Kevin Fallon

Exactly!!

Exactly!!!

I have mostly good memories of JAL from his time with TWI in NY. I also knew him a little while he was with CES. Again, mostly good. My prayers are with him as he goes through this. My wife has had three different cancers over the past 13 years. Hard to describe the toll it takes on individual and the family. Especially if it is advanced (Stage 3 or better). I personally find it hard to trust only homeopathic solutions. God has given us medicines for a reason. Praying for the best outcome possible.

WW - Thanks for this great history lesson. Yes - AC '79 was live. It was filmed (videotaped?) so that vpw wouldn't have to teach it live again. For those of us who were there - a very interesting experience. The opening ceremonies featured an Olympic-like run of WC members bringing a torch (The Light Of The Word) up to the front steps of the venue. IIRC it was supposed to have been relayed from one of the root locales. Another torch was lit (just like the Olympics) and doves and balloons were released. During this class we were treated to LCW in tights dancing on stage as he started to push his 'Atheletes Of The Spirit' doctrine.

The 990-T form they filed is NOT their Tax Return for the entire operation. The form is used to report income from UNRELATED business to the 501( c )3 corporation. The IRS allows a specific deduction of $1,000 unless it results in a loss on the unrelated business income. The software used by the preparer would insert the deduction automatically. I feel sure that twi operates under the assumption that all activities are related to the corporation. Therefore, book sales, merchandise, classes etc. are all part of their normal operations. Those are not shown on this form.

It just takes time. We have 2 cats, both of which came from the local Animal Protection League. Boo is about 8 now, and was appropriately named. She would RUN from anyone and anything. Now, she trusts us and actually wants to be petted. If we don't pay her attention, she will come up and push her head into our hands! She still runs from strangers - just not as quickly. BJ was a kitten that came from one of these 'weird cat lady' homes that had something like 60 cats. When he first came, he was desperate to protect his food. He would take a mouthful out of the bowl and move a few feet away. If anyone - especially the other cat - came anywhere near him he would growl. He's almost six now and he acts totally different. He's probably the most laid-back cat I have ever known. He's so nonchalant that one of the dogs often grabs the food away from him when we give him a treat - and it is no big deal. You can almost see him shrug 'oh well' and stroll away.

My wife and I left NY in 1989, and I agree with WW that things were still happening up until then. When we moved to our new home, we tried to hook up with twigs in the area. Here, there were already some divisions among folk. More to the point, we weren't exactly welcomed with open arms, since we were coming from an area that was under V!nce F!nneg@n's influence. We were guilty by association. We exited quietly, never really being fully aware of all the stuff happening around HQ. But back to the original question, when we were first involved (mid '70's) we were told there was nothing to 'join'. IIRC we 'freely availed' ourselves of the fellowship of 'like-mined believers'. Up until the early '80's we had a lot of growth. The branch put on a coffee house a few times a year, and they were always great draws for new folk - lots of local TWI musical talent and a PFAL push. As things grew and more WC came into the area, the coffee houses died out and and only big gatherings were sanctioned - often with guests from the Limb or HQ. By that time - it seemed to me that the number of new folks was starting to dry up.

And in how many languages can you say 'Don't worry about it'? (Couldn't figure out how to type it with the appropriate accent.)

The first thing that pops into my head when when I hear the reference is 'The Thief' (with emphasis on 'Thief'). Even after 25 years my mind still puts the emphasis on the negative. The verse really is all about the positive that Jesus Christ came to give us something we couldn't obtain for ourselves. That was acknowledged during the first minutes of the first session of PFAL, but was quickly obscured. So, if you feel that you have been stolen from, killed or destroyed - who is responsible? What will you do about it? As I read some of these threads my heart breaks because I see people who have turned their backs on the Saviour because they were hurt by people who claimed to represent the Saviour. My question is: who is the winner in that case?

Socks - I think you have nailed it as to why TWI is still in existence. The structure and doctrine appeal to certain people, and for them it works. The problem is that the doctrine they embrace requires exclusivity. Since requiring that all 'followers' embrace and adhere to exactly the same dogma or your gone, they will gradually fade away. The splinters continue to occur because they are just slightly different. Enough so that those who reject the TWI mold but like the general shape can find a place where they are comfortable. Since no two people are exactly alike, the logical outcome is that, eventually, TWI will be gone, but it will live on hundreds of similar small organizations.

Bump.

Thank you, Skyrider!

Since you got in when you did, you might not know that there was an earlier song book used in all the twigs. In the early '80s we were told we all had to buy NEW song books for our twigs and destroy the old ones. These new books had mostly old standard hymns and a few Way Prod songs. It was never spoken much, but some of the folks I knew from HQ hinted that TWI was threatened with lawsuits over copyright disputes over selections in the earlier book. So the new books only had Public Domain selections or those that TWI owned. Music was never included because most twigs did not have musicians available. If you were fortunate to have someone who could play the guitar, they likely couldn't read music. Before the new books were released, TL's in my area were encouraged to get a copy of 'Thank You Dorothy, Thank You Rhoda' (available only on vinyl) and use that to play behind your songs. Tried it a few times - didn't work real well. We just kept singing it the way we wanted to.

Everyone who has contributed to this thread has spoken the truth about what so many of us were looking for - and why TWI was so successful for a time. At one time, most of the people I dealt with had a genuine love for God and His people. In the '70s (before you had to be Corps to do anything) most of the people I knew really believed that we had what the world needed and wanted to share it because it would help people. I consider myself blessed to have moved away from where I had been 'planted', and was considered 'suspect' in my new home because of where I came from. It meant close association with TWI was over, and I had to learn to move on. To my surprise, there was a whole Christian world out there! Eventually, God brought me to a place where I could love Him and serve Him through spreading the true Gospel and not PFAL. For me at least, my TWI experience can be summed up by Romans 8:28 - with the emphasis the God works all things together for good - not me. If it was up to me, I might still be 'in' - I would be so deluded that I would never see the truth staring me in the face. My TWI experience has allowed me to be more sensitive to those situations where people can get sucked in. There are lots of good churches out there, but there are also many that are just a few steps away from becoming the next TWI. I don't post much, but as I read the threads my heart breaks because of the hurt that so many suffered needlessly. As I read, my prayer is that the posters who are still bitter about their experiences will find the peace that God wants for them. I know you are hurting, and I know I can't relate to some of what you experienced, but I also know that God wants to heal your heart.