Gravl

[Gravl]

Hello all, I was at 1999 Winter Training in a strange meeting. That training was at Long Beach convention center.

Ron Kangas was in middle of speaking. All of a sudden, lights went out. There was all kinds of calling on the Lord, loud declarations and so on. Eventually Ron calmed everyone down, and went on speaking. After few minutes, lights suddenly came back on.

Anyone else was in that meeting?

[Gravl]

Maybe I wasn't very clear. This was very big training meeting with few thousand people. Later on, a brother told me it was because of "Y2K' bug. But, that did not make sense, because power never turned off on Y2K. Also, that meeting was not on December 31. On December 31, we stayed in individual localities, we did not go to convention center.

If someone else on the forum was there, it was big meeting, maybe you can share your memory.

[awareness]

Maybe I wasn't very clear. This was very big training meeting with few thousand people. Later on, a brother told me it was because of "Y2K' bug. But, that did not make sense, because power never turned off on Y2K. Also, that meeting was not on December 31. On December 31, we stayed in individual localities, we did not go to convention center.

If someone else on the forum was there, it was big meeting, maybe you can share your memory.
Wasn't there. But are you figuring the lights going out was a supernatural event?

[OBW]

Wasn't there. But are you figuring the lights going out was a supernatural event?Or that they came back on. Happens at my house all the time. Or at least used to. Seems the power company has slowly corrected much of the temperamentality of the service in our area.

Power grids are not perfect. But they typically have self-correcting systems. And there could have been a mess-up in some kind of automated system at the convention center. Lots of possibilities. Yet I know a lot of people who will either attribute the down side to Satan or the up side to the sovereignty of God. Not that God can not or would not step-in in a case like this. But so often it is like the rain. And like thorns and thistles. It just happens. If it was a short power failure in the area, it could have affected others outside the convention center in much more severe ways that it did those in the center (you didn't mention what time or night of day it was).

[aron]

Ron Kangas was in middle of speaking. All of a sudden, lights went out. There was all kinds of calling on the Lord, loud declarations and so on.

I was at a conference once where a Blended Brother singled out a rank-and-file brother, one of the proverbial small potatoes, and started grilling him about his relations with his wife. But unbeknownst to the Blended, that brother's wife had left him.

A groan escaped from the crowd. One sister said loudly, "O Lord JEEEZus". The Blended knew he'd stepped in a pile of something but he soldiered on.

I wonder how much of our calling on the name of the Lord is vain repetition. How much is the equivalent of 'Ugh!' Or 'drats' or 'phooey' or something worse. It's like when you would meet a Chinese saint and they would nod and smile and say, "Amen, amen." Amen what? How much of what we do is nervous response, habit and ingrained culture. But we think we are responding spiritually.

[OBW]

BTW. While I left long before 1999, I was not aware that the trainings were not in either the Ball road property or the Irving training/printing center until very recently. I guess that shows what I know about it all since 87.

[Ohio]

I wonder how much of our calling on the name of the Lord is vain repetition. How much is the equivalent of 'Ugh!' Or 'drats' or 'phooey' or something worse. It's like when you would meet a Chinese saint and they would nod and smile and say, "Amen, amen." Amen what? How much of what we do is nervous response, habit and ingrained culture. But we think we are responding spiritually.
Didn't John Myer start his book with sitting in the hallways of the court house listening to vain chants? Tactic #1 of LSM's Quarantine Procedures and Training handbook is to disrupt the "rebels" in the meetings by repeatedly calling "Ohhhh Looord Jee ...'

[Ohio]

BTW. While I left long before 1999, I was not aware that the trainings were not in either the Ball road property or the Irving training/printing center until very recently. I guess that shows what I know about it all since 87.
You saved lots of money by not sticking around for the LaPalma fundraiser.

[aron]

You saved lots of money by not sticking around for the LaPalma fundraiser.

I was there for that one. Cost me a pretty penny. I was a true believer then, a Kool-Aid drinker. And a magnum of Witness Lee Joy Juice cost two grand. But they said it was the best, so I imbibed.

[Freedom]

Maybe I wasn't very clear. This was very big training meeting with few thousand people. Later on, a brother told me it was because of "Y2K' bug. But, that did not make sense, because power never turned off on Y2K. Also, that meeting was not on December 31. On December 31, we stayed in individual localities, we did not go to convention center.

If someone else on the forum was there, it was big meeting, maybe you can share your memory.

I wasn't there, I would have been too young at the time. I do recall hearing about a conference/training around this time where there was some type of interruption, I don't know if it was that meeting or not though. What I remember hearing is that possibly somebody was purposely causing an interruption. This is all just a vague memory of what I remember hearing and I have no idea if it's the same event or not.

[Gravl]

Wasn't there. But are you figuring the lights going out was a supernatural event?

Witness Lee claimed he came to United States because of Lord's leading. That is something a little supernatural.

But, we now know he came to United States to sell suits at commercial fair. That probably is a natural thing.

[Gravl]

I was at a conference once where a Blended Brother singled out a rank-and-file brother, one of the proverbial small potatoes, and started grilling him about his relations with his wife. But unbeknownst to the Blended, that brother's wife had left him.

A groan escaped from the crowd. One sister said loudly, "O Lord JEEEZus". The Blended knew he'd stepped in a pile of something but he soldiered on.

I wonder how much of our calling on the name of the Lord is vain repetition. How much is the equivalent of 'Ugh!' Or 'drats' or 'phooey' or something worse. It's like when you would meet a Chinese saint and they would nod and smile and say, "Amen, amen." Amen what? How much of what we do is nervous response, habit and ingrained culture. But we think we are responding spiritually.

I think the declarations were because of devil -- rebuking devil for making lights go out.

At least, that is what we were taught in Lord's Recovery, I think?

[Ohio]

A groan escaped from the crowd. One sister said loudly, "O Lord JEEEZus". The Blended knew he'd stepped in a pile of something but he soldiered on.


Oh the joys of a descriptive word picture!

[TLFisher]

Witness Lee claimed he came to United States because of Lord's leading. That is something a little supernatural.

But, we now know he came to United States to sell suits at commercial fair. That probably is a natural thing.

Assuming we all live in the civilized world, it's a fact there are two sides to a story just as there are two sides to a coin.
Sure, Witness Lee and his supporters will say he came because of the Lord's leading. Some might say he came to support his son's business venture at the World's Fair. While others might say coming to North America was by default. He wasn't welcome by local churches in Taiwan or Philippines for various reasons.

[Gravl]

BTW. While I left long before 1999, I was not aware that the trainings were not in either the Ball road property or the Irving training/printing center until very recently. I guess that shows what I know about it all since 87.

By Winter 1999 they had already moved trainings to new campus on La Palma. I don't know why that training was at Long Beach convention center.

[Gravl]

I was at a conference once where a Blended Brother singled out a rank-and-file brother, one of the proverbial small potatoes, and started grilling him about his relations with his wife. But unbeknownst to the Blended, that brother's wife had left him.

A groan escaped from the crowd. One sister said loudly, "O Lord JEEEZus". The Blended knew he'd stepped in a pile of something but he soldiered on.

I wonder how much of our calling on the name of the Lord is vain repetition. How much is the equivalent of 'Ugh!' Or 'drats' or 'phooey' or something worse. It's like when you would meet a Chinese saint and they would nod and smile and say, "Amen, amen." Amen what? How much of what we do is nervous response, habit and ingrained culture. But we think we are responding spiritually.

Lots of people saying same things at the same time, maybe some people call that chanting? Everybody together in dark room, rebuking evil power that made lights go out. Kind of a powerful experience, I think.