To: armywife@pa.net
Subject: "A Way Out"
I recently found your home page and read letters from Jim Martin and
Anonymous 1 describing their experiences with The Way International. I
physically felt my heart hurt for both of them, and all of us who were
once affiliated with this ungodly organization.
After 13 years of involvement and 10 years away, I have often asked
myself why in the world this organization haunts its former followers
the way it does. I believe part of the reason lies in the original
motivation of the former follower. Why did we get involved in the first
place? I think for most of us it was a desire to fill the God sized
hole in our souls. (Everyone has one) In a time of challenging the
established system we thought we'd found the way.
Did you notice however, that there was always someone in each PFAL class
you took or ran that didn't finish? Did you notice how often they were
practicing Christians? They had too much knowledge (deep spiritual
knowledge) to be seduced into the basic Way belief system that was
taught in that class and was necessary for Weirwille to indoctrinate us
into believing the rest of the trash he taught. We uninstructed
Christians and non believers did not have the tru Christian foundation
"The Gospel of Jesus Christ" rooted in our hearts so that we could
debunk what he was teaching. He said it was logical, it seemed logical
to us, so we bought it.
In truth, God's truth, human logic has little to do with anything of the
spirit. Is a faith that moves mountains logical? Is it logical for God
to leave heaven, become a man, suffer pain and death to save a sinful
world? Is that kind of love logical?
I've read articles by and talked to other former Way believers, some of
whom are in my own family. I tremble at the hold that this faithless
man and his disciples had on us. It is nothing short of spriitual
victimization. Even though many haven't attended a Way fellowship for
years, they still hold to the beliefs taught by that man. Why? Mind
control, that's why. Mind control that was so insidious that it
resulted in us using it on ourselves. We called it "renewing our
minds". If you don't think he knew what he was doing, think again. But
you say, "It's in the Word. I can show you." What you will show me are
his selections. did you ever notice when it didn't fit his desired
result it meant something else in the Greek (which if you looked it up
sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't) or he ignored it (how often
were you taken to the book of Revelation?) or he would say things like
"I can't prove it but I just know because it fits". And of course who
were we to question the man of God of this day and time?
Let me tell you folks, this was a faithless man. If he couldn't make it
happen or explain it or understand it then it wasn't correct. This
faithlessness is as the heart of everything he taught and is still being
taught today. This faithlessness is the reason he was thrown out of his
own denomination. Think about how he put the Gospels into the Old
Testament....(for your learning not your living) Who are the Gospels
about? What is our instruction concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Who is Jesus Christ? According to Weirwille he was Jesus the
man...Excuse me!!!!! Chapter and verse...
Using Weirwills reasoning let's take a look at this. He says there are
only 3 verses referring to Jesus as God and many referring to him as
God's son. So by sheer logic the greater cancel the fewer....What about
3 being the number that represents something is established? What about
his teaching that we can't add to the word, take away from the word or
change the word? What about his teaching that when something is
mentioned once or very few times it should make it stand out? What
about God creating man in his own image? We are body, soul and spirit.
What are Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father? What are their
functions?
It is paramount that every individual that was ever indoctrinated into
the Way belief system denounce everything they were taught by this man.
It is loaded with error, contradictions and blasphemy. It is the
teaching of a mad man and a False Profit. Don't hold to it!!!!
If you have not found a true Bible teaching Church, find one. Start
desensitizing yourselves to the loaded language and pre-packaged thought
processes. The Gospel Weirwille taught is a humanistic philosophy. It
is a philosophy that will take many to hell both here and for eternity.
To finish, let me give you a few things to think about. If you were
around long enough, you will recognize these lies. CHAPTER/VERSE
1. If you don't at least tithe, God won't spit in your direction.
2. You do not have to repent of your sins you only confess the
Savior from sin.
3. John's Baptism was with water, the Church is to be baptized into
the Holy Spirit.(where is it written that this excludes water?)
4. Jesus Christ is not God.(Read your Bible without being
selective. Read it all in proper context.)
5. When you die you die...but he also stated that everything goes
back to where it came from. So by sheer logic where does your
spirit go?
There are hundreds of these types of contradictions and wrong teachings.
That's why when you try to explain something to others your brain locks
up (It can't logically make contradictory statements say the same
thing.) You forget, you can't get it all out...Those of us who are out
have all experienced this and sometimes still do. You are NOT ALONE.
But you do need to throw away the junk you learned from them. Keep you
commitment to GOD, turn to a Church that is teaching the Bible. Stop
letting The Way cheat you from finding a Traditional Church whose pastor
is an expository teacher. Listen to tapes and read books by people like
Dr. Tony Evans. He puts Weirwille and The Way into ruins with his
understanding of the scriptures, especially the Holy Spirit field. "YOU
CAN GET OUT!!!!!" You can then help others to get out.
The reason you believe that there is 
is that you still
believe what they taught you. We all are living Epistles of something.
What The Way really taught is revealed in how Way people live. You've
experienced it, the control, the self righteous religious holier than
thou dogma, the mockery of traditional church teaching, mockery of the
name of Jesus and the absolute hatred of those of us who have left.
Weirwille stated his own belief very well once when he said "The love of
God doesn't work. We're going to put some teeth into this ministry".
Well we've all experienced the bite of that serpent. Now, Get out...all
the way out, and then follow God's call to help others.
Please know that "It's the Way or Oblivion" is a lie!!! I was a Twig
Coordinator, and Advance Class Grad. I ran classes and attended
functions until exhaustion was a way of life. Every member of my
immediate family was a part of this. One of my sisters is a Corp Grad.
This organization was the life blood of my family for over 13 years but
we are out. You can be too. If there is anything I can do to help
anyone, please fee free to contact me. Please write to;
Bea Tate
Indiana
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:22:58 -0400
From: Jackson
To: armywife@pa.net
Subject: New 2 U
How 'bout cha, Kelly?
Well, bless mah soul if I didn't find a place where I could keep up on
reading re: The Way Int'l!! With your permission, I'd like 2 give your
net address to several ex-Way followers that have become rather
disenchanted (did I say "enchant"? How rude [& how right!] of me!) due
to their treatment while serving in various positions within The Way
Tree.
FYI: I saw an article done by you about the time of the Branch Davidian
fiasco, and it reported how The Way's #s are increasing. As of 1994 thru
present, I think not; more like, they're leaving literally by the
thousands, because Rev. L. Craig Martindale decided that becoming a
despot and out-and-out tyrannical over his followers was more important
than obeying his call to serve the Bread of Life and serve God's people.
I'm serious: they are leaving b y the thousands, including several key
members of Dr. Wierwille's personal family!
I despise being a rumor-monger, but when a group poses as big an
emotional and mental threat as does The Way, I'll do everything within
reason to thwart any and all attempts by them to spread their poison.
Respectfully,
JACK S. KARNES
jackson58@bigfoot.com
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 14:48:57 -0700
To: armywife@pa.net
Subject: Wierwille's death: Comments
I would like to make a couple of comments and additional contributions
to John Juedes' article on Victor Paul Wierwille's death.
First of all, let me commend you on the excellent job you are doing to
expose the truth about The Way International, V. P. Wierwille, L.C.
Martindale, and the whole orginization. Just about everything I've seen
through your web page I would consider quite accurate, and the
exceptions to this have been have minor.
Second, let me say that I was associated with (not a member of, since
there are no "members") TWI for about 17 years, from 1972 to 1989. I
have held numerous positions with TWI from Twig Coordinator, to WOW
Branch coordinator, to full-time Limb staff, to full-time staff at The
Way International Headquarters. I cut off all ties with The Way in 1989
when I left staff and consequently lost my wife and 98% of my friends.
Maybe some day I'll write more about that, but for now I want to focus
on the article about Wierwille's death.
I want to make two points:
1) Regarding VPW's problem with his eye: The article stated that
Wierwille did not publicly discuss his health problems. For the most
part that is true. However, he did discuss his eye problems at least
with the staff and Way Corps who were at Headquarters while the problems
were occurring. If my memory serves me correctly, this would have been
around 1982-83 when I was serving on staff in New Knoxville during my
"interim" year in the Way Corps. During that time Wierwille would
occasionally talk about the problem during lunchtime and other meetings
when the staff and Way Corps were gathered.
At that time he admitted that he was having problems with his eye, that
it was very painful, and that he had been urged by medical professionals
to have the eye removed. He resisted that advice for some time, then
finally consented and had the eye removed. I remember him wearing an
eye patch for a while until he obtained a prosthetic eye. As far as I
can recall, this information was never made public by publication in The
Way Magazine or an announcement on a Sunday Night Service tape, or by
any other means. I have no idea how many followers of TWI were aware of
what had happened. It is interesting to note that the reason given for
his eye problem was that this was a long-term consequence of of the
lights being too bright during the filming of the Power For Abundant
Living Class in 1967. Wierwille stated that the lights had been set too
bright and that between filming sessions he would place ice cubes on his
eyes because they were so sore and swollen. He claimed that as a result
of these bright lights his eyes had been burned, and hence these
problems nearly twenty years later. In other words, Wierwille had
"sacrificed" himself in order to carry on God's work, even though he had
been warned that the lights were doing damage to his eyes. He may have
made reference to this in "The Way: Living in Love" by Elena Whiteside,
but I don't recall for sure. Nevertheless, this provided a very
convenient and self-serving explanation for his eye problems. The truth
behind his eye problems and the cause of his death is the subject of my
next point.
2) Regarding why Wierwille or anyone else did not tell the truth about
his death: I was on staff at Way Headquarters when Wierwille died, and
I still remember getting the news via a middle-of-the-night phone call.
Neither that night, nor at any time afterward was there any official
mention of the cause of death. I heard years later that he died from
melanoma (skin cancer) but John's article finally put all the pieces
together for me, connecting Wierwille's eye problems with cancer which
eventually metasticicized to his liver. In his article, John stated
that the reason no one talked about the cause of Dr. Wierwille's death
is that he preached "the law of believing," and it would be unimaginable
to think that "the Man of God" was not able to believe for healing for
himself. This is only partly true. The other part of the answer is
that Wierwille taught that cancer is a devil spirit. Cancer, according
to him, is not just caused by a devil spirit, it IS a devil spirit. His
logic went something like this: All life is spirit. Cancer has a life
of its own. Therefore, cancer is a devil spirit, and anyone with cancer
is possessed with a devil spirit. If that teaching was not familiar to
the rank-and-file followers of The Way, it was certainly known to anyone
who had taken the Advanced Class on PFAL. It's not hard to imagine the
problems that would have been created if Wierwille or anyone else had
announced that he had cancer. The idea that "the greatest man of God
since the Apostle Paul" was possessed with a devil spirit would have
been devastating to say the least!
Keep up the great work! Please feel free to use my letter, in whole or
in part, in your work. I just ask that you not use my full name with
the letter.
Sincerely,
Rick
Chicago, IL
