Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
How much of it was self and how much was God? "Look, everybody; I can scream louder than you all!"
But I still think that screaming the name of Jesus sure beat doing shots of Jack Daniels down at the pool hall. That's why I don't mind the Pentecostal experience -- maybe it can help to transfer people from the darkness to the light. Remember all the screaming and crying and rolling around when the demons were ejected (Luke 4:33-36; Mark 1:23,24, etc)? We had our own local church variation on that. Crying out is not bad.
And consider how many came to Jesus with guile. 'Look, an Israelite in whom there is no guile!' presupposes that the others had it. They were sons of Jacob the schemer indeed. And so we all were: that's one of the points of the redemptive story. The Samaritan woman at the well, with her schemes and pre-occupations. And Martha: "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset over many things." Yet they all got saved.
Yes; that is perhaps the problem in a nutshell. We were condemning someone else's mess and asking God to forgive our own. And we should already know how that turns out -- Jesus made it abundantly clear.
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Love your insight Aron.
One thing the Holy Spirit enlightened me with years ago, which I try to pass on to my Christian friends (and unsaved friends who use the Lord's Name in vain), is to call upon His Name with a pure heart, with a reverential heart. We are calling on the Name of the Most Holy, and the Most High God, our Creator! We should respect His Holy Name!
Because we were young and not truly transformed inwardly, the shouting meetings produced the same emotional 'cheering' as the fans in sports arenas. We made a joyful noise unto the Lord alright, but was it with a pure heart?
See, when we first got saved, we repented of our sins. But especially in the LC, repentence was placed in the back burner. The 'church life' took presedence. And when Lee, Phillip and Timothy sinned before God and the church, none of them came forward and publicly repented. Lee was the man in charge...the 'role model'! If he and his sons did not repent for their gross iniquities, why should anyone in the church repent of theirs?
The only 'repentence' Lee advocated was repentence for criticizing him and his church. Period! Sin if you want but do not criticize Lee or leave the LC!! That 'sin' is/was worst than adultery or lying!!! For shame!! For shame!!!
That's why imho, people could shout all they wanted without conviction.
What bugs me when I am around the LSMrs which is far and few thankfully, is there "O Lord Jesus" is vain, habitual,
empty repetitive words. Their hearts probably leap more when they hear someone mention Lee than when our Precious Savior and Lord's Name is mentioned.
And yes...if the shouting is genuine as it should be, God receives our shouts with a happy Heart. It is biblical to Shout to the Lord after all! In
Ezra 3:11, all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord
I think outside the meetings, in their alone time, most LCrs did not know how to talk to God. Everyone was so used to praying a certain way at the prayer meetings and at the start of the meetings, in home meetings that most felt lost in reaching out to touch the Hem of the Garment of the Lord!
Fellowship was centered around the life studies or whatever the 'flow' was at that moment. Prayer should be centered around the Lord. It should include Worship, Praise, Thanksgiving and our supplications for help.
Now to be fair, I am generalizing. I am sure there were/are people in the LC/LSM/LRC even today who truly call upon the Name with a pure heart and have a true repentent heart.
That the LORD used someone or a group of people to enlighten us, Halleluiah. To GOD be the Glory and Praise for our brethren.
Blessings to all,
Carol Garza