James Ference is on wife #6

[DomWackTroll]

I'd say "He ain't all that", but it would be the grossest understatement of the 21st century.

We've been hearing the same explanations from these women for years: "He makes you feel needed", "He makes you feel special", etc. To hear them talk, you'd think this guy has the charisma of Bill Clinton, Cary Grant, and Rasputin combined. Somehow, I just doubt it. 

[fundiefan]

How? 

I am freaking terrified that there are enough stupid, insecure, willfully ignorant women in the world to keep him in wives and children and divorces.

If that is what god wants of people - worshippers who are everything wrong with humanity - I'm glad yet again that I have nothing to do with that deity. 

[DomWackTroll]

Is there any video of James Ference? If I saw him speaking and moving, would I understand this purported magnetism? 

[Palimpsest]

22 minutes ago, DomWackTroll said:

Is there any video of James Ference? If I saw him speaking and moving, would I understand this purported magnetism? 

Probably not.  If you could hear his seduction routine you might understand it though.  You might even fall for it.

IMO, he's a common or garden con artist.  Or scammer if you prefer the term.  He seeks out prey who are at a vulnerable point in their lives, figures out their weaknesses, and worms his way in by telling them exactly what they want to hear.  And exactly what they want to believe.  That is why they fall for him.  He's a pathological liar and brilliant at psychological manipulation.  He has found vulnerable Christian women to be a very profitable hunting ground but he could target any one of us next.

I'm a firm believer that there are only three types of people in the world: Those who have been scammed and know it; those who have been scammed but don't know it yet; and those who have not been scammed.  Yet.   I don't think anybody should consider themselves too smart or too informed to be vulnerable to skilled con artists.  No-one is immune.

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by Palimpsest
messed up edits

[ViolaSebastian]

In addition to @Palimpsest's great description of a con artist, I also think that part of what's going on is the belief that he instills in these women that they will be "the one" to fix poor, broken James Ference and live happily ever after. It's a message that society reinforces in women and girls--that their position in the world is to fix broken men. There's also a good chance that he's denigrating his past ex-wives to his current mark--the run in that I had with a man like this (though to a lesser degree) involved that kind of manipulation. You get it in your head that he's been treated oh-so-badly in the past and that you're going to be the woman that finally treats him right. Gag.

ETA: I thought of another point. If I had to guess, he is initiating physical contact very soon into the relationship with these women. It's a tactic used by non-fundie-world con men, as it gets the feel good chemicals going that cloud people's judgment until they're too far in. With women in fundamentalism, it's boosted because they typically don't have the same experience with that early infatuation stage and don't realize that its a feeling that is biochemical and common. Plus, if you can get a fundie woman to get physical with you (in any respect, really, even hugging and kissing), there's a certain amount of guilt and shame that goes on that makes them more vulnerable to him. 

 

Edited January 30, 2019 by ViolaSebastian

[Palimpsest]

I'm so sorry that happened to you, @ViolaSebastian.  Con artists are very skillful.

I'll eat my hat if the "poor, misunderstood, unfairly treated, broken, man with a wife that treats him badly" technique isn't what Doug Phillips (Con Artist and Tool) is using on his burlesque dancers and Hannah Snow.

Edited January 30, 2019 by Palimpsest

[ViolaSebastian]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

I'm so sorry that happened to you, @ViolaSebastian.  Con artists are very skillful.

I'll eat my hat if the "poor, misunderstood, unfairly treated, broken, man with a wife that treats him badly" technique isn't what Doug Phillips (Con Artist and Tool) is using on his burlesque dancers and Hannah Snow.

Like you mentioned, he caught me at a rough time--I had just been dumped by a man who I loved and was looking for someone again, way too soon. Fortunately, I realized fairly quickly that his life, as he presented it, was nothing but lies and that he was a very, very bad person. I have a way of keeping tabs on him and he just spent December in jail for beating his soon-to-be ex-wife who he married after knowing her six weeks. It really can happen to anyone, and it's why I try to encourage people in my life to take time to heal before jumping back into the dating scene. 

[hoipolloi]

5 hours ago, DomWackTroll said:

Is there any video of James Ference? If I saw him speaking and moving, would I understand this purported magnetism? 

Ask and ye shall receive!

ETA: link to one of the videos, featuring James playing piano & singing!

It's long gone now but I remember seeing a video that Natalie posted on YouTube of James playing the piano for her parents & others. It must have been recorded not long after their marriage, and even then you could see how uncomfortable her parents were -- they were obviously trying to be courteous but clearly thinking WTAF has Natalie done?

[bea]

WTF Natalie had done was build an entire life around being a pure Christian fairytale princess. Only the prince filed for divorce and..... then what. Pure Christian princesses are supposed to become happy homeschooling Christian moms ASAP, not a divorcée after a year (or less?) of marriage. Someone who had their entire sense of self-worth tied up in being what she WASN’T anymore was an easy target for James.

It boggles the mind that people who’ve been allowed to be grownups fall for James, though. Natalie at least had a reason.

[hoipolloi]

25 minutes ago, bea said:

WTF Natalie had done was build an entire life around being a pure Christian fairytale princess. Only the prince filed for divorce and..... then what. Pure Christian princesses are supposed to become happy homeschooling Christian moms ASAP, not a divorcée after a year (or less?) of marriage. Someone who had their entire sense of self-worth tied up in being what she WASN’T anymore was an easy target for James.

It boggles the mind that people who’ve been allowed to be grownups fall for James, though. Natalie at least had a reason.

You're right, and I blame her parents for the debacle of her first failed marriage which, of course, left her vulnerable to a predator like James Ference.

Meanwhile, I'd missed the fact that her father, Paul Nyquist, got turfed out of his post at Moody early last year amid questions over his management and his luxury housing financed by Moody:

Quote

 

Though IRS rules prohibit non-profits from loaning officers and board members money, or providing them with facilities and services, the MBI board apparently has been engaging in this practice, called “self-dealing,” for years.

In 2009, the institute gave President Paul Nyquist a $500,000 interest-only loan to buy a $1.08 million condo “adjacent to the institute.”  This was at a time when the institute was experiencing significant financial stress, which has only exacerbated over subsequent years.  Recently, the institute announced it is closing its Spokane campus and cutting one-third of its faculty due to financial troubles. 

 

 

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, hoipolloi said:

Ask and ye shall receive!

ETA: link to one of the videos, featuring James playing piano & singing!

 

Watch the dog!  I swear he tries to put his paws over his ears, then hide under the couch, and finally has the sense to leave the room. 

26 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

Meanwhile, I'd missed the fact that her father, Paul Nyquist, got turfed out of his post at Moody early last year amid questions over his management and his luxury housing financed by Moody:

 That all sounds remarkably fishy.

[hoipolloi]

7 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

That all sounds remarkably fishy.

Fishy but not unusual. 

RC Sproul Sr & wife lived in Ligonier-owned property, which can't be low-rent given real estate prices in that area. IIRC, Vesta essentially retains a life occupancy of the same. Don't know if other family members -- e.g., Spanky or his adult children -- had similar benefits while they were in FL.

[thoughtful]

On 1/30/2019 at 4:26 PM, Palimpsest said:

Watch the dog!  I swear he tries to put his paws over his ears, then hide under the couch, and finally has the sense to leave the room. 

Thanks for pointing that out.

Good dog! 

Here's a treat: ?

 

Edited February 1, 2019 by thoughtful
ET remove extra emoji that sneaked in when the do opened the door

[bea]

The Fall of Paul seems kind of strange. Maybe I’m just reacting to the fact that the initial reporting of it seemed to be by someone who was OUTRAGED that a faculty member who doesn’t believe in the inerrancy of Scripture was helping to write curriculum, that Nyquist was allowing people who believe in “liberal causes” to teach there, that there were charges of “reverse discrimination” (O, for the plight of the white Christian men...)....
And also some financial stuff like mismanagement and questionable payments and why are they lending him money to buy a condo, that’s weird.
But mostly LIBERALS TEACHING AT MOODY!!

I’m wrong to be so amused, I know.
(LIBERALS, people, at MOODY!!!)

[Mrs. Bean]

I facebooked our old pal James D. Ference and I’m strongly suspecting he is with a new wife/girlfriend and they just had a new baby. I mean how is this even possible!? It blows my mind! How many ex-wives and children does he have? 

Edited September 27, 2019 by Mrs. Bean

[Kelsey]

No. Do these women not have the Google??? I just don't understand how he gets people to be with him.

[VVV]

It boggles my mind that even one woman, let alone several, finds him attractive enough to get that close to. Ewww.

Also, anyone who describes himself as a "concert pianist," isn't.

Edited September 27, 2019 by VVV

[Mrs. Bean]

I went back through the older thread and it seems this is wife/gf #7 and child #8. Unbelievable!

[JermajestyDuggar]

36 minutes ago, Mrs. Bean said:

I went back through the older thread and it seems this is wife/gf #7 and child #8. Unbelievable!

And he’s likely not paying any child support at all. 

[bea]

Oh sweet mother of crows.
I will have to go check. Haven’t any of these people heard of BIRTH CONTROL?
Or, as you said, GOOGLE?

[Flyinthesoup]

3 hours ago, Mrs. Bean said:

I facebooked our old pal James D. Ference and I’m strongly suspecting he is with a new wife/girlfriend and they just had a new baby. I mean how is this even possible!? It blows my mind! How many ex-wives and children does he have? 

I think this is, Sarah, wife #6 from the last thread.  I checked her FB page and it looks like she just had a baby.  Then I went to his FB page and that appears to be her.  I started to think perhaps he had a baby with two different women!  We know that's not impossible.   

[Granwych]

I've been reading his Facebook stuff for awhile .   I do believe he started a home handyman business and got some crappy reviews. Then he was working at a restaurant but he isn't there anymore.  He lost his wallet right before last christmas and begged for stuff for the two youngest kids, and of course his fellow church members came through with a good haul for the kids.  Oh yes, and the last job I saw he had was working at a used car lot.  I gotta say that this wife stayed with him for longer than I expected.  They had to vacate their place quick but found another a town or so away.  Now I gotta go nose around Ferencetown---

 

Edited September 28, 2019 by Granwych
Stupid autocorrect

[Mrs. Bean]

1 hour ago, Flyinthesoup said:

I think this is, Sarah, wife #6 from the last thread.  I checked her FB page and it looks like she just had a baby.  Then I went to his FB page and that appears to be her.  I started to think perhaps he had a baby with two different women!  We know that's not impossible.   

If it is, my bad. Moderators how can I remove the post?

[samurai_sarah]

1 hour ago, Mrs. Bean said:

If it is, my bad. Moderators how can I remove the post?

I'm afraid you can't. FJ doesn't do removals, so I'm afraid this is it.

[Hane]

The second I saw this thread title, I immediately thought, “Because of course he did.” He’s wired to spray his seed hither and yon as through a fire hose.