I remember the incredulous look on a "leader's" face when I told him that I didn't see the point of driving 3 1/2 hours one way to Kansas City to hear a teaching via phone hookup when I would be receiving the tape at my home a few days later.
If you don't think too hard and live for emotional highs, it is probably a great place to be.
There was for me early on. I learned how to focus on things more by applying what was taught about the law of believing. Some here have heartburn with the topic and that's ok with me. What I got out of it though was a lot more success in life.
I also saw folks genuinely caring for each other and going out of their way for each other. I know now that some had ulterior motives but that happens elsewhere too.
NOW... the 90s? Not so much. If I had left after my first year, I would probably still think the Way was a great place. The last 10 were bad to worse to hell. My only drives ever to a RC's house was either to work or hear a teaching that was the same as the tape I just bought.
It would be safe to say that I got NOTHING out of TWI (despite still giving a lot) in my last 4 years. Imagine that! 4 f**king years! Arrgghhh... Ok, I'm done now. :-)
I am very convinced that the change was directly influenced by the requirement that you fellowships were no longer given any latitude in what was taught. Each week HAD to have one teaching that was a rehash of the last tape and another that was a rehash of a WayRag article. NO time to teach anything you had worked at all. Boringgggggg.... ZZZzzz...
quote:Did anybody ever hear anything that they could use or apply at a Way meeting?
With all honesty I did learn a great method for budgeting, but it wasn't at a TWI-t meeting. It was a mandatory "class" on how to get out of debt and budget so that we could give more money to the TWI-ts. I probably would have ended up using Quicken or something along those lines eventually, but this was a practical start for me and I appreciated the knowledge in this category even though it was not "word" related.
I also learned that it was my job to keep my husband happy, if you know what I mean.;)--> He thought this was great practical learning to be applied often. I didn't really mind, but again, I didn't really need to be taught that by TWI-ts.
quote:How about those times during classes when we had to "share what blessed us" about a teaching? I never did have the guts to say "Nope, nothing blessed me, not a thing, wished I'd stayed home"
Would that we all had the guts to say that so many times, Oakspear! :D--> I'm laughing out loud and the thought of the whole room echoing the same sentiments every time we were forced to share those "blessings" of the teaching or the class. Can you imagine those mandatory letters we were forced to write?
Dear Reverend Martinpuke,
Greetings to you in the power-filled name of our living lord and savior Jesus Christ who made salvation available for all us greasespots who chose to believe the wonderful, matchless Word of God which only we know truly since the first century church. God must want to spit on us all the time!
I was so amazed at your complete lack of knowledge in the Word of God and how utterly boring such bombastic drivel could be. I had a hard time staying awake during the first hour of the class, but when you started screaming and yelling about how much you and God hate homos and how they should be killed I really woke up and started paying attention. Did you know that your veins on your forehead start poking out and making you look something like a Frankensaint when that happens? Now that I know about you and your extra-curricular activities and your wife's indulgences with other women, it makes perfect sense that things like this would get your blood boiling.
Thank you for giving us the perfect example of a seed BOY and clues to recognizing a wolf in sheep's clothing. You are a true example to the flock.
quote:Did anybody ever hear anything that they could use or apply at a Way meeting?
Sure, but I think most of it was repetitive. Not that hearing that God loves you several times a week is a bad thing. But I went to fellowship not only to hear some of the word but also to enjoy the fellowship with people. If you determine that the fellowship with people isn't worth it, then yeah, you might as well stay home and don't waste your time and listen to it on tape when you feel like it.
The best thing I ever learned from twi wasn’t in a twig meeting, rather it was in a Way Home of six guys. I learned to wad up some toilet paper and wipe the rim of the toilet after peeing. That kept things a lot cleaner. I still do it to this day. :D-->
Gracious Heavenly Father I just thank you for just sending your son and for just... and for just... and for just...
After these painful prayers, the teachings were actually a relief at times. At least I knew it was closer to being over. Hey, I found a positive here. ;-)
If you determine that the fellowship with people isn't worth it, then yeah, you might as well stay home and don't waste your time and listen to it on tape when you feel like it.
I don't know about you, Oldies(I'd go to a TWI fellowship today if there was one conveniently close by)man, but I could seek out and enjoy "fellowship with people" without having to sit through a boring repetitive meeting.
I could have lunch them, play soccer with them, go bowling with them, have a beer at the blues bar with them, get together so our kids could play together, or any number of things. I could and did all of these things, speaking the Word with them, as well as more earthly things like how I loathed the Cornhuskers.
If you had to go to a meeting to get some "like-minded" human contact, well, you really ought to get out more :P-->
And since your mentioned listeneing to a tape, did you understand that I live in Nebraska, and Kansas City is 3 1/2 hours drive away? Not much "fellowship" involved in leaving at 10:30 am, driving until 1:00 pm, changing clothes and wolfing down a McDonald's lunch, sitting in a meeting room for two hours, slurping down some tepid coffee, and hitting the road back to the land of Big Red by 8 pm so I could tuck my kids into bed.
quote:... would you please pray for the Way Corps and The Word Over The World and the Board Of Trustees...
I always thought that was a insipid and stupid request. One should know how to pray for themselves and not need to ask anybody else to pray their prayers. What a idiotic request for someone to make in a minisitry that supposedly teaches somebody "how" to understand the bible!
Nevermind the incredible bull$%&* you had to endure with the looooong drive, I always had trouble figuring out what the point of a "twig fellowship" was, even when it was done "right".
The Bible is only so many pages. You read, you reread it, you reread it, you talk about it, you reread it, you reread it, you talk about, you hear somebody else talk about it, you reread it, you talk about, reread, somebody else talks about,
CHEEZUS, enough already! I GET it!
Damn, but I wasted a serious amount of time running in circles...
Yeah, I was a TL and I was told emphatically to only teach from out of PFAL or other books by vpw. It certainly did limit growth and creativity as a believer. It got to the point where I no longer really had to prepare, just regurgitate. When I was on the WOW field I became friends with a dj on the radio and he interviewed me about twi. Needless to say that I was confronted by my corps BL. He claimed that he had discussed this with the "powers to be" and I was to cease and desist. It was so very strange because he called me around 9pm and told me to meet him in an open area in the local park. I thought that perhaps he just wanted to kick my a**.When I met him he appeared to be very secretive and kept peering around as if the illuminati were watching our each and every move. That is just one of many things that happened that year to cause me to wonder if I had made a major mistake.
Thanks, I just had a gutt-rolling laugh. Dont forget that we had our quotas so after twig we had to go out(refreshed by the living word-ha)and scrape around door-to-door looking for $100,oops i mean looking for lost souls. God forgive me.
quote:Originally posted by JustThinking:
Gracious Heavenly Father I just thank you for just sending your son and for just... and for just... and for just...
After these painful prayers, the teachings were actually a relief at times. At least I knew it was closer to being over. Hey, I found a positive here. ;-)
quote:I don't know about you, Oldies(I'd go to a TWI fellowship today if there was one conveniently close by)man, but I could seek out and enjoy "fellowship with people" without having to sit through a boring repetitive meeting.
Oakspear, I guess the point I was trying to make was, there's more to fellowship than just the teaching part. There's spending time talking with folks, singing, praying, manifestations: you know the routine. You don't get that from a tape. We were taught that all that is a biblical principle in the new testament: fellowship with the saints. But don't get me wrong, if you have to travel 3 hours to get all that, and you don't like to travel and consider traveling that day to be a hassle, I'd say forget it. Personally, I like to travel and might do it for just one day. Wouldn't do it on a regular basis though. Who would?
Oldies, I'm sure TWI would be willing to relocate some people to your area and send some WC or WD your way if you're interested. How much did you say you'd be ABS'ing?;)-->
When you left maybe the people were still exciting and fun, but now all that's left are kool-aid drinking zombies. They aren't much to fellowship with anymore and TWI is all you're allowed to talk about.
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dmiller
"Is it Live, or is it Memorex??"
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No Way
i never felt blessed at fellowship. i don't really know what blessed is anyways.
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JustThinking
If you don't think too hard and live for emotional highs, it is probably a great place to be.
There was for me early on. I learned how to focus on things more by applying what was taught about the law of believing. Some here have heartburn with the topic and that's ok with me. What I got out of it though was a lot more success in life.
I also saw folks genuinely caring for each other and going out of their way for each other. I know now that some had ulterior motives but that happens elsewhere too.
NOW... the 90s? Not so much. If I had left after my first year, I would probably still think the Way was a great place. The last 10 were bad to worse to hell. My only drives ever to a RC's house was either to work or hear a teaching that was the same as the tape I just bought.
It would be safe to say that I got NOTHING out of TWI (despite still giving a lot) in my last 4 years. Imagine that! 4 f**king years! Arrgghhh... Ok, I'm done now. :-)
I am very convinced that the change was directly influenced by the requirement that you fellowships were no longer given any latitude in what was taught. Each week HAD to have one teaching that was a rehash of the last tape and another that was a rehash of a WayRag article. NO time to teach anything you had worked at all. Boringgggggg.... ZZZzzz...
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Belle
With all honesty I did learn a great method for budgeting, but it wasn't at a TWI-t meeting. It was a mandatory "class" on how to get out of debt and budget so that we could give more money to the TWI-ts. I probably would have ended up using Quicken or something along those lines eventually, but this was a practical start for me and I appreciated the knowledge in this category even though it was not "word" related.
I also learned that it was my job to keep my husband happy, if you know what I mean.
;)--> He thought this was great practical learning to be applied often. I didn't really mind, but again, I didn't really need to be taught that by TWI-ts.
Would that we all had the guts to say that so many times, Oakspear!
:D--> I'm laughing out loud and the thought of the whole room echoing the same sentiments every time we were forced to share those "blessings" of the teaching or the class. Can you imagine those mandatory letters we were forced to write?
Dear Reverend Martinpuke,
Greetings to you in the power-filled name of our living lord and savior Jesus Christ who made salvation available for all us greasespots who chose to believe the wonderful, matchless Word of God which only we know truly since the first century church. God must want to spit on us all the time!
I was so amazed at your complete lack of knowledge in the Word of God and how utterly boring such bombastic drivel could be. I had a hard time staying awake during the first hour of the class, but when you started screaming and yelling about how much you and God hate homos and how they should be killed I really woke up and started paying attention. Did you know that your veins on your forehead start poking out and making you look something like a Frankensaint when that happens? Now that I know about you and your extra-curricular activities and your wife's indulgences with other women, it makes perfect sense that things like this would get your blood boiling.
Thank you for giving us the perfect example of a seed BOY and clues to recognizing a wolf in sheep's clothing. You are a true example to the flock.
Very sincerely,
a Kool-Aid Spitter
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oldiesman
Sure, but I think most of it was repetitive. Not that hearing that God loves you several times a week is a bad thing. But I went to fellowship not only to hear some of the word but also to enjoy the fellowship with people. If you determine that the fellowship with people isn't worth it, then yeah, you might as well stay home and don't waste your time and listen to it on tape when you feel like it.
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jackmm
The best thing I ever learned from twi wasn’t in a twig meeting, rather it was in a Way Home of six guys. I learned to wad up some toilet paper and wipe the rim of the toilet after peeing. That kept things a lot cleaner. I still do it to this day.
:D-->
Jackmm
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TheSongRemainsTheSame
God Bless
God Bless
God Bless God Bless Bless bless ...
Wasn't that kind of repetitious especially during a ROA???
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JustThinking
Gracious Heavenly Father I just thank you for just sending your son and for just... and for just... and for just...
After these painful prayers, the teachings were actually a relief at times. At least I knew it was closer to being over. Hey, I found a positive here. ;-)
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TheSongRemainsTheSame
Oakspear... would you please pray for the Way Corps and The Word Over The World and the Board Of Trustees...
RoK On
Song
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def59
Zip zilch nada
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Oakspear
I could have lunch them, play soccer with them, go bowling with them, have a beer at the blues bar with them, get together so our kids could play together, or any number of things. I could and did all of these things, speaking the Word with them, as well as more earthly things like how I loathed the Cornhuskers.
If you had to go to a meeting to get some "like-minded" human contact, well, you really ought to get out more
:P-->
And since your mentioned listeneing to a tape, did you understand that I live in Nebraska, and Kansas City is 3 1/2 hours drive away? Not much "fellowship" involved in leaving at 10:30 am, driving until 1:00 pm, changing clothes and wolfing down a McDonald's lunch, sitting in a meeting room for two hours, slurping down some tepid coffee, and hitting the road back to the land of Big Red by 8 pm so I could tuck my kids into bed.
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What The Hay
I always thought that was a insipid and stupid request. One should know how to pray for themselves and not need to ask anybody else to pray their prayers. What a idiotic request for someone to make in a minisitry that supposedly teaches somebody "how" to understand the bible!
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George Aar
Nevermind the incredible bull$%&* you had to endure with the looooong drive, I always had trouble figuring out what the point of a "twig fellowship" was, even when it was done "right".
The Bible is only so many pages. You read, you reread it, you reread it, you talk about it, you reread it, you reread it, you talk about, you hear somebody else talk about it, you reread it, you talk about, reread, somebody else talks about,
CHEEZUS, enough already! I GET it!
Damn, but I wasted a serious amount of time running in circles...
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bluesunday
oakie,
Yeah, I was a TL and I was told emphatically to only teach from out of PFAL or other books by vpw. It certainly did limit growth and creativity as a believer. It got to the point where I no longer really had to prepare, just regurgitate. When I was on the WOW field I became friends with a dj on the radio and he interviewed me about twi. Needless to say that I was confronted by my corps BL. He claimed that he had discussed this with the "powers to be" and I was to cease and desist. It was so very strange because he called me around 9pm and told me to meet him in an open area in the local park. I thought that perhaps he just wanted to kick my a**.When I met him he appeared to be very secretive and kept peering around as if the illuminati were watching our each and every move. That is just one of many things that happened that year to cause me to wonder if I had made a major mistake.
bluedaze
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bluesunday
Thanks, I just had a gutt-rolling laugh. Dont forget that we had our quotas so after twig we had to go out(refreshed by the living word-ha)and scrape around door-to-door looking for $100,oops i mean looking for lost souls. God forgive me.
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oldiesman
Oakspear, I guess the point I was trying to make was, there's more to fellowship than just the teaching part. There's spending time talking with folks, singing, praying, manifestations: you know the routine. You don't get that from a tape. We were taught that all that is a biblical principle in the new testament: fellowship with the saints. But don't get me wrong, if you have to travel 3 hours to get all that, and you don't like to travel and consider traveling that day to be a hassle, I'd say forget it. Personally, I like to travel and might do it for just one day. Wouldn't do it on a regular basis though. Who would?
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Belle
Oldies, I'm sure TWI would be willing to relocate some people to your area and send some WC or WD your way if you're interested. How much did you say you'd be ABS'ing?
;)-->
When you left maybe the people were still exciting and fun, but now all that's left are kool-aid drinking zombies. They aren't much to fellowship with anymore and TWI is all you're allowed to talk about.
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