Gwen Shamblin: Skinny for Jesus

[SJWaterford]

RFSurvivor(s)-question......what about listening devices, people following you, hacking, monitoring ect.? I have heard this from several people but don't know if it's what they heard or if it actually happened to them. 

[zeebaneighba]

On 7/20/2018 at 10:52 PM, sajetime said:

She reminds me of appearance-obsessed Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle in the Hairspray movie.

HA HA HA I was just coming there to post that very thought!  I watched Hairspray yesterday and all I could see was Gwen --

 

[RFSurvivor_2]

24 minutes ago, SJWaterford said:

So to chime in about this.......When I texted my child about knowing about Gwen's engagement, her response was "Yes! I'm so happy! The church is rejoicing!"

A church member told us that her reason for divorcing her husband was "biblical". Curious to what that means but I do believe that Joe started attending around Spring 2017. In my opinion she never would have pulled the plug on her marriage if she didn't have a backup plan. When I asked my child about the divorce end of last year, what she had been told was that they divorced and that it was peaceful. She thought it was apparently a done deal when actually it had just been filed. Heard second hand that the kids(Elizabeth and Michael were taking it hard). 

@SJWaterford

Ugh, I...It still burns me inside how they have warped and manipulated your daughter into thinking that this is right by any measure. I wish she can just leave that place and come back home to you, your husband and to those who truly want to see her grow and flourish. I have a clue as to who you are, who your daughter is, who she is now involved with, and how she got to this point. I would like formally send my deepest sympathies to you and your husband. NO ONE should have to go through with what you're going through. I sincerely hope that she comes back home to you...

"Biblical"...HAHA! There is photo and verbal evidence on many of the member's facebook pages as well as ex members and non members social media etc. He was in the picture long before the divorce. He and Gwen were "talking", seen in Destin etc together before the initial divorce filing ink had dried. She was dating (or rather courting) and talking to him during her marriage with David. I would go as far as to say that she was was emotionally (and quite possibly, physically) cheating on David while they were still married. According to Gwen's Wiki page, Gwen was divorced in 2017. This is a lie. According to the legitimate divorce documents that I have extensively read, SHE filed for divorce on 11/01/2017 and her divorce was final 06/21/2018. She was actively seeing Joe while she was still married to David. 

Biblical? Not even in the slightest. Her hypocrisy knows no bounds.

It wouldn't surprise me that this divorce is taking a toll on Elizabeth and Michael, especially Michael.

20 minutes ago, SJWaterford said:

RFSurvivor(s)-question......what about listening devices, people following you, hacking, monitoring ect.? I have heard this from several people but don't know if it's what they heard or if it actually happened to them. 

@SJWaterford, I can confirm that they have done this in the past and has continued to do this to an extent. I personally (without giving much detail) have been played as the hand of "espionage" before, appointed by leadership, all for the sake and grace of "God". Their reach has no bounds. For an individual that preaches "God will take care of you" a lot, Gwen sure doesn't have enough faith that he will. She and her leadership have historically invaded people's privacy, threatened those who have gone against them and have taken legal action(s) as against those who oppose her and her "church" well.

[RFSurvivor_2]

48 minutes ago, PianoGal said:

What are her beliefs on the Trinity? 

I can answer that but first, a history lesson.

Gwen released her (anti) "Trinity statement" in 2000 at the biggest WD conference historically. She got a LOT of negative backlash from it, to the point in which it nearly destroyed Weighdown.

She believes that the trinity is false and man made. She believes that God is God and he alone and has no equal. She believes that Jesus is God's only son and is indeed powerful, however 2nd to God, not directly equal in terms of overall status and power. She doesn't acknowledged the Holy Spirit as an entity that is directly to be compared to God and Jesus, but rather the Holy Spirit is an extension of their divine will. This of course, to be frank, pissed a lot of people off.

@RFsurvivor, please chime in on this and let me know if this is still accurate.

[SJWaterford]

1 hour ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

It's absolutely no problem @sajetime. I am grateful for the opportunity to share and even more grateful to now have the strength and resolve to share these experiences and perspectives on this topic. To my wife and I, this isn't about gossip or slandering but rather sharing factual information and perspectives about the true nature of this place and people. We do this with hopes that those who are curious, struggling against or confused about Gwen and her Remnant can read this and understand a lot more. We see it as a sense of a moral obligation, seeing as we know SO much about the inner workings of the church, leadership and Weighdown in the past and (even though so much has changed) in the present. They of course see it as a direct attack on them, their beliefs and livelyhood. If anything, if they are reading this forum, which I highly believe they are (why hello there), they probably are scrambling to figure out who we are.

1. What do you think her flock makes of her divorce/upcoming marriage? Will everyone just accept that wholeheartedly without judgment or will some people question that, at least inwardly?

- Fantastic question. To be blunt, I do not know. Her getting divorced is such a foundation shakeup that I am SURE there are a lot of members who view her differently now and some probably are starting to ask questions.  It wouldn't surprise me if she played the hardcore "victim" card to swoon the congregation (which she has done so historically for decades, and is extremely effective) and downplay the severity of her new "perspective" on  divorce and marriage. This is unfortunate, seeing as this is the Gwen Shamblin that has destroyed many people's lives by forcing them to stay with their abusers (husbands AND wives) as well as forced many marriages that should not have existed in the first place. Her past actions shouldn't be ignored and should be accounted for in conjunction with her recent divorce statement(s). The hypocrisy is real. Unfortunately, her congregation will remain ignorant of her past "deeds" and will take every word of hers as the truth.

From what her divorce decree/original filing says, it states that she and David divorced under the grounds of "irreconcilable differences". I heard rumors of emotional and mental abuse from both parties, however I cannot confirm this, nor do I care for such intricate details at this time. I am more or so focused on how the property division, 3.4m payout to David and he owning the Weighdown building are going to play out in the near future. Should be rather interesting to see how she, WD and the church "recovers" from this. I am not even sure if they know the intricate details of their divorce. I am sure many heads will turn if the members were to read the original divorce filing(s) and the final divorce agreement...
 

I wonder why she fought for the "beach property" which was in David's name and not for the Weighdown building? That seems a little selfish to me. And did the church pay rent to them since they owned the Weighdown building all these years? Seems kind of self serving to be receiving rent payments from a business you donated away. 

[luv2laugh]

Where can you guys see this? I can’t find anything on Google.

I’m looking at public photos of their Destin beachfront home. It’s $2.5 million and breathtaking. 

[WorseThan1Thinks]

 

25 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

Where can you guys see this? I can’t find anything on Google.

Gwen Shamblin's public divorce documents are out there. 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435533/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Complaint-for-Divorce
 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435572/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Final-Decree-of-Divorce

 

 

 

[luv2laugh]

Gwen should have made a ministry statement as to why she divorced David Shamblin.

By Biblical, did that member say Gwen divorced him for a “biblical reason” like being fat? Gwen implies if you are fat and stay that way, you are going to hell, per testimonies I’ve read. 

Her new guy is much younger and in shape. He was really good looking back in the Tarzan days. 

Dare I say Gwen might be committing... the sin of lust?
 

[sajetime]

2 hours ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

 

Gwen Shamblin's public divorce documents are out there. 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435533/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Complaint-for-Divorce
 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435572/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Final-Decree-of-Divorce

 

 

 

And just reading those made David $hamblin appear a lot more de$ireable.

Didnt someone say watch him lose weight now that they’ve parted? I think that he has! Check out new photo! (New one is on bottom!) He looks younger and happier!

[RFSurvivor_2]

3 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

I wonder why she fought for the "beach property" which was in David's name and not for the Weighdown building? That seems a little selfish to me. And did the church pay rent to them since they owned the Weighdown building all these years? Seems kind of self serving to be receiving rent payments from a business you donated away. 

Well, one of the properties that is now in her name was the old weighdown warehouse back in the early to late 00’s. I’m pretty sure that weighdown will be moved to that building if all else fails. 

The Destin property has historically been the “beach haven” for she, her family and countless memebrs. It has over time, become a...”spiritual landmark”so to speak. It’s even been touted as a “testament” to “God’s blessings” and such.

2 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

Gwen should have made a ministry statement as to why she divorced David Shamblin.

By Biblical, did that member say Gwen divorced him for a “biblical reason” like being fat? Gwen implies if you are fat and stay that way, you are going to hell, per testimonies I’ve read. 

Her new guy is much younger and in shape. He was really good looking back in the Tarzan days. 

Dare I say Gwen might be committing... the sin of lust?
 

Gwen did address her  “new perspective” and “revelation” on divorce and marriage. It’s posted here on the Remnant Fellowship website.

www.remnantfellowship.org/About-Our-Church/What-We-Believe/Divorce-and-Remarriage

***Note that this address has been edited and changes over the past few months.

[SJWaterford]

2 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

Gwen should have made a ministry statement as to why she divorced David Shamblin.

By Biblical, did that member say Gwen divorced him for a “biblical reason” like being fat? Gwen implies if you are fat and stay that way, you are going to hell, per testimonies I’ve read. 

Her new guy is much younger and in shape. He was really good looking back in the Tarzan days. 

Dare I say Gwen might be committing... the sin of lust?
 

Joe doesn't look like that now! LOL   Remember he tried to go country since then. Failed actor, failed musician. 

[RFsurvivor]

12 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

I'm so happy that it seems like your marriage made it out of Remnant intact and that you have each other to lean on. Thank you for being so open. 

Thanks! Our situation is weird since most people only one in a couple may leave and will have marital issues. It probably helped that @RFSurvivor_2 and I weren't set up by leadership and had a real friendship and relationship that led to our marriage.

[luv2laugh]

Why did that one girl, that married the son of Remnant leaders, get a divorce and is now remarrying another Remnant member?
How does Remnant handle divorce and remarriage?

[SJWaterford]

37 minutes ago, sajetime said:

And just reading those made David $hamblin appear a lot more de$ireable.

Didnt someone say watch him lose weight now that they’ve parted? I think that he has! Check out new photo! (New one is on bottom!) He looks younger and happier!

I'm happy for him. Sorry that his family has been destroyed, but he deserves better than what crazy woman had to offer him. Hopefully he can maintain his relationship with his kids. Maybe someday he will decide to tell his story. 

 

[RFSurvivor_2]

1 minute ago, RFsurvivor said:

Thanks! Our situation is weird since most people only one in a couple may leave and will have marital issues. It probably helped that @RFSurvivor_2 and I weren't set up by leadership and had a real friendship and relationship that led to our marriage.

Yeah, we took our time and in fact, we didn’t take the church’s stereotypical fast marriages in high regard. We made it one of our relationship goals to take it slow and not fall into the “get married as soon as possible” trap many of our former friends fell into.

It also helped that we saw life and the church in a unique prespective. We viewed a lot of the core beliefs and elements of the church from an objective view vs a highly subjective one. Because we were open minded, asked questions and did our research, we were regarded as “loose cannons”. If anything, that label / trope and the position we were in drew is closer.

 

[RFsurvivor]

4 hours ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

I can answer that but first, a history lesson.

Gwen released her (anti) "Trinity statement" in 2000 at the biggest WD conference historically. She got a LOT of negative backlash from it, to the point in which it nearly destroyed Weighdown.

She believes that the trinity is false and man made. She believes that God is God and he alone and has no equal. She believes that Jesus is God's only son and is indeed powerful, however 2nd to God, not directly equal in terms of overall status and power. She doesn't acknowledged the Holy Spirit as an entity that is directly to be compared to God and Jesus, but rather the Holy Spirit is an extension of their divine will. This of course, to be frank, pissed a lot of people off.

@RFsurvivor, please chime in on this and let me know if this is still accurate.

For those more curious about the written beliefs, they are kinda open. See the following link:

http://www.remnantfellowship.org/About-Our-Church/What-We-Believe/What-We-Believe-Video-Resources

But for reference the stance on divorce is VERY new from my understanding. From what I have heard, the members are being led to believe that the divorce was final last year (not true) and that David filed (also not true) and that it was God's will (laughable in my opinion). 

Trinity...this stance is what almost stopped Gwen...one of the main things that happened to cause Gwen to start WD was she spoke in a conference about "the state of the church" and denounced the trinity and that she was leaving "mainstream christianity" to seek God. This was the start of RF and the start of many churches no longer running her WD classes. See this link for the RF stance on Trinity in their words: http://www.remnantfellowship.org/About-Our-Church/What-We-Believe/The-Essence-Of-God

[RFSurvivor_2]

2 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

Why did that one girl, that married the son of Remnant leaders, get a divorce and is now remarrying another Remnant member?
How does Remnant handle divorce and remarriage?

Hi!

If you can, please read this: http://www.remnantfellowship.org/About-Our-Church/What-We-Believe/Divorce-and-Remarriage

It addresses their “newfound revelation” on marriage and divorce. Before this, before Joe, before this mass divorce spree the church has experienced in the past year, divorce WAS EXTREMELY taboo. As stated in page 14 of this forum, Gwen has destroyed people’s lives by bringing couples who should’ve been divorced back together or has forced couples that clearly shouldn’t have been together, to be together. 

 

 

[luv2laugh]

How big of a player is Remnant in the entire Brentwood community? Is it sort of like if you visit Orem, Utah, you stick out like a sore thumb if you're not a Mormon? Does the church dominate Brentwood or play a smaller part?
 

Is Gwen accessible to all members or is she more standoffish? Does she regularly engage with all sorts of members besides speaking on stage? I get the sense that the upper ranks of  Remnant is cliquey as I see the same faces and same names in MANY photos...

Are most Remnant members homeschooling or allowing them to go to public/private schools?

 

 

[sajetime]

3 hours ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

 

Gwen Shamblin's public divorce documents are out there. 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435533/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Complaint-for-Divorce
 

https://www.scribd.com/document/384435572/Gwen-Shamblin-Divorce-Final-Decree-of-Divorce

 

 

 

I have a feeling she’ll be getting one of those  “biblical reasons” prenups for the next marriage.

 

[RFsurvivor]

4 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

RFSurvivor(s)-question......what about listening devices, people following you, hacking, monitoring ect.? I have heard this from several people but don't know if it's what they heard or if it actually happened to them. 

Like @RFSurvivor_2 said, yes similar things have been done in the past. People are told to watch and pay attention depending on situations. People are sent on basically missions to get information out of people. People will pay a lot of attention to social media. There is a learned expectation that if a church members sees or hears something "out of line" that you are to gather the evidence and provide it to leadership. Or if leadership is interested in some information, members may be asked to have sit down meetings with leadership and they are expected to tell them anything and everything.

[RFsurvivor]

12 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

How big of a player is Remnant in the entire Brentwood community? Is it sort of like if you visit Orem, Utah, you stick out like a sore thumb if you're not a Mormon? Does the church dominate Brentwood or play a smaller part?
 

Is Gwen accessible to all members or is she more offstandish? Does she regularly engage with all sorts of members besides speaking on stage? I get the sense that the upper ranks of  Remnant is cliquey as I see the same face and same names in MANY photos...

Are most Remnant members homeschooling or allowing them to go to public/private schools?

 

 

Not that big as to compare to Mormon, but if you live there you probably have heard about the church. Or if you go to school in the area, you have heard about them/know a few from school. Many members homeschool at a young age, but many also do public school at the local brentwood schools. However, it is basically required to hang out with RF people if available. If I didn't show up to the RF lunch table one day (for whatever reason) I was given a hard time about not fellowshipping. 

 

Gwen is accessible to all members, but most members will not go to her directly. They will go to their leader first and then maybe Gwen afterwards. Gwen does have a core group of people who handle everything for her which are probably all of those same faces you see. The upper tier of the church is very cliquey. There is an inner circle of leadership and a select few. They are all at her beck and call. It is ridiculous how they act around her. Fetching her a diet coke and cheese and crackers at her command...or wine if it was late enough to drink. I do not think in the whole time I was a member, I ever saw Gwen eat real food, it was always tiny snacky foods and a diet coke. 

[WorseThan1Thinks]

11 minutes ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

Before this, before Joe, before this mass divorce spree the church has experienced in the past year, divorce WAS EXTREMELY taboo. As stated in page 14 of this forum, Gwen has destroyed people’s lives by bringing couples who should’ve been divorced back together or has forced couples that clearly shouldn’t have been together, to be together. 

 

 

Divorce wasn't taboo if one spouse was against Remnant.  That I know from personal experience. 

If the non-Remnant spouse just laid low and didn't get in the way of the other Remnant spouse - as long as the non-Remnant spouse didn't raise too much of a ruckus, then yes, Gwen wouldn't allow the Remnant spouse to divorce them.  But if the non-Remnant spouse didn't just idly sit back and instead tried to get their spouse out of Remnant, then divorce absolutely was an option.

[RFSurvivor_2]

6 minutes ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

Divorce wasn't taboo if one spouse was against Remnant.  That I know from personal experience. 

If the non-Remnant spouse just laid low and didn't get in the way of the other Remnant spouse - as long as the non-Remnant spouse didn't raise too much of a ruckus, then yes, Gwen wouldn't allow the Remnant spouse to divorce them.  But if the non-Remnant spouse didn't just idly sit back and instead tried to get their spouse out of Remnant, then divorce absolutely was an option.

True, however it varies among different couples and situations. Generally speaking, divorce was still a last case scenario. Even if the spouse was deemed an “enemy” or “unruly”, divorce was strategically and meticulously planned and considered before the “trigger” was finally pulled. Over time this has gotten more lax, eventually up to point where the church is now.

[luv2laugh]

I can only find her Overcome video she on YouTube. Is there anyway we can watch her sermons? I want to take a peek inside the crazy. 

[LovelyLuna]

I skimmed the divorce essay and I’m peeved how much they quote Jewish law and custom when they are not fucking Jewish. Especially since the the Jewish custom of divorce protects the women in a marriage, something I find progressive and non fundie.  Also encouraging people to not eat (sans certain fasting holidays) is contradictory to every Jewish ethos I know. You don’t get to do that Gwen.