Gwen Shamblin 2: Divorce? What Divorce?

[OlderWiserMom]

35 minutes ago, SJWaterford said:

He probably stayed willingly married to Gwen a lot longer than he should have. Maybe for the family, idk.  Maybe he thought he was the stability to the crazy for his kids. Maybe he knew he would lose all of his family if he ever left and that she would turn them against him. Maybe she did him a favor and one day he will thank her but right now he is a victim of her as well in my opinion. Maybe he was like another man I know and just loyal beyond comprehension-despite how miserable they are. Don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone is a saint(besides my husband), and I feel sorry that he spent so much time with crazy Gwen. But I'm glad he has a chance at a life now. People with passive personalities sometimes just don't ever say anything, ever to stand up for themselves. And I didn't realize how these people could go for years without every expressing their opinions because of a more dominant spouse, but I've been standing outside watching a marriage very similar to this for decades and when that passive person finally decided he had reached a breaking point, it literally almost killed them. I am ecstatic as hell for anyone who gets out of there no matter what part they played. Because all I have now is HOPE that evertyime someone makes it out of there, it means that someday my kid could too. 

Having never met David or knowing much about him, I would guess as a Christian man he would not initiate a divorce against his wife except for biblical grounds, which is adultery. I'm sure it was miserable being married to her as she got more and more out of touch with reality, but he honored his wedding vows.

[SJWaterford]

2 minutes ago, OlderWiserMom said:

Having never met David or knowing much about him, I would guess as a Christian man he would not initiate a divorce against his wife except for biblical grounds, which is adultery. I'm sure it was miserable being married to her as she got more and more out of touch with reality, but he honored his wedding vows.

Whats so funny about that is.....that a church member told their divorce was based on biblical grounds. That's what they had been told anyways. 

[bea]

I know I’ve said this before but DAMN that’s a lot of houses.
The one in Florida alone is worth over $4 mil.

[luv2laugh]

What choice did David Shamblin have?! This is a church known for shunning unbelievers. If David initiated the divorce, he probably wouldn’t have a chance at seeing any of his grandchildren or family again. I wouldn’t be surprised if David gained weight from stress eating.  David probably can’t speak from his side on what happened because he’s either being polite and trying to just keep the peace or is bound with silence from signing an NDA.

[sajetime]

The way I see it, David is to Remnant as Shelly Miscavige is to Scientology. He married to a person who would become a power-drunk cult leader. He didn’t play by the cult rules and therefore was kept hidden away and silent (I doubt he and Gwen had a “real” marriage in many years — she was always surrounded by church members and he was nowhere to be seen, even at his own home) . I suspect he could have been threatened/bullied into staying out of the way or risk losing everything — his family, his reputation. His story has a better ending, but I suspect it was no less sad.

[VaSportsMom]

25 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

What choice did David Shamblin have?! This is a church known for shunning unbelievers. If David initiated the divorce, he probably wouldn’t have a chance at seeing any of his grandchildren or family again. I wouldn’t be surprised if David gained weight from stress eating.  David probably can’t speak from his side on what happened because he’s either being polite and trying to just keep the peace or is bound with silence from signing an NDA.

Or he stayed because he enjoyed the money and perks that came from being married to the Queen of the Damned and he went for blood the coffee grinder in the divorce because he’s pissed that he has been replaced by a D list celebrity. We have no clue what the circumstances were but only one story fits the narrative being laid out in this thread so Saint David it is. Hope he likes playing the victim. 

[luv2laugh]

16 minutes ago, VaSportsMom said:

Or he stayed because he enjoyed the money and perks that came from being married to the Queen of the Damned and he went for blood the coffee grinder in the divorce because he’s pissed that he has been replaced by a D list celebrity. We have no clue what the circumstances were but only one story fits the narrative being laid out in this thread so Saint David it is. Hope he likes playing the victim. 

Really? If he enjoyed the money and perks that much, you’d think he’d be a regular attendee of her church and be seen out and about at all of the many RF events and parties with “the saints”. He wasn’t exactly doing himself any favors by going against her all of the time.  David Shamblin never had any perks. If he was truly about the money, he would have divorced her a long time ago and gotten control of half her assets way back then, like he has right now.

[VaSportsMom]

2 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

Really? If he enjoyed the money and perks that much, you’d think he’d be a regular attendee of her church and be seen out and about with “the saints”. He wasn’t exactly doing himself any favors by going against her all of the time. 

I don’t have a clue what was going on in the man’s head, anymore than you do. He was a grown man, a grandfather, that knew who and what his wife was and opted to benefit from that rather than speak out. That’s an accomplice not a fucking victim. The poor Saint David shit is ridiculous and when it is clear that you’re (you in general, not you) willing to make up the facts to make one man a victim simply because it makes for a better story then I have to wonder how much of the way you’ve portrayed Gwen and her village idiots is based on facts. 

[WorseThan1Thinks]

What was going on behind closed doors and what was going through Dave's heart and mind is something we'll likely never know or even need to know. That is all speculation at this point.

What we do know are lots of facts.  Dave wanted nothing to do with Gwen's personal teachings from earliest days of Remnant being in existence.  He wasn't there.  I understand he actually showed up to some very early services but would walk out when Gwen got up to preach.  Soon, he just never showed up.  He did have a background in theology.  Maybe he knew how out in left field Gwen's teachings were, but again, that part is speculation.  He occasionally watched his children perform, but otherwise was absent.  This went on for the entire 18 years of Remnant's existence until Gwen divorced him.

Despite Gwen endlessly talking about 'stronger families', her own husband was nowhere to be found.

Despite Gwen endlessly talking about being overweight is a sin and greed and really Gwen's entire foundation for her cult, Gwen's own husband was obese.

Despite Gwen endlessly insinuating how holy she is, she was seeing another man while still legally married to David, unless they magically starting dating one day after her divorce and got engaged the next.  (I'm being sarcastic).

What we know for sure is Gwen wanted nothing more than to show off her 'strong family'.  She loves to parade her children and all her grandchildren (in matching, expensive outfits) up on stage after each service, yet her own husband was nowhere by her side.  Now maybe she can parade her new husband up on stage with the rest of her family.

Gwen is all show, but she could never show how her own family was actually a strong family unit.  Between her wayward son, her anorexic daughter and her 'missing' husband, her family life seemed to be more of a train wreck than an example for so many to follow, praise up and down and cling onto her every word. 

 

[VaSportsMom]

21 minutes ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

He occasionally watched his children perform, but otherwise was absent.  

He had a responsibility to do more for those children than “occasionally watch them perform.” Perhaps if he had made good on that responsibility his daughter wouldn’t appear as dangerously unhealthy and fragile as she does now. It’s utterly ridiculous to pretend this man is a victim just to further your narrative. He created victims! 

[Curious]

No one knows what was going on with David.  Men, however, do stay in abusive relationships, just like women do.  Kate and Jon Gosselin are a good example of this.  If it was Jon treating Kate like she treated him people would have been howling from the rooftops about him abusing her.  Very few people said anything about her treatment of Jon or spoke against the (false) narrative set up by Kate/TLC.

As others have said, RF is KNOWN for shunning.  Maybe he figured being in the kids/grandkids lives was better than not being able to have any contact at all with them.  Maybe he didn't feel like he could leave the relationship (for whatever reason).

There is a lot of ground between he is a saint and he was a willing co-conspirator.

You don't seem to enjoy this thread, so I can't figure out why you read it tbh

[WorseThan1Thinks]

15 minutes ago, VaSportsMom said:

He had a responsibility to do more for those children than “occasionally watch them perform.” Perhaps if he had made good on that responsibility his daughter wouldn’t appear as dangerously unhealthy and fragile as she does now. It’s utterly ridiculous to pretend this man is a victim just to further your narrative. He created victims! 

I agree.  I never intentionally made him out as a victim.  I was just stating facts at the irony of the facade Gwen tried to paint all these years of a strong family and how blessed a Remnant family is vs what all that was really occurring right in front of the member's own eyes.

[luv2laugh]

It is completely possible that David felt that remaining silent was best for his kids. By the time Gwen started Remnant, I believe his kids were either close to 18 or older. If Dave made waves publicly against Gwen, he could have lost his adult children back then for good. I am surprised Elizabeth sees him at all but we know she does and loves him based on her picture and update on seeing him.

 David does have a background in theology and I believe he disagreed with Gwen theologically and chose to follow what he believed was theologically ‘right’ by not attending and not involving himself with Gwen’s movement. I choose to believe David was a victim in his marriage and chose/chooses to be silent to keep the peace. Based on how Gwen has treated people with weight issues, how do we know if David may have been verbally abused about his weight? We don’t know anything.

We do know that David didn’t have much to gain by remaining this long in the marriage so, there is that. 

I believe Gwen was unhappy with him for a long, long time but struggled to find a way to justify a divorce from him to her congregation, until now. If I remember correctly, on the Remnant website under divorce, Gwen lists many reasons on when/why it is ok and if I’m remembering correctly, there’s some discussion on how she says it’s abusive and legalistic for other non-RF Christians to say divorce is never ok because one spouse may feel trapped in the marriage in order to feel they need to obey the Bible on never divorcing, or something along those lines...

I personally think these two were miserably married together since she started RF and that Gwen remained married because she was worried she’d lose membership support if she divorced him and he remained married because he wanted to be able to continue seeing his kids and grandchildren.

If David Shamlin divorced Gwen back in the day when he first stopped supporting Gwen and Remnant Fellowship, he would have been vilified within the church, and amongst his kids for divorcing their mother. Certainly, he would have lost his family. His kids were all in for Gwen and her interpretation of the Bible and their entire social circle was/is Remnant. It’s possible David Shamblin is trying a slow and steady wins the race approach to win his family over.

[OlderWiserMom]

9 hours ago, luv2laugh said:

It is completely possible that David felt that remaining silent was best for his kids. By the time Gwen started Remnant, I believe his kids were either close to 18 or older. If Dave made waves publicly against Gwen, he could have lost his adult children back then for good. I am surprised Elizabeth sees him at all but we know she does and loves him based on her picture and update on seeing him.

 David does have a background in theology and I believe he disagreed with Gwen theologically and chose to follow what he believed was theologically ‘right’ by not attending and not involving himself with Gwen’s movement. I choose to believe David was a victim in his marriage and chose/chooses to be silent to keep the peace. Based on how Gwen has treated people with weight issues, how do we know if David may have been verbally abused about his weight? We don’t know anything.

We do know that David didn’t have much to gain by remaining this long in the marriage so, there is that. 

I believe Gwen was unhappy with him for a long, long time but struggled to find a way to justify a divorce from him to her congregation, until now. If I remember correctly, on the Remnant website under divorce, Gwen lists many reasons on when/why it is ok and if I’m remembering correctly, there’s some discussion on how she says it’s abusive and legalistic for other non-RF Christians to say divorce is never ok because one spouse may feel trapped in the marriage in order to feel they need to obey the Bible on never divorcing, or something along those lines...

I personally think these two were miserably married together since she started RF and that Gwen remained married because she was worried she’d lose membership support if she divorced him and he remained married because he wanted to be able to continue seeing his kids and grandchildren.

If David Shamlin divorced Gwen back in the day when he first stopped supporting Gwen and Remnant Fellowship, he would have been vilified within the church, and amongst his kids for divorcing their mother. Certainly, he would have lost his family. His kids were all in for Gwen and her interpretation of the Bible and their entire social circle was/is Remnant. It’s possible David Shamblin is trying a slow and steady wins the race approach to win his family over.

And again, I would think, that as a Christian who takes his relationship with God and his marriage vows seriously, he would not initiate a divorce.  While there is life there is hope, and he may have been hoping that Gwen would come to her senses one day and their life together restored. Now that she has divorced him and married another man, I believe that scripture teaches he is free to re-marry as well, and I hope he finds a woman who truly loves him and loves God. 

[sajetime]

In the birth announcements at Remnant News: "Arabella Rose Day was born to Christian and Madison Day. Granddaughter of Rob and Tiffani Day and many cousins, aunts and uncles who are members of Remnant Fellowship Church."

This is messed up on several levels. The Days are, of course, some of Remnant's wealthiest leaders.

1. The Day name is used BUT the couple actually has a different last name -- Olivas. Christian Olivas is the father. Madison Day Olivas is the mother.

2. The Days also included THEIR last name on a birth announcement, with a "D" monogram calling the baby Arabella Rose Olivas-Day ... as if THEIR last name is the baby's last name ... But ... then again, this would be acceptable if this is part of a Spanish surname tradition.

3. The other grandparents are not even mentioned, and at least the mother is a longtime Remnant member. She has gained weight and has been kept from attending church events.

[OlderWiserMom]

2 hours ago, sajetime said:

In the birth announcements at Remnant News: "Arabella Rose Day was born to Christian and Madison Day. Granddaughter of Rob and Tiffani Day and many cousins, aunts and uncles who are members of Remnant Fellowship Church."

This is messed up on several levels. The Days are, of course, some of Remnant's wealthiest leaders.

1. The Day name is used BUT the couple actually has a different last name -- Olivas. Christian Olivas is the father. Madison Day Olivas is the mother.

2. The Days also included THEIR last name on a birth announcement, with a "D" monogram calling the baby Arabella Rose Olivas-Day ... as if THEIR last name is the baby's last name ... But ... then again, this would be acceptable if this is part of a Spanish surname tradition.

3. The other grandparents are not even mentioned, and at least the mother is a longtime Remnant member. She has gained weight and has been kept from attending church events.

Also grammatically a mess! I don't even know where to start!

[SJWaterford]

21 hours ago, bea said:

I know I’ve said this before but DAMN that’s a lot of houses.
The one in Florida alone is worth over $4 mil.

I think Gwen wanted that beach one bad, which is probably why she was willing to let the headquarters go. I think she was more likely to keep the thing that she wanted opposed to the thing that benefitted the congregation more. 

[Howl]

18 hours ago, sajetime said:

She has gained weight and has been kept from attending church events.

The total insanity of this outfit in one sentence. 

[RFSurvivor_2]

5 minutes ago, Howl said:

The total insanity of this outfit in one sentence. 

This is extremely common in Remnant Fellowship. I was once asked to “step out” of some church “ministries” I was involved in at the time due to weight gain. Little did they know that most of it was medical related and when I told / addressed this to leadership, they completely disregarded it. 

[sajetime]

1 hour ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

This is extremely common in Remnant Fellowship. I was once asked to “step out” of some church “ministries” I was involved in at the time due to weight gain. 

Being asked to “step out” for weight gain seems selectively enforced — like Remnant’s rules on divorce and remarriage.

In the case of a young married male member: Recently posted photos show he has regained all his weight AND he’s suddenly engaged to a different member out of the blue. BUT he’s still participating in services, weddings and church events like the summer Desert Oasis. 

From the beginning, Gwen wanted a church that looked different than the world’s churches — overweight and full of divorce.

How’s that working out?

 

[luv2laugh]

Telling people to stop participating in things for gaining weight is so damaging emotionally.

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

OK anyone with insider knowledge:  What are "Truth Cards?"

The 7/24 FB post is  "Keep truth cards out and on your phone. Let truth and not man-made rules guide you." This statement is of course from God Gwen.

Are these daily affirmations RF members are required to subscribe to?  I can't help thinking of SNL's Deep Thoughts

[sajetime]

31 minutes ago, luv2laugh said:

Telling people to stop participating in things for gaining weight is so damaging emotionally.

Indeed. So imagine being *selectively* excluded for weight gain.

You have to stay home because you gained a few — and apparently are not popular/important enough. But others — like one guy who has been overweight for years — still can attend services and go on beach trips with leadership because they like him.

[JermajestyDuggar]

41 minutes ago, sajetime said:

Indeed. So imagine being *selectively* excluded for weight gain.

You have to stay home because you gained a few — and apparently are not popular/important enough. But others — like one guy who has been overweight for years — still can attend services and go on beach trips with leadership because they like him.

I imagine donations also make a big impact on who can attend after gaining weight. You aren’t going to risk losing your cash flow.

[sajetime]

58 minutes ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

OK anyone with insider knowledge:  What are "Truth Cards?"

The 7/24 FB post is  "Keep truth cards out and on your phone. Let truth and not man-made rules guide you." This statement is of course from God Gwen.

Are these daily affirmations RF members are required to subscribe to?  I can't help thinking of SNL's Deep Thoughts

You're not far off!

Truth Cards are little flashcards with scripture and other Gwenly Godly affirmations that go with the Weigh Down classes. You're supposed to keep them with you and read them when you're being tested.

There are also digital "Truth" reminders for  members of their $300 yearly subscription service All Access (fine print: the $25 monthly service that used to be cancel-anytime now cannot be canceled for an entire year).

Gwen also encourages members to make pop-up reminders on their phones to remember to pray and keep their focus on Gwen God.