Teaching on Calling on the Name of the Lord

[TLFisher]

Originally Posted by Freedom

When I read that calling must happen 'loudly' or that it must be an "strenuous exercise", that raises a red flag. I've seen firsthand such things taken to an extreme in this way. And this is what is being taught in the LC. There is no way to question it in that environment or to put safety measures in place so that it doesn't get taken the wrong way. They just teach something and let people run with it. If it gets taken too far, they just point fingers.

Too often, the matter of calling on the Lord loudly is for show. To draw attention to one's self. One can easily call on the Lord quietly or silently. Difference is when you call on the Lord loudly it's for others to see. When you do it quietly or silently, it's between you and the Father.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Terry

Too often, the matter of calling on the Lord loudly is for show. To draw attention to one's self. One can easily call on the Lord quietly or silently. Difference is when you call on the Lord loudly it's for others to see. When you do it quietly or silently, it's between you and the Father.

Amen!

When the Pharisees prayed in public for show, then Jesus instructed us to pray in our closets.

When the Blendeds call on the Lord in public for show (like at Whistler), then Jesus instructs us to call on His name in our closets.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Terry

Too often, the matter of calling on the Lord loudly is for show. To draw attention to one's self. One can easily call on the Lord quietly or silently. Difference is when you call on the Lord loudly it's for others to see. When you do it quietly or silently, it's between you and the Father.

I remember a setting where an ex-LC member attend a LC meeting for purposes of visiting family. During the meeting he prayed and called on the Lord in the 'strong' way that they like. Enough so that it impressed all the elders and they were wondering what they could do to get this person to start meeting again.

I already happened to know that this person had no interest in meeting with the LC regularly, so I was a big intrigued that just by a simple performance that everyone would be so easily fooled into thinking that this person was 'positive' towards the LC. But a performance is exactly what people were looking for and using to judge people by.

So in this context, I do not accept the claim others have made that practices like calling on the Lord are anything important. When it's mainly used as some sort of litmus test to see how much with the program someone is, then that calls into question its actual value.