Thankfully, I was long gone before this bizarre (even by TLWF standards) service took place. I suppose there is no better time to confess your sins than on Easter Sunday ;)

Posted by: Reepicheep
Date: April 21, 2019 10:57PM

To all those who frequent these virtual halls, I wish you a happy Easter, or Resurrection Day, or day that TLWF eschewed in favor of Passover. In all of Christendom, this is the most holy of all days. It is the reason that there is a Christian religion at all. Interesting that those who considered themselves the most elite and chosen among Christians should ignore such a day. Perhaps celebrating Jesus' resurrection would have taken away from the divine “Christ-in-the-flesh-hood” of the Apostolic Fathering Ministries.

Although, there was one time that G&M had the C/TLW construction guys build several six foot crosses to be carried into the sanctuary during the Sun. AM service on Easter Sunday. They then passed out notecards and pens and instructed each person in attendance to write down the sin that they most wanted dealt with and go nail their "sin" to one of the crosses. I believe, according to New Testament promises, that work on the cross was done and complete over two thousand years ago. But I digress. Details. And then that evening, in the church bar, Rick said that they were considering selling the “sin cards” to the highest bidder.

It is small wonder that those of us who spent many years in this cult often have great difficulty with believing in anything after leaving. The trust is so obliterated that resurrection of belief is unlikely. On this day, of all days, perhaps there is hope. I wish us all hope. <3

Reep wrote:
And then that evening, in the church bar, Rick said that they were considering selling the “sin cards” to the highest bidder.

I doubt this 'sin card' ever made it onto a cross, but if it did, I wonder how much it would fetch:

"This is probably not a sin, but I was aware that my son was sexually abusing young women in the fellowship for many years, and did nothing. In fact, I made sure the victims were shamed and blamed if they came forward. I really enjoyed doing that!!"
-Lamp of Israel

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Reep wrote:
> And then that evening, in the church bar, Rick
> said that they were considering selling the “sin
> cards” to the highest bidder.
>
> I doubt this 'sin card' ever made it onto a cross,
> but if it did, I wonder how much it would fetch:
>
> "This is probably not a sin, but I was aware that
> my son was sexually abusing young women in the
> fellowship for many years, and did nothing. In
> fact, I made sure the victims were shamed and
> blamed if they came forward. I really enjoyed
> doing that!!"
> -Lamp of Israel

Ugh! So, later that evening in the Far Bar, Ms. Lamp was regaling folks with stories from the day. She told how another woman had asked her if she had turned her sin card upside down before nailing it. And Marilyn told her that she didn't. So the lady swallowed hard and also nailed hers face up. And later it occurred to the Divine One that some people may have gone into great detail on their card, while she herself just wrote some "nothing little thing". And then everone took another swig and laughed some more side-splitting guffaws. Because isn't it hilarious when others are humiliated while being literal and obedient?

Reep wrote:
Because isn't it hilarious when others are humiliated while being literal and obedient?

Yes, the rank and file took the directives seriously, with negative long-term consequences, and the key leaders basked in being exempt from any accountability.

And later it occurred to the Divine One that some people may have gone into great detail on their card, while she herself just wrote some "nothing little thing".

I did hear that there was one card, unsigned, that simply said "I like to f*ck a lot...sometimes with my husband." I guess not everyone who posted their sin that day took it too seriously.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/19/2021 12:42PM by changedagain.

Indeed, Changed. Or perhaps the sin card of the Divine Lamp repented for not worshipping herself enough.

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Indeed, Changed. Or perhaps the sin card of the
> Divine Lamp repented for not worshipping herself
> enough.

Ha--that's more like it.

BTW, I recall one summer while working on a project at Shiloh I was approached by an Apco member that had never spoken to me before. He wanted to let me know that Marilyn (Mom) thought her sex life was dead after John passed, but it had been revived with Gary--better than ever. That was pretty much it. I'm not sure why I needed to know this. Perhaps I was to spread this 'exciting' news around, which I failed to do. Anyway, I am now doing it belatedly, and hope it helps someone.

Not that it matters, but here are the latest stats for our group discussion on the obscure cult we were involved in:

Posts: 11,836
Page Views: 2,367,785

Have a pleasant Saturday!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2021 11:18PM by changedagain.

Have a pleasant Saturday!

And a pleasant Friday, too! :)

#StillWakingUp

Hope you are doing well, 4generation. And thank you again for contributing to this forum:

Posted by: 4generation
Date: December 28, 2019 12:28AM

Welcome Powertrip, so good to see another brazilian posting here.

Unfortunately what you shared with us is not a surprise to me and only shows how deceived we have been for decades in this church.

For me who was born into this cult and spent years serving these "men of God," cleaning their homes, serving food, and supporting them and their bs, it is devastating to know the truth only now.

The worst for me is seeing that there are people still supporting these leaders, as spiritual leaders and literally denying all the evidences and accusations made. To me this is the proof that religion makes people ignorant and unreasonable, because it makes no sense to continue to preach a doctrine of forgiveness that only favors abusive leaders and forgets the victims and those whose lives were destroyed by them.

I'm ready to forgive, that's not the point. But at least tell me what I'm forgiving you for. Because so far you haven't talked about what you regret.

Silas, should I forgive you for the moral, sexual and emotional abuse committed? Or the authoritarianism and control of people's lives through lies, deception and manipulation?

And you Gary, in your letter you said that you regret because you did not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. But in what you did not hear HIm? In the covering up the crimes committed by the leadership you have established? Or getting involved with Marylin sexually with John's death? Or in creating a system and a doctrine that idolizes man instead of God?

Leaving everything in the field of subjectivity makes us continue to play that game "truth or consequences". The problem is that so far the truth has not been spoken and we have only lived with the consequences of everything that has happened.

My goal here is not to judge or to see them under the bars because of the crimes committed, that's not my role, there is a legal system for that, but my hope is to at least see some maturity and some balls from you to rise up like freaking mans and tell us the damn truth. And please don't give me that "bitterness" bullshit talk, we've heard you for decades and now you want to hide?

I know both of you check this forum everyday, so what do you think about send a public statement telling what happened? Lets take this to the social media instead of hiding from it? Silas can use one of his podcasts to talk about it and explain it to us, to his political friends or his catholic bishops. Or Gary can do it right from Jerusalem with his rabbis.

We all want to move on with our lives and forgive and do everything we need to do to continue in our personal walk with God. But as the Bible said: "the truth will set you free".. here we are waiting for the truth, for the change, to be heard and to stop pretending that these sins, abuses and actions are "normal" and thats okay to live that way. No more, never again, and regarding the abuses and the lies, there is no way to ever forget!