I cant deal with any of the LSM and LC stuff anymore.....

[theLCfurry]

Recently, I had really big conflicts concerning this faith. I read recent posts about the crap that has been going on in LSM and LC lately, and I feel like I cant continue on as a Christian, much less an LCer. I feel more home towards other groups of people. I feel like I cant read the HWMR and Life Studies during meetings and during the mornings because I cant stand any of Lee's/Nee's and the Blending Brothers' works since they are full of nonsensical crap in my opinion (especially the latest HWMR I think from this summer's training). I could just "quietly disappear" from the faith, but my biggest obstacle that is making me struggle is the fact that I am under 18 years old. I just can't go on in the LC anymore, and the fact that I'm under 18 years old and I cant make any decisions without a parents consent makes my heart ache to the uttermost. I'm losing hope as a christian, and I think I can no longer go on and even go to any christian meeting as an active one as time passes by.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by BJS03

Recently, I had really big conflicts concerning this faith. I read recent posts about the crap that has been going on in LSM and LC lately, and I feel like I cant continue on as a Christian, much less an LCer. I feel more home towards other groups of people. I feel like I cant read the HWMR and Life Studies during meetings and during the mornings because I cant stand any of Lee's/Nee's and the Blending Brothers' works since they are full of nonsensical crap in my opinion (especially the latest HWMR I think from this summer's training). I could just "quietly disappear" from the faith, but my biggest obstacle that is making me struggle is the fact that I am under 18 years old. I just can't go on in the LC anymore, and the fact that I'm under 18 years old and I cant make any decisions without a parents consent makes my heart ache to the uttermost. I'm losing hope as a christian, and I think I can no longer go on and even go to any christian meeting as an active one as time passes by.

BJS03,

I’m so sorry. Your post breaks my heart. It seems your problem is not as much with the Christian faith, but with the Local Church. I gather your parents are LC?

Be sure, your hope is with Christ alone. When all the disappointments you listed are weighing down on you, talk to Jesus. Don’t pray :-)! Just talk. Talk to him like he’s your best friend, because he is. He loves you and you can tell him anything. Take the post you wrote and read it to him. Tell him you need him and you need his help. Sometimes I have been so hurt that I don’t know what else to say but “Lord, help me.” This is a good prayer! He’s waiting to hear those words from you. Things may not change around me, but “I” change. He changes me.

Don’t read anything...except the Bible. No footnotes. Try the NET Bible or some other easier to read translation.

As an 18 year old your options are limited, as you are well aware. You are down to 1 option. Jesus. The more you talk to him, like he is a real person, the more he will become a real person to you. Something I pray to this day is “Lord, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

What do you want? When you are 19, what do want your life to look like? College? Trade school? A job? Think about it and put a plan together. Set goals for your future. Talk to Jesus about EVERYTHING and don’t stop. There is an old hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Another one is “I must tell Jesus.” There is a lot of wisdom and comfort in the words of those who came before you.

Blessings to you, and I will pray for you.
Nell

[Sons to Glory!]

Yes, I fully 2nd what Nell said! Cut out the religious crap that is confusing the issue and just talk to Him and ask Him any question you have.

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by Nell

BJS03,

I’m so sorry. Your post breaks my heart. It seems your problem is not as much with the Christian faith, but with the Local Church. I gather your parents are LC?

Be sure, your hope is with Christ alone. When all the disappointments you listed are weighing down on you, talk to Jesus. Don’t pray :-)! Just talk. Talk to him like he’s your best friend, because he is. He loves you and you can tell him anything. Take the post you wrote and read it to him. Tell him you need him and you need his help. Sometimes I have been so hurt that I don’t know what else to say but “Lord, help me.” This is a good prayer! He’s waiting to hear those words from you. Things may not change around me, but “I” change. He changes me.

Don’t read anything...except the Bible. No footnotes. Try the NET Bible or some other easier to read translation.

As an 18 year old your options are limited, as you are well aware. You are down to 1 option. Jesus. The more you talk to him, like he is a real person, the more he will become a real person to you. Something I pray to this day is “Lord, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

What do you want? When you are 19, what do want your life to look like? College? Trade school? A job? Think about it and put a plan together. Set goals for your future. Talk to Jesus about EVERYTHING and don’t stop. There is an old hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Another one is “I must tell Jesus.” There is a lot of wisdom and comfort in the words of those who came before you.

Blessings to you, and I will pray for you.
Nell

Hi BJS03, it is good to meet you. What a Friend we have in Jesus!
On Sat, Oct 12, 2019, 12:58 AM steve isitt <stephen.isitt@gmail.com> wrote:
What a Friend We Have in Jesus https://g.co/kgs/hpD3u5

[googlelight]

My dear friend!

This inner conflict doesnt feel so good. I feel you.
Religious duties and activities, HWMR & this endless expectations of reading life-study and the ministry, let me tell you, it is not only you who hate it, I do also believe Christ hates it. After too much time of secondhand experiences, you will feel sick. Blessed are you, at this age, 18, you sense this.
For me it took 16 years to break free!
No matter what you do, my friend, The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deut 31:8). Find something you love to do. Take a time-out. And with all my heart I would hope, you could just read a little bit in the pure word. Easy to read version, or any Bible. Just a little bit. And while you pursue the things you love in life, the Lord will speak to you, be you companion. Just like he was with Peter, and has been to me and countless of Christians. "who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment" 1 Tim 6:17. The Lord really understands you my friend. More so than your parents, friends or anyone. Remember how Job was so angry and didnt understand what was happening to him, he said: Why do you contend with me, Lord? Friend, countless of people have sough him before you. "Psalm 34:10b Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." It would be so good if you just pursue something you really love to do now. And maybe you can see if you find some Christian songs you really love? I am convinced that as you go on your path, the Lord will use ANYTHING and ANYONE to cherish your heart. He has done so to me, He will do so to you. Forget about religion, the Lord doesnt care about that. He care about dining with you. He is truly your companion. Be sincere to Him in your conversations to Him, and you will soon find that His resurrection life has swallowed up your circumstances. This has happened to me again and again. Beloved, you are 18, pursue the things you like. If you just bring him a little bit into whatever you are doing, you are VERY MUCH an active Christian!
For a simple start, after or during your timeout, know this:
“For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31
I am continually thinking about you my friend. Please keep us informed about what is happening in your life.
It matters to the Lord and to me, concerning you.

[theLCfurry]

Not technically 18 yet (I'm under 18) but thanks for the tips guys

[aron]

Originally Posted by BJS03

Recently, I had really big conflicts concerning this faith.... my biggest obstacle that is making me struggle is the fact that I am under 18 years old. I just can't go on in the LC anymore, and the fact that I'm under 18 years old and I cant make any decisions without a parents consent makes my heart ache to the uttermost. I'm losing hope as a christian...

Whoa. Hold on. Don't get ahead of yourself. You have 2 distinct issues here which are separable. One is that your parents are in the LC and are part of its machinery of coercion, and the second is that you are a teenager.

But let's deal with the second issue, first. All over the globe there are kids just like you. When they were aged 3 they were "all in" - unquestioning compliance was the way to food, clothing, shelter, protection. Now they're 16, with an adult body, and quasi-adult mind, and see through the charade, but because of lack of life-experience aren't allowed to act. Thus, frustration. It's a widespread phenomenon.

What to do? First, resist the youthful impulse to rage, to sink into hopeless despair, to fall into frivolous dissipation and addiction. Get an actionable plan and stick to it. Get good grades, respect your parents who still support you, get into a good school, and 80% of your LC problems will be over. Get a good degree and a good job, and wave the LC goodbye. Problem solved.

Good things come to those who wait. Get an exit strategy and don't lose it. The 'god' issue will sort itself in time. No need for manufactured crises to create artificial, stop-gap solutions. You may have to live with uncertainty for an extended period. But that's better than the brittle, unfounded certainty of a cult.

Originally Posted by BJS03

Recently, I had really big conflicts concerning this faith. I read recent posts about the crap that has been going on in LSM and LC lately, and I feel like I cant continue on as a Christian, much less an LCer. I feel more home towards other groups of people. I feel like I cant read the HWMR and Life Studies during meetings and during the mornings because I cant stand any of Lee's/Nee's and the Blending Brothers' works since they are full of nonsensical crap in my opinion (especially the latest HWMR I think from this summer's training). I could just "quietly disappear" from the faith, but my biggest obstacle that is making me struggle is the fact that I am under 18 years old. I just can't go on in the LC anymore, and the fact that I'm under 18 years old and I cant make any decisions without a parents consent makes my heart ache to the uttermost. I'm losing hope as a christian, and I think I can no longer go on and even go to any christian meeting as an active one as time passes by.

Dear young christian,

What are the conflicts going on with your faith? If I understood you correctly you had these conflicts BEFORE you started to read about all the "crap" going on with the LCM and the LC. Please expound on these. You might find that they have little to do with the LC and the Blended Brethren, etc. It could all just be a matter of your view of "the faith" (no doubt influenced by LCM).

Perhaps it might be better (and I think it would be) if you laid aside all things 'Witness Lee', for the immediate while, including the 'Recovery Version', and read a 'clean' Bible. I personally would recommend reading at least two versions at the same time so that you can cross-compare. I find this useful because in some versions a point is gotten across more effectively than in some other versions.

For example (a tiny example), the words 'splendour' and 'justice' (in the NIV) do not resonate with me quite as much as do the words 'glory' and 'righteousness' respectively (in the KJV); and yet some passages in the KJV use language so archaic and unintelligible that you literally need the functional matter-of-fact manner of the NIV. But then again, some of the language in many of the passages of the KJV is so flourishingly colorful, idyllic, and poetic that you get an almost distinct impression of the very heart of God and what He desires to communicate. Whereas the same verse in another version may simply fall flat because of the prosaic way it has been translated, and you may miss the breath of the Lord entirely.

Having said that, I think that the so-called 'new language' and the 'new culture' of the LCM is totally redundant and unnecessary. It is not a new language. It is pompous language. Pure verbiage. Just imagine if the Lord had gone begun His ministry saying:
"REPENT, for the universality and the centrality of the divine economy for the dispensing of the riches of the consummated and the processed triune God by the compound anointing for the building and the producing of the new man for the duplication of the prototype god-man IS AT HAND! " [Matthew 4:17]
I think not!

Anyway, whatever the case, I am alarmed that you would wish to throw away your salvation at such a young age. Please do not equate following LCM teachings to faith in God. Not the same thing. Did you know that when diamonds are freshly mined out of the ground they look nothing like what you see on the TV, or in the magazines, or in the jewelry store. They have to be cut and polished first. Nobody throws them away because they look just like any other old rock. Because they do...at first.

So, similarly, don't throw your 'precious faith' away simply because the Blended Brethren have fallen short of 'cutting' and 'polishing' your faith, which you have from God, by the way. Yes, you did not wake up one day and think how it would be a jolly good idea if you were to get saved. No, you were saved by grace through faith...and that not of yourself, lest you should boast; it is the GIFT OF GOD [Eph 2:8]. God Himself marked you out and said, 'I want him / or her'. He had you on his mind millions and billions of years before you were born. The matter of your faith really had almost next to nothing to do with your choice. Jeremiah says, "Yea, I have loved thee with an EVERLASTING LOVE: therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn thee" [Jer 31:3].

I wish you knew what a glorious privilege it is that you even have that faith to throw away. Because not everybody enjoys this honour. We are billions of people on this planet and more than half of them do not know Christ. Think of the hundreds of millions of muslims who actively REJECT even the notion that there is a Son of God, let alone that He died for their sins! People literally die like flies in their thousands and thousands EVERY SECOND of everyday! It doesn't seem that way to us because the world is so big and each of us individually only occupies a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of that in our little cocoons of ignorant existence. And so, many people , unfortunately and tragically, tumble headlong into eternity...without hope.

Therefore, my brother or sister, realize what great fortune you have. It is incomparable! You have received a huge honour. Don't squander it out of simple spite for some narrow religious sect that "worships an angel" (Colossians 2:18) and that stands [only] in words, and not in power.

Remember, "no man can come unto me EXCEPT it were given unto him [by] my Father", said Jesus (John 6:65).

Stay blessed, my friend.

Originally Posted by DeadBeatBro

Perhaps it might be better (and I think it would be) if you laid aside all things 'Witness Lee', for the immediate while, including the 'Recovery Version', and read a 'clean' Bible. I personally would recommend reading at least two versions at the same time so that you can cross-compare. I find this useful because in some versions a point is gotten across more effectively than in some other versions.

For example (a tiny example), the words 'splendour' and 'justice' (in the NIV) do not resonate with me quite as much as do the words 'glory' and 'righteousness' respectively (in the KJV); and yet some passages in the KJV use language so archaic and unintelligible that you literally need the functional matter-of-fact manner of the NIV. But then again, some of the language in many of the passages of the KJV is so flourishingly colorful, idyllic, and poetic that you get an almost distinct impression of the very heart of God and what He desires to communicate. Whereas the same verse in another version may simply fall flat because of the prosaic way it has been translated, and you may miss the breath of the Lord entirely.

I agree with deadbrobeat that perhaps this young believer should for the meantime opt for a bible version other than the recovery version. If he is confused about his faith then he needs to go back to the drawing board and re-examine the fundamentals of the gospel of salvation. The teachings, doctrines, practices, traditions, and the accompanying vernacular of the Recovery culture can at times obscure the simple message of the gospel. And this can leave new or frustrated believers in a mental quagmire.

I say begin with the epistle to the Romans by Paul without all the baggage of classifying it into academic categories like condemnation, justification, sanctification, glorification, selection, and whatever other mumbo jumbo. Just read it simply. Paul boasts that this epistle is the gospel of God. It is. Go back to the basics and throw the confusion out, if you are going to throw out anything.

Peace.

[theLCfurry]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I agree with deadbrobeat that perhaps this young believer should for the meantime opt for a bible version other than the recovery version. If he is confused about his faith then he needs to go back to the drawing board and re-examine the fundamentals of the gospel of salvation. The teachings, doctrines, practices, traditions, and the accompanying vernacular of the Recovery culture can at times obscure the simple message of the gospel. And this can leave new or frustrated believers in a mental quagmire.

I say begin with the epistle to the Romans by Paul without all the baggage of classifying it into academic categories like condemnation, justification, sanctification, glorification, selection, and whatever other mumbo jumbo. Just read it simply. Paul boasts that this epistle is the gospel of God. It is. Go back to the basics and throw the confusion out, if you are going to throw out anything.

Peace.

I am not confused about faith, but im angry about the wrongdoings and the incorrect teachings that the LSM and Blended Brothers fill into our heads. I simply can not take it anymore in the LC and I feel like I want to get out of this cult as soon as possible

In the meantime, I will think about getting a different version of the bible

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by DeadBeatBro

Therefore, my brother or sister, realize what great fortune you have. It is incomparable! You have received a huge honour. Don't squander it out of simple spite for some narrow religious sect that "worships an angel" (Colossians 2:18) and that stands [only] in words, and not in power.

Hi DeadBeatBro, thanks for the encouraging post.

Please register and share more. Many young brothers and sisters in the Recovery need such fellowship.

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by BJS03

I am not confused about faith, but im angry about the wrongdoings and the incorrect teachings that the LSM and Blended Brothers fill into our heads. I simply can not take it anymore in the LC and I feel like I want to get out of this cult as soon as possible

In the meantime, I will think about getting a different version of the bible

I would suggest just read the Bible and not give time to LC/LSM interpretations. I can only say the difference I've seen between LSM-affiliated churches and non-LSM is you're more likely to find grace expressed in non-LSM churches. Really! The difference is night and day.