No Way

you no longer believe "FOR THIS PURPOSE I WAS SPARED" was the real translation of "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

when you can say the words "lucky" and "create" without thinking to yourself "there is no such thing as luck" or "only God can create." when you can look your ex fellowship friends in the face and know that they weren't really your friends after you stopped attending their fellowships, and really not care because there are true and loving people out there who don't only keep to their own kind. when you can openly love and accept others for who they are, not just because they are believers.

kind of reminds me of when i needed money to pay my bills and of my ex fellowship pals told me to believe more! yea okay, that really paid my bills!

Jerry carr's got Harbor Light Fellowship... they are based out of New Jersey and encourage Wierwille worship, Geer Classes, and other waybrained behavior. I don't believe they are on the web but I'm sure someone on here knows where to find them.

hey TWI, if you're reading this, good luck (oh i know you cringed at that one) but i was never in TWI, just in an offshoot. have fun trying to identify me! :)-->

those poor kids, brainwashed and deprived of experience..... i feel bad for those kids teaching in the photos section for when they face reality like i did.

problems are just opportunities to trust god oh please.... and all of those phrases still make me cringe and i was only involved in an offshoot....

i never felt blessed at fellowship. i don't really know what blessed is anyways.

i don't miss my offshoot friend persuading me to go to fellowship 3+x a week because there was so much word to be heard. i also don't miss losing $ in gas/toll expenses to go to these fellowships when i could've been working. i miss the friend i had when they were not talking about the word or fellowship. way people and their offshoot pals feel that the only common ground is the word. they don't seem to realize that no matter how soaked up in the little book they are, that there is a world going on around us, and we are stuck here for probably a good 70-90 years. for me, i'm living life and relearning what i want in life, not what vpw or his 7th corps offshoot leaders want me to have in life. i wish i could save my friend, but at the same time, if they knew i was so against everything now, it would destroy them and it'd be the adversary working in me. go figure. i was brainwashed to believe that their teachings were the only true teachings and i was told to abs, when i had no money. i never got blessed with money back to pay my bills or give to my family back for their care. i also don't think my parents deserve to be called "earthly" parents. they love me no matter what, word or not. they would give up anything for me, so i think they deserve the same from me. most of the fellowship people i know wouldn't give up the offshoot cult for their family. i don't see how me not going to fellowship is me turning on god. if you believe in god, you believe in god. i'm tired of being told things by people and that's why i do agree with what george aar has to say. we aren't family, we kiss each other on the cheek because it's expected. most of the people are bored during the teaching part of fellowship. a lot of people really enjoyed the feeling of being accepted, though most of these people wanted nothing to do with my life outside of fellowship. i don't think vpw is special, i think he was a load of garbage who was the ringleader for a major cult that has put many into depression and hard financial situations because he knew how to make people feel wanted and useful for the time being. once the novelty wore off and people realized how broke they were, they were either out or marked & avoided. i too have met some great people at fellowships, however, none of them are involved with my personal life, and most of them shun the fact that i call people "friends" if they aren't into the word. this looks to be a pretty good thread and i am just glad to know a lot of others feel the same way.

I supposed Jerry Carr/Steve Zoelezzi's fellowship is a Geerite group. Their group is ex-twi leaders and mostly younger people who never were in twi.

offshoot people thrive on wierwille books. it's what they base all of their teachings on.

seriously, in a span of 2 weeks at different offshoots, we heard teachings on "light" and almost every verse mentioned was taught in each of those teachings. the worst part about them is when the person teaching would say "and quote dr. wierwille" or "a very great man, victor paul wierwille." all opnionated parts of the teaching were in reference to wierwille and all of the bible verses could be found by using the concordance that comes in most bibles. amazingly enough, those teachings were somehow "just what we all needed to hear."

I was in an offshoot for about a year and I still feel confused about my own being. I was so brainwashed and it feels great to work a full time job, have money to spend and pay bills, and be open and honest about my feelings.....however the offshoot taught me how to hold back, so this still lingers on and I'm trying to break free. I will over time. The hardest part is over, and that was getting out!

i was in an offshoot that sounds way similar to hooner's. if you don't mind me asking, what state are you from?

Raf, are you talking about "I saw the light?"