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Gwen Shamblin Lara 9: Perfecting Hypocrisy


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9 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

I know you are ready because you are even more aware that if you keep this up, you might have something worse happen to you and your health. In fact, we see this in the Book of John, Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14

Get skinny or else. Well, this just cheers me right up. I thought I wanted a piece of cake but now I'm going to have a single slice of apple and a sip of diet coke.

9 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

you have come to the right place because you cannot do this just for your own health and high energy—that is selfish—it must be done for the glory of the Lord.

Yeah, people who want healthy, energetic bodies are selfish. It's so self centered when you have the strength to get through your day and still have the energy to take your kids to the park and play with them. Getting skinny for the glory of Gwen, I mean the lord, is what my body is really for. 

Edited by SuperNova
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3 hours ago, quiversR4hunting said:

I am not a scholar. But the miracle of the man being cured was on a Sabbath and Jesus instructed the man to "Pick up your mat and walk" according to the law, it forbade people from carrying the mat (doing manual labor) so the leaders in the temple saw the carrying of the mat as a sin. Which is why Jesus told him to sin no more. I think what Jesus was telling him is to follow the laws otherwise the leaders will punish him. As with many that quote the bible, context matters and of course Gwen Shamblin Lara will not give the context otherwise it might not fit her narrative. John 5:8-14 NIV.

 

The only way that she can possibly maintain followers is to take the Bible out of context every.single.time. There are so many times that she'll start to preach on a passage and then stop half way through and make completely unrelated conclusions... if she'd just finish the passage, her followers would see that she's not giving them the full and complete story.

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3 hours ago, Blue said:

The only way that she can possibly maintain followers is to take the Bible out of context every.single.time. There are so many times that she'll start to preach on a passage and then stop half way through and make completely unrelated conclusions... if she'd just finish the passage, her followers would see that she's not giving them the full and complete story.

The funniest part of this is when I was a member I remember Gwen saying that she doesn’t cherry pick the Bible unlike other churches....

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50 minutes ago, RFsurvivor said:

The funniest part of this is when I was a member I remember Gwen saying that she doesn’t cherry pick the Bible unlike other churches....

The heck she doesn't!! That's her specialty.

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1 hour ago, RFsurvivor said:

The funniest part of this is when I was a member I remember Gwen saying that she doesn’t cherry pick the Bible unlike other churches....

Okay but that's the problem with a CULT and a CULT LEADER... RF members cannot fathom that she could be wrong... if she says "I don't cherry pick" like other churches, they can't step back and consider that she's doing exactly that. I truly can't understand that. There is no man or woman or leader or authority on Earth that I believe 100% without questioning... even the most trustworthy people can just be flat out wrong.

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5 hours ago, Blue said:

The only way that she can possibly maintain followers is to take the Bible out of context every.single.time. There are so many times that she'll start to preach on a passage and then stop half way through and make completely unrelated conclusions... if she'd just finish the passage, her followers would see that she's not giving them the full and complete story.

This is how many (most? All?) people like her work - they take the verse out of context because in its context it means nothing remarkably similar to what they’re saying it says. Prosperity gospel preachers do it all the time. She’s simply going for a different type of prosperity. 

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6 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

This is how many (most? All?) people like her work - they take the verse out of context because in its context it means nothing remarkably similar to what they’re saying it says. Prosperity gospel preachers do it all the time. She’s simply going for a different type of prosperity. 

I agree completely. 

She's successful because she toes the line... she doesn't fully reject the Bible... and she accepts JUST enough of it for her followers to fall for it.

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Random “verse out of context” pet peeve of mine is Jeremiah 29:11 (“for i know the plans I have for you,” says the lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you”)

That sounds great when you just use it like that, but the context of that verse puts an entirely different spin on it! The context is: God is telling the Israelites they have another 70 years of bondage BEFORE “plans to prosper you...” comes to fruition.

In other words, the people who were given that prophecy (?) were not the ones who would be living it out! The ones who heard it would die before they experienced the prosperity promised. That verse has NOTHING to do with getting a better house or a better job or your spouse changing or whatever else people claim it for!

...ok, stepping off my soapbox...

Edited by Giraffe
Wasn’t done yelling.
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5 minutes ago, Blue said:

Okay but that's the problem with a CULT and a CULT LEADER... RF members cannot fathom that she could be wrong... if she says "I don't cherry pick" like other churches, they can't step back and consider that she's doing exactly that. I truly can't understand that. There is no man or woman or leader or authority on Earth that I believe 100% without questioning... even the most trustworthy people can just be flat out wrong.

In my opinion, THAT is what separates a cult leader from other religious leaders. In my church, we are FREE to say that we don't agree with the pastor. We are ENCOURAGED to read the Bible for OURSELVES and develop an understanding of it. We are not REQUIRED to read books that he writes. If I leave that church, I will still have relationships with the people who were my friends while I attended there. When I was in another group, if I left. I was considered to have "left God", and VERY FEW PEOPLE from that group would actually interact with me afterwards. 

Someone mentioned brainwashing...it's true, when I was a member of the ICOC (an exclusive religious group), we were often warned against reading things about that group on the internet. We were told that it was persecution, though a leader in the ICOC eventually wrote a letter that was published to the internet, and the ICOC was FORCED to admit the wrongdoings. The TOP leader (Kip McKean)  stepped down and has since started another organization.

In my personal experience, when someone is at the TOP of a religious  organization/cult, they are NOT receptive to ANY input. Gwen has said herself that GOD gave her the WD Diet, so getting her to believe that she is in error in any way (despite the science/scripture that may support it) is practically impossible. In fact, if something similar to what happened in the ICOC  happened in RF, Gwen would likely just start another church. A few of her "faithful" would break off and follow her. Since RF is so closely tied to WD, they would have a heck of a time keeping the old group going if she were to leave the current RF, because she'd probably sue the pants off of anyone who tried to teach anything remotely close to what she teaches.

One last thing...I seem to remember reading that Gwen and Kip McKean went to the same church when they were younger, and they are both a LOT alike. Kip always wanted "a group of disciples that were sold out." Being sold out meant that you worked extra hard to be "pure". There wasn't much grace in his message.

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1 hour ago, freefromthin said:

In my opinion, THAT is what separates a cult leader from other religious leaders. In my church, we are FREE to say that we don't agree with the pastor. We are ENCOURAGED to read the Bible for OURSELVES and develop an understanding of it. We are not REQUIRED to read books that he writes. If I leave that church, I will still have relationships with the people who were my friends while I attended there. When I was in another group, if I left. I was considered to have "left God", and VERY FEW PEOPLE from that group would actually interact with me afterwards. 

Someone mentioned brainwashing...it's true, when I was a member of the ICOC (an exclusive religious group), we were often warned against reading things about that group on the internet. We were told that it was persecution, though a leader in the ICOC eventually wrote a letter that was published to the internet, and the ICOC was FORCED to admit the wrongdoings. The TOP leader (Kip McKean)  stepped down and has since started another organization.

In my personal experience, when someone is at the TOP of a religious  organization/cult, they are NOT receptive to ANY input. Gwen has said herself that GOD gave her the WD Diet, so getting her to believe that she is in error in any way (despite the science/scripture that may support it) is practically impossible. In fact, if something similar to what happened in the ICOC  happened in RF, Gwen would likely just start another church. A few of her "faithful" would break off and follow her. Since RF is so closely tied to WD, they would have a heck of a time keeping the old group going if she were to leave the current RF, because she'd probably sue the pants off of anyone who tried to teach anything remotely close to what she teaches.

One last thing...I seem to remember reading that Gwen and Kip McKean went to the same church when they were younger, and they are both a LOT alike. Kip always wanted "a group of disciples that were sold out." Being sold out meant that you worked extra hard to be "pure". There wasn't much grace in his message.

I couldn't possibly agree more with every word that you said. Our pastors have always said clearly "Do NOT take what I'm saying at face value... go home... read the Bible... read other viewpoints... read other pastors works..." Years ago when we felt we had to move to a new church, we lost exactly zero friends. We were shunned by exactly zero people. In fact, I am STILL friends with people from that church today. Why? Because we don't believe that a specific church is superior to all others... we don't believe that we've found or are attending God's "one true church," so leaving the church group isn't in any way leaving God.

And yes... when she says that this movement was started by God and that God gave her WD and RF... how can you argue? She's literally presenting her words and her ideas as direct from God. If you disagree with Gwen, you're saying that God is wrong... Cults 101.

You have no idea how much we pray daily that somehow she's exposed and it implodes. I don't know that our friends and loved ones would leave even if it DOES implode, but we know it will take something catastrophic for it to even be a possibility.

Edited by Blue
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2 hours ago, freefromthin said:

.......she'd probably sue the pants off of anyone who tried to teach anything remotely close to what she teaches.

She wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The basic idea of Weigh Down (eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied) didn't originate with Gwen.

Thin Within, an earlier faith-based weight loss system, was started in 1975 by Judy Wardell-Halliday and Joy Imboden Overstreet.

Though not faith-based, Susie Orbach also encouraged using your body's signals of hunger and satiety in her book "Fat is a Feminist Issue" published in 1978.

Gwen began her consulting practice in the area of weight control in 1980 and her first book was published in 1997.

@freefromthinOr were you referring to her theology?

Edited by ManyGoats
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On 8/28/2019 at 11:37 AM, Blue said:

 

I hate how she puts JUST enough truth in there that it's hard to argue... she skews it JUST enough that she isn't LYING, she's just painting her own picture instead of the Bible's.

 

YES!!! THIS!!  THIS is the problem I have with so much "Christian" teaching!  There's just enough truth in it to make it nearly impossible to extract the truth and dismiss the lies!

10 hours ago, freefromthin said:

In my opinion, THAT is what separates a cult leader from other religious leaders. In my church, we are FREE to say that we don't agree with the pastor. We are ENCOURAGED to read the Bible for OURSELVES and develop an understanding of it. We are not REQUIRED to read books that he writes. If I leave that church, I will still have relationships with the people who were my friends while I attended there. When I was in another group, if I left. I was considered to have "left God", and VERY FEW PEOPLE from that group would actually interact with me afterwards. 

Someone mentioned brainwashing...it's true, when I was a member of the ICOC (an exclusive religious group), we were often warned against reading things about that group on the internet. We were told that it was persecution, though a leader in the ICOC eventually wrote a letter that was published to the internet, and the ICOC was FORCED to admit the wrongdoings. The TOP leader (Kip McKean)  stepped down and has since started another organization.

In my personal experience, when someone is at the TOP of a religious  organization/cult, they are NOT receptive to ANY input. Gwen has said herself that GOD gave her the WD Diet, so getting her to believe that she is in error in any way (despite the science/scripture that may support it) is practically impossible. In fact, if something similar to what happened in the ICOC  happened in RF, Gwen would likely just start another church. A few of her "faithful" would break off and follow her. Since RF is so closely tied to WD, they would have a heck of a time keeping the old group going if she were to leave the current RF, because she'd probably sue the pants off of anyone who tried to teach anything remotely close to what she teaches.

One last thing...I seem to remember reading that Gwen and Kip McKean went to the same church when they were younger, and they are both a LOT alike. Kip always wanted "a group of disciples that were sold out." Being sold out meant that you worked extra hard to be "pure". There wasn't much grace in his message.

@freefromthinI was part of the movement that birthed the ICOC.  I was baptized in a church that was part of the Crossroads Movement.  The Crossroads Church of Christ was in Gainesville, FL and had a school of preaching that trained people in their style of discipleship.  Kip McKean was baptized at Crossroads.  The ministers that were at my church in Tallahassee were also trained at Crossroads.  

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Spoiler

 

The Night Lie, Part I

September 26, 2019

by Gwen Shamblin Lara

breakthrough, Gwen Lara, Gwen Shamblin, How to lose weight, i can't lose weight, stubborn weight loss, Weigh Down

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Tragically, the enemy has many people just where he wants them: deceived, year after year after year. They may go to bed every night determined to be different. Then get up every morning with the same resolve. If this is your situation, you may pray, and yet, at the end of the day and at the last minute you are presented by satan an opportunity to eat, and you make a rash decision. You have some thought that eating will be comforting and rest your body. You have some personal lie that grants you permission to either eat when you are not hungry or to eat beyond full. It allows you to lust at night—just this one last time. This deceitful lie tells you to go ahead this time; it tells you that you can just eat a little and stop there. There will be no damage done. You go to bed disgusted and wake up to be different and believe that you will—so you don’t feel too bad. Then you look up and you have listened to a circle of lies for 10, 20, 30 years or more. You are not changing. Your faith is not stronger.

But the truth is that you are not good at stopping when you are eating, because you were not hungry to start with; and if you are not hungry, then you are full. Where is full? You cannot find it when you are not hungry. You are feeding head hunger and greed, and greed has no satiation. You have to use your own willpower to stop, and for most, willpower is slowly disappearing, because you can’t seem to stop anyway. You do not ask God in on a late-night binge—you try not to know that you are doing it yourself. You are trying to deceive even yourself—so you eat quickly. You feel you must take care of yourself, that the food might not be there for you. This day you are going to eat because tomorrow you are going to eat a lot less. But then you don’t. After years of this, don’t you see that you are deceived by a set of lies that work on you? How could the same lies work on someone every day? How have you managed to binge every night and wake up every day resolved to be different yet are no different and if anything, greedier? How does someone fall for the lie at night? How could someone be so afraid to have a day that has less greed, less food, less lust, less shopping? What is this fear?

You need faith. You need some faith that God will take care of you in a different way. Pray for faith. End your fears and stop listening to the lies. You need to know that night lies come on fast and that they put pressure on you to move quickly so that you cannot think. The pressure is enormous in your mind to make a rash decision. You must fight this false rash pressure. It is not real—it is a test. Read on tomorrow for Part II of the Night Lie and tools to help you pass this test.

 

 I ran this through a readability level checker at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-formulas.php  and here are Gwen's results:

Readability Consensus

Based on 8 readability formulas, we have scored your text:

Grade Level: 5

Reading Level: easy to read.

Reader's Age: 8-9 yrs. old (Fourth and Fifth graders)

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Normal eight-year-olds are way smarter than Gwen Shamblin Lara, but we'll never meet one who could honestly say that they understand anything that the Remnant Fellowship cult's fake priestess writes....because she's incapable of actually saying anything that makes sense.

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10 hours ago, ManyGoats said:

She wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The basic idea of Weigh Down (eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied) didn't originate with Gwen.

Thin Within, an earlier faith-based weight loss system, was started in 1975 by Judy Wardell-Halliday and Joy Imboden Overstreet.

Though not faith-based, Susie Orbach also encouraged using your body's signals of hunger and satiety in her book "Fat is a Feminist Issue" published in 1978.

Gwen began her consulting practice in the area of weight control in 1980 and her first book was published in 1997.

@freefromthinOr were you referring to her theology?

I was referring to WD and its teachings. I am VERY familiar with Thin Within. I took their online course and ordered the book Hunger Within (their newer edition) as well. I know that Gwen Shamblin Lara took Chantal Ray to court regarding HER book, so I would think that she'd probably try it again. What I should have said is that she would TRY to sue the pants off of anyone who used her teachings, SPECIFICALLY WD. Members of RF would have extreme difficulty if a church split occurred, since WD and RF are so closely linked.

As for her theology...she's not the first person to put their own spin on biblical beliefs, so that wouldn't really be anything to go to court about, I don't think...

2 hours ago, fransalley said:

YES!!! THIS!!  THIS is the problem I have with so much "Christian" teaching!  There's just enough truth in it to make it nearly impossible to extract the truth and dismiss the lies!

@freefromthinI was part of the movement that birthed the ICOC.  I was baptized in a church that was part of the Crossroads Movement.  The Crossroads Church of Christ was in Gainesville, FL and had a school of preaching that trained people in their style of discipleship.  Kip McKean was baptized at Crossroads.  The ministers that were at my church in Tallahassee were also trained at Crossroads.  

Then they had a moment in the Gempels living room with 30 "would-be disciples" at which time they became known as "The Boston Movement". One time I was out with a group "sharing my faith" (which at that time pretty much amounted to inviting people to church) and a lady actually RAN from me, saying, "You're with that group from Boston..." It was a vert weird moment for me, but I began to do some more research. I had often heard the "would-be disciples" story, and people often looked up to Kip McKean. Despite all of that, it took about 14 YEARS (and attendance at ICOC churches on both the East and West coasts) before I decided that the ICOC was NOT for me.

Edited by freefromthin
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Apologies for the format, I’m not sure how to quote correctly.

I’m not a troll, my eating disorder developed as a misguided attempt at self-mortification; at the time I had read a lot of early church fathers (Evagrius and desert monks) and female saints and became increasingly demanding on limiting the type and amount of food I consumed. I’m sorry that someone thought I was mocking her; nothing I wrote intended to reference prior posts.

I say very little about Ms. Gwen because - as I mentioned earlier - I am not terribly concerned about hypocrisy in RF as it was the WD content itself that changed my life. WD is a very specific way to address a very specific sin (the obsession with food and weight), and if you don’t struggle with it, it’s unnecessary. I wouldn’t counsel someone who has no problems with sexual lust to surround themselves with suggestions on how to avoid it (because as Paul says the law creates the desire). But FOR ME, my diet and body became an ever-increasing focus in my life that was sinful because it robbed me of focus on God and made me very boring. WD taught me to GIVE UP the control of when and what I eat, and even just eating small amounts junk food and regular food stopped the constant noise in my head as I learned to just eat when I was hungry and stop when I’m full. 

I didn’t respond earlier because it seems like people have made up their mind and my words are in effect useless. I only added this because I didn’t want anyone to think I was mocking them.

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30 minutes ago, mirabilis said:

 WD taught me to GIVE UP the control of when and what I eat, and even just eating small amounts junk food and regular food stopped the constant noise in my head as I learned to just eat when I was hungry and stop when I’m full. 

If you got that from WD, then you are one of the few people that I have encountered who did. Most people I know (myself included) just end up becoming MORE obsessed with their eating, as they try SO HARD to get it RIGHT and "eat within God's boundaries", which ultimately leads to a lot of second guessing and fear surrounding something that "should" be natural. That and the connection between weight loss/God's approval  (coupled with a sense of condemnation/failure when you stop losing or start to gain) are two things that I've seen do much more harm than good.

Edited by freefromthin
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26 minutes ago, mirabilis said:

WD is a very specific way to address a very specific sin (the obsession with food and weight), and if you don’t struggle with it, it’s unnecessary.

This is a bit hard for me to process I've been a devoted reader of Gwen's devotionals for a few months now and it seems to me that WD is a very specific way to make people more obsessed with food and weight than ever.  Everything she writes is about getting skinnier and focusing on the avoidance of food, even when she pretends to talk about God.

You would think that the Bible would have more references to getting skinnier and losing weight if it really was as important as Gwen pretends it is.

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13 hours ago, ManyGoats said:

She wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The basic idea of Weigh Down (eat when you're hungry, stop when you're satisfied) didn't originate with Gwen.

Thin Within, an earlier faith-based weight loss system, was started in 1975 by Judy Wardell-Halliday and Joy Imboden Overstreet.

Though not faith-based, Susie Orbach also encouraged using your body's signals of hunger and satiety in her book "Fat is a Feminist Issue" published in 1978.

Gwen began her consulting practice in the area of weight control in 1980 and her first book was published in 1997.

I agree, however this doesn’t mean she wouldn’t try. Check this out: 

https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20190325573
 

I wondered what became of this case.

Edited by RFSurvivor_2
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15 hours ago, freefromthin said:

In my personal experience, when someone is at the TOP of a religious  organization/cult, they are NOT receptive to ANY input. Gwen has said herself that GOD gave her the WD Diet, so getting her to believe that she is in error in any way (despite the science/scripture that may support it) is practically impossible. In fact, if something similar to what happened in the ICOC  happened in RF, Gwen would likely just start another church. A few of her "faithful" would break off and follow her. Since RF is so closely tied to WD, they would have a heck of a time keeping the old group going if she were to leave the current RF, because she'd probably sue the pants off of anyone who tried to teach anything remotely close to what she teaches

I would be wondering what will happen to Remnant Fellowship after Gwen Shamblin Lara dies . I imagine that it would be similar to what happened to the Worldwide Church of God  , after the death of Herbert W. Armstrong  .   

 

15 hours ago, freefromthin said:

One last thing...I seem to remember reading that Gwen and Kip McKean went to the same church when they were younger, and they are both a LOT alike. Kip always wanted "a group of disciples that were sold out." Being sold out meant that you worked extra hard to be "pure". There wasn't much grace in his message.

Now you are really making me think that I had grown up in a cult , LOL .  I remember hearing this very same loaded phrase in use by such Nazarenes , as those behind Blimey Cow  , at least I take it that they are Nazarene .  

For comparison  

 

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1 hour ago, mirabilis said:

Apologies for the format, I’m not sure how to quote correctly.

I’m not a troll, my eating disorder developed as a misguided attempt at self-mortification; at the time I had read a lot of early church fathers (Evagrius and desert monks) and female saints and became increasingly demanding on limiting the type and amount of food I consumed. I’m sorry that someone thought I was mocking her; nothing I wrote intended to reference prior posts.

I say very little about Ms. Gwen because - as I mentioned earlier - I am not terribly concerned about hypocrisy in RF as it was the WD content itself that changed my life. WD is a very specific way to address a very specific sin (the obsession with food and weight), and if you don’t struggle with it, it’s unnecessary. I wouldn’t counsel someone who has no problems with sexual lust to surround themselves with suggestions on how to avoid it (because as Paul says the law creates the desire). But FOR ME, my diet and body became an ever-increasing focus in my life that was sinful because it robbed me of focus on God and made me very boring. WD taught me to GIVE UP the control of when and what I eat, and even just eating small amounts junk food and regular food stopped the constant noise in my head as I learned to just eat when I was hungry and stop when I’m full. 

I didn’t respond earlier because it seems like people have made up their mind and my words are in effect useless. I only added this because I didn’t want anyone to think I was mocking them.

Why do you look at obsessing about weight/food as a sin? Doesn’t that seem silly? How about thinking of it as a disorder of the mind. Misplaced thinking. Or maybe people who obsess just aren’t busy enough. Seriously. There are days I am so busy that I don’t even want to eat because it takes too much time. Then I have slow days that I’m sitting at my desk at work, dreaming about dinner. 
I would never tell anyone what to believe, but let’s not call every single thing a sin. That’s a little ridiculous. We are HUMAN. 

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1 hour ago, mirabilis said:

WD is a very specific way to address a very specific sin (the obsession with food and weight),

Thanks for returning. Why is this a sin? You say it robbed you of your focus on God (what ever that means), and that is sinful, but again, I don't understand how.  All human imperfections and weaknesses are not sin. 

And yes, based on the evidence, our minds are made up that Gwen SHAMBLIN Lara is a cult leader and Remnant Fellowship is an anorexia cult. Did you come here to try to persuade us otherwise? You personally benefitting from WD does not change this and does not justify the existence of the cult. Look no further than the NXIUM cult , which held "executive success" seminars that some said they gained from. It was all good until the sex slave stuff started.  That's how cults lure people in, with a kernal of somethng that tickles the ear and seems true or useful. But it is deceptive. Follow the money. 

You say that you are not terribly concerned about the hypocrisy in RF but perhaps you should be. You sound young, with your references to Ms. Gwen and all. Please go to this link and educate yourself about what you really are involved with: https://www.culteducation.com/group/1224-weigh-down.html

If you have truly conquered your food addiction, congratulations. Most of us with this affliction may come to control it but never truly conquer it, the same as with other addictions, we are recovering food addicts. Most of us would find following Gwen would fuel our obsession, not lessen it. 

We hate seeing innocent people become victims of people like Gwen and other destructive cult-type leaders and organizations., so we may come on kind of strong sometimes, it's not meant to run anyoff off if they are not trolling. 

Edited by SilverBeach
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I would like to hear more about the hypocrisy in RF. What kind of hypocrisy do you perceive, @mirabilis?  And why exactly  aren't you concerned about that?  If the leadership pretends to be something they're not and don't practice what they preach, isn't that also a sin? If they're dishonest Pharisees who are mostly concerned with looking good on the outside and do not truly believe what they're saying,  why should anyone believe a word they say or even care about what they have to say about any other sins? 

 

If the preacher is a hypocrite maybe it's because their message isn't all that convincing?

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I don’t think all human weaknesses are sin, but I know that my obsession with food and weight was sinful because of its reach and scope in my life. If you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, you are aware of how wrong it is, in the sense that you are doing something deeply wrong against your body and your life. I also knew that sin, like any addiction, eventually masters you and will take you and everything you love if you don’t conquer it. It wasn’t until WD that I learned how to walk away from this and focus on something much better. A big part of WD is teaching your appetite to return to the function for which God designed it (which is why Ms. Gwen relates a lot of content to naturally thin eaters, children and animals).

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19 minutes ago, mirabilis said:

I don’t think all human weaknesses are sin, but I know that my obsession with food and weight was sinful because of its reach and scope in my life. If you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, you are aware of how wrong it is, in the sense that you are doing something deeply wrong against your body and your life. I also knew that sin, like any addiction, eventually masters you and will take you and everything you love if you don’t conquer it. It wasn’t until WD that I learned how to walk away from this and focus on something much better. A big part of WD is teaching your appetite to return to the function for which God designed it (which is why Ms. Gwen relates a lot of content to naturally thin eaters, children and animals).

You were AFFLICTED, not sinning, regardless of the scope of your ED. I don't feel my food/weight issues are wrong. They just are. Everybody "sins", including believers and Ms. Gwen as you call her, but our afflictions are not sins. Jesus said to love our neighbors like we love ourselves, which requires you to first love yourself. And have compassion and mercy towards yourself. It seems like you may be lacking a bit in this area.

Gwen SHAMBLIN Lara does not teach returning your appetite to the function God designed it for. She teaches disordered eating, semi-starvation, and bad nutrition. My daughter's fat kittie is hardly an example of animals being correct eaters, LOL. Some children are fat also. Gwen and her cult are reprehensible for taking advantage of afflicted people the way they do.

I learned how to handle my food addiction without Gwen or WD. If it works for you, good, I suppose. But don't pretend that what she teaches is valid or normal. I wish you the best.

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