Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
In the beginning, when I arrived in the local churches, everyone could stand up and minister whatever the Lord had spoken to them that week. We talked about our failures with our families, our children, at work, in our attitudes. We talked about the Lord's inspiration and move through us in the world. We talked about those who were around us, crying for help and guidance. We talked about God's mercy rescuing us again and again; His comfort, love, and His revelation of His glory as seen in His Holy Word. In it all, Jesus Christ our Lord, the Lord of all, was the constant beacon of light shining forth.
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I definitely treasured those days when so many testimonies were among us. The meetings in those early days were so filled with the freshness of the Spirit from all the saints.
Then changes were orchestrated by headquarters. We were regularly informed about how so many of these personal testimonies were simply "sea stories." None of us felt that way. I thought they were all great. Oh sure, some members had limited speaking skills, but with such a eager audience, everyone felt cherished. On my own, being so self-conscious, I would never have stood to give a testimony, but the Spirit within me could not be restrained! We were receiving encouragement and practical learning from one another, which I suppose was the problem. Brothers and sisters helping one another in the faith -- pretty dangerous stuff. To the bureaucrats, that is.
During conferences and trainings, both Witness Lee and Titus Chu henceforth demanded that we rehearse their messages during the testimony time. Personal testimonies, for the most part, were done away with, except, of course, those who got to give the messages. Thus we slowly settled into the drone of rehashing and regurgitating the messages of others. Lee moved on from the Life-Study period to the Crystalization-Study which I never felt had much anointing at all. Head knowledge, yes, anointing Spirit, no. Then PSRP was introduced from Taiwan to prop up those dead doctrines, but the excitement of every new program was quickly fleeting.