waysider

There once was a man who had no body. Yeah, that's right, he was just a head, connected to a pair of shoulders by a neck. Oh, he got along ok. Still, there was always that gnawing thought in the back of his mind that he could do more if he had arms. So, he prayed to God for arms and----- Presto! He had 2 perfectly good arms, complete with a full compliment of fingers and thumbs. And, he was thankful. But, he couldn't help thinking how cool it would be to have legs. Again, he prayed. Next thing you know, he's got a torso, complete with 2 strong legs and 5 toes on each foot. And, he was thankful. Still, there was always that gnawing thought in the back of his mind that he could do more with what he now had. So, he prayed to God for a skateboard and----- Presto! A skateboard appeared on his front porch. He was so excited, he hopped onto it and raced down the driveway, straight into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer. Next thing he knew, he was standing at Heaven's gate, face to face with St. Peter. "Have you learned anything from all this?" questioned St. Peter. "Yes", said the man. "I should have quit while I was still a head."

I really don't have a dog in this fight because, honestly, I don't really care anymore. I am curious, however, what criteria you have used to make such a declatation.

The following is an excerpt from the The Way Tree class, © 1974, that I have posted on a previous thread. I believe this may have appeared even earlier in the Twig Leadership Training seminars. "Each Twig is self supporting, self propagating and self governing in cooperation with its respective Branch as each Branch is to its respective Limb, as each limb is to its respective Trunk, as each Trunk is to the Root of the Way". There it is, in its original verbiage. Look at the context. Frequently, this section of the class was quoted in a truncated version that ended with the words "self governing". Read between the lines! The Way is not an organization that started out sweet and later turned sour. The cards were on the table as early as , if not earlier than, 1974.

I'll drink to that!

AND

Thought you might enjoy version by the guy who wrote it-----Bobby Womack(From my hometown)

You talk about frog breath like it's bad thing. :P

THEN

BUMP

I dunno. It seems like when you forgive someone, it's usually accompanied by the expectation that the transgression wont happen again. Otherwise, it would just be enablement.

They oughta have a po' folks channel For people down on their luck Where they don't advertise, not one thing that cost you more than a buck. (Fifteen hundred worth of unpaid bills)

Sure, they have the freedom to believe whatever they want.....4 crucified, 17 crucified, 32 denials, the dead are just taking a dirt nap, the moon is made of Brie, precious really means costly, blah, blah and more blah........ couldn't care less.....but when those beliefs begin to dictate life altering decisions made by their followers, we're talking about something entirely different.... Tragedy after tragedy as a direct result of L.E.A.D ( when it became apparent there were serious problems, did they rethink their strategy?).......Women strong-armed into abortions they regret for the rest of their lives.....people foregoing proper medical treatment and dying as a result of trying to prove the law of believing....people killing themselves because they were told they were born of the wrong seed and that all hope for salvation was gone.....etc. Oh, but, hey! You could bring in the Mormons, the "Dubs", the People's Temple and Islam if you choose. It would really be a red herring as far as I'm concerned..... These people (TWI) promote a lifestyle that is severely detrimental to their followers. And they (the BOD) have never offered any sort of apology.....That's the bottom line.

------ try some of Granny's miracle cure, an odd mixture of sulfur, molasses and herbs, and within six weeks or so you will feel like a spring chicken.. let's see who remembers that reference.. =========================================== That has to be from Beverly Hillbillies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfVTW8XxcYc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Well, that brings up another good point. If you forgive someone for a transgression, does that mean you are supposed to forget it, as well? Wouldn't that be like leaving yourself open to the same type of wrong-doing in the future? "Live and learn." Know what I mean? You wouldn't be a very good student of life if you kept forgetting which pitfalls to avoid.

You have to wonder what the word "forgive" meant in Biblical times. Did it mean the same thing as it does today? It just seems to me that people today tend to use it interchangeably with "excuse". Is forgiving someone the same thing as excusing them? I wouldn't think it would be.

One question...Who should ask forgiveness of whom, on behalf of who, for what transgressions exacted on whom?... ----------------------------------------------- Original question: "Is there any category small or large that TWI's Board of Directors has ever asked for forgiveness in? To any group?"

Once again, the question was not whether you have forgiven them. The question is whether they have ever apologized.

It's in The Word's Way (Studies in Abundant Living, Volume III)-----The Brown Book. Chapter II Who Is The Word ? John 1:1-18 I don't have a scanner. :(

Wierwille (former BOD member) could have said, "I'm sorry." thousands of times over. He had ample opportunity. Instead, he chose to say things like, "Take off your clothes, honey, I'll show you what's good about being alive." as quoted from Losing The Way.

Here is the original post: So a topic that often comes up in conjunction with this website is "forgiveness". The accusation being, people on this site don't "walk in forgiveness". So I thought I'd start a query into that, by discovering if somewhere the BOD of TWI has asked for forgiveness and I've just missed it. Did they (VP, etc.) ask for forgiveness when they were alive? Has the current BOD/BOT asked for forgiveness? The question is not whether you forgive them or not. The question is whether they have ever acknowledged their wrong doings. (ie: sought forgiveness.) It's been my experience that they never have.

Nah. My waysider "handle" is derived from The WaysideTruck Stop,an establishment that the Fellowlaborers used to frequent. It was a real greasy spoon kinda joint.

You know. I wasn't quite sure how this topic would be received. I must say, though, that all the responses have been great.

Thank you, Thomas. You said it much better than I could.