Christian works and Scripture.

TWI-followers are under the false assumption that wierwille is correctly interpreting the Word of God and that notion imbues everything wierwille said or did with Christ-like authority.

But it doesn’t take a theologian or scholar to see through wierwille’s smoke and mirrors. One just needs to remove the cult-mindset they adopted – the power that mindset holds over one’s cognitive skills varies according to years of involvement, responsibilities, personal makeup, etc.  If you haven’t read the    Why PFAL sucks    thread yet – check it out – as of this writing, there’s some 119 and counting reasons why it’s so horrible - plus all the subsets – as noted by Grease Spotters.

That thread is a great exercise in the  Socratic method  used on a lot of Grease Spot threads - a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between Grease Spotters, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. It helps to identify and eliminate the dubious theories, logical fallacies, contradictions, eclectic unbiblical sources, and flat-out Scripture twisting in the Power For Abundant Living class – which is the mainstay of The Way International…You will find some posts by wierwille-sympathizers and wierwille-defenders on the Why PFAL sucks thread – which I think is great – because it affords everyone a chance to have some hands-on experience of using cognitive skills. Truth, logic, and facts will stand up to the toughest scrutiny. Lies, error, and absurd nonsense will not.

 

~ ~ ~ ~

The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ³ You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. ⁴ You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. ⁵ So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. ⁶ My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

⁷ “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. ¹² As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴ I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

¹⁷ “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

²⁰ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, ²² I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶ I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.^[a] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³¹ You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” 

Ezekiel 34

 

Ezekiel mentions the leaders…kings…priests…prophets…who were frauds cheating the flock for personal gain. This stands in contrast to the Lord as Shepherd   See also Psalm 23   and      Isaiah 40   and of course there's John 10:

 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.^[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²² Then came the Festival of Dedication^[b] at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all^[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³¹ Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

³³ “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’^[d]? ³⁵ If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— ³⁶ what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.

 John 10

 

The threats that Jesus mentions in Matthew 23  seem  analogous to the abuse of power mentioned in Ezekiel 34.

  

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted^[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’^[b]”

⁵ The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶ And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷ If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’^[c]”

⁹ The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; ¹¹ they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^[d]”

¹² Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[e]”

¹³ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Luke 4

 

I think one of the reasons this account was recorded was to alert Christians to the fact that the devil knows the Scriptures too and will try to use them to undermine our faith. wierwille’s extensive plagiarism of the works of Christian authors is perhaps a similar ploy the devil used in Luke 4. wierwille’s mangling of the works of others along with his twisting of Scriptures was a deadly scheme to the young and naïve like myself.

I notice some interesting similarities between wierwille’s methods and the devil’s strategy in tempting Jesus to deviate from God’s plan by abusing power, twisting the meaning of Scripture, and as a means of self-aggrandizement in the religious community.

The early Christians were warned by Paul and others “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.  So be on your guard!”    Acts 20

 

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.   II Peter 2

 

 

That’s all for now folks, 

Merry Christmas to all

Jesus Christ is the reason for the season!

 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Footnotes:

https://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/6-1-the-insanity-defense/

Delusion - Wikipedia

Implications of Delusional Disorders and Criminal Behaviour for Criminology | Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov)

Explaining Delusional Thinking | Psychology Today

Criminal Intent: What Everyone Should Know - Cook Attorneys

Criminal Intent - Definition, Examples, Cases, Processes (legaldictionary.net)

Violent Crime and Dimensions of Delusion: A Comparative Study of Criminal and Noncriminal Delusional Patients | Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (jaapl.org)

Delusions - IResearchNet

 

the absolute positively complete and final end - I think  

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by T-Bone
add emojis, Knick knacks and fix boo-boos

[Nathan_Jr]

40 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

I’m using Nathan_Jr’s  statistical formula “it works every time 60 % of the time”    ]

 

Well done, T-Bone. In a court of law intent is usually proven beyond a reasonable doubt with circumstantial evidence. Drawing inferences, even conclusions, about victor's intent based on circumstantial evidence is not unreasonable, IMO.

I'm sure you already know this is not MY statistical formula. Not REALLY. It's from Anchorman. You know the scene, right?
 

[T-Bone]

2 minutes ago, Nathan_Jr said:

I'm sure you already know this is not MY statistical formula. Not REALLY. It's from Anchorman. You know the scene, right?
 

no - I thought it was something you came up with - maybe you can post a You Tube clip on this thread - I won't mind 

[Nathan_Jr]

7 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

no - I thought it was something you came up with - maybe you can post a You Tube clip on this thread - I won't mind 

 

[waysider]

Too many footnotes. Very distracting.

[T-Bone]

41 minutes ago, Nathan_Jr said:

 

Thanks Nathan!

[T-Bone]

11 minutes ago, waysider said:

Too many footnotes. Very distracting.

Now where have I heard that complaint before? You probably didn’t like the attributions to books and threads either. I know your type 

[waysider]

1 hour ago, T-Bone said:

You probably didn’t like the attributions to books and threads either.

Oh, were there some of those, too? I didn't even notice, as I'm really very busy at the moment.

[T-Bone]

42 minutes ago, waysider said:

Oh, were there some of those, too? I didn't even notice, as I'm really very busy at the moment.

You’re one of those thread-killers aren’t you

Yikes - the second wave of heckling has already started

 

There’s nothing like good comedy

and this is nothing like it

let's agree to disagree

 

[OldSkool]

7 hours ago, T-Bone said:

You’re one of those thread-killers aren’t you

Yikes - the second wave of heckling has already started

 

There’s nothing like good comedy

and this is nothing like it

let's agree to disagree

 

hey! hey! hey! (said in my best fat albert voice) --- T-Bone --- you are not licensed through OldSkool productions to utilize statler and waldorf in any capacity on the greates website since the first century here at GSC as Im old and grumpy enough to identify as both statler and waldorf....plus my profile pic bruh....

[T-Bone]

1 hour ago, OldSkool said:

hey! hey! hey! (said in my best fat albert voice) --- T-Bone --- you are not licensed through OldSkool productions to utilize statler and waldorf in any capacity on the greates website since the first century here at GSC as Im old and grumpy enough to identify as both statler and waldorf....plus my profile pic bruh....

What the hell is OldSkool’s trip?

I don’t know - so he didn’t get that amp that goes up to eleven – I didn’t get that man-eating bass either

 

Merry Christmas OldSkool and to all Grease Spotters

 

[chockfull]

Tbone I agree with your logic and assessment of the pseudo Christian cult, TSCM the so called ministry TWI.

The verses are right on.  Your external footnotes and documentation are complete and accurate and fact checked.

In fact the idea of pursuing the elements of “what makes up a cult” as opposed to a genuine Christian organization is what motivated me to investigate the young pastor at City on a Hill church’s series that I started a thread on - Cults S3.  I have learned many valuable things from there first setting the background of the difference between cult and authentic, then delving into actual areas of the cult specifically.

It has been a very enlightening study for me on human experience and logic and group dynamics.  I’ve tried to share some of that as I go with any that have cursory interest.

I would conclude saying the whole idea of PFAL we were attracted to is a DIY Christianity as opposed to a spoon fed Christianity.

So my exhortation is to go farm to table in your life.  Become a gardener.  Forge your own path in your own area.  Be a part of the body of Christ that’s not a wart on his arse.

[chockfull]

9 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

What the hell is OldSkool’s trip?

I don’t know - so he didn’t get that amp that goes up to eleven – I didn’t get that man-eating bass either

 

Merry Christmas OldSkool and to all Grease Spotters

 

Bro on that front I’ve just been trying to listen to Eddie’s advice 

 

[OldSkool]

26 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

What the hell is OldSkool’s trip?

I don’t know - so he didn’t get that amp that goes up to eleven – I didn’t get that man-eating bass either

 

Merry Christmas OldSkool and to all Grease Spotters

 

That is the coolest bass ever....

My amp only does 10.125...kinda salty .... Kinda salty...I need 11!

Edited December 25, 2022 by OldSkool

[T-Bone]

wierwille’s sleight of hand that was in effect gave me the feeling that I was following Jesus Christ - through the teaching and example of wierwille.

A cleverly disguised fake Christianity. 

For want of a better analogy - I had some fuzzy idea that wierwille was like the apostle Paul reincarnated - figuratively speaking of course. But I can’t think of a stronger way to express how I so admired him…Who can argue with that? In my mind we as followers of The Way Ministry we’re picking back up where the 1st century church left off. 

It’s understandable how one can easily misinterpret wierwille’s strong focus on the epistles - to the exclusion of the gospels - as being the same thing as the influence of Paul in nurturing the birth of Christianity … I touched on this in another thread Here

Quoting from John Shelby’s “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism “ the following excerpts are from pages 96 - 99 of the Kindle edition:

Paul is a (perhaps the) primary witness in the shaping of the Christian revelation. He penned his words at a time when there were no written Gospels to feed his memory or to create his images. His epistles came during the oral period of Christian history, when there was no one authoritative source of written kerygma (the apostolic proclamation)…

 

…nor do we have any way of knowing that Paul had access to them even if these portions of the tradition were written. These facts create an interpretative problem for modern expositors of Paul. 

 

Our minds have been so shaped by the Gospel account that we do not recognize how frequently we read Paul through the eyes of the Gospels. We need to embrace the fact that none of Paul’s first readers read him this way, for in their lives there were as yet no Gospels. 

 

To interpret Paul accurately we need to put ourselves into the first-century pre-gospel frame of reference and to hear Paul in fresh and authentic ways. When one does this the insights into the primitive Christian experience are startling and challenging…

 

End of excerpts 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Behold the old wierwille switcheroo - recall wierwille’s incredibly false claim / promise of 1942 - God’s audible voice saying He would teach him “The Word” like it had not been known since the 1st century. A claim / promise that has been proven false in so many ways on so many threads.

 

It looks to me like wierwille wanted to wield the same influence as Paul by assuming a divine authority.

 

I think there’s a lot to Shelby’s point of Christians reading the gospels through the eyes of Paul. I don’t have a problem with that - perhaps that is they way God intended it to be read…II Corinthians 5 does say we are to know no one after the flesh - not even Jesus - because with the Holy Spirit we have new standards of judgment…we have a new perspective …but …but …

BUT 

We SHOULD NOT exclude the gospels, the Old Testament or any of the Bible by getting into the stupid dispensational to-whom-it-is-written bull$hit that Bullinger and plagiarizer-extraordinaire-wierwille pushed! That crap is part of what powered wierwille’s pseudo-Christianity!

Edited December 28, 2022 by T-Bone
Revision

[Nathan_Jr]

12 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

I think there’s a lot to Shelby’s point of Christians reading the gospels through the eyes of Paul.

I think you might have inadvertently inverted Shelby’s point.

 

 

(But I could be the inverted one. After all, I am but a mere glassy eyed something something…)

[T-Bone]

2 hours ago, Nathan_Jr said:

I think you might have inadvertently inverted Shelby’s point.

(But I could be the inverted one. After all, I am but a mere glassy eyed something something…)

 you’re right - please excuse my amateur writing skills - I deviated from Shelby’s recommendation to put ourselves in a pre-gospel frame of reference - cuz I wanted to note in a similar way we as Christians develop a relationship with the resurrected Christ. 

 

Okay  - maybe not an exact correlation - but like many of the primitive Christians who never met the earthly Jesus - we are challenged to know Christ.
 

Granted, we do have the added advantage of the written gospels - which I think help ground our imagination in a historical reality - the gospels provide some guidelines for inspiration and insight…of course with the help of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit who WE LET rule in our lives - we’re less likely to stray too far from the teachings and examples Jesus gave in the gospels.

 

unlike wierwille who was unmoored from the teachings and example of Jesus Christ in the gospels. He was so ruled by his own depravity that he would countermand Jesus’ directive to love God and neighbor in Matthew 22.
 

The “best” incident I know of offhand to prove that - is the time wierwille showed us that porn video in the way corps and justified his showing it by saying “anything done in the love of God is okay”…that’s not just pseudo-Christianity - that’s anti-Christianity!

[T-Bone]

In case anyone gets their PFAL syllabus in a wad over me periodically bringing up wierwille’s porn video-desensitizing-training session for future way ministry leaders, maybe you should check your scale of values…I mean I’m a guy and not one of the many women who wierwille sexually molested. Those poor ladies were quadruply fvcked – being physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually violated…repeatedly !

REAL Christians don’t do that!

Genuine shepherds of the Lord’s flock don’t do that.

Pseudo-Christian harmful and controlling cult-leaders like wierwille do!

[Rocky]

24 minutes ago, T-Bone said:

In case anyone gets their PFAL syllabus in a wad over me periodically bringing up wierwille’s porn video-desensitizing-training session for future way ministry leaders, maybe you should check your scale of values…I mean I’m a guy and not one of the many women who wierwille sexually molested. Those poor ladies were quadruply fvcked – being physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually violated…repeatedly !

REAL Christians don’t do that!

Genuine shepherds of the Lord’s flock don’t do that.

Pseudo-Christian harmful and controlling cult-leaders like wierwille do!

I have to wonder if Vic ever had the opportunity to compare notes with David Berg, founder of Children of God (the one which re-organized after Berg's death as The Family International). 

TWI was, by far, not the only pseudo-Christian cult started by a twisted American. UnCULTured, by Daniella Mestyanek Young is a memoir written by a COG survivor, having been born and raised in the cult. From Ms Young's book and this video, it's clear there were several parallels between TWI and COG... the difference largely a matter of degrees. 

 

[Rocky]

 

[Rocky]

 

[T-Bone]

30 minutes ago, Rocky said:

 

Rocky, I appreciate you posting these videos…they’re tough to watch. In the last one Megyn asks Christina (raised in the Children of God cult) at what age did it dawn on her that what’s happening here is not normal.

Christina said she always had a sick feeling in her stomach – it never felt right. It was more the absence of feeling what was normal…she was forced into having sexual relations at the age of 11…that really got to me! An innocent child raised in that depravity – still had some sense of boundaries being violated.

[Rocky]

3 hours ago, T-Bone said:

Christina said she always had a sick feeling in her stomach – it never felt right. It was more the absence of feeling what was normal…she was forced into having sexual relations at the age of 11…that really got to me! An innocent child raised in that depravity – still had some sense of boundaries being violated.

I had NO idea about this until I started reading UnCULTured. The author, Daniella Mastaynek Young alludes to having been raped at age 6 but does describe in more detail the "flirty fishing" and other aspects of sexualizing young children. It's horrifying. 

Not wanting to take one person's claim, I started searching the internet about the COG cult. Ms. Young's experience was not isolated and very much corroborates what the gal in Megyn Kelly's interview had to say.

I first came into contact with twi (not as a result of a female wow but rather a fellow Airman), 48 years ago (Halloween 1974) at the Lajes Field base chapel... at age 19. In the ensuing years, I've lost a LOT of my naivete and learned plenty about the ways of the flesh... and sinister, sometimes subtle (sometimes not) exercise of power and influence in organizations. Notably, religious organizations established with authoritarian social structures.

Long ago, probably within the last 20 to 25 years, I realized churches were no different than the culture of Hollywood. Young wannabe starlets seeking opportunity approached powerful movie producers who had deep pockets and access to large bank accounts. The starlets wanted opportunity to make block buster movies. Some young cult converts wanted access to the power leaders of cults. I doubt I need to rehash the stories of Victor and his motor coach. In his way corpse letters, I even recall him mentioning the lockbox concept.

The lockbox was eerily similar to the secrecy practices among the COG. Anyway, It would surprised me NOT AT ALL if Victor had met and compared notes with David Berg. Shortly after filming the PFLAP class, commandeering The Way East and The Way West. Or at least reading about Berg's exploits.

Further, when Berg died, the new WOG in COG instituted changes likely as a result of counsel from lawyers to partially tamp down child sexual abuse. Nevertheless, IMO both The Family International (successor to Children of God) and TWI remain cultic organizations from which MANY people escape and take years to recover from.  

Again, the all powerful cult leader figures out a way to have sexual access to young, beautiful neophytes.

[T-Bone]

26 minutes ago, Rocky said:

Long ago, probably within the last 20 to 25 years, I realized churches were no different than the culture of Hollywood. Young wannabe starlets seeking opportunity approached powerful movie producers who had deep pockets and access to large bank accounts. The starlets wanted opportunity to make block buster movies. Some young cult converts wanted access to the power leaders of cults. I doubt I need to rehash the stories of Victor and his motor coach. In his way corpse letters, I even recall him mentioning the lockbox concept.

A riveting post, Rocky !

and this part I quoted relates to some of the things I’ll share in my next post - about the growth of independent churches and such 

[T-Bone]

Jude was the brother of Jesus and James.

One of the mega-themes of the book of Jude is false teachers and leaders who reject the lordship of Jesus Christ - undermining the faith of others.

 

The importance of this theme cannot be overstated! We should avoid leaders and teachers who distort the Bible to suit their own agenda. Genuine Christian leaders will faithfully represent Christ in words and behavior.

Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. 

 

4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

 

5 So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful. 6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. 7 And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.

 

8 In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. 9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels,[d] did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) 

 

10 But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. 11 What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

 

12 When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

Jude 1 NLT

~ ~ ~ ~

Back in Jude’s day the body of Christ wasn’t ‘segmented’ like it is today. Back then false teachers/leaders would worm their way in (as verse 4 puts it). But in modern times with the variety of sects , denominations , offshoots , social media and such being commonplace it’s not unusual for someone to start their own thing. 

 

And you can’t judge a group by their statement of beliefs. Go to The Way International’s official website and read theirs. It reads like many mainstream Christian denominations. 

 

But the thing about a pseudo-Christian cult like TWI is that is their ‘cloaking device’. It looks like they’re Christian. Many of their teachings sound biblical and Christian-like

 

But what many religious-cult survivors will tell you, it’s more about their methods and practices than their seemingly innocuous doctrines. 

 

It’s how they ‘shepherd the flock’. How they control groupthink. The callousness of top leadership is revealed in how they handle reported abuses of power. Does a whistleblower have legitimate fears of backlash ? 
 

it’s how harmful and controlling pseudo-Christian cults exploit and abuse their followers. You never hear about that stuff because of wierwille’s ‘lockbox’ policy. The elite upper leadership of hypocrites are insulated from criticism because people who have legitimate grievances are labeled possessed, tripped-out, tricked by the devil, and various other character assassination techniques!

 

Are they outward focused ? Doing charitable work in the community? Do they look down on all other Christian groups? 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

 

Jude gives 3 examples of rebellion: those of Israel who did not remain faithful, the angels who refused to submit to God’s authority, Sodom and Gomorrah filled with immorality. Clearly the Scriptures teach that sinners who do not seek forgiveness from God will face eternal separation from Him.

 

The story of pseudo-Christian cults does not end well.

Edited December 29, 2022 by T-Bone
Typos