The Living Truth Fellowship bids a final farewell tribute to its initial leader, John Ashton Lynn

October 2021

Romans 14:8
“For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

It is with deep sorrow and a heavy heart that we write this month’s newsletter to inform you of the death of our brother in Christ, John A. Lynn. On September 24, 2021 our brother John fell asleep in the Lord from Covid-19 and other health related complications. His life and ministry were a testimony of goodness and love. John lived in pursuit of the truth and was bold in declaring it to any and all who would listen.
 
Sometime next month, the Board of Trustees, along with John’s wife and daughter, will be producing an online tribute to John honoring his many years of faithful service to the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that everyone please keep his wife Elizabeth, daughter Christine and their families in prayer as they grieve John’s passing. If you would be blessed to give a monetary gift, you can do so at Gofund.me, a page that was set up for this purpose, or you can contact us for her home address.
 
John was faithful at teaching God’s Word for fifty years and he will be dearly missed. We know John sleeps in the Lord and we look forward with great hope for the appearing of Christ when we will rejoice to see him again. It is important to remember that God is ultimately the source of our comfort (2 Corinthians 7:6), so in times like this we must run to the shelter of the Most High where we will find sweet rest (Psalm 91:1-2). John’s heart for the Lord and service to the gospel of Christ is something for us all to emulate. He always gave his all for God’s people and the gospel. Well done good and faithful servant!
 
If you were one of the many brethren who prayed for John’s healing over the years, we thank you on behalf of all our TLTF leadership. The Word of God is our greatest source of comfort when someone we love dies. Our Lord certainly understood the pain of losing someone close to his heart. In the book of John 11:1-44, we learn that Jesus lost a loved one named Lazarus. Jesus was deeply moved and wept at the loss of His friend. This story, however, doesn’t end in tears. Jesus knew he possessed the power needed to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25). Jesus overcame death through His resurrection. It is comforting to know that death is not the end for those who believe. Those who know Jesus as their Savior will have eternal life (John 10:28). God has prepared a new home for us where there will be no more death, tears, or pain (Revelation 21:1-4).
 
As we move onward, we thank our Lord Jesus Christ who has provided for us everything necessary to continue to help others receive the Words of Life. We also thank you for your love and support as we continue to press forward in the high calling in Christ Jesus our Savior. We must not be naive as to think that Satan isn’t looking to take advantage of us. Until Jesus returns, he will continue his attacks on the body of Christ. He will do anything he can to sabotage unity, sow dissension, and erode trust. Particularly in difficult seasons, we need to all unite in every effort to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3).
 
It takes courage to go through difficult times. But, if there’s one thing we know about the people who fellowship with this ministry, it is that they are, by God’s grace, a strong and courageous people, as we have made our way through many sufferings in the past. God develops grit and endurance in his people through suffering. Let us all praise the name of Jesus Christ that he would count us worthy to suffer with him. We now get to demonstrate once more the all-sufficiency of his grace as he bears us up and carries us forward in his strong and loving care.
 
As we consider the impact of John’s death on our lives and the ministry, this scripture quickly comes to mind.
 
Joshua 1:1,2
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them…”
 
The death of Moses was perhaps the most monumental loss the children of Israel had faced since leaving Egypt. Moses had led them forty years; from his initial return to Egypt until he had brought them to the Jordan river with the promised land literally in sight. Israel knew no other way to follow God than to rely on Moses’ directions for every step of their journey. But, now Moses was dead and they were in many ways at a standstill. So, what was God’s message to these desperate Israelites who were now grieving their one-of-a-kind leader? It was, “Get going!”
 
From a human perspective, one could easily anticipate that the LORD would have directed them to have a prolonged memorial for Moses’ death. But instead, He simply told Joshua to get with the people and get ready to move out from where they were and move on, into the promised land. And when you think about it, what other choice did they have? Their forty-year trek through the wilderness had brought them to the banks of the Jordan River, and Moses was now dead. Their hearts could either be tethered to their past with Moses or delighted for the future Moses and the LORD had brought them to. In many ways, ours is the same choice.
 
I’m confident that John Lynn would not want this ministry to stop, or pause, in any way because of his death. His vision of following the Lord Jesus Christ and helping others to do the same can and will continue; only if we remain committed to entering the land of promises. We have no choice but to regroup, prepare our hearts to obey, and follow the directions of the spirit of God.
 
Some ask, “What do we do now?.” And the answer as is always going to be the same … “obey.” Obey the Lord Jesus Christ and follow him. That has been his message since he first began calling his disciples on the shores of Galilee. That message will never change. Every Christian is obligated to follow Jesus, in word and deed. He is the only one worthy of our complete allegiance. He is the only one who perfectly demonstrated what humanity can become if we will but live with selfless service to God and shower those around us with His love.
 
Who among us doesn’t have a neighbor, friend, or family member in need? Can we not simply take some time to visit them? What instruction is needed to love? We may not have an answer for them, but we can be a listening heart. We can care enough to show up in their life and be kind… can’t we? Or we could decide to just sit on our hands and reminisce about the good times and great teachings that John taught us. Which will you do? Which do you believe will bring glory to God and His son?
 
The TLTF Board of Trustees have been diligently seeking the Lord’s guidance about the future of TLTF, and we believe we have heard his voice. Some of the direction we are hearing is new and exciting. But, regardless of the course we take, we know it must be done in prayer, with love and a commitment to obeying the Lord. After all, this is not “our ministry” just as it was not “John Lynn’s ministry.” It is the Lord’s ministry, and we are all his servants. Our objective is and must remain to magnify Jesus Christ, the living truth.
 
So, as we look forward to the days ahead, we are thankful, deeply thankful for John Lynn’s life and ministry; and that will never change. But we are also eagerly looking to the Lord Jesus, the living way; to guide us on our journey. Our only ambition is to follow him. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith. He alone is worthy of our complete trust. He alone can take us into the land of promises where there is joy unspeakable. As JAL would often say, “the future is as bright as the promises of God.” So, let’s hold fast to God’s Word, hold on to one another, and boldly walk forward into the future He has planned for us.
 
We are very excited to be entering into a new season of ministry inspired by the spirit of God. We look forward to continuing with you in this new season of growth as we minister the Word unto the hearts of others. As Paul said, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
 
Thank you for your love, prayers and support as we move ahead together fighting the good fight.
 

We love you dearly,
 
Franco, Jon, and Gary Lee
TLTF Board of Trustees

UPDATED 10/7/21: The following Internet link was the Obituary apparently published in the Indiana newspaper for John Lynn. Due to the writing style, along with its rather lengthy nature, I assume John might’ve written this himself. If I’m wrong about that, I sincerely apologize. But please read through this obituary for yourself and I think you’ll agree with me. I can promise you, it’s very well written and there’s nothing disrespectful in it. Agape

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/john-lynn-obituary?id=20568575

Rest In Peace, John A. Lynn, president of The Living Truth Fellowship in Indianapolis IN

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. — 2 Timothy 4:7

(The following was posted on the Facebook page of, The Living Truth Fellowship on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. John A. Lynn, president of TLTF, succumbed to the Coronavirus in the Indianapolis area, and he happened to be in his late 70’s. Pastor Lynn appeared twice on my government-access TV show out of Nashua NH, titled, ‘Frankly Speaking’. Both those shows happen to be posted on this forum, please feel free to browse and find out for yourself what Lynn was all about.)

The Living Truth Fellowship

It is with deep sorrow and a heavy heart to inform you that our brother in Christ, John Lynn has fallen asleep in the Lord. Below is what Elizabeth Lynn has shared: John passed away this afternoon at 2:26. Myself and his daughter, Christine, got to go in to be with him and sang him Peace Peace and I come to the Garden Alone, then he took his last breath. Thank you Jesus for the victory we have over death and that we will see him again in his new resurrected body. Thank you all for your love, support and many prayers!!

Christine Lynn Norton, September 28 at 2:02 p.m.

I am so proud of who my father was, of how he poured himself out for others and always tried to walk in the love of Christ. He was not a perfect human being, nor are any of us, but he had a compassionate heart, always rooting for the underdog and for justice and mercy. More than anything, he taught me that our God is a good and loving God. That theology alone has saved my life numerous times. He will be missed, but I promised him during his last breaths that I would pass this deep faith on to my own family and friends every day I draw breath. I hope you will do the same.

Francine Maestas, September 26 at 5:45 p.m.

John Lynn I am looking at the bumper sticker you gave me that says “death sucks” and those words couldn’t be more true now. I will never forget all the times you called to pray with me and how you always pointed me back to Jesus when I felt lost. I never knew anybody who fought so hard to live like you did. You loved life and spread the love of Jesus everywhere you went. I won’t stop believing in miracles or doubt God’s goodness even though I don’t understand. You will always be so special to my heart. Thank you for all you taught me and always making me laugh. I cherish all the memories and will keep them close to my heart till that sweet day when I will see you again. ♡♡♡

Ex Way cult follower, skyrider, exposes their pent up 30+ year hatred via a beautiful poem

Former Way International Board of Trustee members from about 35 years ago: (l-r) Donald Wierwille, secretary; L. Craig Martindale, president; and Howard Allen, treasurer.

I’ve mentioned a handful of times on this forum thus far about my former association with the Way Ministry – a.k.a. The Way International, the Way Biblical Research and Teaching Ministry, the ‘Kissing Ministry’, The Way, etc. – headquartered in New Knoxville, Ohio. About a quarter century or so later, I was also associated with a website called, GreaseSpotCafe.com, which was specifically set up I assume to “minister” to all those who still haven’t come to grips yet with their former Way Ministry experience, 30-40 years afterwards.

And no, ladies and gentlemen, we’re not exactly talking about the Christian equivalent to the Nazi holocaust, Pearl Harbor, or even 9-11. I will say that some of the Way leaders, including founder Victor Paul Wierwille, were entrenched in massive fornication and adultery behind the scenes, it’s not quite on the same plateau as the aforementioned.

The following is a poem by a former Way follower who goes by the pseudonym, skyrider, and they have been actively involved with GreaseSpotCafe.com for about 10 years. He/she has posted nearly 4,200 comments on Grease Spot Café since 9-15-04, so I’d say, skyrider has more than just a passive interest in this website, which basically just bad-mouths the Way Ministry and anything even remotely associated with it. Needless to say, this isn’t exactly what Jesus Christ was referring to when He told his disciples to forgive those who may have wronged them, seven times seventy.

Way Ministry jargon: For those of you who have never been associated with the Way Ministry (if that’s the case, you may want to thank God for small miracles), here’s a lingo interpreter to perhaps help you to understand this poem a little more clear. When they refer to “pfal”, that stands for Power for Abundant Living, which is the foundational class on Biblical research promoted by The Way. “Corps” refers to the Way Corps, which is the leadership program run by the Way Ministry. Wierwille or “vpw” refers to the founding president of the Way Ministry, Victor Paul Wierwille, who passed away in 1985 – almost 30 years ago. “twi” refers to The Way International, and “mog” refers to the phrase, Man of God. “abs” refers to Abundant Sharing, which is the “tithing” or financial contributions made to The Way. “Offshoots” refer to the many splinter groups a number of Way leaders re-created based on the original Ministry minus the fornication and adultery.

I can only assume that this person, skyrider, must’ve gotten extremely bored and lonely, so they scribed this “poem” to amuse and entertain all the other social misfits, who make up the dozen or so “regulars” on GreaseSpotCafe.com . Too bad we couldn’t recruit the musical genius of somebody like Elton John, Billy Joel, or Barry Manilow to put these words to music and make a beautiful song out of it. Oh well, I hope and pray you all enjoy this fantastic “killer” poem:

The autopsy of a failed ministry:
Posted 28 April 2014 — by skyrider

…Grey-haired staffers sit at desks and usher on Sundays.
…The young, vibrant and talented are few and far in number.
…Seniority and favoritism, rather than merit, is promoted.
…Scripted “teachings” are the norm and, long ago, mocked in pfal.

…Campuses and indoctrination centers have been sold.
…Outreach programs are scaled-back with lack-luster results.
…Corps sign-ups have been dismal for nearly two decades.
…Transparency of numbers and successes is shady or non-existent.

…The wierwille legacy lives on in mystical glory.
…None of his successors have furthered any merited distinction.
…In fact, many hand-picked men have gone down in scandalous flames.
…Which begs the question, “Was the wierwille ministry all a ruse?”

…The outward appearance at twi-hq still hides its deadness.
…A billing scheme, for services not rendered, is the abs-weekly payment.
…The money keeps flowing in….and the deception keeps flowing out.
…And, invested monies boosts twi’s bottom line with fewer and fewer people.

…The old goats helped wierwille by masking his lack of credentials.
…The enablers laid claim to his coattails and furthered the deception.
…With each passing year, serving twi’s agenda eclipsed “serving God.”
…In the end, twi leadership claimed that their ministry WAS God’s ministry.

…Splintered into hundreds of offshoots, the failed ministry lives on.
…Everyone has a psalm, a doctrine and a class you’ve just GOT to take.
…Mini-mogs are everywhere — patterning their mog-doctrine after vpw.
…No accountability — before, during or after — and the cycle spins.

The autopsy of twi?

IT’S DOOR-KNOB DEAD.

Quick, somebody please get me a Kleenex, I think I’m going to cry.

Ex “Kissing Ministry” (The Way) forum bitches over actual demise of its Cult

Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille

L. Craig Martindale

Praise God for Google and Internet “keywords”, that’s all I’ve got to say.

Otherwise, all of my “former brothers and sisters in Christ”, who are now frequently trolling the site, GreaseSpotCafe.com probably NEVER would’ve given me the recognition I so richly deserve. The blog, GreaseSpot Café, is basically devoted for former members of the Way International (a.k.a. The Way, The Way Ministry, the Way Biblical Teaching and Research Ministry, the “Kissing Ministry”, etc.), which still is headquartered in New Knoxville, Ohio.

Specifically, here’s the Thread they were weighing-in on one of my blog posts:

http://www.greasespotcafe.com/ipb/topic/23545-misinformation-about-passing-of-a-patriarch/

See, whining and bitching about an event that happened over a quarter century ago in ’86 (the reading of, “The Passing of the Patriarch”), I guess, somehow and someway is “therapeutic” towards “healing all their broken hearts”.

Can you say, “Pity Party”?

Incidentally, the reason the Way International is often referred to as, “the kissing ministry” by a number of cult deprogrammers is because they misinterpret this verse of scripture:

Greet one another with an holy kiss. — 2 Corinthians 13:12

And as you might’ve already guessed, kissing other peoples’ spouses and “significant others” usually snowballs into: groping, fornication, adultery, divorce, mixed signals, hurt feelings, etc. Heck, come to think of it, you don’t really have to be “committed” to another individual to be subjected to the aforementioned sins. And as we’re about to see in a little bit, it’s a perfect example on how something like this can get totally out of control.

First of all, here’s the specific excerpt that got a few of these ex-Wayfers just a wee bit fired up:

https://onebaddecisionawayfromhomelessness.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/since-initiating-the-holy-bible-has-god-flip-flopped-on-fornication

[…Around the same time frame (mid-80s), Victor Paul Wierwille of the Way International (a.k.a. The Way Ministry, The Way, The Way Biblical Research and Teaching Ministry), had passed away, but not before he entrusted the startling revelation that he, as well as a vast number of his leadership (including then-Way International president L. Craig Martindale) had engaged in rampant fornication and adultery with that Ministry’s membership (a.k.a. The Passing of a Patriarch). Needless to say, The Way experienced a mass exodus from its Ministry and its current membership is a mere fraction to what it was back then.

One indication of just how actually BLEEPED up the Way Ministry was, it perhaps had the only religious organization that were pro-Abortion. The Way would rationalize its beliefs in Abortion on the Biblical verse:

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” – Genesis 2:7

As the story goes, soon after Wierwille passed away in ‘85, several women who claimed they got pregnant by him came forward and said Wierwille “strongly exhorted” them to get an abortion based on that scripture. That’s funny, I’m not quite sure how “first breath” of an individual conclusively defines “life” but the last time I saw a video of a fetus it sure looked like an “alive” being to me…]

Incidentally, the link that these ex-Wayfers are referring to was from a posting on this blog OVER A YEAR AGO (8-15-12), which if you were to read it in its FULL VERBATIM CONTEXT, was about the well-publicized extra-marital affair of Daystar ministry president and founder Marcus Lamb and, more specifically, just how Fornication has changed regarding Christian ministers over the past quarter century.

When I brought up this point to one of the GreaseSpot Cafe “regulars” earlier this week, they just totally ignored it and insinuated that this posting was ALL ABOUT this document, “The Passing of a Patriarch” and the Way Ministry??!!! I can only assume that the logic discernment regarding these particular folks is so clouded on “HATING” their former Way Ministry leaders that they just can’t see, “the forest for the trees” so to speak. God perhaps put it best in the Biblical book of 1 Corinthians:

If any man (or woman) be ignorant, let him (or her) be ignorant.

This Biblical verse is sort of like the absolute epitome of what most of the “regulars” on GreaseSpot Cafe are truly all about.

The O.P. (Original Poster, or blogger who initiated this particular Thread on GreaseSpot Cafe) was somebody calling themself, “penworks”, who, in turn, encouraged his/her fellow bloggers to weigh-in here on One Bad Decision… to correct all the errors made in reference to, “The Passing of the Patriarch”. Had penworks, or any of the other cowardly bloggers on GreaseSpot Cafe, actually followed through and done that, I would’ve immediately advised them to enroll in a course on Reading Comprehension 101 because that posting may have made a slight reference to “The Passing of the Patriarch”, it was actually about how Christianity has evolved on the subject of Fornication — specifically involving church leadership — in the past quarter century.

On the subject of possibly elaborating any further on, “The Passing of the Patriarch” in this particular posting, I then posed the question to all the bloggers on GreaseSpot Cafe:

How would carefully studying exactly who the Way Ministry hierarchy was “humping and pumping” on the side — outside of their own marriages, 27-40 years ago — help enhance my Eternal Salvation in Heaven?

The silence, or non-responses, to that question on GreaseSpot Cafe was absolutely deafening. You probably could’ve heard crickets chirping at that point.

Personally, I think the two major differences between myself and most of the patrons who blog on, GreaseSpot Cafe are:

1) I chose to just forgive the Way Ministry leadership for their moral improprieties and then move on with my life. NOT to be confused with “FORGETTING”, I still refuse to attend any Way Ministry events, donate any money to that organization, or recommend any people join that church group. See forgiving and restoration are two completely different things — if The Way is not willing to improve its moral climate, I’ll just take my worship elsewhere.

2)  My relationship with God is NOT contingent on whether or not my minister engages in some type of moral impropriety. I fully understand ministers are only human and sometimes make mistakes. In a scenario like that, I would just choose to shake of the proverbial dust and move on to another church.

Quite honestly, I think it’s absolutely insane — not to mention unhealthy — for an individual to hold animosity or a grudge against another person/entity for nearly 30 years. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight for the former Way believers trolling around the, GreaseSpot Cafe site towards their former Way leadership any time soon. Oh well, life sucks and then you die, I suppose.

As Christians, we’re supposed to follow the example of Jesus Christ to the best of our ability. No where in Biblical scripture does it ever mention that Jesus “boasted and gloated” to His Apostles about a previous experience they recently encountered. For example, saying something like, “gee, that Pharisee who confronted us the other day was a real ‘douche-bag’, don’t ya think?” Jesus could’ve easily have stooped down to that level, but instead chose the ‘high road’ and was a lot more forgiving. The “regulars” on the GSC site aren’t even trying to make an effort to put their past behind them.One of the more ignorant (and popular) bloggers on the attack against me was an individual calling themself, “chockfull”. After spewing out about a  half dozen vulgarities against me such as:

…and are acting ignorant.

…you are also acting like a jack@$$.

…You are a moron.

…You sound just like your brothers there in that Westboro Baptist interview. Ignorant, arrogant, and thinking they are spreading the gospel while they are just making slanderous idiotic posters on national TV.

…acting like this you probably deserve to get your @$$ beat.

Wow, would you ever have guessed that, chockfull, also considers themself, “a Christian”? Probably not with that kind of language. Then after posting all those vulgarities on the supposedly Christian site, GreaseSpot Cafe, chockfull then boldly proclaims:

“I stand by those comments”.

Wow, can you say, “hypocrite”?

I then posted that any little jerk can “talk tough on the Internet” and then hide like a coward behind a stupid pseudonym like, “chockfull” and publicly challenged this imbecile to try saying that to my face, assuming they honestly stood behind those vulgar comments. I further added that the two main subjects of most of their bitching, Victor Paul Wierwille and L. Craig Martindale, despite the obvious moral shortcomings of both these guys, they’d be more likely to go right up to your face and look you in the eyes if they wanted to call you something vulgar — as opposed to the more cowardly, going on the Internet and hiding behind a stupid pseudonym.

Another chicken-BLEEP tactic used on, GreaseSpot Cafe is scrambling (or disguising)  the name of the subject so that there’s no way you could possibly trace it back to them via a Google keyword search. For example, if they were referring to former Way president L. Craig Martindale, they’d purposely write something like “lcm” or “Cr@ig M@rtind@le”, so if Martindale were to do a Google keyword search on himself, they’d be zero trace about him on GreaseSpot Cafe. But if normal people — especially supposed Christians — had some serious problems with Martindale, then WHY wouldn’t you want him to know what’s bothering you about him??? Especially, now that it’s more than a quarter century after the fact.

To pour even more gas on the proverbial fire, how would YOU like to contribute some of your hard-earned money to the GreaseSpot Cafe website? What a fantastic bargain that is, eh? They honestly solicit financial contributions to maintain and enhance that ungodly website via credit card or debit card donations. Personally, I think I’d get a lot better satisfaction taking a handful of my own dollar bills and then proceeding to flush them down the toilet. For the GSC site “regulars” who financially contribute to this stupid thing in lieu of Tithing to a church are obviously on the border of being Devil Possessed themselves. To quote the famous line from, Forrest Gump, “stupid is as stupid does.”

One of the more detailed postings on the, GreaseSpot Café thread in question, at least in my opinion, was by somebody going by the pseudonym, WordWolf. To help better understand some of the Way Ministry jargon this individual is talking about: I already talked about Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille and L. Craig Martindale; Chris Geer and Ralph Dubofsky were Way Ministry leaders whom Dr. Wierwille entrusted with the document, “The Passing of a Patriarch”, which outlined and warned against the rampant fornication and adultery problem of The Way back in the 70s and 80s. Take it away, WordWolf dawg:

WordWolf
28 September 2013

let’s see how many errors are in that one paragraph.

1) vpw never “ENTRUSTED” the fornication and adultery he did.

2) “Passing of the Patriarch” had absolutely NOTHING to do with vpw and his rampant sex crimes.

3) The exodi from twi had little to do with vpw’s sex crimes and little to do with POP.

vpw, to the last, maintained 2 faces-one for the cadre/inner circle, and one for the public/rank-and-file.

In public, he said nothing to encourage fornication nor adultery

In private, he passed along a variety of rationalizations to his top people and select victims. He also had a network of people in place to cover his tracks and silence any woman who MIGHT speak up.

In fact, in his final hours, he claimed to someone that he was trying to figure out what he possibly could have done to displease God- and was unable to think of anything.

As his final weeks approached, vpw found himself irrelevant and IGNORED at twi- as opposed to before, when everyone worshiped him.

So he went to Chris Geer and complained about some incredibly outlandish things- saying that twi was turning away from God and made various prophecies that all failed to happen. CG -if he told the truth and didn’t simply make up the whole thing- then wrote up “Passing of the Patriarch.” It’s available to read here on this website. It’s a long essay about how CGeer felt he was the only person left in twi who was doing the right thing, and how that’s why vpw went to  visit him and entrust him with the specifics about how twi had turned away from God Almighty. The paper said NOTHING about vpw’s rampant sex practices.

CGeer was already aware of those- he had served as vpw’s driver and bodyguard at different times, and was reported to have been COMPLICIT in at least 1 incident where vpw drugged a woman and violated her.

(We suspect more incidents were not reported here, based on how freaking EFFICIENT it was, almost as if experience polished up vpw’s whole act.) vpw’s rampant sexual practices were exposed somewhat later. First came vpw’s death, then came CGeer’s reading of POP.

Then came the first reports of women coming forth and not getting silenced- which led to top people leaving twi and some forming 1 or more new groups. Rather than actually address any of that, when those people wrote something, they made it all also vague about how twi needed to turn to God, and it sounded, again, as if vpw was a good guy and others came along later and messed everything up.

The first actual discussions, IIRC, of vpw’s rampant evil sexual practices and toxic doctrines was when J0hn Sch0enh1e+ wrote HIS paper about all the doctrinal problems about permissive sex in the inner circle. The inner circle silenced him and tried to scare everyone out of ever THAT paper is ALSO available for reading on this site. What about the exodi?

There was a tiny one when some top people left, and a few people left with them. It was noteworthy enough to get a mention in “Christianity Today.” (“Infighting trims branches at The Way International.”)

The biggest one came in 1988-1989.

lcm walked around after POP was read, in a fog. Then he lashed out at everyone and demanded oaths of loyalty from everyone-oaths of loyalty to him PERSONALLY. All those who refused for ANY reason were shunned- all employees at every level who refused were fired immediately.

This resulted in about 80% of the people who were there the previous year all LEAVING-lcm was some distant figure to them, and the people they had interacted with PERSONALLY seemed perfectly sensible and sane-while lcm was raving and saying they were horrible people, and insisting on the loyalty of everyone WHILE saying that.

So, they looked sensible, and he looked crazy. When leadership left en masse – those they lead left also. By firing them all and making sure entire groups of staff across the country left together, lcm made it easier for them to work together and set up a new organization that now had more members than his group.

A decade later, when lcm was caught being a sex criminal, and pleading “not guilty” to a lesser charge and admitting wrongdoing in a court of law, there was another exodus (smaller because there were so few people remaining TO leave in great number.)

My advice and exhortation to all trolls and assorted regulars on GreaseSpot Café would be: Get Over It!!! Get A Life!!! Shake Off the proverbial Dust and Move On!!! It’s been over a quarter century now since Dr. Wierwille died, and the reading of, “The Passing of the Patriarch” took place. How is constantly bitching and whining about all that going to help cope with the rest of YOUR LIVES??? If God states in His Word, that vengeance is His, then why not allow God to just do His job and appropriately deal with all those who screwed over His people?

Anonymous cowards from cult support forum spew out cheap shots @ Yours Truly – so what else is new?

Here we go again, ladies and gentlemen, yet another round of “cheap shots” by my former brothers and sisters in Christ, a.k.a. GreaseSpotCafe.com , or the self-proclaimed cult support forum of the Way Ministry. I guess when your whole website is based on simply whining and bitching about Way Ministry leaders – a few of whom have already passed away – from over a quarter century ago, I would imagine, after a while, people are literally “grasping at straws” to initiate some type of “new” topic to get everybody to participate.

Specifically, an apparent female calling herself excathedra, I would assume found a few of my postings about the GreaseSpot Café forum during a Google search and proceeded to share my web address and offer a few comments solely to her tight-knit clique of close friends. Here’s how, excathedra initiated the new thread on GreaseSpotCafe.com this past Tueday, 7-29-14 at 4:30 p.m.

what the heck is this — i just stumbled upon it

hey jerk off i’m 58

http://onebaddecisio…aig-martindale/

now it’s hard for me to find the idiot to which i was referring. i’m sorry

Wow, I guess I should be glad that excathedra is a nice “Christian” woman, or else I’d probably really be in trouble.

Incidentally, excathedra joined GreaseSpotCafe.com on 6-7-02 and has posted 21,365 messages since that date – doing the math, that averages out to about 148 posts per month or 37 posts per week during her approximate 12 year GSC affiliation. I’d say excathedra’s got more than just a passive interest in whining and bitching about the Way Ministry on that forum – with her, it’s definitely an “obsession”.

But like a bunch of maggots flocking to a dead carcass, excathedra had a few of her GreaseSpot Café friends weighing-in with their comments on the subject.

waysider has only been a member of GreaseSpot Café since 7-15-06, but still managed to post 14,986 messages since joining that site. Here’s what waysider had to say about Yours Truly’s postings regarding GreaseSpotCafe.com :

Tl;dr (Too long; didn’t read)
I’ll sum it up.
“Let’s blame the victims. It’s fun and easy.”

Gee, for someone who posted nearly 15,000 messages in about eight years (that averages out to be about 156 posts per month or 39 posts per week), I don’t think he’s in a position to call ANYBODY’S  posting too long. The only thing more pathetic than that is waysider still referring to himself as a “victim” about 30-40 years after the fact.

Incidentally, if someone was divorced 29 years ago in 1985 (the same year as the death of Way Ministry founding president Victor Paul Wierwille, and also the approximate time all this controversy started), would they still be viewed by most people as a “victim” of their spouse’s refusal to “make the marriage work”? I don’t think so. I think most people would’ve gotten on with their lives and probably would’ve started dating again by sometime in ’86. How was the split of the Way Ministry back then any more “stressful” than most peoples’ divorces?

Rocky has been a GSC regular for just over 12 years, 6-12-02 to be exact. He’s posted 11,181 messages to GSC, which averages out to almost 78 posts per month or close to 20 posts per week during his entire tenure with this cult support forum. With that said, would you care to guess what I thought when Rocky posted this little gem on GSC two days ago:

The guy is just a loser with an axe to grind. Who cares what he has to say?

Hey Rocky, when you’re talking about “losers with axes to grind”, did you ever try looking at yourself in the mirror lately – along with all the rest of your GSC colleagues?

Last, and by all means least, we’ve got WordWolf, who’s viewed as one of the main leaders on this forum. He’s been posting messages on GreaseSpot since 6-13-02 and has 13,004 posts, or an average of about 1,100 posts per year for each of his 12 years on that site. WordWolf sort of comes across as the “elder statesman” or “the voice of logic” for GSC – or maybe this weirdo has a lot of the “regulars” on that site duped. I’ll take his WordWolf’s comment and break it down with a few comments of my own:

When he controls the microphone and is answerable to no one,
no one can hold him to a standard of accuracy or truth.
That’s why he rules his own soapbox.

Let’s just leave him and his delusions be.

So let me see if I’ve got this straight. According to WhoIs.com, GreaseSpot Café has been operating as a website now for just about 14 years. About 95 percent of the participants use pseudonyms (including everyone I’ve already cited). Whenever GSC members refer to Way Ministry leadership – whether they’re dead or alive – they deliberately disguise the spelling of their names so they won’t track anybody’s postings via a Google search. A number of GSC members claim they’re whole objective is to “warn others of wolves in sheep’s clothing”, or, I assume, new people who recently joined the Way Ministry. If you were to succeed in getting a new recruit to disassociate themselves with The Way – what exactly does GSC recommend for that individual to get a good understanding of God in their lives? Do you recommend, for example, that the individual just keeps publicly “trashing” Way leadership on the Internet, like you people have been doing for the past 14 years? Or, do you just not care about that person’s eternal salvation after he/she is no longer associated with The Way?

Honestly, without GSC traffic, his site is virtually forgotten
and ignored in cyberspace.

Another GSC regular named Allan also echoed WordWolf’s aforementioned comment and stated my particular blog here, One Bad Decision Away From Homelessness, was “an ex- GSC recovery site”. So out of about 144 postings thus far on One Bad Decision…, this will be ONLY the fourth posting with any reference to GreaseSpotCafe.com . That’s about 2.5 – 3.25 percent of this entire site currently dedicated to GSC material – and that automatically makes this an “ex-GSC recovery forum”???

Personally, I tend to view One Bad Decision… as being, 100 percent pro-Jesus Christ. Among other things, Jesus was quoted in the Bible as saying that, we ought to Forgive those who’ve done us wrong, Seven times 70 — which shouldn’t be confused with Allan, along with all his ilk at GSC, not willing to even attempt to Forgive the leadership of the Way Ministry for any of their transgressions over a quarter century after the fact.

Incidentally WordWolf, if One Bad Decision…, “is virtually forgotten and ignored in cyberspace”, can you please explain how excathedra managed to “stumble upon it” this week? Or how another GSC regular, penworks stumbled upon this blog approximately a year ago? As with your arch nemesis, the Way International (a.k.a. Way Ministry), I’ll bet the folks behind GreaseSpotCafe.com are really pissed off about the whole concept of Google searches, huh?

By giving him any attention for his
ridiculous posts, we’re giving him exactly what he wants-
attention- which translates, in his thinking, into
VALIDATION

As I said to Rocky’s comment earlier in this posting, is this comment supposed to be referring to me, or yourself WordWolf – along with all your nitwit colleagues at GSC?

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, this thread in question was removed by the GSC Moderator – I believe they use the pseudonym, Modgellan – within 24 hours after excathedra posted it. I think it had something to do with duping their own regular members into continue giving financial donations to the GSC, which personally, I would equate with financially contributing to Satan. Any remotely “Christian-related” group that refuses to acknowledge that Forgiveness is a major part of God’s Will for our lives isn’t worthy of one red cent as far as I’m concerned.

In addition, none of the aforementioned GSC regulars bothered to comment themselves here on One Bad Decision… — only amongst their own ilk on their safe little sanctum. What great Christian men and women of God, eh? I, on the other hand, would’ve loved to have posted my comments here over on GSC, but unfortunately, the Moderator banned me from that site last year. Apparently, the regulars on GSC didn’t like it too much when I posted “taboo” questions like:

What does the Bible say about Forgiveness? After more than a quarter century of whining and bitching about the Way Ministry leadership, what exactly would you like to say or do to finally have some “closure” in your own personal lives? Who the heck is anybody on the GSC site to claim that certain Way Ministry leaders are “beyond forgiveness” when it comes to God’s judgment? Were King David (an adulterer and murderer), and Paul the Apostle (a murderer of Christians) “beyond forgiveness” when it came to God’s judgment? 

To quote a famous line on one of my favorite afternoon soap operas: The Truth always hurts – doesn’t it?