Tag Archives: thinking for myself

A Dream About a WOFF Member

     Recently, I had a dream about a leader of WOFF. Why even mention it? Though it was “only a dream”, it helped answer some questions for me. So, I will share it. Others may be helped.
    
     The person in the dream was doubting his course. I felt compassion for him and was encouraging him. He was reflective, not telling me how to think or act or “chewing me like a dog on a bone”. He was not rushing back to the church to find his next Jane Whaley assigned task. We rode in his pick-up truck through a corn field. We pulled over and as I was talking,  he just sat looking dejected.  I was letting him know that by my leaving WOFF, I rejected the message and method he had come to cherish.  As mentioned in a previous post; it is possible to reject the methods, the message and not the members of a religious group.
    
      I knew a little of his personal background. He had moved on from the message of his father’s holiness church in which he grew up. Next he attended a Southern Baptist Church. He had moved on from there.  He moved on from being a support minster for another traveling minister. Eventually, he founded his own ministry. Many of the beginning teachings were reflective of the original “Word of Faith” message of Kenneth Hagin.  He attended conferences for that group at the same time as Jane and Sam. Later, he reconnected with Jane and Sam Whaley (mid 1980’s) with their message of deliverance. This man had moved “forward in God” several times that I was aware of. His journey was not unlike many other WOFF members. Many had come to WOFF through spirtual steps on a journey.  Could he be considering he next move? Was there a struggle raging inside of him? Having gone through the struggle that he may be walking through, it only made sense I would be there to encourage him, in the dream. Much of his journey I learned from his preaching. So, in this dream, it seemed he was facing another decision point to stay or “move forward” again in God.
    
     Before my departure from WOFF, the long deliverance sessions of loud prayer were not as frequent as in years past. So, besides the long list of “don’ts”- what is the message of WOFF? In wedding programs, they publish “What We Believe”. In that program they give their beliefs with supporting scripture references. Without pretending to remember them all, I will give a partial list. WOFF believes in Jesus as the Son of God and the Way to Salvation, the Trinity, The Gifts of the Spirit, Laying on of Hands, Raising of Hands, Singing Praises from Scripture, Holy Communion, Intercessory Prayer, Baptism for Believers.. I am not sure if this next one is listed, but it are practiced- Foot-washing. Again, I don’t pretend that this list is complete. But, it gives a general idea where WOFF stands doctrinally.
   
     As with any church that may or may not have similar doctrinal beliefs, the most vital assessment of a group lies in what they practice as a result of their beliefs and interpretation of Scripture. Another church may have similar doctrinal positions, but they could celebrate Christmas and Easter as well as allow their members freedom to make decisions on their own. So, in looking at what sets WOFF apart from other churches, it is obvious there are many more rules (don’ts) with WOFF than other churches with similar doctrines. ( I know, I have been in several before WOFF.) The “Freedom in Christ” mentioned in scriptures for the New Testament believer does not exist at WOFF. In light of this, why defend or continue this set of heavily enforced rules and don’ts? This method of controlling others is doomed for failure. When you cut off by hell-threatening edicts a member’s personal choices and attempt to program their total environment; that attempt stifles a basic human component- the need for Freedom of Choice! We, as humans -ESPECIALLY in this country- are guaranteed choices! Remember? Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness! 

Information Control – Books -part 5 (cont.)

     As we continue on the subject of Information control and books, let me relate my personal experience. Seniors in the church school would dual enroll in certain approved classes through a not so local community college. The one class I had personal knowledge of was an online version of a class on the Holocaust. It was open to adults in the church by the teacher and I wanted to enjoy some time with a high school student taking the class. My knowledge of the subject was very limited.

     The book list was not long. I did read most of the material. One book was a pictorial of the time period. So, per the teacher, my book was “covered with sticky notes” by another concerned teacher close to the situation. So, as an adult my book was censored. Why did I let it happen? “You never want to appear “ungrateful” for someone taking the time to cover an “unclean picture” that “may attack you”… In order to continue with the class, I went along. The goal then was spending time with the student – not proving a point on censorship. The time spent with that student was more important than making waves. The goal was accomplished. I enjoyed the class regardless of the censorship.

     Why bring it up? It proves many points. One was the lengths people inside a mind control group will go to in order to get along and stay, versus being singled out and corrected in front of the group or their family. I wanted to be a part of the class and knew compliance to the censorship was not an option, but a requirement.

      Next, the teacher of the class at the community college holds a leadership position in WOFF. She preaches fairly often from the pulpit, as Jane allows and also serves as one of the administrators of the church sponsored school. She has taken Holocaust projects from her students and displayed them at certain public venues in the area, in years past. Her main class at the community college is the Holocaust class. She should be very familiar with Hitler’s Information control methods used to separate the German people from the outside world. Hitler’s learning position came as a “propaganda officer” in earlier years.

     In April of 2008, during a sermon preached at WOFF; this teacher in the school and community collage chided in a very demeaning manner anyone in the church who wanted to read the newspaper, watch TV or listen to the radio. She mocked this “person” by saying, “I just want to know, I just want to know…” She wagged her head and used a very mocking tone. The irony was so overwhelming! She has studied the effects of Information control during Hitler’s reign of terror. Yet, she gave her personal endorsement from the pulpit of WOFF for censorship, OBVIOUSLY with Jane Whaley’s approval. This person’s message was in total agreement with messages Jane had preached in years past. How could this teacher in the community college setting deny what she had studied in the years past? Does she not even doubt in her own mind the harm of using censorship on a group of people?– Or in her mind, “Do the ends justify the means”? Again, as Hassan writes, “When you control the information that a person is allowed to receive, you limit their capacity for independent thought.” (Releasing the Bonds, copyright 2000, page 42)  Her involvement in WOFF continues to be a subject of amazement.

     What more can be said on this incident? What price do people pay to stay in a group such as WOFF? What is the cost of ignoring the obvious Information control that exists in both FLDS and WOFF ? What advantage does this teacher derrive from ignoring her knowledge of well documented mind control in Hitler’s reign and be a willing accomplice to push the SAME MIND CONTROL on the folks at WOFF?

     “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” – Adolph Hitler

     Please, consume the information on this site responsibly. Be sure to tell every member that you know at WOFF about this blog. It could very well save their life. There are some good readers inside of WOFF. I know for sure.. 🙂

      (Please, take time to read the Terms of Use for this personal blog. As mentioned, the information about WOFF is from my memories and recollections as perfect as that may be or not be. )

Reflections from “CHURCH OF LIES” – Flora Jessop

Flora Jessop had a struggle when she left FLDS, that hopefully no one will have to repeat. She tried many vices and suffered much hurt. After eight years, she came to the realization that it was time to stop running.

A quote from her book.. “After eight brutally hard years in the real world, I’d begun to have a glimmer of hope– maybe I really was worth something. I might be destined to burn for eternity, but I sure as hell was here now.  (new paragraph) I’d never give up what those first years on my own taught me. ..I learned that thinking for myself wasn’t such a bad thing after all.” (page 154)

Yes! There was an idea I could identify with. It was “thinking for myself” that had led to my exit from Word of Faith Fellowship. The two thoughts I had in May of 2008- “The people of the church were more afraid of Jane Whaley than God and that is what made us open to being called a cult”. Next, I had been looking up information on “shepherding movement” on the Internet. Though I had heard some about that movement a few years previous, I did not know the particulars. I began to see that much of what went on in that movement was going on at Word of Faith Fellowship. Intentional or not, it was the same in many regards.

Weeks later in June of 2008;  I shared my thoughts and doings with one of the church leadership. I knew sparks would fly and the consequences may be severe. So, two hours later I got a call from this person saying “I called Jane and told her about our conversation. She says you are out of the church. You need to get your heart right.” So, there I was kicked out. Turned out to be shakey at first. But, that was the common result for “thinking for myself” and not doing as the church preached- “submit your thoughts to God’s authority”.  That was code for only voicing good thoughts about Jane Whaley, her decisions, others in the church. If you had a “stray thought”, you were to come tell someone in leadership so it could be “dealt with”. You were to come “get Truth on the matter”. Critical thinking was not allowed or encouraged. Many times it was insinuated and in some cases voiced- “your own thoughts will take you to hell.. Don’t you know that the natural mind is an enmity against God!” That of course was meant to put fear in everyone for not having their thoughts “checked out”.

Flora Jessop shares in her book the struggles of other children coming out of FLDS and learning to think for themselves. She recounts the struggles of one girl just to decide how to pick up her clothes off the floor in her room. These girls had been told EVERYTHING to do and HOW to do it for years. Simple decisioning was a major struggle. (pages 181 and 213) This is the result of being under mind control and not having any confidence in your decisions without Church leader control.

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