Assembly and Pyramid Schemes

[Terry L Huffman]

Greetings everyone:
In my neck of the woods-Midwest-I noticed at one time many of the leaders, workers, saints had been or were getting into things like Amway, Herbal Life, etc.
I still remember one brother's demonstration of Amway shoe shine spray-in lieu of polishing with wax, for the lazy-and how it ended up cracking my good leather shoes. Anyway, he became a worker later and dropped Amway, but then seemed pretty convinced that financial independence was coming his way thru this schlock.
  Ano couple, worker transplants from a diff. assembly, got set up with Herbal Life. They had the LOSE WEIGHT NOW, ASK ME HOW buttons, a seperate 1- 800 phone line with a cheap little phone for the anticipated high volume business, and probably some product stashed somewhere. Of course the saints wd. get it at cost.
  Yet ano LB/worker couple suddenly had these bottles of this  revolutionary algea-green powder touted as some kind of cure-all that they were going to sell at cost to the saints. Yours truly was gullible enough to purchase 1 bottle that I never finished, by the way, bec. it tasted horrible(worse than brewer's yeast)!
I guess the point I'm trying to make is how gullible we can be at certain times of our lives. I'm almost certain that the folks mentioned above aren't involved in those things any more; but these people were or were shortly to become spiritual leaders. Did they stop their involvement bec. they saw through it, or bec. there is only time to serve 1 pyramid scheme at a time? I think that there are some definite parallels between say Amway, and the Assembly. An appeal is made to a person's need for stability(a fellowship family); someone is there who has all the info you need to succeed(you need them); and in terms of its appeal to the lower nature: greed(power,elitism). There are others. The assembly is /i] a pyramid scheme. It doesn't matter how much one talks up the "plurality of leadership," bec. things do not in real life work that way. George is not and never has been nor ever will be a "brother among brethren." The more we mature both emotionally and spiritually the assembly/George will be seen for what it is-an abusive, destructive system headed up by a religious megalomaniac who "seeks that which is his own."

[trockman]

Terry

The exact opposite extreme was out here on the West Coast, San Luis Obispo to be exact. (Lurker?)

We had a visitor to the Bible study, and he "was in business for himself," which turned out to be Amway.  Anyway, the doorkeepers and leading bro's had a big discussion where we decided to "protect the flock."  We basically ran this guy out of the meeting for fear that someone might sign up for Amway!

I had forgotten about this until I read your post.  Out here, pyramid schemes were considered sin, but in the Midwest, I guess they were OK at one point.  Go figure. I guess this shows the  "autonomy" of the Assemblies.  

Actually, the more I think about it, the more ridiculous I feel, because, "Who's business is it if someone wants to do Amway?"  What the He$% was I thinking!  

Boy am I glad to be out of that place.

Brent

[somebody]

anybody ever heard of Shackley....?

[Terry L Huffman]

Brent's post reminded me of ano dilly. A man, slightly older than the rest of us, seemingly appeared from nowhere and began to attend meetings fairly frequently for a couple of weeks. An LB and I went out for a bite to eat with him after a Study, the LB having decided beforehand that this was the time for Introduction to Commitment 101 to begin for this gentleman. When asked about his regular place of worship he hesitated a bit, then told us he attended the local SDA Church. The LB's eyes got real big and he began the attack. This is the LB that believed that the charismatics were going to persecute the Church in the "end times." Later in the conversation the real reason he attended the meetings came out. He gave a sales pitch to install a fully-stocked Chick tract rack. It was too late. Because of the earlier revelation, the wind was "taken out of his sales." Never saw him again....

[Aslan213]

Hi Everyone,

<<Later in the conversation the real reason he attended the meetings came out...Never saw him again....>>

I've noticed over the years how the assembly tended to get some strange ideas or pursuits from 'visitors'.  Isn't it interesting how the assembly attracts these people?  Sort of like...fly paper.

In the Valley, a brother came out and suggested the idea of a coffee house.  He came out for 3 weeks and never came out again.  For 8 years we had coffee houses once a month.  I think two teenagers were saved.  No one came out to the meetings.  Why did we do it?  I think so the leadership from the valley could boast about the outreach.  It put them higher up on the pyramid, at least in the eyes of GG which is all that matters anyway.  Right?  

Lord Bless,

Eric

[sue xander]

Shakley?  ha ha ha  OR how about the Franklin planner?  Those are assembly phases.......have one or partake using the shakley product....you are "in".  A person in the assembly whom I will not name, had several testimonials ( documents) of how Shalkey was a cult......and all the cult-like tactics they had to soak up all your money!  Believe me, I am an RPh and just because the Shakley products ( vitamins) disolve faster and cost 10 times more does not make them good products!  It just makes them higher costing products that disolve faster.  It so ridiculous.  Plus it helps keep those people in business....from what I ea on those articles , which I no longer have, you are keeping the wrong folks in business!  Plus what does it help that a vitamin disolves faster?  You would want a cardiac med to work faster so you don't have a heart attack!
SO their reasoning for using them covers up the real reason that vitamins are important.  But you don't and should not have to sell the shirt off your back to pay for them!

[Oscar]

I have the list if Brent T. is interested.  I can't say I really want to type it out.
Is there one in particular you are interested in?
Tom Maddux

[Aslan213]

I think Greg is interested in all of them!

[Kay]

Whenever you review ministry notes, you read great verses and applications. Still what the lodge says and what the lodge does and promotes are entirely different from the Scripture. When you've been in the lodge awhile, you just do it the lodge way w/o considering what you're doing.
The relentless pace and activity that's required to be 'accepted in the beloved.' prevents a lot of thought. It's so easy to slip into accepting 'Thus saith George,' or that's 'just how it's done in Fullerton.' Plus when a original thought and question does surface, it's shot down as being critical and from a complaining spirit.
WOW it is good to be free of this bondage.

[Oscar]

Greg,
I looked for them today and I didn't see them.
It is possible I chucked them in the trash when I did a cleanout a few months ago.
Tom

[Brian_Steele]

I taught a ten week cult education class in a Washington church.  We talked in great detail about the dynamics of mind control, thought reform, and manipulation.  At the end of the class  a couple approached me with concerns about an Amway sub-group called World-Wide Dream builders that they had been involved with for years.  They realized that this business organization was exerting unwarranted control over their lives including:

-shunning family members and friends
-unquestioning obedience to their "up line"
-information control
-guilt and shame inducing social pressures

Their lives were fully engrossed in recruiting others and being retained by the group.  Too many red flags were raised by the class they were attending.  They made a courageous decision to leave and were, in turn, shunned by the members still in the group.  

All I can say is "Zoinks".  The Christian overtures in Amway and the World-Wide Dream Builders makes it even more sickening.  I'd place such groups on the low end of the cult spectrum.  Nevertheless, if it walks like and duck and quacks like a duck.....

[Oscar]

Brian,

There have been a few books published about Amway as a cult.   No doubt about its cultic aspects.

Tom Maddux