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"A Search for "The Truth"
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The Workers' Words Exposed by Lloyd Fortt.
Check out this link: "Language of "The Truth" - Workers and Friends"
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Gamble
In many, but not all, areas (which leads to even more confusion), gambling is viewed as a sin that will rob one of his or her salvation - that is, unless the gambler repents and becomes a member of "The Truth." If the gambler is already a member of "The Truth," and is caught, he or she will be shunned out of the church to face either reformation and re-entry, or a lost eternity.
Games
There are a few games that are generally acceptable, among which are Monopoly, and that one in which you try to twist your body all out of joint by placing feet, hands, head, etc. on several different points of the floor, walls and ceiling at one time. They also may enjoy the "weirdness" of obtaining answers, through whomever, using the Ouija "game" board. Card games are acceptable, even very enjoyable, as long (in many areas) as the cards do not have hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds printed on them - they can even have the characters of the tarot deck on them, no sweat! The adults can play some games as well - like "quick-wit" at the door, when the local J.W. calls (comparing stories of how to get rid of Jehovah's Witnesses). This is a particularly productive game because it can supply some new and effective ideas of how to "share" your faith, and save souls from hell. Then there is the game of "materialism" where a poor "Friend" is slighted for his lack of a new car, or maybe he makes his living as a janitor. Then there are the mind games that are played at "Gospel Meetings" where "poor" workers seek to recruit homeowners who will restore to them tenfold everything which they forsook to go out preaching, and money to boot!
(One needn't really give up everything, just hide it in the homes of relatives and "Elders," so that it looks like it has been given up.)
"I don’t like to see trends of some things amongst God's people; such as make up, jewelry and games. We don't want to see law have to be used. We need clean homes, not videos. You folks will have to decide whether we have to use the rod."
Head Worker, B.C., Glen Valley Convention, August 4, 1988.
Genealogies
"Also we are sometimes asked about the period between the first and second coming of Christ but especially the period of time between the first century and the twentieth century. We have no written records on earth of God's work in the world during this period. God's records are written in heaven. Malachi 3.16. Luke 10:20. Revelation 20:12. Any who would suggest a written genealogy record is necessary between the first and twentieth century would fall into the category of 1 Timothy 1:3,4. 'As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do'" senior Worker, Burlington, Washington, January 1, 1984. Transcript of sermon.
"Peter and John, when they were telling the gospel story, they were living the gospel first of all. They were men who, like Jesus, had given up everything that they had; given it to the poor, and had gone out as homeless, stranger preachers for the gospels sake. And I just love to think of this - these basic truths that are so vital in our salvation, and have stayed the same from the beginning of time. There's no other way, there's no other way. " Senior Worker, Glen Valley Convention, August 12, 1990. See Chapter Ten for complete text.
According to the workers, one should avoid getting involved in "endless genealogies." One therefore should curb his or her curiosity as to the absence of any "workers" predating the final years of the nineteenth century A.D. However, it is acceptable to reassure one's self with rationalizations and speculations on such supposed "workers" they re-invent for antiquity, such as Moses, the Patriarchs, etc. All this is a ruse to attempt to cover up the fact that the Two-by-Two cult was founded in 1897 by William Irvine, while continuing to maintain the fiction of ancient roots. In the quotes above, we see this effected by very deceptive use of scripture that is segmented and torn from its context in the first quote, and the employment of empty, unfounded speculation in the second.
Gentiles
All peoples outside of the Two-by-Two church, including the Jews. The Two-by-Two's think of themselves as "Spiritual Israel."
Gift
The normal human concept of something given "freely," for which, paradoxically, something is expected in return. As far as the "gospel" is concerned, Two-by-Twos teach that God gave Jesus to mankind so that men would then give back their best to God.
God
The Father, the Creator of all things, and Jesus' father. The one and only true God is not seen as a person, for the Two-by-Two, God is spirit only. (See, "Person.") I have used the small case "f' intentionally, to show the relationship between Jesus and God the Father as viewed by the workers.
Go Forth
This term refers to the act of a person who gives up every material possession and goes out preaching in the Two-by-Two church. Note the overtones, but not quoted scripture. This is common in the speech of most Two-by-Twos. The idea presented in the following quote is: that since many young people had gone out preaching as workers from Alaska, everything was good theologically within that church, and that human error and sin should therefore be ignored.
"Under Bob and Truitt the work has prospered in Alaska these last years as evidenced by the many young workers which have gone forth from Alaska, as evidenced by the peace and harmony in this whole State." Harry J. Porter, letter addressed to the Head workers in the Western U.S.A., dated October 20, 1989. This letter was written during a time when one of the men referred to was being charged with preaching aberrant doctrine, and the other was accused by sister workers of sexual misconduct.
Gomorrah
An ancient city which was destroyed by God along with Sodom, because of their sin. The actual type of sin practiced within these cities was never mentioned by the workers in all my recollection. Homosexuality is rarely, if ever, discussed publicly by the workers. Nor is sin of a sexual nature addressed publicly, save the sin of adultery - and that, when mentioned, normally referring to so-called "spiritual adultery."
Good Works
"Most good works are dead works because they are not rooted in faith of God. They expect something in return. " Notes dated July 12, 1966.
Charity, such as financial aid, care for the sick, etc. (especially towards non-Two-by-Twos) is discouraged and denounced as "dead works" because all philanthropic activities are judged as done out of self interest rather than love. I.e., that one is apt to sin, despite an appearance of humility, by taking pride in these charitable works.
This is indeed human nature, but one who is a Christian is ruled by the Holy Spirit, so that pride in good works would be acknowledged as sin and quite forgivable. The idea that one should avoid good works in order to avoid appearing proud in them is ridiculous in the extreme. Not only is it ridiculous, but it robs the person of a very valuable measuring stick for knowing the invisible Holy Spirit in ones life. If faith without works is dead faith, what could be said of purposely avoiding works? To do so even robs one of life's greater joy; that of common Christian love towards all people; the evidence that Christ put forward as the measure by which we can know that we are His disciples (John 13:35). Besides this, Matthew 5:16 says; "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. "
So, the workers' idea of avoiding "good works" contradicts even Scripture, not to mention human logic.
Gospel
"Our gospel is a way of life. " Senior worker, Special Meeting, Los Angeles, California, March 10, 1985.
"Peter and John, when they were telling the gospel story, they were living the gospel first of all. They were men who like Jesus, had given up everything that they had; given it to the poor, and had gone out as homeless stranger preachers for the gospels sake . And I just love to think of this - these basic truths that are so vital in our salvation, and have stayed the same from the beginning of time. There's no other way, there's no other way.
In the end people had seen that they had been with Jesus. And they were ministers of the gospel, just like Jesus." Senior Worker, Glen Valley Convention, 1990. See Chapter Ten for full text.
The workers' "gospel" is anything that the workers teach.
Quite literally, what they teach as the "gospel" consists of: the style of their ministry, and meetings in the home.
Preachers must be unmarried, possessionless individuals as they suppose was the case with those that Jesus sent out to Israel - indeed, like Jesus Himself. (Peter was the only Apostle who had a mother-in-law but never married. Nobody seems to notice this discrepancy. And Philip gave birth to daughters - without having had a wife - who must have lived on the street by the way, since no Apostle had a home). The "gospel" preached by the Two-by-Twos is this: "the true preacher must sell all that he has and go out preaching the "gospel," which is, that the true preacher must sell all that he has and go out preaching the g.... " ad nauseum. On the basis of their own "gospel" they preach that the Apostles were "living the gospel first of all." The Apostles are deemed to be their pattern. Just as the workers try to copy Jesus in a spiritualized / literal / figurative way (if you can understand what this means), so do they also say they copy the Apostles. The workers cannot seem to see past a physical pattern. So in ignorance of even history, they copy a lifestyle they suppose the Apostles to have lived, calling this "the gospel," and do not teach the same Gospel message as was taught by the Apostles. Many workers have rightly defined the gospel as the "good news." One can rejoice because of good news, but how does one "live" good news?
"Euangelion: Originally denoted a reward for good tidings; later, the idea of reward dropped, and the word stood for the good news itself. The Eng. word gospel, i.e. good message, is the equivalent of euangelion (Eng., evangel). In the N.T. it denotes the good tidings of the Kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith, on the basis of His expiatory death, His burial, resurrection, and ascension, eg., Acts 15:7; 20:24; 1 Peter 4:17. Apart from those references and those in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and Revelations 14:6, the noun is confined to Paul's Epistles. The Apostle uses it of two associated yet distinct things, (a) of the basic facts of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, eg., 1 Corinthians 15:1- 3; (b) of the interpretation of these facts, eg., Romans 2:16; Galatians 1:7,11; 2:2; in (a) the Gospel is viewed historically, in (b) doctrinally, with reference to the interpretation of the facts, as is sometimes indicated by the context." - Vine's Expository Dictionary.
Grace
"It says of the grace of Christ; Of all His fullness have we received, and grace for grace. Everything that God has placed at the disposal of His Son Jesus, He has placed at the disposal of you and me; and through that medium we are able to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. When we talk to the world [especially Christians] about following Jesus, and God's plan for us to do so, they say it is impossible; He was the Son of God. And we are just creatures of the dust. Well, we might be a creature of the dust to start with, but you put your trust in the Lord, you rejoice in the Lord, you commit your way to the Lord, and God will place at your disposal everything He placed at the disposal of His Son Jesus Christ. We are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and have close fellowship with Him as we walk along the way " Senior Worker. Santee California, notes.
"God has made provision, that in our own generation, by abiding in Him, we can receive divine life. Morning by morning I can take my life and place it in the midst of the heart of God to draw from the wells of salvation, to receive of His divine spirit, to receive the quickening of divine life, that power that raised Jesus from the dead. We can receive grace that will help us walk in His way, and have a wisdom that is divine. It means nothing less than complete renunciation of all that we are." Senior Worker, Salmon Arm, British Columbia. 1963.
"Grace" is used to describe the thanksgiving prayer prior to a meal. At conventions, the "Grace" before a meal is sometimes sung by all seated for the meal; at other times it is the typical thanksgiving prayer of the Two-by-Twos. (See "Prayer.")
Grace is a substance, or non-substance, which I did not understand, but asked for often in prayer - along with strength to keep faithful (a common petition in public and private prayers of Two-by-Twos). Any clearer understanding of what grace is would have fallen into the category of movement or manners, such as in "a graceful curtsy," which did not make much sense when related to my prayer. The most accepted opinion is that God's grace is a type of power that is given in proportion to the individual's willingness to deny himself. Grace is defined as almost anything that a Two-by-Two can grab out of the air in order to appear to know its meaning. In fact, other than the workers' infrequent allusion to "power," the word "grace" goes undefined, carrying little or no meaning beyond making a phrase sound scriptural. The prayer for "grace and strength" is therefore nothing more than an empty, but scriptural sounding cliche - a time filler that pleases workers.
At the gate of the Glen Valley convention in August of 1989, while I was trying to bring Scriptures to the attention of some of the Two-by-Twos, I asked one man (who had just told me that he was a member for twelve years) for his definition of what grace is. He played for time by asking me for mine, and then told me that I was incorrect. When I pressed him for his definition, he snapped back, "Grace is God's understanding!" Not to give up, I asked him if it is God's understanding of His creatures, or His understanding of Himself. Both are ridiculous; God surely understands that which He created, and if He does not understand Himself, we are in serious trouble indeed; so what sense is there to pray for "grace" if this is merely "God's understanding?" The man got a little angry and sped off up the farm driveway, without answering my question.
According to Ephesians 2:8:9, we are saved by God's grace through faith, so that there can hardly be anything more pitiful than a soul which does not know what God's grace is, will not listen to others explanations, and still wrestles with trying to understand.
"Charis: has various uses, (a) objective, that which bestows, or occasions pleasure. delight, or causes favorable regard; it is applied, eg., to beauty, or gracefulness of person, Luke 2:40; Acts, 2 Corinthians 8:6, or speech, Luke 4:22. (b) subjective, (1) on the part of the bestower, the friendly disposition from which the kindly act proceeds, graciousness, loving kindness, goodwill generally, eg., Acts 7:10; especially with reference to the divine favor or grace. eg.,
Acts 14:26, in this respect there is stress on its freeness and universality, its spontaneous character. as in the case of God's redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient; thus it is set in contrast with debt,
Romans 4:4,16, ..." - Vine's Expository Dictionary.
Genesis 33:10 "And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. "
Romans 4:4 "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. "
It is not possible to substitute the words "power" or "understanding" into the above verses, and come up with any sensible reading. However, substituting the word "favor" in place of "grace" makes blessed sense in both verses. (See Appendix B for more on "Grace.")
Guile
An evil disposition. Here one can easily see the importance of having a correct meaning for the words one uses. If "guile" meant an evil disposition, then Christ contradicted Scripture when He said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" (John 1:47). Yet, the Bible says, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. " (Genesis 6:5, among several passages which make the same point). So that the Two-by-Two definition of "guile" has Jesus saying that the Israelite man was without evil, while God had said that all men are full of evil thoughts.
"Dolos: a bait, snare, deceit, is rendered "guile" in John 1:47, negatively of Nathanael; Acts 13:10, R.V.. A.V., "subtlety" (of Bar-Jesus); 2 Corinthians 12:16, in a charge made against Paul by his detractors, of catching the Corinthian converts by guile (the Apostle is apparently quoting the language of his critics); I Thessalonians 2:3, negatively, of the teaching of the Apostle and his fellow-missionaries; I Peter 2:1 of that from which Christians are to be free; 2:22, of the guileless speech of Christ (cp. Guileless. No. 2), 3:10, Of the necessity that the speech of Christians should be guileless. See also Matthew 26:4; Mark 7:22; 14:1. See Craft, Deceit, Subtlety.
"Note: In Revelations 14:5, some mss. have dolos; the most authentic have pseudos, a 'lie"'
_ Vine's Expository Dictionary.
Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.- who can know it? "
Guilt
A tool that, when it rears its head, God uses to humble people. When you feel that you have done something wrong, and feel guilty for it, that is God forcing you to humility, and therefore, guilt is good. By "something wrong," the Two-by-Two is not indicating something that God has said is wrong, but rather something that the workers say is wrong, such as having a television in the home, or a lady having shoulder-length hair, or perhaps the brooch she wears is too "worldly," etc., etc., etc. "Guilt" and "shame" are seen as synonymous.
