Quote:
Originally Posted by TLFisher
Prior to 1974 there was no Living Stream Ministry. There was The Stream Publishers. How were finances handled then?
The author of the letter says:
Bro. Lee is making approximately a million dollars every year from the Living Stream Ministry Inc. He also has other income not filed with the IRS. I cannot help but regard his practice as “making retail of the Word of God.” II Cor 2:17. Many of the elders in the local churches have compared Bro. Lee to the apostle Paul. But was Paul a millionaire? And can you imagine Paul charging between 250 and 300 thousand dollars for his letter to the Ephesians? Paul did tell the Corinthians, “they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel”. But after reminding them of their responsibility to care for the apostles, he didn’t’ then ask for a fee from them. Paul trusted the Lord to touch the saints to contribute to him. Prior to 1974 I think Bro. Lee did this.
Yet although we pay a fee to register for each training, (an amount paid for a service rendered), the money is listed as donations before the IRS. The money is then funneled into a company called Overseas Christian Steward, which is not registered in any country. O.C.S. owns the Phosphorous factory in Taiwan, which currently manufacturing tennis rackets fro retail in the U.S.A.
Years ago I heard the same thing. Long ago such as 1979 Witness Lee earned 1 million dollars a year reported to IRS.
Who made that much in 1979? In baseball the highest paid player in 1979 Rod Carew earned $800,000. I only know of three professional athletes that signed contracts comparable to Witness Lee's 1979 earnings:
Nolan Ryan, Moses Malone, and Bill Walton.
Now I wouldn't doubt those who said Witness Lee lived frugally, but that's not my point.
Here's Witness Lee having earned more or less one million per year. While asking saints for financial forgiveness for their losses from Daystar. That does not sit well with me.
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He may have outwardly appeared to live frugally but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t benefiting behind the scenes. We don’t know what he did when no one was looking. It seems his whole life he was often very sneaky behind the scenes. Some of these sneaky activities were found out and others on this forum have posted about them. He could have owned property and houses in unknown places that nobody knew about. He could have done anything behind the scenes. Ultimately we don’t know about those things, but certainly his family has benefitted from his wealth. And certainly the treatment he received was above and beyond a normal Christian, let alone a self described apostle. Did he live as Paul lived in second Corinthians? Certainly not
Consider this- being a speaker in the LC is similar to being a celebrity. They stay in the best hotels, or the best rooms from members (or houses built specifically for them on church property, which they keep spotless and don’t lend out to the poor amongst them), they eat the best foods from not only the members but from the best restaurants, they fly first class I’m sure, they don’t have to work, all they have to do is recook and regurgitate things Nee and Lee said, they get the best treatment from the members, who flock to them and surround them when they’re done speaking, they walk around on a cloud of praise from all the members, etc. No wonder it’s such a coveted position in the LC, and no wonder there’s so much ambition for position amongst them
Must be nice in such a privileged position. Now compare that with Paul’s life in second Corinthians. Or compare it with how Jesus was treated in his earthly ministry. Are these men legitimate, on-the-level, New Testament apostles? I think we all know the answer to that