Interview · moment 4 of 13

Great Uncle Michael, Forged School Records, and Panama City Street Preaching

from Happy Wife Happy Life · #115

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

4 min

Guest

Moses details his great uncle Michael founding the cult, his mother forging school paperwork to keep welfare benefits, and the family's street preaching at spring break and concerts with misspelled Bible verse signs.

In this bit11 moments
  • 7:25Tim sold Obamacare out of a truck dressed as Santa Claus during the holidays.
  • 7:41People trust brick-and-mortar structures; nothing that can pull away in five minutes will convince them to change their lives.
  • 8:03His childhood group called itself 'The Way' with no merchandise, just Bible verses on shirts.
  • 8:23They'd attend major events like Lollapalooza, Rolling Stones concerts, and the US Open to preach.
  • 8:56They stationed themselves on the outskirts of festivals and crowded areas like Hollywood Boulevard, where street preachers operate.
  • 9:07They carried giant wooden crosses and neon signs warning people they were headed to hell, handing out religious tracts.
  • 9:21The group sent children out to preach because the contrast was jarring to passersby.
  • 9:36Tim was two years old and being sent out as a hellfire street preacher.
  • 9:53A small child approaching strangers disarms their guard completely, making his hellfire preaching unexpectedly effective.
  • 10:12He wore poor-quality hand-me-down clothes, sometimes rags, with misspelled Bible verses printed on top—his dyslexic mother produced signs like 'you're headed for heel.'
  • 10:27His mother's severe dyslexia resulted in a street sign reading 'you're headed for heel' instead of 'hell.'
Mentioned here

The WayWestboro Baptist ChurchObamacareJoe RoganLollapaloozaRolling StonesBeyoncéSony CenterUS OpenWoodstock 94

All 13 moments in this episode →