My wife and I use MySpace (a coworker suggested it as he and his circle of friends use it to organize parties), so I thought I'd check it out.
I tried to post but we'll see if it goes through or not. If anyone was curious what I look like or what my real name is or any of that, it will show up if my posts do. I don't really care anymore, but it is alarming that TWI has so many young people still.
Also, a flippant comment but one that has to be said, there are some fine looking girls on there. I saw a few who could have easily tricked me into staying in TWI. I'm glad I didn't know them when I was in.
Also, a flippant comment but one that has to be said, there are some fine looking girls on there. I saw a few who could have easily tricked me into staying in TWI. I'm glad I didn't know them when I was in.
This message board and group is for people who are apart of the Way International, it is not for people who just believe in Jesus Christ, it is not just another random religious group,
Aside from the Freudian slip "apart" (which was a typo I'm sure but funny coming from a Way grad. Hey, just know what I'm readin'...) this is the normal language used by Wayfers. Others "just" believe in Jesus Christ, others are "random religious groups".
But they need to fix it otherwise every person who was a part of the Way but is now apart of the Way will want to post there.
What exactly is a random religious group? I won't even go there.
I browsed the posts on the one board, and the first response to that "Matt"s question was more classic Wayfer gush. Most of the things he would think are special and unique to the Way Ministry are "a part" of many other churches and ministries and form the foundation of biblical inquiry in general. But Wayfers feel special because, well they're just special I guess. Or maybe "different" is more accurate. Whatever, if the Way Nash bullies leave them alone or decide to allow their members the same freedoms every other citizen of the U.S. has to use the internet maybe they'll be able to stay without intervention.
You have to wait 7 days before you can post on the way message board?Good thing paw does not do that here.Seems to me,there are alot of younger people on the message board.
Very interesting thread about a guy going by the handle Matt, who was searching for a church, stumbled on TWI's web site, GreaseSpot, and the Boston MySpace TWIt forum. They say things have changed, but reading their responses to him looked identical to when I was in. Same old burying your head in the sand, ignoring history and facts, all for "the word" and the nice feeling you get from being a TWIt -- until history repeats itself and you end up here.
Well I have been on the road for about 10 days after I requested to join their group. (I was gonna play nice if they let me in.)
I went to the site to day and I got this:
This is a private group.You must be invited by a member or moderator to join.
So in a week and a halfs time it has gone from "you must request to join" to "you must be invited to join"
Seems like a good metaphor for Way Theology is in those statements somewhere...the "whosoever" of John 3:16 and other verses is long gone from Waythought....
My take after reading a lot of the posts over at these spaces, as a person who grew up in the ministry, is that they are young. I think back to when I was 17-22, I was gung ho. I was becoming an adult and I thought that I had thought through why I was sticking around as an adult. I hadn't really. It was all I had known. I hadn't really investigated other views, Christian or otherwise, honestly and openly. Most importantly, nothing had really happened to me personally. Up untill those years I was just following along doing what I was told as a child. Even during those years of early adulthood I still did that, perhaps with greater difficulty.
This is what seems to happen though, or what seemed to happen then. As a kid/ teenager/ young adult you were not really held responsible for what you were taught. Well to a degree you were, but they wern't "all up in your biz" as a young adult. As I got older I was given more responsibility and I was held accountable more for what I did in my personal life. If I didn't ABS for a while as a teen, not too big of a deal. Plus my leaders were my parents. As an adult, if they noticed me not ABSing, it was brought to my attention. Debt was brought to my attention. Hanging out too much with unbelievers was brought to my attention. Not attending fellowship was brought to my attention. As I got older I notice that some of the college aged kids were cut a little more slack, they had classes after all. Of course when I went back to school part time while working two jobs, I was expected to be at fellowship and at times lead or teach. I suspect that was because I was an adult.
Of course the kinder gentler twi has to be a factor as well, but IMO it is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings back. As a kid and a teen things weren't really all that bad. I had some good friends. the meetings were ok and I knew more than any of my peers about the Bible, so I thought I was the shi+. Plus my parents are much better people than a lot of the leaders I had as an adult.
Anyway, I guess time will tell for a lot of these kids. So many of their comments sound like my young callused know-it-all attitude. Some of the others though seem much more understanding than I remember seeing when I was that age. Privitizing the one site definitely isn't a good sign, but the other "all may not agree" one, shows promise.
Perhaps I stressed being hurt by twi too much in that last post, not that it isn't a reality. Perhaps the biggest thing about their defence of twi is that most of them are young people raised in the ministry. They are currently at a point of learning new ideas as they go to college or into the real world as an adult and are confronted with things they haven't had to deal with really. Those are the days when one a) fights the hardest to defend what has been all they know about God and the world, and/or b) when they start to give a little and start to see some of the bad elements of "the ministry."
John, read your "Why?" posts over on the myspace board. Very honest and loving - like what I remember folks were like in the "old days". It hurt to hear what so many of the family had gone through. Maybe that's what God means by, "when one memeber suffers all members suffer." Personally, I saw it comin' and ran for the hills - actually my wife and I just stopped receiving mail and getting invited, it didn't really matter, but it still hurt.
Keep in mind, there are three other TWI My Space Groups that appear to be open to ANYONE. I have posted on two of them and no one was mean so far. These are started by way Ministry believers on their own.
You have to be a member of My Space in order to join and post on these groups. It's probably a good idea for you to join My Space anyway if you want to see what all the fuss is about concernng this wildly popular site. It is especially important for you to be knowledgeable of it if you have kids. They probably are or most likely will be on there anyway.
The moderator John Brownxn a member of the early Family Corps and lives here in Tampa Bay, emailed me and refused to allow me to join and said basically "Not a chance, get over it."
That one allowed me to join. And my 16 year old daughter even joined. After I pposted a few things they deleted my posts and all replies to my posts and deleted our names from the group membership. Now it has gone totally private.
Oh, I am not trying to hang in anywhere really. Just curious. They (TWI) are so slow to move in any direction. Therefore they get moved and run over and left behind in the dust many times.
Do u mean Joesph & Paula? I doubt they'll be on My Space or any forum. But what they ought to have done is NEVER left Orlando. That city is hot right now. I love em.
Oh, I am not trying to hang in anywhere really. Just curious. They (TWI) are so slow to move in any direction. Therefore they get moved and run over and left behind in the dust many times.
oh... I know you're not... but it does look like you're trying to communicate with them... my comment was borne out of the discourse you've had there where I know I'd be typing with 'gritted teeth'... :)
I read the forums you posted in John. They are being great. What it does remind me of is how pure their beliefs are and may the twi fall if they hurt these people too. I am sure a lot of us can relate to how they are feeling about how good twi is. I have looked at some profiles and see many of them love to "party". That shows me they are very young in the ministry and have no clue of the life changes that the ministry is going to demand of them. They are just reaching the tip of the iceberg.
Way to go John. It was hard for me to finish reading your last post. By the time I got to "Hmmm sounds like the original Way Ministry to me." I got something in my eye. It wasn't so much what you said as the way you said it and the memories it brought back.
I remember as a TC (before my futile attempt at the 10th WC, but that's another story) making those calls, just to check on loved ones and praying for those who, for what ever reason, were not staying in contact. Back then, there were only 3 members of TWI, the rest of us were followers of the way of Jesus Christ.
No doubt some here will say I was duped, brainwashed, out of touch, etc., but I never allowed anyone to talk me in to anything I now regret. Quite the contrary. I questioned and sometimes bucked authority, back then it was allowed and even, on occasions, appreciated.
No doubt some here will say I was duped, brainwashed, out of touch, etc., but I never allowed anyone to talk me in to anything I now regret. Quite the contrary. I questioned and sometimes bucked authority, back then it was allowed and even, on occasions, appreciated.
Congratulations.
Me, I left as soon as I spotted that not being the case as well.
In my case, that was 1989.
And I think the powers-that-be might have been happy to
see me go just on the basis of my OWN bucking of authority.
:)
Of course,
I say neither YOUR experience nor MINE speaks for EVERYONE's
experience. Some other people questioned or bucked authority,
and they were kicked out-either off-grounds, out of the corps,
or were made pariahs-even by vpw.
I'm thankful that wasn't me, and for you, I'm thankful it wasn't you.
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My wife and I use MySpace (a coworker suggested it as he and his circle of friends use it to organize parties), so I thought I'd check it out.
I tried to post but we'll see if it goes through or not. If anyone was curious what I look like or what my real name is or any of that, it will show up if my posts do. I don't really care anymore, but it is alarming that TWI has so many young people still.
Also, a flippant comment but one that has to be said, there are some fine looking girls on there. I saw a few who could have easily tricked me into staying in TWI. I'm glad I didn't know them when I was in.
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dmiller
Hmmmmm.
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Tom Strange
now Dave... Master P's just being honest... we were all young once (he still is, remember?) :)
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moony3424
David, you are a dirty old man. Then again, some of us like dirty, old men.
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socks
Aside from the Freudian slip "apart"
(which was a typo I'm sure but funny coming from a Way grad. Hey, just know what I'm readin'...) this is the normal language used by Wayfers. Others "just" believe in Jesus Christ, others are "random religious groups".
But they need to fix it otherwise every person who was a part of the Way but is now apart of the Way will want to post there.
What exactly is a random religious group? I won't even go there.
I browsed the posts on the one board, and the first response to that "Matt"s question was more classic Wayfer gush. Most of the things he would think are special and unique to the Way Ministry are "a part" of many other churches and ministries and form the foundation of biblical inquiry in general. But Wayfers feel special because, well they're just special I guess. Or maybe "different" is more accurate. Whatever, if the Way Nash bullies leave them alone or decide to allow their members the same freedoms every other citizen of the U.S. has to use the internet maybe they'll be able to stay without intervention.
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frank123lol
You have to wait 7 days before you can post on the way message board?Good thing paw does not do that here.Seems to me,there are alot of younger people on the message board.
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templelady
I mean can you think of anything more appalling than for a Christian to just believe in Jesus CHRIST????
I mean what is Christianity coming to if we all go around believing "Just" in Jesus Christ
But then , I'm forgetting VPW and LCM --Lucky ME
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coolchef1248 @adelphia.net
did anyone say ostrich?
gee i feel bad for those dis allusioned people
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mstar1
Well I have been on the road for about 10 days after I requested to join their group. (I was gonna play nice if they let me in.)
I went to the site to day and I got this:
So in a week and a halfs time it has gone from "you must request to join" to "you must be invited to join"
Seems like a good metaphor for Way Theology is in those statements somewhere...the "whosoever" of John 3:16 and other verses is long gone from Waythought....
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lindyhopper
My take after reading a lot of the posts over at these spaces, as a person who grew up in the ministry, is that they are young. I think back to when I was 17-22, I was gung ho. I was becoming an adult and I thought that I had thought through why I was sticking around as an adult. I hadn't really. It was all I had known. I hadn't really investigated other views, Christian or otherwise, honestly and openly. Most importantly, nothing had really happened to me personally. Up untill those years I was just following along doing what I was told as a child. Even during those years of early adulthood I still did that, perhaps with greater difficulty.
This is what seems to happen though, or what seemed to happen then. As a kid/ teenager/ young adult you were not really held responsible for what you were taught. Well to a degree you were, but they wern't "all up in your biz" as a young adult. As I got older I was given more responsibility and I was held accountable more for what I did in my personal life. If I didn't ABS for a while as a teen, not too big of a deal. Plus my leaders were my parents. As an adult, if they noticed me not ABSing, it was brought to my attention. Debt was brought to my attention. Hanging out too much with unbelievers was brought to my attention. Not attending fellowship was brought to my attention. As I got older I notice that some of the college aged kids were cut a little more slack, they had classes after all. Of course when I went back to school part time while working two jobs, I was expected to be at fellowship and at times lead or teach. I suspect that was because I was an adult.
Of course the kinder gentler twi has to be a factor as well, but IMO it is only a matter of time before the pendulum swings back. As a kid and a teen things weren't really all that bad. I had some good friends. the meetings were ok and I knew more than any of my peers about the Bible, so I thought I was the shi+. Plus my parents are much better people than a lot of the leaders I had as an adult.
Anyway, I guess time will tell for a lot of these kids. So many of their comments sound like my young callused know-it-all attitude. Some of the others though seem much more understanding than I remember seeing when I was that age. Privitizing the one site definitely isn't a good sign, but the other "all may not agree" one, shows promise.
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lindyhopper
Perhaps I stressed being hurt by twi too much in that last post, not that it isn't a reality. Perhaps the biggest thing about their defence of twi is that most of them are young people raised in the ministry. They are currently at a point of learning new ideas as they go to college or into the real world as an adult and are confronted with things they haven't had to deal with really. Those are the days when one a) fights the hardest to defend what has been all they know about God and the world, and/or b) when they start to give a little and start to see some of the bad elements of "the ministry."
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Clifhanger
John, read your "Why?" posts over on the myspace board. Very honest and loving - like what I remember folks were like in the "old days". It hurt to hear what so many of the family had gone through. Maybe that's what God means by, "when one memeber suffers all members suffer." Personally, I saw it comin' and ran for the hills - actually my wife and I just stopped receiving mail and getting invited, it didn't really matter, but it still hurt.
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igotout
Keep in mind, there are three other TWI My Space Groups that appear to be open to ANYONE. I have posted on two of them and no one was mean so far. These are started by way Ministry believers on their own.
You have to be a member of My Space in order to join and post on these groups. It's probably a good idea for you to join My Space anyway if you want to see what all the fuss is about concernng this wildly popular site. It is especially important for you to be knowledgeable of it if you have kids. They probably are or most likely will be on there anyway.
Here are the groups:
The Way International Biblical Research Ministry
Open Forum On Way International
The Way Florida
The two that tried to be open at first but are now closed tighter than a drum are:
The Family Tables
The moderator John Brownxn a member of the early Family Corps and lives here in Tampa Bay, emailed me and refused to allow me to join and said basically "Not a chance, get over it."
The Way International
That one allowed me to join. And my 16 year old daughter even joined. After I pposted a few things they deleted my posts and all replies to my posts and deleted our names from the group membership. Now it has gone totally private.
Dummies.
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Tom Strange
hang in there buddy...
...and let me know (PM) if you run into my niece or nephew please.
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igotout
Oh, I am not trying to hang in anywhere really. Just curious. They (TWI) are so slow to move in any direction. Therefore they get moved and run over and left behind in the dust many times.
Do u mean Joesph & Paula? I doubt they'll be on My Space or any forum. But what they ought to have done is NEVER left Orlando. That city is hot right now. I love em.
John R.
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Tom Strange
oh... I know you're not... but it does look like you're trying to communicate with them... my comment was borne out of the discourse you've had there where I know I'd be typing with 'gritted teeth'... :)
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justloafing
I read the forums you posted in John. They are being great. What it does remind me of is how pure their beliefs are and may the twi fall if they hurt these people too. I am sure a lot of us can relate to how they are feeling about how good twi is. I have looked at some profiles and see many of them love to "party". That shows me they are very young in the ministry and have no clue of the life changes that the ministry is going to demand of them. They are just reaching the tip of the iceberg.
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Clifhanger
Way to go John. It was hard for me to finish reading your last post. By the time I got to "Hmmm sounds like the original Way Ministry to me." I got something in my eye. It wasn't so much what you said as the way you said it and the memories it brought back.
I remember as a TC (before my futile attempt at the 10th WC, but that's another story) making those calls, just to check on loved ones and praying for those who, for what ever reason, were not staying in contact. Back then, there were only 3 members of TWI, the rest of us were followers of the way of Jesus Christ.
No doubt some here will say I was duped, brainwashed, out of touch, etc., but I never allowed anyone to talk me in to anything I now regret. Quite the contrary. I questioned and sometimes bucked authority, back then it was allowed and even, on occasions, appreciated.
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WordWolf
Congratulations.
Me, I left as soon as I spotted that not being the case as well.
In my case, that was 1989.
And I think the powers-that-be might have been happy to
see me go just on the basis of my OWN bucking of authority.
:)
Of course,
I say neither YOUR experience nor MINE speaks for EVERYONE's
experience. Some other people questioned or bucked authority,
and they were kicked out-either off-grounds, out of the corps,
or were made pariahs-even by vpw.
I'm thankful that wasn't me, and for you, I'm thankful it wasn't you.
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templelady
A few days ago there was a discussion here at GSC about whether or not there is a "level playing field" here at the cafe.
The playing field here may not always be well groomed and level all the time --but at least everyone is allowed on it.
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