What ever happened to Max Rappaport, John Ingells?

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by Ohio

JJ, I joined the church in Cleveland 2 years before Max departed. Much has been written about Max on this forum. At one point his daughter posted on the board. Here's the Cliff's Notes version:

Max was gifted salesman, turned evangelist, and groomed by Lee. With the new start of LSM (Stream Publishers ended) in Anaheim on Ball Road, Max was promoted to heir apparent and the "Universal Coordinator of the One New Man." Lee used Max to travel to the LC's, disrupting them, and shaking up their leadership with the goal of bringing all the saints under his dominion. Max signaled the end of "local churches," and the beginning of the "one body," code words for LSM maneuvers.

Lee used Max like a pawn, taking advantage of his talents and relative Christian immaturity. Max was morally upright, however, and confronted Phillip Lee in a restaurant about his affair at the new LSM office under construction. To avoid family embarrassment, Lee shamed Max's wife publicly, an old Chinese custom, while Max was out of town doing Lee's bidding. Lee called it the "sisters' rebellion." With Lee's takeover plans hitting a pothole, he dumped Max, blaming everything on him, and came out smelling like a rose.

Later on after he departed, Max repented, realizing he was used and discarded by Lee, and returned to his First Love. Apparently, the Lord did restor his ministry. Lee, however, never took any responsibility for his actions. Phillip later surfaced to create more chaos, expel elders and workers, molest more female "interns" at LSM, create a money-making enterprise, and bring all the saints under subjection.

It's been said of Witness Lee's unwillingness to reconcile with Max, "God is sovereign."
Maybe in respect to Max and Phillip, blood is thicker than water. In a sense they were both pawns. Max lined up local churches to become ministry churches and Phillip made LSM a multi-million dollar business and his father a millionaire in the process with the ministry churches as conduits to distribute Lee's ministry.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Terry

It's been said of Witness Lee's unwillingness to reconcile with Max, "God is sovereign."

Lee and LSM have never reconciled with anyone.

And that is God's sovereignty?

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Lee and LSM have never reconciled with anyone.

And that is God's sovereignty?

Pretty much. Circumstances that led to relationships being fractured was God's sovereignty, thus no need to reconcile. Although quite ignorant reconciliation is choosing or not choosing to exercise one's will to reconcile.

I do think the Lee/LSM view on not reconciling is more based on trust and less having to do with love. It's like this, "we brothers feel we cannot trust you to be man-honoring......". The LSM system requires brothers who can tow the party line. If you cannot be counted on one being one with the party, brothers cannot trust you to be one with them.