igotout

This is becoming a very funny thread. Socks I think you are getting funnier as you get older. Hell, my wife would have just taken Dave off the wall and smashed him over my head. (But actually we both like Dave.) I remember reading that article when I got my Way Mag that month. That was during the time when they were all on a confrontation kick. You were supposed to be grateful for it or some shxt like that if I recall. I would rather have read this thread. It's better to laugh than cry. Bob & Dootski are scary to me now when I look back. No wonder he never seemed to liked me. I was just never able to rise up in my fakeness enough to satisfy him I suppose. Oh, and his confrontation to me was not at all like this nice syrupy article he wrote. Not at all! To me it was more like "my way othe highway". Europe can have him! More analysis please. I need more laughs!

Well, John it is entirely a different thng to say Black Sabbath was the father of Metal. (I saw them live in 1970 or 1971??, front row by the way. Awesome concert.) It would be another thing to say Ozzie Osborn was MY father in Metal, and if I were to listen to hs doctrine and beliefs and retemorize them and make them my own on a regular basis. That would be a little weird. And I doubt if Ozzie would have put up with it one minute. In TWI it went beyond a metaphor into serious religious belief. And no one ever told us to stop using that term, not even the man of God of our day and time, our father in the Word, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille. Somehow I think Craig wanted that same adulation, but it never quite went that far with him. Although we were NEVER alowed to use the term CRAIG in TWI 2. It was grounds for getting kicked out in a heartbeat. It was Rev. Martindale or nothing!

I haven't been able to tell much difference. It looks like MP3's are here to stay. Not sure why really. Just caught on fast and here we are. I first started getting familiar with the whole MP3 thing with the original Napster site back before it was considered illegal. It as all so new, people were freely sharing millions of MP3's. It was like the Woodstock of MP3's. Some of the downloaded MP3's were not great quality, others were outstanding. Funny thing is, most people I know who downloaded bunches of MP3's from back then kinda stopped. Not because of the pressure from the recording industry, but because they had enough, they had their fill. Enough was enough.

That's great to get those on DVD. I have finished converting all mine to DVD, going back to 1988 when I had one of those bulky shoulder mounted cameras, cost $900 I think. I paid as much as $40 per tape using YES DVD. Today a person can do it themselves. Have you used any dual layer media yet? Holds several tapes I think.

Royal, I am not getting sound on this one. Is sound included?

I do, in the context of how it was promoted and stated in TWI. "Call no man Father" that is a pretty clear exhortation. I first heard some of this as early as 1974 when I first took PFAL. The WOW's who witnessed to me CLEARLY stated that Dr. Wierwille was the "man of God of the world". Many used that phrase during those years. Man of God of the World?? Later the expanded definition was he was "THE Man of God for our day and time for the entire world." I believed it for a short while. Later I began to seriously doubt it. Having come from a Catholic background in the 50's it was a little to Pope-ish for my taste. Didn't they used to call the Pope THE Vicar of Christ, THE sole reperesentative of Christ to man for the world? Infallible when speaking on matters of "faith and MORALS."?? Something like that. Scary parallels. I began to see it as a crock. Inspired, yes. Father in the Word, no way!! Not mine. No more than the Pope was.

Hi Royal. I see you are editing your videos I finally mailed back to you. You have tons of footage! Looking forward to getting some of those clips from you as we discussed. I can tell you were an INNIE when you took those. I was too. I wonder if they allow staff to have Video Cameras today? Do you know? I wish I would have had a digital years ago. Do you know what is causing the stuttering sound? Could it be the capturing process? I heard they do not have the house of his healing presence anymore or the campfire area. But maybe that is just a rumor. A lot of our sweat and blood went into manicuring those woods. I bet today thay are not maintained as well as they were then.

Thanks you funny foot people. Subscription to the Way Mag One of those little statues of VPW A mini replica of the guppy sign at hwy 29 These and a few other things. I hate god am malls. Maybe I'll do an all day witnessing blitz today at the malls.

Ha, figures, Christ removed from the center. My goodness. I think Chris is still in. For the life of me, I can't understand some of those oldies. Just like our Bob & Dot who just took a new assignment from thier boss. Heck if I were them I would have stayed here in sunny Florida. Maybe their rent went up. Oh, and sorry for the smell on that shirt, probably needs a good washing from being in the bottom of a drawer all those years.

Still have mine, Skyrider. I never really liked it. Designed by Anthony Pxxch of the 5th Corps. I thought we were instructed to "Go Forth as leaders and workers in areas of concern interest and need." Not "Come forth and work for TWI for the rest of your life in their areas of concern interest and need as a staff member". As a young person I would have RUN from that scene as fast as I could and never looked back!

Come do some god d amn Christmas shopping for me. I hate it! And I do not know what to get wifey. I only got her two things so far. I need some more ideas. I'm stumped. Some of us non shopper types suffer greatly this time of year. I'm screwed.

You, Ex, were one of the ones we reconnected with. I had no idea how much it had affected you. You suffered more than most in TWI. And shame on those poop heads for doubting your story with VP. It was hard for them to accept it I suppose. And these forums have also been great for making new friends. Like you Belle. (I'll be in Orlando soon, after Christmas. Big job starting there. Lets have lunch.)

It's true what you said, Skyrider. In the 6th & 7th Corps we were distinctly under the impression that the Corps was 3 years and then you graduated. End of story. Unlike early Corps groups (who almost all became staff members in one way or another) we were large in number. Staff positions were abundantly filled, thank you very much. Of course we were expected to at the least run a twig, but some didn't even do that for various reasons (like being very busy in full time college or caring for a parent) yet they were still considered Corps and still welcomed. There was no talk of a lifetime of christian service. If that phrase were ever used it was in context of..... a "lifetime of christian service", not a lifetime of being in a program in TWI. I do remember VPW drilling us that "once Corps always Corps". So..big deal, of course. We were Corps grads. We were dedicated. But the majority of us had every intention of going on with our lives and doing what we wanted. Some statements I remember from leadership in those years. "The main reason for The Corps is to train twig leaders." "Most of you should not aspire to be limb and branch leaders. Most of you should be twig leaders. And some of you should go to college and start businesses." We were also encouraged upon graduation to state where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. And if we did not know or did not care, TWI was burdened with doing our thinking for us and sent us somewhere as needed. Almost always those of us who stated what we wanted to do were given that assignment. And we could stay for years on end as long as we were happy. The legalism crept in and those innocent days became "It's either my way or the highway." I guess its the highway for most these days. Hey, I am still in my original "assignment" here in Tampa performing a lifetime of christian service.

Oldies, go away, go study the lost, last teachings with Mike. He needs an oldy, moldy buddy. Yeah, I remember when I first saw Waydale I was skeptical because I was still in. I ignored it at first but eventually it became such a hot site, all of us were loooking at it......all of us...including leaders who browsed it discreetly. Eventually it also became an awesome place to reconnect with old friends from all over the planet. Before Waydale we only had snail mail. I found people I never thought I'd hear from again and they were not possessed and were not losers. In fact they were happy and healthy. Shock! It was a first, really, and Paul was an experienced web designer who was preparing to do TWI's web site while he was on staff. Big mistake for them to alienate him. Personally, I believe God had a lot to do with it. It was inevitable in my opinion. Why doesn't TWI have an interactive site where believers could post their thoughts? Other christian groups and churches do it? Especially for the youth. What is there to hide? Couldn't do any harm now. Maybe it would help them.

For those who were not around about 5 or 6 years ago, here is what WayDale looked like. WayDale Look at the statistics under "What's New", first article called "WayDale Update" Reminds me of that verse about "turning the world upside down"

Here is one of many similar programs a person could use if they were so inclined. http://www.hide-ip-soft.com/ Here is an interesting FAQ from their site: Q: Could I return to the forum which banned me for some reason with the help of Hide IP? A: Yes, of course Hide IP could help you. Here is how: 1. Clear your cookies and internet temporary files from InternetExplorer. 2. Open Hide IP first then and register with a new ID in the forum from which you were banned. 3. Always login to the forum with Hide IP opened. Somebody copy and paste this post, please.

Comparison of TV's

Sunesis, ahh, we should have had better communications, like AIM back then. We could have joined all our little "parties" and had a bonfire outdoors somewhere. I am sure there were pockets of stealth meetings all over the place. So many in our Corps were strict and by the book. I found some of these wild 9th Corps ones and begn undershepherding them. My wife (sickth Corps) is taking our picture and was my designated driver.

DLP definitely. Cheaper and better than plasma. The one Tom has is awesome. Here is mine (same brand, Samsung) but I only had room for a 50". Samsung 50" with computer And by the way it's not a half bad computer screen either if you wanna get into all that geek stuff like I enjoy. I have XP and Greasespot shown on mine in the picture. But the best picture of ALL tv pictures is the good old CRT style. That is if you have a modern one. The largest they make is a 36" and they are heavy as hell and deep. But you will not find a better picture. We decided on a 36" Sony for our bedroom. It has a flat screen and it is an awesome picture from all angles. (But they suck as computer monitors.) But no doubt the coolest looking TV is a flat one. Oh, and if you want big.....real big...look into projectors. They have come down in price and are producing some outstanding pictures today using DLP and LCD technologies.

Maybe more meta tags will get it moved back. TWI, Way, The Way, The Way International, no Way out, Way out there, LCM, Craig, Rozilla, Headquarters, Farm in Ohio, Beautiful Ohio, ROCKA Ages, BRC,

Indeed, Skyrider. Thanks, Pawtucket and others who have cared enough to share their hearts honestly. Why should the truth be shrouded? Is there somethng to hide? Just a couple of weeks ago I got an email from yet another young couple who had finally left TWI. They had been in for years but could no longer tolerate the hypocrisy concerning debt. They simply wanted to buy a house. Can you blame them? There were other issues too. Anyway, they have been reading things on Greasespot for a while and I guess they got my email address from here. They seem like a nice couple, just starting out. They said they feel such relief! There is a place for a site like this. It has helped thousands come to grips with difficult decisions and experiences. It's like therapy. Plus if a fun gathering spot to meet old friends and make some new ones.

Now I should have known that Tuttle would be spinning a few yarns in this context. May I be permitted to post a picture of an alternative believers meeting that was being held at a smoke filled hotel room in St. Marys whilst larger crowds were gathered on grounds at a certain Corps Week? Corps Week 1983 What is that, a Heinekin I am holding? And is that a bottle of Tonic I see on the table in front of excathedra and Tuttle? No, don't be fooled. It was for baptism and annointing. Not a guilty thought in our heads. We were doing the lords work, undershepherding one another. (I was raised strict Catholic too , ex.)

Geez Rick, lighten up. I grew up in "Cornfield Kentucky" on a farm and I saw that statement that as non-ofensive. It's easy to see the context. But really, I have often thought that TWI would have been better off in or near a metropolitan area rather than out in the sticks in those cornfields (like the kind I grew up in.) Just didn't seem like the best place for a Headquarters for anything except maybe John Deere or Caterpillar. Remember this was long before the Internet and email and such. Counter productive to be out there in my opinion. Could have grown even faster and larger I think. At one time VPW was considering Naples, FL or somewhere around here. He should have went with that gut feeling. The real estate alone would be worth a fortune today! And we would have all had nice tans and would have bought condos which would have skyrocketed. So back to the topic, the youth of those days really put TWI on the map. Today it appears that the youth are leaving TWI instead of being attracted to it. Maybe its time to close it down and reopen it as something different. To me that would be honest and a wise move.

Some excellent observations. But it is late and I only have time for a quick joke this topic reminded me of: Three gay men died, and were going to be cremated. Their lovers happened to be at the funeral home at the same time, and were discussing what they planned to do with the ashes. The first man said, "My Benny loved to fly, so I'm going up in a plane and scatter his ashes in the sky." The second man said, "My Carl was a good fisherman, so I'm going to scatter his ashes in our favorite lake." The third man said, "My Jim was such a good lover, I think I'm going to dump his ashes in a pot of chili, so he can tear my axx up just one more time."

Hello Skyrider. Nice to see you again. Yeah, those were the days indeed. I am not sure if we will ever be able to sort it all out. But as good as it was, it could have been better if it had truly been a clean ministry starting at the top with good role models for us impressionable youth. Truthfully, underneath all the teachng and bible verses was a lot of corruption and hypocrisy in my opinion. It was almost like lawlessness at times. We knew we were "heaven bound" and yet there was a certain freedom and permissiveness that was unspoken. Looking back it seemed to come from the top. This was appealing to some of us youth. In fact it was downright fun at times. There were a lot of good people and good times but behind the scenes there was also a lot of casual sex, a lot of adultery and promiscuity, a lot of alchoholism, a lot of smoking, a lot of "turn the other cheek and look the other way", and a lot of don't ask, don't tell", not to mention the extreme self-righteousness. Perfect environment for some of us! What young person wouldn't join! But it had negative effects in the long run as we saw in later years. Don't call yourself a christian group and live that way. That goes for all christian groups and churches, not just TWI. (There were others.) It is a formula for disaster. The hypocrisy sooner or later begins to become clear and does more harm than good. I would never have wanted my children to have joined such a group, even in its good old days.