Hello all,

My time in the Walk happened between 1976 and 1995. For the first 5 years, I was at Coniah/Church of His Kingdom. I moved to the Valley Church with my new bride in 1981, and then John died in 1983 and everything went to living hell. I recall at least one service in Anaheim where John said that if he was taken out of church on a stretcher, then the Living Word was false. Well, his death was the equivalent of that, and I regret not leaving in 1983. However, I left 12 years later. Although my wife and I have sought professional therapy (and that has been very good), the toll the church took on my kids did not emerge until they became teenagers.

Honestly, life in the church was like living in the novel 1984. Or, to switch the comparison, TLWF is like living in North Korea. Anyone who joins is going to eventually regret it, and anyone who stays has been emasculated to the point where any recovery of their healthy agency is unlikely.

Factoverfiction Wrote:
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> as Paleface and rrmoderator have
> said, there needs to be more truth to jar the new
> generation from the lies they've been fed.

Welcome factoverfiction. I scanned this website www.discerment-ministries.com (mainly because my sister's pastor said they were going to hell) and found a lot of what is believed by TLWF (nephilim, joels army, latter rain teaching etc ) has also been repackaged today with newer movements such as IHOP and the Kansas City Prophets. What I didn't find discussed on the website was anything that resembles the control/obedience/ authority model found in TLWF. THe website has a herescope blog which I recommend to anyone interested in this subject.

FCSLC: Regarding your above post, my take on Hoyer warning JRS that death prayers would cause those interceding to become sick is that Hoyer (a Bible scholar) was probably horrified that the intercession involved death prayers but Hoyer was a guest and JRS provided him with folks at Shiloh to help Hoyer on his project, so rather than boldly tell JRS to stop the death prayers, Hoyer used "becoming sick" as a courteous way of warning JRS that death prayer's are a risky business that's bad for the congregation. At least Hoyer had the balls to say something. Per your ref to judgment day, if we are found guilty on judgment day we should all use the twinkie defense previously recommended by paleface.

Well said, poliscigrad.

poliscigrad Wrote:
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> Honestly, life in the church was like living in
> the novel 1984. Or, to switch the comparison, TLWF
> is like living in North Korea. Anyone who joins
> is going to eventually regret it, and anyone who
> stays has been emasculated to the point where any
> recovery of their healthy agency is unlikely.

I’m willing to binge on Twinkies if it helps us recover the “healthy agency” mentioned by poliscigrad that so many of us once possessed before exposure to TLWF.

I like the “terminology” being used by different posters. It can be compared to a barrage of different weapons and artillery focused on one main target.

“Healthy Agency” --- if it can be taken away then it surely can be regained!!

Thanks and freedom to all.

Nazi Germany, North Korea and a never-ending Creed concert...that's how I would describe my TLWF experience.

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.
Lily: I am familiar with IHOP and Kansas City, I know a group of burnouts that affiliate with Kansas City, as well as some current members that checked out IHOP in 2010ish. This was around the time of Todd Bentley, and G&M were reaching out to other evangelstic ministries. They were actually at a Todd Bentley service on TV in L.A. and prophesied with him there. This was before all the controversy with Bentley of course.

I believe the general consensus of these entities was that they were "Really close to breaking into a level of DEEPER WORSHIP, deeper prophesy, and deeper communion, like we have." G&M were really into signs and wonders from 2005 to recently. They'd invite people like Mahesh Chavdah, who tried to convince people that there was gold dust everywhere, and that he'd raised the dead. I'm still unsure if we were supposed to simply be polite with this new "crazy uncle" Mahesh guy, or believe that maybe he was being half sincere/half hyperbolic but that Gary could perfect his methods and actually have those gifts. Regardless, Mahesh confirmed in a vision that "There was a stadium full of people at Shiloh, with masses from across the world travelling there."

It's entirely possible that he was referencing Field of Dreams, but we took it as confirmation of JRS's prophecy that Shiloh was the center of the universe. I mean, duh.

Welcome factoverfiction and poliscigrad. Your posts are most interesting and thought provoking. Thank you! Be healed! From the mind-prison of the Living Word. We are all on that path.

Who are you changedagain? I was from Redlands. Tani
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I posted something awhile back but just been reading recently.

Thanks
Aloha Blessed in Maui



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2015 09:15PM by corboy.

I think it is interesting that you mention getting professional help, poliscigrad. I too have been receiving professional help from a MFT therapist. I found someone with cult experience. It has been very beneficial in undoing the mind-f$*K I had done to me while in the fellowship.

I don't think we realize how broken we got while being in the LW fellowship. One of the big ones for me is the violation of my inner-self that was done during the practice of opening up and submitting my entire being to another person. I.e. my designated relationship. I've read a lot about this and talked about it with therapists. It is damaging and resets (or removes altogether) personal boundaries that we have in place. A person has an inner core that is a secret personal place. Another human being should not have access to that place. The Living Word's practice of opening up everything to your designated relationship allows another to enter that secret place. Not good.

paleface Wrote:
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The confrontation, which I initiated, that set my path to one of alienation from the authority structure in TLWF revolved around this concept. In a shepherd's meeting I likened this experience to one of rape. That didn't go over too well with others in the room, understandably...and I ended up apologizing for being overly dramatic. As time as passed, and there's been more and more distance from my TLWF experience, I actually feel stronger that what I said in that meeting was accurate. So many people through the years have been treated as property, and their boundaries have been violated in the name of submission, that I think rape, albeit entirely on a psychological level, is an apt word.
Anyway, I picked the wrong day to quit coffee and twinkies.


> I don't think we realize how broken we got while
> being in the LW fellowship. One of the big ones
> for me is the violation of my inner-self that was
> done during the practice of opening up and
> submitting my entire being to another person.
> I.e. my designated relationship. I've read a lot
> about this and talked about it with therapists.
> It is damaging and resets (or removes altogether)
> personal boundaries that we have in place. A
> person has an inner core that is a secret personal
> place. Another human being should not have access
> to that place. The Living Word's practice of
> opening up everything to your designated
> relationship allows another to enter that secret
> place. Not good.