Gwen Shamblin: Skinny for Jesus

[RFSurvivor_2]

6 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

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. 

@luv2laugh, unfortunately I cannot find any sermons without ordering them directly from the Weigh Down store, which I do not intend to. Times like these, I sort of regret sending all of our wild WD and RF materials (including recorded sermons) to the dump. They would’ve been vital (and entertaining) sources of information to share.

Either way, we are glad that the taint and trace of RF and WD is gone from our home. I may be able to get an RF webcast link from one of my sources, however I do not want to overreach and place myself in a position in which I can get caught.

[Truth sets you free]

7 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

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. 

Check this link out on Youtube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/RFChurch/videos

 

You can pick and choose between "You Can Overcome" and sermons (sermons have a picture of the church in the background)....

[WorseThan1Thinks]

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. 

 

58 minutes ago, Truth sets you free said:

Check this link out on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/RFChurch/videos

You can pick and choose between "You Can Overcome" and sermons (sermons have a picture of the church in the background)....

Those youtube videos are essentially 2 categories.  Their 'You Can Overcome' shows (basically just infomercials for Weigh Down/Remnant) or just highlights of certain weekends, etc.

I give Remnant one thing, they are very tech savvy and have a huge web presence.  They have multiple websites and are very active on all the social media sites.  They have been streaming their services for years and years for members who don't live near Brentwood (or those who aren't losing enough weight and asked to watch from home).  I promise you they are all recorded, archived and transcribed "for the future generations to hear this truth".

In this day and age, almost every single church out there has audio and/or video of their weekly sermons on their website for free.  Most have extensive libraries of their sermons going back years.  But despite Remnant having some very tech savvy staff, they don't just want to freely share their 'truth'.  The 100s and 100s of Gwen's Saturday 'sermons' are not posted publicly. 

But their online store does take Visa/Mastercard and you can find some stuff there.

 

[sajetime]

RFSurvivors, what is known of Joe, besides his acting/singing pursuits? How was he introduced to Gwen/the church? Would he be made a leader? Has he been married/does he have kids ... debts ... other baggage? Is he working now? Does he have money? Is he well known to that community? Isn’t he quite a bit younger than Gwen?

[luv2laugh]

Does Gwen plan on announcing her engagement? Will she hold a huge bash like she does for all members? 

11 minutes ago, sajetime said:

RFSurvivors, what is known of Joe, besides his acting/singing pursuits? How was he introduced to Gwen/the church? Would he be made a leader? Has he been married/does he have kids? Is he working now?

Also curious. I looked him up and yes, he was previously married and articles mentioned children.

The new marriage doesn’t look good for her brand which touts young, lavish, and everlasting marriages.

[Truth sets you free]

25 minutes ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

 

Those youtube videos are essentially 2 categories.  Their 'You Can Overcome' shows (basically just infomercials for Weigh Down/Remnant) or just highlights of certain weekends, etc.

I give Remnant one thing, they are very tech savvy and have a huge web presence.  They have multiple websites and are very active on all the social media sites.  They have been streaming their services for years and years for members who don't live near Brentwood (or those who aren't losing enough weight and asked to watch from home).  I promise you they are all recorded, archived and transcribed "for the future generations to hear this truth".

In this day and age, almost every single church out there has audio and/or video of their weekly sermons on their website for free.  Most have extensive libraries of their sermons going back years.  But despite Remnant having some very tech savvy staff, they don't just want to freely share their 'truth'.  The 100s and 100s of Gwen's Saturday 'sermons' are not posted publicly. 

But their online store does take Visa/Mastercard and you can find some stuff there.

 

So true - but if you scroll further down and see pictures of the church in the background of the video title - those are full sermons (God First, The Super Community of Love, The Purpose of Suffering, Obedience to God, etc.).  You just have to scroll down further....

[RFSurvivor_2]

1 hour ago, Truth sets you free said:

So true - but if you scroll further down and see pictures of the church in the background of the video title - those are full sermons (God First, The Super Community of Love, The Purpose of Suffering, Obedience to God, etc.).  You just have to scroll down further....

This is accurate. I checked and can confirm that they posted a FEW full sermons onto their YouTube channel. Those are the sermons they want you to see. They are the “easy to digest” ones so to speak. Gwen typically brings up a “light” and “easy” topic or topics of on You Can Overcome and touches on them from a surface standpoint. It gets real REAL deep when Saturday morning comes. Real deep.

 

I used to voulenteer at WD and archive a LOT of WD and RF videos. There are many sermons out there that will never see the  light of day because of the eyebrow raising and shocking nature of what she says in them, what transpires and the cultish “traditions” that occur. They keep their doors closed for a reason.

[luv2laugh]

Gwen Shamblin put this in the recent statement on the church website stance on divorce and remarriage:

Quote

”If any party is in breach of their Covenant or their Vows of Responsibility and refuses to repent and fulfill their vows, then there are grounds for divorce. “

”So by definition of a husband and wife, it was forbidden to be lazy, indulgent, self-centered, neglectful spouses, nor were they allowed to be controlling, manipulative, angry, raging people.”

“A God-fearing man encourages his wife and has respect for her intellect and her gifts - always including the wife's gifts in managing the household. “

”

What happens in marriage situations with mockers of God's religious system is that they will use the very system that they mock to keep their spouse oppressed under their use and abuse. It is ironic that they uphold nothing else of the law. (“

”

”In this world of legalism, when shepherds and Bible translators misinterpreted God and villainized "divorce," it brought shame where God never intended shame to be and left victims in oppression and riddled the church with symbolic violence. This wrong has to be righted, and every marriage in God's True Church should be absolutely beautiful, peaceful and noble.”

”Even in situations of sin or adultery, marriage became basically undissolvable. This demonic approach led to great abuse of both men and women, inciting pagan unbelievers to take advantage of this oppressive arrangement. This has brought great grief to the abused and to the Heavenly Father, no doubt. Many other denominations also wrongly hold a similar legalistic stance, which has only encouraged more sin of just "living together" without lawful marriage at all.”

”Other criteria is how long has the Saintly spouse been making an effort to have reverent submission and be respectful? How many years have they been trying? How perfect is the Saint? Finally, what is the real potential for conversion?”

 

I take that as her dig at David. David never attended the church and was known for being heavy. I think she grew upset with David because of his idol with food, possibly saw him as lazy, and I believe David told her that she’d never divorce him because her flock would leave over what the Bible says on it. 

I think Gwen is justifying divorce and remarriage to include if a spouse is against attending church, has idols, and is unrepetant and won’t change. It also justifies her ability to retain members and arrange for them to remarry if their spouse wants to leave them church one day. I agree with Gwen that everyone has a right to divorce but for different reasons obviously.

Could there be an NDA agreement in the divorce so David can’t speak out to the public, if he ever wants to?

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

[Alisamer]

I watched a few minutes of one of the Overcome shows, and I have a question. Is all the music related to the church like that? Because what played at the beginning of that video was one of the worst autotune disasters I have ever heard, and I've heard Rebecca Black's Friday and some early Ke$ha songs!

[RFSurvivor_2]

1 minute ago, Alisamer said:

I watched a few minutes of one of the Overcome shows, and I have a question. Is all the music related to the church like that? Because what played at the beginning of that video was one of the worst autotune disasters I have ever heard, and I've heard Rebecca Black's Friday and some early Ke$ha songs!

Yes. Yes and yes. 

The Shamblin’s have a borderline monopoly on the music there. The majority of the music that has been produced, written and performed there have been through or by Michael Shamblin. There are of course others such as David Martin (leadership), Michaels sister Michelle, and many others, however Michael takes center stage.

[luv2laugh]

6 minutes ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

Yes. Yes and yes. 

The Shamblin’s have a borderline monopoly on the music there. The majority of the music that has been produced, written and performed there have been through or by Michael Shamblin. There are of course others such as David Martin (leadership), Michaels sister Michelle, and many others, however Michael takes center stage.

Why is she so against members listening to other music? 

[RFSurvivor_2]

6 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

Why is she so against members listening to other music? 

Indoctrination. Control. Self promotion. Money earnings.

She has stated in the past that members should ONLY focus on music that “lifts them up and focuses them up to God”. They put heavy emphasis and focus on Remnant Fellowship music and praise members who ONLY listen to their music. They do not endorse the absorption of “secular” music although they claim that a member can still grab “symbolic” messages from said music. 

What’s odd about Gwen and her leadership’s position on music is that they turn their noses to contemporary Christian music, yet, push and highly praise their own music (which to be frank a lot of is not good, but from a production / mixing standpoint it is really good). 

[neurogirl]

I have two possibly-related questions:

What are the youth programs like? Is there Sunday School, youth group during the week, etc.? What do they do/talk about?

Is there a specific age at which members are told about WD and watching their weight? Or are kids who grow up in the church just indoctrinated by the constant presence of the belief without a specific "now Sally, you're 11 so you need to lose weight"? 

Thank you so much for opening up about this horrifying but fascinating cult. 

[nelliebelle1197]

14 hours ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

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.

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.

Is it not hilarious how there is something in the christian bible to justify ANYTHING?

[sajetime]

Remnant Fellowship prides itself on producing disciplined, under-authority, well-behaved, blessed children. But what they go to great lengths to hide is that they are just like every other church, with plenty of troubled children.

In the last six months or so, there have been at least two deaths of young men in their early 20s whose families were rooted in Remnant (one of the families is in leadership). Both had been involved with drugs.

I don't blame Remnant for that.

I do wonder if they were self-medicating conditions that could have been improved by doctor-prescribed psychiatric medicine, which the church is so opposed to.

[Georgiana]

3 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Is it not hilarious how there is something in the christian bible to justify ANYTHING?

Heck, there's probably something in the Bible to justify using the Bible to justify literally anything.

I'm at work, so I can't check that, but just off the top of my head, I don't even think that would be a difficult scriptural argument to make! 

[Alisamer]

6 minutes ago, sajetime said:

I do wonder if they were self-medicating conditions that could have been improved by doctor-prescribed psychiatric medicine, which the church is so opposed to.

I suspect a large number of people with drug addictions are self-medicating for something. It's a terrible disease.

I really dislike when churches are against psychiatric medicine, as I have just in the last couple weeks gotten back to the point of functioning like a normal person again! I may try upping my dose one more time to see if I continue to improve, but for the first time in literally 10 years I am actually enjoying my multitude of hobbies and actually completing projects again. I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until I felt better and was able to do more than work and sleep! 

I have another stupid question. How, exactly, does cooking work in this church? If you're supposed to "wait for the growl" then eat a few bites of whatever it is you are craving, how does that even work? Seems like it would be difficult to plan meals. I personally hate cooking, because it's just me in the house and it seems like a giant waste of time and energy. I can't imagine trying to cook for myself if I knew I'd only eat two or three bites of whatever I was making. It's hard enough to find single-serving recipes!

[Truth sets you free]

6 hours ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

Indoctrination. Control. Self promotion. Money earnings.

She has stated in the past that members should ONLY focus on music that “lifts them up and focuses them up to God”. They put heavy emphasis and focus on Remnant Fellowship music and praise members who ONLY listen to their music. They do not endorse the absorption of “secular” music although they claim that a member can still grab “symbolic” messages from said music. 

What’s odd about Gwen and her leadership’s position on music is that they turn their noses to contemporary Christian music, yet, push and highly praise their own music (which to be frank a lot of is not good, but from a production / mixing standpoint it is really good). 

I was in a recent class where it was strongly recommended that the class participants not read or listen to any other messages except Weigh Down/Remnant material. If you did read something that wasn’t Gwen then you were “mixing the messages” and would then be in the “torture zone” (all their terms). It’s a very shaming ministry. I can’t believe I was involved now looking back.  

11 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I suspect a large number of people with drug addictions are self-medicating for something. It's a terrible disease.

I really dislike when churches are against psychiatric medicine, as I have just in the last couple weeks gotten back to the point of functioning like a normal person again! I may try upping my dose one more time to see if I continue to improve, but for the first time in literally 10 years I am actually enjoying my multitude of hobbies and actually completing projects again. I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until I felt better and was able to do more than work and sleep! 

I have another stupid question. How, exactly, does cooking work in this church? If you're supposed to "wait for the growl" then eat a few bites of whatever it is you are craving, how does that even work? Seems like it would be difficult to plan meals. I personally hate cooking, because it's just me in the house and it seems like a giant waste of time and energy. I can't imagine trying to cook for myself if I knew I'd only eat two or three bites of whatever I was making. It's hard enough to find single-serving recipes!

Basically you are starving so you growl while you are prepping your meals. It’s very legalistic. I was more food focused when I did Weigh Down because I was always trying to listen for the growl and make sure I got the growl (which meant very very small meals). It became obsesssive and yes, you drop the weight fast but only because you are now anorexic. Ugh. But that’s okay - because you are now pretty! (Insert sarcasm). 

[luv2laugh]

16 minutes ago, Truth sets you free said:

 

Basically you are starving so you growl while you are prepping your meals. It’s very legalistic. I was more food focused when I did Weigh Down because I was always trying to listen for the growl and make sure I got the growl (which meant very very small meals). It became obsesssive and yes, you drop the weight fast but only because you are now anorexic. Ugh. But that’s okay - because you are now pretty! (Insert sarcasm). 

How could someone function and go to work like that? 

How many bites per meal are the average?

 

WTF. No food for up to 36 hours? 

 

[RFsurvivor]

4 hours ago, neurogirl said:

I have two possibly-related questions:

What are the youth programs like? Is there Sunday School, youth group during the week, etc.? What do they do/talk about?

Is there a specific age at which members are told about WD and watching their weight? Or are kids who grow up in the church just indoctrinated by the constant presence of the belief without a specific "now Sally, you're 11 so you need to lose weight"? 

Thank you so much for opening up about this horrifying but fascinating cult. 

One of the things they pride themselves on is that the youth listen to the same sermons as the adults. There are youth events throughout the week (more in summer because of no school). Due to being in the same sermons as adults, many children just grow up hearing about "waiting for the growl" and are easily indoctrinated with the teachings. 

1 hour ago, sajetime said:

Remnant Fellowship prides itself on producing disciplined, under-authority, well-behaved, blessed children. But what they go to great lengths to hide is that they are just like every other church, with plenty of troubled children.

In the last six months or so, there have been at least two deaths of young men in their early 20s whose families were rooted in Remnant (one of the families is in leadership). Both had been involved with drugs.

I don't blame Remnant for that.

I do wonder if they were self-medicating conditions that could have been improved by doctor-prescribed psychiatric medicine, which the church is so opposed to.

Some of the children in my opinion are worse than "worldly" children. They think they run the world and that they are of a chosen people...

I would disagree about not blaming Remnant. I knew both of the men who passed recently. They both had rough times, but honestly had much better lives when they were not in Remnant versus when they were...They were troubled mostly due to oppressive Remnant beliefs, how their families treated them, the way their parents tried to handle their drug problems (basically only prayer), and the oppressive nature of being an in and out member that were always being "lovebombed" (aka harassed) to rejoin the truth. The experience of being "loved" by RF members and the extent of guilt tripping is insane. There is a reason when I left I cut off all communication with 99.99% of the members.   

[RFsurvivor]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

I have another stupid question. How, exactly, does cooking work in this church? If you're supposed to "wait for the growl" then eat a few bites of whatever it is you are craving, how does that even work? Seems like it would be difficult to plan meals. I personally hate cooking, because it's just me in the house and it seems like a giant waste of time and energy. I can't imagine trying to cook for myself if I knew I'd only eat two or three bites of whatever I was making. It's hard enough to find single-serving recipes!

You have lots and lots of leftovers. Seriously. Many people barely cook and live off of snacky food. So wasteful :/

50 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

How could someone function and go to work like that? 

How many bites per meal are the average?

 

WTF. No food for up to 36 hours? 

 

From many years experience, it is very very difficult to function in this way. Depending on the person and if they had weight on them, I know of people who would eat half of a cracker over the course of 36 hours along with some gummy vitamins because you were only supposed to eat to stop the growl. I would sometime eat less than a kid's meal of food from a restaurant for a full day's worth of food when I had no excess weight.

[FullOfGravy]

5 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Is it not hilarious how there is something in the christian bible to justify ANYTHING?

One of the ministers at my childhood church used to say that the Bible is like a Rorschach inkblot; the messages and lessons you take from it say more about you than about the Bible.  If you're looking for love, forgiveness, and kindness, you can find them.  If you're looking for a way to feel superior to everyone else, you can find that.  And if you're looking for justification for your eating disorder, apparently you can find that too.

 

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

I personally hate cooking, because it's just me in the house and it seems like a giant waste of time and energy.

Ugh, trying to eat healthy foods while living alone.  The worst is trying to buy produce in quantities that won't go bad before I get through them.  The local farmers' market helps in the summer and fall, but then there's January, when the only greens available are huge tubs of spinach and kale at the grocery store.  (At the moment, it's cherry season here, and I'm basically living on them until peach season starts)

[RFSurvivor_2]

2 hours ago, sajetime said:

Remnant Fellowship prides itself on producing disciplined, under-authority, well-behaved, blessed children. But what they go to great lengths to hide is that they are just like every other church, with plenty of troubled children.

In the last six months or so, there have been at least two deaths of young men in their early 20s whose families were rooted in Remnant (one of the families is in leadership). Both had been involved with drugs.

I don't blame Remnant for that.

I do wonder if they were self-medicating conditions that could have been improved by doctor-prescribed psychiatric medicine, which the church is so opposed to.

The deaths of those two young men you speak of are direct results of their longstanding involvement of Remnant Fellowship over the vast majority of their young lives. I knew them both personally for a long time and deeply at some points. They were brothers to me, @sajetime. To say that you don't blame Remnant is spoken out of ignorance and not understanding the intricate details, and the overall picture as to what led them to where they are now. Remnant Fellowship has a huge part to play in this.

I saw their struggle. I was with them growing up in the church and was shoulder to shoulder with them when they were at some of their lowest points. I knew what they were going through. When I was at my darkest points while in the church, trying to find out who I was, why I existed and WHY I was in so much pain, they were there. I would spot them "around town", while they were on benders. I would see them at the same clubs I would go to where they were maxed out on multiple chemical concoctions. I would finish my set(s) and work soon sometimes OR if I wasn't performing, be there for them as a familiar face in a sea of strangers. I was there at times to there to help them, talk to them and get them sobered up during those times as well. They were hurting. They were in constant mental torment. They were at times shunned, outcast and degraded by their own families. During the end of their days, they tried and fought hard to sober up, get back on track and become productive members of society as well as make their families proud. Unfortunately, at the end as they were trying to climb back to sobriety and peace, they lost all hope. Their addictions won at the end.

With that being said...

I understand and acknowledge that every creature on this planet that possesses the ability to cognitively for themselves, as well as make conscious/self aware decisions are and SHOULD be responsible for their actions. I hold a deep connection with the concept of personal responsibility. Every action comes with a consequence. In the case of those young men, they indeed were responsible for their actions that lead them to their deaths. HOWEVER it was Remnant Fellowship, it's leader and teachings that laid the foundation in which they were set up to fail. 

Historically, Remnant Fellowship youth were/are not properly equipped with the wisdom and guidance on how deal with the mental, emotional, (in this case) spiritual stresses, temptations and struggles of the "world". They were given the Remnant Fellowship way of dealing with "The World" (as they call it) and its "sinful desires" and "pulls", however their philosophy and ways of living, as we all know on this forum, is toxic and the opposite of proper living. They were, like the adult members of the church were shunned and discouraged from reaching out to receive legitimate medical and mental help from licensed professionals and doctors (outside the church of course).

Being raised in the "Brentwood/Remnant Bubble" cult environment has had VAST effects on youth who have left. There are ex-RF youth now, as I type, that are still addicted to drugs, have various mental, physical and emotional issues.  If I were to share the negative impact(s) and experiences that each and every former RF youth (that I know if, including my wife and I) has dealt with after during and after leaving the cult/church, I would have enough material to write a small novel. I am not kidding, nor am I exaggerating.

As far as the specifics involving what they were "taking" when they were dealing with their pain, I do not know the exact amount nor do I know how many different types of medicines and drugs they were taking. The list WAS LONG, and I do not know if they were properly prescribed any antidepressants. They were in and out of rehab, however the "rehab" industry itself is corrupt and finding a proper facility that helps its patience is very hard, especially in the middle Tennessee area.

[SJWaterford]

10 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

Does Gwen plan on announcing her engagement? Will she hold a huge bash like she does for all members? 

Also curious. I looked him up and yes, he was previously married and articles mentioned children.

The new marriage doesn’t look good for her brand which touts young, lavish, and everlasting marriages.

Joe does have a very young child that Gwen will soon become stepmom to. i am very concerned about that. 

 

[RFSurvivor_2]

17 minutes ago, SJWaterford said:

Joe does have a very young child that Gwen will soon become stepmom to. i am very concerned about that. 

 

That in itself is a big issue and is currently / actively in the crosshairs of Joe and Gwen. Right now they are trying to gain full custody of Joe’s daughter so they can fully integrate into the cult. Joe’s ex-girlfriend, the child’s mother, is fighting tooth and nail to keep her child from those lunatics. Unfortunately because of the legal power Gwen has and the connections she has maintained till this day, it’s looking like white the uphill battle.

I am extemely concerned for that poor child.