[Hope]

Great Thread,

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We had two wonderful week-ends first in Westminster and then Arizona. The Lord led us to consider “Our Fellowship” based upon 1 John 1:1-7 and the portion in Romans chapter 1 verses one, eight and twelve: Rom 1:8, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith."

A couple of new expressions came out which were very helpful. One was the difference between DC fellowship and AC fellowship. The other was some practical help on how to individually stay in the fellowship with the Lord when we have an “Elijah Moment” see 1 Kings 19.

I believe the forum is moving in a very good direction. I have been very occupied with family, business and church over the last many weeks and am catching up on the forum posts. Since last spring, I felt to lay aside my writing on the history and consider how to address the years after 1973. I have noticed the effort by many to understand our history by constructs such as early Lee, early Nee and later Lee and later Lee etc. I endorse strongly the view that there were definitely different eras in the history of the local churches. I desire to testify to what I have seen and heard myself directly. Thus, my early years were very different from the last few years. I now believe I must give much more detail to the wonderful times we enjoyed with Christ and His precious members. To understand the measure of the fall of the local churches and Brother Lee’s work, we must accurately describe the wonderful positive effects it had early on. At the same time, it is imperative to discover the seeds of the later years and learn from it. To see and understand this dichotomy has been a great help to me and others in recovering from the damage done to the faith and conscience of many.

I also believe I need to give much more detail concerning the various personalities that had a strong influence in shaping the history. The story of the local churches is also the story of John Ingalls, Bill Mallon, John So, Max Rapoport, Benson Phillips, Ray Graver, James Barber, Titus Chu, Bill Freeman and several others such as Phillip Lee, Paul Hon, Andrew Yu, Patsy Freeman and others.

To say all everywhere at all times were the same bunch of bad apples is way way off. When I have read posts about “the Evil Texas churches” the only posters were those who were in Houston and OK City. Ray Graver was the count Richelieu of the local churches and James Barber was known everywhere as “legal James”, an oppressor of the saints. I did notice that the only detractor who claimed to have been in Dallas was “Processed” who when her posts are put together was around 1-6 years of age while I may have been in Dallas and could not have experienced the excellent times we had there during the first 12 years. She also did not know who Don Looper was. I wonder how her father could have been an elder there in Dallas. I can only come up with one possibility and he was only there when this person was a very small child if it is he. I say this to warn you all that my history will tell the story of the good things of the Lord that we experiences which before 1974 was the essence and content of our history. I am considering going back to add in much detail to the early years. (Please feel free to advise.)

Finally, I strongly agree that we should discuss teachings and practices which led to the terrible outcomes we have seen. But it is not only the teachings that need to be considered but also the personalities that played an equally important role in our fall from grace.

A believer in Christ Jesus seeking to be a true disciple,

Hope, Don Rutledge