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I recall VPW saying something to the affect that the bible was not written for unbelievers, agnostics, or god rejectors. Assuming no one is born with a knowledge of god, then somewhere during their development, they decided to believe in a god or gods. I was in that boat myself. Being born into a Catholic family, religion was crammed down my throat from a very young age. I hated all the rules of having to eat this, pray in a certain position, recognize certain days, confess my sins to a man behind a screen, blah, blah, blah. So I decided to reject it but still held the belief there was a god. Sometime later, as I was eating lunch in a resturant, a guy sat next to me and began to tell me about a god that was completely different than the Catholic god. This random meeting began a 20 sum year association with TWI. At first TWI filled me with peace and tranquility, but then realized they too had crazy rules that must be obeyed. And not adhering to them would force god to remove his hedge of protection from me. So I checked other religions out, but found they all had some hook, that when swallowed, forced me to recognize some aspect of god that made no sense. This got me to reason that if each religion had completely different requirements to satisfy god, which one was right? Then I threw in different faiths, which didn’t even worship the same god, and scratched my head in confusion. Then I came to the conclusion that none had any idea of what they were talking about, as there are thousands of different Christian religions alone, not including all the other faiths. Which one worships the one true god? Impossible to determine. So my logical conclusion was there is no god. I had attempted to reason through mounds of different dogmas to find god, but all it all brought was confusion. Now my mind is cleared. I do not have to choose one god over the other. Peace and tranquility.

Don't know, however it made all the difference. The woods are lovely, dark and deep But I have promises to keep And miles to go before I sleep Miles to go before I sleep.

If I recall correctly, the technical term is BONKERS.

Thanks. I was about to point out the same. The fine is as egregiously vulgar as the hoarding. It is loose change in the cushions of the sofa. Literally. Managing $32B conservatively with a 4% return yields $1.28B…. per annum!! A $5M penalty is just… Dark.

Its so far off the Word of God that it isn't the Word of God. It's the word of VP.

Yes, it's best to be proactive on that warning. Good point.

I definitely appreciate your experience. However, the reason I mentioned the issue above, is as a warning others may choose to consider in order to emotionally prepare for their departure. Leaving twi is and will be necessary for many individuals and families. Being prepared for the emotional/grieving work can be helpful.

I would certainly agree with your take on that, Rocky. For me, having been in Canada for three years during the Chris Geer ruckus.... I was spared from a lot of the drama that ensued in the States. We were in a "different world" of giving and blessings... our Canadian Advances and get-togethers were joyous times of fun, music, sharings and love. When we came back to the States and learned of John Lynn (and others) providing new splinter groups.... I wasn't aware how deeply the schisms were. Yes, leaving twi en mass would have offered me lots of benefits.... unlike when we finally made the exit in 1998. My family, we had come to a juncture with twi that we were NOT willing to accept. Our two boys were moving into their final years at respective schools, elementary and junior high, with good grades and excellent teachers. Everything seemed to be in our best interests to stay in Oklahoma. [Plus, we had recently learned about martindale's sexual predation.] BUT...... Martindale and L@llys wanted us to move back to headquarters as staffers. Plus, they dangled the strong possibility [bribe?] that I would be placed on the "President's Cabinet." But we refused. And, only one person in Oklahoma took a stand for us and followed us out the door. Being singled out on Corps Night with strong character-assassination language.... they also had Limb/Region guys calling around to see if we were making phone calls to others. Damage Control kicked into high gear. Those were challenging days... but here I am. Still. .

One of the reasons to call these men out is to put faces with those who set the traps. Add Rosalie and Donna to the list. None of them held any credentials that qualified them to hold this authority over others. All five of them were raised up within twi's ranks and were incrementally given this "authority" by faithful obedience. Nothing more. They learned the racket of gaining power over others and lusted after it. Each of them were given undeserved adulation, undeserved loyalty, undeserved authority, and undeserved access to such levels of power over others. Only by setting emotional and psychological trappings of guilt and fear were they able to maintain what wierwille started. And, even though thousands of corps have deserted this stranglehold, these "trappers of men" show no remorse or repentance for what they've done. There is nothing wholesome or redeemable about their deeds. They should be counted among the low-lifes, con artists and ponzi scheme advocates who use the abs-monies of existing customers to peddle their influence by claiming higher returns on investment (rewards in heavens, crowns). In their underhanded hypocrisy, Jesus called out the Pharisees and mocked this deception by stating, "....they as such have their reward." In other words.... God sees this injustice and there will be no eternal rewards forthcoming for them. What's even more unconscionable is offshoot groups propagating from the stem cells of the mother plant [cult]. Each new sprouting drawing strength thru wierwille's name..... not Craig, Don, Howard, Rosalie or Donna. Like carnival attractions, there is always someone willing to part with their money for cheap entertainment and attention. Seemingly, these offshoot leaders have done the mental gymnastics too of rationalizing away virtues of morality and common decency. Peddlers in the marketplace of trade, these "sellers of deception" know full-well the body language of a gullible mark. There is no avenue of redress to gain by confronting deceitful cult leaders on their home turf. They hold all the advantages and support from sycophants nearby. All of them ready to mock and label your valid confrontation with aggressive lies and an echo chamber of support. The only path of escape is to pack your bags and get the hell away from them. Twi and splinters have the same recipes but label their soups differently. Maybe one adds a few more onions and garlic powder.... but realistically, it's the same soup. Lastly, it pays rich dividends to know the names of the trappers and the trappings they use. For over twenty years, GSC has been offering the first, clear vision that twi-followers are caught in a trap. No other group offers this direct approach. Nor does any other group have the cojones to back up that claim. They simply offer their own version of a wash-rinse-spin cycle trap. GSC's door is open 24/7 and stays open. You are free to come and go as if you were shopping in a free society. Welcome.

So this is a much younger pastor. He describes in the first two intro videos about actually attending a Way fellowship and not being impressed. But not a PFAL grad or anything. He maybe has been a teaching pastor for less than 5 years? I liked his approach of going off the “statement of beliefs” of TWI and digging in to how they are masked to look the same as denominations. On the early history I think it was JCNG that depicted some kind of battle where the trinitarians won out at Nicea or something like that. I welcomed a fresh perspective from someone who actually studied that at an accredited school for pastors. And I would concur with him not Wierwille that the majority of first century writers around the church talked of Christs divinity. There was one writer they rejected for one God one son of God views. I’m not buying this teachers perspective 100 percent either but I think JCNG has the shoddy research. He wasn’t as familiar with TWI as we are so he got some things wrong. But I liked the overall teaching package he put together for a part of his congregation - educating them on cults and covering so many in detail. I’m not grading him just enjoying a different perspective. I was attracted to the fact he chose TWI to cover first over the bigger three cults. After sitting through his entire class I thought he did well at pointing out standard Christian belief versus cult belief. But he is not perfect or a peer journal level writer or teacher.