Onion, I found something relevant in Woodrow Nicols writing on The Walk on page 57 which validates what I think you have pointed out.

Quote
Woodrow Nichols JRS The Walk
SUBMISSION: Is the accepting the control or authority of another, being obedient
and compliant to those over you in the Lord. Ephesians 5:21 to 6:9 and Hebrews
13:17 teach the New Testament pattern for submission to divinely appointed authority
in the home and in the church.8
It is no accident that Stevens picked the words "control" and "compliance" to describe the role of
both the person in authority and the person under authority. While the Scriptures, of course, call
for a type of obedience to those over you in the Lord, it is certainly no manifesto for absolute
obedience, the kind that Stevens is calling for. After all, every believer is ultimately responsible
to God alone. A system of total obedience to those over you completely undermines this Biblical
principle, leading ultimately to the Nazi ethic of innocence in the light of obeying orders.
The Nazi ethic and the type of totalitarian obedience Stevens has in mind is an analogy that should not be lightly dismissed.

This type of submission is further strengthened by the role of John Robert Stevens and the non-the denominational character of the Walk. If Stevens is truly the most important character in the eschatological drama, the apostle of the Kingdom, then what he says is the gospel truth.
Therefore it
is imperative that what he says must be accepted, believed, and obeyed at all costs. It is this role
of obedience and submission that also forms the glue that holds the Walk together, for there
being no formal legal structure between the churches in the Walk, only submission to the authority of John Robert Stevens provides the necessary union and hope of future

[drive.google.com]


What gibberish of Gary's I have listened to always seem to have the redundant use of the words' Obedient" in some form.Not an accident.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/14/2020 12:06PM by NancyB.

The Judeo/Christian/Islamic traditions are built on the 'in crowd' and everyone else.

In order to be included in the chosen, group-think is required, regardless of the ideology. The many-minds of the group are therefore reduced to one-mind, dictated by the 'top mind'. Agreement is the gold-standard for continued inclusion.

Even vocalizing disagreement can get one the boot, but disagreeable actions all but guarantee one will be shown the door.

Exit from toxic sludge never looked better . . .

NancyB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Onion, I found something relevant in Woodrow
> Nicols writing on The Walk on page 57 which
> validates what I think you have pointed out.
>
>

Quote
Woodrow Nichols JRS The Walk
> SUBMISSION: Is the accepting the control or
> authority of another, being obedient
> and compliant to those over you in the Lord.
> Ephesians 5:21 to 6:9 and Hebrews
> 13:17 teach the New Testament pattern for
> submission to divinely appointed authority
> in the home and in the church.8
> It is no accident that Stevens picked the words
> "control" and "compliance" to describe the
> role of
> both the person in authority and the person under
> authority. While the Scriptures, of course, call
> for a type of obedience to those over you in the
> Lord, it is certainly no manifesto for absolute
> obedience, the kind that Stevens is calling for.
> After all, every believer is ultimately
> responsible
> to God alone. A system of total obedience to those
> over you completely undermines this Biblical
> principle, leading ultimately to the Nazi ethic
> of innocence in the light of obeying orders.
> The Nazi ethic and the type of totalitarian
> obedience Stevens has in mind is an analogy that
> should not be lightly dismissed.
>
> This type of submission is further strengthened by
> the role of John Robert Stevens and the non-the
> denominational character of the Walk. If Stevens
> is truly the most important character in the
> eschatological drama, the apostle of the Kingdom,
> then what he says is the gospel truth.
> Therefore it
> is imperative that what he says must be
> accepted, believed, and obeyed at all costs.
> It is this role
> of obedience and submission that also forms the
> glue that holds the Walk together, for there
> being no formal legal structure between the
> churches in the Walk, only submission to the
> authority of John Robert Stevens provides the
> necessary union and hope of future
>
>
>

> [drive.google.com]
>
>
> What gibberish of Gary's I have listened to always
> seem to have the redundant use of the words'
> Obedient" in some form.Not an accident.

NancyB, thank you for pulling this excerpt out of Nichols' book. After being raised in a Christian church, the emphasis on submission and obedience to a person was very strange to me when I started attending TLWF. So twisted. : (



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2020 08:22AM by Reepicheep.

Good posts ------


You know; being assimilated into a collective and existing as an individual no more, isn’t that much fun inasmuch as it’s novel at first, but quickly turns into a bummer kingdom.

The important distinction between the religion ABOUT Jesus and the teachings OF Jesus is that the former demands some type of fealty to a doctrine (obedience, submission, adherence--group-think) while the later (GOSPEL of LOVE) simply instructs one how to treat one's fellow wo/man.

A Grand Canyon-difference between the two.

FCSLC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You know; being assimilated into a collective and
> existing as an individual no more, isn’t that much
> fun inasmuch as it’s novel at first, but quickly
> turns into a bummer kingdom.

Yes, FCSLC. In my case, it was a 21-year bummer...relatively short compared to the stint that some of the posters in this forum had.
#bummerKingdom

Wow.... your comment made me stop and think about my first exposure to JRS and The Living Word... 1972 ... lasting until 1997 when I was summarily set out of the fellowship. Hard to believe it was 48 years ago! It was in 1997 when I first began to find solace in my resolve to accept myself without needing the affirmation of the apostolic fathering ministries.... joy, joy, joy!

I'm working long a hard on a personal blog post about the pre-walk days when I was growing up. I need some help from especially oldtimers out there who have memories of personal minstry in general.

It is my belief, for now, that the early Personal Ministry was benign up until a certain point. My dad had said every 'ministry' we ever had. A few years back my sisters and I dumped it all- seemed like a good thing to do at the time. But, now I wish I had some examples of "ministry' from the late 1950s to the 60s.

Sorry, I feel flashbacks coming on...

What I am looking for is the general feeling the parents' babyboomer had and how we as children or teens felt about the issues of personal ministry in the pre-walk days. At some point, the line was crossed from prayer and good advice to "Verily, verily, I am God speaking to you- OBEY Me!"

Working on this post I realize that from the beginning "we" simply accepted advice as good as gospel - perhaps it was because the Elders had life experience as good Christians in the pre-walk years. Pretty much what is written starts with the focus on JRS only. It is my belief and premise of my blog post that the church group founded by his father was used by JRS to give his 'vision' credibility - that should not have happened.

I think "we" in my hometown rural community were accustomed to looking to our "elders' in prayer and common sense before we made decisions. That became a big mistake for the future of all members when JRS took over he church his father founded then M & G picked up the magician cape/ apostle's mantle.

There is a fine line from the benign counseling in WJ group to when JRS started crossing the lines.

Does anyone have anything to convey on "personal ministry" in general or at any point in this crazy mess that they want to share? PM's are welcome- whatever is comfortable for you. I respect privacy.
thanks
Nancy B

NancyB - Thank you for sharing that excerpt from Woodrow Nichols comparing the authoritarian approach of the walk to Hitler. That is confirmation of what I've been seeing in the writings I review about the Holocaust by Bullets.

It is also significant to note that people hearing about what the Nazis were doing often did not believe it as sounding impossible for anyone to act in that way. This is very similar to the people now who believe people like Bruce Larson, Gary Hargrave, and many others, who say all of the allegations are lies. That may make some people comfortable for now (because facing the truth requires action) but it can't possibly withstand scrutiny because the voices telling the truth are many in number and that number is growing daily.

Yes, some people lie. Yes, some people exaggerate and generate stories out of one emotional misunderstanding. But those people are a very tiny minority among the numbers speaking out.

L I A M

"I first began to find solace in my resolve to accept myself without needing the affirmation of the apostolic fathering ministries."

This is the 'giant leap' that everyone faces when they leave a culture of perpetual dependency and suddenly find themselves in the throes of being independent.

Many find out it is not all it's cracked up to be, realizing that the world is actually a hazardous landscape where a wrong (lone) decision can have tragic consequences. Abandoning the security of the reservation leaves us a little more vulnerable--until of course we start to gain our bearings and breathe the fresh air of FREEDOM, no matter what it brings.

JOY JOY JOY