Grace Valerie Claire
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Posts posted by Grace Valerie Claire
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13 hours ago, skyrider said:
Grace........it appears that Rico's group is on the upswing. He is developing 8-hour weekend courses wherein he, and a couple of others, can fly in and teach their material, collect the "abundant sharing" and coerce more followers to faithfully partner ($$$) with his group.
- January -- in Wichita, KS......teach on faithful giving, tithing, partnering
- February -- in Sidney, OH......teach on steps to take for "spiritual maturity"
- This summer -- in Montana.......an outdoor camp to enjoy God's creation
- Courses, classes and camps........sound familiar?
Rico followed Martindale's directives..........until martindale was finally ousted.
Rico followed Rivenbark's micromanagement...........for ANOTHER 16 years.
Like mother-cult before him, Rico is herding a religious seclusion of cult-life followers. Most of them, who are isolated from church, community and neighbors.....are also displaced from their own families, unless the whole dysfunctional family is involved. Cults prey on the weak, vulnerable and grieved. Teachings are subtly designed to keep their minds grooved in guilt, fear and dependency......working toward "stages of spiritual maturity" or goals that cannot be attained.
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Sky, I feel for these people. We know what happened to many of the people in TWI; I hope it doesn't happen again. When will people learn that cults are evil, and usually only benefit the few on top?
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2 hours ago, skyrider said:
According to Rico's website, it has been over a year since Moynihans, Horneys, or Michael Fort taught at an "oikeos-event" co-joining efforts in a splinter splash.
We will learn a great deal about the direction of R&R if....AGAIN.....they rally together behind Rico (in Sidney, Ohio).
Wouldn't it be a hoot if they rented out the GreatStone Castle for this event?
Sky, would Rico have enough followers, to rent it out? It seems to me, he is losing people left, and right. I don't keep up with his organization, but how stable is it? I suspect that a year, or two from today, his people will leave, and start their own organization.
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16 hours ago, WordWolf said:
Some of this is eventually self-correcting. With the numbers of new people affected by twi dwindling, this problem afflicts fewer people because twi trains fewer people in its dysfunctional methods. So, over the decades, the puffed-up leaders get old and die of old age if nothing else.
Most people who leave twi, after a few years, discover their splinters (if they jump to one) aren't helping them, and they get on with their lives without splinters. Those ex-twi who don't, generally end up in groups with no authority figure at all, and end up just doing house-church. Those can actually work and help people, depending on who's teaching and what they're teaching. Since that's a system that selects AGAINST authority figures, it selects for the more "Christian" types who actually wanted to help people and do the right thing from Day One. (I don't think there's sizeable numbers of those, but I know they exist.)
WW, interesting post. I didn't know this; thanks for the information.
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On 2/12/2019 at 11:01 AM, skyrider said:
Insanity is often quoted as......"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
..........but with cult-splinter insanity, I find myself wondering if they are doing the same thing over and over again desiring the SAME results. With nearly 20 years of internet exposure..... Waydale and Greasespot Café.......surely IF these corps leaders had an ounce of integrity and empathy for others, they'd see the errors of their ways, no?
What do ALL of the cult offshoots have in common?
- A self-appointed leader claims to have "the Word" and teach "it" to others.
- He offers up dissention and disagreements with martindale or rivenbark........and gives wierwille adulation.
- Without objective reflection and further seminary training or study, he tweaks the wierwille-teachings only slightly.
- Same pyramid structure is implemented..........same centralization, same lording over others, same rules on giving money.
- Now that you've met the *new boss, same as the old boss*..........how can you possibly expect DIFFERENT RESULTS?
After exiting The Way International Cult.........how many got entrapped into another splinter group for another decade or more? Insanity right? And, within these various splinters......how many more twisted perversions were promoted and propagated by the spiritual elite (cough, cough) among us? The Geer group plunged into the posthumous indoctrinations of geer's idol, wierwille. CES/STFI grafted in new age, self-help quackery like Momentus and personal prophesies and nose spiders. Egads! And, CFF took you back to the nostalgia "good old days of twi" when that young blood was coursing thru your veins. Oh, the memories.......
Here a splinter, there a splinter.............everywhere there is ANOTHER splinter.
Whether the R&R group will get rooted is still questionable.......but Rico's upstart - Oikeos is another baby cult that is flailing its arms and legs. Nourished on the milk of "Wierwille's Word" this infant will grow up in the image of wierwille...........same result, same outcome as its mother-cult.
IMO.........these splinters have NOTHING to do with serving and ministering to others, but rather are SELF-SERVING OVERLORDS. These corps cleave to the cult model, because they have no real-life job experience in the real world. At best, they would be hard to find middle management jobs, sales jobs or seek self-employment. There are near-zero employers out there who are willing to hire a 56-66 year old man who has been fossilized into an obscure "Christian" group for 35 or 40 years.
Two years ago, I documented a timeline of my experiences during the Martindale Era.....Insanity on Steroids.......and it was crazy then.
But now, seeing these corps who stayed ANOTHER 17 YEARS of Rivenbark's Reign of Error.........and now, wanting to claim the mantle of *Leadership* is laugh-out-loud appalling. What a bunch of weasels. Until they clean and sanctify themselves from all of wierwille cult, top to bottom, thoroughly and throughly............they are a blight on the body of Christ. They disappoint and diminish and destroy by seeking opportunities for filthy lucre's sake. Beware of their pernicious ways as they twist and pervert words to indulge and profit in this seduction. They seek those who've had their minds grooved with cult indoctrination and servitude, rather than do the hard work of reaching others.
Beware of cults. Beware of groupthink.
"In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. " Friedrich Nietzsche
Sky, I remember when you documented your experiences with TWI. It was fascinating to read, and study. I was so upset with the way, you and your family were treated, by TWI, I wanted to smack the entire BOD!! You, and your family worked your butts off for years, and then TWI treated you like CACA. It was inhumane, and quite frankly disgusting!! Someday Sky, the people who treated you like S--t, will get what they deserve. I would not treat an animal the way you, and your family were treated.
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5 hours ago, Thomas Loy Bumgarner said:
I wonder if KG, her husband knew about this. If it had been my wife, I would have beaten the $h!t out of him and called the county sheriff
Thomas, bingo!!
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On 6/24/2018 at 7:22 PM, Rocky said:
I wonder if they're going to expand their learning horizons beyond what they've become fossilized in with TWI dogma.
Rocky, bingo!! I think they are so caught up in their Way Hog Wash dogma, they will not be able to change. Nor do they want to.
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10 hours ago, Taylor Apples said:
Thanks but I didn't see any New Horizons tapes on there. I am looking for their old tape specifically. There music was fun and uplifting.
Taylor, I remember NH!! Their music was great!! I saw them at The Rock one year; their dancing was as good as their music!! Great group!!
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19 hours ago, WordWolf said:
Old story. A man is asked what a conscience is. He points to his chest. "It is a 3-cornered thing in here. When I do wrong, it spins and the corners hurt me. But if I keep doing wrong, the points wear off, and it doesn't hurt anymore."
WW, to you it might be an old story, but for those of us who are sexual abuse survivors, it is an ongoing story. I will never get over what was done to me as a child; many of us won't. I feel for anyone who has to deal with sexual abuse; it isn't something that most of us will ever resolve in our lifetimes.
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On 1/4/2019 at 7:00 PM, JavaJane said:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MHB47Z3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_5N-lCb644WFSC
hey, fellow GreaseSpots. I wrote this novel as a way to help myself work through all the past s*** in my head from being involved in TWI. (Still haven't worked through ALL of it - that may take the rest of my life.)
I started thinking about this main character in 2007 shortly before I left - mainly when I started really considering what free will actually is. The story morphed from there into what it is now. Some of it is based on my experiences in TWI, and some is based on others experiences. And some of it is from other churches I have attended.
It is not a memoir by any means. It is fantasy. Urban fantasy to be precise. Full of angelic and demonic beings. The world is built using Christian writings as folklore, as well as drawing from worldwide myth and trying in local (to me) urban legends and magic traditions.
Ray's voice is my current voice, post Way. Amanda's voice is my old self from the time I was in.
You can read it for free on Kindle Unlimited, or download it for 2.99 in the Kindle Store. It is also available in paperback.
If you decide to read it and you enjoy it, please leave a review on Amazon. I am writing under a pseudonym due to the subject matter.
You Greasespotters really helped me a lot and I am grateful. I'm hoping this book can help some others gain some empathy for those of us who got trapped/are trapped by cults.
Enjoy. I will post more later when I have time tonight. This feels like a big healing accomplishment for me, and without GSC I don't think I would have been able to do it.
JJ, congratulations!!
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2 hours ago, Thomas Loy Bumgarner said:
Where is anybody? Has the Rapture occurred and no one told me? lol
Thomas, I wish!!
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On 12/16/2018 at 7:01 PM, Twinky said:
Different!!
Twinky, very different!! I think they have a point!
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17 minutes ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:
I think I know what it is, but I have to point out that this is the TV Show Mash-up thread, not the Movie Mash-up thread.
As I said, I'm kind of blanking right now. If someone else wants to answer Grace's clue and then post a TV clue, have at it!
George
George, nuts!! Right church, wrong pew!! I thought this was the Movie Mash-Up!!
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3 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:
I'm blanking right now. (I come up with a show, and use the search bar at the top of the page. Every show I think of, I've already done.)
If anyone else wants to go, go ahead. If not, I'll try again later.
George
George, I have one. This movie had it's premier in Atlanta, Ga., 79 years ago today, Dec 15th, 1939. It is the most profitable movie in American Film History. It won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Best Actress. It takes place in Georgia, over a century ago.
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48 minutes ago, Thomas Loy Bumgarner said:
BTW, who moves from Payne to New Knoxville in a blizzard? Did the house in Payne, was it rented? Did the landlord set a date for the Wierwilles to move out?
Tom, only an idiot would move in a blizzard. Normal people usually stay indoors, out of harm's way.
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1 minute ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:
It's "The Jackie Gleason Show." I watched it every Saturday Night.
George
George, you are right!! Your turn!!
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Just now, GeorgeStGeorge said:
It's "The Jackie Gleason Show." I watched it every Saturday Night.
George
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Just now, Grace Valerie Claire said:26 minutes ago, WordWolf said:
Ha! Thanks for posting so promptly! Ok let's see....
Although this show was technically before my time, that particular comedian- and that tagline- are still well-known (somewhat) to this day.
Was this show "THE HONEYMOONERS"?
WW, close, but no. What show came after the Honeymooners??
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25 minutes ago, WordWolf said:
Ha! Thanks for posting so promptly! Ok let's see....
Although this show was technically before my time, that particular comedian- and that tagline- are still well-known (somewhat) to this day.
Was this show "THE HONEYMOONERS"?
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2 hours ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:
You are correct, Grace.
Which means you're up.
Which means we would like YOU to post clues to a new TV show.
Note that this particular thread gives a lot of latitude as to what constitutes and acceptable clue. We usually use trivia about the show (which you can find at IMDb or Wikipedia, among other sites); but (as I did), you can use cast members, episode titles, whatever strikes your fancy. I would start with more challenging clues first, and then make them easier if people don't get it initially.
George
George, I will try to do this right. This comedy show was on Saturday night for years, and years. It's host was a male comedian, whose favorite saying was, " how sweet it is."
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On 12/8/2018 at 6:19 PM, GeorgeStGeorge said:
Some of the many actors on this show (each appeared in at least 70 episodes):
Barbara Bosson Jon Cypher
Rene Enriquez Robert Hirschfeld
George
George, Hill St. Blues. Best Cop Show ever!
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1 hour ago, Raf said:
But... but...
I still rock, right?
Raf, of course!! Rock on!!
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5 hours ago, Taxidev said:
Alright everyone, I have an update on the progress of the R&R group.
After becoming aware of them in May of 2017, and following their progress from a disorganized group to a somewhat organized group, I have reached the conclusion that what several of you have said is correct along these points:
There is not a single individual controlling the group, it is a handful of people controlling the group. And they are tightly knit.
There is basically a handful of regulars that do the teachings, with the occasional cameo appearance of someone fairly close but not in the true inner circle.
They are following the teachings of VPW almost entirely, with some modifications here and there, and they all praise VPW almost without exception.
There hasn't been any interest expressed as to what we are interested in hearing more about, or topics of interest at all.
While many of the teachings are well done, few have any real relevance to me, and some of them aren't good at all, wandering around a topic like the teacher has no real direction. My situation is unique, and they are just blowing their own horns, showing what they know about a particular topic because that's what they feel like teaching.
I had stated clearly before that I was keeping them at arm's length, and now I see they have nothing to offer me. Going forward I will have nothing to add because I am no longer following them at all.
Taxi, good for you!!
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5 minutes ago, WordWolf said:
Hey- vpw started twi to make money- as much as possible, as easily as possible. These are true offshoots- also looking to make money off of religion.
WW, true!! He made a S--t load of money from TWI. To this day, it angers me, that the majority of TWI workers are so poorly-paid, and live in such miserable poverty. How is that Godly?? Gee, no wonder why so few people want to work at TWI; I wouldn't work there.
Cult-Splinter Insanity
in About The Way
Posted
WW, yes!!! So true!! I know this happened to me. When I first started attending Twig, it was fascinating; very few rules. Years later, it sucked due to all the rules.