Gwen Shamblin 8: Not Smart Enough to Think

[RFsurvivor]

55 minutes ago, WeirdHarold said:

Makes me wonder if the prison ministry started before or after their prison sentence.

There was no prison ministry before the smiths were in prison from what I recall. 

[throwaway9988]

50 minutes ago, RFsurvivor said:

There was no prison ministry before the smiths were in prison from what I recall. 

Yep.  Did you ever hear of anyone actually joining Remnant from the jail though? I didn't, but I admit I was always the last to know any Remnant news...I literally just didn't care to talk with anyone because all I could think about was how badly I wanted to leave.

I always thought the prison ministry started mostly because Gwen and Co. were hoping the judge would show leniency if it was demonstrated that the Smiths were model prisoners who led religious meetings (they were in jail a long time before actually being found guilty and sentenced to life in prison). And also because Gwen loved to come back to Nashville and tell us all about how the Smiths were shining God's light in the prison, I guess as a shorthand way of reassuring us that the Smiths must be innocent ?  But now I think it's kind of disgusting that after so many years of preying on people who are at low points in their life due to their weight, Gwen decided it would also be easy to prey on people who are at low points in their life due to crime.  Stick to what you're good at, Gwen!

Edited July 26, 2019 by throwaway9988

[NarcissismKills]

1 hour ago, throwaway9988 said:

Yep.  Did you ever hear of anyone actually joining Remnant from the jail though? I didn't, but I admit I was always the last to know any Remnant news...I literally just didn't care to talk with anyone because all I could think about was how badly I wanted to leave.

I always thought the prison ministry started mostly because Gwen and Co. were hoping the judge would show leniency if it was demonstrated that the Smiths were model prisoners who led religious meetings (they were in jail a long time before actually being found guilty and sentenced to life in prison). And also because Gwen loved to come back to Nashville and tell us all about how the Smiths were shining God's light in the prison, I guess as a shorthand way of reassuring us that the Smiths must be innocent ?  But now I think it's kind of disgusting that after so many years of preying on people who are at low points in their life due to their weight, Gwen decided it would also be easy to prey on people who are at low points in their life due to crime.  Stick to what you're good at, Gwen!

Yes, there have been people with really long rap sheets that have joined Remnant Fellowship cult while in prison and have been urged to attend events at the Brentwood building when they got out.  This was publicized a couple of years ago.  

[RFsurvivor]

8 hours ago, NarcissismKills said:

Yes, there have been people with really long rap sheets that have joined Remnant Fellowship cult while in prison and have been urged to attend events at the Brentwood building when they got out.  This was publicized a couple of years ago.  

Can also confirm. There were atleast a couple of people who joined. 

[AmazonGrace]

Today we learn that Gwen has never seen a child. 

Spoiler

 

Like This Child

July 26, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 18:1-4

 

Jesus and the prophets were trying to make things very clear for the people by using parables and stories that portrayed the will of God as revealed in the scriptures. The only scriptures that they had available were in the Old Testament, and what God wanted and was going to fulfill in Christ is very clear in the Psalms, Isaiah, and the Minor Prophets. But instead of creating His sermons by merely quoting Isaiah or David, Jesus told the same message of repentance – you cannot stay the same — in a fresh way

 

Here, Jesus said you must be like children to enter the kingdom. Jesus was looking for HUMILITY. Having humility does not mean staying the in background or being shy. Think about a young child. A young child does not shrink into the background, but makes his presence known. He wakes up happy, holding no grudges, and he does not “expect” anything but accepts the food and the agenda offered for the day. He is happy – no, THRILLED – with little surprises, and he is fascinated with Creation. With no pride, he gives thanks to God at night. He loves his parents and does not correct his authority as if he always had a better idea. He falls to sleep and dreams of playing, filled with happy thoughts and no expectation or demands on what the morrow will bring.

 

We cannot enter God’s kingdom if we do not humble ourselves and get this happy, grateful, joyful attitude. We must not complain or have certain demands and expectations; rather, we must be thankful and full of praise for this great Father and King! I love this genius plan of God’s!

 

 

[MamaJunebug]

28 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Today we learn that Gwen has never seen a child. 

  Hide contents

 

Like This Child

July 26, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 18:1-4

 

Jesus and the prophets were trying to make things very clear for the people by using parables and stories that portrayed the will of God as revealed in the scriptures. The only scriptures that they had available were in the Old Testament, and what God wanted and was going to fulfill in Christ is very clear in the Psalms, Isaiah, and the Minor Prophets. But instead of creating His sermons by merely quoting Isaiah or David, Jesus told the same message of repentance – you cannot stay the same — in a fresh way

 

Here, Jesus said you must be like children to enter the kingdom. Jesus was looking for HUMILITY. Having humility does not mean staying the in background or being shy. Think about a young child. A young child does not shrink into the background, but makes his presence known. He wakes up happy, holding no grudges, and he does not “expect” anything but accepts the food and the agenda offered for the day. He is happy – no, THRILLED – with little surprises, and he is fascinated with Creation. With no pride, he gives thanks to God at night. He loves his parents and does not correct his authority as if he always had a better idea. He falls to sleep and dreams of playing, filled with happy thoughts and no expectation or demands on what the morrow will bring.

 

We cannot enter God’s kingdom if we do not humble ourselves and get this happy, grateful, joyful attitude. We must not complain or have certain demands and expectations; rather, we must be thankful and full of praise for this great Father and King! I love this genius plan of God’s!

 

 

QFT, @AmazonGrace.  Q. F. T. 

[NarcissismKills]

4 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Today we learn that Gwen has never seen a child. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Like This Child

July 26, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 18:1-4

 

Jesus and the prophets were trying to make things very clear for the people by using parables and stories that portrayed the will of God as revealed in the scriptures. The only scriptures that they had available were in the Old Testament, and what God wanted and was going to fulfill in Christ is very clear in the Psalms, Isaiah, and the Minor Prophets. But instead of creating His sermons by merely quoting Isaiah or David, Jesus told the same message of repentance – you cannot stay the same — in a fresh way

 

Here, Jesus said you must be like children to enter the kingdom. Jesus was looking for HUMILITY. Having humility does not mean staying the in background or being shy. Think about a young child. A young child does not shrink into the background, but makes his presence known. He wakes up happy, holding no grudges, and he does not “expect” anything but accepts the food and the agenda offered for the day. He is happy – no, THRILLED – with little surprises, and he is fascinated with Creation. With no pride, he gives thanks to God at night. He loves his parents and does not correct his authority as if he always had a better idea. He falls to sleep and dreams of playing, filled with happy thoughts and no expectation or demands on what the morrow will bring.

 

We cannot enter God’s kingdom if we do not humble ourselves and get this happy, grateful, joyful attitude. We must not complain or have certain demands and expectations; rather, we must be thankful and full of praise for this great Father and King! I love this genius plan of God’s!

 

 

That last paragraph is a humdinger.  Thanks to the Prophetess's teachings, everyone in the Remnant Fellowship cult keeps jabbering on about how humble they are.  That fact alone is enough to contradict their assertions. They pridefully narrate their tales of having achieved Sainthood in the most repetitive ways possible, ad nauseum.  Gwen Shambling Lara is the worst of them all. Furthermore, she has very high expections and even demands that God must pay her for being thin and thus godly, but these ever-present demands seem to have completely slipped her mind while writing this "devotional".  Also, I wonder how joyful she'll be when the IRS finally catches up with her shenanigans.

[NarcissismKills]

Some more viewing

Wednesday gathering July 24:

I'm not sure what happened to the "You can overcome show".  Does anyone have a clue?  This was the third Wednesday of a series of gatherings at which the Remnant Fellowship cult folks are being treated to watching a 15-year-old rehash of an even older WeighDown video from the 80's or 90's.  It's incredible that the members are showing up at all.  As is always the case, the evening's broadcast started 30 minutes late and lasted barely an hour, most of which consisted of this awful, stupid video.  At one point Gwen proposes to her viewers that she lock them up with no access to food.  When they finally get desperate and try to break down the door, she says, then they will have demonstrated that they love food more than God.  OMG.  She's been certifiably insane for decades.

Thursday Live with Gwen and Joe:

The recording started a bit before they were ready, and Joe can be heard saying that they'll have to ad lib it. Then they notice that they're on the air and put on their fake smiles. Honestly, they always have to ad lib because they're that empty-headed.  Still, this time they seemed particularly unprepared to say anything, and they pitously begged their viewers to please, please message them some topics or questions.  Such a ghastly performance.  No sentence was uttered without at least half a dozen "you know, you know's".  Then finally someone asked how to be less of a controlling wife.  Gwen said Joe should answer because he's such a good wife.  It was really creepy listening to the rest of the discussion about women needing to do what their husbands decide.  Gwen and Joe were seated in the pool house at the old mansion that Gwen's completely destroyed with icky "renovations" and, as usual, keep saying how "cool" God is.  Gwen proudly said she does a lot of marriage counseling every day.  Good grief. No shame at all.

[WeirdHarold]

16 hours ago, NarcissismKills said:

Yes, there have been people with really long rap sheets that have joined Remnant Fellowship cult while in prison and have been urged to attend events at the Brentwood building when they got out.  This was publicized a couple of years ago.  

From one form of bondage to another.

[Marmion]

6 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Today we learn that Gwen has never seen a child. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Like This Child

July 26, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 18:1-4

 

Jesus and the prophets were trying to make things very clear for the people by using parables and stories that portrayed the will of God as revealed in the scriptures. The only scriptures that they had available were in the Old Testament, and what God wanted and was going to fulfill in Christ is very clear in the Psalms, Isaiah, and the Minor Prophets. But instead of creating His sermons by merely quoting Isaiah or David, Jesus told the same message of repentance – you cannot stay the same — in a fresh way

 

Here, Jesus said you must be like children to enter the kingdom. Jesus was looking for HUMILITY. Having humility does not mean staying the in background or being shy. Think about a young child. A young child does not shrink into the background, but makes his presence known. He wakes up happy, holding no grudges, and he does not “expect” anything but accepts the food and the agenda offered for the day. He is happy – no, THRILLED – with little surprises, and he is fascinated with Creation. With no pride, he gives thanks to God at night. He loves his parents and does not correct his authority as if he always had a better idea. He falls to sleep and dreams of playing, filled with happy thoughts and no expectation or demands on what the morrow will bring.

 

We cannot enter God’s kingdom if we do not humble ourselves and get this happy, grateful, joyful attitude. We must not complain or have certain demands and expectations; rather, we must be thankful and full of praise for this great Father and King! I love this genius plan of God’s!

 

 

This might be used to justify age regression , which is characteristic of what a cult might do .  Pertaining to thought control ,  " 5. Hypnotic techniques are used to alter mental states, undermine critical thinking and even to age regress the member " http://whatmakesacult.com/b-i-t-e-model/  

[AmazonGrace]

If anyone ever managed to live like Gwen tells them to and devote 100 % of their attention to God, they wouldn't survive until the end of the day.
 

Spoiler

 

It is Time to Break Through the Chains!

July 27, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

God has sent His Words from the Heavens to help you to break thru the chains that have held you back. Breaking thru strongholds in the world is going to take your full or complete concentration. You will need to surrender your full heart and entire soul; it will take all of your entire mind and thought process and all of your energy and strength. Any resistance to God should always get your total attention—full, complete attention. This must be your only goal, your new goal, your new lease on life, how you are born again. This will be a full focus on obedience to God. You cannot flirt with the world and have a relationship with God. You will be miserable because you cannot have both. It is about making a choice and dropping one or the other. You have a chance to make a choice and get off the fence.

 

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I wish my kids were the way Gwen described! My life would be so easy! But just this morning my 4 year old screamed at the top of his lungs when I had the audacity to help him get dressed. Then when he couldn’t manage it himself, he screamed some more. It’s been a fun morning. 

[CTRLZero]

Nashville Scene magazine runs an annual contest asking readers to finish the thought:  "You're so Nashville if..."  The submission from back in 1993 made me think of Gwen's cult:

You're so Nashville if...

Your church congregation is referred to as "the studio audience."  ?

[WeirdHarold]

Shabbat Shalom, RFers!  I esteem no day above another, but I guess y'all have some really favorite special days.  Enjoy this one!

Remnant Fellowship, of course, is closed tomorrow.  That's cool though.  This way their kids can invite their friends from false churches to the one true church (sarc) without making them miss a Sunday at their regular worldly fellowships.

[RFsurvivor]

28 minutes ago, WeirdHarold said:

Shabbat Shalom, RFers!  I esteem no day above another, but I guess y'all have some really favorite special days.  Enjoy this one!

Remnant Fellowship, of course, is closed tomorrow.  That's cool though.  This way their kids can invite their friends from false churches to the one true church (sarc) without making them miss a Sunday at their regular worldly fellowships.

Oh this is because Saturday is the TRUE sabbath according to the Bible....

[RFSurvivor_2]

8 minutes ago, RFsurvivor said:

Oh this is because Saturday is the TRUE sabbath according to the Bible....

ICYM, she's being sarcastic folks. ?

[AmazonGrace]

Because this is Gwen, the final breakthrough is the same as the first lesson. Don't binge eat,  eat when you're hungry, stop  when you're full, pray, and a Bible quote that has absolutely nothing to do with waiting for the growl or whether you should associate your digestive tract sensations with God. 

Spoiler

The Final Breakthrough

July 28, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

Romans 6:4 says, We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

To make the final breakthrough, we are going to return to the basics: eating when we are hungry and stopping when we are full. It is back to the very first lessons of WeighDown: hunger and fullness. There must be true hunger and the feeling of a growl. There must be polite satiation or fullness and no binge eating. We are going to deny head hunger, and we are going to replace that with stomach hunger. We get to go from hunger to hunger. You will stop with a small amount when you feel satisfied.

It is about your whole life and direction. Greed is a scary thing, and when there is greed, there is no faith in God; and therefore, you do not rely on God during binges. Hunger and fullness is the perfect amount for you.

You must associate the growl with a relationship with God. You must associate stopping when you are full with a relationship with God in a “surrendered to authority” relationship. What you may not connected in the past and what may have held you back from breaking free is that greed with food is idolatry.  Keep this simple. It is time to start over—start over with a new way to eat and live. First of all, you’ve got to cry out to God once more: “God, I want your Spirit over mine. God, I want your rule over mine,” and let Him lead! It will be so fun and so blessed!

 

[MamaJunebug]

4 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

It is about your whole life and direction. Greed is a scary thing, and when there is greed, there is no faith in God; and therefore, you do not rely on God during binges. Hunger and fullness is the perfect amount for you.

With a straight face, they preach this.  Oy. 

[AmazonGrace]

Jesus forgives but Gwen doesn't. 

(Apart from child killers.)

[WorseThan1Thinks]

Quick recap of yesterday's Remnant 'service'.

As usual and despite being a top RF leader, paid staff, music director and Gwen's own son... Michael wasn't there (I didn't see his wife there either.)  But attendees were graced in a way with the presence of another Michael as they did have a few guys single an awful rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".  (Gwen has always had an affinity with Michael Jackson). 

After all the awful music, it was again just testimony after testimony.  The entire 'service'  This is so typical.  Gwen gets to be lazy and sit there in the front row while members do all the talking.  Even Tedd Anger mentioned how they probably have 1000 testimonies given in an average year.  Forget the Bible, let's just let members get up and tell how long they've been "in this message" (their words), how awesome Remnant and Gwen are and how every other church is counterfeit, etc, etc.  

Anyway, here's the first testimony paraphrased:

Married couple that got married young (their words) by Gwen and they are going through life's typical ups and downs:

They were selling a house and buying a new one (of course Brandon Hanna was the agent so he'll get a nice cut.  And the mortgage broker was a Remnant member, so he'll get a cut.  And the little Remnant financial ecosystem continues to churn.)

They had over 40 people look at their house, but no zero offers.  This was "testing".

They finally get an offer.  This was a "blessing".

The offer was $20k less than they wanted.  This was "testing" and was God seeing if they had greed in their heart.  While grown married adults (now 25 and 22) , they talked about still getting under their parent's authority and listening to them say take the offer for $20k less.  (It wasn't listen to your parents for any wisdom they might be able to shine of a life situation, it was "getting under their authority" and doing what they said.)

The husband got a new job with a raise close to what they were losing by selling their house for $20k less than they wanted.  This was a "blessing".

There was a lot of testing with getting the house inspected and getting everything closed and then their dog got sprayed by a skunk 3 times in 2 days.  This was "testing".

Then HR called him from the job he was leaving and told him that because of accrued PTO, his paycheck will be double normal.  This was a "blessing".  (Or maybe it was just a surprise from him not being finally astute enough to know that was coming.)

Final words from this couple thru tears:  

"And of you ever wonder if it's worth it... if it's really worth it to have to stop when you're full... surely God doesn't want that, he does...  and he'll give you back more than you even knew you wanted."

 

The typical Remnant member must be emotionally and spiritually exhausted thinking every little up and down is either God testing you or blessing you.  When things do go wrong in life (and they will), they equate that to either "testing" or as was hugely referred to in the past, as "curses".

"Blessings and curses" was a vital theme for years.  Maybe they toned down the words a bit more recently to "Blessings and testing".

Either way, living with that perspective would be miserable.

[formergothardite]

I saw this trailer and it made me think of Gwen. A church where the leading family rolls in wealth and money. 

Spoiler

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

2 hours ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

then their dog got sprayed by a skunk 3 times in 2 days.  This was "testing".

That's God trying to improve your smell. 

[Marmion]

2 hours ago, WorseThan1Thinks said:

Quick recap of yesterday's Remnant 'service'.

As usual and despite being a top RF leader, paid staff, music director and Gwen's own son... Michael wasn't there (I didn't see his wife there either.)  But attendees were graced in a way with the presence of another Michael as they did have a few guys single an awful rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".  (Gwen has always had an affinity with Michael Jackson). 

After all the awful music, it was again just testimony after testimony.  The entire 'service'  This is so typical.  Gwen gets to be lazy and sit there in the front row while members do all the talking.  Even Tedd Anger mentioned how they probably have 1000 testimonies given in an average year.  Forget the Bible, let's just let members get up and tell how long they've been "in this message" (their words), how awesome Remnant and Gwen are and how every other church is counterfeit, etc, etc.  

Anyway, here's the first testimony paraphrased:

Married couple that got married young (their words) by Gwen and they are going through life's typical ups and downs:

They were selling a house and buying a new one (of course Brandon Hanna was the agent so he'll get a nice cut.  And the mortgage broker was a Remnant member, so he'll get a cut.  And the little Remnant financial ecosystem continues to churn.)

They had over 40 people look at their house, but no zero offers.  This was "testing".

They finally get an offer.  This was a "blessing".

The offer was $20k less than they wanted.  This was "testing" and was God seeing if they had greed in their heart.  While grown married adults (now 25 and 22) , they talked about still getting under their parent's authority and listening to them say take the offer for $20k less.  (It wasn't listen to your parents for any wisdom they might be able to shine of a life situation, it was "getting under their authority" and doing what they said.)

The husband got a new job with a raise close to what they were losing by selling their house for $20k less than they wanted.  This was a "blessing".

There was a lot of testing with getting the house inspected and getting everything closed and then their dog got sprayed by a skunk 3 times in 2 days.  This was "testing".

Then HR called him from the job he was leaving and told him that because of accrued PTO, his paycheck will be double normal.  This was a "blessing".  (Or maybe it was just a surprise from him not being finally astute enough to know that was coming.)

Final words from this couple thru tears:  

"And of you ever wonder if it's worth it... if it's really worth it to have to stop when you're full... surely God doesn't want that, he does...  and he'll give you back more than you even knew you wanted."

 

The typical Remnant member must be emotionally and spiritually exhausted thinking every little up and down is either God testing you or blessing you.  When things do go wrong in life (and they will), they equate that to either "testing" or as was hugely referred to in the past, as "curses".

"Blessings and curses" was a vital theme for years.  Maybe they toned down the words a bit more recently to "Blessings and testing".

Either way, living with that perspective would be miserable.

This reminds me of a comedy sketch I once saw on Hee Haw.  

Also , Gwen Shamblin herself reminds me of this YouTube satire video I saw , about someone else . ( Safe for YouTube , but not necessarily safe for work )  

 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

A new upcoming Remnant wedding has appeared -- 2 young members of Remnant Royalty. And by young I mean young.  The groom-to-be is 19 or possibly just turned 20 as he mentions he was born soon after his parents joined RF (1999),   

He also tells us he grew up with his finacee and first began really noticing her in 2015.  At that moment he says he was convinced she was the one God wanted him to marry.  He even prayed it was God's will and God sent him 3 signs.  Unfortunately he doesn't tell us what those signs were (darn).

Let's do the math shall we:  He is 19/20. In 2015 he was 15/16. I  have never known/ do not know now a 15/16 year old boy who is thinking about marriage.  For goodness sake, they're just out of the "yuck.... girls.. cooties" stage.

 There must be some consternation and questioning somewhere about this upcoming nuptial because the bridegroom says: 

Quote

"I’ve been asked by friends and family why I would want to get married now, and all I say is that having faith in God and loving Him before anything else is the only reason this opportunity to get married came our way. Having a relationship with God, being in tune with His Spirit, and trusting in Him all are keys to being able to take such a big step in life and have total peace." 

Hmmmmm .... an .... uh.... um .... interesting way to explain it. Not once in the announcement do either of them mention loving the other.  It's all love God first and others (unspecified others) second).

Does RF routinely push children (because let's be honest 15 is a child) toward marriage that young?  Is that why so many of the couples are still teenagers -- 18-19?  I think I've also seen several 17 year brides.

Do any of the former RFs remember any brides younger than 17?

How can these children possibly be mature enough to marry, or are they still completely "under authority" to their parents for years and years and years (perhaps always)? 

How can these under-educated young men possibly make enough money to support a wife and the very soon to come family (as they all seem to have children within 12-18 months)?

Remnant Fellowship, a cult in Brentwood TN run by Gwen Shamblin Lara, is a constant source of head shaking WTF-ery.

[WeirdHarold]

8 minutes ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

Do any of the former RFs remember any brides younger than 17?

I think the State of Tennessee requires parental consent to get a government blessed marriage at 16 or 17.

Edited July 28, 2019 by WeirdHarold
Typo