[zeek]

Originally Posted by eDh22

I really appreciate the welcome, and the insight I've received on this board after posting my story about leaving the "Lord's Recovery". In the last month, I've reached out to some "safe" people in my life with LSM ties to hear their stories, briefly spoke with a therapist on the topic, and read several books about young women who grew up in / joined high demand Christian groups, left, and how they moved forward with their lives. I also visited the "standard" church down the street to get a glimpse of "normal Christianity".

Which has brought me to the following questions that I've been asking myself. I would love to hear your answers:

1. What do you most regret about your time in the "Lord's Recovery" group?

I have no regrets. Alternative life histories are fantasies. Why entertain them?

2. What real gains in your life did you experience during your time in the "Lord's Recovery"?

I gained a wife and three daughters.

3. How have you / are you leveraging your regrets about your time in the "Lord's Recovery" so that these experiences can be gain to you now?

Not applicable.

4. Forgiveness - have you reached out in person to ask forgiveness of those you may have injured during your time in the "Lord's Recovery" (family, etc)? How have you dealt with your relationships with people who shepherded you, particularly with what you feel now was poor counsel, in the "Lord's Recovery"?

I have reached out to several people including Harold Dixon and Bill Mallon and I was well received by them. I forgive those who "shepherded" me. They knew not what they did.

5. Do you think there was anything in the doctrine or practice that particularly attracted you to the "Lord's Recovery" or do you think you could have been similarly attracted to any high-demand Christian group?

Oh, it was the claim that they had found the way to oneness. They had the appearance of it, but it was contrived. I might have been similarly attracted by another "high demand group", but we'll never know, and it is unlikely it will ever happen to me again because, I think the LCM finished me for such experiences. But, who knows. One ought to remain open to new experiences, don't you think?

6. What tools have you found most useful in "recovering from the Lord's Recovery?" Specific books? Counseling? Blogging? Specific relationships?

I found the theology of Paul Tillich helpful in transitioning out of the LCM. "The Courage to Be" and his "Systematic Theology". Normal relationships with people at work, family and friends outside the church were essential to recovering. Honorable mention goes to Awareness who I knew in the church and with whom I have, I feel, a deep and abiding friendship via the cell phone and online.

Disclaimer: These are my responses at this moment. I reserve the right to change them whenever.