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The Crucible, Lord of the Flies...


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groucho -

i don't know if it's 'doctrine' but i think the reported symptom is stuff like this - when weirdness with a 'feminine person' is confronted the first assumption is that the person 'must have a problem with women leaders.' not sure if it's feminism so much or the pendulum swinging the opposite direction for women who were abused and trashed at twi, then passing this to the next generation as 'liberation.'

'10 lies the church tells women' is like the first search result for the word 'women' on TorT - there are many refutes of this work being unscholarly that are written by women, not to say that women have not been mistreated by churches (who hasn't) but i think what people have observed and are reporting here in different ways is an unhealthy response to fear, hurt, pain, and suffering with some of the women within the leader community - that is manifested in how decisions within the church are made, by women in those positions. also that there is maybe too much latitude allowed when they 'freak out' because they are 'still operating from a deep woundedness.'

sadly it is now these same women who seem to be strongly complicit in these acts toward ELynn. i think this shows it's ultimately not a man woman thing, so much as 'people behaving badly.'

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sadly it is now these same women who seem to be strongly complicit in these acts toward ELynn. i think this shows it's ultimately not a man woman thing, so much as 'people behaving badly.'

Ah, but the female is generally the more deadly of the species. Guys have certain rules they follow when fighting (such as no kicks to the groin,unless they're street fighters), whereas women tend to only be interested in who's going to win.

I understand, this is leading to a new Fox series, "When Women Attack"....

:biglaugh:

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:thinking:

A quote from Churches that Abuse:

“People, thinking that they were placing their allegiance in the Word of God, were actually placing their allegiance in a man and his interpretation of the Word of God. That is crucial to understanding why people were so easily deceived. They thought they were really obeying the Word of God.”

It is easy to draw the comparison between the above quote and Karen Ann’s prophecies. Some CES leadership thought that by following Karen Ann’s prophecies they were following God.

Karen Ann is not the first to use this trick. The leader of the cult Set Free (regularly featured on TBN by the way) wanted to get one man and his family to move onto the cult’s estate. After making his desire known the man was “coincidentally visited by a member of Set Free with a word from the Lord concerning [this move.]” Because they thought they were following God they made the move.

As long as Karen Ann has free reign she will continue to have this kind of influence. The prophecy trick is a common cult move. While some people purposefully do this just to get what they want others really are getting a word. But it’s from the wrong god. I think Karen Ann falls into this last category.

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:thinking:

Cult leaders always get involved in people’s personal matters - where they don’t belong. In the cult Set Free (see post above) the pastor (Phil) required husbands to obtain permission notes for all aspects of personal life.

The man mentioned in the post above “was not allowed to oversee his family as husband and father, but was expected to consult with Phil on all matters.”

This easily relates to Karen Ann’s involvement in JAL’s marriage. Like JAL, the marriage of the guy mentioned above suffered horribly.

In twi offshoot cult I was in this sort of over involvement was the norm. One person I know of had to get the apartment they picked out approved by the leader before they could sign the lease. He gave married couples counseling even though he has absolutely no training. His diagnosis of marital problems was always the same – the woman had devil spirits. Etc.

The stories I’ve heard from people directly involved in The Way are the same.

Anyone seeing a pattern here?

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:thinking:

Some common features of cults: Everything is spiritualized.

Barnett, the cult leader of Community Chapel, saw demons everywhere. Mothers were instructed not to have their son’s hair cut at beauty shops. His reasoning was that, “These places are not without homosexual demons just waiting to influence the gullible.”

If that sounds crazy to you just think back a couple of years to LCM’s delusions about homosexuals infiltrating the corps.

Here’s one Elizabeth knows all too well. “Every indication of a negative or ‘rebellious’ attitude or unapproved opinion was attributed to demons.” All of the ex-way people should be able to relate to this one.

A member of the Church of the Great Shepherd went to visit his unbelieving parents. In order to do this he had to be “armed with anointed prayer, and on guard against evil spirits of deception and lust…”

Members of cults come to believe that demons are everywhere and apparently so does Karen Ann.

Speaking of one cult the author stated, “There was a tendency to attribute any problem, interpersonal or otherwise, to demons. Members would psychoanalyze one another with regard to what specific demons were troubling them and then point to the need for deliverance.”

Does that not describe Karen Ann’s treatment of Elizabeth? Read the first two or three pages of E’s letter again if you doubt this. KA had an interpersonal problem with E. E had confronted KA about her gossiping and they had a few other run-ins. KA attributed this to E’s devil spirits and they arranged a deliverance session for her.

Good god! Cults really are all the same.

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ok I wondered this same thing when I was in twi.

I will ask and for all you way corps and advanced class gurus please answer it if you can.

What good does it do to know about devil spirits ?

so now you got a person labeled and God doesnt love them type of thinking.. where does this really serve anyone?

the only thing i can understand is to isolate that person as a bad bad creation of God.

I mean so what does this really mean God doesnt love them and why would God TELL anyone about the devil spirits without a remedy included?

to keep you safe? ok ok that may apply but only as a personal revelation of caution like a parent to a child.

this garbage about so and so has this devil and that demon I sincerly ask so now what does that mean exactly?

stop loving them? I do NOT believe this is Gods will at all because Jesus Christ commands we love one another and not just if we are perfect people that all get along.

see even if demons do have some say so in this world what bother is it to those who follow christ He has surely defeated any demon . and seriously how does anyone know it isnt a demon telling them it is a demon to isolatre and hurt one of Gods beloved?

I never got this whole concept.

please answer and tell me what good does it to know about devils and demons?

also

what is this jeezebel thing you got going? an attack against KG? you do the same thing she is doing!!

You claim to be some how enlightened about what she thinks and how it is a devil spirit that is causing all this trouble as well. how she is causing division and YET what good does it do to call KG a jezebel (i assume that is the name of a devil spirit you claim she has) YOU DO and speak the same as them but of course your right because you have the proof ! as they also claim to have this proof of knowing who and what devils a person is operating.

how ridiculas this really really is. it just gets more drama and hysterical.

your in the same darn camp. it just happens in this moment your tent is a popular one , you have issue with what KG is doing yet you are doing the EXACT same thing to her as you claim she has done to E.

you so enlightened about cults haha and yet you sly in with the same darn manuvers you claim is so very wrong!!!

lol

Edited by pond
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ok I wondered this same thing when I was in twi.

I will ask and for all you way corps and advanced class gurus please answer it if you can.

What good does it do to know about devil spirits ?

IMHO it was indoctrination for and setting up of:

Speaking of one cult the author stated, “There was a tendency to attribute any problem, interpersonal or otherwise, to demons. Members would psychoanalyze one another with regard to what specific demons were troubling them and then point to the need for deliverance.”

You were taught one thing so that they could set up the other...

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i pretty much agree pond

as far as your questions, if i remember correctly, you would identify a spirit in order to cast it out.....

and i think the other reason was just because god wanted you to know..... some little insider blessing i think.....

i say my spirits are nobody's damn business !!! ha

--

i did say that when karen anne was my twig leader in '78 we called her endora becasue she reminded us of samantha's mother. i probably shouldn't have said that. i think i still have a twi spirit hovering over me.... may not be infested.... but you know....

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i pretty much agree pond

as far as your questions, if i remember correctly, you would identify a spirit in order to cast it out.....

and i think the other reason was just because god wanted you to know..... some little insider blessing i think.....

i say my spirits are nobody's damn business !!! ha

--

i did say that when karen anne was my twig leader in '78 we called her endora becasue she reminded us of samantha's mother. i probably shouldn't have said that. i think i still have a twi spirit hovering over me.... may not be infested.... but you know....

right and I resent the fact one knows my devils and I do not !

they know for what reason exactly?

to call me names about spirits i do not even know I have or met or anything???

not friendly or loving . not nice.

I think they are just ....ed because my spirits agrue with theirs so they call me a dumb poopy head and win the war on spirits!!!

just the facts mame just the fact.

that line of thinking is a dam twillant zone ordeal!!!

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:biglaugh:

Some of you are acting like you're in a cult.

The can’t talk rule has this thinking behind it: “The real problem cannot be exposed because then it would have to be dealt with and then things would have to change; so it must be protected behind walls of silence (neglect) or by assault (legalistic attack).”

If you speak the problem out loud, you are the problem. In some way you must be silenced or eliminated.

Talking about a problem out loud doesn’t create it, it exposes it.

There were plenty of others at CES besides Elizabeth who knew Karen Ann was off her rocker, but no one could talk about it. To do so would be to incur the wrath of Karen Ann. The home office has ex-employees who now understand this.

This system is a trap for the leaders and the cause of their downfall. If noticing problems is labeled disloyalty, lack of submission, divisiveness, etc it becomes impossible for wounds to heal – for wrongs to be made right. The abuse will escalate eventually.

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:eusa_clap:

False leaders spend a lot of time focused on their own authority and reminding others of it. This is necessary because their spiritual authority isn’t real (i.e. based on genuine godly character) thus, it is postured.

The real violence is that the believer has been cut off from God/Christ by substituting a human authority in place of them - the only true source of power. The believer is now defeated.

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:eusa_clap:

False leaders spend a lot of time focused on their own authority and reminding others of it. This is necessary because their spiritual authority isn’t real (i.e. based on genuine godly character) thus, it is postured.

The real violence is that the believer has been cut off from God/Christ by substituting a human authority in place of them - the only true source of power. The believer is now defeated.

(can you say, co dependency?--because the demon's using 'em both (the leadah believer and the "little one" believer), they're both frustrated and can't be satisfied or happy and don't know why--my observation, not from a book, lol!)

Bingo, Uptown1.

Welcome.

Edited by waterbuffalo
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Amen to WB's bingo!

As long as the believer remains in that system he lives under a 'glass ceiling'...still loving the Lord and His people, still 'free' (as a bird in a cage)....and yet never getting out from under 'something' that seems to be keeping him from the peace, the joy, perhaps even the health or material wholeness that he knows Christ died to buy for him.

Uptown1...thanks!

Edited by therebutforgrace
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Thank you, Paw!!!

Here are my notes from this great interview.......and my thoughts in italics.

Written in 1998...I updated to add CES

TWI/CES mouths the importance of God’s grace and forgiveness to salvation. But as a system they are legalistic and grace is hard to find. Regimentation not Christian freedom is the rule.

All are to fall in line...

Fear, orders, confrontation, punishment are the rule.

Leaders are strong in confrontation...but weak in understanding, acceptance and patience.

God isn’t like this.

God accepts us as we are...weak in believing and when we fail.

God comes with arms of love and gifts when we’ve not earned it.

He is merciful treating us far better than we can deserve, hope or imagine.

He’s not a taskmaster, but a shepherd who is so gentle he doesn’t break off a battered reed....

Grace and precious freedom awaits you outside of TWI/CES.

The problem with splinter groups is they looked at themselves as radically different from TWI, but folks on the outside would say, “You’re fraternal twins.”

When Splinter-group starters started, it appears they thought,” Some TWI beliefs were wrong, but mostly they just didn’t correctly apply the ones that were right. So we will throw out the wrong ones and correctly apply the right ones.” As one CES leader said, “We will show how to do a fellowship the right way.”

That which upsets people.....that which is seen on the surface.....[threatening jobs, letters to fellowships, written prophecies, isolating people, control, punishments, etc.] are but Mechanisms or Tactics. They are not the problem, but are a result of the problem.

The problem is the underlying assumptions/beliefs. And, they, unless purged, will crop up again.

Getting rid of the mechanisms/effects {we will change Presidents, we won’t let pp get out of hand again; we won’t get so far into each others’ marriages, we will be more tender with people), does not change the cause. The same basic core beliefs will simply begin to use different mechanisms.

Example: CES, which has the same type of tragic effects as TWI, does not have rampant, blatant adultery/wife swapping (a TWI mechanism/tactic). TWI hurt people just as CES has, but did not/does not use personal prophecy (a CES mechanism/tactic). Other splinter groups may have other mechanisms/tactics. (Anyone out there know any?)

One foundational core belief of CES leadership that needs to change.....

The Ministry is more important than the people.

Bricks in this stronghold walls, built on top of that foundation:

........Submission of your personal life to ‘the leader;....Us versus them...Protecting the ministry....A small BOD is a multitude of counselors...

The mortar to hold the bricks together: The Tactics.

.....confrontations, letters, ‘guidelines,’ M&As, punishments

The bricklayers: CES (or any splinter) leadership/inner circle.

The solution: Get beneath the actions...to the underlying assumptions.

And...get back to God’s very basic #1 core foundational belief: confessing/knowing Jesus as a personal Lord and Savior

Having begun in the Spirit, are we now made perfect by the flesh?

Edited by therebutforgrace
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:thinking:

I agree with the idea of treating the cold and not the cough (treating the cause and not the symptoms).

But what is the cause?

My belief is that ultimately this is a spiritual problem. A cult is an idolatry. They are worshiping something (the organization) or someone (the leader) more than they worship the true God and his Lord.

If this is correct, then I have to ask, "How do you treat that?"

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The answer to every sin is repentance.

It cannot be legislated....that is legalism (sometimes disguised as behavioralism)

But it is the opposite of grace....

Repentance begins with humility.

To call things as God calls them.

I call my attitude what God calls it: pride, rebellion, fear, idolatry, greed....

I call it sin.

I ask for forgiveness.

I accept God's grace...forgiveness when I don't deserve it; another chance when I've blown the ones before.

Then I ask people for forgiveness. and I begin to make any amends possible.

I'm not a worm; I'm no worse than any other child of God (all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God); there is no condemnation (God and Jesus do not condemn me)...but I must condemn my ungodly words and actions as sin, as rebellion, as disobedience, as evil....so I do not being once again to call them something OTHER than sin (no matter how much modern Western pop psychology tries to seduce me into doing so).

The only hope any of us have to start anew is to accept God's grace (which includes His mercy....in which He delights and which is new every morning).

That is humility.

That is obedience.

That is living by faith.

That is submitting to God.

THEN I can resist the devil and THEN he will flee.

When I want this for someone else, I pray. I give of my time to intercede for them.

I pray that the eyes of their understanding is enlightened...I pray for evil to be exposed....I pray for mercy on them and their families...I pray for ears to hear...I pray that the holy spirit in them reveals to them every evil deed and word so they can repent for each, get forgiven for all, get cleansed from all unrighteousness and walk anew for their Lord as He has called them to do.

If I feel led to speak to/write to them, I do so boldly, clearly and patiently; I never agree with the sin; I never ignore it. I walk in meekness and with a goal toward restoration, as Galatians 6:1 instructs. I do it all--whatever I do--unto God not unto men (so I'm not sidetracked if no one cheers me on).....and I do it just as I would want others to do for me.

Edited by therebutforgrace
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