waysider

From what I remember, they used to extract verse 3 out of I Thessalonians, chapter 5 and give it an interpretation that had nothing at all in common with its contextual meaning. "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." This verse was used in a way that is so far out of context, it's embarrassingly ridiculous.

Well, the stuff we ate in FLO was mass produced by the food co-op, Manna. Anyhow-----I was kinda thinking about the sort of built-in paranoia that came with some of those old teachings. Some of that thinking lingered in me for decades. (Embarrassing but true.)

According to TWI thinking, anyone who publicly advocated peace and harmony had to be a "seed boy". Oh, the horrors of it all! :P

Why do I feel hungry when I think about "familia" spirits?

I think it was in PFAL that Wierwille talked about how he would work all week on his Sunday sermon a bit each day and then put it in the desk drawer. He couldn't understand why, by Sunday, the congregation had hardened themselves against the topic. And then a little light bulb of understanding went off in his mind. It must be, he reasoned, that the Devil would take his sermon out of the drawer, look at it, and then whisper words of disagreement in the ears of the congregation all week. That's when, he said, he decided to keep his thoughts and teachings locked up in his mind where the Devil had no way to know them. Later, in the Advanced Class, he talked about how "familiar spirits" hung about, gathering whatever information was brought into the open via spoken or written word. He also talked about how, if a person had a spirit, such as one of the many, many listed in the Advanced Class syllabus, that divulging information to said person was the same as divulging information to the Devil. So here's the thing. Were you ever in a conversation with someone who fit the criteria of the Advanced Class for devil possession (ie: alcoholic, suicidal, homosexual, schizophrenic, reincarnation advocate, etc.) and found yourself being very cautious about what you said to them? After all, you could be talking to a devil spirit. Heck, maybe you should even give them some bogus information like a secret agent who thinks he might be getting double crossed! Am I making sense? Suppose there is a person at work who is stereotypical of TWI's definition of "devil possessed". How much can you really reveal about your true thoughts and feelings to them, knowing you could be divulging your secrets to devil spirits? Shhhhh! Careful now---They might hear you.

The supposed purpose of the Twig Hopper was for VP to tour the countryside and visit the twigs. After all, "the life of the ministry is in the twig", remember? Now, I know they did some kind of week long or month long scenic bike ride or something because a poster here went along on that ride. But does anyone here recall VP ever dropping in on their twig? Never dropped in on mine. Hell, for that matter, he never even bothered to drop in on Fellow Laborers, even once, in all the years I was there.

Why, yes, it was, indeed, RA.

OK---Here's a funny one. When I first got in The Word, my twig leader took me witnessing at a local "meat market" type bar. Before you know it, we were sitting at a table with two very attractive young ladies. The twig leader very skillfully steered the conversation into a dissertation on the "law" of believing. At some point in the conversation he declares that "believing is a verb and a verb connotes ACTION." Of course, in those days, everyone knew that ACTION was a euphemism for recreational sex. So now he's red-faced, hemming and hawing, back peddling and trying to save face in front of the newbie (me). I still chuckle at the remembrance of him squirming in his seat as he tried to shrug off the innuendo.

Ahhhhh! The memories of wacky Way days.---------- sigh Midway through my first year of Fellow Laborers, most of us were frazzled from lack of sleep and low protein diets. So, the FLO Coordinator calls a special meeting, chews our butts out for grumbling and proceeds to give us a teaching that "proves" the human body can run on no sleep at all with an appropriate amount of SIT and believing. Even threw in a scripture or two from Habakkuk or Nehemiah or Job or somewhere just to make it official. Guess who overslept for the following morning's 5:30 AM fellowship? Oh, there's more to it, but I'll leave it at that.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck-----------

Strange as it might seem, I remember that very same thing being taught in The Way. It was in a live class called "Reflections" that the Fellow Laborers sat through. It all hinged on the "law of believing". In other words, if you went to the barber, you were supposed to "believe" God had sent you to the best choice. (Same deal for car repair, dentist, etc.) It was at the same time that the "ministry" was promoting the idea of doing all business with believers, if possible. Personally, I think it's a pretty naive approach. Being based on a bogus "law" doesn't do much to bolster my confidence either.

In the rural South, at the turn of the 20th century, there were preachers who would ride, on horseback, from one church-less town to the next. They were called Country Circuit Riding Preachers. (C.C. Riders) Over time, they developed a reputation for doing more than "preaching". Ma Rainey captured the essence of such activity when she penned the now well known tune, "C.C. Rider". -----Not much has changed.

You can say THAT again!

You stand in a muddy cornfield in Ohio EVEN THOUGH you would rather visit your relatives!

Deity---or Devil?

And now a word from .

My thoughts exactly! :blink:

We should have known we were screwed when VP said "You'll just have to trust me on this.". (CF&S)

Would you mind citing some sources?

Knowing what I now know about the inaccuracies that were taught in PFAL regarding that subject, I find this a bit disturbing.

For cryin' out loud! NO!! We're not there yet!

:o

Only if it's shill witnessing at the mall.