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Topic Review (Newest First)
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| 03-21-2025 10:00 AM | ||
| Nell |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty This may be helpful. It's been posted before, but it may be pertinent to this topic. I compiled this information years ago as a possible handout on campuses. Nell ********************************** W A R N I N G ! “Christians on Campus” There is an aberrant Christian group on this campus called “Christians on Campus”. This group is part of “The Local Church of Witness Lee” named after the city. For example, “The Church in Austin” (or Dallas, Houston, etc.) and Witness Lee’s publishing company, The Living Stream Ministry. What is an aberrant Christian group? - Aberrant Christian groups are religious groups, which are characterized by the destruction of individual thought, the destruction of the family unit, and disregard for your freedom as an individual. - Aberrant Christian groups deviate from fundamental interpretation of the Bible by introducing “new light” or exclusive insight only available from their leader in their group. WHO IS WITNESS LEE? - Born in Chefoo, Shandong Province, China, in 1905. - Converted to Christianity in 1925. - Lee became a co-worker of Watchman Nee in 1933. - In the late 1940s Witness Lee went to Taiwan in order to continue his ministry there. - In 1962 Lee came to the United States, settling in southern California. He then began the groundwork of churches that would develop into the modern-day "Local Church" movement. - Witness Lee died in June 1997 in Southern California. - After Lee, a man named Benson Phillips (deceased in 2020) led the movement along with a collective of men referred to as “blended brothers”. What is the Witness Lee Controversy? - Modalistic: Lee confuses the Persons of the Holy Spirit and the Son similar to modalism. - Heresy: Lee declared that God became man in Jesus so that man could become God in Christ. - Exclusivity: Lee taught “One church, one city” and believes that the church he founded is the one true church in a city. Lee taught that Christianity (Baptists, Methodists, other denominations and Christians) are “fallen and degraded.” - These are only 3 of the controversies—there are many more. How “Christians on Campus” groups operate. - “Christians on Campus” is a recruiting arm of the Local Churches of Witness Lee. - New recruits are not initially told that they are involved with the Local Churches or that they are being indoctrinated with the teachings and practices taught by Witness Lee. - Campus meetings are scripted and carefully controlled. Recruits are also taken to larger Local Church meetings which are also scripted and carefully controlled for the purpose of gradual indoctrination into the main group. - You may enjoy these scripted meetings. Though you may also find the members “different” you may find them warm and engaging. They are most likely genuine Christians. - You may also have a nagging sense that something is not quite right about this group. - Though you may feel conflicted about attending their meetings, you may continue to attend. YOUR QUESTIONS Be careful. If you express your genuine concerns by asking questions about group practices or teachings that don’t sound “right” to you, you will be met with evasive and ambiguous answers. Important questions you should ask: - Is Christians on Campus part of the Local Churches of Witness Lee? Is Christians on Campus part of The Church in Austin (Dallas, Norman, your city)? Do you follow Witness Lee’s ministry? Insist on “yes” or “no” answers. If the response is evasive, take that as a “yes”. Pay attention to semantics. Local Church members use vocabulary in different ways than you do. They use the same words, but with different meanings. Example: “Are you a member of the Local Church?” Answer “No”. (They claim not to have a “membership” roll. They are members of the Body of Christ.) YOUR RESPONSIBILITY Be warned. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV) Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. In Acts 17:11 (NIV) Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Be warned. Local Church members do not examine the Scriptures to see if what Witness Lee said was true. Be warned. Don’t take your positive feelings about any person or group as a sign that everything is OK. Be warned. Former members often tell of significant psychological, sociological and spiritual abuse which is typical of aberrant or cultic organizations. YOUR FAMILY Be warned. Members are encouraged to isolate themselves from their former lives, their families and their former friends. Warnings of spiritual decline instills a paralyzing fear in those who would leave the group. “You just don’t understand!” If you find yourself saying this to your parents, family or friends when attempting to explain your “new life” in the Local Church, you are in danger. The Bible teaches us to honor our parents. The Local Churches teach you to isolate ourselves from your parents, your family or anyone else who would hinder your complete devotion to this group. MORE CONTROVERSY Summary of what LC members believe: 1. “What the group is doing is God‘s only meaningful work on the earth. 2. The rest of the Christians are blind outsiders who need to be proselytized or recruited. 3. They have an understanding about the Trinity that others do not have, and only they can explain it. 4. A unique corporate cause is the most important thing. There is no place for the uniqueness of the individual member. 5. There is only one man with the proper understanding and interpretation of the Bible who knows God‘s way for the group. 6. Their leaders are God‘s authorities and are part of an authoritarian, top-down hierarchy. 7. Their cause is more important than people, and they need to shun, ban, quarantine, or excommunicate any persons they feel are divisive or in some way detrimental to their purpose. 8. Any members who leave the group are turning away from following God. 9. Any who leave the group and speak out are bitter and vindictive, and need to be silenced because they spread false information. 10. Those from the outside who use media to question the group‘s teachings and practices are persecutors who need to be stopped.” —Jane Carole Anderson THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST The Bible teaches a simple gospel of a loving God who gave his only Son as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Witness Lee taught that this simple gospel is the “low gospel”. Witness Lee claimed to teach the “high gospel”. This “high gospel” is complicated with spiritual sounding words and terms strung together in a way that boggles the mind. Local Church members seem to believe themselves to be an elite group of Christians who understand this “high gospel” that others do not. Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding states may be much more strongly controlled than campuses in other states. RESOURCES Can the Local Church Leadership Say, “We Were Wrong” by, Jane Carole Anderson http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vB...read.php?t=619. Local Church Discussions Forum http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vBulletin/index.php Personal Testimony by a former member The Thread of Gold, God’s Purpose, the Cross and Me Jane Carole Anderson http://www.thethreadofgold.com Harvest House Publishers Corporate Statement A Call to Keep Theological Disputes Out of the Courts On June 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an end to The Local Church’s contentious and unsuccessful six–year, $136 million legal battle against Harvest House Publishers and two of its authors, John Ankerberg and John Weldon. https://www.harvesthousepublishers.c...rate-statement An Open Letter To the Leadership of Living Stream Ministry and the "Local Churches" http://www.open-letter.org/ Living Stream Ministry and the "local churches" (also known as The Lord's Recovery), both founded by the late Witness Lee, have been involved for decades in legal and theological controversies with noted Christian institutions and leaders. In light of this history of litigation and conflict, we the undersigned make this public appeal. ... |
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| 03-15-2025 11:20 AM | ||
| Sons to Glory! |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Quote:
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| 01-16-2025 05:52 PM | ||
| Jeffery James |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Thank you for putting out that Youtube channel. He clearly articulates why this Bible sect is so dangerous. He does the smart thing and doesn't debate them upfront on theological matters, but targets the true weak spot of groups like this, psychology and ideology. Nevertheless, they are vastly incorrect about many theological matters. Here are some nasty tactics used by the group: 1. Love-Bombing: On college campuses, they lavish students with attention, making them feel uniquely special, loved, and "called out" by God to perform a "special work." They are encouraged to preach the "high gospel" and live according to the "high truths." 2. Gradual Indoctrination: They slowly introduce ideas in a way that manipulates cognitive dissonance, gradually shifting attitudes toward their unorthodox or bizarre Christian teachings until these ideas seem acceptable or even desirable. 3. Chanting: Through chanting the Lord's name, they create a euphoric state that leaves members psychologically vulnerable. In this state, authoritarian teachings—such as the notion of the "minister of the age," "spiritual authority," and the uniquely divine flowing life of Witness Lee's teachings—are implanted and solidified in their minds. This effectively dulls critical thinking and reinforces group loyalty, following the manipulative "unfreeze, change, freeze" tactic used by many controlling individuals and organizations. Of course, all of the above is my opinion. Please don't sue me LSM, like you have done many others. |
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| 01-10-2025 09:26 PM | ||
| NewManLiving |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Robert Taylor's YouTube channel exposes the dark side of the campus work which is the center of the Good Material deviation https://youtube.com/@roberttaylor?si=V3W4nMgKJAnu06Ux |
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| 01-10-2025 09:14 AM | ||
| NewManLiving |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Yes! Your assessment is accurate. The emphasis on what they consider "good material" is completely unbiblical and relegates the finished work of Christ to a few special people. It appears they do not believe that Christ can save anyone He pleases to the uttermost. He needs a little help. The Lord tells us in Luke 4:23 and 5:23 that he came for the sick. They must have missed this in their Life Studies. If they only knew how Christ is revealing Himself and forming Himself in the hearts of His people (no matter what kind of material they were) outside of their organization they would be shocked. As you said it's all about the business. |
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| 01-09-2025 05:16 AM | ||
| Unregistered |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty I believe the Local church is a cult and their main aim is to make money off of their members. There’s plenty of evidence to back these claims up. But one thing they do is tell their gospel preachers to only go after the “good fruit,” who are young and impressionable college students with a bright future. Also they seek after young married couples who might be having children soon. Witness Lee taught them to seek these “good fruits” and to pretty much ignore everyone else. In my view they seek these groups of people because college students have a bright future ahead of them and will make more money in their lifetimes than other groups of people. Making more money means more tithes and spending more money purchasing LSM ministry materials and books. Young couples will likely have a few children which will grow the numbers of the local churches. This is all planned on purpose to serve their goals. I would just ask is this how Jesus thought while preaching during his earthly ministry? It seems to me Jesus went to the weak and the lame and the downtrodden and the poor, not just to the “good fruit.” They also are often deceptive when ones among them go out to preach for Bibles for America. They don’t like to tell prospective members about Witness Lee in case they look him up on the internet and find out the local churches are considered by many to be a cult. Using deception to preach and recruit doesn’t seem very Christian to me. Just something to consider. |
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| 01-02-2025 07:15 AM | ||
| Onthefence |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty I know exactly what you mean. I'm a Church kid in the LC, but I stopped meeting during 2 years of highschool and joined a Baptist church youth group. While meeting with them i felt more of a sense of genuine community outreach than with the LC. Joining the Baptist youth group we would do fund raising, donations for Christmas and local community food donations. As well as visiting fellow brothers and sisters in retirement villages to share our portion of Christ with eachother and give them company. As I have come back to the LC during uni and working i feel distance in my view of what the Lord wants while we are on Earth, and can see with the outward perspective looking in where I should avoid certain "ways to gather" and avoid behaviors that are worrying. The gain of daily youth and young families with children has always made me question the LC ways. And honestly makes me feel like I don't want anything to do with gosple outreach anymore. I hope that I can heal from this one day before it is too late. - Onthefence |
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| 12-31-2024 07:10 PM | ||
| Jeffery James |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Quote:
But I do empathize with your observation. I grew up in a church that regularly reached out to every age group, and also fed the poor and visited prisoners as well. So I new something was off once I started meeting more regularly. Focusing on college students is a known tactic for cultivating an easy following, which bets on psychological susceptibility. I'm not saying the ones recruiting know what they are doing by going out to the campuses, in fact, their intentions are probably good in nature and biblically founded. But the person (Lee) that taught this methodology knew what he was doing. He was not foolish, he knew how people worked at a fundamental level. To be short, this goes deeper than most people realize, and you are definitely on your way to a healthier walk with Christ by leaving. |
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| 10-19-2024 10:08 AM | ||
| InconvenientRuth |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Thank you for sharing. |
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| 10-08-2024 08:58 PM | ||
| UntoHim |
Re: 2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty To Unregistered Guest. It seems you have a lot to say! Please consider registering for forum membership by sending an email to REG4LCD@Gmail.Com Be sure to include your desired UserName. - |
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| 10-08-2024 08:42 PM | ||
| Unregistered |
2 Months Out Of The Local Church And Feeling Guilty Hi Brothers and Sisters in Christ I want to vent and share my 14 year story and experience with the LC. I first found out about the Saints in College I see this is how they get a lot to join and in recent years I see how obsessed they are about mainly reaching out to young ones aka college students or younger. I've given leading brothers ideas how to reach the whole community young and old not just young but still their main focus is only college campus work. That was one red flag that made me feel a little uneasy. Especially not opening doors to feed the homeless or clothing giveaway etc. Like other Churches. Over many years I seen many come and go and a few leaving based on the attitudes and behaviors of some saints. I get that we are all human and no one is perfect but if you are actively pursuing Christ like you say you are if you are rude or inconsiderate to someone you will feel guilty The Holy Spirit will convict you to do better and pray for others including ones you may not get along with. This is exactly what I been trying to do while I slowly part ways completely with the LC although mainly the sister's have been a lot of trouble I pray for them and even the Brothers that they turn to Christ in the midst of their bitterness or wickedness towards others. To love embrace their Brother or Sister in Christ look past any differences and just focus on the Jesus living in them. This is one thing we all share in common no matter how much we don't like a saint is that they have Christ we have Christ. |
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