[Ohio]

Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast

Brothers - all of you - I am honestly sorry if my strong opinions have offended you. Let me please speak as clearly as I might as my intention was not to offend, but rather to enlighten. We are not only to encourage one another, after all, but also to correct that which harms not only only the Body but even it's members.

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." 2 Timothy 4:2

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

But the point is, we talk on this board about the damaging effects of looking at Scripture through "Lee colored glasses". Filtering everything we read through Lee, we know we wind right back up in the system.... but then we want to be able to read Lee, now that we've got a red flag on his ministry, and somehow gleen 'only the good' from it.... I don't believe it can be done....

I'm not sure if this is directed at me or not, but I felt to stop reading your post and respond to this first. This phrase is troublesome, "but then we want to be able to read Lee, now that we've got a red flag on his ministry." You say "we" so I have to assume you still have conflict at home, perhaps your wife still reads the messages by WL. I believe this is a personal decision which each former member has to address on their own. It's a common practice for Christians to read teachings and books about the Bible. There are bookstores and websites full of books. All of these are flawed, because they are not the word of God, and that's why some believers will not read anything but God's word. They just want to be detoxed of man's words. All other books must be received with discernment.

Now let me say something personally, having been actively receiving the ministry of WL for about ten years, from the mid-70's to the mid-80's. At some point in the mid-80's during "the new way," I pretty much lost my appetite for his ministry, finding it unappetizing and boring, without the inspiration that once existed. This forum actually has been helpful to me to discover the reasons why his ministry had lost the anointing. After this point, the only messages and books I read were those the church was involved with. Back in the early 90's, I canceled my LSM Standing Order, after one of the Blendeds rebuked us for letting the ministry books accumulate dust.

This next phrase "and somehow gleen 'only the good' from it.... I don't believe it can be done...." for sure has come up in prior posts directed at me. This misunderstanding distorts the facts, and perhaps this is the source of the conflict. I never encouraged anyone to go to WL's books and "gleen only the good" from them. Read my posts again. My comments are based on the reality that those of us who have left the Recovery are already filled with teachings which we know are leavened and toxic to Christian walk. What shall we do with all that we received while in the LC's? That is the question I addressed.

As I posted above, some former members have unfortunately "chucked it all" following their departure from the LC's. They threw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. They could not differentiate what was of God and what was of man. This is most unfortunate. Thus we have heard of some who have left the faith, being shipwrecked, and dove head first into alcohol, drugs, alternative lifestyles, atheism, new age religions, etc. It surprises me that by addressing these very real tragedies, you would feel that I am showing "contempt" for the weaker believers. This is just the opposite of what I am attempting to do on this forum.

My goal initially on these forums was to "discover what happened to us," and to provide others with information I thought could help them. Many have thanked me over the years. Part of that process is to identify those things which were unhealthy, leavened, or toxic so that our faith would remain. Our love for the Lord and His word would be restored. Many posters have come and gone over the years, and did appreciate the forum information and insights.

Perhaps some other posters, who have known me longer, could also step in to provide some help here. I have PM'd the moderator.