Quote
larry bobo
From what I have read, after an individual has been involved in an isolated group for a few years, it is very difficult to get them to question anything. The reason the leaders of these groups try to separate their followers is to maintain control.

Larry,
Yes, control has been the operative word, post-John.
Lording it over people's lives became synonymous with shepherding or the father ministry.
It doesn't foster life and the family environment, of course...even if a zillion messages are preached to support it.
Oh well.

In Matthew 23:8-11 Jesus says,"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant."

Why does it take a lifetime of suffering before we will finally listen to His words? When we finally obey, His light begins to shine into our lives and make us whole. His directives were always there to protect us. We have to accept personal responsibility if we choose to follow another course. I know I have allowed others besides Jesus to be my Rabbi, father, and leader - every time there has been negative consequences. In hindsight I was being sold something they didn't even possess themselves to sell. Only God can give you a nature change - no human can. Does anyone question how you can give resurrection life to your obedient followers, when you do not possess it yourself?

Every "apostolic movement" I've seen has leaders that want to be king of the mountain, with everyone else in subjection. I don't see anyone fighting over who gets to be the servant of all. Humans build hierarchies - Jesus said he didn't come to be served, but to serve and lay down his life. The picture Paul paints of his apostolic ministry in 1 Cor. 4 is much different than today's "apostle" that appears more like a rock star - e.g. "For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor....." Obeying Jesus' words, the way he says to obey them, is the real door to the Kingdom - the others are thieves and robbers.

I came across this forum and your posts stood out to me. I too, grew up in the Walk @ Church of the Living word in North Hills, Ca to be exact. I was born in 1980 and my parents were apart of the church before I was born. My sister and I even went to school at Centers of Learning across the street from the church. There is so much that I don't understand about myself, things I'm sure I learned and picked up from this cult group. I really just want to better understand myself and know how to get past some of the issues I have, since at the time I was too young to even know what I was processing and getting from it. I am writing my life story and am trying to work through some of my past with a counselor. Any help you can give or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Hope to hear from you soon. I realize these posts were from a long time ago, but hopefully some of you are still getting messages from this forum.

Thank you,
thesankobunch

Susan & Mitch White have a son also, Michael White....I went to school with him at Centers of Learning

I completely understand the feeling of uncertainty about going down this road....it's SOOO overwhelming! I'm hesitant too, but I want healing so badly, and I know it's the only way.
If you want to talk, I'd be more than happy to.

Strange,
I would love to talk to you. My parents were apart of the church before I was born. I was born in 1980 and we left at the end of my 6th grade school year at Centers of Learning, which would have been about 1991 or so.....I'd love to know your actual name...we probably know eachother.


strange...Date Added: 05/19/2006Posts: 3

The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens


I was in from 1972-1994
I moved to No. Hollywood in 1979 to work at TLW and I was there until I left in 94' ( After I was gone a while, I had heard that I was officailly "SET OUT" ) hahaha....lucky me

I think it is amazing that many of us left so long ago and we are still looking around for some type of answers...

Or, maybe just looking for people we knew.

Walking away from the only friends I had was very difficult...
I would get great pleasure to find out that some or all of them have left as well.

Emily - I remember you and your family. You've gone thru some heavy stuff, being born into the LW fellowship and going to the school there in LA. Don't discount the re-calibrating of your life you've had to do. The good news is that you left when you were relatively young. Some of the kids that stayed longer have deeper, adult-developmental problems. Hopefully you have been spared a lot of that. Good professional help is probably a good idea. A healthy church really helps, too.

I feel your pain. But you've got your life back and He is a big God. The days ahead of you will just get better and better.

Even though Cambridge Who's Who identified Gary as Professional of the Year in the area of 'ministry leadership and spiritual education,' I'm still convinced the people writing here--along with the person referring to himself as 'Amos' at www.letterfromamos.org--have a much truer picture of what's been going on.
Personal experience trumps public relations.

Isn't the Cambridge Who's Who the book where you pay to be in it? Sort of like going down to a trophy shop and buying yourself your own trophy. The zenith of "blowing your own horn" I'd say. Also, I keep hearing about how the number of congregants keeps dwindling in the LW churches. Who's going to be left to pay into the Apostolic support fund?

My Dad was a part of "The Walk" from the early 1970's up until the mid 1990's. I remember when they had the Claremont, New Hampshire church. I moved with my dad when I was 16 back in 1995, at that time he was attending in Washington D.C.. He hasn't been a member since but keeps in contact with people from that area. I myself never had a problem loving people from the "body", but I never did quite fit in because I didn't fall for some of the stuff they where doing at the time.. example. veggie diets. The only strange thing my Dad believes is that we are never going to die, and he still believes that in the midst of recently just losing 2 brothers with in 3 weeks time. I think "The Walk" has a lot of "Christian Science" tied in with their faith.. as far as the people go. I loved them.