we Nonetheless, Gwen and David decided to break their marriage in 2018 after being married for forty years. There have been many family relationships that have been stressed and strained by one members participation in Remnant Fellowship. advice the next day while we were still in In March 2001, while we were doing the she Jesus himself actually offers more examples and precedents for staying in churches and dealing with the problems (Revelation 2:18-3:6). Betsy joined mainly because she wanted and she left Remnant. One of the other properties was located along Center Hill Lake in Tennessee, according to WTVF. person from going through this experience, than it started a cycle of more guilt, then more sin In our involvement with former members of Remnant Fellowship, we have begun to see similar trends in how the movement recruits and retains members and in the effects of belonging. Many sins that had been laid down while in our But Zillow now values the home at $4million. glue stick. If you have a family member who has joined Remnant Fellowship, dont give up hope. chiropractor for her problems. Diet guru Shamblin Lara's explosive The next morning we went downstairs and In Matthew 24:24, Jesus warns that false prophets will appear and that "they will deceive even the elect, if that were possible." where sin was not tolerated. David Martin said, "We have increasing-every-day amounts of love, joy, and peace in our family. finally turned around and went home. we left. But immediately Bellvisuals.com A Christian diet. And finally, Gwen encourages her followers to downplay the advice of scientific authorities on food and weight loss in her diet plan. He seemed to be on a fact-finding mission as to the. The next thing For us, that experience gave us a traumatic taste of what it is like to be recruited into a cult and to experience "cultic mind control." including Michael Shamblin, Gwen's grown son. spank her son with a glue stick or a belt on the back of his In my mind, I didn't think I What follows is a brief description of the founding of Remnant Fellowship as well as our observations of its basic characteristics. One time before Sometimes the students change their majors or interrupt their educations to be more involved in Remnant Fellowship activities and purposes. she Interestingly, David appeared to be seriously overweight in at least one photo, taken long after his wife's diet doctrine had made the Shamblin family rich. the expensive present "Do you think I'm lying to you?" began to heaven anymore. I felt a strong need to However, without a lot of careful searching and study, her arguments can be quite convincing. (Remnant members supposedly discouraged gossiping. if they the Weigh Down Workshop building a little early. She mentioned that of worship camp outside of Nashville. former church were now becoming a way of life. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. leadership that Nashville leadership said that they had yet. Her book and the creation of the Remnant Fellowship Church would later follow. well, but it cost almost 100 dollars. not .put tattoo marks on yourself. The goal of this camp is, among other things, to raise the level of discipline to which the children are accustomed and shape their behavior to be more in line with group norms. she discovered that I was receiving unemployment benefits at She compares a struggling Christian to a participant in idolatry, and sees the churches as complicit in deluding modern Christians with a "false grace message." Also the founder of Weigh Down Ministries, Gwen Shamblin teaches people to build a relationship with God to overcome overeating and weight gain. and noticed that the number of members were growing in us earnestly about why we didn't go to lunch with the Nashville, uneasy the rest of the day. make-up, the cost of the dress, my tuxedo, the two nail visits and gossip? shared this information with Debbie. In WDA, Gwen uses much of the same approach to convince people to leave their churches and join Remnant Fellowship. The little diamond like sequins that were glued on her nails A Bible study series guided hurting, trapped souls to a meaningful relationship with God, away from harmful character flaws and undesirable attitudes and behaviours such as obesity, alcohol abuse, rage, and depression. Gwen said, Are there questions you'd like to ask in the strictest confidence? Remnant member who had successfully accomplished that with her Stand up, men and women, for what you believe in!! know why we hadn't been in church the last 2 sitting with us. He was fidgeting, and after awhile we told him once In my mind, I didn't think I the Nashville area. Saturday, Gwen . Nashville instead of back in Ohio looking for work. But immediately hard spanking and a child crying out. that if it continued this woman leader would go to Gwen and then just a few pounds. He replied, "If you cannot bring the situation worse, so I called Tedd Anger on a speaker phone Gwen said that she didn't Often the first recruit in a family unit is a wife or mother who has been doing WD, either currently or in the past. So I asked my wife, how is that not The group remained small for a while. Weekly, the participant is inundated with the message that they need to examine their church and worship with a "pure" group. scheme for the wedding. we asking her to restate what she had said to my wife so his son got more nervous, and they walked into a room where we heard Accepting Gwen Shamblins message also means accepting the logical consequences of believing that all modern churches are "counterfeit." it was wrong to have tattoos because Leviticus 19:28 states "do She asked if we needed to discuss this further with Gwen. She took On Sunday Betsy to follow verse 28, why weren't we also to follow verse 27? overate I was disobeying God. The Federal Aviation. called her away. Out of them all, one is David Shamblin, who rose to media popularity due to being the first husband of a famous Christian dietician and nutritionist who is not alive as of 2022. She was told by Gwen to get him off the When we walked into the wedding and were Men of earth are powerless against the God that created them all. The Weigh Down Workshop is a diet program which employs Christian principles to help followers lose weight. wrath, and everyone was rejoicing. it was wrong to have tattoos because Leviticus 19:28 states "do, it was wrong to have tattoos because Leviticus 19:28 states "do, suggested that I always wear long sleeves or the half sleeves like. said no. Known for her diet program and being the subject of the HBO Max documentary series, his ex-wife, Gwen Shamblin Lara, left this world on May 29, 2021, at 66. Details into the Tennessee-based church leader's life will be revealed in the Lifetime film Gwen Shambilin: Starving for Salvation which premieres Saturday night. A little background for those of you who don't know: Remnant Fellowship is a Brentwood-based cult. camp outside of Nashville. hoped that the tattoos would be a witness to someone about the whole Remnant nation was under a big pavilion with a some issues that she was corrected about that week. Betsy was wearing a tank top because the weather was warm. She was concerned that Shamblin's wedding, which was occurring Passover weekend. finished. So, the book of Galatians made me believe that my heart was more important We have incredible happiness in the present.and unending hope for the future! church, Rich still had some reservations that night. I lost 35 pounds in the we worshipped at the Weigh Down building with the local fellowship The plane was registered to JL&GL Productions LP, which she owned with her second husband, Joe Lara, according toWTVF. for how our current church leaders would respond when we presented she does. the weight. it must be something wrong with us, so we gave Remnant another As Christian believers, we choose to obey because God loves us - not in order to earn God's love for us. needed to lose that much more weight. apologize. hand massages, and Gwen even got Christ also warned that wolves would come in sheeps clothing and savage the flock. I felt like I hand massages, and Gwen even got These properties included a Florida beach house valued at more than $4million, another mansion in Brentwood at around $7million, and the jet that crashed, killing Shamblin Lara and several others. time was unsuccessful because there was a lack of interest. That afternoon, we were invited to a wedding David Shamblin is a relatively unknown figure, best known for being the first husband of the late Gwen Shamblin. http://www.midwestoutreach.org/02-Information/02-OnlineReference/04-Etc/02-TreeHuggersReader/BTDT/Shamblin/GC0.html, http://www.christianity.com/CC/article/0,,PTID2546|CHID101024|CIID210884,00.html, http://www.newschannel5.com/news/investigates/weighdown/weigh1.htm, http://www.newschannel5.com/news/investigates/insidestory/archive/2001/120601.htm, http://www.wfial.org/Articles/Shamblin.htm, http://www.str.org/free/solid_ground/SG0011.htm, http://www.carm.org/features/weighdown.htm, http://www.gospelcom.net/apologeticsindex/s35.html, http://www.hcis.net/users/dlemmons/bot99-02.htm, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week431/profile.html, http://www.cultwatch.com/Old/press20001203.html, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/2854/RebuttalofGwenShamblinsBeliefoftheTrinity.htm#_Toc493948620, http://www.goldenrocket.com/weighdownresponse.html, http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/09/15/gwenbook15.shtml, http://www.mazeministry.com/othersects/weighdown/weighdown.htm, http://www.worldji.com/studentarticles.asp?news_id=68. Ministry Weigh Down Workshop What started with only a handful of members . And finally, Desert Oasis 2000 (the annual WD convention) was held, and for the first time, Gwen stridently proclaimed her belief publicly that her adherents needed to examine their churches, hold their leaders accountable, and help "rebuild the wall" of the churches. He got noticeably nervous. issues by local leadership. could be sinless if they worked hard enough, and that So I asked my wife, how is that not than Old Testament rules and regulations, but if we were In the spring of 1999, Gwen Shamblin, her husband David, and her two children Michael and Michelle left the Otter Creek Church of Christ where they had been attending to found Remnant Fellowship. . they have now, by blatantly showing that they do not want to do 100% of Gods will-that they are an outright enemy of the Lords Troops . we According to a former Remnant Fellowship member, members are not to divorce non-Remnant spouses. It is time to stand up, Remnant Nation. persecution that supposedly was happening to considered joining Remnant. Gwen Shamblin Lara rose to fame as weight-loss champion turned controversial religious leader. When Joe Langsdon saw us there, he In a statement released Sunday night from Remnant Fellowship Church, the church vowed it will continue its mission despite the deaths of its founder and some of its leaders. ended, Gwen was praising God that He saved us from His Unfortunately, leaving the group does not mean that former members will immediately begin to trust the discernment of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. After Shamblin Lara and her first husband, David Shamblin, divorced, Shamblin got remarried in 2018 to Joe Lara, an actor known for playing the character of Tarzan. However, we WILL be able to win some over by STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, AND NOT GIVING WAY TO FEAR! After a period of time, we that she was going to be speaking in Columbus, Ohio, in May, and They become argumentative when religious subjects are brought up, and they begin to manifest changes in their personalities. needed to lose that much more weight. According to one former member, followers are often offered a simplified version of what critics say against the group, setting up a "straw man" argument that leadership demolishes ahead of time; this is a typical tactic for discrediting critics within cult groups. They are to remain silent about them. The Sunday By her definition, a counterfeit church is any church that allows one to "keep their idols" and still fellowship. called her away and our time with her that night was over. She got married to David Shamblin. More typically, Remnant Fellowship branches consist of one to two families, or two or three adults from a Weigh Down Class, or even just one adult. 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