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Originally Posted by S
I can't believe I am saying this but before college, my life long dream was to go to the FTTA and become a full time serving one.
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Hello S,
First off, don't blame yourself for who you were. Small children uncritically absorb and mimic their environment, which is how they survive. You did what you needed to make it through childhood. So congratulations. No small feat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S
Anyways, my first quarter of college was a very big turning point where I met my girlfriend, who is a Christian believer ... I am fully convinced now that my merciful God used her in order to finally help me to conclude that LC movement is a cult, and as I read many of the threads on here and watch the many Youtube videos on the subject I am starting to realize how erroneous this path is and just how much past history the "shepherds" I've looked up to have hidden.
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An important point here is that you recognize some value in your path. A merciful God. Another thing to be grateful for. Many who wake up and realize it was all a scam just throw up their hands and say, "Why bother" and give up eeeeveeerythiiing. But you didn't go through all that for nothing, and the merciful God isn't merciful for nothing. So, hold on & don't let go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by S
Now to get to my main point and situation, I want to leave my local church for good and cut all ties from the LC...
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Most who post on this discussion forum were in some way LC-entangled, and in some way gotten (or getting) free. But every journey's different, even unique. So here's advice for anyone, in any situation. Always remember that what you do to others, that is what God will do to you. Be patient and caring, be kind, be pleasant. God will watch over you. Your two companions in that house are a divinely arranged opportunity to manifest something of the kindness and mercy that has found you. Give, and it will be given to you: pressed down, shaken, running over.
Everything in the LC was designed to shut off your God-given faculties. Now, you can freely use them. So do the things that were forbidden: 1) get information; 2) think about it; and 3) ask questions, lots and lots of questions... If you model these behaviors for your companions (very carefully, yes, I know) they'll pick up some of the breadcrumbs. They were designed to think, too. Just paint the picture, plant the small seed, trust the LORD to water and life can grow...
(
Sotto Voce) Hey, Bob! I was reading about what Witness Lee called the Center of the Universe, here in Booklet XYZ. I got interested, & did a Google search on "Witness Lee Center of The Universe" and lookee here!! He's proposed not one, not two, but five distinct centers for the universe! What should we think about that, I wonder? How can he propose five centers, when by definition 'center' is a singular entity? Look, the altar, the laver, the tree of life, the throne, the human spirit,... all the center?
Bob: "Uh, I dunno, I guess I'll go exercise my spirit"
Hey look at the
RecV footnotes. Some Psalms are held as fallen because the Psalmist was supposed to curse, not bless, right? So, it was deemed fallen and natural, not the Spirit revealing Christ. But look over here, the same kind of imprecations are said to be a type of Christ defeating Satan. I wonder why it's interpreted one way here, and differently there? What do you think, Bob?
Bob: "Huh.."
And look here, David hit Goliath with a rock! Shouldn't he have blessed him, along the same interpretive metric? And then Samuel with Agag! Wow, wasn't that natural? Seems funky in these OT interpretations, how one thing is natural and another is fallen and another is 'Christ'. And yet they all look the same.
Bob: "Uh, you're thinking too much"
Yeah, maybe... you know, I read WL's biography of Nee, called
The Seer, it has a whole section on Dora Yu & Peace Wang. I wonder if they'd be allowed to speak at a Blending Conference today. How come sisters can't function today, but 100 years ago they were leading lights in the Recovery? There's a whole chapter on them in the Biography. Margaret Barber, Madame Guyon, Ruth Lee, et al... But today they're taking care of toddlers. What do you think? Odd, no?
Just keep asking questions. Read, think aloud, gently but persistently challenge. It may make folks uncomfortable, but they'll get it. It's like riding a bicycle: once around a few times, you get the hang of it.
p. s. all of us here on this planet have just a little time together. Occasionally I get feisty, trying to wake people up. But mostly I really, really try to get along, to appreciate, to value, to see commonality, not difference. So I'm mostly not combative with LC types, even fire-breathers. (I was a fire-breather, once). Or the agnostics, for that matter. Or the atheists. Or the evangelicals. Every person God gives us here, is a chance for mutuality & grace. And the tougher the nut to crack, the more satisfaction there is. So, be at peace, you're where you are. God can make a home, there.
p. p. s. For every one who asks, there are forty more out there thinking along the same lines, but they're afraid to speak up because the earth will open up & swallow them, maybe. So if you muster the fortitude to write, others will be encouraged.