outandabout

Wordwolf - "Hail to the Chief"??!! wow, don't recall that but that's messed up.

Stick around here and you can learn from people that have been in The Way and their experiences. Some good but also bad. Your romantic interest probably feels obligated to make you into a Wayfer in order to make your relationship acceptable to her friends and family. Otherwise, he or she will not want to commit themselves to you. Just my two cents. We Wayfers were always to to "put God first" which really meant put The Way first. Which means anyone or anything that interferes with total devotion to the "household" is not acceptable. Good luck. The best you can hope for is that he or she decides to defect. Could happen but likely not. This reminds me of when I was in The Way, i was in a relationship with a non-Way person. I wouldn't let myself commit to him because he wasn't in TWI. He would make one-liner comments that made a lot of sense. I regret now that I didn't leave then.

After I left TWI, I realized my pre-TWI life was just as valid as during TWI. As posted above, we were taught to disavow our previous life as "old man" etc. i came to see my life a single thread, not a before and after. I reclaimed my previous life. I made a pie chart of my life with time in TWI highlighted. It's about a fifth of the pie and this point. As time goes by, the TWI section gets smaller and smaller....

I think it was pretty heartless treatment of his wife to make her leave her newborn baby behind. I realized that after I became a mother.

Didn't JN have an album "Wake Up America"? Remember we listened to it all the time when I was on the field as a Fellow Laborer in California in 1976.

This is an old thread. I was thinking of B G Leonard for some reason and I remembered reading about the incident below when he was at The Rock in 1985. I remember him being there but didn’t get to see him personally. But what I wanted to mention about his visit is how Martindale blew up about Corps flocking to BG. Obviously he was jealous of the attention B G was taking from him. Anyway I just found a book that I downloaded into my Kindle about B G by Phyllis Tryon, published by Steve Sann. Entitled Show Me the Miracles: The Life of B. G Leonard. I was looking for Gifts of the Spirit but couldn’t find it. His ministry still runs his class and I’d love to take it. Just started the book about his life. And to think we elevated Wierwille over this guy. The more I read books by different scholars and seek out teachings I realize we were like hamsters on the wheel of PFAL over and over again. A research ministry? I think not.

And at PFAL class an actually new unused styrofoam cup would have been nice.

And what was that stuff that got added to it? What I needed was a decent shot of caffeine to stay awake. forgot to add the quote below.

Oh, so if they change the no-debt policy is that like saying "Ooops, sorry, didn't mean it. Sorry you lost out on equity and a credit rating. Sorry if you sold your house to go live in a rental. Sorry some of you got kicked out over this. We didn't really mean it after all".

I never did get that anniversary date. Never made any sense to me.

Hey, that must have been cool when Martindale said the word was over the world. "I don't have to witness at Wondermall anymore!!!"

Regarding Beguiled's mention of Martindale cancelling WOW that year - WHAT AN A-HOLE!!! (Martindale that is) What total DISREGARD for all the plans, sacrifices and inconvenient changes people had to make in their lives to go WOW. Then they get to the ROCK and it's "Ooops sorry, it's a no-go. Guess you'll just have to figure out what else to do now". What an A-hole. He could just drive his fancy car back to the Corps Chalet and congratulate himself on the great spiritual stand he just took against the devil. What an A-hole.

I wonder what "getaways" are.

They also harped on "phileo" v "agape". Agape being superior, spiritual not emotional. Emotional attachment was earthly and inferior. "I have no friends when it comes to the word.""

Java Jane, just bought your book. Looks good. You got some good reviews.

What kind of an organization bleeds its members of their resources, time, loyalty and when those members are of a reasonable age to retire, gives them NOTHING?? And why does a so-called non-profit have millions sitting in the bank? When those millions could be used to help "move the word" on the "field" or reward the faithful with a decent retirement? It's pathetic. The only people reaping a reward are the despots at the top. And I'm wondering why the R&R people took so long to finally dissent and then leave.

Speaking of spiritual probation - my brother and his wife were put on it because their house was too dirty. He told me they didn't have time to clean it because they were always going to meetings. Anyway, they realized they were happier being away from TWI so they left for good.

Wow, what a story! Thanks for sharing that.

I just looked at TWI's home page for the heck of it. They had a June graduation of 11 corps. According to the site, their training is four years, two at HQ. Interesting, since corps previously were mostly "on the field" during their year when not in residence. I wonder what they are being trained for if they are at HQ that much. Trained to be lifers on staff?

When I was at Emporia in the 8th corps, the food was pretty good. (except liver)

I still have my two WOW pins. Have always wanted to make them into dangle earrings.

TWI basically focused on PFAL, Intermediate, Advanced and the other classes required before the Advanced Class. That was pretty much it. Focusing on those year after year over and over didn't result in much growth. And we thought we knew more than other Christians. It just went around in circles, becoming more and more stifling as the years went by. No freedom to actually research the Bible and learn new things. There are so many Bible scholars I have discovered and learned from since I left TWI - people who have dedicated their lives to the study of God's Word. And each of them has something unique to offer. I still apply some things I learned in TWI but that isn't the end all a be all regarding learning and growth.

Wow. That sounds interesting. Sorry I missed it.

Really. When a an actual thought from the true inner self appeared that contradicted the Waybrain, reaction is to resist it via "renewed mind" (it's the "old man") and thus perpetuate being a Way bot. It was a mental prison that kept us there more than a physical one. I could have walked away at any time but didn't know it. When I finally did, I was surprised how little resistance from TWI I actually encountered.

Yeah, we were taught how wrong fear is, but it was natural to fear being reproved and yelled at and shamed at any moment. Then feeling guilty for being afraid, because fear was negative believing, therefore anything bad that happened was one's own fault. At least that's the mental hell I experienced.