So what DID Jesus mean when he said, "It is finished"? What did he mean when He said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."? What does he mean in Luke 14? What DOES it mean to take up your cross and follow Him? If I have got it all wrong, please explain these to me.

I have no intention of giving up my freedom of thought, individuality (who would though, anyway, right?) and keep my BS-o-meter on; I believe that I possess at least a decent level of spiritual discernment.) I am not Ole's proselyte, and he is not my "spiritual leader." Ole teaches me to consider the Scriptres and myself in new light. And it is a blessing for me to be around like-minded people. I always have thought that American-style, so-called "Christian religion" was an abominable edifice, merely different styles of idolatry with different idols. Nobody had to convince me of that idea. And that the "Left-Behind" style rapture scenario of End Times events was not really true, that one I in my heart have never believed. That's comic-book stuff. Save it for a Chick tract, man. :-) I feel happy to be involved in something I believe to be a service to the Body of Christ. Whether or not you think the investigations are a good thing is a can of worms I do not want to open now. It's just that I believe they are. Seeya later,
Z

Matthewtoo, if you read this please write me: zeuszor@hotmail.com

I was a member of trinity foundation for 10 years,some day Ole will have to account for his actions to GOD ,and may God forgive him. He uses his wisdem of the bible to control emotionally, and spiritually ,the people of the group,If you have only been there for a short Time he will wait maybe as long as 3 years before you will see the true OLE. He lets you get confortable with the other members as a really acceptible family,and then if you leave noboby is aloud to assocate or talk to you because you are out in the world and doing your thing.And are subjuct to the rules of the world. They will turn their back on you like a rattle snake. How can you be a brother and then never call or talk to you again, If your brother falls do you not help him? Do you turn you back on your children because they dont meet your expections? Or do you forget a family member because he is not there to see every day, do they no longer exist. You lay down your life for the body ( brothern) of trinity,only if you can see them? Ten years of giving everything and helping every way I could and now I am dead to the group?

I just finished reading the book. It terrified me. When I came to Dallas in 1994, I was homeless. The Trinity Foundation was one of the names given to me to help me find a place to live. With the abuse I endured in my background, even the slightest bit of the events discussed in the book would have caused me to kill myself. I am incredibly curious about this Mr. Anthony guy now. I would like to find someone else who knows nothing about him and attend a Bible Study to see what we would think of him. Is he sarcastic mean? He just sounds really cruel to me.

Only once before have I met a Christian leader who was downright cruel. He was a Hebrew Christian and ran an agency that passed funds to Israeli poor.

Nevertheless, I would be curious to match my idea of what I understood from the book with the reality of this group. I realize that truth is often somewhere between two opinions, but there were a lot of people represented in this book, not just the author and her husband. I would be interested to hear from others, like Zeus, who are currently in this group, what they think of it now. The idea of community is a good one. Hmmmm......

Scared, write me, man.

i visited the group once or twice.

i attended because a very close friend and his wife were long time members and i really WANTED to like the group.

i initially found Ole Anthony to have a good sense of humor, a good teacher and competent group leader. . . i enjoyed his "watchdog" expose's on TV.

during my second visit, i singly expressed dissent over an issue.
i felt shamed and/or banished for even EXPRESSING MYSELF?
the group looked at me like, "WT?" you're a visitor, you can't TALK or QUESTION what is going on here; i.e., you should sit MUTELY and be grateful we have ALLOWed you into our sacred, UNIQUE circle of wisdom.
"WHO ARE YOU?"

i just got a really bad vibe from ONE MAN seeming TO RUN people's lives. he seemed so "indispensible" to the group, as if he were infallible and all his words and/or opinions were to be obeyed, followed . . . how bout "worshipped."

Lilith82
I have visited a few times too. Sorry to hear what happend to you.
Usually this doesn't happen so soon. Maybe you appeared too independent-minded and Ole felt threatened.

[b:0727051674]M2, TY for your reponse.
:? i believe you & your spouse were there [/size:0727051674][/color:0727051674][/b:0727051674] :?:

[b:0727051674]TY. Yes, i think i have always tried to be "open-minded."[/color:0727051674][/b:0727051674] [/size:0727051674] :D

[b:0727051674]in & for all ways, my love to you & yours . . .[/b:0727051674][/color:0727051674][/size:0727051674] :)

MY FRIEND "Matthew" became a member of Trinity.
i recall having one of the most lengthy spiritual discussions of my lifetime
during a Christmas party :arrow:
Free-Will (me) vs. Pre-Destination (him).
our friendship never seemed to fully recover . . . :cry:

i have run into my own "cult" troubles ~ hence, i found this site.

The Trinity discussion caught my eye.
i hoped you might recognize me by name, but alas . . .
strangers in ideology we remain?

and a lifetime friendship, for me, seems by-gone. :roll:

"Matthew" won't return or answer any of my calls.
whatever I DID, he never told me . . .
unless he had some other beef, of which i'm certainly not aware . . .
in the end, cults isolate people, in many, many ways.
this alone, IMO, is evidence of cult schrapnel :evil:

[b:0727051674]and this seems UNJUST after a 28-year friendship.[/size:0727051674][/b:0727051674][/color:0727051674]

[b:0727051674] i could continue by giving my 3rd party 24+ year observation
of the effect a Trinity membership seemed to have on him/his,[/b:0727051674]
if i am speaking of the same "Matthew" & for that matter, i could document the same 'perceived' negative effect on a mutual friend of ours/hers; but this sounds threatening, spiteful, and would
seem inappropriate and/or in bad taste, at the very least.

i guess i'm just angry to have lost you, and here i sit as an anonymous
cyber-chatter telling you MY BEEF . . . RIDICULOUS :!:

[b:0727051674]MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS US ALL.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS WEBSITE.

MAY WE ALL REMAIN FREE FROM ANY DARKNESS

THAT COMES IN ORDER TO STEAL, KILL & DESTROY

. . . AMEN.[/b:0727051674][/color:0727051674][/size:0727051674]

:arrow:[/color:0727051674]

So what DID Jesus mean when he said, "It is finished"? What did he mean when He said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."? What does he mean in Luke 14? What DOES it mean to take up your cross and follow Him? If I have got it all wrong, please explain these to me.

Hi Zeusor,
In my opinion what these questions mean for you is for you to discover. You may get into trouble if you let others, Trinity or not, define your walk with God. Try searching what the church fathers have to say on these matters. Their writings have stood the test of time and may be helpful. The internet is a grat place to start. We don't have to reinvent the wheel spiritually speaking each generation.