outintexas

Why do you have to do this thing called Christianity? Why can't "not doing anything" be the answer? Does there have to be an answer?

What I found was I'm much happier and live a much fuller life if I am OK with some questions that don't have an answer. Perhaps the same will be true for you. It takes guts to question things at this level.

I agree totally. One of the first things I realized when I got out was that it was okay not to know. It was an odd but liberating feeling. Besides, we didn't know everything in twi anyway; we just acted like we did.

When I was in the twi bubble, I heard the "homo" version over and over. I was unaware of the original Willie Nelson song.

Now when I hear Willie's version, my brain wants to sing "homos." Twi ruins everything.

I don't remember that, but I do remember him saying the interstate highways took up too much valuable farmland. He said highways should be elevated on pillars like a bridge so crops could be grown underneath.

Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly & the Family Stone :B)

What is it with volunteer plants? I have a giant sunflower in my backyard that nobody planted. I started mowing around it in the spring and now it's this 10-foot multi-headed monster. It's really cool.

I know that song as "Please Come to Boston" by Dave Loggins done in 1974. If it was redone in the last few years, I don't know who did it.

I just found this thread, this is pretty cool!

The roller-coaster ride we took is nearly at an end

I bought my ticket with my tears, that's all I'm gonna spend...

What did everyone here do with there extras? I mean, did you sell them or give them away or what?

I threw all my twi books, tapes, posters, etc. in the trash. I thought about selling the stuff, but I didn't think it was right to inflict anyone else with that cr@p.

I've got some too:

The Old B*stard Tells Me So (two copies of this book only)

Old Times

The Way Living In Adultery

Take Vic At His Word

VP's Magnified Word

The New Destructive Church

The Vicster's Way

Order Me Around, My Word!

Deceiving The Holy Spirit Today

The Laughable Bible

Funny!!!

When I was in, attendance at branch meetings was pretty much mandatory. If you didn't show, you'd surely hear from someone.

"I sure hope we don't get another Way College."

My first job was an egg route. Every Tuesday a guy would drop off about 30 dozen eggs and I'd sell them to regular customers for 10 cents more than I paid the guy.

Later on I mowed lawns and had an evening paper route - the Rochester (NY) Times-Union.

My first paycheck job was in Sterling, Colorado at a furniture store in the summer of '76. I was there as a summer twi outreach program. I made minimum wage, which I think was $2.10 an hour. I worked with another twi guy at the store and we'd deliver furniture all around northeast Colorado. It was fun.

3,088th member! That says a lot. I think we outnumber twi.

You talk to strangers without feeling compelled to twist the conversation to some "spiritual principle."

You use your vacation time at work for vacations.

You make a mistake and you don't beat yourself up over it. Or worry about some idiot yelling at you about it.

You become a genuine human being who helps others without an ulterior motive.

You know you were in twi - if a severe storm on the weather radar reminds you of the "adversary" blob from Athletes.

I think the first thing I had to get used to is not knowing. In twi, everything had a cause; there was a reason for everything that happened to you. In twi, the goal was "to know that we know." Well, I decided it was okay not to know sometimes. It was an odd feeling at first.

I also learned there are good people outside of twi (gasp). I learned to confide in people. I also learned the hard way that my trust could be broken. But I learned.

I decided I would never again look to just one one source for answers. I've read books, greasespot of course, attended a couple of churches, joined a bowling league, met different people. I also attended a divorce recovery group, because, two years after twi, I was divorced, too. I also decided that if something wasn't helping me, I would quit doing that thing right away.

Oh, and I saw a couple of therapists. I only recently stopped doing that. I feel like I've taken the training wheels off. I'm still wobbly, but I'm gaining confidence as time goes on. Someone who I met two years ago told me she has seen me change in that time.

Sometimes I get pretty angry about the years wasted. I think it's because I'm just now realizing my true potential, only 25 years later than I should have.

Wow, that IS scary. What's scary is to think that I thought THE CLASS was this holy thing to be mastered. All answers to life were in those 33 hours.

$94.95!! Wow. I threw all my twi books away.

With three children, we were treated like we shouldn't have had so many kids. Funny, I remember someone said to "have them by the barrelful."

As the kids got older and twi got more controlling it just got worse and worse. It was impossible to do anything right. We had wooden spoons everwhere. God forbid if you didn't have one handy. When my son, the oldest, got into his teens and started acting like a teenager, our leadership would remind us of the OT verse where unruly children were taken out and stoned.

I'm so glad those days are over. We can just be a family doing family things without meetings, classes and people telling me how to raise my kids as if I were a total moron.

When I started my first accounting job, I would sometimes bring home computer printouts so my 4 year-old son could color on the back.

So when someone would ask what his dad did at work he'd say, "He sits at a computer and makes paper."

He's 22 now, but I still think that's a pretty accurate description of my job. :)

I can hardly wait to hear how tremendously wonderful this class was so we can abundantly prevail in the promised land.

Wow. It looks exactly the same as it did when I left eight years ago. They are stuck in a time warp.

If I remember correctly, the LEAD program quietly went away in the late 80s or early 90s. It was one of those things you didn't ask about. Old wineskin.

Yea, you can't get revelation until you have the advanced class. LOL

And it has to be the latest version of the class. Otherwise you can't get revelation any more. God turns it off.

Still others were thrown out with no choice in the matter.

That was my experience. 25 years wasted in an organization that was doing nothing for me and yet I stayed until they threw me out!

Now my policy is don't stay in any group (bowling league, church, etc.) that's not making my life better.

Twi used to talk about being in charge of your life. I guess that's what I'm finally doing.

Thanks for the post. I totally missed the program. Sometimes I forget about PBS with all the other channels on cable nowadays.

It's being re-run at 2AM Thursday (Wed night) here (KERA-13) in Dallas/Fort Worth. I'm gonna tape it for sure. Thanks!