Wow, changed! I guess I forgot about the stoplight part. I agree that you were wise to stop, even though they must have been an illusion sent to test your faith. ;)

No more literature here. It's all long gone. Someone must still have one, though.

I wonder once the audio tapes were digitized, if his 'vision' remained the same. After all, The First Principles were sanitized, and this would arguably be even more controversial than that publication. BTW, does anyone recall him making a reference to Disneyland in his account of being transported to the future? (Not kidding)

I recall telling my wife once that if I disappear for a couple days, and come back with a story about being transported into the future, or abducted by an alien, just assume that I was having an affair. She agreed--saying that would be the first thing that popped into her mind. Sometimes the simple, obvious explanation is the accurate one :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2019 12:16AM by changedagain.

Richard M. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A lot of sad stories here . . . My opinion,
> Marilyn never had any contact with anything out of
> or above this world . . . never . . .

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow, changed! I guess I forgot about the stoplight
> part. I agree that you were wise to stop, even
> though they must have been an illusion sent to
> test your faith. ;)
>
> No more literature here. It's all long gone.
> Someone must still have one, though.

You can buy the PDF for $5.00 on the LW Publications site.

I wish we had the original publication. I would be surprised if the new version matched the old.

kbyrne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Re: TLW finances.
>
> I've read a lot posts and have been doing some
> soul searching and some internet searching.
> Coming to terms that I was in a cult, it's not an
> easy thing. I saw there were others that struggled
> with that as well. I read something online from
> "Cult Awareness and Information Center" titled
> "The Walk of John Robert Stevens." And I found
> the following very interesting.
>
> "Martha Stevens, who was married to Apostle
> Stevens for 40 years, filed for divorce in 1979.
> During the proceedings, she revealed that Stevens'
> holdings could amount to $40 million. A California
> newspaper then launched an investigation of the
> Church of the Living Word, and learned that it had
> conducted a Nevada silver mine fraud that
> allegedly cheated members of the cult out of at
> least $500,000. Stevens also possessed an
> extensive art collection and $29,000 in silver
> bars, and hired an attorney for the divorce suit,
> paying him $10,000 plus $125 per hour. Martha
> claims, 'My husband has total control of the
> church and its funds, and total access to all
> church finances. He is, in essence, the church
> himself.'"
>
> Gee, I wish I would have known this when I working
> year after year in Shiloh for $80 a month. I might
> have asked for a raise!


How interesting--1979 was one helluva year. The Kingdom of God arrives and John's wife, Martha, files for divorce. I think this was also the year I finally sold my Chevy Vega for just under $300. All three momentous events.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2019 01:59AM by changedagain.

40yearsin2016 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Following the $$$?
> How lucrative was it? Well let's objectively look
> at the #'s as we know them.
>
> At the peak there were well over 100
> congregations, in several countries - check the
> location index at the back of a "This Week" around
> 1979... This is s a certainty.
>
> Yes, churches came in a wide variety of sizes and
> levels of wealth. It's hard to say if the $$
> amounted to millions, but easily several hundreds
> of thousands per year... every year... from at
> least 1975 to 1983. (in those days $million was
> really a $million!) That's the money Martha was
> after.
>
> I helped keep the books at an outlying local
> church. It was a larger group, we owned our own
> building, had paid staff, paid ministries etc.
> Nobody got rich, but do I remember some specifics
> about tithes and LW Inc.
>
> First thing you need to understand is that these
> funds were tax free. Also, the LW organization was
> split up geographically. Each church congregation
> was expected to fund their own operations. (ie you
> paid for your own minister)
>
> Tithes from outlying churches would have been
> deposited directly to LW Inc. I later came to
> understand that basically meant JRS and Blix etc.
>
> Support for com-central was voluntary, but there
> was an expectation that local churches would send
> a monthly contribution.
>
> Our church's monthly payments to LW Inc. varied
> based on monthly tithe income and our local
> operating expenses.
>
> In our heyday, our church's payments to LW Inc.
> easily topped $5,000 month. That was a lot of
> money in those days. Com-central special fund
> raising requests generated $10k or even $25k.,
> giving until it hurts... Special fund raising took
> place 2 - 3x per year.
>
> I remember we had to keep careful records of $$
> sent to Cali. Funds had to be kept separate
> because we were registered as an independent
> charitable org. separate from LWF. There were tax
> rules about the % of remittances that could be
> spent outside the local organization. We once
> purchased electronic equipment for Cali. and
> shipped it to them to avoid the tax conflicts -
> funny the things you remember...
>
> I remember hearing about tensions resulting from
> "Timothy's" who were not tied to (ie paid for by)
> local congregations - and "who was going to pay
> for them" (if you remember, no-one in authority
> ever actually worked for a living) I remember a
> period where JRS asked that we pick up the salary
> for individuals at a Com-central "for a season".
> We were glad when that "season" was over.
>
> One of the first phone calls to us from Marilyn
> after John's death was to insist that our monthly
> tithes had to be increased... no pressure but...
>
> Shortly afterward we heard that Marilyn had
> initiated a legal effort to take over title of our
> local church real estate. Her efforts were only
> thwarted because JRS only had one vote on the
> board of the local church corp. I remember being
> told this set-up was partly to prevent Martha from
> ever having access... the irony of it all.

Yes, the irony of it all.

40yearsin2016 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Being outside of So. Cal. we weren't totally
> immune.
>
> In 1979-80, JRS had our senior ministry staff
> deliver the word that many of "the best" of our
> local folks should move to Shiloh. Local senior
> ministry hand picked individuals that would
> relocate. Those who were young, unmarried or only
> recently married were candidates.
>
> That was the power of the cult: quit your job,
> drop out of school, move to Iowa to pick corn.
>
> Who needed a confirmation or a revelation (or a
> rocket scientist or an astronaut per Lily Rose :>
> ). It was an honor of the highest degree to be
> asked. Who could doubt it? How could you refuse?
> It was just an extension of the wild and and crazy
> adventure called the TLWF. I was devastated when I
> wasn't asked to go. God! I so wanted to be picked
> to go to Shiloh.
>
> For all who went it proved to be the worst choice
> of their lives. Those who were able to get out
> only lost 2 - 5 years in what should have been the
> most productive years of their lives.
>
> Others (some were my very best friends) are in the
> walk still... they've given up their whole of
> their lives.
>
> They were all wonderful, amazing talented young
> people with so much potential.
>
> Most are now broke. Many are divorced and
> estranged from their families. All of them are now
> old and their lives are almost over.
>
> That "word of wisdom" so long ago cost them
> everything...
>
> As for the woo-woo communicating; Hey John! hey
> Marilyn! and oh yeah, HEY GOD! Thanks for NOT
> picking me!
>
> PS: To anyone reading this who's still in TLWF.
>
> Everyone who posts here, to varying degrees,
> really do understand where you're coming from.
>
> But consider this: how much have you already given
> up - what is Gary & Co. going to require of you in
> the future? Will you also be old, broke and alone?
> Don't look for a confirmation or a revelation. Let
> your rational brain have a go at it for a while.
> Consider what others have suggested; take a break
> make some space between you and TLWF for a time.