Changed... I am a changed person and I want to testify to the validity of the message of Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship that opened my eyes to the truth of God's word and His will in my life. How can I attest to this validity?? My heart.... the fruit of this message has been a changed heart... no longer does my heart hold resentment, rage, lust, greed, shame and guilt. No longer does anger rise up thru my body, making my stomach clinch and my throat tighten and my heart race. No longer do I worry and try to control my husband. No longer do I stress out or feel overwhelmed with life. NO LONGER!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! I did not grow up going to church because my dad said it was full of hypocrites and he wasn’t going there, but we did go on Christmas and Easter and for Vacation Bible school. (That didn’t make sense to me.) All of my extended family went to church faithfully and my grandmother was the humble soul that told me that Jesus was the answer to all of life’s problems. So when the sin in my life crashed down on my head when I was pregnant with our 3rd child, I cried out for mercy and told God that I would lay my life down and I promised I would not be a hypocrite. The first church I tried was dead. The pastor was ready to retire and the congregation was aged and unchanged. I sought another church. With my now 4 children in tow, we found a new, livelier church but soon realized that like the parable of the four soils, sprouts shot up quickly but the soil was shallow and the heat of persecution or the weeds of this world didn’t allow real change. It was so easy to fall into the pattern of going to church, sitting thru the sermon, singing a song from the hymnal, the passing of the collection plate, and the monthly communion. But I asked, Oh, God, isn't there more?? It was at this church that I attended my first Weigh Down class. I had always controlled my weight with exercise but after 4 children in 4 years I didn’t have the time or the energy to exercise. I lost 25 lbs in that first 12 week class and I knew that was the power of God's truth. This message made sense and everytime I applied what was being taught I changed—the more I sought out the truth the more I changed. Like the onion that has many layers—that was the condition of my heart. Sin, darkness, shame and guilt covered the outside and it took many lessons and many small steps of change to bring me to today. TODAY... I am 60 lbs lighter and have not struggled with my weight for four years....that is FREEDOM but wait...there is SO much more!! My 26 year relationship with my husband (18 yrs married) is stronger and happier than ever before, coming back from the brink of divorce and infidelity. Our four daughters, ages 11 thru 7, are a true joy to be with. They love each other, have fun and laughter fills our home. My job ( I have always worked full time) no longer overwhelms me and I have truly been blessed in position and in finances by finding God's line of authority and principles in my workplace. Our home is more than I ever dreamed of but I know it is exactly what God provided for us when He led us to move here. After filing bankruptcy in 1988, our finances are in stellar condition. We don't have any unnecessary debt and I trust God fully with our finances. I could truly write a book about the changes in my life and in my heart since taking my first Weigh Down class in January 2000 but the bottom line is.... my life is JOYFUL, full of peace, full of love, and FULL of God's spirit. This was all because Gwen Shamblin told me the truth that she had lived out first and continues to live out in word and action and it is evident in all that she does! Gwen is a true leader, a true shepherd of God's people, and she has trained other leaders that God has allowed to rise to the top. The Remnant Fellowship is my true family. I am home and I never want to go anywhere else! Thank you God for hearing my prayer and allowing me to find a place of no hypocrisy, where your truth reigns and hearts can fully change!!!
"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." -- 1 Peter 1:18-19
I grew up having a multitude of idols and other passions (food, horizontal relationships, love of money, sexual sin, slander ... the list goes on) that were passed down to me. Passing down other passions before God results in the curses that come with having a divided heart: being overweight, self-focused, depressed, always wanting and never having, dysfunctional relationships and so on. I was handed an empty way of life that brought with it NO hope of ever being filled up--in fact, I felt emptier and emptier with each passing year. I was on a course to repeat a cycle of completely empty living, except that the curses and the depth of sin were increasing with each successive generation. All of this was happening inside a family that went to church every Sunday and professed to "know God". Everyone was certain that regardless of all the issues and the drama that swirled around us, everyone was going to Heaven and all this stuff down here really didn't matter. If you're like me, you know that this "religious life" coupled with increasing sin only makes the confusion, the depression, and the hopelessness WORSE!
I was overweight my whole life, carrying about 75 pounds more on my adult body than I do now. I have NEVER in my life been a thin person, and now I have been at my current healthy and right weight for five (5) years. I never sought to be under my parents' authority--no, not just that, I intentionally went against my parents' authority more often than not. I grew up to be an arrogant young man on the one hand, while on the other hand I was miserable and self-focused. I sought the approval of people in an endless search for the "perfect" horizontal relationship that would fulfill all my emotional longings. YUCK!
Seven years ago this very month, I sat in bankruptcy court! I was overspent, still overweight, and over the brink that was going to lead to permanent destruction. AND GUESS WHAT ... at this point in time I was a "preacher" in the counterfeit church! That's right--I was standing up professing to be someone who was "called" to lead people closer to God, and yet I was in an upside down marriage with children that I didn't know how to parent and at the bottom of the financial barrel. I TRULY I DO NOT DESERVE TO BE SITTING HERE TODAY! Seven years later (which is the time period, by law, at which the bankruptcy is "forgiven"--Praise God!) I have been SET FREE from all of this and more! Seventy-five (75) pounds are permanently GONE from this body! I just received word this week that my credit score is "Excellent"! I have four (4) beautiful children who LOVE this message and this community of believers, and they are standing strong through some incredible testing. I am humbled to be under the authority of wise and PURE spiritual leaders, and I LOVE it!!! I spent three-and-a-half years behind the pulpit of a false religious system after growing up in a "church" that was nothing more than the social outlet for a rural community. I spent 29 years in a system that turned a blind eye to everyone's greed, malice, and widespread indiscretions. There was no God in those places because they were filled with people that sought their own rule. Now I am in a place where you know as soon as you walk in the door that there is LOVE--love for God FIRST and it starts with these incredible Leaders! In 1997 I heard a voice that was and is "music to my ears". That voice has given me the keys to getting out of self, greed, lust and every other demon that has plagued my entire life! But these words have not been merely sweet talk and nice stories. These words are BACKED UP by a life of selfless serving and endless pouring out. The same can be said of all who have been called to lead this place! And I am surrounded by selfless brothers and sisters who are putting this into practice and who will not let me be caught up in any of the old, empty ways! With all of this, I am now HAPPIER than I have ever been because I have HOPE for a future where my children will inherit blessings instead of curses, as we hand down to them a fulfilling way of life that is centered on GOD ALMIGHTY by following the example of His Son JESUS CHRIST!!!!! Amazing! Humbling! Convicting! Wonderful! Inspiring! This message ... this church ... the LIFE!!! ALL PRAISE AND GLORY AND HONOR GO TO YOU, O GOD, FOR ALLOWING ME TO BE DELIVERED AND SET FREE! MAY YOU BE FOREVER PRAISED AND EXALTED AND GLORIFIED THROUGH THIS PLACE AND THE LIVES OF YOUR PEOPLE!
I took my first Weigh Down class in February 2000. By putting the principles that I learned through Weigh Down into action, I learned how to eat within God's boundaries and so lost 40 pounds. In addition to that, the spiritual lessons were convicting me to let go of control issues which were putting me out of order with my husband, which was also leading our then 10-year-old son down the wrong path of not respecting authority and therefore separation from God. I have been in church my whole life every Sunday and most Wednesdays, not to mention for special speakers, revivals, conferences and extraneous Bible studies. But even so, I was a rebellious, deceitful teenager, married and divorced my first husband inside of a year's time, and steeped in sexual sins. When I married for the second time, I pulled it together enough to say no to what everyone seems to understand as obviously wrong, like the sexual sins, but I was gaining weight (greedy), and becoming more and more controlling and selfish. My tongue was very out of control and biting if my husband didn't submit to what I wanted. My husband had a debilitating stroke 10 years ago. God was merciful and was trying to get my attention in giving me a chance to care for my husband, and although I never would have left him, I became embittered and even MORE controlling. There were many things that I naturally had to take over, but as my husband recovered, I wasn't willing to give those things back to him and therefore submit. I realized this was wrong, so I went to seek counsel from the church I attended at that time. They put me through a counseling program that encouraged me to bring up anyone who had ever done anything against me, and therefore focus more on myself and why I was the way I was. If I loved myself more, I wouldn't have this resentment for caring for my husband. And besides, (according to them) I had been through so much, it was expected that I would have these angry feelings and I was doing so much, that I would have jewels in my crown in heaven. SICK!!!!!!!!!!! When I heard about Remnant Fellowship, the church that sponsors the Weigh Down Workshop ministry, I couldn't join fast enough. FINALLY, I had hope and was under a church leadership that not only told me that I could change those things that I knew were wrong, but that I MUST change to have an eternal relationship with God. I realized I had been a fake, counterfeit Christian because I was saying, "Lord, Lord..." but my actions proved otherwise. So NOW, I love finding ways to submit so that my husband is lifted up and therefore our marriage is glorifying God in the proper line of authority. We now have a chance to lead our now 16-year-old son in the footsteps of Jesus who said, "Not my will, but Thine be done.” Christ submitted to His Father and showed us that was what He did for us when He went to the cross: the ultimate example of submission and dying to His will. Regarding finances: We did not have health insurance when Mike had the stroke. I had a file folder full of bills that amounted to over $300,000. After about 6 months, I began to work at paying each one by paying between $5-40 per bill, per month. At that time I had done some calculations, and it was going to take over 400 years to pay off what we owed at that rate (that's how long the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt). After joining Remnant and getting my heart RIGHT before God, He began to bless that. We began to get letters from many service providers saying they didn't want to burden our family any longer and so wanted to release us of the debt. This included his brain surgeon, the ambulance services, his primary care doctor, and more! It's a VERY thick file and I had to have a spreadsheet just to keep it organized! File after file closed, mainly due to the generosity that God allowed in order to release us. So, God freed us from a heavy bondage of slavery to all of the medical providers so that now we don't have any of that debt, AND we now have health insurance, thanks be to God. The church leadership of Remnant Fellowship has remained consistent, without fail, throughout our membership by always pointing our family to God, never flattering us for the sake of membership, but rather making it obvious that they love God first. They are always seeking Him in how to lead and teach the lambs in choosing God over their own desires. I now choose God, thanks to Gwen Shamblin and the church leadership of Remnant Fellowship. And to think, it all started because my sister invited my husband to a Weigh Down class and I just didn't want to get left out!
Praise GOD for keeping all HIS promises and completely fulfilling them:
Before Remnant:
Before coming into Remnant Fellowship, my spending was out of control. I justified my spending by telling myself that I deserved new things because I worked a 40 hour job. Our credit card debt was getting larger and larger; our savings account seemed never to increase. I would shop every weekend to try to satisfy my desires, but it never seemed enough. I would write checks knowing I did not have the money in my checking account to cover them. I would try to get to the bank before they closed, to transfer money from savings into my checking account. Then, I would pray all month that my husband would not see the bank statements when they came in. If I could get to the statements first I would tear them up before he came home. This went on for 25 years. My overspending was destroying our marriage, we constantly argued over money. However, I thought I was a good Christian girl because I attended church once a week. I was never told that I needed to change and I thought my husband was the one being unreasonable. After joining Remnant Fellowship in 2002, I quickly realized that I was the one that needed to change, not try to change my husband. I guess I knew that my life was upside down, but didn't know how to change it. Under the teaching of Remnant Fellowship, I began to search scriptures and understand them. One Scripture in Isaiah I read and kept in front of me was Isaiah 32:18 "My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest". At first I did not believe this was possible; however when I started to put into practice what Remnant taught, my life began to change. I realized that my over spending was idolatry and I needed to stop. I now have learned to fill my life with God instead of world desires. Today my husband and I have what Isaiah talked about. We have the peace in our home beyond understanding and our marriage is better today than it have ever been. We have paid off our home, our cars, no credit card debt and our savings accounts have grown to more than I every dreamed possible. I thank God every day that I have found Remnant Fellowship and at last found the way to life through God.
Through this message of truly following Christ’s footsteps, I have laid down greed for food and money, pride, the want to please men and not God, and extreme self focus. I was never taught to please God with my actions and was told that this was the only way to live life: without hope. If you study God’s Word, you will see that you have examples to follow to the highest degree. Their lives prove that the life we are living is not only attainable, but must be done to live life abundantly and eternally. Praise be to the Almighty God for giving back to us much more than what we gave back to Him. When repented of my want to please men, he gave me joy overflowing. When I repented of my greed for food, he took 55 lbs. off my body and a healthy lifestyle. When I repented of spending His money unwisely, he allowed me to pay off $7500 in credit card debt, gave a clean credit score, to pay off over $29,000 in student loans and the means to provide for my family. When I choose to get my mind off of myself and onto His wants and desires, He gave me a peace that passes all understanding. These are not hollow words, but words of life—abundant life. Come taste and see that the Lord is good. May God, and God alone, be glorified through those that have chosen His ways over their own. Praise God!!!!
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