Church In Hong Kong

IDon'tKnow · 03-07-2009, 02:17 PM

Hello

I was looking around on the internet and found what appears to be a letter from the (presbyterian) church in Hong Kong on a chinese message board. (This was from google translate so I'm assuming presbyterian here means the elders in the church in Hong Kong) which states this.

At a rally, the speakers Howard Higashi (Translation by-lin) said: "Brother Lee (always) fully filled with the Holy Spirit, to invoke the name of Lee, we can also get life from him." This part appears to have been in English. Another reference to this letter seems to be made in another post about a cult called "?" (regular acceptor) according to google translate. I remember hearing once before on this forum something to the effect that Howard Higashi said something like this but previously had no context. Anyway I was hoping that somebody who know's more about the situation (who the people who sent this letter were, did the church in Hong Kong slit during this period and is this their letter) and who the "?" are. Somebody who actually knows Chinese would be a great help.

here is a link to the letter "http://66.249.89.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http://www.mnstars.net/forum2/bbs.php%3FK%3Dview%26b%3D1012325704%26w%3D23499401 5&prev=hp&usg=ALkJrhhw-kkmoyRJEBzgWH0yXIvIRH6cAA" (I had to press control-A to select all text so that the text would appear on screen)

And here is the link talking about the "http://209.85.30.235/articleReader.php?idx=112569"

UntoHim · 03-08-2009, 08:24 AM

I think this article is referring to the "Eastern Lightning" cult in Mainland China. There is little doubt that it has it's roots, in part, in the Local Church movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Lightning

Here is a functioning link to the article:
http://209.85.30.235/articleReader.php?idx=112569

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the "常受主" cult

作者：Nicodemus

The whole matter of "常受主" cult has been a stumble stone for many people in the Local Churches led by Witness Lee .

Firstly, there has been no evidence that Witness Lee had involved in or encouraged the cultic teaching and practice to call a man "Lord" and to exalt a man to the status of God. Some evidences indicate that the cult was ????ed from a remote and loose offshoot of the Local Church.

However, Witness Lee and the Local Church under his leading should have learnt a hard lesson from that. Unfortunately, they have not.

The 常受主 cult emerged in mainland China in the late 80s. Although there was no sign that Witness Lee had any direct involvement in the ????ing of the cult, the man-exalting culture in the Local Church makes it hard to convince people that the emergence of the 常受主 cult had no root in the condition of the Local Church.

It might be a coincidence that right at the time when the 常受主 cult emerged, Witness Lee was exalted to an undue high status within the Local Church.

..........(1991 signed by 香港教会全体长老同工) It is hard to believe that all the 16 elders and coworkers of 香港教会 were simply lying.

In 2001, I personally asked a brother, who once traveled to China for having fellowships with the Local Churches there, whether he had encoutered anything there. He told me that in Zhejiang, he did see something in some Local Churches; in the Lord's Day meetings, they would put a chair for "Brother Lee", and the leading brothers would say, "Our dear Brother Lee is among us".

Even more shocking is the way the LSM handled the matter after the 常受主 cult was exposed, they simply kept silent internally and externally, with some small moves trying to cover it up. They released words through some unofficial channels saying that "there is no such thing as a 常受主 sect, it is totally a slander and black-painting on the Local Church by the communist government". Some even replied to the questioning with laughable stories: "the local people in some places in China have strong accent, when they say "享受主", it sounds like "常受主". Many similar ridiculous explanation had been made up.

Not until 2001 did the LSM publicly admit the existence of the "常受主" cult and label it as a heresy unrelated to the LSM, when they published some words by Witness Lee spoken to the "Brothers and Sisters" who were involved in the 常受主 matter. These words were tape-recorded and sent to China in 1991 according to the LSM website. The question is, it is obvious that since 1990 (according to LSM website), LEE and the LSM have been totally aware of the existence of the 常受主 cult, why did not they offer an honest explanation to their church members and the christian community in general.

The whole matter not only have stumbled many brothers and sisters within the Local Church, harmed the image of the Local Church and its members, but also damaged the development of all the "house churches" in China. Up to today, many brothers and sisters are still being bothered by this bad name 常受主. Each time when I talk with the older brothers about this matter, they all just shake head and sign.

The lesson we all can learn from this is that Christians should be the light and salt of the world, should walk in the light, not to hide anything, not to cover up anything, not to let the dark side reign, not to leave chance to the enemy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

PriestlyScribe · 03-23-2024, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDon'tKnow

Hello
I was looking around on the internet and found what appears to be a letter from the (presbyterian) church in Hong Kong on a chinese message board. (This was from google translate so I'm assuming presbyterian here means the elders in the church in Hong Kong) which states this.

At a rally, the speakers Howard Higashi (Translation by-lin) said: "Brother Lee (always) fully filled with the Holy Spirit, to invoke the name of Lee, we can also get life from him." This part appears to have been in English. Another reference to this letter seems to be made in another post about a cult called "?" (regular acceptor) according to google translate. I remember hearing once before on this forum something to the effect that Howard Higashi said something like this but previously had no context. Anyway I was hoping that somebody who know's more about the situation (who the people who sent this letter were, did the church in Hong Kong slit during this period and is this their letter) and who the "?" are. Somebody who actually knows Chinese would be a great help.

Yes 'IDon'tKnow', you are correct - there was a 21 page Declaration issued by the church in Hong Kong in 1991.
Why that important document has remained so well hidden for decades is quite puzzling:

A Declaration Of All the Elders and Coworkers of the Church in Hong Kong Concerning the Present Situation of the Lord’s Work

The English Version of that document (graphics and hyperlinks added by me) may be read in it's entirety here: https://www.johningalls.com/#/reader/chapter/70

Enjoy...

P.S.

03-07-2009, 02:17 PM	#1
IDon'tKnow Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 67	Church In Hong Kong Hello I was looking around on the internet and found what appears to be a letter from the (presbyterian) church in Hong Kong on a chinese message board. (This was from google translate so I'm assuming presbyterian here means the elders in the church in Hong Kong) which states this. At a rally, the speakers Howard Higashi (Translation by-lin) said: "Brother Lee (always) fully filled with the Holy Spirit, to invoke the name of Lee, we can also get life from him." This part appears to have been in English. Another reference to this letter seems to be made in another post about a cult called "?" (regular acceptor) according to google translate. I remember hearing once before on this forum something to the effect that Howard Higashi said something like this but previously had no context. Anyway I was hoping that somebody who know's more about the situation (who the people who sent this letter were, did the church in Hong Kong slit during this period and is this their letter) and who the "?" are. Somebody who actually knows Chinese would be a great help. here is a link to the letter "http://66.249.89.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http://www.mnstars.net/forum2/bbs.php%3FK%3Dview%26b%3D1012325704%26w%3D23499401 5&prev=hp&usg=ALkJrhhw-kkmoyRJEBzgWH0yXIvIRH6cAA" (I had to press control-A to select all text so that the text would appear on screen) And here is the link talking about the "http://209.85.30.235/articleReader.php?idx=112569"

03-08-2009, 08:24 AM	#2
UntoHim Οὕτως γὰρ ἠγάπησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον For God So Loved The World Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,793	Re: Church In Hong Kong I think this article is referring to the "Eastern Lightning" cult in Mainland China. There is little doubt that it has it's roots, in part, in the Local Church movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Lightning Here is a functioning link to the article: http://209.85.30.235/articleReader.php?idx=112569 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the "常受主" cult 作者：Nicodemus The whole matter of "常受主" cult has been a stumble stone for many people in the Local Churches led by Witness Lee . Firstly, there has been no evidence that Witness Lee had involved in or encouraged the cultic teaching and practice to call a man "Lord" and to exalt a man to the status of God. Some evidences indicate that the cult was ????ed from a remote and loose offshoot of the Local Church. However, Witness Lee and the Local Church under his leading should have learnt a hard lesson from that. Unfortunately, they have not. The 常受主 cult emerged in mainland China in the late 80s. Although there was no sign that Witness Lee had any direct involvement in the ????ing of the cult, the man-exalting culture in the Local Church makes it hard to convince people that the emergence of the 常受主 cult had no root in the condition of the Local Church. It might be a coincidence that right at the time when the 常受主 cult emerged, Witness Lee was exalted to an undue high status within the Local Church. ..........(1991 signed by 香港教会全体长老同工) It is hard to believe that all the 16 elders and coworkers of 香港教会 were simply lying. In 2001, I personally asked a brother, who once traveled to China for having fellowships with the Local Churches there, whether he had encoutered anything there. He told me that in Zhejiang, he did see something in some Local Churches; in the Lord's Day meetings, they would put a chair for "Brother Lee", and the leading brothers would say, "Our dear Brother Lee is among us". Even more shocking is the way the LSM handled the matter after the 常受主 cult was exposed, they simply kept silent internally and externally, with some small moves trying to cover it up. They released words through some unofficial channels saying that "there is no such thing as a 常受主 sect, it is totally a slander and black-painting on the Local Church by the communist government". Some even replied to the questioning with laughable stories: "the local people in some places in China have strong accent, when they say "享受主", it sounds like "常受主". Many similar ridiculous explanation had been made up. Not until 2001 did the LSM publicly admit the existence of the "常受主" cult and label it as a heresy unrelated to the LSM, when they published some words by Witness Lee spoken to the "Brothers and Sisters" who were involved in the 常受主 matter. These words were tape-recorded and sent to China in 1991 according to the LSM website. The question is, it is obvious that since 1990 (according to LSM website), LEE and the LSM have been totally aware of the existence of the 常受主 cult, why did not they offer an honest explanation to their church members and the christian community in general. The whole matter not only have stumbled many brothers and sisters within the Local Church, harmed the image of the Local Church and its members, but also damaged the development of all the "house churches" in China. Up to today, many brothers and sisters are still being bothered by this bad name 常受主. Each time when I talk with the older brothers about this matter, they all just shake head and sign. The lesson we all can learn from this is that Christians should be the light and salt of the world, should walk in the light, not to hide anything, not to cover up anything, not to let the dark side reign, not to leave chance to the enemy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________ αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ἀμήν - 1 Peter 5:11