"the Way:Living in Wonderland"

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 6/5/2017 at 8:10 AM, penworks said:

I agree that it is "garbage" insofar that it is propaganda. But I think it does have a certain value: it's a good case study on VPW's sick thinking (and lack thereof) and a red flag about the dangers of cults, showing people with a story (instead of a dry explanation) about how cults reinforce their beliefs by spinning their own closed-group fantasy that, to them, makes sense.

On a personal note, psychologically it's weird for me to read it because part of my recruitment episode is in that book told by my 19-year-old self. 

For my daughter, it's a window into her parents' former lives (her dad is in the book, too) showing her our idealism and misplaced trust in VP. It shows his manipulative practices, delusions, egomania, false humility, and narcissism (and other things too many to list here).

Just my 2 cents ...

Penworks, I love reading your posts!!  I can understand why TWLIL is important to some people; it does offer a Window into VPW's mind, and life.  And to think for years, I thought he was a great man of God!  Instead, he was a POS!

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 8/31/2005 at 11:06 AM, def59 said:

Vpw drones:

If Whiteside is accurate and vpw said all women are liars, then why should we believe her book?

We shouldn't.

[Grace Valerie Claire]

On 9/13/2015 at 11:11 AM, WordWolf said:

As twi's shrunk, they've "recapitulated" many of their steps from when they grew.

One was switching a dozen or so regions back to 3 in 1989 when 80% of the

membership walked off. Another was putting "wows" aka "way disciples" on-site

at their permanent location(s). Initially, it was a way to get others to work

there without really paying them. Later, there was enough of a candidate pool to

get people to agree to work there permanently, which made for more competent

work (no need to keep retraining new people.) Now, with an inability to find

willing volunteers to be bossed around for a living, they've been ordering

some to do so from among those who thought they were volunteering to travel

somewhere and teach the Bible for a year to new people.

Same bulls--t, different day.  I am so happy that I was never a WD; being a WOW was hard enough.  I think WD would of been a lot worse for me.  

[WordWolf]

On 8/29/2005 at 11:08 AM, WordWolf said:

pg-176, vpw continues his tale:

 

quote:

"The people in my congregation in Payne were prosperous and very sensitive on

money. When I got there, the elders called me in and told me I had the run of the

pulpit, and that I could teach on anything

as long as I never mentioned money.

That first fall, for four Sundays in a row I taught on tithing,

but I didn't once mention money.

And they called me down, right in the basement of the church, and really sounded off

at me.

You see, it was that shallowness that so discouraged me.

Hm.

They told him he could do anything EXCEPT ONE,

and that was his immediate UNYIELDING focus,

and they had the nerve to be offended that he went 180 degrees from his instructions.

(ANY church where tithing is taught on for an ENTIRE MONTH looks like it's ONLY

in it for the money, and NOBODY will like it.)

"They said not to teach on money, so I didn't-I taught on tithing."

I'll bet he felt so clever, so pleased with himself for adhering-PARTLY-

to the letter while perverting the spirit of his instructions.

For those wondering if they were right to give him instructions,

they were the ELDERS-the experienced local leaders,

and he was the guy who JUST arrived and was young and lacking in experience.

Unless he had a compelling reason beyond tweaking their noses, he should have

considered their counsel wise and followed it.

 

quote:

"I remember Pearl Harbor. When was it? December of 1941? I debated that day what

to do as a minister. Where do I stand now that my country is at war? Do I enlist?

I decided I'd do a greater service to my country by staying home and serving as a

minister here.

Convenient coincidence that what served God just happened to be the easy path for him.

pg-177, he meets Rosalind Rinker in Indiana.

 

quote:

"After I met Rosalind Rinker in Indiana, I invited her to visit us in Payne, and

she came for a week that summer of 1942. Maybe it was August. I remember it was near

the end of summer, and she used to dog me on the Bible being the Word of God.

She talked to me about getting my own life in alignment and harmony with the Bible.

She was the one who had me make out lists of the good things I'd done, that was about

half a page, and all the bad things, that amounted to 10 or 12 pages. She was off on

that part, but the Bible as the Word of God, she really pushed that one. And I'd

never heard that in all my years of school-not believing it anyway.

 

quote:

The last night of her stay, she and I went into the church and knelt at the

pulpit chairs. I remember I asked God for forgiveness, understanding and love,

and I said if He really wanted me to serve Him, He would have to do something about

it for I was at the end of my rope.

Nothing cataclysmic happened then, except that I felt better mentally because I had

been making so many negative confessions, and that prayer was the first positive one.

It just washed out a lot of mental debris.

Then Rosalind left. It was the fall of the year. Kids were back in school already. It

must have been September. I was sitting in my office, an old dentist's office just

around the corner from the church where I prayed-I'll show you that too when we get

there. I bet you it's still there, though I haven't been back here since I left.

I was praying. And I told Father outright that He could have the whole thing, unless

there were real genuine answers that I wouldn't ever have to back up on.

And that's when He spoke to me audibly, just like I'm talking to you now. He said He

would teach me the Word as it had not been known since the first century if I would

teach it to others.

Well, I nearly flew off my chair. I couldn't believe that God would talk to me."

(page-178, since "Nothing cataclysmic...")

Watch this next quote from pg-179.

 

quote:

"The Word is buried today. If there's no one around to teach it, God has to

teach it Himself. You see, I am a product of my times. God knew me before the

foundations of the world, just like He knew you and everyone else. We were all in God's

foreknowledge from the beginnings.

God knew I would believe His Word. And every day I am more and more deeply convinced

of this ministry which teaches people the accuracy and integrity of God's Word.

Without this ministry the world would be in far greater spiritual darkness about His

Word. There would be less light in the world. Where else but in this ministry do you

find the Word of God so living and real? This is truly a time of terrific need."

Doctor nods his head abruptly, as if to punctuate his urgency.

"Well, I couldn't believe that God talked to me right then."

pg-180.

quote:

"Well, on the day God spoke to me, I couldn't believe it. But then I

came to the point by the next day where I said to myself-maybe it's true. So the next

day I talked to God again. I said, 'Lord, if it's really true what you said to me

yesterday, if that was really you talking to me, you've got to give me a sign so that

I can really know, so that I can believe.'

The sky was crystal blue and clear. Not a cloud in sight. It was a beautiful early

autumn day. I said 'If that was really you, and you meant what you said, give me a

sign. Let me see it snow.' My eyes were tightly shut as I prayed. And then I

opened them.

The sky was so white and thick with snow, I couldn't see the tanks at the filling

station on the corner not 75 feet away." Doctor relates this phenomenon in a joyous

voice.

 

quote:

The overcast sky turns restlessly over our heads and the sparse sprinkling of

snowflakes thickens on the windshield. Doctor laughs aloud.

"It reminds me of that day in 1942. It reminds me of that other time it snowed."

pg-181.

quote:

At the corner stands the Marathon Gas Station. Doctor shakes his head

from side to side. His face breaks into a ready smile. His eyes are blue, laughing or

crying. "It reminds me of the day..." he trails off. "That's where I was sitting when

I prayed to God to teach me the Word and show me how. And when I opened my eyes, it was

snowing so hard I couldn't see those gas pumps right there." He points to the pumps

a dozen yards or more from the window.

pg-185-186. vpw is continuing his tour.

 

quote:

"This kitchen is where the elders gave it to me for preaching on tithing. They

were hotter than fire crackers under the collar. They said, 'We told you-No money!'

Then I had to make a stand. I said 'You told me not to mention money, and I didn't

mention it once. I mentioned only tithing. Now you mind your business, and I'll mind

mine which is to take care of this church like I think God wants me to take care of it.'

That was it. After that, they didn't bother me anymore, and we had so much money come in,

it blew their minds."

Somebody asked about vpw admitting he'd gone to school and been working as a pastor for some time BEFORE he believed "the Bible was the Word of God."  This was the quote from "the Way-Living in Love"  where he admitted it.