Through the Looking Glass

That book really helped me to see things for what they are and get out. There were so many unspoken rules we all followed. I would like to add another question to ask yourself. I asked myself this question and it's what really started opening my eyes up. Are you excited to witness and bring new people in? Do you proudly proclaim your involvement with TWI to co-workers and friends outside the Way? Or do you try to be vague about the 'bible study' or 'bible fellowship' you attend? Deep in your heart do you feel a sense of pride, or a sense of shame, at being associated with TWI? If it's not good enough to want to bring someone else into......Is really good enough for you to be there?

I have just one word to describe VPW, and why he could not be a true representative for God. I D O L A T R Y One cannot serve God AND mammon. Adultery IS idolatry! (Mrs.. W. knew this and stated it clearly to my mother when asked the difference between "spiritual adultery" and physical adultery. That's another story though.) Alcoholism IS idolatry! Love of money IS idolatry! Idolatry is anything you look to as your "source" other than the true Source, which is God. This means that when you need sexual conquests to make you feel adequate, important, validated it is idolatry. When you use alcohol to "cope" or find "peace" it is idolatry. When you turn to material things (resources) as your "Source" this is idolatry! (Yes, I have just finished reading a lot of Jeff VanVonderan's work on this subject, and it makes a helluva lot more sense than any Way class ever did.) So basically, VPW was a very empty man trying to act full. He may have looked "spirit filled" at the time, but the truth is that if he truly had been, he wouldn't have literally been whoring after works of the flesh and idolatry to feel full.

You're probably right that it just hasn't spread way down here yet. I've also heard that things are a lot more laid back in other areas and that it just hasn't spread down here yet. It seems the standards vary according to local leadership. Here's a thought... If we're supposed to be "believing" for God to work in us, then they ask for a volunteer, several people try to jump in all at once, well is God really working in all three? Why would He inspire three people when only one could carry through. Would it be decent and in order for God to inspire three people who all start speaking at once? Hmmm, maybe we are just promoting works of the flesh? It reminds me of the ROA where so many people were all "believing" to win that motorcycle.

That's odd... I just quit attending fellowship about a month ago and there was no asking for volunteers. In fact, I haven't heard them say, "Would someone please bring forth a word of prophecy?" in years. In my area much more emphasis is put on following the leading and teaching formats. For leading, you are given a specific format in which you just fill in the blanks with your choice of song, person to pray, manifest, etc.

I'm new here and this may already be in another thread.... (sorry if so) Does anyone know what the Way's reasoning for prophecy and tongues with interpretation being done in the first person is? For example: "I the Lord thy God..." I was born into TWI, began speaking in tongues when I was three, and started "manifesting" in children's fellowship when I was probably five or six. I'm almost 30 now and have finally left. Anyway, manifesting always filled me with a lot of anxiety. When I was a kid I would think stuff up ahead of time and then always felt so guilty. I was also in constant fear that God would tell my dad, who was the HFC, that I had been faking it. I think this really distanced me from God. Once I came up with this very poetic "prophecy" about shining as lights to the world like the fireflies in a dark field at night, etc. Everyone told me how much it blessed them and how wonderful it was, I was about 8. This was very confusing and stressful because now I had just set a new bar for myself, and my made up "prophecy" had just blessed people a lot more than when I did try not to think something up beforehand (you know "real words from God"). I was an extremely performance driven kid and I can remember the constant inner struggle with this issue. So back to my question... One of the first things in my adult life that started to clue me into the fact that maybe TWI didn't have more of the Word than anyone else out there is their ambiguity in this category. I had gotten honest with myself and realized that I had no desire to witness to anyone and bring them into TWI. In an effort to understand why, I began to look at things from the perspective of a new person. One thing I saw as a "new person" was that the manifestations in fellowship just weirded me out. Why would people be speaking like they were God or were possessed by God? If it's inspiration then why is it in the first person as if God is directly speaking as Himself through a person? It seemed so egotistical. So I decided to retake the Intermediate Class to get some answers. As I sat through the class I realized there was nothing scriptural they used backing up their definitions of just exactly what the believer's meeting manifestations entailed and why they were first person. They also took out the "Words for or from God" part. Now it's strictly "from". I can remember one believer who always manifested in the third person. I hadn't been in the same fellowship as her for awhile, but when I was placed in the same fellowship I noticed that she now used the first person just like everyone else. Interesting... It also seems like the same phrases are just recycled for the most part. I can remember one anniversary hook-up from HQ. Every single person who manifested started out with, "I have chosen you from before the foundations of the world...". I can remember as a cover-up the HFC saying that God must really be trying to emphasis that point. I think it wasn't long after that it became the new standard for during hookups that we turn the volume down and have manifestations in our own fellowships. I was so saddened by this. I loved going to phone hookups (no matter how long, boring, and confrontational they may be) because at least I didn't have the pressure of knowing I would probably be having to manifest! Wow, I am so thankful to be set free from the performance based standards of the Way! So does anyone know how they came up with all this? Was it some divine revelation God gave VPW?