Multiple Testimonies of former Local Church members

I thought I'd pass on a link to an informative webpage refuting the teachings of the "Local Churches". It also contains many helpful testimonies of former members that had left this movement;

http://www.bcbsr.com/topics/lc.html

[aron]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I thought I'd pass on a link to an informative webpage refuting the teachings of the "Local Churches".

"If its own anti-dogmatic stand ('that we may forsake all of those teachings, regardless of whether they are right or wrong' ~Witness Lee) could be applied to Lee and Nee's teachings themselves as it is applied to non-local church teachings, viewing them simply as their opinions rather than Biblical truth, then local church people might be more open to consider more Biblical interpretations without simply viewing them through the local church theological filter."

The way I once put it was, Why does LSM use "Affirmation and Critique" with other Christian ministries, yet categorically forbids critique of it's own? In the local church, if one speaks critically of anything at all in the ministry of Lee, they're regarded with suspicion and alarm; one's held as being "negative" or "divisive" or "ambitious for position." Yet in the meetings, they're encouraged to speak critically of all others.

To me, this is blatantly self-serving and hypocritical. Yet either no one notices, or if they do notice they suppress it.

But if you suppress it, what happens to your conscience? And when your conscience is thus impinged, what happens to your "enjoyment" and "experience"? It becomes an outward show.

[aron]

From bcbsr:

To call on someone's name is not simply to mouth the words, as they advocate. One must first know the person. In reality what happens in such conversions is that a person is given the phrase "O Lord Jesus", and then sticks it on whatever idol the person has built in their own mind of what a "Jesus" is, rather than conforming their definition of Christ to the Bible. (But then again I find similar practices quite common in other evangelical churches too)

If the local church gospel leads you to call "Oh Lord Jesus" over and over again, with no knowledge of whom or what you are calling (as Witness Lee's quoted as clearly promoting), as the "initial experience of the Lord", and you get flooded with warm fuzzies, then the person leading you has the ground to lead you astray. As long as the warm fuzzies keep coming, they can give you any "Christ" or "Spirit" they want. And lo and behold, the "Christ" of the local church looks little like the Jesus of the gospels, with no care for the poor, the sick, the weak, the widows and orphans, or those in prison; in other words, those who cannot repay you in this age. Instead the "Christ" of the local church wants young college students who'll then go to training centres like Bower House in London, to be inculcated with esoteric teachings, then off to "serve the ministry", i.e. recruit other college students to do the same. In the local churches of Lee, "good building material" means "good earning potential"; they don't say it out loud, but that is what they are doing. (And some of the trainers may even say this behind closed doors - I heard some crazy stuff in the FTTA meetings).

Secondly in teaching unbelievers to say "O Lord" they are teaching people to lie. To call Jesus "Lord" without the intention of doing what he said, that is to practice lying. Jesus said, "Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? "Luke 6:46 According to Jesus what he thinks calling him "Lord" means is that, perhaps among other things, you are agreeing to do what he said. In fact there are perhaps many Christians who likewise are lying, not having the right to call Jesus "Lord", as allegedly "believing in Christ" but without the intention of doing what he said.

This critique is also worth noting. In the local church, actual obedience gets passed off as "dead works", yet supposedly if they "Call, call, call Jesus' name" (as the song goes), they get "more God" and eventually become "deified". Then, once transformation and transfiguration has occurred, they'll surely be more obedient! But in the meantime, don't get too stressed over "dead works".

Hmmm.... maybe this is not a good path...

[Ohio]

Secondly in teaching unbelievers to say "O Lord" they are teaching people to lie. To call Jesus "Lord" without the intention of doing what he said, that is to practice lying. Jesus said, "Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? "Luke 6:46 According to Jesus what he thinks calling him "Lord" means is that, perhaps among other things, you are agreeing to do what he said. In fact there are perhaps many Christians who likewise are lying, not having the right to call Jesus "Lord", as allegedly "believing in Christ" but without the intention of doing what he said.

Originally Posted by aron

This critique is also worth noting. In the local church, actual obedience gets passed off as "dead works", yet supposedly if they "Call, call, call Jesus' name" (as the song goes), they get "more God" and eventually become "deified". Then, once transformation and transfiguration has occurred, they'll surely be more obedient! But in the meantime, don't get too stressed over "dead works".

In my 30 years actively serving in the Ohio area LC's, I would never have agreed with these comments. Then I watched LSM excommunicate our LC's over nonsensical non-essentials. When our Young People visited Hospitals or Nursing Homes during our "Summer School of Truth," LSM condemned it as "dead works," supposedly violating Lee's own directives for the Young People's work.

During LSM's lengthy Excommunication-Quarantine Kangaroo Court at the plush Whistler Resort Lodge in British Columbia, the entire ITERO congregation was required to rise and call "O LORD JESUS" 5 times, like a 7th Inning "stretch" at a baseball game. They could have been singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," as far as the Lord was concerned.