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Originally Posted by Ohio
The history of the Plymouth Brethren teaches us that the EARLIER one got expelled from the program, the healthier, freer, and more blessed these ones became in the long term. Think George Muller. We should not forget that TC DID get expelled from the program, albeit too late.
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If a bank robber gets expelled from a criminal gang, he's still a bank robber. They just didn't want to share the loot is all.
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Originally Posted by Ohio
the comparisons between TC and David Koresh or the JW’s really have crossed the line. Shameful in fact. Yes, TC could fairly be compared to a tough old army general, but never was there ever a taint of personal moral failure.
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Interesting perspective. I didn't see myself crossing a line, but then if someone knew, they wouldn't cross it, would they? And that is my point - that TC crossed the line, and further, that he wouldn't have crossed it, had he known, but that's what blindness does to you. "For if they had known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory" 1 Cor 2.8
I was deliberately and consciously being categorical: Jehovah Witness, Church of Jesus Christ (Mormon), Rastafarian, Unification Church, Jesus Family, Branch Davidian, Living Stream Ministry & its captive Local Churches are all counterfeits. They present themselves as "the Christian church", as collectively representing the furtherance of the resurrected Lord of glory, but actually they represent something else entirely. Not partly but entirely. A counterfeit bill is not partly real, but fully counterfeit.
I don't judge Titus Chu's private relationship and personal walk with God, nor for that matter of Witness Lee, nor Watchman Nee, but as public figures in the church, they refused to repent for repeated acts of evil behaviour, and then even abetted its continuation, and to some degree they share in its outcome.
What Witness Lee's son did to the women serving in LSM offices was evil. It was assault, not consensual, because of the power imbalance. And WL set it all up, and sent the victims out of town, and covered up the evil act. And then TC covered WL. None of them repented publicly that I have ever seen. What do you think it was like for that poor family? They didn't just assault a woman, but a whole family. And it happened repeatedly to multiple families.
I am not going to characterize any individual follower of these men, either, any more than to an individual Mormon or Jehovah's Witness or Rasta. I'm sure there are 'good' i. e., active and devout and well-meaning Christian persons there. But the collective groups are not Christian, but rather counterfeits. They work hard to appear Christian because that helps recruiting, and retention. But if you look at the clear and repeated patterns emerging from within, there is fruit that categorically defines of what sort it all is, and it's decidedly not Christian.
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Originally Posted by CT
Many who looked up to Zacharias as a mentor, model, and spiritual father have been trying to grapple with the new information, their feelings of betrayal, and questions about their own responsibility.
“I feel disappointed in myself and others who could have pushed harder against the tides of submissive loyalty to demand better answers earlier, as there is no part of the evangelical creed that honours cowardice or sacrifices conscience,” Dan Paterson, the former head of RZIM in Australia, wrote on Facebook Wednesday night.
“I feel a profound sense of the fear of the Lord, knowing that one day I too will give an account, where like the RZ report, everything done under the shroud of darkness will be made known. Jesus comes to restore justice through judgment. Oh, how I wish Ravi repented here!”
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The Living Stream Ministry hasn't been alone in manipulative and abusive behaviour, under a cloak of facile and too-convenient spirituality. But others who abetted this pattern of abuse, when confronted with it (like King David) repented. There's a fundamental difference between what happened at RZIM and LSM. In spite of failure, widespread and long-standing, the RZIM leadership repented. But instead of repenting, the Local Church leaders piled on more and more victims - the Andersons, the Rappoports, the Mallons, the Ingalls, etc etc
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ne...ting-rape.html