JRS was such a high-level conman. He always presented himself as living a sacrificial life. I believed he lived as we all did in order to bring in the kingdom. If we had all still maintained our ability to exercise critical thinking, I wonder if we would have asked how exactly our sacrifice would bring in the kingdom. Thank God blind allegiance/submission is a thing of the past. And really, thank God G&M and their cohorts were not as good at the con as JRS was.

Fool me twice: How many hours did you work to earn that whopping weekly pay? I would estimate at least 60 hours a week.

How many people were given a "word" to move to different locations in order to work at one of the churches/TLW or in a KB? Employment law be damned. Slave labor? Slave marketeering? Even recently, COL and the summer camps at Shiloh provided free labor for any number of members of the elite. Horse barn? Amphitheater? Gardening and private cleaning at personal residences of leaders? All while the leaders were paid a good wage on top of the wealth they had amassed behind the scenes - some legal and some not. And yes, I have proof.

Does anyone have any idea or opinion on just how the Amphitheater ever benefitted Shiloh's tax-exempt purpose? Were there shows that had a message about religion or spirituality? Did anyone gain anything from those shows other than Rick getting to do what he liked while giving himself access to shop for prey? And who paid for all the after parties and booze for all, including the underage women? I'm assuming the expenses were paid by the churches. Rick had unlimited financial backing. And apparently, still does.

I recall shortly after joining the cult I was working as an apprenctice for a guy in the church that owned/operated a local painting business. I had dropped out of a reputable university my junior year to devote myself to bringing forth the Kingdom of God, which John's vision suggested was only a few years away. One of our projects was painting the exterior of a home owned by John that happened to be in the vicinity of the church,. I helped with the prep work, and one day alone working--John came by...and seemed startled that anyone (other than himself) would be there. He walked in the home, and then abruptly took off. Anyway, after we completed the job, the owner of the company handed Gary (who apparently acted as an intermediary for John) the bill. At the end of the next service (a Sunday morning) Gary thanked those who 'donated' their labor to paint the home. The owner of the paint company seemed surprised by this annoucement, and apparently didn't challenge Gary decision to make the project a 'labor or love.' Or perhaps he was in on it...and wanted to others to share the sacrifice.

definition of credulous: having or showing too great a readiness to believe
things

synonyms: gullible, naive, trusting, uncritical, WalkDisciple

!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2019 01:47AM by changedagain.

Onion wrote:
<Fool me twice: How many hours did you work to earn that whopping weekly pay? I <would estimate at least 60 hours a week.

60 is likely the correct amount of hours. I should add that for $35.00 weekly I got room and board (an unfinished, musty and dirty basement) Once I got my raise to $75.00 a week all living expenses were mine to pay. Yes to be 'selected' for this opportunity to serve my marriage was rushed and we were in Iowa two weeks later.

changedagain wrote:
<I recall shortly after joining the cult I was working as an apprentice for a guy <in the church that owned/operated a local painting business.

I also had that same privilege to work for a different KB as a painter. I did painting on both the JRS home and the Blix house. One day while I was scraping paint on JRS's house, a job that is not only quite dirty but also causes a lot of paint chips to fall into your eyes since no productive gear was a thing with KB's. JRS stepped out of his house and scolded me because I had failed to somehow prevent the paint chips from falling into his flower beds. "That paint has lead in it and that will kill my plants" Not that lead paint could be harmful to you or your eyes. Actually that was the only time JRS said a single word to me outside of a service.

Fool me twice - I would love to hear any and every story where JRS' mask slipped and his true motivation was exposed. Dick Holbrook helped a lot with that and there must be many more stories that "coulda-shoulda" been red flags but we were intentionally blinded. By deception and now we know, by paint chips.

Does the exposure of their horrible motivations ever reach the end? Not so far.

Onion - Speaking of the mask of JRS brings up another memory. I, along with everyone else, was told early on not try to speak to JRS after a service or any other time. His time was considered too important for him to be bothered by just anyone. Honestly with him being the pastor of three churches (his choice by the way) and primary overseer of nearly a hundred, I get it that he needed to guard his time.That said you would be hard pressed to find many church pastors that think like that. My thoughts about it now are that he could not wear that mask 24/7 and had no desire to be bothered by his cult members. The red flags were many and we did see them it's just that we were indeed blinded. It would be interesting to know if there is even one former TLWF member did not have at least one, or several, family members that saw those red flags from the beginning. I sure did!

F.M.T. I remember clearly the conversation when I sighed about the many promises JRS made to me personally that died with him. My sister said, "Oh honey, he was just blowing smoke up your skirt to keep you working for him."

My sister also told me she wanted to tell me for a long time that Marilyn was not to be trusted but she knew if she told me that, she would lose me forever because I always chose Marilyn over everyone else.

Red flags and broken hearts.

fool me twice Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I, along with everyone else, was told early on not try to speak to JRS after a
> service or any other time. His time was considered too important for him to be
> bothered by just anyone.

> That said you would be hard pressed to find many church pastors that
> think like that.


JRS was not approachable. A pastor that is not approachable -- a big red flag. Also, Marilyn made sure he wasn't approached under the guise of protecting him, at least that was my take. I remember being told about not wasting his time, but my insecurity made it feel like you just weren't worthy to approach him.

kbyrne my friend - I was thinking about that "protection" and all the unapproachable stuff that ALWAYS blew back on the people with the horrible and abusive message that we were "not enough" or worse.

I spoke with a friend of mine today who, like many of us, is a veteran of many years of being used as a tool, a pawn, a servant, etc., in the walk/cult for decades. When something goes wrong in any way, the conditioning comes hurtling back into your mind with the message "It's my fault. I don't deserve to be happy/successful/peaceful."

How many people say that to yourselves? "I don't deserve...." It's a lie. Hell, maybe it was the lying, cheating, stealing leadership that we were picking up on as they threw off all responsibility for their own harmful acts. I am still working on the tendency to punish myself when things go wrong because anything that I am not perfect in, makes me deserve to be punished. I had a music collection that was out of sight and collected over many years. It was fabulous for anyone who loved R&B, Blues, Funk, etc. And even a lot of 60's white guys. But I sold it for pennies once when the economy fell apart in 2007/08 because I didn't deserve to have it because I didn't save up for a rainy day. So the economic downturn wasn't punishment enough.

PUHLEAZE! Say it loud and with conviction: I Was/Am Not The Problem! I Deserve A Happy And Abundant Life!

Well, I can't tell anyone else what to do but as for me and my house (me and my pooch Emily), we are going to allow happiness to be in our lives.

Changedagain - I loved hearing your story of the paint company's surprise gift. It's unusual because usually, it's not the "giver" who is surprised that their hard work was a gift. Nice little swindle, eh?

Fool me twice, your story about JRS being more concerned for his flowers getting lead paint chips on them than for you just so poignantly shows the lack of a father's heart. And add to that how people were told not to bother him, talk to him, or approach him. It's mind boggling, really. It's definitely enough to make people feel unimportant and unloved. Well, that's a cult for you. Thank God that we are getting free of that thinking.