Leaderboard

Thank you! I'm proud of the work we put in. The time, and remember - "it was on your dime", as I like to say. As it grew and continued it was financed by the ABS of the Way's members. It honored the music that so many great souls were a part of it. The product itself was a work in progress. I used to wince that people were or felt forced to listen to music they didn't like sometimes, namely ours. I've studied, played and enjoyed music all my life and although I've listened to a lot I don't prefer I would never in my life insist anyone be immersed in music they flat out didn't like. I tried to encourage people to build their own "libraries" of inspirational music, make cassette tapes of stuff that made them feel good, happy, inspired, thoughtful, whatever. Not a terribly profound idea but one that would work well as time went on and technology did too. Today, playlists. On the whole I'm proud of what we did though, the intent was to bless, to inspire, to give an additional source for someone to see and learn what the Word of God taught. It was far from perfect, but it was a hearty effort by everyone involved and as time went on others did things with dance and various arts. Unfortunately some of those who came onboard with Craig had no investment in the legacy of the work and no heart for the love of it and managed to dismantle it.

Oh, and immediately before the abovenamed books, I read "Tsotsi" by internationally renowned playwright Athol Fugard. "Tsotsi" is Fugard's only novel, written, abandoned, and re-written carefully over a period of years. It explores the life of a young African - thug, basically - how he got to be like he is, what his life was, why and how it changed, and how at the very end he remembers who he is and what he really is like (ie, not a thug, but a kind and compassionate young man). The book explores the huge injustices under apartheid South Africa in Soweto, how the very young boy's life was shattered by the unjust rules and regulations and routine round-ups; how he survived; the fear of and hatred towards such tsotsis (thugs) from others in the township; and so much more. (A movie was made of the book in 2005 or thereabouts; there are significant differences from the book upon which it is based; in fact, it's another story altogether.) All in all, the book is a sympathetic and unjudgmental tour de force from a renowed white author, who strongly opposed the apartheid regime.

Indeed, it passes the time, productively I believe. We (your readers here at GSC) know of you what and how you have shared of yourself. We know that you engage in meaningful ministry to people who might seem hard to reach for many people. Reading what an anthropologist has to say about how people die may one day (or many) inspire you on how to reach into the heart and soul of the people you meet. Same when reading about the customs and practices of Punjabi women. That you enjoy those authors and their writing only makes it seem like entertainment. It's active learning. I think about the blurb I wrote for Charlene Edge's book. “Undertow is a gift to young people and their families who want to understand the inner workings of fundamentalist cults. Charlene Edge’s experience parallels much of my own twelve years as a follower of Victor Paul Wierwille’s ministry. Undertow sheds light on the decisions, questions, and longings that she encountered, and ultimately worked her way through. In the words of Canadian author Matshona Dhliwayo, ‘Books are kinder teachers than experience.’ May Undertow be a kinder teacher to you than Charlene’s seventeen years in The Way International were to her.” Couple that with insight from T-Bone's comment above and you've got lots of benefits to reading books, whether memoirs and fiction stories.

Annio, very interesting topic. Thanks for posting. I just wanted to add my two cents: When I was young, and insecure, I needed a lot of attention. I think for some kids, attention is a form of security; thus it equals love. However, my mother never understood this; she was very self-absorbed. Throughout, my childhood, I felt unloved, and because of it, I was a very insecure, and unhappy person. However, one day, I realized God loves me. What a profound impact that had on me!! God, Almighty, the Creator of Heaven, and Earth, loves me. Why, I will never know; I am nothing special. I'm not gifted in anything; nor am I particularly intelligent. I am not beautiful, nor am I wealthy. But for some reason, God loves me. His son Jesus, died for me, a sinner. In my case, a sinner unknown by most of the world. To this day, that fact astonishes me, but it warms my heart daily. I know my siblings love me, and I love them in return. I have a few friends, that I love dearly. However, my inability to be a perfect, loving person, at all times, is fine with God. He knows my heart; He knows I strive to be a loving, kind person every day. Some days I am, and some days, I'm not. In my own humble way, I strive to be the woman God wants me to be. I don't need the world's love, and acclaim, I have God's. Thus, I am secure nowadays, in ways I wasn't as a child. I don't need to feed my small ego, in self-destructive ways. No power in this world, will ever separate me from God, and His love. None!!

Hey, that must have been cool when Martindale said the word was over the world. "I don't have to witness at Wondermall anymore!!!"

Socks, I remember JN; they were wonderful!! Their music was so inspiring, and Godly. I heard them several times, and always thought their music was amazing. I have wonderful memories of them. Many of the head honchos in TWI, were guilty of any number of wrongdoings, but JN was the "real deal."

Thanks! That mirrors what I"ve heard before, the night Craig and Reynolds covered it. There's a bit of speed bump in the narrative but it may be that he moved from the old to the new so quickly - after gestating all the disruption and dissension in the Way Corps for so many years there. So he must have decided to move quickly and decisively, cut losses and keep it going. Thanks, I appreciate that. "Word over the World" was something that was very clear to me, so we probably differ in how we're processing it all. From the earliest fellowships I went to in California in 1968, to the time I first met Donnie Fugit in California when he came out to visit with a few people from Kansas,, to going cross country in 1971 and visiting several locations where there were fellowships, to what I did with fellowship myself in California in Oakland, to "going WOW" in the 1972"B" wave, to then going into the Corps....my previous conversations with Dr. Weirwille were about the Word of God and the message of salvation and what we were doing to extend that kind of work using music, in California. Within those first couple years I had become certain beyond any doubt that the things I was seeing and being a part of were real, unadulterated miraculous grace in action. So I was convinced, and as PFAL became a part of that it broadened out considerably. Going into the 4th Corps was something he and I talked about - my wife and I had applied to the 3rd Corps but it was a tight fit and he suggested that several others musicians were coming into the 4th Corps and that would be where he was hoping something could get going. There was a lot involved in these decisions for my wife and I - and I was very young - but at the center of it all was reaching others with the message of the new birth in Christ and the teaching of the "more than abundant life", manifesting God's spirit and "walking on the Word" as taught in PFAL. This had taken off in California and was doing so across the country. One of the things we - some of us anyway - in that early effort of Way Productions cared deeply about was reaching others through the ministry of "music" and one on one preaching and pastoring. My original experience and relative success with music was by working in the public market, not the gospel or religious market. So I had a fairly young but clear idea of what music was and it's role in WOW, and the idea of reaching every person through the local neighborhood fellowship effort - ie "fellowship" and each one reaching another one - was understood to be doable. That's why I was willing to travel across the country and slowly but surely try to be part of doing that. We used to have a joke that one of us in JN came up with when we talked about "WOW" - we pictured what it would be like if "it" ever happened, that there'd be some great party, beer and Drambuie would flow and VPW would have a "We did it!" t-shirt on and it would be at some ROA 2000 or something - I'm sure I didn't think it would take any longer than 25 years or so....and it was just a joke, but I did have a somewhat youthful vision that while it might not happen the way I thought it would - I wanted to aim big and miss small and I was going for it, as unrealistic as might seem. I have an elderly family relative who knows a very little about what we did and he likes to smile and tell people that my wife and I - "got married and went together....to save the world, they were going to change the world!".....I told him once that I didn't come close - and he grabbed my wrist and shook it and told me NO! You changed yourself and you tried to help others, I know that and you did that for sure..." Every once in s awhile I run across someone from 30 - 40 years ago who tells me how they're lives have gone and I'm thrilled to have been a part of it, big or small. I have to admit that I could never make that journey from where I started to the follow along with where Craig took it - not that I'm smarter or better .... well, smarter maybe sure, maybe - but that may be because I'd always had a personal vision and process I was involved in trying to do and to live. Not always successfully, by any means, but working at. So perhaps it was different for others, they'd have to speak to that themselves.