Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
I quoted this post on this thread because it really belongs here and I wanted to put us back on topic. 
Freedom made a great point here. The LC practice of PSRP was never based on the scripture. Let me give a little history ...
After the storms and quarantines of the late 80's to early 90's, Lee began to teach his "high peak" theories, i.e. that we become baby-gods. His outlines at this time (~ mid 90's) became extremely complex and long-winded treaties. The titles themselves were often a paragraph in length. They were like chewing cellulose insulation, which is exactly what those outlines should have been used for. I think it was some of the full-timer zealots from Taiwan that came up with the PSRP practices in order to get into Lee's outlines. What started during an Anaheim training, eventually spread, by decree, to all the LC's.
PSRP stood for Pray-read, Study, Recite, Prophesy. The first three were designed to be done in a small group session -- pray-read the outline, study the outline, and recite the outline from memory. Notice that these had nothing to do with the Bible, but with Lee's esoteric "high peak" outlines. From that group time together, each participant would prepare a "prophecy" for speaking in the training meetings.
I still remember the time one of our fervent saints brought this new-found practice back to town. It really was what aron would call a "charismatic" experience. We were exhorted to shout, repeat, amen, and get ourselves all worked up. There was little prayer, but lots of jubilant repetition. It was fun for a while, but provided little spiritual substance. In the GLA, it came and went fairly quickly. So I was surprised when Freedom said the LC's actually still do that. It's no wonder they know the scripture so poorly, but have been convinced they know it so well. |
I have heard people make reference to the complexity of LC outlines, so I guess that fact doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. I have seen a bit of frustration that these outlines are too hard to understand or take in. I've seen many outline points that are at least a paragraph long which should have been broken up into multiple sentences, or better yet, multiple points. I've come to associate the "High Peak Truths" with wordy outlines that are essentially meaningless. If PSRP was invented to address that, then it's more understandable as to why that practice would be pushed. I have a simpler solution for them, however, that would be to get rid of their meaningless outlines.
As the practice of PSRP relates to "prophesying" in the meetings, it might helpful for someone who is hoping to parrot the ministry. Since that is something that so many like to do, I guess they need something like PSRP. I can't remember for sure, but I think I might have memorized the RcV outline for at least one book of the Bible. That is good for being able to speak from the ministry, but it's only good for that.
What I wanted to mention specifically is that this idea of memorizing or "digesting" the ministry can easily lead to someone having something to speak in a meeting. The ministry is full of clever statements will sound really good if spoken in a meeting. By contrast, when I read the Word, it doesn't automatically result in having something good to share in a meeting. The thought in the LC is that whatever you happen to read, whether it be the ministry or something in the Word, if you don't have something to speak from it, it means that you aren't enjoying it or you aren't really getting into it. I think that is a big fallacy. My experience when reading the Bible is that there are plenty of things that stand out to me. Most of the time, that is just God's speaking to me personally. That doesn't mean it is also what I should share with those around me. Have those in the LC ever considered that just because they "enjoyed" something, doesn't necessarily mean that they should share it in a meeting? I think the LC is full of speaking that is of little benefit because of this type of thinking.