Typer, I agree that Martha Stevens was a good and loving person. There was nothing wrong with her. Her husband had a roving eye and didn't feel that his ministry could survive a divorce. So what does any self-respecting Apostle to the Kingdom do? Tell people to pray for his wife to die, of course. Simple. Fortunately, it didn't work. JRS actually died sixteen years prior to Martha at th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

So great to hear from you, Little Red Flag! Sometimes the sheer volume of bad advice and destructive directives (to put it mildly) from shepherds, DRs, and the like seems overwhelming. The drinking culture in most of the churches was out of control and wildly inappropriate. Communal homes--another awful idea meant to control--brought on terrible stress in many cases. I never quite understood how
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The churches that still allowed people to exercise a modicum of free will have been closed down one way or another. What seems to remain are a few churches which are entirely dedicated to slavishly follow Hargrave's random thought process. No room for individual thinking. No one needs to read the complaints. Move along. Nothing to see here. (Insert "Walk" buzzwords and dog whistles
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changedagain, maybe the over the top drinking and bars in churches were hallmarks of "Kingdom Facilities". It was very strange. Especially for a church. Although thinking back, even in the early days, sometimes the pastors drank a lot. JRS too. But not the congregants. And the pastors at least had the common sense to hide their habits.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Lulu, you are welcome here. I hope that you will tell us a little more about yourself. Every voice adds something that we didn't know before. Happy almost new year to all of our participants and readers. Those are amazing stats, Changedagain. Not too shabby! And thanks for the jokes, too. ; )
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Onion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I posted an error. Rick was born in 1959. He turned 60 in 2019. Little Lord Fauntleroy. ******************?******************* Yes. Somehow the third generation seemed to be all about him, though. Even though he was born in the 1950s. Do you think that generation was invented just for him? Strange...
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quote Posted by: 4generation Date: December 27, 2019 09:28AM Welcome Powertrip, so good to see annother 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 s
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quote Posted by: PowerTrip Date: December 24, 2019 12:03PM I read a lot of the posts and comments and because I was part of this so called “inner circle” as a consequence of my relationship with Silas I feel ashamed for not saying anything in the past. He basically isolated me and controlled every single aspect of my life. Dear PowerTrip, You have nothing to feel ashamed about. The kind
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Onion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- As I clean out files from 2019, sometimes I find notes that may be interesting. For example: Rick Holbrook DOB 4-3-1960 Wife #1 DOB 9-3-1960 Wife #2 DOB 11-19-1964 Wife #3 DOB 8-4-1970 Wife #4 DOB 3-6-81 Wife #5? Anyone's guess ************************************* As I ponder the above, I hope t
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Dear PowerTrip, My heart is breaking for you. Thank you so much for sharing these very painful experiences that not many in the U.S. churches were aware of. There really is no end to the abuse and exploitation of the wonderful people that kept these "powerful perverts" in business. It has to end.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Northerngate...Melissa, Your good wishes are very much appreciated. I also wish peace and healing for you and for all of us. And for people reading who are confused or don't know what to think, I wish you a miraculous epiphany. There really is more to life than serfdom to a religious feudal lord.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Looking around these forums is sad. A reality test of groups like those represented here could best be summed up with something I said during the last few years before leaving TLWF. People are not God. It was not well-received. And the corollary: If a person tells you to treat them like God, they do not have your best interests at heart. It sounds simple enough when you have not had your mind
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Welcome back, Sarge!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by: changedagain Date: December 17, 2019 11:11AM The worst spirits were in top leadership, but I doubt they spent much time repenting. They were too busy guilt-tripping other members of the fellowship about their supposed lack of dedication...and enjoying the perks of being "Christ in the Flesh." Anyway, I could elaborate on this subject of hypocrisy, but I need to get bac
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

NancyB...OMG to all of the above. I guess that I didn't know enough to even realize this stuff was happening under my nose. We were kept so busy repenting for having a "wrong spirit" all the time that we didn't notice what the leaders and others were doing. Also working very hard and going to nine church services a week. No wonder I always thought I had a "wrong spirit&qu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Well put, NancyB.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

NancyB, thanks for the info on functional alcoholics and other issues, like drug addiction. Back in the days when hippies were joining the Walk, I heard that many had lived in hippie communes and knew that they had probably taken drugs. But I wrongly (?) assumed that when they came into the church, they had been delivered from past habits. I never knew about any ministries taking drugs either. Th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

NancyB, I remember that attack that caused you to leave another forum. As usually happens, the whole thing took place in the middle of the night when people who know you were sleeping. : (
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by: puddington Date: December 16, 2019 02:50PM Does anyone recall this policy roll-out attempt in LA? They were trying to get people to sign a legal document that stripped a congregant of their right to sue the Living Word. I recall Dan Staton presenting it to us in small meetings. I don’t think it ever got off the ground. Maybe it was decided that legally it would not hold water. I
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

You know...the blank contract. Of course, when it was first mentioned we thought the contract was with our creator, not a selfish, controlling, flawed cult leader.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Posted by changedagain: Keeping people busy, always working on one 'vital' project after another, is a good way to keep them distracted from recognizing the con game going on behind the scenes. It certainly worked...until it didn't. Yes. Those vital projects were all so important that the KINGDOM depended on them being done immediately if not sooner... But once you've se
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Wow! Thank you to Liamoftheusa for posting this and to Changedagain for re-posting. While thinking about being fiery and energetic, I am reminded of the “Can You Live In A Siege" mentality. The worst thing you could do was wish for a relaxing, comfortable life. That was an automatic symptom of apathy and failure. “The violent take the Kingdom by force" was the battle cry during the l
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I heard that Bowman Littleton died in the orient, still searching for the "real" thing after he realized that this was not it. So sad.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

An interesting link regarding the phenomenon known as "cult-hopping". Forewarned is forearmed.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

NancyB Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Northerngate; I did experience to the max that I > could tolerate... then what did I go and do? > > I fell into a the delusions of a narcissistic > socio-path who pushed me to write a book about her > - (sh-shh I was not supposed to tell that she > created everything.) With me having a sign on my
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

NancyB, I don't know about covens in LA churches. Sometimes I do wonder, where in the Bible did JRS get the idea to have members praying or prophesying for people to die? I don't find chapter and verse saying that Mordecai prayed for Haman to die, or that Peter prayed for Ananias and Saphira to die. Most people in The Walk probably didn't even know that the crazy "violent decl
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quote Posted by: Onion () Date: December 07, 2019 04:47PM I have almost always felt this was a safe place to talk. Me, not so much...until after Shalom's post and the viral aftermath. Now I'm good, though. ; )
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Northerngate, I thought of your family cult story as I was listening to Dawn Smith. And our old RR Forum friend TKNC, too. If you're still reading TKNC, hope you're getting better every day. Onion, finding fewer triggers coming up and going on with your life sounds awesome. I'm going to work on that too. As I was listening to the Rick Ross interview I posted earlier, I realiz
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Here is a link to a TedTalk by Dawn Smith. She was raised in a cult and talks about her experiences and how she left. One thing she said during the talk was: "The hardest day of freedom is better than the best day in a cult". That really resonated with me. Even though we may feel like we are starting over much later in life than we would like, it's still better than living in th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Wondering how to help people who are still stuck in an oppressive group? Or how the current political situation might be related? Here is a link to a very insightful interview with Rick Ross.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families