I do remember being at a summer camp in 1968 when JRS was prophesying over Marilyn (after a night service, when most people had left the building). He said that she would no longer be called Marilyn, but would now be called Miriam. Marilyn was a lot of people, wasn't she?

Given her reputation for destroying lives, I think at least a few vets of the TLWF experience might have thought the name Murderlyn would have been appropriate.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I do remember being at a summer camp in 1968
> when JRS was prophesying over Marilyn (after a
> night service, when most people had left the
> building). He said that she would no longer be
> called Marilyn, but would now be called
> Miriam. Marilyn was a lot of people, wasn't
> she?
>
> Given her reputation for destroying lives, I think
> at least a few vets of the TLWF experience might
> have thought the name Murderlyn would have been
> appropriate.

Good one, changed.

The post that kicked off a very long, involved discussion. Since 'Altar_Kent' came forward, there has been 11,562 comments and 2,100,120 page views. Altar...if you're still out there, is this something you anticipated? :)

Posted by: Altar_Kent
Date: February 23, 2004 03:18PM

Is anyone familiar with this movement? It is based in Kalona Iowa at a camp/compound called Shiloh. It is primarily located in the United states, but also has churches in Brazil and japan. It was founded by John Robert Stevens and first called the walk. Stevens came out of the Latter Rain movement, built quite a congregation, and then died in 1983. The Living word Fellowship is currently being run by Gary and Marilyn Hargrave.

Wishing everyone here a pleasant, safe extended weekend.
BTW, just because we're approaching Labor Day, doesn't mean you should feel obligated to 'voluntarily' work on some leader's luxury home. Perhaps this leader might feel compelled to help you out on few needed projects. ;)
#Fantasyland

A post by lone.wolf from November of 2018:

Posted by: lone.wolf
Date: November 19, 2018 11:22PM

I am a new user to this forum, but have been following the most recent comments since Shalom’s letters were made public. In time I would like to start reading from the beginning of the entire forum; I’m sure it will answer questions I cannot find elsewhere.

For days I’ve struggled with what to say, what not to say, and how to say it. I was born into the “church” (or as I refer to it, a business) in the early 1980’s. My parents both served under John + Marilyn, and my Mom is one of the Blix girls. Growing up I was always in my parent’s shadow, being referred to as “so-and-so’s child” at every church I visited/moved to. It wasn’t until I left the church 15 years ago, that I actually developed my own identity, separate from my parents. Many of my family members still attend various churches. Of my immediate family, I am the only one that “blew out”, and it has caused a rift in our relationship. Even prior to my departure, I felt like the Lone Wolf in my family.

I use social media like many and am following what’s being said on Facebook, although I have not shared any of my experiences publicly. My family members are watching the posts, too (some more than others), and they have been silent to my dismay. They do communicate with me still, but the words that come out of their mouths are still “walk talk”. They say what is happening is God’s will, and tell me a lot of bible stories as reinforcement. Occasionally they convey how heartbroken they are about the stories they read, but their actions don’t match their words. They are so deeply rooted in the church that I truly don’t think they would know how to lives their lives without it, and are trying everything they can to keep the church alive. I’m really trying to let love guide me in this process, but most days I feel hopeless knowing that I’ve lost my family to this cult.

When I “blew out”, it wasn’t because of disbelief in Gary & Marilyn, JRS, or the Living Word. I actually still believed that I was brought into something wonderful, that they truly loved me and my family, and I was lost for a long time after leaving. My first true moment of disbelief was listening to the word Gary brought just after Marilyn passed away. I was “allowed” to attend Marilyn’s funeral and was instructed to listen to it before the funeral. It’s been a couple years since I’ve heard it, so I’m going to point out the main points that really stuck out to me.


1. Gary saw the Lord huddled in a corner of his home, and he said it was the first time he’d seen him in his physical being. This happened a couple nights before Marilyn’s passing if I remember correctly.

2. He knew the Lord was there for Marilyn, thus he didn’t approach or speak to the Lord.

3. Not once in the word did Gary mention what the Lord physically looked like.


The reason these stuck out to me and really made me question the validity of Gary and TLWF, is the way in which he spoke. His tone was exactly the same as in all his words, and it felt very contrived and planned. What better way for him to continue to lead his people, than to making them believe that he has just seen Christ in the Flesh? Praise Gary, he has seen our Lord! Again, back to his tone. It definitely did not come across as someone who has just seen Christ. It sounded like someone reading a scripture from the bible, and he certainly didn’t fool me. When I saw Gary at the funeral to give my condolences, he told me that “Marilyn always prayed for me, and is continuing to pray for me.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, except that I was told that often by shepherds and elders during my time in the church. And no one actually told me why they were praying for me. Perhaps for me to put the blinders back on and submit to them?

On another note, myself and others have recently been contacted by pastors of the church we attended. Their intent is to “apologize” for their wrongdoings toward us. I have avoided any contact with the pastors and will not answer their text/calls. If they truly wanted to apologize, they wouldn’t have taken 15+ years to do so. I was shunned, alienated, and treated like an outsider ever since leaving. It certainly feels like this is just one step in their 12 Step Program to clear their conscious and revive the church.

Thank you all for being here, for speaking the truth, for making me feel like I’m not alone any longer. I seek answers from the early years of my parent’s involvement, that I feel they will not or cannot share because they’ve buried so many secrets inside themselves. Some of you were there with them, and I’ve been able to get some answers from your first-hand accounts. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.


Posted by: kBOY
Date: November 20, 2018 12:41AM

LONE.WOLF

Thank you for coming forward. Everyone realizes the courage it takes to share painful memories that have never before had an audience to properly receive them.

Being a part of the second generation, we probably know you and your parents. It is a challenging time for all and will take awhile before everything plays itself out.

Know for certain that there is no placing this genie back in the bottle. Even JRS used to say that cutting the head off a snake does not mean it immediately stops moving.

All our separate stories will eventually bring us back together.

Posted by: Tmason
Date: November 20, 2018 12:55AM

Lone Wolf....you are far from alone. My family has been part of TLW for forty seven (or so) years. When I "blew out" of course my treatment was the same. With one or two exceptions my friends were not permitted to associate with me. My parents have seen there five grandchildren maybe three times in 25 years.
My mother is the only one left now and she is still in.
Anyhow, the only words I have to offer are you are not alone.

Posted by: Cloudwatcher
Date: November 20, 2018 01:29AM

Welcome Lone Wolf. Your story is yet another in the long line of broken families. I am sorry for the loss you incurred and there is no reason for it that makes any sense except this is high level, long-term, deep-seated mind control--to the hilt. I hope that KBoy is correct--but I am very concerned that this is becoming a dangerous situation for those who have recently left or are trying--cutting ties seems the only safe move but I think there is too much optimism and wanting to believe that there can be a compromise. But then again I guess we shall see. You are not alone. And you were one of the lucky ones to gain your freedom so long ago. And I know it helps to break that final little doubt when you see now what it really was about. All love to you.

I'm pretty sure 'Invisible' is referring to the memorial service for Bob McClane:

Posted by: Invisible
Date: September 19, 2014 02:27AM

I was told that at the end a memorial service, a love offering was taken up for the children of the man who had died. After the memorial service was over, when one of the family members went to the ministry who was in charge of the love offering, to get the love offering given for them - instead of receiving the offering taken up for the children, they were told by the ministry in charge of the offering, that it was being given to the apostolic travel fund, because that is what their father would have wanted.

One of the men who was not a member of the church, who attended the memorial service privately gave an envelope with his gift of money for the man's children, directly to one of the mans children, saying to her, that, "he wanted to make sure they received his gift, so he did not put it in the offering plate."

Interesting how a non member went about giving his gift directly and privately to one of the man's children for the children of the family - rather than putting his gift for the family, in the collection plate.

I came across this post on FB this morning. Does anyone know who the author is referring that helped G. with PR in the early 2000's?:

"Hargrave Ministries just tripled their followers. Judging by the fact that none of Gary’s platitude scripture posts has gone viral independently (they all hover around 30 likes), my best guess is that Gary has paid someone to pump his page up with bots. This is similar to what he allegedly did in the early 2000s, when he tried to combat the cult forums having more clicks, and thus showing up first in Google searches, by paying a PR firm to generate search responses to TLW’s site and his own. I’ve forgotten the name of that guy who helped him, but it was mentioned at Summer camp around 2003, and he’s named in the Cult Forum someplace.
What’s Gary trying to do with an army of bots?"

H O L Y J I M C A N Y O N -- Part Two


(Posted by LONE.WOLF)

1. Gary saw the Lord huddled in a corner of his home, and he said it was the first time he’d seen him in his physical being. This happened a couple nights before Marilyn’s passing if I remember correctly.
2. He knew the Lord was there for Marilyn, thus he didn’t approach or speak to the Lord.
3. Not once in the word did Gary mention what the Lord physically looked like.
It felt very contrived and planned.

WOW! I guess I had either missed this or completely forgotten it. Pretty ballsy to make up such a tale, but certainly explains why it fell into the 'restricted message' category.

There is just no end to the level of BS 'fake news' that spews from the G-man's lips.

kBOY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> H O L Y J I M C A N Y O N -- Part Two
>
>
> (Posted by LONE.WOLF)
>
> 1. Gary saw the Lord huddled in a corner of his
> home, and he said it was the first time he’d seen
> him in his physical being. This happened a couple
> nights before Marilyn’s passing if I remember
> correctly.
> 2. He knew the Lord was there for Marilyn, thus he
> didn’t approach or speak to the Lord.
> 3. Not once in the word did Gary mention what the
> Lord physically looked like.
> It felt very contrived and planned.
>
> WOW! I guess I had either missed this or
> completely forgotten it. Pretty ballsy to make up
> such a tale, but certainly explains why it fell
> into the 'restricted message' category.
>
> There is just no end to the level of BS 'fake
> news' that spews from the G-man's lips.

Yes, indeed. What uplifting leaders. John Robert Stevens sees "the Lord" telling him that He sought to kill him. In this case, God is an angry would-be murderer. Gary Hargrave sees "the Lord" huddled in the corner. God appears to him as a pile of dirty laundry. How inspiring.

"I saw the Lord huddled in a corner like a pile of dirty laundry."

Yeah, that's pretty uninspiring. I hope no one decides to write a song about this "appearance."