Quote:
Originally Posted by immuno_oncology
I really "enjoyed" this point  Really. Thank you for this picture. It illustrates the problem very clearly.
Another thing that really bothered me in was all the elders/leading brothers constantly checked in on us concerning whether my wife and me are "enjoying" the Lord. How do we enjoy the Lord? There are 3 secrets so I was told: 1. Call on the name of the Lord, 2. Singing hymns, and 3. Pray-reading. They said that no other denominations would ever use the word "enjoy." They wanted to make sure that the Lord was flowing through our spirits into the rest of our soul. The sweet flow of life. So I was trained and wired to think about how the mingled Spirit/spirit flows out of my spirit into my soul all day long. For a few weeks while at work, I became so paranoid that I wasn't "in my spirit," thankfully, a brother shared that the solution is to call on the Lord's name whenever you have free time, even at work! Just as some of you have shared, this can become a serious psychological problem for those of us who really buy into it. |
First I would urge you to take care of your marriage. You're the one in the covenant relationship with your wife. Not the brothers and not us on the forum.
Being another one raised in the local churches, I noticed an alarming trend of married brothers meeting on Sunday morning while their wives remained at home. One in particular close to me by relation, would attend the table meeting but would leave before the prophesying meeting would begin. Why is that? I do believe sisters by nature are more intuitive and see a system being promoted at the disservice of family life.
1. Call upon the name of the Lord: A good practice but you only need to call once to get His person.
2. Singing hymns: A good practice. Personally I prefer scriptural songs and contemporary hymns.
3. Pray-reading: Another good practice. A brought this up to the pastor I had been attending.
When they say denominations, are they saying all churches apart from LSM churches are denominations? This is the message I perceived when I've visited the locality where my parents meet.
How would local church elders know what or how non-local churches practice when generally, LC elders and localities are closed to any fellowship apart from LSM?
Speaking about the sweet flow of life. To see grace expressed among brothers and sisters where there's no wall of specific ministry or specific assemblies obstructing fellowship in Christ.
Speaking about grace, had it been expressed in the late 80's towards the brothers and sisters who left, there would probably be a different forum that exists now. In my own experiences, I didn't learn grace until after I left the local churches.