Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
What was "going on" in the sixties was that the Baby Boomers were turning into young adults.
...It's all demographics. This is not to say the Lord was not sovereign. But Witness Lee stepped into the situation with a different message than Americans were used to hearing--and some seekers, almost all who were naive young people, jumped all over it.
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If you look at some of the "flows" on earth at that time, Igzy's point is reinforced. I myself am not a student of U.S. religious history circa 1965-75, but the growth and expansion of the Local Churches affiliated with the ministry of Witness Lee at that time was indeed mirrored by other events within the "Baby Boomer" generation.
One familiar story is of Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel in Southern California. The version I heard is that some hippies "found Jesus" late one night around the campfire, and then wanted fellowship. They trooped around the area, and the only pastor who would keep his doors open to these longhairs was Chuck Smith. His church had something like 40 to 60 people. Well, these hippies brought in all their friends, and suddenly the place was packed. So they built a hall for 500, and by the time it was finished it wasn't nearly big enough. They went from 50 to 2000+ in a couple of years. And don't you think the Spirit of those meetings was attractive? All that youthful enthusiasm? Young adults being freed from crime, addiction, fear, shame? Spontaneous testimonies of miraculous healings and deliverances? Elden Hall was not the only "prevailing testimony" on the earth.
Chuck Smith was at the right place at the right time. So, arguably, was Witness Lee.