Eastern Lightning/The Shouters and the Local Church Cult

[InChristAlone]

Today, during the Lord's Table, one of responsible brothers told us about the Shouters aka Eastern Lightning cult in China. The first thing he said was that the cult has nothing to do with the Local Church. However, the members of the cult try to mix with saints from the LC, shouting similar slogans and taking Witness Lee as their teacher and Lord. They teach that the Bible became outdated, therefore there is no need to read it. They also believe that in the modern age, God "speaks" to people through the leaders of the cult. Besides, their behavior tend to be aggressive and they are known for killing people who want to leave the cult.

I have never heard about them but my first thought was Matthew 7:15-16 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" What a spin-off of the LRC and Witness Lee's teachings....

I will share some quotes with links about the cult:

Eastern Lightning's ideas that deny the Trinity developed from Witness Lee's teachings concerning the Trinity. Witness Lee's teachings were twisted in the Mainland and eventually mutated into Eastern Lightning's modalistic doctrine that there is only one God who used different names in different dispensations.

Who was Witness Lee?

Witness Lee was a follower of and co-worker with Watchman Nee. While Watchman Nee was an orthodox and influential Christian leader, he had some unusual views. His most famous unusual teaching was that denominations are wrong and that all believers in an area belong to the same local body. Churches in his group were known as Local Churches (地方教会) or Assembly Halls (聚会处). His group was also referred to as the Little Flock (小群).

Many of Witness Lee's teachings concerning the Trinity sound very much like modalism—the heresy that God was only one person who acted in different modes at different times.

Witness Lee denied that God was three persons. He considered the teaching that God is three persons to border on "tritheism." Witness Lee preferred the term "Triune God" (三一神) to the term "Trinity" (三位一体). He believed that the Father, the Son and the Spirit, though "distinct," were one person. He believed that Jesus was the "Triune God mingled with man." After Jesus' death and resurrection, Jesus became the Spirit. Witness Lee denied that his teaching was modalism. Even if it is not modalism, some of it sounds very close to modalism. Whatever the case, Witness Lee's teachings and the changes they underwent in China were an important factor in the development of Eastern Lightning.

Witness Lee's teachings in China

In 1967 Witness Lee started the "Calling Out" (or "Shouting") Movement (呼喊运动). He said that the Age of the Word had ended, and now it was the Age of the Spirit. Witness Lee taught that believers must "eat the Lord" (吃主) and the way to do this was by calling out or shouting his name (呼喊主名). Calling out his name was the way to release the Spirit in this Age of the Spirit.

After Deng Xiaoping's "opening up" of China in 1979, Witness Lee sent followers from overseas to Wenzhou (a city in Zhejiang Province) to contact believers from Watchman Nee's Local Church movement. They reportedly brought with them large amounts of Witness Lee's books, pamphlets and recordings. Within a few short years, their influence had spread throughout Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, Guangdong and other places. During their meetings they would shout "Jesus is Lord!" in an attempt to practice Witness Lee's teaching about calling out the Lord's name. This is how they got the nickname "Shouters" (呼喊派).

The Shouters (呼喊派) and the Local Churches (地方教会)

The term "Shouters" is not a precise term. The term "Shouters" covers many true believers. But some have used the term in a narrow sense to refer only to certain groups who have distorted the teachings of Witness Lee and have broken with the Local Churches. Not all Shouters accept Witness Lee's teachings, and not all followers of Witness Lee are Shouters. In particular, many Local Churches that follow Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are law-abiding groups that reject the term "Shouters."

Some Shouters and the Trinity

Some (not all) Shouters took Witness Lee's questionable doctrine of the Trinity one step further and became complete modalists. These groups held that the Father became the Son and was no longer the Father; the Son became the Spirit and was no longer the Son. That is, the Father, the Son and the Spirit are modes by which God manifests himself in different eras. They are not distinct persons.

The "Lord Changshou" sect

One branch of the Shouters held Witness Lee in such high esteem that they began to regard his authority and status as greater than Christ's. They called Witness Lee "Lord Changshou" (常受主) ("Changshou" is Witness Lee's given name). This, of course, goes far beyond the actual teaching of Witness Lee, who never proposed to set himself above Christ. Witness Lee acknowledged the fact that some people had started to worship him and made some attempt to stop it.

It has been reported that in 1995, this branch of the Shouters distributed million tracts in 20 major cities in China declaring that Witness Lee was the living Christ and that he would become the new king of the universe.

This "Lord Changshou" sect believed that you must call upon the Lord Changshou to be saved; that Jesus is someone of the past and will not return to save the world; and that Lord Changshou will return to save the world.

One can easily see how this cult became a pattern for Eastern Lightning. Indeed, the founder of Eastern Lightning was first part of the "Lord Changshou" sect.

http://www.chsource.org/en/articles/...deas-come-from

Section 2 of Where Did Eastern Lightning Come From?, A brief discussion of the origins and evolution of the Eastern Lightning cult

http://www.chsource.org/en/articles/...ders-come-from

Brief Look at Some of Eastern Lightning’s False Teachings

To sum up, around 1993 a member of the cult that worshiped Witness Lee as the "Christ of the End Times" started a new cult that replaced Witness Lee with a young Chinese woman named Yang Xiangbin. The basic idea is pretty similar.

The cult has grown at a tremendous rate in China. It has also been active in Hong Kong, and there have been some reports of activity among Chinese Christians in the West. My personal feeling, though, is that Eastern Lightning will never gain much traction outside of China. I think its ideas and the way they are expressed find a resonance among certain groups in China but will not have much impact on groups outside China. To take just one example, the idea that Christ had to return to China first because Chinese are the worst people on earth will sound ludicrous to most Westerners. But to the Chinese ear it may not sound quite so absurd. Harsh criticism of the Chinese people has a long tradition in China as a respected patriotic activity.

In any case, the cult has had a devastating impact on many, many churches and families across China. I believe that Eastern Lightning, like every other cult, is a Satanic attempt to divert people from the true gospel. While many have joined out of altruistic motives, they have been led astray. It is my hope and prayer that this article might help somebody see the cult for what it is and turn back to our true Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

http://www.chsource.org/en/articles/...gions/item/537

[InChristAlone]

A few basic beliefs

Here are a few of their basic beliefs:
Christ has already returned. The first time he came he was a Jew named Jesus. This time he is a Chinese woman.
There are three ages (or dispensations):
· The Age of Law —This is the Old Testament period.
· The Age of Grace —This is the time of Jesus until the second incarnation of Christ.
· The Kingdom Age —This is the End Times, which apparently began sometime in the 1990’s.
Eastern Lightning denies the Trinity. Instead, they affirm that God simply used different names in the three different ages:
· God was called “Jehovah” in the Age of Law.
· He was called “Jesus” in the Age of Grace.
· He is called “The Almighty God” in this present Kingdom Age (and currently The Almighty God is a certain Chinese woman).

One branch of the Shouters held Witness Lee in such high esteem that they began to regard his authority and status as greater than Christ’s. They called Witness Lee, “Lord Changshou” (Changshou is Witness Lee’s given name).

It has been reported that in 1995 this branch of the Shouters distributed 15 million tracts in 20 major cities in China declaring that Witness Lee was the living Christ and that he would become the new king of the universe. One can easily see how this cult became a pattern for Eastern Lightning.
This “Lord Changshou” sect believes that you must call upon the Lord Changshou to be saved; that Jesus is someone of the past and will not return to save the world; and that Lord Changshou will return to save the world.

http://www.facts.org.cn/ebook/201310...11_1137654.htm

[InChristAlone]

On April 16, 2002, there occurred a horrible terrorist event in China. This event was deliberately planned by the top leaders of the Eastern Lightning (EL) cult, and was entirely without precedent in the history of the Chinese Church.

Thirty-four top leaders of one large Chinese house church movement - China Gospel Fellowship - were trapped and kidnapped by members of the EL who had posed as teachers from the Haggai Institute from Singapore offering leadership training. The length of custody imposed on the leaders varied from one week to one month. At present (first week of June), there are still 5 leaders held. We don't know where they are, whether they are dead or alive, or how much longer we will have to wait before they are all released. During this time, their families have being anxiously waiting for their beloved, feeling hurt, weeping, not being able to eat or sleep, being greatly damaged emotionally and financially. Some of their children are not even 10 years old, while some are in middle school, high school or college. When they heard about the tragedy that came to their parents, the children became greatly distressed, and their school performance dropped dramatically. The families' hearts are suffering great pain and torment, grasping every sign of hope they can get and longing for miracles to happen! They greatly desire to see the police clamp down on the EL cult and rescue their beloved family members; this action taken by the EL is extremely rare in the history of the Chinese church.

The EL teaches their "believers" to abandon their families (and form a new one among EL followers) and jobs, and to trap people into their cult fanatically, by fair means or foul. Their practices are contemptible and sinister, knowing no moral restraint. They maintain control over their followers by means of drugs and eroticism. They demand absolute submission, and treat those who oppose them with kidnap, beating, physical disabling and murder. While violent acts done by the EL in mainland China are countless, this time their treatment of the CGF leaders was more civilized, with little physical violence being committed. However, they used many other despicable and base practices.

The EL cult has its origin in the Shouters, a Chinese movement formerly led by Witness Lee. Not only are their teachings against authentic Christianity, but their practices are also a substantial threat to people's lives, property and safety as well as the stability of the state. The strictness of their hierarchy and the maliciousness of their practices demonstrate that they are worse than a cult. Besides this, they have also joined with overseas gangsters to achieve their political ambition of uniting China and the world. With solid financial backing in place, they have started their plot to overthrow the government. They justify all means to develop their cult and strength their force. It is truly a terrifying sight! The fact is, the more EL followers there are, the less peace will China enjoy. The Chinese government should take strong measures against the EL. Restraining the EL is an extreme urgency now, and we cannot afford any more delay. The least neglect can result in endless future damage.

We have collected some true stories here to help the government see the true nature of the EL. We hope the state will pay more attention to this in response to our appeal, and take stronger action against the EL, to root them out and restore peace to our country.

A series of criminal cases conducted by the Eastern Lightning cult have now been cleared up. Two "defenders" of the cult, Liu Shun Ting and Liu Fa Ting, who had committed many severe crimes and caused grievous bodily harm to 9 people, were arrested – the People's Procuratorate of Tang He County in He Nan province was the office that granted the official permission to arrest them.

The Eastern Lightning cult has been growing secretly in Tang He and She Qi. The cult identifies itself with Christianity, but its practices are in clear contravention to Christian doctrines and canons. They attack the government and the religion policy of the state. The cult is strictly organized, using only one-way contact as the means to expand their membership, and they use only aliases in any written material. They have composed a so-called "constitution," published promotional material called "God's Voice to the Whole Universe," and set up offices as "district leader," "sub-district leader" and "church leader," while Liu Shun Ting and Liu Fa Ting are two on the defender's team. Their assignments are terrorist activities, putting all those who oppose or resist the cult on a "black list" and retaliating against them one by one. Within a two month period from October to November 1998, they used the offer of prayer for healing to snare their victims. As soon as they succeeded in getting the victims out of their villages, they would harm them grievously. This included disfigurement, breaking legs, cutting off ears and other cruelty with instruments such as daggers, iron bars and lime. They have committed 8 crimes, stolen 300 Yuan and one bicycle, and grievously harmed 9 people, among whom 6 had their legs broken and one had the right ear cut off. All of these have created terrible damage among the local people.

Quoted from He Nan Country News, November 1998


This event happened in March 2002 in Bai Shi Du, Yi Zhang county, He Nan province. There was an old lady who loves the Lord very much. She was nearly 80, and had a daughter named Zhang SongYun who joined the EL. She tried to persuade her mother to join too, but the mother discovered it was a trap and refused. Zhang tried to gouge out her mother's eye with her fingers. Although the mother didn't become completely blind, she is still having a hard time recovering her sight. When Zhang learnt that her mother didn't become blind, she sent her son to grandma's home and had him break her arms. The old lady was still receiving emergency treatment in the hospital by the time this report was written. Her church sent people to investigate the event, but people around her refused to disclose anything, but fearfully encouraged them to leave so as not to invite death for themselves. Because the investigators came from over 50 miles away and were very persistent, some people felt sorry to see them come in vain, so quietly told the investigators that this had all been caused by her daughters joining the EL. What a wretched tragedy!

March 2002


This happened in 2001 in the north suburb of Xi'an, a place called Long Shou Cun. Preacher Dong Xiu Lan was about 40. She was deceived by the EL and was taken to LanZhou to study for one month. The EL not only tried to control their victims with drugs, but resorted to violence, abuse and threatenings to those who refused to accept their teaching. Those who were not submissive were put in sacks and thrown into the river. Sister Dong suffered all kinds of insult and abuse. After a long period of waiting and not seeing her back, her husband took an EL member hostage and thus forced the EL to set her free. Only then was sister Dong released from those evil hands.

June 2001


This happened in May 2002 in He Jin city, Shan Xi province. After the 36 year old church leader Xue Ming Xue was deceived by the EL, he immediately came home and took his wife and other 6 leaders to XI'an for an EL training. One of the leaders had asked for three days leave from his job but didn't show up again for over 20 days. Later he was fired by his factory.

May 2002


Zhou Dian Yu was a widow in her 40's, living in the east suburb of Xi'an, Shan Xi province. She and her daughter were very zealous for the Lord, and thirsted after Him with very simple hearts. They both went to a training together and found out it was by EL people. They accepted the teaching anyway and were sent back. Their church talked with them and helped them to regain the truth, so they were willing to leave the EL. Zhou went to return the EL books, and didn't come back that night. The next morning she was found dead in a house, suffocated by coal gas. The police couldn't find out any evidence and gave up. In this way, a life was tragically ended by the EL.

October 2001


In the spring of 2001, an unmarried young lady about 20 was murdered in the center of Nan Chang city, Jiang Xi province, and another girl about the same age disappeared and has not yet been found. These two pretty girls had been members in Watchman Nee's Little Flock church (the "head covering" group). They were snared by some EL members who had been spying in their church and invited them to a one-month training. The murdered girl had refused to join the EL because she didn't want to lose her chastity. She fled home and was murdered sometime after.

Spring 2001


Xiao Peng was a 30 year old preacher who lived in Da Fang Ying village, She Qi county. He rejected the EL teaching in October 1998, and also encouraged other believers to defend the truth and resist false teaching. The EL hated him intensely, and one evening they lured him out of his village. The evil doers cut his face with knives, his blood pouring out, staining his clothes in red. They quickly stunned him with steel pipes, and cut off his right ears. Fortunately he was discovered in time and was sent to the hospital. His life was spared, but the disfigurement not only caused great pain and suffering to him, but also caused his family great loss and grievous emotional pain. Such a handsome young man suffered such cruel torture for the sake of the Lord. We can't help our tears, but our hearts are filled with indignation!

October 1998

http://www.chinaforjesus.com/EL_1.htm

[InChristAlone]

'Eastern Lightning': The banned religious group that has China worried

Hong Kong (CNN) -- The group was approaching fellow diners at a McDonald's restaurant in an eastern Chinese city on a recent Wednesday night, asking for their cellphone numbers, when one woman refused.
What happened next, captured by terrified onlookers on their cellphone cameras and later replayed in news reports, would shock the Chinese public and trigger an official crackdown on what Beijing has characterized as a dangerous doomsday "cult."
"Go to hell, demon," one of the accused, Zhang Lidong, yelled as he beat the woman with a steel mop handle, telling her she would "never come back in the next reincarnation."
Other members of the group threatened diners that they would kill anyone who intervened, reported Chinese state media.
By the time police arrived at the fast food outlet in the city of Zhaoyuan, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, they found the victim, a 37-year-old mother named Wu Shuoyan, lying in a pool of blood.
Zhang was kicking and stomping her while a boy beat her with the mop handle, state media reported; within the hour, she was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Five adults have been charged, along with a minor, with murder over the May 28 attack -- Zhang Lidong, Zhang Fan, Lyu Yingchun, Zhang Hang, Zhang Qiaolian. They are all members of the Church of Almighty God ("Quannengshen"), Zhaoyuan police said in a statement.
State television subsequently broadcast an interview with Zhang Lidong in his cell, in which he confessed to the killing but expressed no remorse.
"She was a demon," he said, telling the interviewer that he and his co-accused were members of the church. "She was an evil spirit."
Authorities said the accused were likely gathering the phone numbers to find potential new recruits when Wu's refusal angered them, state media reported.
Struggle with the 'great red dragon'
Also known as Eastern Lightning ("Dongfang Shandian"), the group preaches that Christ has been reincarnated as a woman from central China, and that the righteous are engaged in an apocalyptic struggle against China's Communist Party -- which they refer to as the "great red dragon."
Linked to kidnappings, violence and extortion, the group has been listed among 14 banned religious groups by China's Ministry of Public Security since 1995...

Eastern Lightning, part of a tradition of heterodox, quasi-Christian religious movements in China, was estimated as having between several hundred thousand and one million members, said Dunn. It was viewed by Beijing as the most serious threat to public stability of any of the Christian-affiliated movements that have been growing rapidly as China undergoes a religious revival, she said.
"There have been reports of murders and beatings at the hands of the group, but also at a more general level, very aggressive proselytizing, harassment, brainwashing," said Dunn. "Those accusations are very routine."


In December 2012, Chinese authorities rounded up hundreds of Eastern Lightning members when the group proclaimed, via loud public protests, that the end of the world was imminent.
The state-run China Daily reported that in October and November 1998, the group was responsible for a spate of robberies and assaults in China's central Henan Province that left victims' limbs broken and ears cut off.
And in 2002, the group allegedly kidnapped 34 evangelical Christian leaders belonging to the China Gospel Fellowship by posing as representatives of a theological institute from Singapore, holding them for two months in an effort to convert them, said Dunn.
The kidnapping episode reflected a longstanding strategy from Eastern Lightning to try to co-opt entire congregations -- whether underground "house churches," or state-sanctioned Protestant and Catholic churches -- by converting their leaders, she said.
To this end, they were said to use tactics including seducing, extorting or threatening pastors.

But most Eastern Lightning converts were middle-aged Christian women, said Dunn, with many hailing from impoverished rural areas, although the movement seemed to be increasingly penetrating wealthier urban areas. The group appealed to potential recruits through a promise of saving them from impending disaster or fatal disease, and had a reputation for strong-arm tactics.
"People are encouraged to door-knock, to pressure everyone they know to join the group. They send out evangelists throughout China," she said. "Their message is that if you don't join, you're more likely to go to hell or perhaps drop dead from cancer or God's judgment in some other form."

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/06/wo...tning-killing/

[InChristAlone]

The Shouters are an unbiblical cult active in China, as well as elsewhere in the world. Shouters are called Shouters because they shout, often while stomping their feet. Shouters are also known as "Yellers", "Local Church", "Recovery Church", "Assembly Hall" and "Assemblies".

Shouters are an offshoot of Watchman Nee's Little Flock in China. Shouters were led by Nee's student, Changshou Li (right), who called himself, "Witness Lee", and moved from China to Taiwan to the United Stated, where he died in 1997.

Witness Lee taught Shouters the satanic lie that humans - creatures - were divine like God, whom he claimed wasn't triune:

“God can say to His believers, ‘I am divine and human,’ and His believers can reply, ‘Praise You, Lord. You are divine and human, and we are human and divine’.” - Witness Lee, The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, pp. 51-52 (1990)

“The Son is the Father, and the Son is also the Spirit ... and the Lord Jesus who is the Son is also the Eternal Father. Our Lord is the Son, and He is also the Father” - Witness Lee, Concerning the Triune God, pp. 18-19 (1973)

“Christ is of two natures, the human and the divine, and we are the same: we are of the human nature, but covered with the divine. He is the God-man, and we are the God-men. He is the ark made of wood covered with gold, and we are the boards made of wood covered with gold. In number we are different, but in nature we are exactly the same.” - Witness Lee, The All-Inclusive Christ, p.103 (1989).

Witness Lee taught that the Shouters were the only true church, teaching or preaching from the Bible is unnecessary, the gift of tongues can be taught, and that the Shouters can save people by making them say "O Lord" three times:

"We have seen that to reach the unbelievers, no preaching is necessary. If we help them say "O Lord" three times, they will be saved. If they open the window, the air will get in. All they have to do is to open their mouths and say, "O Lord, O Lord." Even if they have no intention of believing, still they will be caught!" - Witness Lee, Stream Magazine, Vlll: l, Feb l, 1970, 6.

"We do not need the Bible study classes; we need the weeping classes to weep for the spiritual poverty and deadness." - Witness Lee, The Stream.

"In the past, I taught many people how to speak in tongues." - Witness Lee, Life-Study of Hebrews, p.747 (1993).

Shouters are also taught that a Christian can continue to sin "all the time", and then will burn in the "eternal fire" that apparently does not punish eternally:

"If a person has become a Christian but his hands or feet sin all the time, he will suffer the punishment of the eternal fire in the kingdom of the heavens. He will not suffer this punishment eternally, but will suffer it only in the age of the kingdom" - Watchman Nee, The Gospel of God, Vol 3. p 443.

http://www.billionbibles.org/china/shouters.html

[InChristAlone]

The China Anti-Cult Association says on its website that The Shouters, an offshoot of a group called the Local Churches, was founded in 1962, in the United States, by Li Changshou (aka Witness Lee, a preacher who was born in Yantai, Shandong province). Having reached China in 1979, The Shouters had gained a foothold in 20 provinces and had more than 200,000 mainland followers by 1984. Lee distorted the teachings of Christianity and encouraged his followers to chant "Lord Changshou", the website says. Leaders in his organisation, it says, declare they "want to mobilise all churches and challenge the Chinese Communist Party and the government till the end".

The general revival of Christian belief in the mainland, which began around 1974, was met with severe government crackdowns. In 1983, Beijing launched a nationwide "strike-hard" anti-crime campaign. In Henan, house churches that refused to join government-approved churches were labelled "reactionary shouters" and believers who promoted books by Watchman Nee (a Christian teacher who worked in the mainland in the early 20th century) and Witness Lee were sent to prison.

The Recovery Version - that used in Daying - is a study Bible translated by the Living Stream Ministry with aids, such as footnotes, charts and maps, produced by Lee. A non-profit corporation founded in 1965 by Lee, Living Stream Ministry, which is based in California, in the US, also publishes the works of Watchman Nee. Morning Revival is a series of pamphlets dedicated to morning worship and study printed by the ministry.

In 1995, the government branded The Shouters and its derivatives, which include the Church of Almighty God, or Eastern Lightning, an evil cult. Further "strike-hard" campaigns were launched, in 1996, 2001 and 2010.

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-m...6/shouted-down

[InChristAlone]

The Shouters is the Chinese version of the Local Church, theologically a cult of Christianity.

A court in China's Fujian province has issued an ''evil cult'' indictment of a Hong Kong businessman who transported Bibles into China and may hand him a death sentence, a Hong Kong rights group has said.

The court in the city of Fu Qing said Hong Kong trader Li Guangqiang had ''used an evil cult to damage a law-based society'', the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.

Li Guangqiang in April and May 2000 took 33,000 bibles in two lots into China's Fujian Province to supply an underground Christian group called the Shouter's sect, the group said. He was arrested on his second trip.
Source: Bible importer faces death in China, Reuters, Jan. 5, 2002

The Shouters (Huhan Pai) One source lists the Shouters as being the successors to the Little Flock. [4oh] Other sources place the Shouters as having begun in China in Henan province in the 1960s, having been an import from South Korea. The South Korean sect is led by Li Changshou, who has a semi-divine status amongst the Shouters.[4ok] Most sources put the number of Shouters at 200,000 in the 1980s before and during the 1983 crackdown. [4oh,4ok] The Shouters were so called as members engaged in public shouting as part of their worship. [4ok]
Source: Asylum in the UKOff-site Link, Immigration and Nationality Directorate

Lightning is the most aggressive Christian sect to emerge in China since the revolution, but it follows a beaten path. In the decades before the communists swept to power in 1949, a Chinese missionary known as Watchman Nee built his congregation, the Little Flock, to 300,000 followers in central China. The sect's emphasis on decentralized congregations launched a home-church movement that helped Christianity survive communist repression. Yet as Little Flock congregations became isolated, they splintered into separate groups. The Shouters, for instance, rewrote the Lord's Prayer to read simply, ''Oh, Lord Jesus,'' and taught followers to holler the phrase while stamping their feet in unison.
Source: Jesus Is Back, and She's Chinese, TIME Asia, Nov. 5, 2001

That practice is peculiar to the late Witness Lee's Local Church (Lord's Recovery). Lee was himself a former disciple and co-worker of Watchman Nee.

The Local Church practice of calling on the name of the Lord involves the exhilarated, repetitious shouting out loudly of O Lord Jesus. This practice is carried out to be saved, which according to Lee, involves being mingled with God. Lee will appeal to Old and New Testament references to support this practice.
Source: Local Church MeetingsOff-site Link, and article at the contra-Local Church site, Light of Truth Ministries

The Bibles had been identified as Recovery Version New Testaments which are published by the Living Stream Ministry, the publishing-arm of the Local Church movement. The extensive footnotes written by Witness Lee and the Scripture text found in this edition are supportive of the beliefs and practices of the movement. Footnotes from the Book of Revelation state that denominational groups are spiritual fornicators for taking on names other than that of Christ (Baptist, Presbyterian, Anglican, etc), that Christianity is degraded for taking on these denominational names, that denominational groups are the harlot daughters of the Whore of Babylon, and that Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism have become an organization used by Satan as a tool to damage God's economy (a la Lee).
Source: Light of Truth MinistriesOff-site Link

The Bible that the Local Church offers in the United States is called the Recovery Version [4] of the New Testament and is unique, both for its theology and for its massive doctrinal commentary, which exceeds the actual biblical text on many pages. Study note #5 for Revelation 2:9 reads: "Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, as well as Judaism, fall into this category [opposing God], having become an organization of Satan as his tool to damage God's economy."
Source: Apologia Report, Volume 7: Number 3, January 28, 2002

Reportedly, orthodox evangelical Christians in China do consider The Shouters sect to be heretical. People who leave that movement for a genuinely Christian church are usually re-baptized.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s44.html

[awareness]

Thanks for all the work ICA.

After reading all the material it seems cults follow in the wake of Witness Lee.

I know it did for me.

[InChristAlone]

Originally Posted by awareness

Thanks for all the work ICA.

After reading all the material it seems cults follow in the wake of Witness Lee.

I know it did for me.

You are welcome, Awareness.

I agree with you. Eastern Lightning/the Shouters follow in the wake of Witness Lee. The new cult was modified, nevertheless it takes its origin from WN, WL, their doctrines and practices. That's why in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the shouters join the LC without trouble and even take over some halls. The louder they shout, the more spiritual it sounds for LRC members.

[Justin]

Originally Posted by InChristAlone

You are welcome, Awareness.

I agree with you. Eastern Lightning/the Shouters follow in the wake of Witness Lee. The new cult was modified, nevertheless it takes its origin from WN, WL, their doctrines and practices. That's why in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the shouters join the LC without trouble and even take over some halls. The louder they shout, the more spiritual it sounds for LRC members.

Brother's & Sister's we should keep are gaurds up even here in the USA of this group, of there deceptive ways of trying to take in control of are Local Churches. Ive even noticed in some Messianic christian groups it has subtley sneeking its way in

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Justin

Brother's & Sister's we should keep are gaurds up even here in the USA of this group, of there deceptive ways of trying to take in control of are Local Churches. Ive even noticed in some Messianic christian groups it has subtley sneeking its way in

I don't know much about the Eastern Lightning/Shouters, but I have always been bothered by the supposed relationship with the LC.

Now and then over the years, I have heard LC leadership attempt to reiterate that we are in no way related to the Eastern Lightning/Shouters. What I have failed to understand is if that is the case, then why would there be the need to say that in the first place? In other words, if there was no relationship whatsoever to the LC, then why would people think that there is some connection?

From the research I've done, it appears that these groups are indeed offshoots of the LC. I think the relationship to the LC is "distant" enough that they are not commonly associated with the LC, at least in the U.S.

The way I feel is that these offshoot groups don't form for no reason. I think that certain things about the LC can lead to groups like these. For example, no one can contradict what WL says, and he is an unquestioned authority in the LC.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by Freedom

I don't know much about the Eastern Lightning/Shouters, but I have always been bothered by the supposed relationship with the LC..

Here's a great link on Eastern Lightning, Nee & Lee:
http://english.kaiwind.com/ebook/201...11_1137654.htm

[Koinonia]

Beware of the Cult “the church of the Almighty God.”

After three years of the dreadful murder case that happened at a McDonald's restaurant in Shandong, China, an atrocious cult group by the name of “Eastern Lightening” recently resurged like dying embers that flare up, especially on Facebook. Originating from Mainland China in the 1990s, they deceitfully claimed themselves to be Christians and asserted “When Jesus arrived, He was male, and this time He is female.” “Christ of the last days has appeared,” and “the first incarnate God did not complete the work of incarnation.”

Like gangrene, “Eastern Lightning” developed in China and even infiltrated to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, North America and other countries. “Eastern Lightning” began to advertise openly on newspapers in Taiwan under the name of “The Church of Almighty God”. In early 2013, they even published full-page ads for a number of consecutive days, giving people a false impression that a new Christian church was actively preaching the gospel.

At the Anti-Eastern Lightning Forum, Christian ministers and pastors clearly stated that not only is the teaching of “The Church of Almighty God” incompatible with the fundamentals of the Christian faith, but they also use many unlawful means to force its believers into submission.

Upon examining its advertisements, we have found the teaching of “Eastern Lightning”, or “The Church of Almighty God” to be heretical. It is not the “church” as revealed in the Bible.

• “Eastern Lightning” does not confess the name of Jesus and does not believe in Him as the eternal God.
• “Eastern Lightning” denies the absolute authority of the Bible.
• “Eastern Lightning” does not believe in the Triune God.
• “Eastern Lightning” has extremely erroneous interpretations of the status and work of Jesus Christ.

They invite people to study the Bible with them, absorbing seekers of the truth. Yet what they teach is not the pure word of God. According to news reports, they ensnared people by money, exchanging favors, or even sexual seduction.
What should you do if you meet such a heretic?

1. Upload his / her photo – to make a list of the heretics for the church, and remind the saints to stay away from these people.
2. Avoid contact - do not touch anything they give, such as a drink.
3. Tell the church – have fellowship with the Body of Christ, and talk to the responsible brothers of your church.

[Freedom]

I do wonder what the Christian Belief Research Institute is. The name sounds like a knockoff.

On a more serious note, just out of curiosity, I went to the EL website that is in English. It is bizarre to say the least. I was trying to determine what about the EL might be deceiving, but after what I saw, I couldn't imagine anyone mistaking that group for a legitimate Christian group.

Some time ago, the DCP issued the following statement: "Living Stream Ministry and the more than 4000 local churches it supports around the globe have no connection or linkage, formally or informally, to either ‘The Shouters’ or the groups that are currently the focus of the government crackdown, namely ‘Lightning from the East’ and the ‘All Mighty God Sect’." If what the DCP said were true, then it should also hold true that the EL would pose no particular 'threat' to LC members beyond the threat it poses to any given Christian group.

Since we already know that the EL has been known to target LC members for recruitment, it is clear that there is at least a 'linkage' in that respect. Now, there are examples of LC sites issuing more formal 'warnings' regarding the EL. I find this all to be very interesting in light of what the DCP has claimed about there being no linkage whatsoever. In fact, it makes it pretty clear that the what the DCP says is an outright lie.

What really troubles me is the question of why LC members would need to be told that the EL is an aberrant group in the first place. Shouldn't that be completely obvious? I guess it's not that obvious to LC members, even though they claim to be "constituted with the truth" and even though they regular criticize that the basic gospel as being too 'low'.

[Koinonia]

Originally Posted by Freedom

I do wonder what the Christian Belief Research Institute is. The name sounds like a knockoff.

"Christian Belief Research Institute" is a front organization set up in Taiwan by LC coworkers. In order to legitimize the LC, they brought on other Christian denominations into this organization to denounce Eastern Lightning. This was set up a couple of years ago. I found this mention of the CBRI in a Taiwanese Christian news website a couple of months ago. The article does not mention that the professor being quoted is an LC coworker. They have been making a concerted effort in both the U.S. and Taiwan of putting members through graduate school and divinity school in order to publish articles and speak authoritatively on subjects pertaining to the LC.

The last post for this blog is 2014. Are there any newer updates/posts? engmaj51@yahoo.com

[Awoken]

Well, I somehow ended up going down this "Eastern Lightning" rabbit hole today while looking up stuff related to modalism and Witness Lee. Wow. Bad, bad fruit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Lightning

https://www.chinasource.org/resource...ome-from/#ft16

https://www.chinasource.org/resource...ers-come-from/

Related to the last post by Unregistered, I haven't done extensive research, but it appears based on that Wikipedia article that there is at least some possibility that Eastern Lightning attempted to manipulate the Israeli 2019 elections.

What I really wanted to say here, though, is that ironically I believe that Zhao Weishan, Yang Xangbin, and these other antichrist leaders of Eastern Lightning are Witness Lee's most exemplary disciples. I say with a sense of gratefulness to the Lord for having snatched me out of a fire.

What I mean is that Witness Lee taught one thing and did another: in respect to teaching, Do as I say, not as I do, and in respect to doing, Take the parts of Scripture that best suit your purposes and twist them to make other people serve your interests.

For the most part we were all fearful enough to simply obey what WL said we should do, but we didn't actually go so far as to emulate his behavior. The Eastern Lightning leaders took his example and simply carried it to the natural conclusions, declaring themselves Christs, setting aside the previous teachings handed down to them by WL, and setting up their own sect. Bravo, sirs; you are better disciples than I was.

(Edited to add: Interesting note, they took the WL heresy of "God in life and nature but not in the Godhead", and just corrupted it one step further to "God in life and nature and in the Godhead").

[aron]

Originally Posted by Awoken

Zhao Weishan, Yang Xangbin, and these other antichrist leaders of Eastern Lightning are Witness Lee's most exemplary disciples. I say with a sense of gratefulness to the Lord for having snatched me out of a fire.

What I mean is that Witness Lee taught one thing and did another: in respect to teaching, Do as I say, not as I do, and in respect to doing, Take the parts of Scripture that best suit your purposes and twist them to make other people serve your interests.

For the most part we were all fearful enough to simply obey what WL said we should do, but we didn't actually go so far as to emulate his behavior. The Eastern Lightning leaders took his example and simply carried it to the natural conclusions, declaring themselves Christs... they took the WL heresy of "God in life and nature but not in the Godhead", and just corrupted it one step further to "God in life and nature and in the Godhead".

For any unfamiliar, those referenced above were once in the WL sect and broke off, and formed their own. Like Titus Chu and Dong Yu Lan, they declared themselves to be the new and unique ministers of the age. Their difference from WN, WL, TC, and DYL is only in matter of degree. In this the Blendeds of Anaheim are amateurs, self-proclaimed "small potatoes" whilst the others truly follow Nee and Lee and call themselves giants.

As Awoken notes, scripture is used to promote the message, then cast aside when not needed. Also in 2019 Jo Casteel said that LC, like EL, uses deceptive recruiting practices. The student isn't told what group the LC recruiters front. "We're just Christians who love Jesus." They'll carry KJV to blend in, and only later, once ties are forged, and dependencies established, do the screws turn. Also, code words are used to determine who is 'in' and 'not yet in', and these codes in turn allow double meanings in communication. Information control is paramount - information flows in but doesn't flow out.

The difference between LC and EL is the degree that practices are taken, but the DNA is the same. When China opened to the west, WL sent in cadres of recruiters and organisers to take over remnants of Nee's "house church", a theme was "The age of the Word is over; it is the age of the Spirit." In other words, don't trust the written word any more, trust your feeling when you shout repetitively. It was very successful - WL told us mid-90s that he had of millions in the Shouters. Then it all went south; we don't know the details, but the meteoric rise was followed by an epic collapse, and groups like the EL now apparently flourish in the wreckage. There are 6 or 8 of them with roots back to the Shouters, most of them bizarre and non-Christian. I remember one called Three Grades of Servants.

The "age has now turned" concept, in which the rule suddenly changes to suit its promulgator, can also be seen in the Little Flock/Local Church. When Nee arrived publicly as minister, his work subsumed all previous work. Protestant Christian hymns could be sung which were composed prior to Nee, but once he wrote a hymn, no contemporaries came alongside. Nee had thousands of different books (per Lee) but once he began to write, all those books were subsumed. Again, no more multitudes of contemporaneous sources - only one source of revelation was used, once Nee began to preach in the church. Any other preacher would be a rival.

Then with Lee, once he died, we were told that "the age of spiritual giants is over", and no fresh revelations would be forthcoming. Now LC members were to peruse the closed ministry and glean it. In both cases we can see the age turning around the person of the minister. The EL, and other Shouter off-shoots, take this self-oriented pattern. A new age has begun, and new rules can be made to suit their promoters.

Originally Posted by InChristAlone

A few basic beliefs

There are three ages (or dispensations):
· The Age of Law —This is the Old Testament period.
· The Age of Grace —This is the time of Jesus until the second incarnation of Christ.
· The Kingdom Age —This is the End Times, which apparently began sometime in the 1990’s.

Contrast, Acts 3:22 and 7:37 show Jesus as the new Moses, cf Deut 18:15. He's the new law-giver. "A new commandment I give to you." Nowhere in the NT does it imply that this privilege extends beyond Jesus. Anyone who claims this is a false Christ. The age turned with Jesus Christ, but it did not turn with Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, or Yang Xanbin.

[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

The difference between LC and EL is the degree that practices are taken, but the DNA is the same.

In both the EL and LC the concept is put forth, and accepted by adherents, that the age has turned. That's why Christian hymns get celebrated publicly in LC meetings, up to the advent of Nee. When Nee arrived on the scene, two thousand years of Christian plurality was subsumed, finished. And this person-centric church was then made explicit when Lee died. I was there when the Blended from Anaheim passed thru, and solemnly told us that the age had turned. No Bible verses were asked for and none was offered. Witness Lee had died, and the age had turned, and that was that. An era of human history was over, and another had begun. Henceforth, no more spiritual giants would roam the earth.

Something didn't feel right but my conscience was covered by years of repetitive shouting, and my brain pickled by ministry inculcation, and I let it in passively. One didn't challenge the Anaheimians after all. Yes it did seem a bit odd, but there was odd stuff in the LC, there's odd stuff everywhere. We were 'God's peculiar people' after all! So I just shrugged it off. Today, the open, heretical blatancy of LC spinoff EL cues to both groups being untethered from objective human reason, unhinged from the Bible and divorced from Christian ethos. In some ways the LC is even more sinister because it's less obvious. But when Jo Casteel reported deceptive recruiting practices in Tennessee that was an eye-opener. Because that's the bread-and-butter of EL recruiting.

[aron]

What follows are examples of what I term novel speaking by the self-styled minister of the age. See if it comports with Christianity in any form.

Title: LEAVE OUR OLD CONCEPTS AND CAPTURE THE NEW VISION OF THE LORD'S PRESENT RECOVERY

(Turns out, everything you've been taught thus far [by WL] has been 'old concepts' and now he has 'the new vision'. But only he can make this judgment. We can't tell him this, he tells us this.)

"If there are fifty saints in a local church, we have to look to the Lord for all of them to become engaged in some kind of practical service for the Lord. Fifteen Saints could go out knocking on the doors of the neighborhood to win people to the Lord. another fifteen could take over the home meetings. Perhaps those who go out to preach the gospel could transfer the care of the new believers they win to those who have received the burden of establishing home meetings. Fifteen other Saints could take over the small group meetings. In a short time, perhaps three or four months, all fifty Saints could be busy with some kind of practical service for the Lord, caring for new believers and younger believers. If each of the Saints were to take care of one of the newly baptized for a year, think how much the new believers would grow! All the teaching materials, the lesson books, are at our disposal. We could communicate these things to new believers through the Spirit and with much prayer. If we go this way, the church could easily double in number in the course of a year."

(WL said that we could easily double in number in the course of a year. What does Deuteronomy tell us about a prophet whose word doesn't come to pass? And where's the leading of the Holy Spirit in this kind of 'new vision' direction from HQ? "Fifteen of you - here. Fifteen of you - there." I was there and we were told, "You, you, you - you're now a 'vital group'")

"If we take this new way that the Lord has shown us, after a year our numbers will double, and many Saints will be trained, perfected, and instructed to speak in rich content meetings. I firmly believe that the Lord will regain this path among us fully. The result of this journey is not a large congregation that serves as a facade to make a good impression on others. If we are faithful to the Lord, the time will come when the Lord will win twenty thousand in a city of one hundred and fifty thousand. On the Lord's Day, all of them may serve the Lord in different ways. Some might go out knocking on doors in the neighborhood, some might go out to care for home gatherings, and still others might be in charge of small group meetings. So many homes throughout the city, in all their streets, they would worship the Lord, singing hymns to Him, praising Him, and talking about Him. Occasionally, perhaps once a month or every two or three months, the entire church will come together. If we don't have a meeting room that is big enough, we could use an auditorium or a stadium."

(I was in trainings where we were promised the moon if we'd only go with the apostle's vision. We were entranced - what good fortune! The very directions from God himself was reaching us through this humble little brother! A few old-timers were nonplussed, "We've heard all this before." The young fire-breathers were like, "No!! We must believe!! This is God!!")

"The path we took in the past was not effective. The Lord, then, wants to discard everything that belongs to the old way, which was traditional and did not conform to the Scriptures. He wants to do something for His recovery in a new way. We need to catch the vision that corresponds to the Lord's present recovery. Otherwise, we ourselves will be excluded. In such a case, we will be content to remain in our old age. It is up to ourselves to move forward with the Lord in His present recovery, or not to move forward. But we must know that once the change of age occurs, no one will wait for us. Once the advent of the age to come occurs, we will be left behind and excluded as far as the Lord's move is concerned."

(WL had seen three periods explosive church growth: once in mainland China, then in Taiwan, and then S Cal [not sure of first two, but S Cal had other nearby groups simultaneously {!!} experiencing even greater growth {!!} during the Jesus People era]. Evidently that previous strong growth was 'not effective' and termed 'the old way' and WL had freedom to re-invent Church practice in front of everyone. Even the Pope in Rome wouldn't be this bold.)

Text copied from

https://www.iglesiaenpadrelascasas.o...acion-de-dios/

[Awoken]

Here's a fascinating watch on another cult, the "World Mission Society Church of God", lately dubbed the "Mother God" cult. The reason I'm posting this is that the similarities between Eastern Lightning and the Mother God cult are spookily similar. The Mother God group is a cult of South Korean origins which was started by a man who was born Buddhist but got baptized as a Seventh Day Adventist, and who then started preaching that many of the current-day practices of Christianity were pagan/ritualism, that Jesus Christ was coming back soon, that he was Elijah come again, etc. After he died the group split into two variants, one of which, the quickly-spreading Mother God group, decided his mistress is the female God. I couldn't help but be engrossed (and creeped out) by how many similarities there are between this group and the LCs/Eastern Lightning, and there are times in this video when, taken out of context, the speakers could easily be talking about Witness Lee and the offshoots of his theology.

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