Gwen Shamblin 6: Billy Madison Is Smarter than Gwen Shamblin

[formergothardite]

Today we have a word salad that seems to mean that if you aren't going to RF you are doomed to a life of misery. It is pretty clear Gwen thinks her church is the only real church. And judging from Gwen's lifestyle it seems she has been giving into the lust of the eyes, the pride of life and the lust of the flesh. She lives in a massive home surrounded by tons of stuff she doesn't need yet she smugly looks down on everyone else by claiming they are greedy for life. RF members, wake up and realize she is conning you!

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God uses this behavior modification to get us to choose right living. But we are such babies and easily discouraged with discipline instead of correctly interpreting His punishment as love.

Hebrews 12:5b-11 says:My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

A harvest of righteousness versus a harvest of head hunger. I hate the “out-of-control” feeling! When you give in to your desires, your greed grows with each passing year, and it will continue to grow as long as you “feed” it—until you are given over. It could be the lust of the eye, the pride of life, or the lust of the flesh. If you have not been in a true Cross-centered church, you probably have not learned self-denial, and you may find yourself in a prison of pleasing self.

Cross-centered self-denial is mere Christianity—the essence of True Religion. After you become convicted in WeighDown, you need to stay on your knees. When you leave one idol or behavior, you must fill it with a new behavior that is focused on God.

 

[AmazonGrace]

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After you become convicted in WeighDown, you need to stay on your knees.

That makes sense because if I'm on my knees I can't reach the cake on the top shelf of the fridge.

[fransalley]

On 3/10/2019 at 10:54 AM, JermajestyDuggar said:

This is why she wears baggier types of clothing. Because if she wears tighter clothing, everyone can see how thin she is. It’s not the only reason though. It’s pretty likely she wears a lot of layers because she’s cold. When you have little body fat, you’re cold a lot more than people with more body fat. Plus I would guess that even a size extra small isn’t actually tight on her. She could easily share clothing with her oldest daughter. I hate that Gwen has done this to her and I hate that her husband enables it. Those two are the ones who should be helping her. 

I can SEE HER CHEEKBONES.  That is bad.  Very bad.

[SuperNova]

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

When you leave one idol or behavior, you must fill it with a new behavior that is focused on Gwod.

Fixed that for ya.

I really dislike the concept of replacing "one idol or bad behavior" with a new addiction. I get that some people need to be hooked onto something positive or at least less harmful. But if you don't also have some kind of therapy to sort out the underlying issues, the new behavior is just another link in the chain of an addictive personality. Gwen's cult may be more socially acceptable than addictive overeating or chronic drug use but it's just as ugly.

[CTRLZero]

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

then you are illegitimate children

1)  Note to Gwod:  there are no illegitimate children.

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

After you become convicted in WeighDown, you need to stay on your knees.

2)  My wish is for you to be convicted, but maybe not in the sense you expect. 

3)  Stay on your knees, the better for Gwod to step on your neck with her platform shoes.

[RFfamANON]

4 hours ago, SuperNova said:

Fixed that for ya.

I really dislike the concept of replacing "one idol or bad behavior" with a new addiction. I get that some people need to be hooked onto something positive or at least less harmful. But if you don't also have some kind of therapy to sort out the underlying issues, the new behavior is just another link in the chain of an addictive personality. Gwen's cult may be more socially acceptable than addictive overeating or chronic drug use but it's just as ugly.

And just as dangerous!

[formergothardite]

Gwen, again, is acting like there are only two possibilities for life. One in which you spend all day eating and the other where you spend all day waiting to be hungry enough so you can eat. 

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The transfer is everything. This old relationship with food or idols is over, and a new relationship with God will take its place. Food was the impetus to get out of bed in the past, and then it was your morning, noon, and night. Yet, it is a false god and will only rob you of health, relationships, time, fortune, and energy. Food is not your friend. It is not your comfort, but rather the thing that depresses you each morning when you hit the scales. It is time to end your relationship with food, sweets, the pantry or refrigerator, the fast food drive-thru’s, and the drawer of chocolate in your desk at work. These secret hiding spots for food and comfort need to be cleared out and replaced with Scripture and truth. Eating had filled your day—now watch God fill you up and repair your health, energy, friendships, relationships, marriage, and watch how it will affect your children’s behavior when you obey God. Simply put, reversing your focus and heart, your soul and mind off the food and onto God will completely transform every aspect of your life.

 

[danvillebelle]

18 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Food is not your friend. It is not your comfort, but rather the thing that depresses you each morning when you hit the scales.

Dear God, is it any wonder her daughter is anorexic?  Unreal.

[AmazonGrace]

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 watch how it will affect your children’s behavior when you obey God.

When you make food your enemy, your children may start to starve themselves too. Isn't God great!

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Food was the impetus to get out of bed

Amateurs... True aficionados can just as easily eat in bed.

[SJWaterford]

4 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

Dear God, is it any wonder her daughter is anorexic?  Unreal. 

And Gwod still has a impressionable step-daughter to inflict her beliefs on......

[SilverBeach]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

True aficionados can just as easily eat in bed.

Yep, one of my favorite places to eat, that and in front of the tv in the living room. I have an eat in kitchen and formal dining room, go figure.

[Alisamer]

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

Gwen, again, is acting like there are only two possibilities for life. One in which you spend all day eating and the other where you spend all day waiting to be hungry enough so you can eat. 

There is something deeply, deeply wrong with Gwen. She should have gotten some counseling, but I guess becoming a cult leader is far more lucrative. She chose her college major based on FOOD. She based an entire religion on FOOD. Her daily devotions are all about FOOD. She gets out of bed because of FOOD. She is 100% obsessed every minute of every day about FOOD. What she can eat, when can she eat it, how many bites, how many calories, how much someone else is eating whether it's being properly savored, etc. 

Has she never gotten so deep into a novel that she suddenly realized she missed lunch? Has she never been so busy or involved in something that she just had a quick snack so she could get back to it? 

Some days I look forward to dinner. Some days I leave work hungry, but don't particularly want anything, so just eat something because I need to. Food is not my daily focus. Pretty sure it's not God's focus either. 

[SJWaterford]

Not to diss anyone with a Home Eco degree. Just wonder if that makes her the expert she thinks she is in disciplining children, teaching finances or teaching people to starve themselves for the glory of God. I considered asking the Univ of Tenn if these were things she would have learned there. 

Edited March 13, 2019 by SJWaterford

[JermajestyDuggar]

Is “home economics” still a degree widely offered in colleges? I just don’t remember it in my college or a few other colleges I looked into 20 years ago. 

[Briefly]

40 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Is “home economics” still a degree widely offered in colleges? I just don’t remember it in my college or a few other colleges I looked into 20 years ago. 

I actually have never heard of a degree in Home Ec.  I took it in middle school, 6th grade and then sometime after that it was discontinued entirely at that level.  When my daughter started high school, it was offered but it was split into different subject each semester and may have been an elective.  She took it, but she already knew how to cook and actually knew more than the teacher but she did learn a lot in the sewing lessons and loves to sew now.  But what would it have been at a college level?  To be able to teach it?

[JermajestyDuggar]

42 minutes ago, Briefly said:

I actually have never heard of a degree in Home Ec.  I took it in middle school, 6th grade and then sometime after that it was discontinued entirely at that level.  When my daughter started high school, it was offered but it was split into different subject each semester and may have been an elective.  She took it, but she already knew how to cook and actually knew more than the teacher but she did learn a lot in the sewing lessons and loves to sew now.  But what would it have been at a college level?  To be able to teach it?

I think a class about “life skills” is absolutely necessary for all high schoolers. I think maybe schools offer those types of classes over home ec nowadays. A class about cooking, paying bills, credit cards, basic banking, organizing, etc. 

[Hane]

At my former high school, what was once called home ec is now home and consumer education.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Hane
Truth

[Pandora Spocks]

You can still earn a BS in Family and Consumer Sciences education at UW-Stout. If you want to know what all you can do with such a degree, you can read about it here: http://bulletin.uwstout.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=1&poid=47&returnto=25

I don't believe I saw Cult Development 101 or DIY Religion 400 as class options, though.

[FilleMondaine]

2 hours ago, Briefly said:

I actually have never heard of a degree in Home Ec.  I took it in middle school, 6th grade and then sometime after that it was discontinued entirely at that level.  When my daughter started high school, it was offered but it was split into different subject each semester and may have been an elective.  She took it, but she already knew how to cook and actually knew more than the teacher but she did learn a lot in the sewing lessons and loves to sew now.  But what would it have been at a college level?  To be able to teach it?

If I remember, one graduation-thesis assignment was to sew a Vogue pattern (they were/are notoriously tricky!). The university used to put Home Ec building next to agricultural buildings so that the farmers would find the most-accomplished wives--practically speaking. I suppose all of the rich-business-types just took tours at Miss Porters. For real, Home Ec would graduate accomplished seamstresses, cooks, and parents. The forerunners of Children's Psych was Home Ec.

I am glad that the career has turned into teaching. These "life skills" courses are vital to teenagers as they become adults--especially those who don't get to have 4 years of college funded by parents. Also, this is usually the course where students learn how media shapes perception. So I am definitely in favor of public-funded media-awareness.

[JermajestyDuggar]

25 minutes ago, FilleMondaine said:

If I remember, one graduation-thesis assignment was to sew a Vogue pattern (they were/are notoriously tricky!). The university used to put Home Ec building next to agricultural buildings so that the farmers would find the most-accomplished wives--practically speaking. I suppose all of the rich-business-types just took tours at Miss Porters. For real, Home Ec would graduate accomplished seamstresses, cooks, and parents. The forerunners of Children's Psych was Home Ec.

I am glad that the career has turned into teaching. These "life skills" courses are vital to teenagers as they become adults--especially those who don't get to have 4 years of college funded by parents. Also, this is usually the course where students learn how media shapes perception. So I am definitely in favor of public-funded media-awareness.

You make me want to teach a life skills class at a local high school! 

[smittykins]

This is kind of long, but I found this 1951 film interesting.

 

[formergothardite]

Today's message from Gwod is don't listen to modern medicine or science, listen to her! Make sure your kids also follow Gwod. If you fall in love with what you focus on then Gwen must truly be in love with herself because that seems to be her focus. 

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There is a truth that is profound that God gave me early in this ministry, over 30 years ago. This one truth can set you free from all vices… You fall in love with what you focus on. Do you hate your evil desires? Then take your eyes off of the food or whatever it is and set your mind on God, His Christ, and His righteous Kingdom, and you will fall out of love with the food and into love with God.

Modern medicine and science as a whole fail to acknowledge an- other aspect of the human being: They are needy and cannot function alone. Man was not made to be an island. We have a real need to be connected to God. But if we plug into the wrong thing, we are filled with death, decay, and despair. We plug into what we focus on with our minds and eyes and ears.

Romans 8 makes this clear:

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8

The answer is going to involve your own personal obligation, using the two senses—the eyes and ears. The eyes and ears are the feeling senses for your mind, which in turn create your desires or what is in your heart. The person who “SETS” their mind on God and what God wants—His Spirit—will do what is right. The person who sets his mind on what he wants will automatically live according to the sinful nature. This is both exciting and scary. We have an incredible obligation to focus on the RIGHT THING and to teach our children to focus on the RIGHT THING. What do you think your children are focused on? What are you teaching them? What lights up their eyes?

 

[J.O.Y.nomore]

18 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Today's message from Gwod is don't listen to modern medicine or science, listen to her! Make sure your kids also follow Gwod. If you fall in love with what you focus on then Gwen must truly be in love with herself because that seems to be her focus. 

 

I appreciate you taking one for the team and summarizing her drivel! I often find myself sinking back into old thought patterns when I read the actual devotionals.

[CTRLZero]

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What do you think your children are focused on? What are you teaching them? What lights up their eyes?

It's interesting how different Gwen's own children have become (at least in the all-important, all-Gwodly aspect of weight).  Is one Shamblin offspring less spiritual or worthy because of body image?  It's pretty disturbing to me that the little children of RF members are force-fed (pun!) this line of focusing on God in food intake.  Associating spirituality, socialization and salvation with caloric intake is so wrong. 

[SuperNova]

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

Modern medicine and science as a whole fail to acknowledge an- other aspect of the human being: They are needy and cannot function alone. Man was not made to be an island. We have a real need to be connected to God. But if we plug into the wrong thing, we are filled with death, decay, and despair. We plug into what we focus on with our minds and eyes and ears.

The highlighted portion is probably the reason why Gwen doesn't feel that her daughter would need medical intervention. What she's really taking about is transcendence, moving beyond our earthly bodies through practiced denial. 

6 hours ago, formergothardite said:

The answer is going to involve your own personal obligation, using the two senses—the eyes and ears. The eyes and ears are the feeling senses for your mind, which in turn create your desires or what is in your heart. The person who “SETS” their mind on God and what God wants—His Spirit—will do what is right. The person who sets his mind on what he wants will automatically live according to the sinful nature. 

Gwen's idea of transcendence through denial becomes even more clear here. She asks her followers to ignore 3 of their god-given senses, deeming them to be sinful and claiming that using them will cause you to automatically live a sinful life. Only through sensory deprivation can one's spirit truly transcend. Gwen says this is the "RIGHT THING". Gwen doesn't see her daughter as a person who's suffering from illness, she sees someone who is doing the "RIGHT THING".