Gwen Shamblin 4: Lick the Fork

[DaisyD]

Luckily, it seems that the mother is on top of it with her own records. If they attempt to alter any recordings they make, she'll have an unaltered copy. Unfortunately, this is par for the course in custody battles. Though, involving third parties is super creepy. I've told my BIL I don't know how many times that when his ex finds reasons he can't have the kids for his court ordered time (she signs them up for every weekend activity she can find), he needs to have the conversation via text so he has a record. She does this, then goes to the judge and says that he never takes his allowed time in an attempt to get full custody and the child support that goes with it.

[Tatar-tot]

Lara needs to work on his abs.  He is getting a little soft in the middle.  It’s all about appearances.

And, no top notch family law attorney is going to join Remnant.  

[formergothardite]

41 minutes ago, SJWaterford said:

This pic is my fav.

That is such an unflattering picture of her. I would think that perhaps he put it up as a passive-aggressive way to make a jab at her, but I bet she was the one who designed the website and chose all the pictures. 

1 hour ago, Tatar-tot said:

 I will bet money that 10 years out Lara will be running the show at Remnant and the old biddy Gwen will be kicked to the curb.

Wouldn't be the first time that "God's One True Prophet" got manipulated and stripped of power by someone they handpicked. He chose people who he was sure he could control, but look at him now, broke and alone while the people he put in positions of power run everything. 

[Tatar-tot]

My guess is the ex has an attorney advising her.  That is why the police report was filed.  

[AliceInFundyland]

10 hours ago, formergothardite said:

That is such an unflattering picture of her. I would think that perhaps he put it up as a passive-aggressive way to make a jab at her, but I bet she was the one who designed the website and chose all the pictures. 

Vs. the many model-worthy images we’ve seen elsewhere?

(I was thinking the lighting made her look a bit more blended and muted as the Rose to his Jack. Oh so slightly. Maybe just cause of the boat. I think she’s into 90s movies)

[HerNameIsBuffy]

12 hours ago, Tatar-tot said:

Lara married Gwen for money - no ifs, ands or buts.  Lara performs & he gets money.  Lara has sex with an old biddy & he gets money.  Lara shows up at church & Lara gets money.  Lara okays spying on his daughter & Lara gets money.  For Lara this is the best paid acting job he has ever gotten.

Lara will not get primary custody of his daughter ever.  It is a looser battle and Lara could care less.  It is just another wacky role he gets paid for.   

Gwen is really a fool.  She is being played by Lara and does not even know it.  It will be a hoot when Lara has an affair with a young pretty congregant of Remnant Church.  I will bet money that 10 years out Lara will be running the show at Remnant and the old biddy Gwen will be kicked to the curb.  Karma is a bitch...?

I’d put money on all of that, too.

[hoipolloi]

15 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

This pic is my fav. 

Clearly taken during the "golden hour," as photographers call it. Sadly, you can't say that it does anything for Gwen.

[SuperNova]

20 hours ago, SJWaterford said:

joelara.com

Looks like he got a new website. 

Dude was pretty good looking about 8 million years ago. Personally, I don't think he's aged well but that's neither here nor there. I found it interesting that there was not one single mention of Jeebus or of Remnant except in reference to his new wife. At the very bottom there's a box to contact Joe or leave a comment. Anyone feeling brave? 

Remnant has been busy. When we first heard about Tarzan, I spent a boring evening googling him and remember seeing much more information than there is now. None of it was very interesting but I'm almost positive that there was an article about him joining some kind of design team at a company that made ladies underwear. I was doubtful that it was the same Joe Lara except there was a a blurb about how his background in tv and movies was somehow helpful to his new position. I searched and searched to find it again to no avail. There's also nothing about his child, past relationships, or much of anything personal at all. His Wikipedia page is virtually blank. What is the purpose of scrubbing his past? 

[danvillebelle]

That photo looks like Tarzan let fly with a really bad fart and Gwen just got a whiff.  

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 hours ago, SuperNova said:

Anyone feeling brave? 

no good comes from touching the poop.

[formergothardite]

Today's devotional is straight out of every single cult handbook for making sure people obey you. It is basically that people need to obey Gwen even if they can find faults with her because nobody is perfect and God said to obey her. And if you have a problem with her, it is your own lack of faith, not because she is doing anything wrong. 

Quote

Faith believes that there is a clear directing hand from the Heavens on those in authority. Faith requires that you understand that a lack of peace is usually your own fault when it comes to authority—even if the person in authority is not perfect. If you wait for perfection in an authority as a reason to submit, you will never practice submission. 

And somehow I don't think Gwen behaved this way in her first marriage. But it is a good way to shame women into staying in abusive relationships. 

Quote

In the presence of authority, even if it is your husband, you must keep your words few and Spirit-led and keep your expressions respectful and your focus and trust in the Creator. After you have perfected loving, faithful submission where the triangle is used daily, give it some time. Just wait and see. The wait is worth it. Everything will turn around.

And if it doesn't Gwen can just blame you for not being submissive enough. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

So Gwen is actually sending two very different messages here. She has a husband yet she has authority over all her parishioners (cult members). But the husband has authority over the wife. So wouldn’t that mean Joe is automatically the leader of the church now? He has more authority than Gwen because he has a penis. So what’s up with that Gwen?

[Concerned1954]

Does he have a penis?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

26 minutes ago, Concerned1954 said:

Does he have a penis??

Who says we don't ask the hard hitting questions around here?

[RFsurvivor]

11 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

So Gwen is actually sending two very different messages here. She has a husband yet she has authority over all her parishioners (cult members). But the husband has authority over the wife. So wouldn’t that mean Joe is automatically the leader of the church now? He has more authority than Gwen because he has a penis. So what’s up with that Gwen?

I am very curious how this will get spun. Cause with David he wasn’t a member. 

[CTRLZero]

Quote

Faith believes that there is a clear directing hand from the Heavens on those in authority. Faith requires that you understand that a lack of peace is usually your own fault when it comes to authority—even if the person in authority is not perfect. If you wait for perfection in an authority as a reason to submit, you will never practice submission.

This is the sort of crap that gets individuals, families, congregations and entire nations in trouble.  When people suppress their own best judgment in favor of often self-appointed authoritarians, things can go to hell pretty quickly.  RF folks, you need to listen to more than the growl.  Use your education and common sense. 

[SJWaterford]

46 minutes ago, RFsurvivor said:

I am very curious how this will get spun. Cause with David he wasn’t a member. 

So actually it's a very divisive plan by her to create an environment in a marriage where the husband and wife don't talk. If they don't talk, they can never discuss the wacky stuff at the church. If there is no communication, there is no loyalty to anyone except Gwen. It's basically a hollow shell of a marriage and your confidant is some wacky church leader instead of your spouse. Marriage is a partnership where both have to give 100%. Both have talents they bring to the marriage. But my brain works just as well as my husbands and I have every right to showcase my "God" given talents as my husband does. People take this submissive BS too far. 

I think its hilarious that they think they need to take every decision to "God". For pete's sake, he doesn't have time for questions like, should I drink the white or the red. Or should I watch Elf or Home Alone? He def doesn't have time for soothing your hunger pains. Everyone has willpower. Tap into it Remnant peeps and quit hogging the bandwidth for prayer requests from your tummy. Some stuff doesn't need a prayer, it just needs a brain.

I love you, whoever is posting these daily devotionals!

[formergothardite]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

So wouldn’t that mean Joe is automatically the leader of the church now?

But she also claims to be God's prophet, so in that way she is Joe's authority. Other women should listen to their husband's but I'm 100% sure that doesn't apply to Gwen. 

IMO what she is saying is 

God, then Gwen, then husband, then wife. 

So Gwen is above the husband which would also give a loophole to ignore husbands if the husbands went against Gwen.  

[Pianokeeper]

I wonder how much this type of devotional is specifically inspired by suspicions of unrest in her flock. Cult leaders seem to occupy this narcissism spectrum where some get super paranoid about the devotion of their followers, and others take totally for granted that the herd trusts them and would follow them anywhere. I wonder toward which end Gwen sits. I guess if it's like many cults, she might've started out on the total trust side and be sliding over time to the paranoid "can't lose them; how dare they" side. 

[formergothardite]

I think it is best Gwen dropped the curly hair look from a few years ago. 

Spoiler

 

 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

The curly hair is definitely OTT, but it's more attractive and looks in better condition than that dead mop thing on her head that currently passes for a hairdo.

Curly 'do could be a wig though.

[JermajestyDuggar]

You can do big curly hair without it looking ridiculous. Of course Gwen does it much too big and that’s the major problem. If you look at pageants, you’ll find lots of big hair. Sure pageant hair isn’t my taste. However it looks a million times better than Gwen’s hair. There’s big hair, and there’s Gwen’s hair. Which should have its own zip code. 

[Briefly]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

You can do big curly hair without it looking ridiculous. Of course Gwen does it much too big and that’s the major problem. If you look at pageants, you’ll find lots of big hair. Sure pageant hair isn’t my taste. However it looks a million times better than Gwen’s hair. There’s big hair, and there’s Gwen’s hair. Which should have its own zip code. 

I have the stereotypical "Texas Big Hair" and I 100% guarantee that my hair never, ever looks like that!  Even with the huge amount of body and wave that my hair has.  My daughter saw a picture of me that was taken in 1980 when I was 18 and she said my hair was "massive" and it was, but it was naturally so.

8 hours ago, Pianokeeper said:

I wonder how much this type of devotional is specifically inspired by suspicions of unrest in her flock. Cult leaders seem to occupy this narcissism spectrum where some get super paranoid about the devotion of their followers, and others take totally for granted that the herd trusts them and would follow them anywhere. I wonder toward which end Gwen sits. I guess if it's like many cults, she might've started out on the total trust side and be sliding over time to the paranoid "can't lose them; how dare they" side. 

Jim Jones started out to be a trusted leader, too.  And we all know what happened to him and his flock, and it was precipitated by some of them attempting to leave.

[thoughtful]

8 hours ago, formergothardite said:

what she is saying is 

God, then Gwen, then husband, then wife.

And what she is thinking is

"reverse those first two!"

[formergothardite]

Today's devotional is still harping on authority. Are there some problems with her minions where they don't want to accept her word as God's word?

Quote

So how do you commit to your authority? How do you commit to God? You lay down fears that you will be abused. 

So giving into authority(Gwen) is making a commitment to God and you need to stop worrying that your authority(Gwen) will abuse you and your family in some way. 

Women do get to have some personality outside of their husband and children. But probably not outside of Gwen. Lord help you if you don't like the wedding she planned for you! 

Quote

Being under authority does not mean that women only find identity and meaning in their lives through their husbands and children. Just because Christ served the world under the authority of God, it does not mean that Christ lost His identity.

Quote

So do not fear; satan is so against authority, calling the one in authority “teacher’s pet” or making the person feel mindless. 

Oh yes, don't point out that the people who refuse to question Gwen are mindlessly following her! And if people do question mindless following, well they are just listening to Satan. 

Quote

But getting under authority is genius, and what is more—it saves you.

Smart people mindlessly follow Gwen. You will be saved if you follow her without question!

Quote

The person who loses himself in the will of his authority, has a way of being lifted up at work and brought into the spotlight and having nothing to fear.

Lose yourself in following Gwen and your life will go better.