Belle

They don't read them any more and probably because it is so embarrassing. They give percentages instead: 20% are going to work on staff at HQ 50% have received bc assignments 30% will be staying to work on staff at Gunnison. They don't even give their names anymore.

OMG!!! Is that REALLY the former WC Coordinator from the IN campus, P*ul M*squeda??

LOL!!! Is that his Hugh Heffner Wanna-be costume?? :D--> :D--> :D-->

Did he have contact information on his website? OM, maybe you could call JP and ask him yourself.

Unfortunately, those left "in" will never hear about these lawsuits unless they are afraid they will make the media in their particular location. I sincerely hope that the twi(t)s continue losing millions upon millons of dollars to the people brave enough to fight these pharisees.

Krys, WWJLA is looking for a roomie if you need a place to stay. I had to back out due to some unexpected circumstances and we had planned to share a room.

Kerry seemed to speak more clearly and without much thinking whereas Bush seemed to take longer to think up his answers and rebuttals. I think I think like Bush because I certainly respond better via e-mail or forums because it gives me time to think, but maybe the generall public doesn't see it that way. I'm a Bush supporter all the way, but Kerry seemed more poised and prepared just because of his quick responses. I still think he's a skunk and willing to change his mind depending on the pressure of the hour. He belongs in a Waffle House and not the White House if you ask me.

WG, the Singing Ladies we ain't! ;)--> :D-->

I like my job and the work is exciting and challenging, but I wish I had more "home" time to do things I would like to do. It has nothing to do with work, but rather living in a big city and having the commute time cutting into "my" time. I hope to move someplace smaller so the commute doesn't take such a chunk out of my personal time....or talking my boss into letting me work from home.

p.s. WhiteDove where did you get that picture of me??? :D-->

My purpose for getting involved in the PDL study groups at this time is to get to know the people in the church better. I see good and I see TWI in this book and I'm not altogether smitten with it, but I do see merit in some aspects and I also see opportunities to debunk some things. I HATE/DETEST/ABHOR having to memorize scripture because someone told me to and I'm not looking forward to the parts on "everyone has to give." and the witnessing aspects of it. But so far we have only met once and that was to work out the details of our individual study group. We were talking about witnessing and I shared with them the "No one cares what you know until they know you care" phrase from TWI and they loved that so it's our "scripture" for the week. They know I come from a cult and that I'm only recently out and the tender loving care I've received is nothing short of phenomenal. My group is all ladies and even on the first night there was a great deal of heart sharing. We're serious about utilizing the admonition to do what works for your group and that the group alone makes the "rules" so to speak. I don't see or feel the legalism in our group and can guaran-dam*-tee you that if it creeps in I will speak up and/or move out. So far, I see it being good for them and I also see how I can contribute and keep the balance in our group because of my experience. A lot of this is things they've never been taught or even thought about. It's also a great time of bonding in the church.

I left within the past 5 years. TWI took my husband away from me in the process. Something I desparately did not want to happen. Since leaving I have noticed a lot more and I have a lot more peace in my life and I'm not looking over my shoulder constantly. My neighbors, friends and co-workers have noticed it enough to make comments on it. I have more to write, but I have to go. I'll get back to you on this one. I think it's imporant for those who are lurking to see.

It's not only Rosa-lie, John. I was talking to my TC and BC one time about the mandate that people sell their homes and my TC had the gall to ask me when that ever happened. He insisted that TWI never, but never, forced people to sell their homes. I gave him 3 specific examples right away, 2 of which included him and his wife being the ones putting people on probation for not selling their homes. Of course, then the conversation changed to why I was sticking my nose in other people's business. Take the focuse off the problem and then it goes away and you don't have to admit to it. That's the TWI motto.

My church starts this week. I'm pretty excited about it as I've already read the book and I'm fairly new to the church. They're very excited and have been wearing their "Got Purpose?" t-shirts once a month to the contemporary service for a while. My t-shirt should be in this week. The church wants people to participate so bad that the books and study aids are free. When did TWI ever do THAT??? AHAT the kick off sounds like a blast. Wayfer Not! I love the idea of getting together with other churches. We are doing ours simultaneously with other churches in the area, but not combining groups. That is really cool.

I pretty much agree with everyone's points here and I'll add that I think VP was a very good ACTOR - not a very good teacher. Just because people learn to recite memorized lessons does not mean that they've been taught. Just because people have retained the teachings doesn't mean he was a good teacher, that could be attributed to many other variables, such as what Goey mentioned regarding the status of expert that was thrust in our face enough that we eventually believed it.

Ya know what's odd about this is that I remember being taught that now that during PFAL now that CW brings it up, but in TWI2, we were taught that if we were spiritually mature enough we could SIT all the time, even while we were talking, listening, making decisions, sitting in meetings at work, witnessing, etc. We should, according to them, endeavor to be speaking in tongues all day and if we did it right, we would be able to carry out our normal activities at the same time because SIT functions in a separate part of the brain.

I was talking about this with a friend just the other day. CW, I agree with you and just to add to what you posted: We talk about kids seeing God as an old man with the long, white beard and say they have matured to recognize God as spirit, but we never grow past that. Isn't it "God in Christ in You"? Then holy spirit and Holy Spirit are one in the same. We have God in us and that's the source of our inner voice (barring any emotional or psychological imbalances). Think of God as the ocean and we're droplets of water that make up that ocean. That's why Jesus Christ said, "My Father and I are one" and "I am in Him and He is in me". When you look at the Bible with this perspective things make more sense than they did to me when I was trying to make VP's interpretation fit into that glove.

Regardless of how good the program is (which is debatable), they will eventually have 1 WC person for each fellowship. If the need isn't there for additional leaderships, why continue the obviously failing program?

FLIRTINIS I'm single what do you expect? 2 Parts Champagne 2 Parts Vodka 1 Part Pineapple Juice Although I have found this one on the web and haven't tried it yet, but it does sound good! pieces of fresh Pineapple 1/2 oz Cointreau 1/2 oz Vodka 1 oz Pineapple Juice 3 oz Champagne or sparkling Maraschino cherries wine Directions Pour the Cointraeu, vodka, and pineapple juice into a martini shaker and shake. Strain into a chilled martini glass and top with champagne. Garnish with a pineapple pieces and cherries on a cocktail pick, and serve.

I found this doing some research on Transcendental Meditation on the web. This guy had a bad experience much like ours with a TM group. If you substitue VPW for MMY you get a very good description of the beginning of TWI recovery for some people, including myself. Realizing that the whole foundation of the organization and the teachings were corrupt was the key to the eyes of my understaning being enlightened. How 'bout you? Source of the quote I like the last part of his quote so much I have edited it to fit with TWI.

If they only had 5 WC students in the last class we can only imagine that the next class is about the same size or smaller. They don't allow people to go there for vacations anymore, not even for a fee. So it sounds like a beautiful money pit and waste of ABS they worked so hard to steal from people. Why continue with the WC program when there aren't enough indians for these chiefs to rule anyway? How many people and how much money is needed to run Gunnison?

Just how long can they live on the interest given that they have practically no staff at Gunnison and no interest in the remaining grads to join the elite group? Membership continues to dwindle as teens get old enough to make their own decisions and so do the coffers, I'm sure. If they have to start dipping into the secret bounty, how long will it sustain them? If I was counting on TWI to supply my retirement, would you recommend I start scrambling? I mean, IF THEY WERE TO KEEP THEIR WORD that they would take care of me....would I need to worry that they would not be able to?

Oh yeah! Remember lcm teaching about the lesbian thing with Eve and then pausing and saying, "Do you see it? (laugh) "Well, I do!" Like that should be enough for us to believe it. The gall of that man! Sad thing is, that is all that it took for most of us to believe it.

Excellent topic, CW! The "honor" of teaching was only bestowed upon those deemed "worthy". Nevermind the teaching in the Bible about "the least of these....". Those teachers were also usually the WC leadership and, although they taught that the greatest leader is the greatest servant, I never saw a WC at the back of the food line or anything else for that matter. Every TWI function I went to made sure that the "people" (aka peons) waited to be called upon to serve themselves after watching all the WC/LC/BC/RC go through the line or have their food served to them. (sorry, is this a derail? Should I start a new topic?)

I thought this deserved its own thread. Houseisarockin posted: