[NeitherFirstnorLast]

Originally Posted by ToGodAlone

A very valid point, it is a lot to abandon. So much so that I am worried about how she would adjust especially since she doesn't like drastic change all that much (and this would very much be a drastic change).

We have scared you! I am so sorry brother; in our zealous haste to expose the fallacies within the system, we've caused you to lose sight of the very thing you came here to find: A way to reconcile your faith with that of your girlfriends'.

Brother, please imagine that this girl whom you (I presume) love was a Jehovah's Witness. You know, I believe that Local Churches have far more in common with Kingdom Halls than they do with mainstream Evangelical or Orthodox churches.... just as the HWfMR has more in common with the Watchtower than it does with mainstream Christianity's daily devotional books... but I digress: Now, if you loved this Jehovah's Witness, and love the Lord your God with all of your heart, would you dare hesitate to share with her the TRUE gospel message, even though she appeared to be almost right religiously anyway? Would you risk her love to gain her soul? Don't you know that you can be sure that whoever brings a sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins? (James 5:20)

This is the situation: The gospel preached by Lee was not and is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ, nor is the Jesus of the Bible the 'processed, digested, triune God' Lee has proposed. Lee preached a different Jesus, and you know what that makes him.

2nd Corinthians 4:12 excerpted: "You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way. These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

Galatians 1:8-9 "Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed."

Brother, your girlfriend and her family and all the folks left behind in these LSM churches are victims. Some are willingly blind, its true - but she is young; she believes what she has been told by her family, her friends, and those she's been raised to see as her spiritual superiors. Her blindness is not her fault... not yet. She believes she has superior understanding of scripture because she has been consuming LSM doctrine for her whole life... but the Pharisees boasted likewise. Christ did not give up on them: His messages to them were sharp and to the point and many went unrepentant to their graves... But He did not mince words - and He still spoke to them and urged them to repent and see the error of their ways. We MUST do the same - and that is why we come to this Forum.

Brother, you said in an earlier post that your girlfriend found the depth of your Bible Studies lacking. This is an odd thing to say, considering that the groups with whom I met never had a Bible Study at all. They studied the HWfMR, they studied the footnotes for certain, and they would also study Life Study messages... but the Bible? The Pure Word of God? That I did not see. Perhaps in different "localities", but not in the ones I went too... You see, LSM's 'burden', if you will, is that we all NEED the "Interpreted Word" - the Word as interpreted by Witness Lee.

While in Anaheim, I was shown a video of one of Witness Lee's 'messages' (sermons), and here is what he 'released' (said) in that message: I wrote it in my Bible so I would not forget the words or tone the man took...

"I have worn out seven Bibles!"
"You've considered the 'Lord's Recovery' too lightly. You've never read the Recovery Version - yet you consider that you know something?! Not a short period of study would qualify you... You think it's easy to get (the truth)? It takes years! You think you can do better?! How much time have YOU spent?"
"You can't get as much nourishment from any book as you can from the Recovery Version of the Bible."

You hear what he's saying, of course: He is saying that he (Lee) is specially qualified to interpret the Bible for us. No one else in all of Christianity has his unique gift... this is why he called himself the "Minister of the Age" (a title you are unlikely to hear repeated these days, but one he used regardless). Whether your girlfriend ever heard messages like this or not is irrelevant, she has been taught to believe that she needs the footnotes to help her understand the Bible. That means she believes the footnotes must be 100% correct, that means she must believe that Lee had what no true man of God would dare to suggest he had: A thorough and complete understanding of everything God spoke in His Word to us.
It also means she doesn't understand what the Lord told us in His Word:

Matthew 23:8-12 "Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

Jeremiah 31:31-34 "“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.
“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

John 14:16-17 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you."

John 14:26 "...when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."

Brother, this shouldn't be about opening your girlfriends eyes to who Lee was. It has to be about opening her eyes to who Christ is. And only One can open the eyes of your girlfriend to the real truth about Christ. You know who that One is.

You need to get on your knees and pray for her, and you need others to stand with you in prayer for her and her family. She has believed a lie, and her eyes need to be opened. LSM is not just a church of a different flavour, it isn't just a harmless group of Christians who think too much of themselves - it is a crippled 'church' that has lost sight of the Faithful and True Witness - Christ Himself.

Are the people within these Local Churches real brothers and sisters in Christ? Perhaps no more or less so than any other gathering group of professing believers... which is to say, some certainly are, and likely many are not. That is for God to Judge, and again, He judges the heart. The issue is not whether they are genuine believers, rather it is how does what they believe allow them to live a life that Honors Him: Remember that He said many times that to love Him is to Obey Him (John 14:15)... are they obeying Him? Do they even understand that they need to Obey Him, or do they believe that they only need to 'breathe Him, eat Him, drink Him and enjoy Him'?

Brother, if your girlfriend believes your Bible studies lack depth, why not ask her to do a private Bible study with just you? It need not be done in private, but privately: together. The two of you in God's Word... without footnotes, that He may speak in His still, small voice to her heart.

James is the first written book of the New Testament, and it is a book that frustrated Lee. He believed James 'didn't get it', because James said that "faith without works is dead"... But God used James to write into His canon of Scripture. He didn't use Lee.

1st John is a book about the love for the brethren... and that is something also sorely lacking in Lee's ministry.

I don't know brother, I don't know where you ought to start... but I know He does. I pray that He shows you... and opens a door in this girl's heart. Lord God, please - open the eyes of these ones that they may see... and let the scales of the serpent fall away.


Your brother,

NeitherFirstnorLast