C H A N G E D

"I needed to be educated on becoming part of the upward flow, learn to sing in the spirit and recognize auras. WOW that's a lot to ask of a 7 year old."

This just illustrates the absurdity of trying to jam all square pegs into one round hole, and all the heartache and suffering that went along with it. Add to that, all the wasted talent that went untapped in an effort to reign everything in to support one selfish objective, not to 'bring in the Kingdom', but to simply support a personal private kingdom.

The Walk/TLW managed to created it's own 'royal dynasty' that was to be sustained on the backs of the lowly serfs who bore the heat (or cold) of the day, supporting lifestyles they could only dream of but would never partake of.

Thus, the proverbial 'new day' was just another day of continuing to support what came yesterday.

This post by 'typer' from October of last year:

This Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: typer
Date: October 24, 2019 08:29AM

After my wife's money ran out, she got a job at Singer Sewing company in Panorama City for I think $1.35 / hour (min. wage) and still worked full time at LWB in printing. I worked at the saw mill in Iowa and Shiloh for $80/month from June 1976 to June 1977(also got room and board). My wife and I got engaged by letter; and JRS sent me to LA in June 1977 to LWB to work in the printing. That is where I got to experience the LW Building's wonderful lunches. Fine Line was then created and moved a couple blocks from the LWB, and my wife and I kept going to the LBW for lunches. I think Fine Line paid us $40 a week. The lunches kept us going and were wonderful. We both lived communally, and rode our bikes to work every day from North Hollywood when we got married. The wonderful people like the wallers making lunches were the ones that helped the poor; never anyone in leadership. My wife doesn't ever remember anyone offering her any food during the time she worked at the Blix house.

My wife thinks it might have been Charles' Beach and John Cockas's idea to provide full-time workers lunch at the LWB but not sure. If that is true, then there were some leaders that did care for our souls.

C H A N G E D


TYPER is harkening back to simpler times for many of us--full of piss & vinegar and somewhere in our 20's. (There were plenty of oldsters who played their part--anyone over 30.)

It is important to add the context that we were 'under the impression' (or simply chose to believe) that the Kingdom was just around the corner (1979 anyone?), and we could easily handle a little hardship until our ship arrived. Remember--we were going to be ruling and reigning with Christ, prophets marching across the land and vanquishing every enemy of HEAVEN. Who needed to finish college or pursue a career with that in our future? Pretty heady stuff.

On one level, all that was 'understandable'. What is harder to understand, is why so many of us re-enlisted after that bubble had burst and JRS had failed to catch his ship. There was no more 1) Resurrection Life, 2) No new Kingdom arrival date, 3) No Santa-like figure to grandfather us along, 4) A much more militant 'my way or the highway' policy, 5) A more consolidated organizational structure that tightly surveiled any wayward sheep to make sure everyone was 'focused'.

I have to say my time in the 70's was no great hardship and at least a little exciting, as I participated like many, moving around to different facilities, communal homes, 'businesses', worked for next to nothing, or for nothing, etc. I did end up with a great family out of my 35 years, for which I am thankful, but as we all painfully know, the ride was not as smooth for many.

And for that, we are deeply saddened.

kBOY,
I have to say my time in the 70's was no great hardship and at least a little exciting, as I participated like many, moving around to different facilities, communal homes, 'businesses', worked for next to nothing, or for nothing, etc. I did end up with a great family out of my 35 years, for which I am thankful, but as we all painfully know, the ride was not as smooth for many.

Yes, even under an oppressive system, there were definitely fun times (well, at least for some of us). In my case, it was time spent with the selfless cogs in the machine--never with Christ in the Flesh :)

p.s. CITF was way overrated, IMO.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2020 11:32PM by changedagain.

C H A N G E D

It was all those 'selfless cogs' that were the relationships that really mattered.

kBOY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> C H A N G E D
>
> This was just one more iteration of Elijah/Elisha,
> Paul/Timothy, DR (designated relationship)
> insanity that wreaked so much havoc across the TLW
> landscape.
>
> Worse still, it helped to solidify a culture of
> perpetual dependency where maturity was held out
> just far enough as something that would never be
> attained; classic carrot & stick.
>
> One could also characterize it as the human
> version of a surveillance environment, where
> actions were closely monitored for the sake of the
> 'greater cause'.

KBoy, you hit the nail on the head, and have put words to my experience in a way I haven't been able to. Perpetual dependancy is painfully accurate. In my case, I had the added irony of my "replacement father" also being actively involved in removing my REAL father from a position of leadership in our local chapter. I was always told it was because he had a wrong spirit, along with a sprinkling of other BS - but really it was all a part of the great purge of those not loyal enough to MH. How ironic, my dad supposedly wasn't there for me...because they kicked him out. Years later I'm happy to report that my REAL dad has stood by me unconditionally, and the replacement dad has no active role in my life.

M I N E D

The perpetual-dependency CULTure is how maximum control was enforced. This did not happen overnight, but was a slow-cooking operation going all the way back to the '70's, all with a 'scriptural' foundation.

I don't really believe it was initially front-loaded with nefarious intent, but was slowly manipulated into protocols that allowed for both the expansion of power and the ability to control the spin regarding the abuses that followed.

HAPPY we are to hear of the reconciliation with your REAL father and divorcing yourself from the wolf in shepherd's clothing.

HEAVEN REJOICES.

From June of 2018--responding to a dire warning contained within a "living word."

Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by: Cloudwatcher ()
Date: June 17, 2019 01:57PM


> "Our Survival Is Based On Obedience"
> June 29, 2018 - by Gary Hargrave

> "This Word shows us that as we move out of a place
> of relative safety in our walk with God and into
> harm’s way, our obedience to the Father will
> determine life or death. We will face lies about
> the Word of God and against the Father Himself
> which will attempt to deceive us into being
> disobedient and losing God’s protection."

changedagain wrote:

> It just seems as though God the Father is unduly
> hypersensitive to being disrespected. My
> encouragement to him is to cease being so obsessed
> about a very small group of people on this planet
> serving him 24/7 and propping up his frail ego.
> You would think as God, he would be familiar with
> the far reaches of the universe, and could choose
> a more healthy way of spending eternity than
> incessantly berating people on this planet for not
> fulfilling his every perceived need. A pleasant
> hobby perhaps...you know, one that hopefully
> doesn't involve killing/torturing etc.

> Respectfully,
> a concerned human being


Excellent letter to God. Can you add my signature please?

C H A N G E D

One can tell by the date of the word (June 29, 2018) that GH saw the train-wreck coming. The irony in his warning was that HE was the 'way of harm', and not some other force.

It is also important to point out that in one long paragraph GH used the words 'obedience', 'lies', 'deceive' and 'disobedient', all of which was the pot calling the kettle black. His own reflection was staring him in the mirror.

Regarding your 'letter to God', our CREATOR is incapable of being 'offended'.

We can all r e l a x . . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2020 12:27AM by kBOY.

Aardvark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The fellowship you describe is not the same one I
> experienced (at least in the one church I was
> associated with). The shepherds and sheep were
> loving, not demanding or abusive. Or maybe God
> protected me- I don’t know. I’m sorry that you,
> and apparently many others had a different
> experience.
>
> My current struggle is to reconcile these two
> viewpoints - cognitive dissonance. I’ve spoken to
> many others who have the same struggle.
>
> Hope all find the peace and healing they are
> seeking.

I know this is an old message, but I am playing catch up and came across this thread.

I had a very similar experience during the 70s and 80s. I grew up in the San Gabriel church under Dick Lloyd's leadership. Went to the Kingdom Schools for several years. Most of my memories and experiences were very positive...BUT, I know I was isolated. I remember rumors of things taking place in Sepulveda and San Diego churches; I had friends in the Anaheim church who they tried to remove from their families; and I remember strange secretive things happening, that I know now, were hiding abuses. None of these things happened to me, and I had a hard time believing them at the time. I grew up happy in a small loving congregation isolated from the abuses taking place in the spiritual hubs.

I left the church around '86. The response to the death of JRS was the beginning of the end for me. The way people reacted to it. The strange belief that he would be resurrected, like Christ. Then MH and GH getting together so soon after JRS died? I knew in my heart that they were messing around before JRS died and this was a power play. As the Word changed and M&G started settling into their new positions, I could smell the rot, even in my sheltered little church. I knew then that if those telling me they spoke the word of God were so "fallible", how could I be sure they truly spoke the word of God? That is when I left the church. From there I became an agnostic, and eventually an atheist. To this day, I hold Dick Lloyd in the highest esteem, and believe that he was as true and genuine as they come. MH, I never liked. I could see through her from the beginning. GH, I liked even less. As a young adult, I thought he was a pompous ass. But those were my impressions from afar as I never interacted with either of them directly.

Since finding this board, most, if not all, of the suspicions and rumors have been confirmed by multiple sources. The LWC is and always was a cult. It may have had pockets of good loving people here and there, but it was rotten at the core from the beginning.