Rocky

Biblical "research" is too easy these days. I went to 2 Corinthians 1 and found, 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. Paul’s Change of Plans 12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity[b] and godly sincerity. (emphasis mine) Just curious, does it say ANYWHERE in those verses that the believers were responsible to give blowjobs on demand, provide bottles of Drambuie wherever Paul went, or make exhaustive rituals of breaking in the pages of a new bible? I think not. BUT... if one does read any of that in those verses, it would be for a specific "social contract" providing that Paul or any other of the ministers provide comfort which produces patient endurance in the believers. That would be in the category of "they shall know them by their fruit." If either Dan G or the R&R RR engineers aren't demonstrating anything tangible along those lines, then they don't deserve to collect dime one from the believers. -------------- I also just did an internet search on "biblical roots of servant leadership." The first thing that came up? Mark 10:42-45 42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Do you need me to do more of this for you? It has been 32 years since I earned my degree in accounting. I'm comfortable stating that Paul believed that when the believers financially supported him, HE was to be accountable not only to God (for Paul ministering with integrity) but also to those who provided the financial support. Easily I can also say that based on the longsuffering testimony of those who were NOT comforted by Bob Moneyhands, that Bob's ministry was NOT godly, at least in those instances where he heaped something other than comfort on the heads of believers. And as to the new "revelation" worked out by Dan Gallagher the guy who split from STFI, the notion that a person is only "saved" or granted "eternal life" if and to the extend that said person is obedient to leaders of a church is the epitome of evil. Because there can be no other purpose for that doctrine than to put chains on that person to keep him or her from self-actualizing. Too many thinkers throughout the last 2 millenia have recognized that reality. [/soapbox]

Just an extension of the bull$hit and bass-ackward perspective that the purpose of the leaves on the tree was to serve the "leaders." Though Wierwillie must have read in the bible about Jesus washing the feet of those to whom he ministered, he didn't "get it."

Demonstration to convince the IRS and federal courts that they have brazenly and consistently violated federal law governing not-for-profit organizations. [501 (c)] Not such an easy thing to do these days.

It's in the Book of Acts. I found it more than 30 years ago when I was completing my bachelor's degree in accounting. I might try to find it later. Can't now, gotta run.

My point was and still is that WHEN he was supported by believers, he believed that HE should be accountable to THEM, rather than the back-assward way TWI did it.

As they saying these days goes... "stay in your lane." Yeah, I got your meaning immediately. I always appreciate your insight.

Of course, that hypothetical is... well, I think of his self-destructive behavior and laugh at the notion he could have lived another three plus decades.

Direct link to the video clip on Facebook.

Paul was supported by the believers... BUT he believed HE should be accountable to THEM.

I appreciate the candor.

Taxi, have you considered that "I can only assume" might really be that you only want to believe? Being human, and pursuant to your acknowledgement that they haven't done you any harm, to what extent have you critically examined sociological factors that might reveal (ahead of the curve, as it were) how long it might take for them to actually repeat the history of the members' four (plus) decades worth of involvement with TWI? Just sayin'

Two entirely different issues. You are a person, theoretically (and hopefully in a practical way also) endowed with free will and a sense of right and wrong. You choose the direction of your life to a certain degree (you choose how you respond to what life throws at you). The R and R RailRoad purports to believe it can build something different without changing the underlying concepts it broke away from. What's that definition of insanity the great physicist (and philosopher) Albert Einstein (may have) articulated? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Though I'm in my 60s, I'm still as curious as I was as a younger man. It's just that now, instead of falling prey to a religious demagogue, I like to study history. If I had a lick of sense when I was actually going to college (graduated with a BS degree in accounting at age 31) I would have pursued a graduate degree in history to develop a broader understanding of humankind. Well that last paragraph may be rambling but that's how I think and look at the R and R folks. Taxi, I have no doubt on what you describe about the RR folks doing things differently. But the results ultimately (key word, ultimately) will be the same. History repeats itself. The curious try to understand why things happen the way they do.

Past is prologue. There is no new thing under the sun.

It's ALL an illusion...

I agree wholeheartedly with the essence of your post. However, I believe that you may have softened LCM's persona with your euphemistic description of him as "abrasive, domineering and foul-mouthed." I believe you left out "extremely emotionally and sexually abusive."

I suspect that for the most part they are willfully ignorant.

Yikes! Aunt Lydia? How apropos. More than 30 years ago now, I vividly remember imagining that TWI would become legalistic and extremely religious. It happened more quickly than I guessed it would.

Da-Nile ain't just a river in Egypt.

That would be a great thing to inquire about at Way HQ.

A youtube video with the "You've cheated me again" song, in Spanish. https://youtu.be/FszGkbwvJ1Y

Enjoy!

Living free!

I don't spend much time searching the scriptures these days... but in 1986, 32 years ago this month, I graduated from college with a degree in Accounting. During my senior year, still involved in twi, I thought a lot about accountability as practiced in that cult. It very much occurred to me that twi was doing it bass-ackwards from how they did it in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. While Twinky has a good point about everybody being accountable, at that time it was like a neon sign flashing all alone on an otherwise dark street at midnight for me that neither Wierwille nor Martindale nor anyone else making any policy in the group was being accountable to the people who supported them. Servant leaders emulate Jesus Christ by (at least in attitude) washing the feet of those to whom they minister. Wierwille and Martindale expected the leaves on the tree to kiss their asses, buy them gifts and do them sexual favors. Do the leaders of the R & R RR conduct themselves like servant leaders?

Consider the meaning of the words with which they responded to you. Were those words of remorse or were they words of defensive posturing and deflection? I think TLC nailed it here. It may indeed take time for them to unlearn anything they've held dear from their life in twi. But are "leaders" who claim to have seen the light about the four and five decades in the cult demonstrating ANY kind of change of heart? Surely you've heard the word, "epiphany" before, haven't you? 3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into reality or the essential meaning of something, often initiated by some simple, commonplace occurrence. Did Moneyhands or Horney or Fort do or say anything that would lead you to believe they've had a genuine epiphany?

And dare I say, quite adventurous too. No doubt you take measures to minimize risks, but there certainly still are risks. "An adventure is an exciting experience that is typically a bold, sometimes risky, undertaking. Adventures may be activities with some potential for physical danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting or participating in extreme sports. The term also broadly refers to any enterprise that is potentially fraught with physical, financial or psychological risk, such as a business venture, or other major life undertakings." The rewards are likely far more emotionally satisfying too. Twinky, thanks for sharing your experience with us.