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| BEEN THERE, DONE
THAT |
The
“Great” Commission of Gwen Shamblin & Remnant Fellowship,
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Introduction
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To the Reader
 The
following account is the true story of how my wife and I, along with some
dear friends, followed the suggestion of Gwen Shamblin to leave our church
home due to its “rebellion” against God. In it I recount events from
the summer of 2001 that are among the most momentous in my life for what
they have taught me about faith, trust, and discernment. I hope I
never forget the lessons I learned during this time.
This
story is long, because I decided before writing it that I would leave out
no pertinent detail, no matter how embarrassing. I do not shrink
away from my sin in this story, nor from the sin of others. Abusive
systems thrive on secrecy, and in this case, the secrets should be told
because they attest to the true character of Gwen Shamblin and Remnant
Fellowship. They have the capacity to cause serious spiritual damage,
as will be borne out by this account.
I’ve
prayed for a long time over writing this, because it bothers me to dwell
on the sins and wrongs of this world, including my own. In the end,
after receiving several calls from other Weigh Down Workshop participants
and potential recruits for Remnant Fellowship who were confused and scared,
I decided to write it out and post it publicly to warn other brothers and
sisters in Christ about a real danger in the religious world.
Because
I want my story to be verifiable, I’ve included many quotes from Gwen and
tried to recreate the experience of attending a Rebuilding the Wall Weekend.
I’m writing this account for all participants of Weigh Down Workshop, Strongholds,
and WDAdvanced. Although Gwen and Remnant Fellowship leadership actively
encourage their followers to ignore any criticism of them by labeling such
criticism as “lies” and “slander,” I encourage you to always get all the
facts when making important spiritual decisions.
First
Thessalonians 5:19-21 instructs us to test “everything.” I’m writing
this so you can have all the information you need to do that. I don’t
have a multimillion dollar organization behind me to send you mass emails
full of my spin of events. I can only pass this on and prayerfully
trust that He who leads all who call on His name will lead you here.
If you’re searching the Internet, you must have questions. I hope
this can help answer some of them.
Abusive systems
thrive on secrecy,
and in this case,
the secrets should be told because they attest to the true character of
Gwen Shamblin and Remnant Fellowship. They have the capacity to cause
serious spiritual damage ...
I
debated and prayed for some time before arriving at the decision to use
the names of Remnant Fellowship leaders in this account. I still
count some of the major players in this story as my dearest friends, and
the last thing I want is to put a black mark on their names. I firmly
believe they’ve succumbed to a form of mind control, and are not entirely
responsible for any un-Christ-like actions. I have decided to leave
their names out, and refer to them as “our friends” and “Remnant NYC.”
I have received confirmation that they are heavily involved in recruiting,
and I wonder whether it will more ably warn others if I use their names.
However, I have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that they will leave Remnant
Fellowship soon, and I don’t want their to be anything, especially not
shame, standing in their way. Please know that I love these people,
and greatly desire to reconcile with them. They currently do not
reply to my efforts to contact them, but I still hope that perhaps they’ll
read this and know I love them.
My
prayer for you, reader, is that He Who has drawn you to Himself at this
point in your life will give you everything you need to discern Christ’s
true will, and that His Spirit in your heart will be the plumb line by
which you measure your faith and your actions. Peace.
On
with the story . . .
In
June of 2001, I was given a mission of great importance while attending
a Remnant Fellowship Weekend at the Weigh Down Workshop headquarters in
Franklin, Tennessee. I was charged with the duty of returning to
my church in New York City and sharing a message of purity and total submission
to God. It was made clear to me that I would not be popular because
of this message; I had been given a charge similar to that of Jeremiah,
who had to go to a “stiff necked and rebellious people” and convey a message
of destruction because of God’s wrath against His people. I was told
this message was relevant to my local church because there was sin in my
church — it was in open rebellion against God, and the leaders were responsible
for allowing sin to flourish within the Lord’s body. If this message
was not received, then I was responsible before God to come out of that
unclean body, that Babylon, much as the prophet Ezekiel packed his bags
before the Israelites and left in the daylight. Furthermore, Gwen
Shamblin told me that God had selected me for this work. Would I
let Him down? Who would I bleed for? God, who was hurting because His church
was in such disarray, or the people (yes, my brothers and sisters in New
York) who were in open defiance of God. In an emotional pledge before
God, I promised not to let Him down. I would bring back this message
with which He had entrusted me. I would do His will! And no
matter what the opposition, I would not shrink back from His will. |
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