I shudder to think of the degree of mental bondage people have been placed under authorities insisting they have a right attitude (in the walk--a right spirit), while they are being used and abused. In the walk, John would specifically promise that even if you think a shepherd is way off the mark, God would honor your obedience...which has proven, of course, to be bogus. The flurry of activity
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

40yearsin2016 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I have a similar perspective. > G&M: forgiveness, errors (you’re very > gracious) > Later Marilyn personally destroyed the lives of > dozens of people I care deeply about. Gary, to > me, was always a puppet – my 1st wife called him > the guy in the really tight blue jeans. > He wa
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks for your input, 40yearsin2016. Your posts are substantive...you know, as opposed to most of mine :) Hope you continue to be involved here.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Exactly! LampShmamp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am going to add my unapologetic opinion and the > opinion of many ex-walkers who are too politically > correct to state their view out loud here, but I > do not mind. I have no mixed feelings about > Marilyn's death. Ding dong, the witch is dead, > and good riddance. She kn
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Gary often conferred with Marilyn while he was pastoring. She did have a strong influence during that time period (late 70's).
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

AD-- Due to your prolific output, I now consider you The anti-cult apostle of this forum. Take note all you other so-called apostles!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

lily rose Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Changedagain, > > I think you were lenient too. You have said that > you were brainwashed but I am wondering if you > were an example of "brainwashing lite" and were > less vulnerable to mind control work to > discombobulate the little people compared to other > elite mid mangers
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I think I was a pretty lenient mid-level manager. I recall often telling members of the fellowship not to show up to services and work days if they didn't feel up to it. Maybe that is what got me into trouble.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

paleface Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I understand that Miller raised a question about > something possibly being done unethically. Bamm! > He was fired and excommunicated immediately. Oh > course the LW people were kept in the dark and > told not to ask. And definatly to not talk to > John Miller. Humiliate, and pressure out of
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

pbxguy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > John Miller is The. Very. Last. Person. I thought > would leave the walk. wonder what the #$%#$ > happened. Really
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"And Jesus said unto them, take your hands and put them around your own neck and strangle yourself until you pass out and those thoughts will go away." --somewhere in the New Testament (New American Living Word Shepherding Edition)
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Remember--both my wife and myself had experiences where we were physically threatened by these leaders, each for something we said. So I'm aware that they are not hindered by normal boundaries. Since this was a direct experience, I shared it.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

lily rose Wrote: > I personally don't believe that the > majority of those harmed by the LW make up lies > and a rumor that Marilyn asked Larry to marry her > hardly casts much negativity or is a way to get > back at the LW. My point is that there is so much that each one of us has personally experienced from being in this cult, we don't need to engage in speculat
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"The Wild, Soulless Shark Eyes of Marilyn" What a great book title. It really grabs your attention!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

BTW, the prior comment was not to cast any aspersions toward Larry. I didn't know him, but I've heard from many others that he was a decent man, with a genuine concern for people in the fellowship. That said, I think the black/white marriage at the top of the authority chain would have been a major issue in TLWF at that time--leading, I think, the many more leaving than actually did. H
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I've never heard of this rumor that Marilyn approached Larry Cotton with the offer of marriage. It seems bogus to me--far-fetched, implausible given the culture of TLWF. Unless something more concrete is put forth, my inclination is to dismiss it. I think when authority figures have been abusive toward their members, the tendency of those that have been wronged is to want to believe almos
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Also, if you're going to demand that someone submits their life to you, it would nice if you would have something of value to offer, such as being an example of what a real 'walk with God' looks like. So many congregants unwittingly became victims of 'mentors', backed by Gary and Marilyn, that were just dysfunctional nut jobs. Hey, I was pretty nutty back in the day, but
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

In light of your latest comment Paleface...I'm now wondering if I have understated the deranged mentality of these church leaders--Gary Hargrave, Marilyn Hargrave, Rick Holbrook, the Larsens etc. In my heart I wish that whatever assets/funds these people have accumulated on the back of the congregants could be seized, liquidated and used to help those who have suffered under the regime.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Cult on the Hill? Ha
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

larry bobo Wrote: > their website to appear mainstream, other > mainstream groups are not claiming to be Christ in > the flesh and demanding blind obedience behind the > scenes. I would have far more respect if they > would just say their goal is to get people > connected and obedient to Marilyn instead of lying > and pretending to be something they are not.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

lily rose Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Changeagain, do you think G&M were heavily > brainwashed and duped and possibly that's why they > don't see themselves as cultish? I don't know, Lily--and that's part of the mystery with them. I have no doubt they're calculating, exploitative, cruel...and have severely disru
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Notions of God that were repeated by John to give us a certain concept of God, and make it more likely we would not bolt from--what we all know now--was/is a cult. Note: if if you think they are inaccurate in some way, feel free to edit/correct: John often repeating the story of how God, early in his ministry, threatening to kill him for his "withdrawal." A warning to those listeni
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

There was a great deal of grooming people's minds to accept whatever came from John...and later Marilyn and Gary. Much of it was to convince everyone that much of what God did, though motivated by love, would appear unacceptable to us. What normal might relate to as abuse, or simply acts of sadism--would be explained away as discipline (aka dealings of the Lord) that would allow us to bear
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

FCSLC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Being placed under his ministry was like being chained to a monstrous > slab of cement slowly sinking lower and lower in bottomless swamp mud. Oh my. Somehow I'm going to have to work this description into one of my Amazon product reviews. "The feeling I got after using this product is like...
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Apostle Dog Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I also think that perhaps Gary Hargrave acts as a > buffer somewhat, a stabilizer for Marilyn in some > ways. Gary as a stabilizer--that's a frightening thought. People in TLWF have reason to worry!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

BTW, at the time of the establishment of Hargrave Family Ministries, over a year before John's death, was the 'family' simply Gary? Were others involved? I've never heard of a family consisting of one person.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

paleface Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I can recall being in the LW and being taught that to deny that > Christ had come in the flesh" was to deny Jesus. If the Hargraves are an example, then yes, I am denying that Christ has come in the flesh.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. Matthew 23.4 > He brought freedom for the people of God, > instead of the hard burdens the Pharisees put on > the people. Christ was more like a union steward > in that He defended the sheep from the religious > leaders, rather tha
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I also remember the pressure when John was alive for him to accept the Christ in him. In retrospect, I think that could have been a part of why it was so difficult for him to acknowledge his frailties/shortcomings...just the immense pressure, certainly some brought upon himself through his ego, to be something so monumentally important. Perhaps that drive is what carried through the fellowship af
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

paleface Wrote: > AD, what is interesting is that I can recall being > in the LW and being taught that to deny that > "Christ had come in the flesh" was to deny Jesus. > And they said that was akin to blaspheming the > Holy Spirit, which was the big unforgivable sin. For a very long time period, that was the mortal sin identified from the pulpit-- not recognizin
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families