Twinky

Well, that was a waste of 4-1/2 minutes of my life. The only one who seemed remotely interesting to listen to was the black guy in the middle. The others were so boring and - and where was the New? the Today? If I cast my mind back (which I don't care to), I reckon I could recite what they're going to say. I thought they might put something more - titillating? - today-ish, in, to tempt people along. And to start the bloody video with a clip of VPW... Yikes! Needs to come with a special "health warning" !!!!!!!!

It might be much more pertinent to discuss how we love God and how we love other people. Instead of discussing how other people claim to love God. (As a matter of fact, I can't recall hearing that VPW ever said he loved God. His actions - like the actions of a child - show otherwise.)

Let's distill this right back. WW states this: They knew the Torah. And the other books that comprise what we know as the OT. The leader of the early sect that became known as Christianity - one Jesus Christ - distilled the law and the prophets down very simply in Matt 22 to: 37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’e 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’f 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” THAT is "knowing the Word as it hadn't been known since the first century." Anything else is puff, really. "How to" but not the thing itself. FIRST: Love God NEXT: Love (not just be nice to) your neighbour I strongly suspect people knew how to do that in the first century. And in the second, third, and subsequent centuries. And hey, even in the 20th and 21st centuries. How does this fit with administrations, dispensations, whether God spoke (or not) to VPW? It doesn't. It overrules them as unnecessarily. Those things are nitpicking, frills, wish-lists for naysayers to argue about. Hey! God has spoken audibly to me on two occasions (and less audibly on other occasions via various diverse means). The audible words were personal for me and I don't plan on building a ministry out of it. No doubt others here can say much the same. It would be a sad and empty thing if God never spoke with those who love him.

Living on a "need basis," then. One wonders what their "needs" could possibly be, when staffers earn less than minimum wage (taking into account the mandatory "voluntary" overtime.

It's widely reported over the last few days that Elisabeth Moss, star of The Handmaid's Tale, was raised as a Scientologist, has no issues with it, and says it's an "open" and "misunderstood" organisation. (Others might disagree.)

A bit like Google, then, with all our personal information that it constantly gleans.

Is it time to move this thread to Just Plain Silly? Who cares, anyway? Hands up, now!

Don't know if this has hit US airwaves, don't see any mention of it on CNN. Yet another tale of abuse. Three Scientology defectors sue church leader David Miscavige (msn.com)

Strikes me that it's a bit like new wine (new presentation) into an old wineskin - since their website states: "Although it has been nearly seventy years since the original Power for Abundant Living class was first taught, the heart of it remains the same—to teach the timeless truths of God’s Word [according to TWI] so that men and women of all ages can manifest the power of God in their lives." Although they do admit this: "While it expounds upon the same foundational truths covered in the original class, Power for Abundant Living Today is tailored to the day and time in which we live. It truly is a new class for a new generation." Perhaps they have updated things a bit. Perhaps.

Let's hope they got rid of the red drapes, Johnny Jumpup, Maggie Muggins, and some of the more obvious errors. No doubt they've also reworked the Orange and White books. Do they still push the collaterals, I wonder? I won't be signing up again to find out!!!!

Here we go again. This is NOT a thread about PFAL. This is a thread about Gurdjieff - and his possible impact on VPW. Gurdjieff never took PFAL. So that's not relevant.

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I thought the original OP was post was the opening of silly season. Intended to be humorous. Perhaps it should be in Just Plain Silly.

Hey, Sunesis! Long time no see!

Very jaded view, Bolshy. Maybe some males - husbands - would think the wife is the boss. That's not what marriage is supposed to be. Not a "cult of two."

For interest. No loss to society. Only a small cult, but did a lot of damage to some women. You do have to wonder what problems his daughter has had to overcome, to adjust to normal society. Cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan dies in prison - BBC News

That's exactly it. Not praise and worship. Not done from the heart. Catchy jingles (sometimes) for Wayfer teaching. Occasionally with scriptural content ("Be-e-e-e strong in the Lord and the power of his might...") Thank goodness I can't remember much more of that song, which for most here is way later than their time with TWI. It was the song for the year about 1998 or 1999 I think.

Good one, T-Bone.. Can see why that would resonate.

Good post, BTW, T-Bone. Go on, play us a tune while we enjoy a bevvy?

Welcome, Cheri. Please excuse T-Bone for being so rude and not offering you cake and coffee. Do you like cheesecake? Share a piece with me! Waiter! on my tab, please! You sound as though you escaped with your thinking ability still intact, Cheri. Good, keep it that way. You will find likeminded folks here - and some who are not so likeminded, so it makes for interesting discussions at times. And why not? If you can find yourself a decent church (choose a smaller one where you can get to know people, not a mega church), you may well find more like-minded folks than you expect. There will be differences in belief, but do overlook those: no-one is wholly right on anything, and we as exWayfers surely know that! Instead of thinking that people in a church are "wrong," look instead to what you have in common: a love for God, acceptance of what Jesus did for us all in choosing to pay for our wrongdoings of all kinds, and the great grace shown to us. See how the congregation manifests love to each other, to you, and to the community around them. While it's worth exploring why they may believe something differently (and thus testing the integrity of your own beliefs), do look more to what you have in common with these brothers and sisters in Christ. You'll spend eternity with them. Why not start getting to know them now?

Nice, Chocky. Our little singing group at our church produces a great sound, made by passionate singers. Puts the Way lot to shame. Hey, come and learn, Wayfers!

Hey, that's unfair. There is a bit about Eph 4:32 in the middle, in the "fellowship meeting." But, oh, the chorus. EG around 3:30 I think they're singing "We can all fellowship" or some such. Sounds more like "We can't all give a sh!t." Or maybe that's the Cafe version.

I just bought six new windows for my house with my spare cash. They look very nice.

You might find some useful information here: Cult Info Since 1979 (icsahome.com) It's a link from former Wayfer Charlene Edge, who's now well and truly over her servitude to TWI (about which she wrote a "memoir"). You will get through this. Find some good (but non-pushy) wise and patient friends with whom you can be vulnerable about these things. It will take you time and you need some people to hold you safe. Keep safe. You may need to add to or change your group of supportive friends as your head clears. You may not like this, but I found safety in a church. But it took 10 or 12 years in the wilderness, or more, rather - at the bottom of a dismal dank well of misery - to get me to that church. Because I was afraid of church people! These people just quietly made space for me, asked no questions, were just there. Years later, one, now a close friend, told me they wondered what I was, what had happened, because I was quite weird to start with. To this day, though, nobody has ever asked me about why I was weird or about my experience in an abusive organisation. They just don't know, because I never told them. Maybe I will one day; maybe not. They were there for me. That's what mattered. I get a sense that you may be male, so you may find it hard to talk about your experiences. If you're female, you might be better at expressing what's going on in your head.

Started in Oz, I think, by a New Zealander. Whose son has just been forced to stand down as church leader because he didn't report his father's sexual abuse of young children. Hillsong founder rebuked for abuse handling | Stuff.co.nz