Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Posted by:
changedagain
()
Date: October 13, 2021 01:05AM
A few posts from February 2019:
Posted by: Reepicheep
Date: February 20, 2019 07:08AM
Richard M., you are awesome for sharing your experiences. I didn't see this when it was on FACTNET, but it is so important that you shared it again. This is epic, and should lay to rest the thinking that the founder of the Walk was anything other than a very skilled conman. I want to believe in Santa Claus and the Wizard of Oz too, but it is not a healthy obsession for adults. And neither is the sacred cow status of John Robert Steven and his "Walk".
Posted by: Stardomino1
Date: February 20, 2019 07:52AM
I am thankful to everyone who has posted! Richard, I always wondered what had happened to You. Thank you so much for helping us all have more clarity, and I am very sorry for everything you went through. Back then, I never questioned anything very deeply. So caught up in everything...never doubting, and even less considering something to be wrong!
You are right, onion, there was a high price paid by each of us who participated.
One thing That was spoken by JRS many times is that you will know whether something is true by the fruit. This is all very evident now. Maybe that was one of the few accurate words. Love to all!
Posted by: Richard M.
Date: February 20, 2019 08:33AM
Reepicheep, thanks. I knew Stevens was a phony when I first saw and met him. He wouldn't look at me eye-to-eye and seemed even a little frightened of me. Of course, it later made more sense. But if there hadn't been Marilyn and my kids tied to her, he never would have survived to stand at another sermon . . . But I had my own future and two kids’ lives to consider so abdicated to a lesser course. Absent any formal complaint of coerced sexual or other criminal misconduct, "religious freedom" protects the otherwise guilty until far too late .. . . . You know of Jim Jones and his murder-suicide of his followers, but hardly anyone knows that long before that he had been arrested in a movie theater for lewd conduct by a Rampart Division vice officer. It had been politically attempted to be covered up by a judge and other officials by destroying or pulling all documents, but the arresting officer had kept his own copy of the arrest report. It was made public again after the murders. I know, I forwarded a copy of the only surviving document to the Chief of Police. I say this because it’s also possible that credible and formal complaints of coercion and sexual abuse of minors had long been made on Stevens and Rick that were, or were not, properly investigated . . . who knows?
Posted by: that little red flag
Date: February 20, 2019 09:18AM
Richard M. -
Wow. Thank you for sharing. I, like others that have spent decades living this lie, appreciate your insight and honesty. I remarked to my husband, as I started to read your story, how easy it was to assume and believe that you were the bad guy. I can also feel the heartache of hearing you acknowledge losing a wife and kids to all of the deceit. I'm sure some of the posts here are hard to read, but on the other hand, I can only imagine how validating they are for you. It sounds like you lived a life worth living beyond all of this. Welcome to the forum, and thanks again for giving us additional insight to the maze of the Living Word Fellowship Cult.