[Cal]

The sooner you leave the Local Church Movement (LCM) the easier it is to do. The longer you stay the more they will condition you to be unable to fit in anywhere else.

I was like you. I was a new Christian and a new college student and bumped into some LCMers on campus. Next thing you knew I had moved in with some "brothers." They weren't bad people, they were just being misled like me. But I stayed too long and had no alternative ideas to theirs, so theirs controlled me.

The problem with the LCM is its view of things is so narrow (and ignorant) and they don't tolerate other views. So they are warped and you are bound to be warped by them. Example: Oneness doesn't mean you let some little group or its tin horn leaders control your life. Their teaching about "oneness" just turns out to be a way to control people. They'd never admit that, but it's true.

As a new Christian you need to find some good mainstream Bible-based fellowship that doesn't place personal demands on your life. Be a young person. Have fun. Don't put so much pressure on yourself to be "useful." Get to know a lot of different Christians. Make a lot of Christian friends, but don't think you have be identified with some group. Don't send down roots too quickly. Read and pray. Take it a day at a time. Let God be your friend. He is.

And whatever you do, don't let the LCMers make you feel guilty. That's their personal hell. It doesn't have to be yours.