Partial Rapture And Dispensational Punishment

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

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What confuses and discourages the youngsters is when they feel impressed upon to swallow wholecloth a system of thought that's fraying at the edges. So they either shrug and say, "Well, I guess it's a thousand years of darkness for me, then" or they reject God in toto, associating it with these unending veils of entanglement.

WL, who presented us these teachings, had a team of faithful brothers / sisters surrounding him maintaining his pristine image to all the saints. He was thus portrayed as part of the perfected class of overcomers. He had arrived, he set the standard, he modeled an overcomer. Even on my best day, however, I had no chance. Neither did any of the brothers with me, most of which had also given up by then.

In the struggle to arrive, to "make it" as an overcomer, we were often deceived into doing more. More serving, more meetings, more trainings. But what was happening within my heart and my life was not the desired results. Something was obviously wrong. Like all bad teachings, the fruit of our work is the opposite of what was initially promised to us. Age old legalism repackaged as "recovery."

Thus the result is as aron said -- either a shrug of defeat or the termination of faith. What shall the downtrodden do in order to get on with their lives? We had become hopeless and helpless like the rest of Christianity. WL even called us "moo cows." He said we had become Laodicea. This old mule was tired and needed a rest. Selah or C’est la vie?