Leaderboard

This popped up in my NewsFeed today, why I don't know, but I have seen this series of vids before. I thought this one was kind of interesting and I wondered how some of us here would answer the questions posed. Maybe you've seen it: TV series called Spectrum. Watch | Facebook

I heard the three times former gold medalist goat make a comment at the end: “I thought he had good form – his head hit the water first – that’s something I always did when I competed.”

Yes sky we withdrew our consent to manipulation when we exited the organization. I connect with so much of what you are describing. That cult is very dependent upon a silent group of people to carry out orders unquestioning. Pawns in the game of chess. This is why upon scrutiny I use the word cult. Because despite the fundamentalist home Christian label on the outside, what is on the inside the activity or how the organization interacts with it's leaders ranks more resembles Scientology than it does a Lutheran synod.

Hmmm sometimes when I come across math problems that are unclear to me they look remarkably similar to other math problems which are also unclear to me. Does this mean I have recovered from the keys to the maths interpretation?

The Algorithm Knoweth what you did last summer . . . . and what else you might like Is this the video? I googled it to get around Face-hook.

"Sky it’s funny I was thinking about this and our training. We were trained product salesmen, no different than traveling around hucking vacuum cleaners or encyclopedias. The parts of our training that helped instill any kind of discipline in me I am thankful for. Of course the overall arching idea of being groomed as a pawn for a selfish hedonists pleasures is the part that is the most difficult to acknowledge for many, some would prefer a seared conscience and false narrative. That part makes me sick." ********************************* chockfull.......I, too, have given lots of thought about our corps training. From what I remember, the corps application form was two or three generic paragraphs detailing the need to be a better leader to equip the corps for "a lifetime of Christian service." Standard verses were included, italicized and emphasized, to add Christian veneer to the program. But in reality, we were signing over our rights and privileges as individuals and to bow allegiance to the collective assortment of "teachers" and strangers.....er, fellow corps peers in deference to their "spiritual acumen." What did I know, or research, about wierwille's ability to administer and oversee a training program of young adults? Nothing. Having left college to go WOW Ambassador, I simply took the hype and encouragement of a 6th corps grad as a basis of my decision. In this idealistic frame of mind, I had surrendered my reasoning and logic to my "spiritual betters"........to enter an indoctrination program that led to years of cult-subordination, subjugation and self-denial. For me, glimpses of twi's untoward secrecy appeared when wierwille castigated corps grads during corps meetings in 1978 for abandoning him/twi. These were NOT the in-residence corps in "training," but corps grads on the field who, after years of involvement, were refusing ongoing leadership assignments to adapt to their new goals, decisions and career paths. Why the vehement anger from wierwille? My mind still held aspects of my college courses in Business Administration, management and marketing.....asking myself, "What right does wierwille have to demand ANYTHING from these corps grads? They were no longer in the training program, right? They were "out on their own" with a future stretching out before them. I held these thoughts to myself.....but, my thoughts and reasoning were still grounded in the reality that each person has the right to determine his'/her goals and destiny. Holding to these thoughts, I spent time searching the Scriptures to see if my reasoning was sound. I found dozens of accounts in the Gospels and Epistles that supported personal prayer, meditation and individual accountability. No one in twi would dispute that, right? This collective effort to "move the Word" has boundaries and limits that doesn't (or shouldn't) interfere with one's heart and personal relationship with God the Father, right? I came into the corps program as an individual......why would I not be an individual, with individualistic goals when I graduated? Further, it was clear that there was one mediator between God and man..... and it wasn't wierwille or the way ministry. Perhaps, this battle of personal boundaries and goals versus the altruistic, collective demand is not just in the fabric of cults, but in religion itself. Perhaps, it is ever-present in a larger world. But for me.....I found that wierwille's programs, and The Way International itself, treated me like property, like an indentured servant. Did this corps "contract" bind me to work, serve and sacrifice to them for the rest of my life? No. Hell no! But THAT is what they expected and demanded. Year after year, I was expected to be assigned to "go forth in areas of concern, interest and need." Who's concern? Theirs. Who's interest? Theirs. Who's need? Theirs. This was a manipulation of one's consent. Wierwille had devised a program that intimidated our youthful desires and indoctrinated our love for God to vows of a life of twi-servitude. Some saw the red flags early on and exited. Others took years to dismantle this indoctrination and define the proper personal boundaries for themselves against this cult's encroachment or holdings. Some have gone to their grave self-sacrificing never to unravel the mysticism of their overlords. After the "fog years"..... there was a freshness, a surge of simplicity and respect. Could it be that we had been measuring worth and commitment under the auspices of wierwillism? Perhaps, now..... Craig, Don and Howard will reflect on the systematizing of errors, the ludicrous loyalty oath, and hoist a new flag of "member in particular in the One Body of Christ?" Could we possibly in 1989/1990 be on the threshold of revival and restoration in God's Name? · For by one spirit we are baptized into one body [ I Cor. 12: 13 ] · Now God has set the members, every one, as it has pleased Him. Just when I'd accepted a new assignment as Oklahoma Limb Coordinator in August 1992 .......... I began to see the entrenchment of the old ways of wierwille's system resurface again. Each year to follow, the mass formation collectivism in twi grew in direct proportion to martindale's ego, a jockstrap mentality of "us versus them." Thankfully, I was 900 miles away and this distance provided a barrier, for awhile, of this centralized encroachment (again). But for all of us who know twi's failings, each year from 1992 onward escalated its cultish approach across every boundary line......personal, marriage, family, career. Anything that detracted from twi's agenda of control was targeted. Twi was indeed anti-family, anti-career, anti-Christian. One of the most effective weapons in their arsenal was *The Purge.* If you didn't attend the "new" advanced class, then you would be PURGED from the roster of advanced class grads. Unproductive people were purged. Even spiritual suspicion was relegated to a manifestation of the spirit. Homo purge. If you were known to be listening to old wineskin tapes and music from the "cop-outs"..... then you would be effectively be put on probation with the threat of being purged from the twi-household. The overlords spoke it into being.......and thus, obedience to the collective was mandated and mandatory, or else. The mission of "Word over the World" was updated to "The Prevailing Word." Mission creep. Every standard was upgraded. History of errors that got us to this point were negated. New themes were pronounced from central headquarters and needed to be followed without critical thought or dissent. Incremental steps of compliance. Incremental steps of control. What the twi-bureaucracy took away, they never gave back. Enough compliance was never enough. Then, in 1995.....the Granddaddy Purge of all, "All Corps Mandated to Full-Time Service." Twi needs you as a full-time minister in this prevailing decade of service. Rev. Martindale received revelation from God, doncha know? If you do not commit, then you are no longer a corps graduate. That signed diploma doesn't mean squat.....get it? Now, jump! All committed corps need to sign on the line. No, no..... you don't need to ask a thousand questions, we've got it covered. We'll put you on payroll and take care of your needs. Promise. Expect great things. God is behind this. We are going to see this prevailing word move like never before. Yes, I've written all this in my story "Insanity on Steroids." And yet, I see the same incremental and encroachment steps from wierwille's past (1957-1982) and rivenbark's encroachment (2000-2017)..... and incremental encroachment in the world at large. These truisms are found everywhere there are lords, tyrants, dictators and narcissists. Individual responsibility and personal boundaries are fundamental to freedom from cults and splinter groups. How many times does one need to be re-taught fundamental truths while sending tithes and offerings to church/cult leaders who pontificate mandates from on high when ascertaining scriptures is readily available? If it's vague, opaque, incremental, encroaching, accusing, purging....it's probably bad. Thanks for reading. .