Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
KisstheSon, you really " vented" in this post. 
I have heard about WL's lies under oath, but not really studied it. Do you have more info?
I give Graver's book a pass, however, due to context. In those days, LC members were being kidnapped and deprogrammed due to the hyper hysteria post-Jonestown. Graver did not have the benefit of knowing what we know now. He was attempting to legitimatize a practice based on church history. Too bad others never read his book. I can testify that his book helped the brothers I was with from mindless repetitions of segments of scripture. We still shouted occasionally, but it was not mindless robotic public exhibition.
Brothers in the 70's were much more "in tune" with the "idealism of the initial vision," for lack of a better expression. The concepts of "recovery" and "standing on the shoulders" of past men of God were more real to the saints. Many bro/sis read biographies in those days. LSM had very few books, rather loose ministry messages were common. Other brothers were writing things too, not just RG. Things in the church were much different then, and society was also different.
I actually believe that the Lord had a role in that early "shout-reading." Church history is filled with "strange" practices, appropriate in context, but strange to the reader. If the Lord is shouting, then by all means, let's all shout! The real danger is not shouting, but the vain repetition, doing it mindlessly, long after the Lord has quit.
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Amen, dear brother Ohio. More good points. Very good points especially about the context of the times in which
Lord . . . Thou Saidst was written.
If shout reading had served it's time and been allowed to pass from the scene when it's time was over, that would be one thing. In fact, that would have been glorious. But in the LRC regions which are most "absolute" for the ministry of WL and the BB's, shout reading
IS pray-reading to this very day. "Witness Lee recovered it and you WILL practice it in our meetings" is the attitude I have encountered. I certainly understand that your region had a very large "umbrella" protecting you from having to be in lock-step with Anaheim. That was not the case for my region.
Just about a year ago at a conference (maybe last year's Thanksgiving Conference?) Ray Graver and Benson Phillips gave an announcement which had to do with a major call for "saints" to migrate to Europe. Ray's portion of the announcement was to rehash the whole history of the LRC in this country. To say the least, he was very, very, positive about WL's form of pray-reading, which he included as a major item of "Recovery". If the BB's really believed in the validity of the testimonies in Ray Graver's book, then this should be reflected in their speaking. Instead, what we get from the BB's is that WL's form or pray-reading is
the way pray-reading will be practiced in the LC's.
One thing I don't understand is that if the brothers and sisters were reading biographies in those days, why in the world were sisters like Thankful Jane and Max R's wife condemned for reading Christian biographies? Also, if Ray was so broad-hearted, why did he and Benson begin traveling around the U.S. greatly emphasizing WL and telling churches that they had not done enough for "the apostle" [i.e. WL] and that they needed to "have an account with the apostle"? This was a huge step in turning the LC's into sectarian, narrow, LSM-ministry churches, which seems to be the polar opposite of the spirit of
Lord . . . Thou Saidst.