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Jim Martin was kind enough to forward your letter to me. I pray with all
my heart that you will consider what I am about to write to you, and ask God
to show you the truth. First let me say to you that the Jim Martin's of the
world do what they do because the Word of God commands us to do so.
2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking
in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
Our God and our Father commands that we walk in truth. If there are lies
about the gospel, then we SERVE God by exposing these lies as He calls us. We
MUST tell the truth about the gospel of Jesus Christ! I was a member of The
Way for six years, Jeff. If you would go back to Jim's web site, you can read
a portion of the book I wrote about my experience on his web site. It should
be posted as of this writing. If not, it will be soon. Please read it, Jeff.
But I wish to discuss with you some others things not included in that experiences
Jim will be posting for me. You said that Jim lied about "so many things"
on his web site, and that the people who wrote of these things also lied. While
I can not personally verify every single thing Jim posted at his web site, I
can say from my experience that I have been able to personally experience much
of what is posted there, and know what is there is the truth. I want to show
you how Wierwille is a liar, and this you can verify easily for yourse lf, you
don't have to just take my word for the following things I'm about to tell you.
Despite the fact that The Way does not call Wierwille a "prophet,"
by all definitions, he is one. And if he is a liar, than the things he taught
are false, and not of God. If the things he taught are not of God, then they
are of Satan. The Bible clearly tells us:
Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of
dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, Deu 13:2 And the sign or the
wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after
other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Deu 13:3 Thou
shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams:
for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your
God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my
name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the
name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. Deu 18:21 And if thou say
in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
Deu 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not
spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be
afraid of him.
Jer 28:9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the
prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD
hath truly sent him.
Clearly, Wierwille spoke with authority from God, or so he claimed. But is
this true? If Wierwille would lie about the very manner in which The Way was
founded, what else did he lie about? I have a book called "The Teacher
-- Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille." If you've been affiliated with The Way for
over 25 years, then you probably own this book. If not, then I'm certain you've
heard the following story. It appears on page 5 of the above mentioned book.
"The early phases of his search brought him to a missionary by the name
of Rosalind Rinker, a strong, vivacious woman who jarred his thinking when she
challenged him to lay aside all other reading material and study the Bible as
the Word of God -- a truth Dr. Wierwille had lost during his theological studies.
Though he took her advice and started intensely studying God's Word in the late
summer of 1942, Dr. Wierwille did not find his answers, even after a month of
serious Bible study. At this point...Wierwille sat in his office in Payne, O
hio, and prayed to God. He said he was going to quit the ministry unless God
would give him answers that he would never have to back down on. That is when
God spoke out loud to Dr. Wierwille and promised him:
'I will teach you the Word as it has not been known since the
first century, if you will teach it to others.'
The next day in his office, because he could hardly believe that God had
talked to him, Dr. Wierwille closed his eyes and prayed again. He asked God
to show him if He had really spoken to him; he asked God to make it snow. Then
he opened his eyes. Where he had seen a crystal blue, autumn sky, Dr. Wierwille
now saw a sky so thick with snow that the gas pumps only seventy-five feet from
his office window were not visible. He was thrilled. Though he did not fully
understand this phenomenon, Dr. Wierwille knew that God had spoken to him. He
knew that God would teach him His Word as it had not been known since the first
century as long as he would teach it to others. This incident set in motion
the events that led to Dr. Wierwille's founding of The Way...."
If this were "late summer of 1942" as this book claims, and after
a month of serious Bible study this sudden snow storm happened, we are looking
at September 1942 following the time scale in the book. To further verify this
time-line, in a following paragraph on that same page it says: "Approximately
one month after God audibly spoke to him, Dr. Wierwille began a weekly radio
broadcast on October 3, 1942." So it looks very likely that this snow storm
occurred in September. Well, I made a phone call to the Paulding County Library
which is the county that Payne is in. I stayed on the long distance call quite
awhile with the librarian, because she searched the microfiche files for any
news whatsoever about any snowstorm happening in September. Such a freak storm
would have had to been reported in the local papers. The fact is, this "miracle"
never occurred. Dr. Wierwille lied. And so did many who continued to tell of
this so-called "sign" and then who finally published this total fabrica
tion. Many blindly believed the story (as I certainly did). I perpetrated the
lie because I believed everything Dr. Wierwille said was from God, no less something
as significant as the founding of the only organization with "true"
believers in it. Dr. Wierwille also lied, or in the very least, taught a very
wrong teaching about many things. But I will tell you of two more that I personally
discovered quite by accident, myself. The following is an excerpt from my book.
Please read it carefully. The events as described are absolutely true.
It was during this time that I had been listening to a local
radio station in L.A.. Sunday nights I faithfully tuned to 'Religion On
The Line' with Dennis Prager. I had always been a letter writer and had
already gotten a handful of my opinionated letters published in the letters
section of the local paper. I decided to write to Dennis Prager one night
after calling into the Sunday program. I was trying to convince the panel
of guests he had in the studio that Jesus Christ was not God. The group
of various clergy from churches in the area completely dismissed my suggestion,
claiming I was therefore, not a Christian. The only caller to back me up
concerning the truth as I knew it at the time, was from someone who described
themselves as a Mormon. Realizing my beliefs coincided with a Mormon s disturbed
me. This was a group considered a cult by most main stream Christian organizations,
including The Way (interestingly enough), but I brushed it off at the time.
Instead, I set about t o write a six page letter to Dennis Prager detailing
why Jesus Christ could not be God. My letters started in April 1986.
In one of my first written contacts with Mr. Prager, I quoted from numerous
books, especially the book by Wierwille, Jesus Christ Is Not God. In my
closing, I even went so far as to say that my husband was a member of The
Way. I am very humiliated to admit that I lied. My self esteem was always
at a low, and using Mark's credentials as a graduate of USMA at West Point
was a method, or so I believed, of lending credibility to my letter. I was
merely a housewife, and felt I needed verification by my husband in order
to be taken seriously. I touched upon many points in my letter, however
one point that obviously caught the eye of Mr. Prager was a section concerning
what Jesus said on the cross. An excerpt from my letter is as followed,
lifted almost entirely form Power For Abundant Living, pg. 154: Let me explain
some inaccuracies I noted during your recent radio broadcast. It is important
to correctly divide the Word of God, the Bible. Your guests quoted from
Matthew 27:46, or Mark 15:3 4 when Christ said on the cross: "Eli Eli.
lama sabach thani? that is to say My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" King James version. The translation in the King James version
and obviously other Bibles has been from the Greek. However this is an erroneous
translation. Christ spoke in Aramaic or more accurately Syro-Chaldee. When
the words are translated form Christ's language it is: "Eli - God -
but there is no Aramaic word like the word lama. There is a word Lmna. Lmna
is always a cry of victory, a declaration of "for this purpose"
or "for this reason." The root of Sabachthani is Shbk. Shbk means
"to reserve," or "to leave, to spare or to keep." So
the actual translation is "My God, My God, for this purpose was I reserved,
for this purpose was I spared." If we go by the Greek translation,
then Christ believed God would forsake him. This contrasts with God's Word.
Mr. Prager wrote to me in a letter dated 4-21-86:
I'm afraid King James is right. I know Hebrew/Aramaic and Lama means
"Why." So I suspect Jesus, as a man, was asking God some question.
(See Psalms 22:1).
I was totally stunned when I read his letter. I was also doubtful that
this radio personality could be right and the "Dr." mistaken.
As quoted directly from the PFAL book:
The word eli means "my God," but there is not an Aramaic word
like the word lama.
Also, this exact teaching was taught in all of the PFAL classes. If it
was an error, why was it still being taught? Not being comfortable at the
time with calling Dan Moran, I called The Way International headquarters
in New Knoxville, Ohio. I was eventually patched through to Bruce Mahone
in the research department. I had had other encounters with Bruce when I
sought material about The Way's stand on abortion (pro) and capital punishment
(pro). His tone changed from its usual friendliness when I told him of my
recent discovery, and asked if it was true. He confirmed my greatest fears,
and after a brief conversation, suggested I take this up with my local leadership.
Oh sure. As if the great Reverend Moran would just be a tremendous wealth
of information concerning this topic! I called Bill and Darlene, and Jim
and Diane. They all expressed surprise, but they too were reluctant to believe
that Dr. was capable of making such a grave blunder. I quickly sat down
and wrote Natalie a l etter dated April 27th. In it I explained everything
that happened. It was clear that this was not welcomed news. My mother,
who called frequently, called soon after Natalie had received the letter.
Apparently Natalie was furious and embarrassed that her prodigy had stirred
this whole thing up. My Mom told me that I should stop contacting Natalie
completely. She tried to soften the blow by telling me how busy Natalie
was with her local Twig etc., called at that time The Way of New York, and
that my constant need for advice was a burden on Natalie. Of all the things
that had happened to me concerning The Way to date, this was by far the
most devastating. I was crushed. Not only was I unable to fit into the chosen
family of God, but now a lifelong friend of the family was rejecting me!
I asked Mom if Natalie had told her to say this, and she said yes, but in
not exactly the same words. I was completely heart broken. Soon I received
a letter from Vince Finnegan (head of the NY ministry . Natalie had apparently
passed on my letter), on Way stationery addressing my concerns. He admonished
me for causing dissension and division, although he did not deny that error.
He told me to be like-minded and to put my focus on these matters instead
of the negative. Once more, a finger-wagging correction. I didn't speak
of this again until years later, when I came to the realization that being
like-minded with Way believers meant believing doctrine contrary to God's
written Word.
The last thing I wish to share with you, and I know this will be the toughest
thing for you to swallow, and the only one of the three examples I can't "prove"
to you. However, it too is the truth. If something as fundamental as the founding
of The Way was fabricated, and if something as simple yet significant as this
PFAL teaching was wrong, what else did he teach that wasn't true? Believe me,
there are numerous other errors in Wierwielle's doctrine. And yes, it IS doctrine,
because as I painfully discovered, Wierwille taught doctrine, not the truth
of God's Word. One of his biggest errors and one that could possibly mean the
difference between salvation or not is that Jesus Christ IS most definitely
GOD. Let me make clear to you that while I was in The Way, I practically memorized
page for page "Jesus Christ is Not God." I felt surer of that teaching
than I had about anything else in my life. Being brought up Catholic, I always
had trouble with the Trinity. I felt it to be utterly co nfusing, and then along
came Wierwille to verify what I suspected all along. Following is one last excerpt
from my book I would like to share with you. I'm so sorry this is such a long
message, but please, please just read what I've written to you. I pray the seeds
of truth can be planted, and you will see The Way International for what it
is, Satan's lie.
So after Daphanie gave me some suggestions (my phone bill becoming
quite huge in those days due to the numerous calls to my bud), I went out
and started my collection of selections by Michael English, Stephen Curtis
Chapman, Janet Paschall, Amy Grant, Sandi Patti and many other contemporary
artists who were singing about God and His effects. At that time in particular,
Michael English spoke to my heart and ministered to me in a BIG way. It
was such an unparalleled joy to once again listen to music and know these
lyrics didn't lead to thoughts of sin. This was so uplifting! God used the
incredible, powerful voice of Michael English, in particular, to reach into
my heart, clear to my soul to begin the road back as the prodigal son. The
sound of his voice, the words he chose in the songs he sang pierced the
darkness that once surrounded my heart. I couldn't listen to a song of his,
even after the tenth time, without weeping, or the very least, getting goose
bumps. By this steady musi cal influence, and reading the Bible, I was back,
but I needed healing and transformation. I certainly needed a steady stream
of Christian influence weaving through my life each day because I still
hadn't been able to correct a certain portion of my life yet. It was this
way of thinking, that needed changing the most.
I still believed that Jesus was not God.
For Pastor Mike, this just wouldn't do. He and Daphanie continued to
gently prod me, each in their own unique way. I swiftly became very weary
of this, although my attitude honestly was: If God wants me to change this
very deep seeded belief, then He'll have to show me, because I honestly
do not see how it is possible that Jesus is the Son and also God. I respected
Pastor Mike so much, that I even tried praying to Jesus in church one day,
but couldn't. I honestly believed if I did, I would be committing idolatry.
I believed I could only worship God, and that although I should be grateful
to His Son, I absolutely should not worship Him. But there was a meekness
in my heart that wasn't present before. It was at this crucial time that
I believe Satan himself used one last ditch attempt to keep my mind stayed
on Wierwille's false teaching that Jesus Christ was not God. Without knowing
who Jesus truly was, I couldn't become the servant that my Lord would have
me be. It was on a country roa d, outside Ft. Drum one day, that Satan manifested
himself to me while driving in my car.
. . . .
"In Christ alone I place my trust And find my glory
in the power of the cross In every victory let it be said of me My source
of strength My source of hope Is Christ alone."
--From "In Christ Alone," sung by Michael English, written
by Shawn Craig and Don Koch, The Michael English Album.
So many cults use the trick of telling their converts to pray for a sign
or they are told there will be a demonstration of some type of supernatural
manifestation to convince them that the cult and it's teachings are of "God."
I am here to tell you this day, and believe this because it is the truth:
SIMPLY BECAUSE ONE EXPERIENCES A SUPERNATURAL OCCURRANCE DOES NOT MEAN IT
IS FROM GOD. I pray this message gets through -- the Bible tells us that
signs and wonders aren't always from God, it could be a trick of the devil.
I have previously given one example, and that was the speaking of tongues
in The Way sessions. The devil can counterfeit this. Simply because this
happens does not mean that God, the Father of us all, has given a sign.
This next example is clearly another case of a supernatural experience that
was absolutely NOT of God.
I took our little Ford Escort and went for a drive to the mall. There
is a country road right outside the Fort Drum Army post, and I loved the
time it took, approximately 15 minutes, because it was a pretty stretch.
There were some farms, and open fields. It was late fall, and the leaves
were still breathtaking. I popped in a Michael English tape and began to
pray to God, thanking Him for the progress Mark and I had been making. Also,
due to a recent telephone conversation with Dapahnie and separately, Pastor
Mike, I went before the Lord asking about the Trinity. I asked Him to show
me if I was wrong, because if I was, I wanted Him to make it right. Suddenly
(when I say "suddenly," I don't mean shockingly, it was just instantaneous),
a large scroll appeared before me as if a huge movie screen was in front
of my eyes. The scroll was unfurled at first, but then it opened. On it
was listed all the reasons that Jesus Christ was not God. This scroll probably
contained at least one or two t ype written pages of information, but the
"vision," to include my reading of the writing on the scroll,
took at most, two seconds. Ironically, the listed reasons were exactly what
Victor Paul Wierwille had taught. With this phenomenal occurrence, I became
convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ was not God. I
also realized that defending this belief would be a battle, most likely,
for the rest of my life. But if it must be, it must be, because there couldn't
be any doubt in my mind that this was a sign from God. I even went so far
as to tell Pastor Mike that I wouldn't discuss this subject any further.
At about that time, I wrote a letter to Daphanie and told her where I stood
concerning the Trinity, and asked her to accept this, or we would have to
part as friends. I was weary from the many months that sin had taken it's
toll, and didn't want to battle anything else anymore. I told her she had
to accept me the way I was, for who I was, or not accept me at all. In Dap
hanie's meek service to the Lord, she merely loved me back, and told me
that she would indeed accept me for just exactly who I was. I needed that
at that time from her in particular. I had hardened my heart a bit, expecting
her to distance herself from me (understandably so), but instead, she called
with words of acceptance, love and caring. I must admit to being a bit surprised,
but grateful we did not have a confrontation, and it seemed our friendship
weathered yet another storm. Although I had asked Pastor Mike to discontinue
attempting to convince me that Jesus Christ was God; explaining that this
vision had made up my mind completely, once and for all -- he persisted.
Soon after I told Pastor this, he wrote me a very nice, long letter, lovingly
explaining why I should reconsider. It is only because of the great respect
that I had for this man that I decided to "humor" him. I agreed
I would allow him to continue our talks concerning the Trinity. Pastor and
I had several meetings w here he gave me books to read (which I dutifully
read, believing all along it was a complete waste of time), and then we
would meet to discuss what I had read. During one of these sessions, I explained
that I was very willing to change my mind (and in my heart, this was true),
but I just couldn't see what he and Daphanie saw. I really wanted to change,
in a sense, because I believed Pastor when he told me how crucial this was
to my "recovery." One Sunday again, I almost felt like praying
to Jesus, but had to stop short because if they were wrong, I'd be committing
idolatry. I absolutely had to be sure they were right before I could do
something like that. The vision I had, now becoming a faded misty reminder
of what I believed, began feeling wrong. Pastor Mike also told me one day,
as I tried to see the things he was telling me, that if I did change my
mind, that it would effect my relationship with Betty. I received this with
a calm understanding. At this point in my life, I knew my relationship with
God had to be settled, regardless of the fact that I may lose a friend.
Betty meant a great deal to me, I believe the Lord sent her to me to fill
the holes in my heart temporarily while I went through my "transition."
She was there for me, through thick and thin, but when Pastor pointed out
that changing my mind could cause a rift between us, I accepted this, and
merely gave it to God for Him to take care of. Obviously, it was Pastor's
influence as well as Dapahnie's that planted seeds of God's truth. It wasn't
too much later that I sat in Faith Fellowship church, getting ready to listen
to a guest Pastor. I always preferred Pastor Mike to any other minister,
however, I knew any message from the pulpit could be beneficial, so I tried
to pay attention. This visiting minister began his sermon by saying that
day, he would be teaching about the most misunderstood book in the Bible.
He continued to talk about this book, not giving any clues as to which book
he was referri ng to, when the thought came clear into my mind as if I were
hearing an audible voice. I suddenly knew that the book he referred to was
the book of Revelation. I also knew I needed to turn to that book immediately.
I am not one who puts much store in opening a page of the Bible randomly
and automatically assuming God is trying to give me a message through the
pages. Yet the first page I happened to open to was a page in Revelation
in chapter one. The very first words that I saw were in chapter 1 verse
11, "...Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last..."
It was as if that proverbial light had turned on in my brain. Could it be?
I went back to the beginning of chapter 1, and read the whole chapter, in
context. Then I happened to turn to chapter 21 and read verses 1-8. It hit
me like a sledge hammer. Jesus Christ WAS God! There was no doubt that in
chapter 1, John saw Christ, and then He says that He is the Alpha and the
Omega! Only God is the first and the last as He said in Isaiah:2. Again,
in chapter 21, those verses speak of our God, our Christ, sitting on His
mighty throne. In verse 6 He says He is the Alpha and the Omega. Pastor
was right! Daph was right! They all were, and I had been so very wrong!
I also knew at that very moment that Daphanie was right about other things.
I had been loyal all this time to a cult. That very day, my life took on
an even more dramatic turn. I knew that I had to keep this new found realization
from Betty, and other Way friends I was still very much in contact with.
I began to explore this Jesus, the man, my God, my Savior, whom I had never
really known for all those years of my life. On that day, I was delivered
from the teachings of The Way International. It was the beginning of an
absolutely new way of reading the Bible. Portions that I had never read
(The Way taught that only the gospels were for Way believers, while we could
learn from the rest, the gospels contained the scriptures we should study
and concentrate on). It was literally as if I began reading the Bible for
the first time. The same scriptures I had read over and over for years,
now took on a new meaning. Jesus was Lord and He was my God! Because of
the lies The Way taught, in particular pertaining to the deity of Christ,
I believed in a different god. It was because of this that I knew my life
had been terribly incomplete. I had been denied the close, personal relationship
with my Jesus, the very Lord who has become the entire center of my being.
As the song goes..."I can't even walk without holding Jesus' hand."
I can't walk without Him, and for all those long years, I had been trying
to live my whole life merely by referring to Him in a crisis. Then when
I was in The Way, although I thought I had developed a "right"
relationship with Jesus Christ, I still didn't know Him. I never had, until
He came into my life and made me whole. Through it all, on my long journey
back from a cult, I found Jesus. And it was Jesus who delivered m e from
my insecurities. I was delivered from my need to seek man or man's organizations
in order to feel at peace. I received a peace that surpasseth ALL understanding
the day I realized who Jesus WAS, who He IS and who He could be in my life!
I WAS SET FREE!"
Jeff, if you only know the god of The Way, then you don't know the Jesus
that can save you, DESPITE THE FACT YOU CAN SPEAK IN TONGUES. Signs and wonders
are not proof of salvation as Wierwille told us. That was a lie too. Please
consider these words that Jesus Himself said:
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? Mat 7:23 And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Tongues is not proof that you are saved. And if you take your last breath,
never knowing the true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you may be lost eternally.
Please write back, and let's discuss how like-minded Way doctrine is with
Mormonism, Jehovhah's experienceses, and other cults. What you've heard over
the years is true, The Way is most definitely a Christian cult, and it's evil
purpose is to KEEP you from a right relationship with Jesus Christ. If you know
the Way's Jesus, then you don't know Jesus.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you and cover you with His Holy and mighty
hand of love and power!
Carol Van Drie
Dearest Way Believer:
God bless your wonderful heart super-abundantly
in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
I love you very much, and I love God and His
Word also.
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