Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by:
Southern-Boy
()
Date: November 06, 2015 10:45PM
I’ve been quietly following this forum, as well as a predecessor, for about seven years. When I first found the previous forum, there was no official Living Word presence on the Web. Google would not even reveal the location of Shiloh. Now, Living Word has a series of Web sites dedicated to JRS and the Living Word, and advertises itself as a mainstream, legitimate church.
I originally found that forum because I’d been asking myself some hard questions. I wanted to know about my spiritual origins. I’d never heard of William Branham, and didn’t know much about the Latter Rain. I certainly learned, quickly.
I’ve learned a lot from some of the level heads. Larry Bobo is one of those. I also enjoyed the posts by Mischa Safdie that someone referenced recently.
Last week’s events have added new fervor to the debate, and prompted me to make this one-time post. Maybe the perspective could help someone else make sense of it all. Clearly, I’m not the only one asking myself hard questions.
I was in a Walk church way down South from about 1975 to perhaps 1982. Our church extracted itself from the Walk, beginning before John’s death. I think it became evident at some point that things were not going to continue on the straight and narrow around the time when Marilyn’s voice started become more common and more strident on those cassette tapes. Our leaders started another church some distance from here, and our local church more or less fizzled out. I found myself looking for a new church. I found one that more or less worked, followed by another that I am convinced I belong in, but which doesn’t quite work as well on several levels.
Here’s my take.
I never experienced any of the excesses in leadership that have been reported here. I saw some lawlessness, but the participants were mostly transients who didn’t last. They weren’t brought back into line, but they weren’t encouraged either. Perhaps the one exception is the fact that the leader of our church traded in his long-time wife for his display-grade secretary about the same time JRS did. I never did get the revelation behind that one, but the new couple seems to have continued in a fruitful ministry for several decades. Maybe there was something to it after all.
Most of the people went their separate ways. I still occasionally pass by some of them like ships in the night. Some have continued loving the Lord. Some haven’t. As for me, I am profoundly grateful about what I learned. I learned to truly love the Lord. I learned to love his Word. I learned to recognise his voice. I learned to pray fervently. I learned to see God’s supernatural power. I’ve seen many miracles, both in big things and in everyday life. I learned the meaning of worship, something which my Calvinist background had never exposed me to. I have not wavered in about forty years, and still love Him very much.
A question I have often asked myself is: What part of what I learned should I un-learn? Clearly, I learned many godly things. I also learned a few perspectives that may well be spurious. The trick is to figure out which is which.
Many of the principles that JRS taught that are being dismissed as “undemocratic” or similar may not be as far off the mark as some might suggest. Democracy has never been a hallmark of church governance, neither in the Old nor in the New Testament. Likewise, not everything that’s biblical makes sense to everyone. If 1 Cor 3:19 doesn’t convince you, perhaps the last part of 1 Cor 1 will.
The way it was implemented perhaps didn’t work well. There is strong evidence, both in the forum and in my own experience, that impartation didn’t fully compensate for a lack of maturity. Things went awry in many ways, even though the thinking and intentions may have been sound.
Like Larry and others have suggested, a sensible approach is to look at the fruit. When I started trying to figure out my own roots, that’s the route I took. I’ve already mentioned some of the good fruit in my own life. There is enough of bad fruit too. Spending most of your formative years in fervent intercession does not necessarily lead to balanced perspectives. I later had to painfully learn a few basic lessons about life. I spent several years in rehab after a serious accident. I had way too much time to think, and had to do some serious growing up if I was going to survive that process. I’m not sure how I would have turned out without the accident, but in retrospect I did a lot of growing up, very quickly.
I’m afraid not all my fellow Walk members have learned those lessons. Among them, I see a harshness and lack of love that I find quite repulsive. In many cases, the years have done nothing to soften the edge. I have been quite disappointed, as someone recently said, that the “oneness” and all the special relationships did not stand the test of time, or even turn into some semblance of real friendship.
Again, I don’t claim any special glory in this department. I walked a road of correction and recovery that was very hard, and not of my own choosing. Without it, I’m not sure to what extent the fruit of the Spirit would have been evident in my life. I don’t think I would have been a very nice guy. And I’m probably not the right guy to ask how I turned out anyway.
So much for my own perspectives. Now let’s see what I learned on this forum.
I learned a lot about the history behind JRS and Living Word. I learned more about the factors that derailed Living Word in the late Seventies and early Eighties. I learned a lot of details, kind-of like revisiting your childhood farm for the first time. Thanks to everyone that contributed.
I also saw more of the same that I saw in my own church; people who were so busy with church things (or maybe even God’s things) that they never took the time to grow up. In some cases, the years have clearly brought some perspective, but in other cases the youthful harshness is still there.
Then I saw the bitterness. In some cases it was based on what had happened to Walk stalwarts who were apparently hard done by. In other cases, it was all about personal perspectives. Either way, there appears to be a lot of forgiving to do. Probably not a bad idea—bitterness never leaves the “victim” unscathed.
And wild accusations against JRS and the leadership. They were mostly without any basis in fact other than a feeling or a generally-held perception, or perhaps even excesses in their local church. I’ve had over half a century to observe and learn about the world. I’ve noticed that people who make wild accusations generally tend to project their own weaknesses onto others. Do you know a pastor who regularly preaches about adultery? Perhaps it’s time to lock up your daughters. Someone who keeps hammering on forgiveness? Probe a little, and you’ll soon find that he or she feels cheated by someone. So I’m not sure what to make of these accusations. Womanizer? Boozer? Thief? Et tu, Brute?
I took a long road trip a few months ago. For the first time, I visited Shiloh, where many of my friends had spent time and where even my dad had made a brief visit. It was July. The place was deserted. I had lots of time to walk around, read all the gravestones, and enjoy the rolling green hills. In case you’re wondering, there wasn’t a stone for JRS, and there wasn’t an unmarked stone either. It all seemed so innocuous. In fact, there’s even a plaque on which the county thanks the Church for its generous contributions to the public road running past the front gate. All very wholesome.
I also learned about JRS’s own origins. I had never heard of the Amana, not even on this forum, but if you want to understand JRS, you would do well to learn about their teachings. They settled about an hour from Washington, where JRS grew up. When JRS was born, they were in their heyday.
Now what?
JRS is dead. Marilyn is dead. Regardless of what direction Gary takes, the current Living Word is likely to be a very different animal to the one we all knew decades ago.
Quite frankly, it’s none of my business.
What is my business, is how I continue in my walk (sic) with God. I have learned to love Him, and to be obedient to Him, whatever it takes. I have paid a great price, but I have also lived a life that I could not have imagined. Spiritually, physically, emotionally and professionally, I have experienced things that would have been presumptuous to have aspired to.
I like to think that I’ve left a few footprints, but time will tell. Bearing fruit has been very important to me. I was given some talents, and I’d like to show some return on investment. One of the questions I’ve often asked myself is whether that emphasis of mine is misplaced. Is it really God’s intention, or are the fruits He’s looking for actually just the fruits of the Spirit? I don’t know. If Max Weber is right, maybe it’s just exaggerated work ethic, encouraged by vestiges of pietism in my origins.
We all struggle with a mixture of culture, traditional Christianity, maybe even some other religious influences and yes, even some Walk teachings and experiences that make up our idea of what it is to be God’s child. We need to embrace some of those; we need to get rid of some of those. Again, the trick is to know which is which.
I only met JRS a few times. He was an avuncular guy who clearly cared. He taught a richness of word that I’ve seldom seen equalled. Based on what he taught me, I still love God’s word—the Bible. He taught me a seriousness and an urgency about Christianity that has stood me in good stead. I’ve contributed to a local Christian church for decades, providing an input that doesn’t seem to come naturally to those who have walked a more traditional path. I never had any indication that JRS expected or encouraged hero worship. I think the Timothies and the Third Generation have to explain that one.
Marilyn? She’s just a name to me. Whether she is Jezebel incarnate as Frangipane suggests, or the Lamp of Israel as Gary claims, or even something else, I hope she found God’s love and forgiveness if she did not already have it.
And as for the Living Word: I’m glad I was there. I am also glad that I’m out of there. I have discovered that there are many “brothers from another mother” that are not in my immediate church circles. I’ve learned to try and minister God’s love where I live and where I work. I’ve learned to pray with others who don’t share my background. I’ve learned to worship God on an ongoing basis, in word and in deed. I have even occasionally found collective worship in which I could immerse myself for hours. Above all, I’ve learned that it’s mostly about simple obedience to God. Whether I get a warm feeling or not, is not the issue.
I thank God for all those who came out of the Walk who have managed to continue their relationships with Him, and borne fruit in the Body of Christ. I pray that He will keep his hands on those who have elected to go another way. Maybe one day, healing will come. Whether you’re serving God or not, I strongly urge you to find forgiveness in your heart and move on.
I have noticed that new arrivals on the forum are faced with a barrage of questions. If they succumb to the temptation, they become instant celebrities and enter into a months-long monologue. I will resist that temptation. I have thought and prayed long and hard about this contribution, and I’ll leave it at that.