Part One - - Posted on the Two-by-Two List on May 3rd, 2001 by Tom Schroeder.
Hello again,
I am going to write up something about Abraham Lincoln today, and I may not get to that until I get into Part Two of this post.
Sometime ago, a member of the workers 2x2 cult system, asked me for what reason or why I am writing on this list. I told them that I am not doing this for fun, or for entertainment, or just writing fiction, no, not at all. I am doing this because I feel compelled to write some true stories about how the history and the lies of the workers cult system that I was held captive in, controlled my mind for years and affected my life, as well as, that of my wife and our three children.
I have noticed that there are over 200 people that are signed onto this list. It can be very possible that what I am writing here today, will be read by someone, or printed out and sent to someone to read that may be getting ready to profess, or someone just getting ready to become a preacher to go out and preach in the worker's cult system, and it may be beneficial for them to learn something about the cult system that they did not yet know.
Medical doctors have a lot of power and control over people and their minds pertaining to life or death matters, and they let you know that in your best interest to get or remain well, that you need to follow their advice and instructions, and if you don't, then the end result for you could be death and the grave. When you look at the certificates or diplomas on the walls in their office, and see that they have had a number of years of medical schooling, then, most people will have confidence and trust in their advice.
Now, the workers of the cult system also have a lot of power and control over people and their minds, pertaining to heaven and hell, which is WAY beyond death and the grave, and FAR more important than the medical doctors responsibility.
The young worker just starting out to preach,.......well, what is their education and credentials that qualifies them to preach to outsiders or insiders of the cult system concerning eternal life and how to get saved and explain the Bible and what the gospel REALLY means......well, just think about that.
As many young people giving their testimony in Sunday morning meetings speaking mostly “like the rest of us” about all their faults and failures and coming so far short of what they should have been, and want to be better in the coming week.
Then, they suddenly become a preacher or a cult worker, and they find themselves standing in the front of a room, preaching, and if no “outsiders” come, they preach to a room full of truthers or insiders. They might even try to explain the Bible as best as they can and perhaps, tell them how to keep from having all those faults and failures and shortcomings every week. Also, everyone must obey all the rules and regulations and don't forget all the works that you must do if you want any hope of eternal life or you will go to the place where God has forgotten to be gracious.
Oh yes, I have heard that preached many times back in the '40's and '50's and had workers tell me that what they preach, God gave them all they need to say. Now, that is heavy!
So, what else do the workers tell us to do?
Well, they told me to take the radio out of my first car I bought, and I took it out.
They told me not to wear tan shoes, as they look like what the worldly people wear and so I bought black ones like they wore.
They told me to wear a necktie in meeting and it must look plain like the ones they wore.
My wife was going to put on a graduation party at our house and the workers somehow heard about it. They quickly came over and told her that they were against graduation parties and then, they asked her if she had already bought all of the food and drink. THEN, they told her that IF she didn't invite more than 15 people to the party, they would let her go ahead and have it.
Oh yes, they rang the door bell and my wife opened the door and they told her this at the door and turned around and left.
- Now, let me ask you, is this some of the gospel message?
- Is this the good news......is this salvation......did this come from God or from the 2x2 cult gods?
My wife told them good-bye and went back to the bedroom and fell on the bed and wept. Yea, she had the party, but the joy was gone. After this, you get to go give your testimony in Sunday morning meeting and say that you have come so far short and hope to do better in the coming week.
Do you ever hear testimonies like this in meeting on Sunday morning?
Can you say how sweet the truth is, and so much joy?
Yes, Barbara Hillagoss, “a worker,” spoke in a special meeting and said, “When you see us coming to your door, you gladly open it and you invite us in, and we bring you so much joy, and you give us something to drink and you give us food to eat, and you give us a bed to sleep in, and you give us a car to use, and you,..........and..............and.” I thought she would say money next, but she caught herself and quit.
Oh yes, when my daughter, Marilyn, was about 16, she and another girl made plans to go and help at convention preps for a week. The head worker said she could not go because she wore her dresses two inches above her knees. So, she found some dresses two inches below her knees and it must have passed the cult systems rules and regulations, as then, he let her go.
One summer, there was going to be a baptism and Alan Anderson, “a worker,” came over to our house to ask David and Karen, ages 15 and 17, if they wanted to be baptized. They told him yes, and then he told them, “After you are baptized, you cannot go on anymore long ski trips, do you understand this?”
What was it we use to sing,..........”Oh, how sweet the glorious message.”
Oh yes, how often in meeting, did we hear people praying for those that are going through hard and trying times...........well, where were they when we needed them.
Well, maybe I should tell you one more worker problem we had at our house. Marilyn and Karen always wore their beautiful blond hair down, and that must have bothered the workers. So, one Sunday, Paul Lyons came to our meeting..........yes, in our home..............and when it came time for Paul to speak, he told me what chapter and verse to read for him. I turned to the place and when I saw what it was, I hesitated, and again, he told me to read those verses out loud for him and while all eyes in the room stared at me, I said to myself, “suffer it to be so now,” and I read them. Now, he said, that is exactly what I'm going to preach about today and on and on he went with a big ado about women's hair.
Now, I m sure some people went home form that meeting and said, “My, we sure had a sweet meeting today.......why even the elder had the privilege to assist the worker in the meeting.
Little did they know how much my wife wept over that incident.
Oh yes,...........we pray for those who are going through hard and trying times and often we did hear from the workers that this is God's Only True Way and there are no people on the earth like God's people..........we were His elect,.......... this was the truth,.........this was salvation.
Part Two - - Posted on the Two-by-Two List on May 3rd, 2001 by Tom Schroeder.
Now, in our country, we all know that Abraham Lincoln was our 16th president during 1861 to 1865 and that people call him HONEST ABE. He had been a lawyer in his younger days and did a lot of traveling with his horse and buggy.
So, about 30 years ago, I was visiting William Lewis, our head worker of Illinois. I was telling William that there has been more written about Mr. Lincoln than any other man in our country and William said to me that he knew a lot about Mr. Lincoln, too. Then he said, “Don't be surprised if you see Abraham Lincoln in Heaven someday and that was the end of our conversation about HONEST ABE.
Now, there were no workers of the cult system here in America until 1903, so from the time of the Mayflower that landed on the shores of America in 1620, it would be 283 years before any workers ever came over here.
Where were they hiding all those years?
Well, come to find out, there were no workers anywhere in all the world during those years. So, one day, around 1897, William Irvine decided to quit working in the coal mine in Scotland and decided to become a preacher..........so he decided.........or made his choice......or professed through a worldly preacher and preached for the Faith Mission for a short time. THEN, he “decided” again, through himself, to start his own religion and he called it, “the truth” and hundreds and thousands of people became captive to his cult system, including you and me.
So, HONEST ABE never met anyone from the cult system but he sure knew what HONESTY was. Now, when I think about all the abuse over the years from the workers, I feel what hurts the most, is the workers being dishonest and lying to us about the cult system they call “the truth.”
In 1985, I asked Lloyd Brotherton, “a worker,” if he knew the history of our religion and when did it start. He told me, “We have no founder and what we believe in goes back to Jesus days.” “Trust me,” he said, and I tried to. Then several years later, Frank Porter was preaching at special meeting, and he said that some people are saying that some man started our religion.........well, if some man would have started our religion, it would have fallen apart a long time ago........get that into your head.
Yes, the workers can look you right in the eye and deny!
William Peterson told me a story about Charlie Mitchell. You see, Charlie would rent a town hall and then, he would preach against all the worldly clergy and he used to preach that when a man would be pulling on the devil's tail, that would make the church bell ring, so people would know it was time to come to church.
Well, Charlie was ordered out of the community.
Some years later, some workers went to the civic center in that same community and asked if they could rent the town hall to hold gospel meetings. The man at the desk asked them if they knew Charlie Mitchell, and they answered, “We know a Charlie Mitchell,.........whether it's the same one or not, we don't know.”
Well, the man at the desk told them to get out of town and don't come back. Well, William Peterson told me that if it had been him, he would have denied knowing Charlie Mitchell so they could not stop him from having gospel meeting there.
Now, I wonder if denying and lying have just about the same meaning?
This brings to mind right now, about all the conventions I've been at..........as 15 minutes before meeting time, someone pulls on the devils tail and the bell rings, and people standing around on the holy grounds visiting, say to one another, “The bell rang, it's time to go into the machine shed.”
One day, HONEST ABE, was going down the country road with his horse and buggy and came by a large farm and he saw a lot of people standing around a machine shed. Well, he stopped and tied up his horse, and into the machine shed he went,.............and he saw something he had never seen before. On the platform, he saw a man that was calling out numbers..........yes, he was selling human beings on that platform in the machine shed. SLAVERY........yes, people keeping other people in captivity and the captive was longing to be set free from under the yoke of bondage because all they had in life was “WORKS” from morning until the setting of the sun. Now, Mr. Lincoln watched this for a little while, and then walked to the corner of the machine shed as he felt nauseous and a young man walked up to him to ask if he felt okay. Yes, Mr. Lincoln said that he was trying to get over the shock of what he had just witnessed. He told the young man that if he ever got the chance to kick this system, he would kick it hard.
Now, to me, this has a certain amount of similarity to the workers cult system, as we became a slave to the worker's bidding and we became brain-washed to their command and were led captive to a life of WORKS as there was no other way. I think the worker's cult system is getting kicked, and I wonder what it will take to make the workers come clean and become HONEST and be ready to answer any questions that the members in their system need answers for.
Last fall, I was telling my nephew that I had visited Washington, D.C. and many of the historical monuments. He told me that he and his family had also been there recently and they had gone to see the home of George Washington at Mount Vernon. He said that of all the sites they had visited, that one was the highlight of their trip and as they went into the large shed where the slaves slept, it was all set up just like it had been in that day of history and it made them feel so good to see something that reminded them of what the dorms look like on the convention farms.
Now, I say we must have been so blind for years, going to convention, slaves by day in the machine shed and slaves by night in the sleeping quarters, and the workers checking the grounds and parking lots at 10 o'clock at night.........making sure that all the captives had safely gone to bed.
All for now,
Tom
