Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: November 01, 2018 02:41AM
I find myself wondering who some of you are... because I'm sure some, if not most of you, are at least acquaintances. But then I read posts like those from "drbuckunghamdc" who had “the guts” to presumably misspell his own name because he was in such a hurry to warn us with the veiled threats that are so common in this cult... "watch out" "you are becoming evil". Then I remember why most of us remain anonymous, I remember why I left in the first place. I don’t want you or anyone to know who I was. I’m embarrassed to say I was associated with this cult and I’m disgusted that you and I were likely in the same place at the same time breathing the same air and soaking up the same delusion.
Well, Dr Buckungham, there are some new names below, not just for you, but because there should no longer be silence, because this cult should no longer be able to shut people up with its empty promises and empty threats.
That’s not to say that many people in this cult are not kind and loving (however gullible), to varying degrees. That’s exactly why it’s also littered with sociopathic predators that will use any type of manipulation they see fit to further their agenda and to keep their power over people who will believe (anyone else will be shunned btw, convenient). I’ve seen first-hand how they alienate those who speak up, split families apart to thwart communication, bend the truth just enough so it’s hard to tell that it’s a lie. Rick Holbrook & Scott McDonald are only the ugly perverted tip of the iceberg. The perversion runs deep. While Gary & Marilyn covered up Rick abusing girls, John & Chris Sayer covered up Tony Flores abusing the boys. And don’t you doubt that John & Chris’s children won’t pick up that mantle… They’re in deep.
But when you take a step back it’s farcical. When you read actual literature (and no, the bible and JRS twaddle do not count) and talk to normal educated people…you realize how silly it really is. No one would believe that crap, right? The lexicon that Shalom uses in her letters really brings me back. The way these words are used make me remember how gullible I really was, how I bought it.
It’s like a novel “heart, ministry, shepherding, spirit, rebellion, apostolic company, mantle, anointing, the Word, prophecy, revelation”?! They use this vocabulary as Newspeak designed to be ambiguous, designed to be fantastical, designed to keep the proles from ever fully understanding the story (because, believe me they really don’t themselves, no one does). It’s designed to keep the mystery alive and give those who have the power even more control over their subjects, ultimately designed to keep money flowing into their corporations. JRS, Gary & Marilyn, Matt & Margo. These people have been living large on their flock for some time. Just look at some of their properties, it’s public information. You think they got these things from the sweat of their brow? Nope. They got it from the people that fell for the JRS fiction, the LRonHubbard-like fully immersive cosplay with real emotional and physical consequences. It’s a disgusting game that the people almost understand they’re playing. What the ones that stay don’t all understand (sometimes refuse to understand), is that it’s a zero-sum game. They don’t win until you lose… that’s how they win, someone loses, an example must be made. Someone has to be excommunicated, someone must split from their family, someone has to bend to the will of the elders, while you’re in it, they win.
“The only winning move is not to play”
I’m so glad it’s no longer a part of my life. I’m so glad my children will never meet the sociopaths. I’m so glad that their castle is crumbling because it’s built on a lie, because it’s built on the blood, sweat, and tears of people who were brainwashed into believing their drivel.
I can only hope this continues and that the whole congregation wakes up, and that every person that has played a part in this fiasco has to go out and find a real job and find a real life, one where they have no control over other people’s lives, one where they must earn trust instead of having it anointed by a crackpot fantasy.