Gwen Shamblin 8: Not Smart Enough to Think

[OperationSunshine]

18 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

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9 hours ago, SuperNova said:

I popped on over to Gwen's page before coming here and I only saw one devotional. I went back and yup, only one. Maybe she accidently posted tomorrow's post today and removed it. Maybe she should have a snack to refresh herself. 

Also, her devotionals usually end with, read more in Weigh Down Works!. Today's says, read more in Tablet. Anyone know what that is?

 

 

"The Tablet" is one of Gwen's books.  https://www.amazon.com/Tablet-Gwen-Shamblin-Lara-ebook/dp/B074D2G9XD/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAjwxrzoBRBBEiwAbtX1n-YCll7Ml0ceOxx1dvvfjEYqi0-oGfpQ-eXSFFDTCQgnkyGGvHUw6hoChwcQAvD_BwE&hvadid=177139467309&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031794&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=128618846353277005&hvtargid=aud-647006051489%3Akwd-271460715342&hydadcr=15524_9753276&keywords=the+tablet+gwen+shamblin&qid=1561348481&s=gateway&sr=8-1

 

8 hours ago, sajetime said:

Here’s a Remnant member’s sister account of her sister (Jayne Fielder Dubois) being matched and married in Remnant years ago:

http://www.spiritwatch.org/sisterjayne.htm

 

“Jayne was let go from her job as a counselor some time ago at WD but has remained as loyal as ever to Gwen and the church. Jayne is getting married in May. I was a bit surprised because we hadn't heard a word about Ron until she became engaged. She said she wasn't at all interested in Ron at first but was strongly advised to consider that this is what God wanted for Jayne. I am very happy for her. The only thing that I can say about the wedding and the only thing that suddenly occurred to me is none of her immediate family has been asked to particpate but be recognized as "honory" family. No maid of honor, no flower girl, my daugther is seven and asked if she was going to be the flower girl for Auntie Jayne's wedding.”

 

I know of a lot of family members who were hurt and upset because they were not included in their loved one's weddings because they weren't a part of Remnant. It's not just a matter of not being a bridesmaid... you're pretty much unwelcome at everything. We knew people who flew from very far away, only to be shuttled around and not even invited to the rehearsal dinner. They were invited to the blessing shower and the wedding, but even that was awkward because they were just shoved in a few token photos (that, obviously, were NOT shared in the couple's wedding albums).

It's funny because one person told me that it was 100% his choice to not have his brothers in his wedding. When I asked why he said "Well, leadership is right; the people who stand up there  with me need to be the people who are really going to encourage me on my walk with God and helped me get here to this marriage with a true Saint... so I wanted the people who walk this walk up there with me." The brothers who were left out were devestated... these were brothers who had been very close before this guy joined Remnant. But it didn't matter... they weren't included. And it's clear that leadership plants the seed to make the bride and groom feel like it was all their decision. It's one of those "cult" things that is grey area... yes, I know those RF people are your new besties... but how can you just drop someone who has been there for you through so, so much? If anything, seeing all of this pushed my family further away from RF and showed us clearly their character.

[AmazonGrace]

Today we learn that feeling guilty feels better than any meal on the planet and that Gwen loves to stare at mirrors:
 

Spoiler

 

Introspection is the Key

June 24, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

In the end, introspection is the key that unlocks the first door on this journey. James, the brother of Jesus, said it this way:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

I love introspection, looking inward, looking in the mirror, and then being convicted and getting to change. This passage is so important because it brings up how important it is to keep looking inward. It is not just a one-time occasion. I continually look for God’s Spirit to guide me when He awakens me in the night. The more you look inward, the more you will progress. The more you change, the more you will want to change because it ends embarrassment, shame, guilt, etc. Remorse, penitence, contrition and change feel good and are better than any meal on the planet!

 

 

[throwaway9988]

20 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

This is a question for the former RF-ers here.  I obviously think way too much about Remnant and the whole WD "religion" based on not eating.

My question is this:  Nearly every one of the written testimonies and "You Can Overcome" shows have couples who swear up and down that RF healed their broken contentious marriages and fixed their finances.  How?  Specifically how did this happen?

How does losing weight and following Gwod and her pseudo-Jewish 'let's all get skinny' cult do any of that?  Seriously -- I cannot imagine how what they say was accomplished actually happened.

 

 

 

I totally agree with what RFsurvivor wrote about the relationships.

As far as money, what happens is that a Remnant leader (used to mostly be Tedd) advises someone to move to Brentwood and live for free in another Remnant member’s basement while working 2-3 jobs and going to Remnant events instead of spending money on entertainment. The Remnant member eventually testifies in public that their finances got fixed by god and that following god makes money appear in their bank accounts out of nowhere. ? The reality is that their finances were fixed through a combination of their own hard work and not paying rent for months/years. And the money didnt appear in their bank accounts out of nowhere, it was put there by their employer(s) and stayed there because they weren’t spending it. The fact that remnant members have constantly parroted the line that “money appeared in my account out of nowhere, praise god” is a testament only to the fact that many of them apparently lack the basic financial skills to set a budget and then track that budget, which is probably how they found themselves needing to live in the basement of a cult member in the first place. 

I also talked about why the money and relationship testimonies are BS and drove me crazy in paragrahs 6-7 of my extremely wordy first post. It’s a pet peeve of mine because Remnant members frequently spout that crap without ever seeming to think it through

 

 

[sajetime]

25 minutes ago, throwaway9988 said:

As far as money, what happens is that a Remnant leader (used to mostly be Tedd) advises someone to move to Brentwood and live for free in another Remnant member’s basement while working 2-3 jobs and going to Remnant events instead of spending money on entertainment. The Remnant member eventually testifies in public that their finances got fixed by god and that following god makes money appear in their bank accounts out of nowhere. ? The reality is that their finances were fixed through a combination of their own hard work and not paying rent for months/years. And the money didnt appear in their bank accounts out of nowhere, it was put there by their employer(s) and stayed there because they weren’t spending it. The fact that remnant members have constantly parroted the line that “money appeared in my account out of nowhere, praise god” is a testament only to the fact that many of them apparently lack the basic financial skills to set a budget and then track that budget, which is probably how they found themselves needing to live in the basement of a cult member in the first place. 

How do the living arrangements work? How does leadership decide what family to place with what family? If you have an extra room in Remnant are you always expecting another family to come live there? Can you say no? Are you expected to pay all the food/expenses of the family that’s living with you? Does it get weird?

[throwaway9988]

23 minutes ago, sajetime said:

How do the living arrangements work? How does leadership decide what family to place with what family? If you have an extra room in Remnant are you always expecting another family to come live there? Can you say no? Are you expected to pay all the food/expenses of the family that’s living with you? Does it get weird?

You only get asked to host if you have extra room and are inner circle or upper-mid circle such that the leadership thinks you will do a good job of successfully leading the people you host towards being better little Remnant robots than they were before.  It’s like the cult version of being a foster parent. 

The person being hosted is expected to buy their own food and stuff and help with utilities if possible, just not usually pay much rent if any. 

I suppose someone could decline to be a host but can you ever really say no to a Remnant leader? They are your earthly authority line, they wouldnt have asked you to host in the first place unless the god of the universe wanted you to be a host, so by declining to host you are questioning god’s will and being a bad remnant member. You cannot underestimate the insane degree of control that being a remnant leader gives you over other remnant members, or the control that being a husband gives you over your wife, or that being a parent gives you over your children. Whatever you say, even if you said it on a whim and didnt think it through and it is completely wrong, instantly becomes god’s will because Gwen teaches that god put an authority line in place on earth and planned that out. 

If leadership thinks you have your own family problems that could lead someone astray then they wont ask you to be a host in the first place or will accept an answer of no. (I think my parents got asked to host once while i was living there and were allowed to say no despite having a big empty basement lol ??).

Edited June 24, 2019 by throwaway9988

[DaisyD]

Reason 487 that I could never be part of this cult. I've never been terribly good with authority. My mouth would get me in trouble with everyone. ??? It's a miracle I managed to keep it in check in the military. No one ever ordered me to do anything I didn't understand the purpose of. That's probably what saved me. 

[NarcissismKills]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Today we learn that feeling guilty feels better than any meal on the planet and that Gwen loves to stare at mirrors:
 

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Introspection is the Key

June 24, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

In the end, introspection is the key that unlocks the first door on this journey. James, the brother of Jesus, said it this way:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25

I love introspection, looking inward, looking in the mirror, and then being convicted and getting to change. This passage is so important because it brings up how important it is to keep looking inward. It is not just a one-time occasion. I continually look for God’s Spirit to guide me when He awakens me in the night. The more you look inward, the more you will progress. The more you change, the more you will want to change because it ends embarrassment, shame, guilt, etc. Remorse, penitence, contrition and change feel good and are better than any meal on the planet!

 

 

This bit from the Gwen Shamblin Lara "devotional" is a great example of how addled her few brain cells are. Complete and utter gibberish! Throwing words around with no clue of meaning or structure. So uneducated. And I sure wish she would get "convicted" of something and be put in the slammer where she belongs, although she may not have meant to use that word... Oh yeah, she's too dumb to think.

[Tuesday’s Child]

Are there any new Lunch with Gwen and Joe videos up? I don’t have FB. I need some entertainment...Monday was rough. ?

[sajetime]

1 hour ago, Tuesday’s Child said:

Are there any new Lunch with Gwen and Joe videos up? I don’t have FB. I need some entertainment...Monday was rough. ?

But of course! So in this one Gwen and Joe talk to camp kids about the “turn the other cheek” scriptures. Which is entertaining for so many reasons. 1. They’re locked in a bitter custody battle with Joe’s babymama and preaching being good to one’s enemy. 2. Gwen loses track of the nonsense she’s speaking and asks Joe some random question about “less dangerous sports” — what the hell? He basically says as much. Then, 3. Joe launches into this story about how he diffused a situation when guy was breaking into his home — and the guy’s name was Victor and ... he was going to Victorville. Basically he sounds like a little kid who is a terrible liar making up stuff as he goes along. 

 

 

Meanwhile David Shamblin, who appears to have lost weight, shares a “VERY KETO-FRIENDLY” recipe on Facebook. If that isn’t an eff-you to Mrs. Gwen Shamblin “Diets Dont’ Work” Lara, I don’t know what is!

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by sajetime

[JermajestyDuggar]

I think all of Gwen’s granddaughters have names that start with G to honor Gwen. I don’t know this for a fact but I bet I’m correct. I feel sorry for poor Gates. All the good G names were taken and she got stuck with that.

[SuperNova]

Rot kraut sausage shrimp amalgam has to be the worst recipe name ever. But good for him, I wish him all the luck. The last 100 lbs he lost was probably the best thing he could have ever done for himself. And by 100 pound weight loss I mean Gwen's bony ass.

[RFsurvivor]

2 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I think all of Gwen’s granddaughters have names that start with G to honor Gwen. I don’t know this for a fact but I bet I’m correct. I feel sorry for poor Gates. All the good G names were taken and she got stuck with that.

Yes. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, RFsurvivor said:

Yes. 

I wish they had gone with Gayle instead of Gates. But I’m sure they said she was named after the Gates of Heaven...

[RFsurvivor]

Just now, JermajestyDuggar said:

I wish they had gone with Gayle instead of Gates. But I’m sure they said she was named after the Gates of Heaven...

Oh all the names are tied to something biblical if I can remember correctly... 

[Tuesday’s Child]

1 hour ago, sajetime said:

But of course! So in this one Gwen and Joe talk to camp kids about the “turn the other cheek” scriptures. Which is entertaining for so many reasons. 1. They’re locked in a bitter custody battle with Joe’s babymama and preaching being good to one’s enemy. 2. Gwen loses track of the nonsense she’s speaking and asks Joe some random question about “less dangerous sports” — what the hell? He basically says as much. Then, 3. Joe launches into this story about how he diffused a situation when guy was breaking into his home — and the guy’s name was Victor and ... he was going to Victorville. Basically he sounds like a little kid who is a terrible liar making up stuff as he goes along. 

 

 

Meanwhile David Shamblin, who appears to have lost weight, shares a “VERY KETO-FRIENDLY” recipe on Facebook. If that isn’t an eff-you to Mrs. Gwen Shamblin “Diets Dont’ Work” Lara, I don’t know what is!

 

Thank you @sajetime!!! My Monday ended with laughter ???

 

i used to feel sorry for Gwen because David was never at church supporting her. Now I realize he was off living his life and trying to be normal. Go David Shamblin for being on a diet! ?????? I hope Michael joins too?????

[throwaway9988]

Gates of Hell? Bill Gates? 

[Hane]

32 minutes ago, throwaway9988 said:

Gates of Hell? Bill Gates? 

I’m thinking Gates McFadden, of Star Trek TNG. She uses her middle name professionally, as there was already an actress named Cheryl McFadden when she started out.

[AmazonGrace]

Today we learn that Jews are cloned and that gravity is like God's Law and she's right, we all must obey gravity and debating it would do no good.
 

Spoiler

 

Outside Force Versus Inside Force

June 25, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

An outside force is anything that surrounds us, influencing what we are doing. It is natural that all of us depend on such a force at one time or another, such as the highway patrol car sitting alongside the road that makes our foot pull back from the accelerator. This is an outside force.

This outside force is the law that God set up at the beginning of time. But when the Word moves from outside to inside your mouth, your heart, and is near you—then it is a beautiful inside force that you should surrender to. It is the Spirit of God to guide you. The laws are not bad. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law nor the Prophets. The laws are established (for example, the law of gravity), and it is something we learn to abide by without debate or deliberation. Other such laws are… justice, mercy, and love. In the atmosphere of the Garden, Adam and Eve did not have an outside force making them behave. What God found one evening when He was walking in the Garden, unfortunately, was that the hearts of the free-will agents He had created were missing the inside initiative to be pure in heart. As time went by, God found a man who did have a pure trust and love for Him. His name was Abraham. This man was focused and loved God and had such a strong faith. God was delighted to find a man who had a heart for Him and trust in Him. God tested Abraham’s motives and He found that Abraham was even willing to sacrifice his only son if God asked him to, because he believed God would provide for him. God tested him with Isaac, and then God gave Isaac back. This is the love and faith that God considers righteous. Abraham had the inside force—faith and love.

God committed Himself to Abraham, and Abraham to the Father. God promised to make a whole nation of “Abrahams.” In other words, God was so pleased with Abraham’s heart of love that He decided to make many Abraham clones, a group of people who had the same heart as Abraham. This spiritual nation was not going to be small in number; in fact, God said there would be as many hearts like Abraham’s as there were stars in the sky. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” Genesis 15:5

 

 

[NarcissismKills]

 

28 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Today we learn that Jews are cloned and that gravity is like God's Law and she's right, we all must obey gravity and debating it would do no good.
 

  Hide contents

 

Outside Force Versus Inside Force

June 25, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

0 Comment

An outside force is anything that surrounds us, influencing what we are doing. It is natural that all of us depend on such a force at one time or another, such as the highway patrol car sitting alongside the road that makes our foot pull back from the accelerator. This is an outside force.

This outside force is the law that God set up at the beginning of time. But when the Word moves from outside to inside your mouth, your heart, and is near you—then it is a beautiful inside force that you should surrender to. It is the Spirit of God to guide you. The laws are not bad. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law nor the Prophets. The laws are established (for example, the law of gravity), and it is something we learn to abide by without debate or deliberation. Other such laws are… justice, mercy, and love. In the atmosphere of the Garden, Adam and Eve did not have an outside force making them behave. What God found one evening when He was walking in the Garden, unfortunately, was that the hearts of the free-will agents He had created were missing the inside initiative to be pure in heart. As time went by, God found a man who did have a pure trust and love for Him. His name was Abraham. This man was focused and loved God and had such a strong faith. God was delighted to find a man who had a heart for Him and trust in Him. God tested Abraham’s motives and He found that Abraham was even willing to sacrifice his only son if God asked him to, because he believed God would provide for him. God tested him with Isaac, and then God gave Isaac back. This is the love and faith that God considers righteous. Abraham had the inside force—faith and love.

God committed Himself to Abraham, and Abraham to the Father. God promised to make a whole nation of “Abrahams.” In other words, God was so pleased with Abraham’s heart of love that He decided to make many Abraham clones, a group of people who had the same heart as Abraham. This spiritual nation was not going to be small in number; in fact, God said there would be as many hearts like Abraham’s as there were stars in the sky. “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” Genesis 15:5

 

 

 

 

 

Seems like here Gwen Shamblin Lara is still struggling with the very concept of Abraham. Possibly it's because Gwod is trying to communicate that she is pleased with the obedience of her followers at Remnant Fellowship and is causing them to marry early and reproduce quickly and often.

[Fashion Forward]

On 6/23/2019 at 10:25 AM, SilverBeach said:

What if you ain't got no husband and you are a household of one (well, maybe you have a cat or two)?

Then you rely on God by praying/asking for advice and you're supposed to be in pretty constant check with the leader you've been assigned to.

[Fashion Forward]

On 6/23/2019 at 9:54 PM, OperationSunshine said:

I know of a lot of family members who were hurt and upset because they were not included in their loved one's weddings because they weren't a part of Remnant.

And not just family members but friends too.... and friends who are also members of the church.  Your bridesmaids and groomsmen have to be pre-approved before you can ask them to stand by your side on your wedding day. If they are considered a "struggling" member, they are rarely approved. I know of one groom who did not ask his supposed best friend to be in his wedding party because he was counselled against it due to his best friend being a "struggling" member. He was still invited to the wedding, but not at as groomsman or best man like we all thought.

[OperationSunshine]

9 minutes ago, Fashion Forward said:

And not just family members but friends too.... and friends who are also members of the church.  Your bridesmaids and groomsmen have to be pre-approved before you can ask them to stand by your side on your wedding day. If they are considered a "struggling" member, they are rarely approved. I know of one groom who did not ask his supposed best friend to be in his wedding party because he was counselled against it due to his best friend being a "struggling" member. He was still invited to the wedding, but not at as groomsman or best man like we all thought.

It drives me nuts how they'll lie about things like this though. We kept being told that leadership did NOT tell them who could be in their bridal party, they just encouraged them to pick the "saints" that would help them to continue to follow God... but events going on at the time made it so PAINFULLY clear that leadership were holding the reigns. We asked them again and again and they just kept insisting "Nope, WE choose it, not leadership..."

Please know, I'm not trying to gossip... I just truly don't understand this weird separation between what they said and what was actually, physically happening in front of them. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by OperationSunshine
Not enough coffee yet...

[SuperNova]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

This outside force is the law that God set up at the beginning of time...The laws are established (for example, the law of gravity), and it is something we learn to abide by without debate or deliberation. Other such laws are… justice, mercy, and love. In the atmosphere of the Garden, Adam and Eve did not have an outside force making them behave.

A prime example of Gwen logic. Gwen's "outside forces" which include justice, mercy, love, and gravity (????), were not present in the garden of Eden. That means that Adam and Eve were floating around naked in the garden.

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Abraham had the inside force—

We also learn that Abraham was secretly a Jedi because he had the inside force.

May the force be with you.

Edited June 25, 2019 by SuperNova

[RFSurvivor_2]

4 hours ago, Fashion Forward said:

 I know of one groom who did not ask his supposed best friend to be in his wedding party because he was counselled against it due to his best friend being a "struggling" member. He was still invited to the wedding, but not at as groomsman or best man like we all thought.

This is exactly what happened to me. I was “suggested” by leadership several months before @RFsurvivor‘s and my wedding to not have two of my closest friends as groomsmen because of their weight. They specifically stated that they couldn’t go on stage with me because of their “apparent sin”. I raised questions about this “suggestion” which were quickly shot down by subtle threats towards cancelling my wedding...

With much hesitation and distraught, I informed these two gentlemen that they couldn’t be a part of one of the most important days of my life because due to being overweight. They understood the situation, however it doesn’t justify how terrible the situation was. To be blunt, I felt like a piece of shit human for a long time after that. It took me years to come to terms with what I did. What made me feel worse deep down at that time was the fact that one of these young men stood by me practically the entire day of the wedding (with the exception of he being on stage). He helped me get ready, got refreshments for myself and my wedding party, the whole nine yards. He did so with a smile. He did all of this despite being told by one of his best friends that he couldn’t attend his wedding because he was overweight.

I also was on the receiving end of this as well. I was told by one of my former best friends that I couldn’t attend his wedding because of my (back then) weight gain. He also was “guided” by leadership towards this decision. I understood then and I understand now why he had to do what he did. I was extremely heart broken then but I knew deep down, he didn’t have a “choice” in his mind...

Edited June 25, 2019 by RFSurvivor_2

[RFSurvivor_2]

6 hours ago, RFSurvivor_2 said:

I was told by one of my former best friends that I couldn’t attend his wedding because of my (back then) weight gain.

I do want to clarify; I was told by this individual that I couldn’t be a part of his wedding party due to my weight gain at the time. He admitted to me that leadership was the main “influence” of his decision. I was authorized to (at least) attend the wedding. Emulating the attitude of the best friend that I mentioned previously that I denied being in my wedding party, I put on a smile and proceeded to assist wherever I could. I rarely left this friend’s the entire evening. I of course was emotionally torn apart internally the entire time, but I still played my “part” until the very end. Interestingly enough, that wedding was the last time I saw him and the last time I stepped foot in Remnant Fellowship.

10 hours ago, OperationSunshine said:

It drives me nuts how they'll lie about things like this though. We kept being told that leadership did NOT tell them who could be in their bridal party, they just encouraged them to pick the "saints" that would help them to continue to follow God... but events going on at the time made it so PAINFULLY clear that leadership were holding the reigns. We asked them again and again and they just kept insisting "Nope, WE choose it, not leadership..."

Agreed...

I consider myself somewhat fortunate in this context. At least I was told directly, face to face, eye to eye by Remnant leadership that I couldn’t have two of my best friends as my groomsmen. There was no skating around it, no interpretation was required. It still was an awful situation however I am trying my best to see somewhat of a positive element in this experience. Open ended “suggestions” and “guidance” from leadership in situations such as these was always a minefield (that I was rapidly growing tired of navigating due to years of planning my escape). I was (somewhat) glad I didn’t have to deal with the additional mental gymnastics wedding planning at Remnant Fellowship has to offer. 

I know of many situations in which couples were coerced into making decisions they had no intention of making at the “subtle” behest of Remnant leadership. Weddings typically are riddled with these types of scenarios. From wedding dates, wedding parties to even wedding vows, Gwen, Remnant leadership and the wedding committee ultimately has the say so in EVERY element of EVERY Remnant Wedding.

There was no fighting Gwen, leadership and the wedding committee. Oh no, none of that. If a couple objects/refuses/denies any “suggestions, they are often chastised,  “corrected”, and or belittled for their behavior.  Some (such as @RFsurvivor and I) even had their wedding threatened to be cancelled. Sick bastards...

It’s a damn shame.

Edited June 26, 2019 by RFSurvivor_2