In a local church only a few months... and now leaving.

I have a side question, does anyone know if LC threatens members if they leave? Like is there a punishment or some damnation that is told to members to try to scare them to stay in?

[OBW]

Originally Posted by NeedOfHelp

I have a side question, does anyone know if LC threatens members if they leave? Like is there a punishment or some damnation that is told to members to try to scare them to stay in?

Directly? No.

But they warn that they will be unable to "go on" with God. Oddly, it seems somewhat true for many because they get addicted to the kind of meetings that have been and can't find them elsewhere, so they just stop going anywhere and often die on the vine. It is a kind of sickness that is caused by the LRC and not by the other places.

And they also sometimes tell the kind of "someone once left and got run over by a truck" stories. Those have been told by all kinds of groups since before there were trucks (of course with a different culprit).

The worst thing they do is convince the people that their way is really the right way and everyone else's is wrong. And if they are failing at it, it is just a matter of our inability to do it right. Anything else is just wrong. Drill that in long enough and people are convinced that they are associated with the thing that is as close to "the way" as can be found and they will never leave. And if they do, they are convinced that nothing else will do instead because it is even "worse" than what they had.

But it is all smoke and mirrors. They tell you about how everyone else is in a garlic room as they cut clove after clove of garlic in the room until you don't recognize truth from fantasy. They are playing on the weakest part of man's mind, and that is often his vanity. A little like the rats that have two levers to pull; one gives them a mild, pleasurable electric shock while the other delivers run-of-the-mill food. They will pull the shock lever until they collapse, then get up and pull it some more. It strokes them.

I am reminded a little of that King of Rohan in the second book of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy who drove his own family away because of a spell cast upon him. When Gandalf drove off the spell, there was a slow change in both his appearance and his thinking. It can be eliminated. But not while the thinking remains clouded.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by OBW

Drill that in long enough and people are convinced that they are associated with the thing that is as close to "the way"

Stand back from it all and ask: Is this what Jesus pictured for his followers? Is going constant meetings, conferences, trainings, reading the same material, following one man, going around calling 'Oh Lord Jesus' all the time, what Jesus pictured for his followers?

Seems ludicrous to me.

[OBW]

Originally Posted by awareness

Stand back from it all and ask: Is this what Jesus pictured for his followers? Is going constant meetings, conferences, trainings, reading the same material, following one man, going around calling 'Oh Lord Jesus' all the time, what Jesus pictured for his followers?

Seems ludicrous to me.

If that is what had been recorded, then I could be willing to go along with it. But I don't find that anywhere. I find an OT full of types and pictures that made "meetings" less, on average, than once a month with long periods of working in the fields, buying and selling in the marketplace, living with family and hired workers — all with a commandment to love them, to deal with them honestly in all aspects of life, and so on.

And despite the rather lengthy section of one book that tells about all the sacrifices, it seems that after that, it was more common to find God saying "I desire obedience, not sacrifice."

Originally Posted by NeedOfHelp

I have a side question, does anyone know if LC threatens members if they leave? Like is there a punishment or some damnation that is told to members to try to scare them to stay in?

I would say no, but indirectly yes. I grew up in the local church and my grandpa is a leading individual in the church. I left years ago and definitely got looked down on. Maybe partially because I am happy to speak about it and am not quiet on my opinions of them. Of all the people that I knew there I only really ever see one person still and she was the only person I knew there that never judged me for being me. All I can say is that there are a lot of very fake people there. Christianity is about not judging others so there should be no reason to be fake. Eventually however, I stopped caring about what they would think of me and did what made me happy. I'm happily meeting somewhere else and have never felt happier. Definitely never experienced Christ in the local church like I did at my new church. So who cares what they say!!

[Cal]

The whole power of the LC over members and ex-members comes from the mistaken idea that you must go through them to get the blessings of God.

This is a total deception. There is no biblical reason to believe such a thing. God doesn't grant anyone exclusive distribution rights. In fact, the opposite is true. God will work through anyone and any group.

Once you see this deception for what it is, you are free. However, you must still chart a path for your "going on." You must find fellowship, live a holy life, and all the rest. Many people who are disappointed with their spiritual lives post-LC simply haven't learned to function outside of that cocoon-like culture. Even if you are assured that the LC has no power over you, you still have to find your way going forward. You have to adapt to new cultures and new ways of doing things.

Some of the LC-ingrained ideas die hard. It took me a long time to realize the point of life is not to be spiritual. Rather the point of being spiritual is life. By that I mean spirituality is supposed to issue in what the Bible calls "good works." In the same manner, for example, we eat, drink and breathe, but we don't make those things ends in themselves. The end is living itself--a life well-lived, full of good works, glorifying God. The LC tried to make everything about eating, and ended up with a vacuous, pointless culture.

The list goes on. But though the LC has no monopoly on anything, knowing that should become simply a footnote to your life going forward. You have to adapt and change.

[awareness]

What concerns me most about the LC movement, is not the flaws of the local church, but the flaws that were in me, that caused me to join the group, and stay in it for so long.

I can leave the local church flaws behind. But my flaws stay with me wherever I go ... and into my new life, outside the LC. These are the lasting flaws, that will just get us into more trouble, causing us to possibly repeat the pattern, taking us to another dead end.

I think it will come natural, or should, that after leaving we'll become very careful about hooking our wagon to: some one, some thing, or some movement, group, or leader.

Yes we may learn from others smarter than we. But that doesn't mean we hook up to them, like we hooked up to the local church.

I'd say the most important concern after leaving the LC is to develop your critical thinking (thinking for yourself). Cuz you allowed others in the LC do your thinking for you -- all nicely packaged and delivered to you (for a fee) -- a lot of your brain muscles atrophied. It may take time to redevelop them, back into shape, or to, in my case, develop them fresh. In a nutshell, basically, as Jesus advised, become "wise as serpents." And work out your relationship with God from there, wherever that may lead.

Yes, there's life after the local church ... and there's still God ... and Jesus ... and the Bible ... and love ... and laughs. More than enough.

Enjoy it!!! And be sure to give thanks ....

And there will be peace in the valley. Amen!

I have always had an issue with the LC saying that it is the "movement of the age" and that WL is the "apostle of the age". There is no mention of some great prophet or apostle rising from the land of the dragon (China) in the last days to bring all Christians back into the "true form" of meeting in Scripture. Honestly, brethren, don't you think that the Lord would be sure to mention that this special apostle was coming so that we would not "miss the boat"? Would He not want all of His saints to partake? If this is the TRUE church meeting in the TRUE way, would He not say something to make us watch for it? I realize that they lay hold of Philadelphia and claim to be that church. However, is it not THEY who say (when it comes to receiving light from any Christian not dead and long gone) "we are rich and have need of nothing?" Not like Philadelphia--but Laodicea.

I simply have never been able to "overcome" the incredible audacity of someone getting to the "playground" last and declaring himself "king of the hill". I guess that this means that I am NOT an overcomer and never will be!

And regarding what Igzy shared (and I agree!) about being spiritual--I would only say that all that it takes to be "spiritual" is to be focusing on the Lord Jesus and God the Father with love. At that moment, we are spiritual. There is no recipe, no mantra, only looking into His Beautiful Face and loving Him as we go through each day.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have always had an issue with the LC saying that it is the "movement of the age" and that WL is the "apostle of the age". There is no mention of some great prophet or apostle rising from the land of the dragon (China) in the last days to bring all Christians back into the "true form" of meeting in Scripture. Honestly, brethren, don't you think that the Lord would be sure to mention that this special apostle was coming so that we would not "miss the boat"? Would He not want all of His saints to partake? If this is the TRUE church meeting in the TRUE way, would He not say something to make us watch for it?

Have you not read that Nee and Lee were prophesied in Revelation as the two witnesses, the two olive trees?

Originally Posted by Ohio

Have you not read that Nee and Lee were prophesied in Revelation as the two witnesses, the two olive trees?

Ohio. Where had you read? Prove it.