Welcome to the Official Site of The Remnant Fellowship Church – the source of true and accurate information on this church.

It is wise in coming to the source rather than listening to hearsay or opinion. The freedom of speech information explosion of true and false information on the Internet along with the demand for tabloid-type approaches to reporting has necessitated Rumor Response sections for many public figures, businesses and churches. Even Starbucks has a Rumor Response section because of misinformation and false allegations. Having to seek out the truth is just a fact of life.

If you are able, make a personal visit to The Remnant Fellowship Church in the heart of beautiful Brentwood, TN, just south of Nashville. Our doors are always open! Here you will see firsthand the truthfulness, sincerity, candor and honesty of the people. You will hear firsthand the accuracy and correctness of the handling of God’s Word. Here you will see people so set free, joyful, and peaceful because they have found out how to put God first in their lives! They are focused on the Creator rather than the created. Have you ever wondered why there is so much talk about the Remnant? Maybe it is because it is something special and is exactly what you have been looking for all your life. Come and see!

See our Q and A and “What We Believe” section for our doctrine or teachings that come from the Word of God. It is a start. There is a lot to look at. It is not everything that you were taught when you were growing up. Ask, seek, knock.

QUESTION: What is the connection between The Remnant Fellowship and The Weigh Down Workshop Publishing Division?

Answer: Remnant Fellowship Church was founded in 1999. (www.remnantfellowship.org) and is the official denominational sponsor of The Weigh Down Workshop Outreach and Remnant Publishing Division. The Weigh Down Workshop Productions creates the Bible material for its members and is the evangelistic arm to these Churches that are now scattered across the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia.

QUESTION: Does Remnant Fellowship consider itself evangelistic, open, and does it reach out to others?

Answer: Yes!

Weigh Down Bible studies are there to meet the needs of the people first and foremost. The Remnant reaches out to people that are in need and trapped in dangerous addictive behaviors …and they are healed emotionally, spiritually and physically.

The EXODUS SERIES is one of many programs that teach you how to lay down any addictive stronghold, such as food, and turn to God. This idea of turning away from false idols and toward the True God is foundational throughout the Old and New Testaments. Remnant Fellowship was founded at the turn of the century on this doctrine that God rules…God is Sovereign. We understand that if He rules, that ruling necessitates that WE change and we put off the old and put on the new. God has used this blessed curriculum to set thousands free from their old life and directed them into becoming a new creation. This outreach teaches you how.

Please visit our websites (www.wdworkshop.com or www.weighdown.com ) and see how thousands have lost weight, come off drugs, cigarettes, experienced restored marriages and relationships with children.

Jesus Christ taught that you will know if a teaching is good or bad by its fruit -- the decision to put God and His will first in every decision has born amazing, undeniable fruit in the lives of these families. The signs that a ministry is truly from God is that it follows the path of Jesus Christ bringing repentance and then healing in its wake. This is the defining characteristic of Weigh Down and Remnant Fellowships. See the testimonies on those healed of depression, anxiety, obesity, bulimia, pornography, pride, financial problems, marriage problems, rebellious children problems, etc by clicking on We’ve Been Healed and Video Testimonies at the bottom and top of this page.

QUESTION: Does Remnant Fellowship Church have one or multiple leaders?

Answer: The Remnant Fellowship Church follows Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church. The church leadership consists of shepherds and shepherdesses, deacons and deaconesses, staff, and regional leaders. We use the priority of the various gifts as set up in I Corinthians 12.

The church that Jesus Christ established has a clear authority line. This was taught in the first century and then copied by the Catholic and subsequent protestant denominations throughout history. In Remnant, we believe that the Bible teaches that there is not one head on earth but rather there are multiple leaders who are all under the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. The only Head that we teach is Jesus Christ. We worship Jesus, we bow down to Jesus, and we sing and pray to Jesus. In the photos on this website, notice all the hands lifted to the heavens, signifying hearts and minds also set upon Jesus Christ and heaven above. How do you know if a group has made God Lord (not a man or an object on earth)? It is evident in the happy, free, peaceful and blessed families and lives. We have found true worship because it is not divided onto self or the world. All of the teachings of the seven years of Remnant to date are centered on how to make God THE ONLY LORD of your life.

The Jews always had a check and balance system – somewhat like our Government (the Judicial, Executive and Legislative Branches). The Jews had a Head Priest, a Prophet and a King. The early church would have questions and meet and look for the lead of God through one of the leaders, prophets, evangelists or apostles present (see Acts 15). When the answer seemed good to ALL of those present – it was used as a sign that the answer was from God. It was the will of God and that is what mattered. Since we believe in following what God has set up, that is what we have done here at Remnant since its inception. We have very gifted leaders who all bring their wisdom or administration and leadership to the table and God has led us every year and has blessed the decisions. What the Bible teaches is clear: God is over all and Christ is under God. The Apostle Paul speaks of ranking the gifts in line of authority. (See 1 Corinthians 12) There was always a plurality of leaders.

QUESTION: Does Weigh Down promote good nutritional eating habits and exercise? Do the results of these teachings (when applied) lead to good health?

Gwen Shamblin, founder of the Weigh Down Workshop and author of the bestselling book The Weigh Down Diet, is a Registered Dietician with a four-year undergraduate degree in nutrition along with a 2 year advanced Master’s Degree in food and nutrition sciences. She was a full-time faculty member at the University of Memphis and worked as a nutritionist for the Tennessee Department of Health. In addition, Mrs. Shamblin has passed her board testing and maintains Registered Dietician credentials from the American Dietetics Association. Mrs. Shamblin participates each year in the required continuing education courses as outlined by the ADA.

We have never seen so many people in better mental and physical health! We know that God’s ways encourage moderation and responding to the body’s signals. When eating according to hunger and fullness and without extreme food rules, dieting, or other forms of control, everyone eating this way ends up eating a variety of healthy foods-we just arrive at a means to an end in a different way. We believe that this is a healthy way of eating for everyone! The body is programmed by God with great biological feedback, so that a person will not want to eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Once the focus is off the food and onto God, each person can listen and respond to the body’s call for a variety of foods. We teach not to go against the body’s signals, in other words, not to overeat or under eat. The overweight person will listen to the body’s needs and will return to a normal body weight. The anorexic person will respond correctly to physical hunger and will gain the appropriate weight for good health. We agree with Scripture that physical training is of value for strengthening the body, but we do not believe people are to pursue physical exercise over strengthening their hearts and minds for God.

QUESTION: What is Weigh Down's stance on Physicians and Medications?

Weigh Down has always kept the same stance on consulting physicians and the use of medications since its inception in 1992, as seen in the following quote from The Weigh Down Diet, published in 1997:

Before starting this program, we recommend that you receive a medical checkup. Consulting your physician is especially vital if you have any medical condition which is impacted by food/foods.

You are preparing to move into the realm of "regular foods" from the grocery store, including things with salt and fat and sugar. However, your volume of foods is going to be drastically reduced, and your body loves this! God made us sensitive to what and how much our bodies need, and you have to resurrect this system!

If you have preexisting health conditions such as food allergies, diverticulitis, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, hyperlipoproteinemia, bowel resections, chronic ulcers, kidney disease, chronic constipation, etc., make sure that you are under your physician's care and guidelines for foods and medication. For example, if you have chronic constipation, you must keep eating your fiber. If you have ulcers, take your medicine and do not eat the foods that upset your stomach.

However, there are a few preexisting physical conditions that may be alleviated when you lose weight and start eating regular foods in smaller amounts. For example, if you have high cholesterol or triglycerides, losing weight permanently could possibly alleviate this problem. You must stay in touch with your physician. Spastic colon and ulcers could slowly improve as you eat the volume of food that your body calls for. PMS symptoms are often less intense as you lose weight. Joint and muscle problems are improved in some cases. People on cortisone and/or who have lupus will still lose weight with no problem-it just might be a slower weight loss. [Again, please stay in contact with your physician.]

When I take medication which should be taken with food, I take it with one to three crackers [or some milk]. Consult your physician.

QUESTION: What is Weigh Down’s stance on the use of psychotropic drugs (medications that affect brain chemistry and functioning)?

The following excerpt was published by The Weigh Down Workshop in the CHANGE Series in 2005:

This series was written to address the heart's addiction and dependence upon food as a comfort and as a delight. However, once one examines one's own heart, other addictions surface. Early Christians were warned about using alcohol to get drunk and were advised, in contrast, to "be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18). These early Christians did not have access to antidepressants as we know them today. Mainstream religious institutions have adopted an alarming stance on the liberal use of medications for the pain of an undirected heart. Instead of warning individuals to stop loving something on this earth, they have embraced medications to numb all the symptoms of sin--to a fault.

If what Jesus meant by "making us whole" was to call us out and to make us depend upon God plus medications, then how did First Century Christians manage? I am making a plea for God's people to re-examine the liberal use of medications. Even the government is now monitoring the distribution of popular antidepressants because of their unprecedented use in the last three years. This is a stronghold Satan dreads for us to attack even worse than the food, because a lack of joy in God's people helps to keep the spread of Christianity in check. Satan would hate for us to realize that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Satan would much rather we chase an earthly cure.

Weigh Down is by no means suggesting that everyone throw out their medications today--that is not the point. However, this is a prayerful challenge to people of God who have thrown God out and embraced a pill. This series is asking people to re-examine their worship, their dependency, and their position upon the liberal use of antidepressants and medications, just as we have asked people to re-examine their worship, their dependency, and their position upon the liberal use of food.

Some people may be reluctant to examine the present position on the use of medications which currently exists in this country. But, it is our duty as Christians to question anything that does not teach people to repent from investing their lives in idols on this earth and turn toward God as their first and major treatment. As Christians, we should put loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength first on our list instead of second, third, or last.

So, again, I plead: let's re-examine our stance on the dependency upon the medicine cabinet. We need so desperately to examine our attitudes and lack of trust in God, and our overconfident trust in medications. Weigh Down has seen thousands who have done just that, many of whom have completely come off medications step-by-step.

If God causes your heart to question, we suggest that you take your concerns prayerfully to your physicians and counselors to establish appropriate treatment for your personal situation.

A note of support from a clinical psychologist

As a licensed clinical psychologist since 1994, I have seen an alarming trend toward an over-reliance by clients on psychotropic medications. In my view, the scientific distinction between a true clinical or physiological depression and a sadness related to everyday life has disappeared. So often, clients seek the help of professional counselors for worsening feelings of dissatisfaction due to unmet expectations, anger, sadness, and despair; feelings which may be symptomatic of on-going sin and devotion to self rather than God Almighty. I wholeheartedly applaud Gwen Shamblin’s and the Weigh Down Workshop’s teachings for so clearly challenging participants to take a closer and more objective look at the reasons underlying their own use or possible dependence on psychotropic medications. As a psychologist and a Christian, I consider the Weigh Down Workshop’s encouragement for the participant to: 1) prayerfully seek God’s will and to examine their own hearts on matters of psychotropic drug use; and 2) to consult their physicians and counselors as to whether or not psychotropic medications are warranted for their individual needs to be very worthy and fruitful exercises.

Jayne M. Dubois, Ph.D

Warning for overweight and obesity from the CDC and the Surgeon General:
The following is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (www.cdc.gov):

Overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for many diseases and health conditions, including the following:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
• Type 2 diabetes
• Coronary heart disease
• Stroke
• Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Some cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)

For adults, overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called the “body mass index” (BMI). BMI is used because, for most people, it correlates with their amount of body fat.

• An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.
• An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

For example, here are the weight ranges, the corresponding BMI ranges, and the weight status categories for a sample height.

Interpretation of BMI for adults
For adults 20 years old and older, BMI is interpreted using standard weight status categories that are the same for all ages and for both men and women. For children and teens, on the other hand, the interpretation of BMI is both age- and sex-specific. For more information about interpretation for children and teens, visit Child and Teen BMI Calculator [at www.cdc.gov].
The standard weight status categories associated with BMI ranges for adults are shown in the following table.

CDC’s stance on hunger and fullness and portion size:
The following is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (www.cdc.gov):

Take your time! Eat only when you are hungry and enjoy the taste, texture, and smell of your meal as you eat it. Remember, it takes approximately 15 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you are full.

We learned as children not to snack before a meal for fear of “spoiling our dinner.” Well, it’s time to forget that old rule. If you feel hungry between meals, eat a healthy snack, like a piece of fruit or small salad, to avoid overeating during your next meal.

Many restaurants serve more food than one person needs at one meal. Take control of the amount of food that ends up on your plate by splitting an entrיe with a friend. Or, ask the wait person for a “to-go” box and wrap up half your meal as soon as it’s brought to the table.

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