I was born and raised in a “Christian” home. From the time I was born, we were in church every Sunday, and there I was taught that I just needed to ask Jesus into my heart, and be saved. After growing up in church, I attended a “Christian” college, where I was filled with a lot of knowledge ABOUT the Bible, along with a lot of pride. However, it wasn’t until I was introduced to the Weigh Down Workshop, that my life truly began to change. It was through Weigh Down, not any church or school that showed me how to truly get rid of sin and self and have a relationship with God Almighty! Despite being in a church, my weight was something I had struggled with my entire life. As a child I was definitely chubby, and then as I got older, into my teenage years, I was somewhat able to control my weight with sports and exercise. However, I was still always heavier than I wanted to be or really should have been. The real weight problem came when I went off to college and instead of gaining the “freshman 5”, I gained the freshman 30. I was depressed and disgusted with myself and I was also out of control. I had no idea, but I had so much greed in my heart for food. I didn’t know what it was. No one had ever told me that my overweight and overeating were evidence of the greed in my heart. Since I had been somewhat chubby since childhood, and had many overweight relatives, the problem must have been genetic, so I thought. I had been told I would have to watch it my whole life. Praise God for His deliverance from all these lies! I was desperate to lose weight, I tried everything! I tried every diet from the cabbage soup diet to completely starving myself. I would exercise 3-4 hours a day, and when I got tired of that, I would just throw up my food. Praise God that in his mercy, none of these solutions worked. There were times when I would lose weight, but I could never keep it off. There was no permanent solution that I had found. In March of 1997 I began my journey with the Weigh Down Workshop. I started by reading “The Weigh Down Diet.” As soon as I heard Gwen’s teaching of hunger and fullness, I knew it was the truth and that it would work. I initially lost some weight using the Weigh Down principles, but I did not really understand that it was about so much more than food and weight! Therefore, Weigh Down became just another diet to me. I did not understand that it was all about obedience to God. When I would do Weigh Down (in other words, obey God), I would lose weight, but most of the time I was not obeying, and I was still bowing down to my false god of food. Greed still ruled in my heart. By the time I finished college, my weight had pretty much remained the same, and I had completely missed one of the basic principles of Weigh Down….that obedience was not something I could just do if I felt like it…but that obedience to God was the foundation of a relationship with him. In the fall of 2001, I started in Weigh Down Advanced. For four years I had toyed with the principles of the Weigh Down Workshop, but it was through this Weigh Down Advanced class, as well as hearing Gwen speak at a live event that completely turned my life around. We joined Remnant Fellowship and I started putting the principles of Weigh Down into practice. I finally was obeying God instead of the food, and not just for a day or a week. This was a permanent change. God took 40 pounds off my body, and I weigh less than I had weighed in junior high school! It was so amazing to me that I could be at this weight, and still eat all regular foods. No calorie counting, no exercising, no food exchange lists, no banned foods, no Styrofoam rice cakes—it was so wonderful! And while the weight loss was a huge blessing from God, it did not even compare with this new relationship with God Almighty! After joining Remnant, there have been so many other things in my life that have CHANGED! I have laid down the love of money and material things, which led to overspending; I have laid down lying, praise of man, disrespect of authority, anger, jealousy, and SO MUCH MORE!! My life went from being all about me to being all about God! I now LOVE to serve others when before I used to only serve myself. I praise GOD for this message of TRUTH that has completely changed my life. My life is now peaceful and blessed. I have a wonderful Godly marriage, sweet obedient children, and my relationships with my family are better than ever. There is truly no place better on earth!

I read the Bible for 18 years, professed to be a teacher of it, professed to know and love God and that I was Heaven-bound. But I was miserable...angry all the time, discontent, wanting, empty, physically sick continually, and my marriage was coming apart. I knew there had to be more. I searched and searched...churches, scripture, Bible studies, people, and pastors. I was discouraged, but I believed there was a God and I had to find Him. God allowed that longing to be filled through taking a class called Exodus Out of Egypt taught by Gwen Shamblin. It rocked my world and my life and I have never been the same...praise the God who was revealed to me through this class! I lost weight—47 pounds, stopped running to food and vitamins, herbs, supplements, and exercise for health, and was given the health I wanted as I sought God. I became content and anger no longer plagued me. I am happy, healthy and best of all...spiritually, I was blind but now I see. I can see that God wants something from me and I get to give it to Him. I can actually give God, the Creator of all, something that He wants...obedience. I love getting to be around sweet, positive, selfless people who love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. They don't just say they love you. They show it with their actions...when help is needed, it is provided. Nothing is missed. Just like in the book of Acts, the end of Chapter 2. Just like that! I could go on and on about how my life has changed. It is better! It is funny how so many do not want to believe that such a church exists but would rather put down this group of true believers. It does seem too good to be true. BUT it's true!!! It's real! And it's all around me, it's in me and it's in my children. I praise God for Gwen Shamblin, a servant of God, who speaks the truth no matter what. And for the classes and books and CDs and all the information available that has kept me on this narrow road that leads to life! May the world know that there is truth and it is being lived out in the lives of the people who make God their God!

Hi, my name is Blake Zanoni and I am 22 years old. I feel so blessed to be able to even give a testimony of a changed, heart, mind, body, and spirit. About 4 years ago, I weighed 80 lbs more than I do now; I had a passion and addiction to food. It was my comfort, it was my fun, food was my love. Little did I know, was that the more I shoved food down my throat, the emptier I felt. I can even remember times when I was younger and setting an alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to go and eat. I was definitely enslaved! Beyond food there was anger, lust, misery, and a ton of other idols in my heart, so I didn't even leave room for God Almighty. God was so gracious to show me the truth and I learned how to transfer all these desires and compulsions to things other than God into a true love relationship with God. I saw first-hand by the blessings, that where these idols couldn't give back, God could, and that there was total peace in seeking out His ways and walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Everyday is a joy and something that I don't take for granted; I praise God for the changes he has allowed in my life and I pray that he would continue to allow me to change all for His glory.

My name is Melissa Glasco. Since finding Weigh Down, I have lost 120 pounds. This message has led me to a true relationship with God and away from my “relationship” with the food. I always thought being overweight was a result of genetics and that I would never be able to eat regular foods like other people could. I was destined to always be obese. This program opened my eyes to the greed that was truly in my heart. God used my pain and shame to lead me to Him. When I first came to Weigh Down I was suffering with many physical ailments. I had been on the highest doses of medicine for high blood pressure for many years, and my blood pressure was still not under control. I suffered frequently from excruciating back pain, and constant knee, hip and joint pain. I was always tired and sleepy. I desired to eat and sleep all the time. I had no energy and I could not stay on my feet much more than ten minutes at a time. I didn’t sleep well at night because I snored and my hands and arms would go to sleep or hurt. After losing the excess weight, I have not taken any blood pressure medicines in months. My blood pressure is lower now without medicine than it was when I was on the medicine. I can not remember the last time my back, knees, and joints ached. I now sleep very soundly and peacefully at night without snoring or having arm or hand pain. I also cannot remember the last time I slept more than 8 hours in a day. I have so much more energy each and every day. I am confident that I would be divorced today if had not found this message when I did. I was a controlling, angry, bitter, and unsubmissive wife. I was not a pleasant person to be around. My husband and I couldn’t stand to be in the same room together. We had not slept in the same room together in almost two years. (I am sure the snoring and the fact that I took up most of the bed had a lot to do with it.) We were always fighting. Today, I love to be with my husband and he desires to spend time with me. I am not longer controlling or unsubmissive, instead I trust God to take care of my needs, and I go to Him for everything. God takes care of me. I see now that God takes much better care of things than I ever did. I am happy, joyful, and at peace in my marriage relationship today. My children were unhappy, unruly and out of control when I came into this message. They ran the family. I was a lazy parent who saw them as a bother and an inconvenience. They took away from “my time” when I had to correct them, and I used to correct them in anger before this message, but have learned how to be more loving and consistent with them. I cringe now to think about how I used to be. My children were not children you wanted to be around for very long. Now they are happy and blessed because they are under authority. They are a joy to be around. My oldest finds himself abundantly blessed at school, because he knows how to follow the rules. He finds joy in doing the right thing now and he gets so excited when God blesses him for it. My youngest is three and she intently follows her brother’s example. This message and this leadership have been such a blessing in my life. I thank God for leading me to the Weigh Down Workshop which in turn has pointed me right back to Him. I remember being so excited about hearing someone who was actually saying and reading exactly what was in the Bible! It was not just bits and piece of the Bible, but rather long passages. This message does not pick and choose what it likes or does not like from the Bible. It truly teaches God’s Word! The Truth really does set you free! This leadership has always been here to help me and my family, and they ALWAYS point me right back up to GOD! They selflessly serve their flock and tend them well. They never ask for anything in return. Their only desire is to love God with ALL of their hearts and to see us do the same. They know THE SOURCE of all things and rely on HIM to always provide IF we remain PURE for GOD.

I am fully of joy and excitement. I love being able to wake up and know that I can call upon God at any hour. Just that I wake up at all...This wasn't always the case. I woke up and didn't want anyone to talk to me until a certain time, a "don’t' bother me" attitude. Life was all about me. Almost 7 years ago I was going through a lot of transitions in my life. A big one was graduating and taking my board exams to become a massage therapist. During this time I was beginning to visit a church that was MUCH different than the one I grew up in. I grew up Catholic and went to church because I was told to. I didn't like it and I don't know that I really ever got anything out of it. I didn't pay attention. I could recite the prayers or creeds, but it wasn't from the heart. It was just something we did. There was NO relationship with God. God was simply someone that I called upon when I wanted something for my own selfish reasons. Shortly after visiting this new church (Nazarene) with new music and new faces who seemed interested that I was there, I began calling myself a Christian. I began reading the Bible, I began praying and I even lost some of my close friends because I didn't think it was right to get drunk and smoke anymore. A few parts of me changed, but it was pretty much just actions, not my heart. At this same time I began gaining weight like crazy. I had just moved about an hour from my hometown and I didn't really know anyone. Instead of running to God when I felt lonely, I started running to food. It had such a pull on me. I even started stealing just so I could eat. I couldn't stop gaining the weight and every time I was confronted about my weight gain, I said I didn't know why I was gaining the weight. After all, I was exercising hours a day, eating fruits and salads (not to mention 2-3 pieces of cheesecake, an extra large value meal w/ dessert and then popcorn....) and on many diets and diet pills. I tried so many different diets. I tried to be anorexic. I tried to be bulimic. I tried to stay on a diet…..well not really. But what I never tried to do was let God be in control. No one was telling me this was what I needed to do. No one told me I needed to stop lying and stop being greedy. No one told me this was greed, until I started watching the Weigh Down at Home videos. God's timing in it all was perfect. I was at a point where I didn't think I could take it any more. I was crying out to God and I was afraid of what the scales were telling me. I was falling into depression and misery. I hated what I looked like, how I felt, what I was doing, and how people (my family especially) were looking at me and what they might be thinking of me. I remember getting on the scale one day and being shocked and afraid. At this point I knew what I was doing was wrong before God. I was not taking care of this body He gave me. I cried out to Him from the bottom of my heart and prayed. I cannot believe God answered my prayer after all the wrong I had done. By the end of the month I started dating the man of my dreams. After meeting his family, I found out that his mom did Weigh Down and I prayed God would allow me to do it too. We started watching the videos and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. All the words being spoken rang true for me. I remember thinking "You mean I'm not the only one who is a closet binger?" As time went on, the weight was coming off week by week and I was becoming happier and happier. Not just because I was losing the weight, but God was doing a mighty work in my heart. I was learning more about Him and my heart finally started to change, the right way.

Shortly after, in January of 2002, we joined Remnant Fellowship and never felt the need to go back to the church I was going to. I have lost – pounds. I've laid down so many things that don't line up with true Christianity. I now look to God to have all control over a situation. I don't lie anymore. I don't cheat. I don't steal. I've learned humility, honor, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, and love. I don't get angry and I don't have road rage. I know life does not revolve around me. I believe the Bible, what it says and what it says to do. I know this is all from God and that He has made it possible through His Son to be able to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. I now have brothers and sisters in this message that encourage me and help me. They truly love me. They want God's will for my life and they show me the right thing to do. They would not let me go down the wrong path. My heart is full and happy with God. I never knew this kind of joy existed. I never knew God was so personal. I have learned so much about God through this teaching and these awesome brothers and sister in Christ. I am so thankful that God has opened my eyes to what He wants and what pleases Him. I give HIM all the credit and I thank God Almighty daily for changing my heart to love Him. I am truly a new creation ever since joining Remnant Fellowship. Praise God.

We are so blessed by God through this message of truth. We have searched in many churches for a life of meaning and understanding what God's word was saying. It wasn't until we attended a Weigh Down class at the church we were attending back in 1999 that we found our way home to a life filled with meaning and purpose. This fellowship we now attend has a leadership that lives out the Word of God and you know that you can do it too because there are many people living it out in front of you. At the time we found this ancient path, Ivan was over 400 pounds and I was over 260 pounds. Our lives were filled with disagreement and unhappiness. We did not speak kindly or lovingly to each other and we were close to divorce after years of misery. Ivan had diabetes, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, sleep apnea and anger at the top of his list. My addiction to a soap opera totally controlled my life for over 30 years with self-focus and the health problems of fibromyalgia, panic attacks, and depression were so severe that I was on disability and was no longer able to work. Since God answered our prayers to find meaning and purpose, our lives have completely changed. Ivan is down 190 pounds and has gone from size 58 to size 34!! He is no longer diabetic nor does he have to carry around a machine for his sleep apnea any longer. The anger and screaming that controlled his whole life has changed to smiles and a deep love for all those around him. I am down 130 pounds and went from size 26W to size 8. Joy is evident as the depression, panic attacks and fibromyalgia are completely gone. The change in our relationship is amazing. Our adult children who have families of their own say they are amazed at our changed lives, where peace now surrounds us. Our grandchildren love to have us come over whereas before this changed life, we were often asked to leave. This message is straight from God's Word and has brought us to a group of people who truly live what they say. Our church leadership not only lives out the example, but guides those they are responsible for onto the path of change. I have never been involved with a happier group of people who are so genuine. You know in your heart that they really love and care for you. Our leadership in this fellowship truly live out the Word of God and gently lead us the same way. We praise God first and foremost for allowing our eyes to be opened to understand these truths and see people living it out just like they did in the Bible. Hebrews 3: 14-15 says “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." Truly we had very rebellious hearts before God reached out His hand and gave us a new heart and showed us others who are only seeking Him and HIS will today!!

My name is Leda MacPherson and I am 23 years old and I praise God Almighty for allowing me to wake up today. I praise Him for Remnant Fellowship and the leaders God has used in a mighty and powerful way to change my life. I was raised going to church every Sunday and Wednesday. I attended a private Christian school from Kindergarten-12th grade. At church I was always taught how much God loves me and I truly believed that I loved Him and served Him with all my heart because I was a "Christian" and did all the "Christian" things—read my Bible, prayed, went to church, did Bible studies, mission trips, etc. I was always taught by leaders in my church certain things that I should do or not do, but never really understood why. The older I got the emptier I felt and started constantly worrying about myself. My actions showed that my life was completely focused on myself and what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. I would say I loved God and that He ruled my life and externally people would tell me that was true, however my actions and my mind was consumed with myself, my wants and my unmet desires. Outwardly I was always "good," inwardly I was full of pain. This pain led to increased worry about my body, food, dieting and exercise. I wanted to be in control of my life did not know how to deal with stress, worry, and difficult situations. Things got worse in college and I cried out to God for help and He sent His Truth through the Weigh Down Workshop. I watched my mother and sister wonderfully CHANGE and become completely different people through Weigh Down and Remnant Fellowship. I knew that it was different because I had always been in church and had never been able to change, nor had I seen such beautiful and dramatic changes in my family. I desperately wanted what they had and I praise God for leading me to Weigh Down and Remnant Fellowship, for I am now FREE from the daily pain and worry that enslaved me. The Leadership in this beautiful church has graciously taught me what it means to LOVE God and run to Him for everything. I learned that sin was inside my heart and doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it was NOT following Christ (being a Christian). In ALL my years in church NO one ever told me that. I found FREEDOM from my sins by obeying God's Word and running to Him instead of anything on this earth. I am a completely different person and my life is CHANGED forever because of Gwen Shamblin and the Leadership of Remnant Fellowship, who lay down their lives to ALWAYS point me up to GOD. I lost 30lbs externally and am delivered from pride, worry, anxiety, excessive exercise, dieting, control and overeating. The leaders of Remnant Fellowship are the most loving, giving, and humble people on the face of the earth. Their actions every day follow the footsteps of Christ. Following their example has truly taught me how to LOVE God and lay down the sin that kept me imprisoned my entire life as a "Christian." If I had not been taught to look inward and change, things would have only gotten worse. I now wake up every day FULL of love and peace that can only be from God. The blessings are too numerous to count!!! I know I love God because He consumes my mind and I long to obey His Word. He is my everything and I love serving Him by serving others. I can't wait to find ways to serve His church, my boss, my family, my friends or anyone God puts in my life. I no longer worry about what I want. I have true joy and complete contentment from seeing God in the birds, trees, flowers, and sky and I can't believe He has given me LIFE to Praise and obey Him every minute of every day!!! I could not be happier or more blessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our family has been healed! We no longer battle "esophageal reflux" with a lifetime of medication as the only medical solution. We no longer have bodies that are burdened with many extra pounds of disgusting fat—Andy has lost 90 pounds and I have lost 40 pounds. We no longer wish that it was morning when it was evening or wish that it was evening when it was morning. We no longer spend our days building our own little "kingdoms". We NOW love to live any life at all that God allows us. We are grateful! We have learned the secret of truly living—keeping in step with God's Spirit (with all actions), speaking words that are under His lead (as if speaking the words of Christ), thinking on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy, taking all thoughts captive to be obedient to Christ, and we have found the WONDERFUL LIFE and DEEP PEACE that is promised to those who are obedient to the ONE TRUE GOD! And that it is NOT too difficult! (Deuteronomy 30) Now we love life, we love and obey God's Spirit, and we are surrounded by amazing fruit daily. WE ARE CONTENT! Thank you Gwen for your the continual push toward deeper intimacy with the Father and your beautiful example for us to follow. We are forever changed!

My name is Rita Tinius. I am so grateful to God for what he has done for me and my family. Today I am full of joy. My heart is clean and I am seeking Him like I have never sought Him before. He has created the clean heart in me—I simply did what He is asking all of us to do and that is to FULLY REPENT and never go back to the life of sin!! I was never taught anywhere except through The Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship to fully change my heart for God. I was never taught what true repentance meant and I never knew what it looked like! Through Gwen's teachings, but mostly through her actions and the actions of leadership, I have learned what purity (true Christianity) looks like. It is incredibly loving, patient, kind, peaceful, long-suffering, humble, and joyful. I had never seen this in any other church I had attended. In every other church we attended, the leaders had a life that was just as miserable as the rest of us! Through this life-changing message I lost 55 pounds and my husband lost 50. I was an incredibly greedy, selfish person who watched 5-6 hours of soap operas a day, ate the whole time, and shopped continually. I was a terrible mother and wife. We were in debt and living only to please ourselves. Because of being overweight, I was plagued with incredible joint pain that was getting worse. I couldn't sleep because of the pain. Our cholesterol levels were so high that we were just getting ready to be put on medication. When I started applying these truths and the weight started coming off, my cholesterol levels went to normal within 4 weeks. I am now a happy person, no longer watch soap operas, eat only when my body is calling for food, and shop only when I feel God's leading. The doctors tell me that my blood pressure is that of a teenager and I am 37! Our marriage is now a joyful marriage. We are out of debt and live only to please the Father. So, in conclusion, if you are looking for a life that is peaceful, happy, joyful, and pure, you have found what you are looking for! Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship! Praise God!

I just want to praise our Father in Heaven for a chance at salvation. Before this message, I was raised up in a fairly lifeless church. There was nothing there that made me want to be there, there was no draw, and no life. As soon as I turned 18, I hit the world at full speed. I was off to college, indulging myself with more food, more sexual sins, drug use, alcohol abuse—all sorts of evil. This, of course, turned me into an even more bitter and calloused person than I already was. On top of this, I was SO deluded in my own selfish pride that I thought everyone had the problem. I thought they should change and I should be accepted for who I was. I was always pushing the envelope with authority and grasping for someone's attention, but claiming to not really want it. Something seemed like it was always missing from life. I was also diagnosed as a manic-depressive. That just led into more self-focus, laziness, drug abuse, and general irresponsibility. Now, I know that God is very real. I know that He has, thankfully, let me live to see another day—a day where He rules, where He is the focus, and where He is God. Changing this focus, this mindset, this attitude to serve God has rid me of all of the former sins and the evil that I once delighted in. I have lost a total of 257 pounds. I praise God for this truth. I praise God that it is SO available to us and may we never take that for granted.

Our family joined Remnant in spring of 2002 after taking the Weigh Down Advanced Class. We had family members already in Remnant, but we were hesitant to join right away, in fact we were really questioning what this was all about. After a dear family member told us just to take the class that it would beautifully answer all of our questions we did and to God’s glory we were never the same again. We cannot thank God enough for graciously allowing us to see this truth after 28 and 30 years of being in the false religious system, so-called Christian schools, and bible college, all of which left us feeling self-righteous and completely deceived into thinking that we could just “do the best we could” but never fully overcome sin. It was all so confusing and deep down we did wonder why life was the way it was. Life was truly about us, not God, although we did not see any of this clearly. In fact if anyone would have asked us we would have said “yes we absolutely love God”, and “yes we are obeying God as best we can”, but the true foolishness of those answers now makes us cringe when we think and remember back to all of the sin that was so evident in our lives. To the outside we may have appeared as strong Christians who understood “doctrine” and had been trained by “respected” theologians, but inside only God knew the deepest part of our hearts and how sin truly did rule over us. After taking Weigh Down Advanced we were totally blown away. We had been begging God to make this all clear to us, and had been on our faces saying “if we are wrong, and if we are missing something so big, then please, please show us so we can get this right…” Well, our prayers were answered! Weight loss occurred right away when we saw (for the first time ever, even after a lifetime of church) that greed was idolatry and that idolatry will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Being told that being overweight was just greed was mind boggling and I went home and began to practice obedience with my whole heart in this first area that God showed me. I lost all of my weight (30 pounds) in less than 2 months and was so amazed at the hold that food had on me that I had not seen! The testing was strong for me, but I did hang in there and kept going to God and He was so gracious to continue to deliver me from a lifetime (since high school) of greed for food and total self- focus. After the first testing with food and our obedience to what He was showing us, He so kindly began showing us all that was truly in our hearts, so that we could lay it down and begin for the first time to truly live only for Him. Anger, greed, praise of man, desire for material things, and self-focus to name a few, are things that He has delivered us from. Not only delivered us from these detestable things, but He has delivered us to a real personal relationship with Him that only the pure in heart can have. This has been an unbelievable change for us. To know that He does answer the prayers of His true Saints, to know that we can go to Him and we do go to Him. This is personal, and like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. To be concerned only with His will and not our own, and to DO His will and not ours. This message has changed our lives, it is the true Gospel, and we are so grateful and humbled to be able to understand and to Do what He wants. We love to be with the Saints and we are so grateful to hear the truth every week, and to be with others who are in love with God like we are. We have now been in Remnant for almost 5 years and the fruit is still here, this is real and the changes in our lives, our whole families’ lives and in our friends’ lives are permanent. Our Leadership is the real thing—they live what they speak and in doing so, inspire us. Come and see what God is doing… It is priceless, and Remnant Fellowship is precious to us.

I was not raised in church, but as a little girl I remember thinking about God a lot. I thought, "God is mad" but I did not know what to do about it and the thought of it scared me so I would work very hard to stop thinking about it. I did not have anyone to talk to about this; in fact, it seemed to me that we couldn't even speak the word "God" in our home. Our family moved my sophomore year of high school and the friends that I made all went to church! This was so different then what I had known. My sister and I started attending the Baptist church at age 16. The two of us were doted on by the adults there and we were actually treated like something special because we were there without our parents. We ate it up! I remember finding out in this first church experience that "God loved me just the way I was" and "God doesn't get mad and guilt doesn't come from God" and the thoughts I had thought since I could remember about God being angry with me just seemed to fade away! I was baptized right away, as that is the only thing I could figure out that I had to do to be "once saved always saved". In later years, I would church shop, jumping around looking for something that I couldn't even put in words. I could look out over the congregation of any church and think "They get something that I don't get." I would leave almost every Sunday service with the thought "Maybe this week Jesus will come into my heart." I felt like I needed someone to tell me what to do but I also knew that if I asked the question, "What is wrong with me?” I would most likely be told, "You're fine." I would read my bible every once in awhile and after 3 chapters, I would close it up and say, "God, I hope that is what you wanted because I seriously don't understand anything I just read." I would read a verse like "cut off your hand if it causes you to sin" and wonder why this didn't apply to me and hope that I would hear this scripture addressed from the pulpit soon, but it never was. Or I would read where Jesus was telling the people to "remain in me." Well, I wanted someone to tell me how to "remain" in Christ. I waited and waited and went to many different churches but never got any explanations that satisfied me. I did think I was a hopeless case and losing my mind! After moving to the Nashville area, I sunk even deeper into self and gained another 25 pounds on my already overweight body. I was heavy into self-pity and depressed and very lonely. I even stopped going out of the house unless I absolutely had to because clothes were so uncomfortable and I was just miserable! I had blamed everyone around me for my problems for so long that I could go no longer get any satisfaction from that anymore! I would go to bed every night sick to death of myself and calling out to God saying, "I just wasted another day, God, and I know you didn't give me this day to just eat and sleep it away! Please help me!" God brought Weigh Down back to my mind. I had read the Weigh Down Diet book and even attended an Exodus Out of Egypt class while still living in Dallas. I had believed this was the truth about food from the beginning and instantly I was totally freed up from ever even considering dieting again, but I struggled to put it all together. I called the office and got set up to coordinate a class and was invited to hear Gwen speak in person! Well, I was giddy and could hardly contain myself! At the event, my first sight of Gwen was eating a donut! I thought, "Sweet! Saying it and doing it!!" Anyway, I was getting more and more excited about losing the weight as I sat and listened to testimony after testimony of people that had lost weight eating what they liked! Wow! As the testimonies came to an end and Gwen got situated to speak, the first words out of her mouth were, "I want to tell you all that God is mad!" Oh my gosh! I felt like I had just been stabbed straight through the heart! My childhood thoughts came right back up and I knew she was speaking the truth!!! I was scared to death to leave there that day and scared to death to stay! I have never felt anything like that and I knew at that point that everything in my life was wrong! I cried out to God because after that morning I did have a sense that what I had listened to all those years in all the churches I had attended was not right and I was not going to heaven! I started coordinating my class soon after that and I desperately clung to these videos and started reading the Rise Above book. I was so hungry for this but I knew I was missing something because I could only lose 15 pounds! God had such mercy and allowed for me to find out about Remnant Fellowship a few months later. That was the missing key for me! Being around a group of people who were living for God everyday and in everything, sharpened me and allowed me to put actions with the words! It was amazing! God so blessed my weight loss! He took the weight quickly as I obeyed Him with the amount of food He wanted me to eat! I had not known how taken over by food my life was! I was freed up from the turmoil in my mind and the constant preoccupation with food! As I put the greed for food down, God brought up other areas in my heart that He wanted me to change. Early on He showed me I was sleeping way too much. Before, I would get up in the morning to get the kids off to school then go back to bed until 10:30 or 11:00, get up to get something to eat and need a nap by 3:00 in the afternoon. I was tested hard with this for 2 days. I got this overwhelming urge to take a nap in the afternoon so I literally walked around the house forcing myself to stay upright and on my feet and opening my eyes really wide. It seemed like this took all afternoon-I wasn't on the ball enough to time it but I’m sure it did not last as long as I thought. Another area that I needed to change was my relationship with my husband. I had blamed my husband for my unhappiness for so long that learning to submit to him in a way that would please God took everything I had! I watched the lives of the women in this message who were doing it right and copied what they were doing. I basically did the opposite of everything I had been doing and God blessed it so much! My marriage is so sweet now. Where once my husband and I lived in the same house as roommates who didn't like each other very much, now we have come back together and through the leading of God I have been able to give my husband his rightful place as the head of the house. I have learned to honor my parents through this teaching and God has restored those relationships also. I gave up over-spending and greed for things and am now so thankful and grateful with or without. One night after hearing Gwen's personal account of giving up her home, I came home and prayed for God to take our house if He wanted it and the cars we had if He wanted those. I just had so much love in my heart for God and it was so exciting entrusting everything to Him that I wanted Him to know I was not the same greedy person I had been! I turned everything over to Him and a few weeks later my husband decided to get rid of the car I was driving. Well, I loved that car--it was big and very nice inside but I knew this was a test! As we looked around the used car lot, I prayed, "God whatever you want me to drive is fine with me--I will not have a better idea when Dan decides what to get!" It was so fun! We got rid of that car and I ended up with one about half the size and not near as nice on the inside but God blessed us financially so much after that! We were living basically pay check to pay check but after that it seemed like we had so much money! And my husband would come back and say over and over, "Getting rid of that car was the best thing we ever did!" The stories go on and on--how could anyone not want this??? I have a new perspective on everything! My thoughts are not the same! My reactions have changed! I have given up my feelings and opinions! I praise God for this patient, loving, totally selfless messenger, this message, and this Leadership who care about my salvation!

"...from him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (Ephesians 4:16). For the last fifteen years, I have either studied or had jobs dealing with physical education. It seemed to be what "I" wanted my career to revolve around. What I didn't realize was, during this time, my physical and spiritual body was suffering. I was overweight, depressed; the list could go on and on. But, the scariest part was, I was SATISFIED. I was always in a church, but sin was accepted...so, wow, what a great life I thought I had. Last year, Andy and Maggie Sorrells invited me to a Wednesday night service. Thank you, God! I'm not satisfied anymore. So far, God has allowed 81 pounds to leave me, but the change in my heart matters so much more. What I want no longer matters. God's leading is my focus each day now. I praise Him for Gwen, our Leadership, and the brothers and sisters who have shown me that my occupation is not in any particular job I have, but it is purity in my heart. This body isn't mine to abuse with extra food anyway. It is His temple, so I must treat it that way. Since I am no longer satisfied, I look forward to each day He gives me as He shows me new ways to serve Him and not myself! Thank you all for living for Him. Praise God!

Hello, my name is Nicole King. I would love to share how I have lost 80 pounds through this message of total obedience, by transferring a love for food over to a love for God. I grew up very thin as a child and I did not start to gain weight until I entered college. It was then that all the sin that was buried deep in my heart began to manifest in massive amounts of weight on my body. I was also lonely, depressed and full of guilt, although no one would have known it, as I always appeared to be happy and care-free. Also, I was in a long term relationship with a guy, which was steeped in sexual sin. All while attending a so-called "church", since the age of fourteen. Shortly after I graduated from college I became an unwed mother, and although my daughter's father and I attended the same church, no one from that church even questioned, much less held me accountable for sinning against God in such a way. However, I did feel guilt, and my heart was so full of pain and worry over the idea of my daughter repeating my sin. After I had my daughter I reached my highest weight-212 pounds. It was then that I cried out to God-and he certainly answered me. I prayed that I could be done with the pain of being overweight, and I also begged God to show me how to be a Godly woman, and mother, because I had no real example to follow. Well, God did answer me in an amazing way. He brought me to Weigh Down and the Remnant Fellowship. Through these teachings I have laid down sexual sin, and because of that, God has given me husband that loves obedience to God as well. I have lost my weight, and I am no longer depressed or worried about my daughter, because I know that as long I give her a true example to follow and train her up in following in the footsteps of Christ, she will not experience the pain I once did. I praise God for the Remnant Fellowship—I truly don't know where I would be without it.

Praise God for THIS TRUTH!!!!

THEN:
I was a very religious child growing up! I went to church 3 times a week, was in Bible bowls, and was involved with every YOUTH EVENT known to man! I was so involved in FACT that I WENT TO COLLEGE TO BECOME A PREACHER!!!! I thought that I KNEW GOD BETTER THAN ANYONE!!! I could quote scriptures, argue doctrine, knew all of the religious LINGO.....HOWEVER....I was a very REBELLIOUS PERSON IN THE HEART...I gave in to lustful desires, I was very angry person, I overate (I weighed 182 pounds at me heaviest) I over drank (would get drunk while attending a "Christian" University! I would act inappropriately with girls at school! I was full of pride, praise of men, legalism. I hated my jobs and my bosses! I was ANTI-AUTHORITY! I had SEVERE HEART BURN and GERD! BUT THEN IN 2004 GOD RESCUED ME FROM THIS ABYSMAL EXISTENCE.

NOW:
I have the TRUE RELIGION in my heart, I am involved with raising my SON who GOD has blessed me with up in this TRUTH, I have no desire to speak unless God allows me to speak! I do not argue about the word of God, I am not angry; rather I am a very peaceful and calm person. I look inward to make sure that I am doing what I am expected instead of blaming the circumstances around me! I STOPPED OVEREATING and GOD DROPPED 32 POUNDS from MY BODY!!!! I no longer act inappropriately with females! I look at them as SISTERS, and no longer have the praise of men in my heart! My finances are now in much better shape than they were! GOD SOLD my HOME in a time and market where the realtor said it will be TOUGH and NEAR IMPOSSIBLE!!! I love my job and the opportunity to make my BOSS LOOK GOOD! I LOVE THIS GOD OF THE UNIVERSE and PRAISE HIM FOR THIS TRUTH OF OBEDIENCE!! How DARE ANYONE SAY THAT OBEDIENCE TAKES AWAY FROM GRACE!!!!!

I am a wife and mother three beautiful children. God has blessed me and given me great peace and joy living for Him and His kingdom. My life wasn’t always this way. In 1996 I tipped the scales at close to 200 pounds; I was tired, depressed, and felt defeated. A friend joined a diet class from the Weigh Down Workshop. I could see her life changing—before she was so full of life. I knew I wanted what she had. I joined a class and for the first time I felt the Spirit of God. I couldn’t believe the peace and joy I felt (not to mention I was 40 pounds lighter). My love for God grew as I shrank. How exciting my marriage, my family, my entire existence was being transformed by the hand of God! The spring of 1999 I took my last class before the birth of our son. I am ashamed to say after three years, I once again found myself hopelessly lost in the world, becoming increasingly more self-focused. I knew the answer…GOD! I made a call to the only people who have consistently pointed me to God and told me the truth that bore fruit—Weigh Down. In the fall of 2002, I started my first Weigh Down Advanced class and my life has not been the same since. I praise God for He alone deserves all the glory. I would never want to go back to my old life. I am a changed woman. I love God more than ever. My marriage is fully restored; I have no fits of rage or anger. I have peace with God and man. I have love and joy overflowing. I have also lost over sixty pounds! I am among the blessed and I know it! I am here to serve to the glory of God for He has truly set me free. God has given me everything I need, He has answered my prayers—what more could I ask for? This amazing life of purity is a dream come true! Thank you, GOD!!!

Ten years ago, I attended my first Weigh Down class and my life has never been the same since—it has been permanently changed! My life before was waking up everyday in complete anxiety, extreme control and planning every hour of the day, exercising for at least 2-3 hours of the day, eating very little food and of course only fat-free, and then ending the day in complete anxiety again. So of course this greatly affected my marriage while I was physically wasting away and mentally becoming severely depressed. However, God led me to a Weigh Down class and I experienced for the first time in my life a peaceful mind and a true relationship with God. I found what I had been looking for all my life—a true love for God and answered prayers. Gwen Shamblin’s teaching on obedience was revolutionary—even as a Registered Nurse, I had never heard of these basic truths of hunger and fullness and keeping a pure heart and mind. Over the past ten years I have continued to change and I am happier every year! I have a completely blessed marriage, since had two children, maintaining the same weight over 10 years (outside of pregnancy), and I have complete peace from the moment I wake up until the time I go to sleep—living only to do His will. I cannot believe that I get to live out all the commands of the Bible—even the ones that never made sense before! I did grow up on a church pew, jumped from one Bible study to the next, always looking for some kind of answer. It was not until I found Remnant Fellowship, that I found the answer—the TRUTH teaching me to how to lay down sin and live a pure life for God. I found fellowship of true believers that were all new creations and lived out a genuine, true love for God Almighty—everyday! There were no fakes! Leaders that truly had a heart for the will of the Father with no hidden sins—amazing! I have spent most of my life running after anything to make me feel good and now I have found it—God Almighty and doing His will. God has completely transformed my life and I know this is a permanent change. I praise Him for the Weigh Down ministry, the Remnant Fellowship Church, Gwen Shamblin and all the Leaders who daily serve God’s church. There is nothing of this world that could replace the peace with God in my heart and mind that I now have everyday!

I praise God often that He even brought me to this message, this truth, this church! I have been healed from 65 pounds of greed, worry, selfish spending and anger as well as eating disorders that plagued me for over half my life. I was in churches my whole life but none of these ills were healed before. My prayers are answered now and there is NOTHING on earth that is better than that! I pray daily for this leadership who care more about others than they do their own lives. This leadership is Most Pure! They seek God and His will above all else! They put it into practice in their lives daily and they show us how to do it as well. This is such a blessing to all of us. The teachings that we have had opened up to us are beautiful. This is the only church where the Old Testament and the New Testament are "connected". The Bible really is ONE book. The God of the Old Testament is the exact same God of the New Testament. What a relief to learn this. What peace there is in learning to LOVE God as He deserves and requires us to Love Him. To learn that He would never ask us to do anything that is impossible to do. To learn that when we REALLY put HIS house first and His righteousness then EVERYTHING else will be added unto us! What a good, kind, merciful and loving Father we have. What an opportunity He has offered us through His Son Jesus Christ to come back into His presence and live pure and holy lives. The teachings about the line of authority and self- denial are beautiful and life-giving. Seeking and finding God's will and then doing His will makes life here worth living—it is the only thing that makes life worth living. These truths were never taught in any other church. In other churches God is either approached thru a host of man-made rules which does not allow for this beautiful personal relationship that we experience here in Remnant Fellowship or The God of the Universe is relegated to the position of servant. They send up an order (phrased as a prayer request) and demand their expected answer. This is so wrong and upside-down. This fellowship of believers loves and cares for one another. There is correction in love and mercy but there is accountability too. This allows growth and maturity in the faith. Lives are healed here. There are NO expectations from leadership or this church regarding financial giving or any other forms of giving. People in this message give from their hearts of Love and gratitude to THE Father. All we have is His anyway. It is an honor and a privilege to give back to Him so that His Kingdom may come here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" John 8:31-32 There is One True God. The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. The only source of life. The truth that I can obey God's beautiful laws, and that I must, has set me free. God is a genius. He knew exactly what he was doing when he made his laws and set his boundaries into place and I praise Him for everyday that he lets me serve Him and his son Jesus Christ. Before I knew the truth about God's sweet laws, there was much evil and much pain in my heart. My sins enslaved me. And there were many...a constant focus on myself before God, greed for food, bulimia, overdrinking, sexual sins, lust, laziness, gossip and slander, unforgiveness, lying, grumbling, complaining, and a generally ungrateful heart. It is disgusting to think that these things accompanied me into any sanctuary in which I claimed to be worshiping and serving the Lord God Almighty and claimed loyalty to his son Jesus Christ who was perfect in obedience to our amazing Father. No one could help me change or get away from my sin because none of them had lain down there own sins. We had all been taught that "we are only human" and "God knows you can't obey."

I praise God for showing me the truth that I can be free from all of these things!!! I hated overeating and slander and lust and all of my sins anyway, and ultimately I hated myself for being too "weak" to change.

My life changed last December when I heard for the first time-God knows exactly what he is asking you to do and he expects His perfect and unchanging laws to be obeyed. I laid down all deliberate sin that day, and have been walking a life free from deliberate sin for almost a year!! God has taken about 30 pounds off of my body-without excessive exercise or bulimia, but simply by following his lead of hunger and fullness. For the first time in my life, I count the many amazing blessings that God has given me, instead of grumbling and complaining. The people I spend my time with love God and want to obey His laws. They understand that his laws are not burdensome, but give LIFE. God has created in me a pure heart and one that is deeply fulfilled in simply following His lead every moment of every day. I attend a church where the leaders are blameless and above reproach. THEY DO NOT DELIBERATELY SIN and would NEVER tell someone that it is okay with God if you continue to do so. They are completely humble. They look you in the eye. They lay their lives down for the sheep, and follow the example of our beautiful shepherd Jesus Christ. I love God!! I love His laws and His boundaries that he set into place! I can't wait to know Him more everyday! I can't wait to serve Him all day long! I'm filled with joy and peace, and have more patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control than I ever knew was possible!! Thank you God for leading me to THE WAY-following the example of Jesus Christ!

I want to Praise God for Remnant Fellowship, it is the only church that has ever loved me enough to tell me the WHOLE truth! I was raised up in the church and was thought to be a "good Christian girl", what does that mean? Well I can tell you what it doesn’t mean. I was spoiled, I grabbed and got what I wanted when I wanted, that is so detestable to God. I never knew that till coming into this truth and then my eyes were opened to see just how spoiled I am, it has been so deeply rooted in my heart I am still praying that God will scrape my heart so bare that nothing but love and devotion to him remains. It truly disgusts me to see that spoiled nature try to come up and I hit my face and get it right seeking never to miss his spirit again. Again all because of what this true church has taught me. I use to maybe be convicted of something days after it happened but not convicted enough to change. Now I want to change and never do that again. Praise God!! I also was very greedy for food that got me to 440 lbs and I know without this truth it would have gotten me probably to 700+ lbs praise God I don't have to destroy his temple like that again. And Praise God for removing 300lbs from my morbidly obese body!! A miracle! I also would cut myself with a razor blade from my wrist to my elbows. I would steal and lie. And I had sexual sins that make me want to throw up just thinking about it. I had 20 credit cards and owed over 20 thousand dollars in credit card debt alone. But Praise God he has helped remove a lot of that and continues to teach me to be led by his spirit with the money he has blessed our family with. I praise God for being taught how to be a wife and a mother, and that he has blessed me with a godly husband and a beautiful daughter and true friends that will tell you the truth and help you when you have a need. I am sure there is even more but the point is without a church that has told me what greed is and what spoiled is and what God's word says about these things I would be in the church thinking I had my ticket to heaven and the I would stand before my Lord and hear the words I never want to hear “Depart from me I never knew you" .Thank you God for a church that has taught me how to know you and how to change and how to work out my salvation daily with fear and trembling. May you God, get your way with this Remnant Fellowship and may our leaders be blessed for holding the line with us and for laying down their lives and snatching us from the pits of hell. My life is committed to showing the world through my actions that this is the true church.

Before:

I weighed 80 pounds more than I do now. I would boss my husband around, blaming him for anything and everything that went wrong. I would spend money on things I did not need with money I did not have. I was always looking for something to "fill" me up.

Now:

I have lost 80 pounds. I ALWAYS look at my own heart when things happen, making sure that I have not been at fault... First with God, then with others in authority around me! I do not spend money on things that I do no have the money for!!! There is so much freedom and peace now!!