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My recollection of what TWI taught is that anybody (including anyone in TWI) that performs Romans 10:9 is born again and is part of the Body of Christ forever. "Incorruptible Seed". Whether you're in fellowship with God or with TWI, or not, you are "heaven bound and no power from hell can stop you from going". And the only proof was SIT and without SIT you couldn't prove or REALLY SAY that you were. My recollection again: The "Household of God" was interpreted as being "in fellowship" with God and with TWI and in practice with all the principles. It also meant you were an active member in TWI fellowships. Did TWI teach that other christian groups were 'in fellowship with God'. I think that was kinda fuzzy to me. I thought that it depended on whether one was "standing on the Word" and of course the Word was only the TWI version. So yeah, I think the general thought was that TWI was the only "household".

I do not agree that The Way taught/teaches an equivalency between their followers and "The Body of Christ." The case that they consider themselves "the household" is ironclad, though I submit this makes them far from unique among religious sects. Others may not use the same terminology, but why even form a separate group if you don't think your group has it a little bit more correct than the one down the street.

William talks about his parents and other members of his family being in twi for years. However, I don't think he mentioned anyone else being in the corps program. Vince and Sean Finnegan began teaching against once saved/always saved which is a big departure from twi. Myth: Salvation Cannot Be Lost

I know there's a guy in the Way Chorus called "Ad@m Barlow".... is he related to William? Interesting Podcast, but.... Sean Finnegan is part of VF's ministry, A ministry that has many similar beliefs and principles to TWI.

Although TWI doesn't teach it openly, it's possible for a person to infer from their teachings that they claim to be the "true Body of Christ" or "The Household of God" Why do I say this? Because they apply organizational principles that apply to all those born again by the Spirit of God to their organization.... and of course TWI claims to be the only organization that has the "rightly divided word". Recently Vern Edwards during a STS said that "The Way Corps" was the best Christian training program in the world and that "The Way Magazine" was the best Christian magazine in the world. And...In my Facebook friends I used to have Bob S and other believers who lived in HQ and in most of their posts they talked about having the best of the best in every area of things. (Music, Programs, Events..etc) Do you know any authors from whom I can learn how to deal with being part of the "Body of Christ" and dealing with people from different organizations that are also part of that "Body of Christ"?

Adrien Brody Paul Gleeson Jarod Leto Elias Koteas Ben Chaplin Tim Blake Nelson Thomas Jane George Clooney Woody Harrelson John Cusack John C Reilly John Savage Jim Caviezel Sean Penn Nick Nolte John Travolta

Wierwille frequently quoted Bullinger without understanding him. Bullinger explains how the Greek word translated "interpretation" basically means "to loose", and gives the example of dogs loosed upon the game. The misunderstanding is that Bullinger was emphasizing the act of "loosing", or releasing, Wierwille thought the emphasis should be on the viciousness or wildness or the dogs as they attacked the game. I don't know how many times over the years that I heard people teach the misunderstanding of the example, rather than the verse itself

A few years before I was kicked out of TWI there was a big push for us to increase our proportion of giving. My wife at the time, who was usually much more waybrained than I was, vetoed that, pointing out reasonably that we had a lot of bills and just couldn't afford it, so we kept it at 10% (which in reality, was also too much for us). We were also saving up to replace our car. When we were able to scrape together enough to pay cash for a used vehicle (no debt ya know) our twig coordinator, who assumed that we had fallen in line and increased our "abundant sharing" percentage, praised us for "putting the principles of giving and receiving practice" by coughing up more money. I kept my mouth shut. A few weeks later he somehow found out (I forget how) that we were only giving 10% and chastised us for "merely budgeting and saving" in order to achieve our financial goals

Questioning Way International Doctrines (William Barlow) In this audio interview done by Sean Finnegan (Vince Finnegan's son), William Barlow covers a lot of topics along with his life experiences leading up to and after his being kicked out of the way corps by Rivenbark about six months before he was to graduate. If I remember correctly, this was around 2017. He speaks on growing up in twi, the treatment he received because he went to his leadership about wanting to privately discuss questions he and another corps brother had about some of vpw's teaching, the control leadership wanted to have over him after leaving the corps, etc. The main issue concerns twi's continued stance to preserve vpw's teachings and confront, belittle and condemn those who dare to question them. The link below is for Barlow's website which he mentions. It contains research teachings he and others have done on dispensationalism, the tithe and giving, the kingdom of God and many others. He encourages questions on all of the teachings. Study Driven Faith

Right pew. You're up. George

This is a show that ran in syndication in the U.S. for a long time. In the U.K., it did the same, AFAIK. In the UK, it was a 1-hour show. In the US, they snipped each show in half to make 1/2 hour shows, which is how they always aired, AFAIK. It is next to impossible to find this show in syndication now. I strongly suspect that far too many people were offended by the show- or are predicted to be offended by the show, for it to run now. That's a little odd, because, on the whole, it wasn't a show that specifically went for "shocking" or "edgy." This show was a comedy- although it did include musical numbers. It occasionally spoofed something- like "Gone with the Wind," "Murder on the Orient Express," and "The 6 Million Dollar Man."

I'm sure the name "Ernest Martin" won't ring a bell to a lot of people who only listen to twi's side of stories. His name is known at the GSC. Ernest Martin was the man who wrote the article and book upon which twi based "Jesus Christ- Our Promised Seed." His book was called "The Star That Astonished the World." The article preceded the book by several years, and was used by the research department-at vpw's direction- on which to base the book. Ever remember hearing his name in twi? Me, neither. A different thing which may be a surprise to some people-but not others- is that JCOPS says "by vpw" on it and inside it. It was written by people in the research department, and based largely on Martin's work- with some interpolation of Bullinger's work from "the Witness of the Stars". Once again, very little of that book was original, and even less was written by vpw- largely the introduction. This wouldn't surprise some people because, apparently, it's customary in certain circles for the person in charge of the group to write "edited by" and slap his name on the work of his team- no matter how much of it was his work- and mention the team briefly, and that's all right. I know it surprised me, at least. I expect the words "written by" to mean that this is the person who wrote a book. I acknowledge books that say something like "my life as told to" as different, and scholarly books like "Black Elk Speaks", which was compiled by a Professor, and was largely the words of Black Elk, an Indian chieftain (with notes where a different Indian was quoted, like "Iron Wasichu speaks" and so on.)

Dirty Harry

I got another one. Nick Nolte

When the rain is blowing in your face And the whole world is on your case I could offer you a warm embrace

Right church, wrong pew. George

That's quite a lineup, but I'm not getting it. George

I doubt Mac Davis ever covered this one. George

Yes, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill.

IF anything, teaching the concept without the deceptive bias, TWI actually OWES service to the believers/followers.

Which translates to: Tithe Identification: What Tithe is Paid by Christians? I appreciate the practice with French language translation (I still have to use google translate). Immutable my BEE-hind.

Yeah, there's nothing Biblically required about making the tithe the minimum;

Giving to God—Abundant Sharing Posted on November 14, 2016 by The Way Quote: Tithing (giving one-tenth of one’s increase) to the Lord is established in God’s Word as a basic law of God’s prosperity. In making the tithe our minimum, we open the floodgates for prosperity to ourselves, and we help make available the knowledge of God to others. We also have the joy of giving above and beyond the tithe, which we call abundant sharing. Abundant sharing is a heart-motivated commitment to freely share of our abundance out of love for and thankfulness to God. Two main purposes for abundantly sharing are so that God’s people may give and thus receive the subsequent blessings, and so that the necessary financial and physical means are provided to help move God’s prevailing Word.

Our Legal Rights in Christ to God’s Blessings This article was posted 5 years ago by twi. In it they say "One of these immutable laws is the law of giving."

2 Corinthians 9:5-7 So I considered it necessary to urge the brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised generous gift (blessing) that the same would be ready as a generous gift (blessing) and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness (covetousness). 6 Now I say this: the one who sows sparingly (refraining) will also reap sparingly (refraining), and the one who sows generously (upon blessings) will also reap generously (upon blessings). 7 Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Sparingly = 5340 pheidomenós (adverb): Sparing, refraining, withholding. This is in the context of verse 5 which says "not as one grudgingly given due to greediness" NASB which is one Greek word - 4124 pleonexia meaning greed, covetousness. So sparingly here isn't about giving a small amount but giving a small amount because of greed (an intense and selfish desire for something). IOW, you don't have to give out of what you need, but out of your blessings. Generously = 2129 ep' eulogia (noun): upon (on the basis of) blessings (See 1909 epi) I know it can be a challenge to get past twi's doctrine and expectations of habitual giving/abundant sharing in order to begin giving according to one's own heart. And again, the purpose for Paul's collection in 2 Cor 8 and 9 is for the poor saints in Jerusalem maybe because of a famine or because of persecution or both. My last word on this is the concept of giving "in order" to receive. Can't see how this is a right attitude to have.