The Making of a Patriarch

How the god of this world destroys the effectiveness of energised ministries of men and women of God and transforms the word they stood for into religious horseshit is quite something to understand. As a present day example, let's consider how Dr Victor Paul Wierwille's ministry of the Way International, one of the most powerful ministries of all time was compromised after his death and transformed into just another religious temple made with hands.

It is an interesting phenomenon that men and women in religions and churches around the world think they are right, that they are in what they believe to be the only true household of God. Quite how the devil instils this lie into people is really quite brilliant. The vatican believes it is the only true church on earth. Muslims believe they are the only true followers of God on earth. Buddhists believe they have found the true way to God. Jehovah's witnesses, a particularly insipid brand of religion, believe they are the only true way to God. Mormons believe they are the only true church of God on earth. The Way International believes it is the only true household of God and instils that lie into its followers. Before we start, remember that God does not dwell in, he does not live in, he does not frequent temples made with hands. Religions and man-made ministries are all broken cisterns and any word they once held eventually leaks out of them. If God doesn't live in them, how can they be a source of living waters?

Jeremiah 2:13
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The living waters in Jeremiah refer to God, who is the fountain of living waters. People just seem to feel a need to hew out for themselves cisterns. A cistern is something man makes to hold water. If our supply is God, a living fountain, there is no requirement for a cistern as a fountain has an endless supply. Men hew out cisterns because they do not believe God will supply all their need. Consequently, they turn their backs on the fountain and hew out for themselves cisterns - they build churches, ministries, and organisations to contain their religion. They put their trust in the work of their own hands rather than in God.

As we have clearly seen, the biblical definition of the word ekklēsia, the word church, when used of the church of God is used exclusively in reference to people called out from among both Judeans and Gentiles. It cannot be used to mean a church building, a religion, a ministry, or any ecclesiastical structure of any kind. No church or ministry or religion can claim to be the church of God, the household of God, because ekklēsia cannot be used in that context.

The Roman Catholic church is not the church of God. Its people may be part of the church of God if they are born again, but the Roman Catholic church itself is just another temple made with hands. The Mormons, the Jehovahs, the Anglicans, the Baptists, the Pentecostals, the Episcopalians, and all the other churches and religions around the world are not the church of God. The people within may be part of that church if they are born again, but those religions are all just temples made with hands. The Way International is not the church of God. The people within may be part of that church, but the ministry itself is just another temple made with hands. Men have built them all and God does not dwell in temples made with hands.

So how does the god of this world transform energised ministries, like the ministries of Martin Luther, John Wesley and Dr Wierwille for example, into powerless, ineffective religious cisterns which do nothing but churn out worthless ceremonies every week? The god of this world accomplishes it by constructing temples made with hands over their graves.

In the 1300's, Dr Wierwille's family lived in Vierville-sur-mer in northern France. The Viervilles were Huguenots who stood against the religious horseshit dribbling out of Rome. After the Reformation, the Viervilles fled to Germany to escape persecution from the murderous jesuits. While in Germany, the family changed their name to Wierwille. Johann Heinrich Wierwille, Dr Wierwille's great grandfather, arrived in America with his family in 1839 and settled in the New Knoxville area of Ohio.

Victor Paul was born to Ernst and Emma Wierwille on December 31, 1916, the youngest of seven children. Growing up he rode motorcycles and played basketball. In June 1941, Dr Wierwille was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical and Reformed church and accepted a call to serve in their church in Payne, Ohio. In June 1944, believing he had taken his congregation as far as they wanted to go, he and his family moved to the church in Van Wert, Ohio, moving from a congregation of one hundred and twenty members to just sixteen. It was during his time in Van Wert that Dr Wierwille left his denomination and founded the Way Ministry because he had seen that the greatness of God's power lay in the holy spirit field and not in religious nonsense. In 1953, Dr Wierwille began teaching his classes on Power for Abundant Living. He had learned how to energise the gift of holy spirit by speaking in tongues and he wanted to teach it to the world. In the early 1980's, Dr Wierwille's ministry was active on every continent in over 100 countries around the world.

Was Dr Wierwille a patriarch? In the old testament, before the day of Pentecost, holy spirit was not generally and freely available to man, therefore men needed special leaders with holy spirit upon them, someone they could go to for answers from God, someone who could lead them. Since the day of Pentecost, every born again believer has holy spirit, every born again believer has access directly to God, and every born again believer can walk by the spirit with Christ as their head. In this administration, we do not need patriarchs or priests because we have someone far better, the Lord Jesus Christ who is head over all things to the church. We can all go directly to God ourselves through the gift of holy spirit, that Christ in us, without having to go through men.

However, there is a need for leadership to teach new believers how to walk by the spirit for themselves, to undershepherd them until they can walk on their own two feet in the spiritual competition. As this is best done in families, God has set up a leadership system in this Age of Grace that is based on family relationships rather than the leadership and patriarchal systems of previous administrations. Everyone in the family of God has spirit, it's just that some are more mature and know more about spiritual matters, and they are to oversee and look after the younger children until they mature. This can only be achieved in a family setting, which is why God wants his word living in home churches. Dr Wierwille was not a patriarch, he was faithful to raise disciples and he established home churches all over the world.

Dr Wierwille always publicly stated that the highest positions available in his ministry were the home church leaders, and his Way Corps leadership training programme was set up to train home church leaders. When the word moved over the world from the Way International while Dr Wierwille was still alive, it was moved by home church leaders who held meetings in their homes. Those leaders walked by the spirit and God energised in them to will and to do of his good pleasure. Christ was their head and the word moved. Dr Wierwille's entire ministry was based on the church in the home and he left the home church leadership alone to do their job. The Way International's sole purpose was to support the home church leaders as they moved the word and raised disciples in their homes.

After Dr Wierwille's death, the purpose of the Way Corps changed from training home church leadership to training a ministry hierarchy. The scriptures used to force that legislation through were taken from the time the Patriarchal Administration was transitioning to the Law Administration, a time when people had no spirit, a time when people needed a patriarch. That was the moment when the Way International became just another temple made with hands run by a patriarch. Dr Wierwille was not a patriarch because he did not attempt to control his leadership, he taught them to walk by the spirit and trusted them to move the word in their areas. The man who came after him was solely intent on taking control of everything, claiming that God was giving him all the revelation for the entire Way International. Well, we now know from scripture that God no longer honours such patriarchal systems and that he refuses to attend any such temples made with hands.

All the leadership of the Way International at that time who left the ministry also set themselves up as patriarchs in their own little man-made temples. One man even used the tithe money that still went to him to build a new church. Everyone wanted to be the big boss and if they didn't get the job, most of them left and hewed them out broken cisterns of their own. The patriarchal system is over. If you want to be a leader and do something for God, establish a church in your home that is self governing, self propagating and self supporting, walk by the spirit, move the word, and show others how to do the same. To be fair, I think perhaps Chris Geer may have seen some of this stuff, but he was wrong to call Dr Wierwille a patriarch. All his book The Passing of a Patriarch accomplished was to divert attention away from Craig Martindale who was busily setting himself up as one.

We have all been given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So, did you get any more spirit than me? No, you did not. So what makes you think you know better than I do how I should live my life? You live your own fucking life. Everyone wants to be a patriarch these days, the big boss. Did I get anymore spirit than you? No, I did not. We all got the same amount, we each were given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, which is the gift of holy spirit, that Christ in us. No one gets any more spirit than anyone else and no one gets any less spirit than anyone else. There is only one measure of the gift of Christ, and we all get the same measure, the same amount. You have spirit just as I do, so what right then do I have to try to run your life for you? I have no right whatsoever. I have no interest in running your life for you. You take responsibility for your own life and prove your own work and then shall you have rejoicing in yourself and not in another.

Galatians 6:3,4
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

The Age of Grace is not a patriarchal administration. We all have the spirit in full measure, and so we all have a responsibility to learn to walk by that spirit with Christ as our head and not men. That's why God no longer dwells in temples made with hands. Trying to run a religious organisation, where a handful of men and women make all the decisions for everyone else is spiritual horseshit in this administration. God knows everything, you don't, and I don't care how intelligent and educated and right you think you are. You cannot do God's job for him. What makes you think you can handle spiritual matters 4000 miles away by telephone? You don't know the first thing about what's going on in that area, but the home church leaders over there do. If you're so spiritual, get back out into real life and show us how to run a home church. If you want to be an example, go and show us how to move the word, run a church in your home and raise disciples who walk by the spirit.

We don't need any more patriarchs or priests, we need people to run churches in their homes, to teach, to walk by the spirit and minister, to raise disciples in families. Dr Wierwille would have dismantled the Way International and committed the word to his worldwide ministry of home church leaders before his death had he seen the depth of the truth that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Paul didn't see it either, which is why he deserted the Gentiles and ran off to Jerusalem in Acts 21 to try and save the 'ministry'. What a waste of time that was. He should have stayed with his people. This is God's will in the Age of Grace. There are no more excuses.

Dr Wierwille's ministry was to take the word over the world. He fulfilled that calling, he accomplished that work before his death. His ministry, his calling from God was to take the word over the world, not to construct a man-made temple. The Way International was his ministry, his means of taking the word over the world. When that goal was accomplished, the Way International had fulfilled its purpose. Dr Wierwille was not a patriarch, he was simply a man big enough to oversee a world wide ministry built by his own work.

Anyone who has Christ in them is part of the church of God, the ekklēsia, the called out of God. And I don't give a shit what the Way International or the vatican claim to the contrary. By definition and by scripture, ecclesiastical and religious structures built by men which claim to be the church of God are liars. God dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Today, we don't need any ministry running our lives for us because we have Christ in us and we can walk by the spirit. Following the direction of a council of men is turning your back on God and hewing out a man-made cistern. It is putting your trust in men. It is walking by the senses.

People, if you want to be a disciple learn to read your bible and study this class, speak in tongues much and learn to walk by the spirit with Christ as your head. Get out of those churches and ministries you attend, those man-made broken cisterns. Don't be afraid, for you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. That strength doesn't come by mindlessly following a board of directors, a council of men, it comes from the Christ in you.

Dr Wierwille taught that churches in the home should be self governing, self propagating, and self supporting. He learned that from the work of Henry Venn, one of the shapers and movers of the nineteenth-century missionary movement who taught God's word in meetings at his home. Both Henry Venn and Dr Wierwille were right. God's plan for his people in the Age of Grace is to teach and minister in their homes. To be successful, each home church is to be self governing, self propagating, and self supporting. What Dr Wierwille and Henry Venn meant by self governing was that each home church was to conduct its affairs from within, not allow itself to be governed by outside councils of men. Self governing, by definition, requires breaking away from the restraints and control of central governing councils of men. When Dr Wierwille stated that home churches should be self governing, that is what he meant. In other words, each home church is the headquarters of the move of God's word in that area.

Since Dr Wierwille's death, I've not heard much from the lectern in the auditorium at the headquarters of the Way International about home churches being self governing, self propagating and self supporting. The Way International no longer teaches Dr Wierwille's classes and conveniently ignores sections of his teachings which don't support their patriarchal system. When the word moved over the world, the word moved from churches in people's homes, and the entire Way International was geared up to support the home church leaders in their efforts to get that word over the world. Since Dr Wierwille's death, the Way International has been restructured to support a patriarch surrounded by a central governing body of men. The Way International no longer teaches its people to walk by the spirit, rather it teaches them to submit themselves to a structure of leadership who walk by counsels of men. Ladies and gentlemen, that is walking by the senses and having confidence in the flesh. That is how the devil constructs temples made with hands over the graves of energised ministers.

Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

You think you have the word over there in Ohio? You've already forgotten the basic fundamental truths of the Mystery that Dr Wierwille taught regarding the church of God and the body of Christ. As Dr Wierwille so prophetically stated, it is the truths of the mystery that are the first to be lost and the last to be regained. You are not the body of Christ nor are you the household of God, and I can prove that from scripture. In fact, I now consider you one of the most dangerous brands of religion on the planet, for indeed, you did have the word but you chose to honour men rather than God, you put your own needs above the needs of God's people, and when Dr Wierwille died you blindly followed a patriarch and constructed a temple over his grave.

God gave to us, to each one of us, to all of us, the ministry of reconciliation. That means it's our job to do the work of the ministry, not yours. The church of God is not some man-made temple you call the Way International, any more than it is the Roman Catholic church, or the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints (whatever that garbage is supposed to mean), or any other church or denomination on earth.

The Way International is not the ministry of reconciliation, it is a man-made temple. God did not give the ministry of reconciliation to the Way International. God did not give the ministry of reconciliation to Dr Wierwille. God gave the ministry of reconciliation to all of us, those of us who have the gift of holy spirit and are part of the church of God. Dr Wierwille sure made full proof of his ministry and God energised mightily in him to move the word over the world, and God blessed his ministry, that's for sure, but God didn't just give the ministry to Dr Wierwille, that's the point.

Dr Wierwille was not a patriarch, he was simply a man big enough to oversee a worldwide ministry, but all those who came after him were indeed patriarchs, attempting to do Christ's job for him by being the head over all things to what they call the church.

Okay, perhaps you didn't know any better. However, you know the truth now. So what is it going to be? Is all that tithe money you steal from God's people more important to you? The money shared by God's people should be used by the home church leaders to move the word in their areas. It most definitely should not be sent to the headquarters of a temple made with hands to keep a council of men in comfortable lifestyles. The word says the love of money is the root of all evil, and that must include how the god of this world constructs temples made with hands over the graves of energised ministers like Dr Wierwille.

Instead of establishing the Way International as a temple made with hands and transferring leadership of his work to others, Dr Wierwille should have released the word to the home church leaders around the world and dismantled the Way International before his death. Had the Way International home church leaders at that time been given responsibility to oversee their areas without any interference from without, the word would have lived on. Each of us is to take responsibility for those God has entrusted to our care, not relinquish that care to others. When you can no longer take care of God's people, either through retirement or death or whatever, those you have raised into leadership positions are then to assume responsibility for their own work, those God entrusted to them, without any interference from without.

We are all to prove our own work, not go stealing work from others to hide our impotence and make ourselves feel important. If you want to be a leader, go and move the word and show us how it's done, never mind trying to steal my work from me. That's how this thing moves. We all have Christ in us, so we all have the ability to do this. God even committed to us his word, so we can move this ministry and learn to walk with Christ as our head.

Dr Wierwille taught that every home church should be self governing, self propagating, and self supporting, that the highest positions in his ministry were the home church leadership, and his Way Corps was designed and set up to teach disciples how to be good home church leaders. There is no higher position available in the body of Christ. All those man made temples out there may not like what I'm teaching, but I really don't give a fuck. All I care about is that the word lives. If you want to be a leader, then set your sights on learning to walk by the spirit and running a church in your home with Christ as your head.

Chapter 70 - It's Christ in you, the hope of Glory