Publication Work in The Lord's Recovery aka The One Publication

[aron]

Originally Posted by Drake

Well let's explore your slanderous comparison for a moment. If a crack dealer gave away as much as you wanted for free and did not charge you a nickel ever for it then what would make you think that the crack dealer was out to make money?...the business strategy of LOSS Leader does not apply when its all available for free.

Oh, they're giving away the "Collected Works" for free? Okay, I'm willing to reconsider my 'slander'.

And yes I know it's called a "loss leader". I didn't do the spell check, so you did it for me. Thanks for paying attention.

I was in a meeting once in the mid-'90s, and one of the soon-to-be-blendeds told us with some evident satisfaction how much of his disposable income the LSM was taking, from buying books (many to give away to "contacts" and "new ones") to "the Lord's move to Europe" to his local assembly. He was quite specific with the percentages, and clearly was holding himself forth as "a pattern to be followed in the church".

Those few free tracts are supposed to pave the way to a lifetime of voluntary servitude. If you thought the crack dealer adage was too much, how about the JW's - they stand there, next to their cardboard kiosks, handing out their version of the One Publication. So selfless of them! Take a Watch Tower for free.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/h/r1/lp-e (Quote: "For publication downloads, please visit 'jw.org'.")

So free tracts and ministry excerpts are supposed to signal enlightened beneficence? How completely clueless do you suppose the general public is, out there? It's not 1971 anymore. Sorry.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by aron

Oh, they're giving away the "Collected Works" for free? Okay, I'm willing to reconsider my 'slander'.

aron,

Why the circular conversation?

You and others already said that the content of the Collected Works are just repeats and repackaging of already published material. That material has been available for free for years at lsm.org. So yes, the messages are available for free as they have been for years.

Drake

[aron]

Originally Posted by Drake

aron,


Why the circular conversation?


You and others already said that the content of the Collected Works are just repeats and repackaging of already published material. That material has been available for free for years at lsm.org. So yes, the messages are available for free as they have been for years.



Drake

You forgot the word 'resold'. They are just repeats and repackaging and reselling of already published and sold material. Don't forget there's money changing hands, here. Again.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by aron

You forgot the word 'resold'. They are just repeats and repackaging and reselling of already published and sold material. Don't forget there's money changing hands, here. Again.

aron... brother ... please....

The content of Collected Works is on the lsm.org site for FREE. No money changes hands when you read them there. The online publications are not sold. They are free. Not just few tracts or a few books. Do the due diligence on this and then consider WHY this ministry gives away its publications for free. Once that is understood then you will have a different objection and argument but at least it will be based on facts.

Drake

[aron]

Originally Posted by Drake

consider WHY this ministry gives away its publications for free. Once that is understood then you will have a different objection and argument but at least it will be based on facts.

Drake

You can't say there's no money in being a modern prophet, a self-styled 'oracle of God'. First off, you can charge a fee, for folks to come listen to you speak. These "training fees" then can be used to repay the interest-free loans you got from them to support the kiddo's business. See the phone conversation transcript between W Lee and S Benoit. There, Lee says that just one of his 'local churches' loaned him $100K. We have no idea how much in total all the various assembies ponied up for Junior's business, Daystar. But Lee admitted that one church = $100K. That's serious cash flow, folks... early-'70s money, when 100 large could buy you something. (and we have no idea how many 'localities' got their $$ back and how many "considered it a donation" [after it had initially been pitched to them as an investment]).

Then, after the talk series or "conference" is over, you can edit and print the message series, collate them, bind them into a book, and sell them back to the audience. Later, you can again sell the the same folks re-packaged material as "HWFMR" and "Collected Works". Yes we know Works are dead ...e.g., "Dead Works" ...but they can be collected and sold, anyway.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by aron

. Later, you can again sell the the same folks re-packaged material as "HWFMR" and "Collected Works".

That’s right!

And if their motive was profit they could make those printed publications the only way to gain access to the messages....

.... but then, the whole fake (and frankly silly) fill the coffers argument crumbles when they offer the same content at LSM.org for free.

Not that you care brother but I’ll share why I own the CWWL. First, I don’t own them because someone told me I had to buy them. I don’t own them because there was a edict that said I can only read Witness Lee. I don’t own them because I am in the Lord’s recovery and we all are pressured to own them. None of that. In my 40 years enjoying this ministry I’ve never heard ridiculous rhetoric like that. Rather, I bought and own the CWWL because 1) I treasure the truths the Lord released through Brother Witness Lee, 2) I prefer the chronological organization of the set by year, indexes, etc. and 3) and foremost, I believe in the mission and motive of LSM and those of its imprints in its outreach to distribute these truths to the world and therefore am happy to support that monetarily. This is one way to do that.

I, like most of us, accumulated versions of these publications over decades. I had loose leaf, cassettes, paperback, hardback, partial sets, CDs, stapled sheets of paper, and they all served a useful purpose in time and place. The online FREE version is useful too and many just prefer that delivery mechanism. As for me, I couldn’t be more pleased to have this hard copy collection so labored on by faithful brothers and sisters and made available in a consolidated 10 linear feet and organized in such a professional format.

Drake

[aron]

Originally Posted by Drake

That’s right!
And if their motive was profit they could make those printed publications the only way to gain access to the messages....
.... but then, the whole fake (and frankly silly) fill the coffers argument crumbles when they offer the same content at LSM.org for free.

I'm glad we have your view, otherwise we might think they were strong-arming a captive market, and peddling the word of God for personal gain, and that the One Publication edict had some sinister edge.

Originally Posted by UntoHim

..just listen to the president of the Living Stream Ministry, Mr Benson Phillips: “In any case, do not leave the Lord’s recovery. I can assure you that if you go away from the Lord’s recovery, you will have no way for the process of sanctification to go forward within you. Instead, you will just enter into a bankrupt situation. I know of no one who has left the Lord’s recovery and today is a great spiritual person on the earth. The sanctification process is carried out in the Lord’s recovery"
~The Ministry Magazine Vol. 8, No. 1 Page 189, first paragraph

Anyway it's too pat to say the motive was merely profit. I'd say it was more like to control people. Money is just one of many means to control, and one of the benefits of control. It has uses, clearly - how else to fund full-time campus recruiters and training centers? Money has been important in the Lord's recovery, a least since the days when Witness Lee was pushing cheap manufactured chairs on the captive assemblies. Positive cash flow has always been a theme at LSM.

Originally Posted by Drake

to distribute these truths to the world and therefore am happy to support that monetarily. This is one way to do that.

What LSM distributes to the world is the idea that there's only one legitimate collective representation of Christ, which happens to be their captive flock, that there's one ministry carrying out sanctification and edification and building up, which happens to be theirs, and that they have the only printing press in town.

Look at Lee's use of the word "proper" some time - he used it a lot, and in his hands it was a self-serving, loaded, subjective and unverifiable term. This constant theme helped him a avoid competing in the free market of ideas. In fact, he said that if you read other ideas, you might get "poisoned". You might get "confused."

But, controlling? Nah. They're just "distributing truths".

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Drake

And if their motive was profit they could make those printed publications the only way to gain access to the messages....

With so many satisfied customers like you, why do you think LSM would be compelled to issue this One Publication decree?

With such a loving attitude of kindness and generosity, why do you think LSM decided that it needed this One Publication decree to excommunicate life-long co-workers such as Titus Chu for printing his own books?