[Trapped]

I don't have much time at the moment, and it is somewhere in "the ministry" or in LSM's justification for some of their doctrines, but yes.....they do state somewhere that the bride can only be prepared in the churches which are local (i.e. "the genuine expression of the church") and the Lord will only come back when the genuine church is built. Where is the genuine church built? Only in the local churches, of course.

The local church doctrine of locality is self-elevating in that it's the only real, genuine, proper "expression" of the church.....and thus everything else that is not "meeting as a local church" is thus fake, not genuine, not proper. And the Lord's not going to come back for a fake/non-genuine/improper bride/church, right?

You are not missing anything. This truly is their crazed delusion.

And as you said, once you realize it, then the way they react to "dissension" makes sense, in a nonsensical way. Since they truly believe that the Lord's return literally depends on THEM and them alone, then any "negative" speaking is an attack on the golden gem of a diamond pure spotless bride that they think they are.

Of course, when pressed they will admit there are real believers in other churches. But they are not in the place where the church is built. They are not in the "proper expression of the church" and are thus discarded.

Cult.