Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
I also struggle with the truth. It seems so clear in black and white; why am I so short in actuality?
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The nice thing about following the God of resurrection is that you can throw it ALL down, and watch the Eternal One pick up the pieces and re-assemble something you never dreamed possible.
Grace to you in your journey. God bless those children who got excited for Christ.
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Aron and WacoTX,
At this point in my life, I've been "out" longer than I was "in" the Local Churches of Witness Lee. I was "in" for about 15 years.
I think one of the most insidious lies perpetrated upon us was that our walk with the Lord was dependant on our affiliation with LC leadership and/or the teachings of Witness Lee. The result was that we were walking with Witness Lee, the LC, the elders, etc., and not the Lord. Having been "out" for a very long time, I've discovered that it's much easier and simpler to follow the Lord than it was to follow Witness Lee, et al.
I went through a period of detox which was very good for me. I scrapped everything I had ever heard from Lee. I only reacquired it after I put it through the "Is this scriptural?" test. The truth of God's word is the only thing that remains and the only thing that matters.
Here's another truth spoken by Benson Phillips in the late 60's but no longer believed nor practiced by him. He told us "If you concentrate on Christ, the church will come out. If you concentrate on the church, nothing will come out." I believe there is a lot of truth to this. It helped me to leave that place. All they "concentrate" on is the church. Very little pointing us to Christ. The result, accurately predicted by BP, is a lot of nothing.
I've stopped looking for "the church". I"ve long since learned how totally unqualified I am to make a determination about how Jesus is building His church. Much of what we see today is human effort by men and women who overestimate their ability to judge spiritual matters. This is true in Christianity as a whole. Having said that, I've visited several large churches in the last few years, and these places are in much better shape than the Living Stream Ministry Franchise "churches".
Instead, I see the church everywhere I look. Some Christians are in better shape than others, but that's not my place to judge. I try not to expect others to live up to my expectations, but rather appreciate their acceptance, love and concern for me. The exception to that is sin in the camp. We always have a responsibility to judge behavior, including our own, where sin is concerned.
All this to say, the Christian life is not as complex as we were led to believe. We are His sheep. He is our Shepherd. I want to be the best little sheep I can be, trusting and obeying Him; following Him; calling out to Him to keep me safe; talking to Him about the things I care about. I believe this is my calling in life.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Nell