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No 2014 dog and pony show for the Maxwells yet....


Justme

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If they stayed for a service the kids might learn that there are other Christians out there who are just as Godly as they are, and love Jesus as much as they do, but have friends, have fun and live normal lives, and that these people are nice to them and are nothing to be afraid of.

Even the Maxwells converting to ATI or some other restrictive fundie church would be an improvement in their life. As much as it sucks for a regular person, I think an ATI conference, ALERT or Journey to the Heart would be more fun than they have ever had in their lives. Being a regular fundie would be too much fun for them to handle. That is really sad.

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Honestly, after hearing from fellow FJers about what the Maxwell conventions consists of, I'm not surprised that they stopped getting invites. They advertise it as a 'homeschooling conference', which most assume consists of lectures and tips on how to homeschool. What it is, in reality, is a long running ad for their business. It's really a live infomercial with some amateur music and scattered advice, a bait and switch and no one likes to feel tricked.

I bet when conservative churches first saw their flyers, they thought, "Oh boy! speakers willing to come for free!". What they got was a weird cultish family who abhors churches and want to sell you their wares. Maybe word got out after the Maxwells' first two years touring. If nothing else, their restrictions probably turned many fundies off. No friends for children? No churches? Every minute scheduled? Funerals are more fun....

Judging by the effort and money spent on Uriah, I think Steve expected many more years of touring. I bet this touring ministry was ideal for Steve because it gave him a pulpit that fed his ego and narcissism and offered an extra level of isolation for his kids. A homeschooling convention means a lot more people with his children surrounded by fellow sellers AND clients. The Maxwells like to present themselves as above the unwashed masses. However, the joke is on them, as no one actually wants to live like them.

Has anyone noticed that in past homeschooing conventions where Sunday services are offered, the Maxwells will leave on Saturday night/early Sunday and decamp elsewhere rather than stay for a church service? I mean, for casual viewers, it's just odd. Why scramble to get on the road just to do church service in your bus? Only the Maxwells would run away from church service in order to.....do a church service.

I'm wondering if some of the churches are getting wise to them. On one of their previous tours I looked up a bunch of the churches. Almost all of them had very active youth programs, something Steve-O rails against. Hell no church was good enough for Steve-O, he had to make his own. Since I'm assuming the churches make nothing off of this, what is the point of bringing in people who actually speak against them. I'm sure Steve can't resist lecturing on the evils of youth ministry.

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I'm wondering if some of the churches are getting wise to them. On one of their previous tours I looked up a bunch of the churches. Almost all of them had very active youth programs, something Steve-O rails against. Hell no church was good enough for Steve-O, he had to make his own. Since I'm assuming the churches make nothing off of this, what is the point of bringing in people who actually speak against them. I'm sure Steve can't resist lecturing on the evils of youth ministry.

I wonder what the motivation is for the churches to bring them in, too. Is it possible Stevie gives the church a percentage of their sales proceeds for hosting them?

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I think the churches are probably just not completely aware of all of Steve's beliefs. They probably see the veneer,

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I'm wondering if some of the churches are getting wise to them. On one of their previous tours I looked up a bunch of the churches. Almost all of them had very active youth programs, something Steve-O rails against. Hell no church was good enough for Steve-O, he had to make his own. Since I'm assuming the churches make nothing off of this, what is the point of bringing in people who actually speak against them. I'm sure Steve can't resist lecturing on the evils of youth ministry.

Steve admitted in one of his corners he got into an argument with a mom who didn't agree his "No Sports Ever" rule. Actually the mom was arguing with him accoring to Steveohah. titus2.com/corners/dads-corner/sports/part-1.html

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I think Steve will go to any church that will have him. I looked up a couple of the churches they went to last time and they had different beliefs. One believed and was adamant that the gifts of the spirit (healing, speaking in tongues, prophecy) only existed during Jesus's time and no longer exist today. The other one did not believe that. I don't think Steve cares as long as they host him.

I thought they had stayed for a service before but I can't remember the details.

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I'm wondering if some of the churches are getting wise to them. On one of their previous tours I looked up a bunch of the churches. Almost all of them had very active youth programs, something Steve-O rails against. Hell no church was good enough for Steve-O, he had to make his own. Since I'm assuming the churches make nothing off of this, what is the point of bringing in people who actually speak against them. I'm sure Steve can't resist lecturing on the evils of youth ministry.

I was looking at posts from 4 years ago for some reason and the crowds were much bigger by comparison. Sarah is quite tricky about taking photos to make the audience seem not so meager but there's no denying the fact when you compare the photos from a few years ago.

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I thought a "fan" invited them and found a church willing to let them use their space. I didn't think the churches actually invited them.

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I thought a "fan" invited them and found a church willing to let them use their space. I didn't think the churches actually invited them.

That's true, but the church still has to agree to let them come.

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Steve admitted in one of his corners he got into an argument with a mom who didn't agree his "No Sports Ever" rule. Actually the mom was arguing with him accoring to Steveohah. titus2.com/corners/dads-corner/sports/part-1.html

From the Dad's corner:

If you are a Christian and committed to sports, I'm not trying to pick a fight because I have more profitable things to do with my time. If you can't read this with an open mind, then please simply stop reading now.

God what an arrogant ass.

I wonder if Steve had an "open mind" when the women tried to explain why she thought sports were OK (I doubt she actually argued with him, in Steve's mind and dissent to his dogma is probably an argument).

My boss is a big sports guy, in fact spent some time playing minor league baseball and coaching a college team. A lot of what he learned playing/coaching a team sport has given him a lot of qualities that make him a great boss. Steve is just blind to see the goodness that can come from things even if they are not "god honoring."

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That's true, but the church still has to agree to let them come.

I wonder exactly what sponsoring a Maxwell conference actually entails, aside from finding space in a church to hold the event. There are lots of groups and organizations that hold meetings in houses of worship, and while I'm sure they've all got to pass muster, I'm also pretty sure it doesn't happen for free. Weight Watchers, for example, meets at various churches and synagogues but they pay a room rental fee. No church is going to host a weekend conference and tie up the available space just because it's the Maxwells, so I'm sure sponsorship means that family ponies up the dinero, especially since there's no charge for attendees. The sponsors aren't just feeding the Maxwells dinner, they're footing the bill for the space as well. (If you look at the photos posted on the blog of family at the sponsors' homes, those home aren't your basic shacks.) Stevus is always asking for new hosts to fill in open dates, which have become more and more frequent so it looks like the pool of potential sponsors is drying up. If it was really free, then I'm sure churches would be falling all over themselves to host the lord himself.

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Has Steve ever explained why he hates Youth Ministries. I know he had explained why he hates sports. Back in 08 he was annoyed that a woman & her family were watching the Olympics on TV. I think he was more pissed about the TV thing though.

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The preschool my kids attended was held in a church. I was on the board of the school for several years and will tell you that the school was a moneymaker for the church. The school paid 2/3 of the utilities and rental space and repairs, etc. It is very expensive to run a church building which is why churches are willing to rent out space when they aren't using the rooms. So, yes, someone is footing the bill to the churches the Maxwells hold conferences in, just who?

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Oh, I know -- one of us should inquire about the logistics of sponsoring a conference. They have an inquiry form on their website, I think, but we need to have someone go through the motions of being serious about it. Any volunteers? They seem to always work with a "coordinator", so I'm guessing all the arrangements, including payment to the church, are left to the coordinator. I'd love to know how it works.

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The preschool my kids attended was held in a church. I was on the board of the school for several years and will tell you that the school was a moneymaker for the church. The school paid 2/3 of the utilities and rental space and repairs, etc. It is very expensive to run a church building which is why churches are willing to rent out space when they aren't using the rooms. So, yes, someone is footing the bill to the churches the Maxwells hold conferences in, just who?

I would guess it was whoever invited them to speak. No way can I see Steve-O forking money over to a church (it might go for an evil overnight for the youth program!!).

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Has Steve ever explained why he hates Youth Ministries. I know he had explained why he hates sports. Back in 08 he was annoyed that a woman & her family were watching the Olympics on TV. I think he was more pissed about the TV thing though.

His children became more interested in their peer's approval than the family's. Some of the girls in Sarah's youth group started to wear cooler, less modest clothes (in Maxwell world I'm assuming this means knee length skirts, lip gloss, light perfume, or something like that). Sarah felt pressured to dress this way to fit in. Also, the kids talked about TV and popular (non-Christian) music. I believe Sarah may have even heard few bars of pop music in passing-- obviously threatening the welfare of her eternal soul.

Stevhovah claims that since the father is the spiritual leader of the family, he should be his children's youth minister, and not be usurped by another man.

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His children became more interested in their peer's approval than the family's. Some of the girls in Sarah's youth group started to wear cooler, less modest clothes (in Maxwell world I'm assuming this means knee length skirts, lip gloss, light perfume, or something like that). Sarah felt pressured to dress this way to fit in. Also, the kids talked about TV and popular (non-Christian) music. I believe Sarah may have even heard few bars of pop music in passing-- obviously threatening the welfare of her eternal soul.

Stevhovah claims that since the father is the spiritual leader of the family, he should be his children's youth minister, and not be usurped by another man.

Would Steve have let his kids listen to Jesus or the Apostles? Wouldn't that'd have been usurping the father? :?

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I would guess it was whoever invited them to speak. No way can I see Steve-O forking money over to a church (it might go for an evil overnight for the youth program!!).

Homeschool groups have invited them, I wonder if they pitch in? I think one was a HS group that was a part of the church so they probably didn't charge them

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His children became more interested in their peer's approval than the family's. Some of the girls in Sarah's youth group started to wear cooler, less modest clothes (in Maxwell world I'm assuming this means knee length skirts, lip gloss, light perfume, or something like that). Sarah felt pressured to dress this way to fit in. Also, the kids talked about TV and popular (non-Christian) music. I believe Sarah may have even heard few bars of pop music in passing-- obviously threatening the welfare of her eternal soul.

Stevhovah claims that since the father is the spiritual leader of the family, he should be his children's youth minister, and not be usurped by another man.

Thanks for the explanation! My what an ass.

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His children became more interested in their peer's approval than the family's. Some of the girls in Sarah's youth group started to wear cooler, less modest clothes (in Maxwell world I'm assuming this means knee length skirts, lip gloss, light perfume, or something like that). Sarah felt pressured to dress this way to fit in. Also, the kids talked about TV and popular (non-Christian) music. I believe Sarah may have even heard few bars of pop music in passing-- obviously threatening the welfare of her eternal soul.

Stevhovah claims that since the father is the spiritual leader of the family, he should be his children's youth minister, and not be usurped by another man.

Yeah, and he also had some issue with his children being under the spiritual authority of another and *gasp* being led down the wrong path, cause only Steve knows the true path to heaven....

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That's true, but the church still has to agree to let them come.

I suspect that the churches are inclined to take a member in good standing's word for it that the Maxwells are a fine, upstanding Christian family who come bearing good advice for homeschoolers, and that many of them don't investigate too deeply beyond that, if at all. Because I cannot imagine a church with an active youth group, and members who generally lead normal lives (public schools, working moms, kids in sports, college-bound daughters, etc.) would willingly allow the Maxwells to use their facilities. The Maxwells don't even attend a church themselves (Steve preaching at his captive children and the Elderly most Sundays doesn't count), and their real message is antagonistic toward many of the same churches they hold their conferences at.

(Which is another example of Steve and Terri's hypocrisy, but I digress.)

So ignorance due to failure to investigate may be one reason. Indifference might be another--whoever gives approval may know that the Maxwells are kind of "out there," but from their viewpoint they don't seem so far out there as they do to us.

And then there's always the possibility that any church that grants the Maxwells permission to come has its factions, including a much more conservative one than the general membership, and that it's often one such person among the church leadership that grants permission.

But I can't imagine that word hasn't been getting out that the Maxwell family is a weird, insular, family cult, in which Steve Maxwell is the final authority and answers to nobody, and that their message is deeply bizarre, paranoid, and not Biblically justifiable.

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I suspect that the churches are inclined to take a member in good standing's word for it that the Maxwells are a fine, upstanding Christian family who come bearing good advice for homeschoolers, and that many of them don't investigate too deeply beyond that, if at all. Because I cannot imagine a church with an active youth group, and members who generally lead normal lives (public schools, working moms, kids in sports, college-bound daughters, etc.) would willingly allow the Maxwells to use their facilities. The Maxwells don't even attend a church themselves (Steve preaching at his captive children and the Elderly most Sundays doesn't count), and their real message is antagonistic toward many of the same churches they hold their conferences at.

(Which is another example of Steve and Terri's hypocrisy, but I digress.)

So ignorance due to failure to investigate may be one reason. Indifference might be another--whoever gives approval may know that the Maxwells are kind of "out there," but from their viewpoint they don't seem so far out there as they do to us.

And then there's always the possibility that any church that grants the Maxwells permission to come has its factions, including a much more conservative one than the general membership, and that it's often one such person among the church leadership that grants permission.

But I can't imagine that word hasn't been getting out that the Maxwell family is a weird, insular, family cult, in which Steve Maxwell is the final authority and answers to nobody, and that their message is deeply bizarre, paranoid, and not Biblically justifiable.

The infomercialconference we went to in NH - and bolted from after an hour - was sponsored by gospelfamilyforum.com. New group founded in 2012 and organized by 2 men who present conferences 2 - 4 times a year for Christian families of any denomination. They aren't picky. Their last speaker was from FEMA on how to prepare for disasters in a Biblical way. They rented a secular building for the duration. It looked like a church but is the former town Meeting House and is now essentially a village hall rented out to anyone who pays the bill. That said, most mainstream churches around here will rent out space to anyone and their dogs to help pay the bills. Ask me how I know. :D

I was interested to see that Gospelfamilyforums claimed that they attracted "over 40 families" to the Maxwell event. A small exaggeration? Make that 38 families because of the FJers who attended. Also, we only counted 26 cars, including ours, in the parking lot on the day we attended. Perhaps 10 families were turned off by the Friday evening session?

The Maxwells really need to get fresh material if they want to continue the dog and pony show. I'd only want to sit through Teri's tired presentation once, the other sessions were all repeats too, and it is all in the books anyway. I think they must know this and that is why the "Making Great Conversationalists" book.

I really wonder what the NH group really thought of Steve and family and what feedback they got afterwards.

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I am really surprised the Maxwells are lowering themselves to appear at a conference with other people, some of whom probably like to have f*n and know the words to "Row Row Row Your Boat."

I read this as something like "fuckin" and was racking my brain to thing how something like sex could even be a part of the whole Maxwell existence, when I realized you just meant fun.

:cray-cray: :cray-cray: -

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His children became more interested in their peer's approval than the family's. Some of the girls in Sarah's youth group started to wear cooler, less modest clothes (in Maxwell world I'm assuming this means knee length skirts, lip gloss, light perfume, or something like that). Sarah felt pressured to dress this way to fit in. Also, the kids talked about TV and popular (non-Christian) music. I believe Sarah may have even heard few bars of pop music in passing-- obviously threatening the welfare of her eternal soul.

Stevhovah claims that since the father is the spiritual leader of the family, he should be his children's youth minister, and not be usurped by another man.

Pretty much this (he lays it all out in "Keeping Our Children's Hearts") plus the underlying rule for everything Maxwell, which is "don't waste a moment of any time or any space in your head for anything that isn't actively worshipping or serving Jesus."

So any side talk at the youth ministry would just be a waste of time in addition to any actively "bad" influences - the waste of time is itself bad, just as the lyrics to "Row Row Row Your Boat" take up valuable headspace that could be used for a religious earworm instead.

Sheltering is all about the parents having absolute control over all influences their kids encounter. For Steve, youth groups are just one more influence he'd have to worry about, so it's out. With family centered churches (which so many of the patriarchal types are into, also) Dad is always there with the family so he has full knowledge of what they hear, and can edit/take steps if necessary. No one is ever exposed to any knowledge that Dad is not also right there to hear.

...yes, it's creepy.

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To echo other posters, I don't think too many churches take the trouble to really check them out before inviting them. They either go with the recommendation of a trusted member (who may or may not be as conservative) or they will rent out to anyone that looks to be appropriate for the venue. However, once the conference is done, I suspect there's feedback not to mention probably WTF moments during the conference itself. I wouldn't put it past Steve to get testy with conference attendees or church personnel if someone decides to question him too much or maybe if something is not up to par with the church facility arrangement, such as room setup for example.

They are too insular to be willing to align themselves with another group and perhaps word is now getting around that there's some serious weirdness behind the wholesome family image.

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