[Cal]

I think it's safe to say, and this from years of experience and observation, that all the serious problems in the Local Church Movement stemmed from a misapplication and abuse of authority--both of the ostensive authority of Lee and other leaders, and of their teachings.

You can go down the list, starting in mainland China, to Taiwan, California, Texas, Daystar, the "sister's rebellion," the "New Way," the Philip Lee debacle, the ostracizing of leaders who would not swear allegiance to Lee, the kangaroo court than judged Titus Chu in absentia, and the dismantling of several Midwest churches.

These are not isolated incidents nor aberrations. They are serial evidence of a systemic problem which any intelligent and observant person can see is clearly rooted in the abuse of authority.

However life-filled some of Lee's ministry might have been, it doesn't excuse nor make up for these problems. The longer LCMers continue to wax vaguely spiritual to whitewash these problems, the longer they will not be taken seriously by people seeking serious and sensible answers.

The whole lesson of the history of Local Church Movement is an abject lesson, from God I believe, that no matter how seemingly good someone's ministry is, elevating that person or ministry to dominating levels is a huge mistake.

If you believe history teaches anything you should believe that. If you don't believe history teaches anything, well, good luck to you. You are going to need it.