How the hook is set - the broad strokes...

[OldSkool]

Well I have thought long and hard on this one. Just how in the hell did I get sucked into the cult that is The Way International?

It started with friends witnessing to me. I went to my first fellowship. Not having a knowledge of the bible, I began to learn of God and the Lord Jesus. it's during this time that the bait is dangled in front of a person. Without fail someone will endeavor to get you signed up for the class. If anyone, I mean anyone, attends fellowship a concerted effort will be made to pressure them into taking The Way of Abundance and Power. Is this what it means to freely receive, freely give?

In the early stages is where you begin to get hit with notions that if you REALLY want to learn more about God then you will want to sign up for this class, or attend this event, etc. Now, when I was being exposed to these ideas I was very vulnerable. I had many issues that I needed help with, drug abuse was at the top of the list. I can't deny what God delivered me from during that time. I was deep in prayer and spent a lot of time reading the bible. It was God and he saved my life.

Now here's where the problem comes in. For me the hook was being set at this point. There was a concerted effort by those in my fellowship to convince me that it was because of The Way International, and the word they taught, that I had many positive changes happening in my life. That is pure crap. They take credit for what God, and the lord Jesus are able to do for a person. Then they pressure a person to sell themselves out to the ministry that taught them the word. A Christian is supposed to make Jesus lord, not an organization. Problem is, being somewhat vulnerable at the time I believed the lies. And it set the stage for many subsequent, more damaging lies to follow.

Also, during this time is where I was expected to start giving my money to them. If I really wanted God's blessings I needed to give 10% of my paycheck at a minimum. Of course I wouldn't want to be minimum minded. If I REALLY wanted abundant spiritual blessings above the physical, were talking loads of spiritual knowledge here, then I needed to faithfully give above 10%. And, if I wanted to live a life where God's power flowed freely in my life, where things would be there for me before I even asked then plurality giving was the pinnacle. Tithe, abundant sharing, plurality giving.

Simple equation. tithe = mandatory 10%, the basic physical needs would flow freely for me. Abundant sharing = give as much above 10% as you deem necessary, this is where deep spiritual understanding would open up to me. Plurality giving = we are getting lots of your hard earned money and now we want to run branch meetings and classes in your house. Oh, if you have extra stuff you need to give it to the fellowship. How creepy. Each step builds on the previous. So at the level of plurality giving I was giving 15% to 20% of my net paycheck and any extra stuff I was "blessed" to give to those in my area.

By the time I finished my first foundational class I had been convinced that if I really wanted to know God, then I needed the intermediate class. Of course by that time the hook was set and I had no idea that I should spit it out. It's during the intermediate class that they really endeavor to mold a person into a disciple. They call it being a disciple of the lord Jesus Christ. Yet, at this point I was really being molded into a disciple of the way international. During this process I was indoctrinated with lies such as "You commit yourself to the ministry that taught you the word".

After the intermediate class there is the advanced class. I was fed the same commitment crap and also told that I would be fully instructed in all nine manifestations. That advanced class was the biggest load of disjointed garbage I was ever exposed too. I've had it multiple times and even took exams on it in-residence. I know the material well and it only serves to add confusion and legalism to topics that could be simply taught. And no I did not know how to operate this power that I was promised. However, I was very confused on many topics and was told to just walk and in time I would have experiential knowledge of what I had conceptually learned. et al oida / ginosko.

After the advanced class a person is expected, and I mean EXPECTED, to support the ministry, to market the ministry, to give as much as they can to the ministry, to be the ones spending their time going door to door and hanging out in stores to solicit others to come to fellowship. A lot of subtle and not so subtle expectations are made on the advanced class grads. They are even taught to marry each other. Also, to not marry someone until they have at least had the advanced class because marriage if for the faithful.

Before I write a book. I will stop here. The Way of Abundance and Power is a series of classes by The Way International to indoctrinate people in bondage to a cult that is The Way International. TWI baits their hook with God's goodness with a slight glimpse of Jesus Christ. In the end I was discipled to The Way International, ensconced in bondage, and powerless all the while calling myself powerful. I had no real relationship with God or the lord because I had allowed that to be hi-jacked by the ministry that taught me the word. TWI places themselves in the position that, biblically, Jesus Christ holds. The added layer upon layer (that I accepted) of indoctrination that told me how to live, who to marry, what to do with my time and money, and other grievous ideals. The Way International systematically extracted everything out of me they could.

Thankfully I have a new life now. I only hope this can serve as a warning to others.

[T-Bone]

Great post, Old Skool! There's such an abundance of passages in the Bible that address the art of deception and especially through the twisted use of Scripture. Three that come to mind right off the bat are Romans 16:17-19 where Paul warns of deceivers ensnare folks by their good words & fair speeches cause division & offences contrary to sound doctrine. Another – is the fairly long section of II Peter chapter 2, describing the modus operandi of false teachers . And third a general reference to highlighting the lure deceivers use – handling the word of God deceitfully [iI Cor. 4:2].

The idea of using the Bible as bait for a trap is intriguing to me – and imho after much consideration of this trick, have concluded that Jesus Christ is nothing more than a lure in PFAL. Or to put it another way – Christian symbols & Bible talk in PFAL are like the window dressing of a storefront that has no such genuine items in stock. It's false advertising – in this case "bait & switch".

I get a kick out of your last line

Thankfully I have a new life now. I only hope this can serve as a warning to others.

That's how I feel too.

I find great humor in some of the weirdest things – there's a poster I came across awhile back – loved it so much that I bought a small picture frame version of it and it now sits on a book case. It has a picture of the hull of a sunken boat sticking up out of the water – with these words under it

"It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others"

I have to mention that I've gotten in the habit of mentally adjusting the statement to more accurately reflect how I feel about my present status and even my involvement with this website – so it's: ONE OF the purposes of my life is to serve as a warning for others when it comes to garnering valuable lessons out of the remnants of any bad decisions I've made in life.

It's from a series of demotivator posters at despair.com. My wife turned me onto them – there's some other great ones there too.

At my previous job when it came to my circle of friends at work - I was very open about my former involvement with a cult. I had that demotivator mini-poster on my desk. Most folks got a kick out of it – except for one very religious fella – who indeed always gave me the hardest time over anything with the Bible in the usual spiritual snobbish style of a Bible-know-it-all. I guess it royally threw him for a loop how I could see the humor in something so life-sucking & entangling as spending time in a cult.

[OldSkool]

Thanks T-bone. I appreciate the post.

[Twinky]

'Twas the same with the old PFAL class.

At every fellowship, the question was (asked enthusiastically), "Have you taken the class yet?" and if you asked a question, "Oh, you'll understand that, once you've taken the class."

This was from a bunch of WoWs and I believe they were genuinely committed to God and loved Him. They'd learned what they'd learned from TWI and it was the only place they knew to get "fed." So of course it was the only place they could refer others to "get fed."

In setting the hook, however, you overlook another significant aspect. That is the dearth of proper teaching in mainstream churches. Teaching, not rhetoric, not emotion, and not wishy-washy sermons where if a Bible is opened it's a rarity. PFAL (and presumably WAP) got people opening their Bibles and reading, and gave "explanations" of passages that churches didn't.

Was Jesus a lure? Maybe. If your prey is hungry enough, you don't need much of a lure.

[Nottawayfer]

How they answered every question I had from the Bible sucked me in. I wanted to speak in tongues for a few years by that time. Hearing manifestations at fellowship was just the mojo I needed to suck me in more. Then they got me to go WOW, and that was it. We ran 7 PFAL classess, and I sat in every single one. I was fully indoctrinated by the end of my WOW year. All of my family had left TWI by that point. That was the same year VPW died. I wish I had been as smart as my family. My dad never really fell hook, line, and sinker. He always said VPW was a con. He was right. I think my dad only took the class to see what the rest of us were fussing over.

It's funny that the manifesations was one of the first things I kicked to the curb when I left. The forced SIT with Interpretation and Prophecy was phoney baloney. There is a thread on here where many people admit their feelings about them. I wish I could find it.

[OldSkool]

It's funny that the manifesations was one of the first things I kicked to the curb when I left. The forced SIT with Interpretation and Prophecy was phoney baloney. There is a thread on here where many people admit their feelings about them. I wish I could find it.

I believe the manifestations are real because they are in the bible. I think a lot of people faked it though. Seems you would hear the same thing from certain people over and over again. It is same with healings. There are people on GSC who did miracles and healings and others who faked it. It's a pretty subjective experience. John Lynn did some interesting work on SIT/ w int. Apparently, the bible says it's praise from man to God. What TWI does is basically SIT then have a word of prophecy.

I can say that when I first got involved in my first fellowship I went through a lot. So many times certain people in the fellowship would do the manifestation in fellowship and it would hit things on my heart I hadn't told ANYONE about. It happened a lot to me in those days. The closer I got to HQ and the more indoctrinated I became the more I thought so many people were going through the motions. Sometime soon I plan to revisit the subject from a fresh perspective.

[Bolshevik]

I don't think most people who took part in twi (after the fog) were "hooked", but some were.

Some people are naturally narcissistic pricks who don't want to change, but want to be seen as well-meaning, altruistic and rare individuals. twi is a place where people can change their image of themselves, without really doing anything internally. these types of folks weren't hooked, they found what they were looking for.

[potato]

I don't think most people who took part in twi (after the fog) were "hooked", but some were.

Some people are naturally narcissistic pricks who don't want to change, but want to be seen as well-meaning, altruistic and rare individuals. twi is a place where people can change their image of themselves, without really doing anything internally. these types of folks weren't hooked, they found what they were looking for.

yeah I was married to one of those. as long as he got praise, he was all in. when I decided to divorce him and wasn't around to make him look good in meetings (that was my main job, as he told me many times) his charm started to wear off and he left.

unfortunately it took me a few years to leave. I really care about Truth, Justice, and Human Dignity and I still felt like twi had cared about those things before lcm destroyed it, and I kept waiting for RR to make it right. after I showed up here at GSC and started reading I realized the twi I thought existed never did, and it was only because I initially learned to see it through the WoW's eyes and never stood up over inconsistencies but instead excused them that I ended up stuck in twi, self-delusional and altruistic over a non-existent system.

[waterbuffalo]

This one is easy for me...I was searching for "the truth."

The way said they had it or The Bible had it and the class would teach me how to understand it for myself. I wound up meeting someone after praying on my knees the night b4 for God to teach me how to understand The Bible. He said he had taken part of the class and dropped out b/c he said he got all of his questions answered after session six or something. Oddly enough, that was my intention...to take the class to get the knowledge, but not continue an association with the way. Ah, yes, 15 yrs. later...

When I met some of the "standing" believers, the answers that hooked me most were the ones when Herbie or Herbie's brother would say, "I don't know the answer to that question. The class will answer it better than I can." For some reason, I interpreted those answers as a sign of humility.

That was what hooked me.