[Nell]

I compiled this a few years ago to be passed out on campuses. I adapted it from a similar warning about Jehovah's Witnesses or some such.

W A R N I N G !
“Christians on Campus”

There is an aberrant Christian group on this campus called “Christians on Campus”. This group is part of “The Local Church of Witness Lee” named after the city (The Church in ____), and Witness Lee’s publishing company, The Living Stream Ministry.

What is an aberrant Christian group?
- Aberrant Christian groups are religious groups, which are characterized by the destruction of individual thought, the destruction of the family unit, and disregard for your freedom as an individual.
- Aberrant Christian groups deviate from fundamental interpretation of the Bible by introducing “new light” or exclusive insight only available from their leader in their group.

Who is Witness Lee?
- Born in Chefoo, Shandong Province, China, in 1905.
- Converted to Christianity in 1925.
- Lee became a co-worker of Watchman Nee in 1933.
- In the late 1940s Witness Lee went to Taiwan in order to continue his ministry there.
- In 1962 Lee came to the United States, settling in southern California. He then began the groundwork of churches that would develop into the modern-day "Local Church" movement.
- Witness Lee died in June 1997 in Southern California.
- A man named Benson Phillips now leads the movement along with a collective of men refered to as “blended brothers”.

What is the Witness Lee Controversy?
- Modalistic: Lee confuses the Persons of the Holy Spirit and the Son similar to modalism.
- Heresy: Lee declared that God became man in Jesus so that man could become God in Christ.
- Exclusivity: Lee taught “One church, one city” and believes that the church he founded is the one true church in a city. Lee taught that Christianity (Baptists, Methodists, other denominations and Christians) are “fallen and degraded.”
- These are only 3 of the controversies—there are many more.

How “Christians on Campus” groups operate.
- “Christians on Campus” is a recruiting arm of the Local Churches of Witness Lee.
- New recruits are not initially told that they are involved with the Local Churches or that they are being indoctrinated with the teachings and practices taught by Witness Lee.
- Campus meetings are scripted and carefully controlled. Recruits are also taken to larger Local Church meetings which are also scripted and carefully controlled for the purpose of gradual indoctrination into the main group.
- You may enjoy these scripted meetings. Though you may also find the members “different” you may find them warm and engaging. They are most likely genuine Christians.
- You may also have a nagging sense that something is not quite right about this group.
- Though you may feel conflicted about attending their meetings, you may continue to attend.

Your Questions
Be careful. If you express your genuine concerns by asking questions about group practices or teachings that don’t sound “right” to you, you will be met with evasive and ambiguous answers.

Important questions:
- Is Christians on Campus part of the Local Churches of Witness Lee?
- Is Christians on Campus part of The Church in Austin (Dallas, Norman, your city)?
- Do you follow Witness Lee’s ministry?
Insist on a “yes” or “no” answer. If the response is evasive, take that as a “yes”.

Pay attention to semantics. Local Church members use vocabulary in different ways than you do. They use the same words, but with different meanings. Example: “Are you a member of the Local Church?”
Possible Answer “No”. (They don’t have a “membership” roll. They are members of the Body of Christ, so "technically" they are not members of the Local Church.)

Your Responsibility
Be warned. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:15 (KJV) Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. In Acts 17:11 (NIV) Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Be warned. Local Church members do not examine the Scriptures to see if what Witness Lee said was true.

Be warned. Don’t take your positive feelings about any person or group as a sign that everything is OK.

Be warned. Former members often tell of significant psychological, sociological and spiritual abuse which is typical of aberrant or cultic organizations.

Be warned. Members are encouraged to isolate themselves from their former lives, their families and their former friends. Warnings of spiritual decline instills a paralyzing fear in those who would leave the group.

“You just don’t understand!” If you find yourself saying this to your parents, family or friends when attempting to explain your “new life” in the Local Church, you are in danger. The Bible teaches us to honor our parents. The Local Churches teach you to isolate ourselves from your parents, your family or anyone else who would hinder your complete devotion to this group.

More Controversy
Summary of LC beliefs:
1. What the group is doing is God‘s only meaningful work on the earth.
2. The rest of the Christians are blind outsiders who need to be proselytized or recruited.
3. They have an understanding about the Trinity that others do not have, and only they can explain it.
4. A unique corporate cause is the most important thing. There is no place for the uniqueness of the individual member.
5. There is only one man (Witness Lee) with the proper understanding and interpretation of the Bible who knows God‘s way for the group.
6. Their leaders are God‘s authorities and are part of an authoritarian, top-down hierarchy.
7. Their cause is more important than people, and they need to shun, ban, quarantine, or excommunicate any persons they feel are divisive or in some way detrimental to their purpose.
8. Any members who leave the group are turning away from following God.
9. Any who leave the group and speak out are bitter and vindictive, and need to be silenced because they spread false information.
10. Those from the outside who use media to question the group‘s teachings and practices are persecutors who need to be stopped. — from Jane Carole Anderson

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Bible teaches a simple gospel of a loving God who gave his only Son as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Witness Lee taught that this simple gospel is the “low gospel”. Witness Lee claimed to teach the “high gospel”. This “high gospel” is complicated with spiritual sounding words and terms strung together in a way that boggles the mind. Local Church members seem to believe themselves to be an elite group of Christians who understand this “high gospel” that others do not.

Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding states may be much more strongly controlled than campuses in other states.

Resources
Can the Local Church Leadership Say, “We Were Wrong” by,Jane Carole Anderson http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vB...read.php?t=619.

***Note this link is broken*** Sorry

Local Church Discussions Forum
http://localchurchdiscussions.com/vBulletin/index.php

Personal Testimony by a former member
The Thread of Gold, God’s Purpose, the Cross and Me Jane Carole Anderson
http://www.thethreadofgold.com Available as .pdf download and Kindle.

Harvest House Publishers Corporate Statement
A Call to Keep Theological Disputes Out of the Courts
On June 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an end to The Local Church’s contentious and unsuccessful six–year, $136 million legal battle against Harvest House Publishers and two of its authors, John Ankerberg and John Weldon.
http://www.harvesthousepublishers.co...statement7.cfm

An Open Letter
To the Leadership of Living Stream Ministry and the "Local Churches"
http://www.open-letter.org/ Living Stream Ministry and the "local churches" (also known as The Lord's Recovery), both founded by the late Witness Lee, have been involved for decades in legal and theological controversies with noted Christian institutions and leaders. In light of this history of litigation and conflict, we the undersigned make this public appeal.

Dallas Morning News
Below are excerpts from a newspaper article published in the The Dallas Morning News: October 20, 1995 which exemplifies classic Local Church speak.

SpringPark Residents Oppose Church
Religious group to continue seeking site
Jayne Noble Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News

GARLAND - Hundreds of homeowners around the SpringPark addition have signed a petition opposed to The Church in Richardson moving into their neighborhood. ...

"I think there's a little fear of the unknown," said Jerry McGill, who said he leads services at the church's storefront chapel, 1701 Analog Drive in Richardson. ...

Council member Lee Smith, who lives in SpringPark, said he and other homeowners are concerned that the church might be affiliated with other churches around the country, including Austin and Arlington, whose members profess to follow a Chinese spiritual leader named Witness Lee. "Everything I've read shows these churches could be cultish, and the people here are very concerned about that," Mr. Smith said.

Mr. McGill said that he is aware of the organization, which sometimes is called The Local Church and is named after the cities where services are held. But Mr. McGill said The Church in Richardson does not have any "official ties with any church." (Emphasis added.)

"We have no central headquarters . . . no organizational leader or ties to anything," he said. "We're an independent, Bible-believing church with no affiliation . . . just like a lot of churches in Garland."

In a follow-up article in the Morning News on November 8, 1995:

"I can tell you I think he's {Mr. Anderson} dead wrong," Mr. Hinton said. More than 500 residents from the SpringPark neighborhood have signed a petition opposing the church move.

Some people say they are also concerned about the church's practices and its ties to other churches in Austin and Arlington, whose members profess to follow a Chinese spiritual leader named Witness Lee. The churches are sometimes called Local Churches and are named after the cities where services are held. Mr. McGill said this week that he has "had fellowship" with those churches, but that each is independent and that members "don't consider that the church, as the body of Christ, is an organization."

In fact, McGill has been an elder in at least 3 Local Churches and has spent his adult life as a student of Witness Lee's teachings. Such attempts at deceit is common.

***


I still wonder how I could have allowed myself to be part of a "church" in which I had to deny who the leader was.

Nell