Quote:
Originally Posted by Betsy
My little Renee (lr) has become entangled with the church the last few years. To stay informed, I have also become involved with spending time in going to meetings and taking the FTTA-online etc., but I have remained an outsider. I can see why the church focuses on recruiting young people -- they are more gullible and naive than those who are no longer young.
At first I was pleased for lr. Having a strong faith is a good thing, and having a church life to express it is a good thing. Now I'm mostly concerned if or how much damage it can do. It's hard for me to relate as I don't have the subjective experience of any emotional attachment to this LSM ministry, but I can see on this forum how much former members have been hurt.
I first saw the LSM church in a new light with red flags waving, when lr asked me to order some recovery version Bibles on Amazon. Out of habit, I read some reviews, including the negative ones before I order anything and also because I was curious what anyone could say against a Bible. Well I got a tome of information about plagiarism, hundreds of examples cited in the notes of the recovery version. Well, the good thing is there's a lot of great stuff in those notes, personally selected by WL from many great Christian minds throughout the 1800s and earlier. The bad thing is that WL has copyrighted these notes as his own ideas.
This started what turned out to be the tip of the iceberg for WL et.al. I've learned not to mention anything against any of it because it only generates an angry and defensive response, so instead I spend a lot of time cringing silently. Anyway, the old saying is true, one catches a lot more with honey than with vinegar.
So my question is does anyone know of a good alternative, with seemingly endless audio and revival booklets as can be found with the LSM? I like Grace Gems and Enduringword.com, but they lack any physical presence. When we fellowship, I make a point to read the Bible first instead of the morning revival or life-studies, but I can tell they barely tolerate this. I wish I could better demonstrate my faith but I seem no match for the insincerity and contrivance of the LSM. What would be the most painless way to untangle a saint?
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Dear Mom,
It was helpful to me that my parents were keeping the door open not for them to go in, but for me to come out. I continue to have a strong relationship/connection to God not based on any intermediaries. Also, I wish that my Baptist relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins) who were active in their churches and had a strong Christian walk, had invited me for a visit into their homes, me so that when I did come out of the LC, I had open loving arms to run into. I realize that some children never leave the LC. During a very dark time, I was pulled out into the light directly by God, who holds me in his loving arms. It is a no brainer that God is alive and well. He is with us whether we know it or not or can feel His presence or not, in times filled with light as well as during our darkest nights. The older I get the more I realize how big our God is!
For reading, how about the autobiography of the life of Billy Graham. His message is timeless and his faithfulness to the truth is always constant. Another book I just completed is the biography, My Unforgettable Memories Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, by Lily M. Hsu, MD. I got mine from Amazon. $9.99 Kindle Edition on my i-phone and I just ordered the English hard copy ($35.00). There is also a hard copy in Chinese.
Respectfully,
The überwinder
Member from 1968 (Visited Hall 2 LA as a child with my parents, James Barber sharing about hinds feet in high places, in a house before current meeting hall was built), he was kind of long winded and the room was hot, but then I was only 10. Other locations were in Europe, UK, California, and the Northwest from 1971-1983.)