Rocky

:)

Winning through Intimidation

It's ingrained in American economic culture, unfortunately.

"Just write The Teacher at P.O. Box........"

That's Box 328

New Knoxville, OH 45871

-----

By the way, nitpicking about whether some statement of "wisdom" contradicts something written in the bible misses the essence of what this is and should be all about for us.

We were conditioned to put limitations on what we could accept as valid knowledge, understanding and wisdom related to how we should or even could direct our own lives (and those of others, btw).

There was a vastly overwhelming amount of truth/fact/reality that such mental and emotional restrictions prevents people from benefitting from. There can be immense amounts

written on what we realized after leaving TWI that matters that we also dismissed if we knew anything about it or simply failed to exercise curiosity to explore, because it would take us

"out of the household" and out from "god's protection." What bulls*it we let ourselves put up with.

Right. His "humor" has always been like his climate. Dry.

Y'all are SO sweet.

Right you are, Rocky! (Don't expect ever to hear that, from me, again.)

And Excie. It is, indeed Groucho who is Mr. Matrix:

Dot and Groucho

George

Like I was expecting it this time? I made a true statement, not a request for validation.

It looks like GeorgeStGeorge is still mixed up. Oakspear is NOT married to Dot Matrix.

IMO that is by design. With the amount of micromanagement and control they are exhibiting it is clear that they want the most compliant of sheep. They definitely don't want anyone involved that is a free thinker and expressive. They want obedience, compliance. No questions. No "suggestions". No individual research to deal with. Followers that nod the head, do what they are told including cutting off communication with those outside of favor, string chairs at meetings happily, and send in their ABS check. They persecute and run off anyone with a voice. They want Stepford wives as followers. Other types they will give that colonoscopy to.

Also, this is masked in sugar-coated terms. In today's TWI, when someone talks about "unity" or "the one body" or "we function as a household" within TWI, this is what they are talking about. They are brain-washed jargon terms, not genuine Biblical terms of how they function. True unity has its basis in love, not fear or paranoia or the lust for control or micromanagement.

Colonoscopies aren't bad... they give you good drugs to make it comfortable. It's the prep for it that's so unpleasant.

Has anyone here read or enjoyed Dr. Campbell's work like The Hero with a Thousand Faces, or The Power of Myth?

Just some very awesome stuff to discover.

Seth

The Power of Myth is occasionally broadcast on PBS. I watched part of it once.

power of myth

If Bill Moyers endorses him, Campbell's got something good going on.

Actually, when we were at Rome City, all parents with their children were exhorted in the very strongest terms to stay off the trampoline (or perhaps it was some other piece of play equipment) unless accompanied by an adult. No exceptions. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PLAY ON THIS THING ALONE. YOU MUST be accompanied by an adult.

So one day my 11-year-old son and I are walking by the thingamabob and here's a young lady bouncing to her heart's content, alone. My son politely mentioned to her the above mentioned iron clad, no exceptions rule, to which she quite haughtily replied:

"I am _________________ and my father is the director of the Family Way Corps. I can do anything I want to. The rules do NOT apply to staff kids anyway!"

We meekly apologized to the princess royal and slithered away.

There was also a time when I was helping supervise a playground full of toddlers when John N****z's sons strolled through the middle of it, carrying loaded .22 rifles. I politely suggested they choose another route in the future and they not so politely suggested I shut the hell up and mind my own business. Did I not know who they were, and their father had said they could carry any loaded weapon they chose to anywhere, anytime, and around anyone.

"Yes Massa, suh, yassah yassah."

The oldest son of the director was always getting into trouble at school and in town, but no one did anything about it.

We were kicked out because of our son's misbehavior. Wonder if the princes and princesses had set a better example, he would have noticed. I know he wasn't happy, but he was dirt on the shoe of every adult on grounds, while the staff children were snotty little hellions.

My son said years and years later, "It was like you were a Jew and they were the Nazis. Touch a wall, walk to slowly and BAM! someone was beating you with a spoon and yelling in your ear." My son has ADHD and it took him a while to process some of the routine through his buzzing little brain. We were strictly forbidden to give him any Ritalin or any medication. He was to be literally beaten into submission. The great and mighty men and women of the FWC were only too glad to help with that.

Yeah, personal and emotional boundaries were not strengths in the corporate culture of TWI. As I only realized far too late. It took some lessons from the school of hard knocks well after I had left TWI before I was able to learn and incorporate a socially acceptable level of boundaries.

I should say that I obviously had some sense of boundaries but until I better understood them, my family life experiences were tumultuous.

How old were the two alleged arsonists at the time?

Individual people can move beyond Wierwille... but only by leaving The Way International behind. But that's not scary. By walking away from The Way International, you can begin walking with Jesus Christ by way of the Spirit!

Love,

Steve

Or whatever YOU DECIDE you want to do with YOUR LIFE.

We do live in a FREE country, right?

What exactly IS the meaning of freedom, if we have to become slaves (doulos?) to what ANY other person decides?

There are a multitude of options. If you give up self-determination, are you really free?

March Forth, the ONLY day of the year that is a command.

Walter's quirky sense of humor made a big deal about this day every year.

So, HAPPY Walter Cummings day to one and all.

:dance:/> :jump:/> :dance:/>

There's no new thing under the sun.

Screenwriters read literature.

If the story idea came to the screenwriter in a dream, it's likely because he had been familiar the the Gospels.

I don't see anything magical or mystical (or sinister) at work here, just a reader/writer with a good imagination.

That's how the story writing process works.

A playlist, suppose to have 100 Glen Campbell videos.

Sometimes you hear what you want to hear, despite what's being said. At 21 years old and struggling financially, I was primed to accept what Wierwille was hawking, even though, in retrospect, I can clearly see how he took John 10:10 out of context, twisted it around and made it say what he wanted it to say. Then, he went to great lengths to support his premise with his own convoluted interpretation of scripture. I'd like to say it would be a lot harder to fool me now but, who really knows?

We ALWAYS hear what we want to hear. Or at least what we hope to hear.

The antidote to wierwille, in retrospect from my perspective, is two-fold: teach children critical thinking skills... and make sure they have their emotional needs mets growing up.

Of course, both of those are easier said than done.

We were indeed primed to accept his gobbledegook. I'm thankful I eventually figured it out. :)

However, I faced a similar dilemma when I divorced and my ex decided to hook up with the mormon church. It took a good bit of doing to keep my daughter and stepson from taking that bait, but now they are grown and have chosen more mainstream spiritual paths. Even though their mother is still mormon.

Someone else will revive them. If the demand is there, someone will supply it.

Indeed. All of the hype and hoopla this week serves only to increase the value of the brand and that brand

will be sold as a part of liquidation of the company's assets.

Twinkies, perhaps unfortunately, won't be going away for good.

Probably the first two words are most important. "Eat food" means to eat real food -- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and, yes, fish and meat -- and to avoid what Pollan calls "edible food-like substances."

Pollan specifically cites Twinkies in what he says are edible food-like substances.

Okay, this is not a fun reason to post. Joe Kriston shared the news late Thursday evening that our sister Moira Kenney Hutchinson had passed away early that morning (Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012). She's being laid to rest in Glendora, California, on Saturday.

What is there to say about Moira? Wow. She was steel and hope and laughter, all rolled up into one dynamic person. No words could ever attempt to capture her. I think that the rest of us are going to have to get our acts together, and be cooler; that's a lot of slack to take up.

Moira was just about the sweetest soul anyone could ever want to know. :)

Several friends on facebook already know, but in case you hadn't heard, a dear, dear friend -- Moira Kenney Hutchinson passed away a few days ago.

She was just about the sweetest soul you'd ever want to meet.

David Bai*ey did up a nice tribute collage.

Tribute to Moira

If you knew Moira, you may be interested in attending a memorial service. It will be held this coming Saturday afternoon in Glendora, CA.

Details can be found on a public event page on facebook set up by Moira's son Kyle.

Moira's memorial

Several friends on facebook already know, but in case you hadn't heard, a dear, dear friend -- Moira Kenney Hutchinson passed away a few days ago.

She was just about the sweetest soul you'd ever want to meet.

David Bai*ey did up a nice tribute collage.

Tribute to Moira

You know, don't you, that "prosper" doesn't necessarily mean financially?

A better meaning from our current vocabulary might be "thrive" - or just "do well". Plants in the garden can prosper. After a visit to someone, you might be asked if it was a prosperous visit - ie, did you have a nice time together?

It's another of those words that VPW took out of context - he added a 20th century meaning to a 16th century word. And he chose a word that is very emotive in our day and time - isn't part of the American dream to do well financially for oneself? To build up material wealth?

But what are we exhorted to do? This is how to prosper, from God's point of view:

And this is how to lay up those treasures, explicitly:

I do not see much there, about accreting money, physical wealth, to oneself.

Interestingly, although money is mentioned in the extract from Timothy, it's not in context of tithing to one's church leaders, etc, as covered in the booklet Christians should be Prosperous - but in context of giving it away and being generous and sharing with unspecified others.

I'm with you Twinky, 100 percent. Your post nicely underscores the issue of wierwille's sociopathic nature... his "research" and indoctrination speeches were, consciously or not, focused on what would enrich HIM, not the listener.

Exactly. If he had been an out-front monster, we would have run in the opposite direction (I would hope!). I'm reminded of those TV commercials trying to sell us drugs with hideous side effects. The ad depicts smiling people doing everday tasks. The voice over sounds like your dearest friend. The voice tells us a litany of ghastly side effects but the ad makers are counting on our being distracted by the fun-loving, often beautiful, healthy looking people we assume are taking the drug, so we miss listening closely to the gravity of the side effects, "on rare occasions, even death."

That's a tremendous analogy. And it makes the point that this kind of charm (marketing propaganda) is pervasive in our society and culture.

I know. I can find myself still somewhat drawn to his good words on first read, then I get this bristling feeling and the urge to run.

The draw, for me, is LONG gone. I hope you get there too. But I'm glad you can recognize the seductive nature of wierwille's charm.

first song was boring. not even as good as early Selah(Paul Vergilio, not South African trio of more recent times), Good Seed, or Pressed Down, much less Hillsongs, Casting Crowns, etc. Thanks to Calvary is by Bill Gaither, not Ted Farrell, and Wierwille's sermons remind me of Jerry Falwell instead of Nicky Gumbel of Alpha, Rob Weber(United Methodist) of Beginings, or even Rick Warren.

I recognize Bill Gaither's style in that song. Just to clarify, in case anyone wondered, I didn't attribute the authorship of the song to Farrell, just the performance. :)

I saw someone on facebook say this evening that "you are STILL welcome at The Way." Of course, I SO do not care if I would be welcome there or not... any more.

So, a friend suggested I watch a YouTube clip of some recent Way Productions song and dance. I found that clip to be incredibly cheesy and creepy.

Then, I clicked on another YouTube to watch a 15 minute clip with a pic of wierwille and text saying it was about "Christians Should Be Prosperous."

After Ted Farrell sings "At Calvary," wierwille preaches, apparently at a "Word in Business" event, for about five minutes. It was probably a lot longer than that, but this clip only went that far. I had no interest in listening to more of them.

But looking back more than 30 years, I can now recognize several things that he was doing, that were, indeed, manipulative tactics to enrich HIMSELF at the expense of others. Because, after all, if he teaches "God's word" and you don't see the promised results, then YOU must be doing something wrong, right?

After a typical prayer, he has the audience open their bibles to Psalm 37.

"...I'd like to lay before this body of believers, the laws, those immutable laws, people, that govern prosperity. See, all material evidence, all of the evidences in the material, the senses world, all of those are governed by laws. For instance, a farmer has to adhere to the laws of planting and good farming practices. Christian prosperity or a believer's prosperity which is in the material realm, in the senses realm. This is governed by God's immutable laws. You cannot have prosperity without knowing those laws. No more so than you can know God's will without knowing God's word. If any man is ever to know God's will, sir, he has to go back to the word. For the Word of God is the Will of God. No man can ever know that will of God really for himself or herself without knowing the word. No individual can ever go beyond what they are taught. The reason we believe tonight what we believe is because of what we've been taught.

No one will ever rise beyond what they are taught because you cannot believe, sir, bigger than what you've been taught, right? Those are just plain sensible horse sense logic, that's all it is. Just makes common sense. You gotta be stupider than a jackass to miss those kind of truths, that's right. It may not be a good figger of speech, but it communicates, okay? Well, I like you, you people know me, a lot of you have had to put up with this kind of stuff through the years. I love ya.

Ya see, and no man can believe any more, sir, than he knows. You can believe less. You can practice less, too honey, but you can't ever believe more than what you know. Tonight on these laws that govern prosperity, I want to set three things before you and that's all. Number one: I wanna establish with you the truth that it is God's will for a believer to prosper. That's number one. Number two, WHY should a Christian; a believer, prosper more than a non-Christian or an unbeliever. That's number two. And then number three: HOW does the believer prosper. You see people there are... (and the clip ends there)

-----

Before Ted Farrell's performance of At Calvary, wierwille got emotional about how he loves his people because they've been changed by God's word and that he's had the pleasure of teaching it to them in a wonderful class... blah blah blah.

He connects emotionally with the audience and subtlely reminds them that HE is The Teacher.

He used an example they could easily relate to about farmers. But that represented evidence that what he was telling them was LAW. It and HE was the authority on God's will.

Of course, there has been plenty of recollection in this forum of wierwille's hatefulness, jealousy and insecurity. But THIS is wierwille at his charming best. That's how he got rich, charming the socks off of believers. Well, the dollars out of their wallets anyway. And then, believing HIMSELF ENTITLED, he took his pick of the lovely young women who fawned over him, not necessarily unlike the contemporary scandal of David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell.

One glaring difference, Petraeus took immediate responsibility for poor judgment when FIRST confronted with it. That doesn't excuse the fact that he took advantage, but it's an amazing contrast that he would take responsibility.

Anyway, it's been so long since I've subjected myself to wierwille's audible voice.

What are your thoughts?

We have a friend who was in a very similar situation, her hubby found a cult/church, she went along and finally it became too much for her, he cheated, she left. Many of these ultra strict cults will find a way to weave a license for sexual sin into their belief system. She had a church to return to and a built in support system with family, but it is still really hard on her. I read some of her FB posts and my heart breaks.

I don't know how to counsel someone in that situation. Pregnant and vulnerable, or with small children and vulnerable......what do you say? Leave your husband or stay and suck it up and pray?

This is why I hate religiosity. It always seems to end in heartache.

All you can say is that you understand and empathize... and that you can't be the one making her decisions for her. Maybe say what you (think you) would do if you were in her position, but you don't want to take responsibility if she takes your advice and regrets it later... do you?

Having been through divorce, I can say confidently that one of the most important things a person going through it needs is emotional support. Friends can do, be and provide that. :)

If our notifications at the bottom of the GSC home page are correct, today is John A. Lynn's birthday.

I hope he is happy and healthy.

John Lynn's facebook profile indicates today is his birthday also.