My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:26 AM

Originally posted 7/15/2009

Posted by Joanna Tysoe

Hello and welcome to the forum Joy
I too am from NZ and started in the LC in Palmerston North. I came along a little later than you I think. A whole lot of people had moved away and there was just a small group meeting there when I joined this group. I must say that I enjoyed the first 5 years , as the Christians were very loving and genuine. We passed through suffering and good times together and there was true brotherly love towards each other. However, after this time the Lord started to move us all about the country. We could not understand it at the time and cried to the Lord a lot, as we missed the group very much. During this time we realised that our individual walk with the Lord was severly lacking and that most of our experience was a group experience. It bothered us a lot. Eventually we moved to Hamilton and it was there that we saw the vain application of man's methods and processes. It became more important to follow a way rather than a person. We becam more bothered as the years went by. But we stuck with the group, as the 'vision' of oneness held us captive and we would suffer anything to maintain it. In all, we stayed in the group for nearly 30 years! But because we moved a lot, God often provided other Christian fellowship for us as well. 3 years ago now, I was made aware of the most recent conflict over Titus Chu. On what grounds did they dissassociate with him I thought? Certainly nothing biblical. All of a sudden I realised that what ever oneness the group possessed before, it was all now a mere outward show. I decided then to leave. It has been a rocky time. Yes, many tears and loneliness. My family has had a hard time too. Gratefuully I can thank God that they have been preserved. My children are all going on with the Lord in various other bible believing groups. My husband and I are meeting with a small local open brethren church down the road. Mostly we are learning to be humble and to learn from them. We still have a lot of baggage to loose as you can guess, but God is good. He is teaching us. It is great to hear of another sister here who has exited the LC and kept her family and her faith.

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:27 AM

03-31-2011, 05:21 AM
Jim
Guest

I have not had any of these experiences as experienced by Joy. We were encouraged to give out BfA New Testaments and discussing scriptures in them but never pushing local church membership in Birmingham AL. We were just encourageing the Word of God.
JM

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:28 AM

04-05-2011, 09:20 AM
Suannehill
Member

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: North of Mansfield Ohio
Posts: 165
Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary NZ
________________________________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim

Quote:

I have not had any of these experiences as experienced by Joy. We were encouraged to give out BfA New Testaments and discussing scriptures in them but never pushing local church membership in Birmingham AL. We were just encourageing the Word of God.
JM

I vividly remember the introduction of BFA.
I know we all have different experiences...this was mine.
We were in Chicago and on the way to the airport to fly home. A couple who ran the LSM bookstore pointedly were showing us "HOW TO" distribute the Bibles. We were in a large van full of people from the conference. They were pushy, offensive and took great deal of pride in it! They harassed the driver 45 min to the airport. I prayed for the driver, she handled them pretty well...but it felt like SO MUCH DAMAGE. Not in love or concern...but much like the door to door Gospel...an army of drones...it was sad and depressing. I could only shake my head. To pretend that it was a simple caring for God's Word was not possible.

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:30 AM

04-05-2011, 08:42 PM
countmeworthy
Member

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: in Spirit & in Truth
Posts: 559
Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary NZ
________________________________________
Another question:
Once a person receives a 'free' NT Recovery version, which I'm sure is the very small print version, do they get a call or visit from someone in the LSM?Mormons especially are notorious for this. Get a free 'bible' from them and next thing you know, someone's at your door. But almost every ministry does this even if you don't get a free 'bible'. Sometimes ministries offer free 'CDs' of the teachings of the pastor and of course, they get the name, adddress and phone # of the person. Even if they don't get a call or visit, they will get a list of all that ministries' products.

Carol

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:31 AM

04-06-2011, 08:40 AM
Unregistered
Guest.

I beleive if I rembember correctly there is a card given out to get the free Bible which asks for your contact info and if you want to be contacted. One thing that always bothered me was the time that I was in a meeting to discuss BFA. They were giving us directions on how to distribute the Bibles. They very clearly and specifically reiterated that you do not tell the people that you are from a specific church. If the question is asked you are to say that it is a seperate organization called Bibles For America, that it is not a church, that it is not associated with the local church or RC. This bothered me because it was a lie.

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:43 AM

04-08-2011, 05:19 PM
aron
Member

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered
I was in a meeting to discuss BFA... They very clearly and specifically reiterated that you do not tell the people that you are from a specific church. If the question is asked you are to say that it is a seperate organization called Bibles For America, that it is not a church, that it is not associated with the local church or RC. This bothered me because it was a lie.

Another thing which bothered me about the various moves of the ministry of Lee, is this: when I came into the "local church" of Lee I was clearly told "no names except Jesus Christ".... "Only the name of Jesus" was a kind of mantra. Any other name was a distraction and a falling away. So of course every kind of christian organization or association you could imagine was open to our reproof, because every organization "had a name".

I've been gone some years now, and they seem to have sprouted names, and subsidiary organizations, like wildfire in my absence. "The Lord's Move to Europe"; "Bibles for America"; "Defense and Confirmation Project"; "Contending for The Faith"; plus all the various "publishing arms" and media centers supporting the Living Stream Ministry. Each one has a name, a separate organizational structure, with a bank account and hierarchy and 403(c) non-profit number that you can write checks to for your tax-deductable donation.

All these names and organizations, and this was one of the shibboleths back in the day... it's like Animal Farm, where the sheep used to bleat "Four legs good, two legs bad!!"; and now bleat "Four legs good, two legs better!!"

Admin · 09-24-2011, 07:47 AM

04-08-2011, 05:28 PM
aron
Member

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim

Quote:

We were encouraged to give out BfA New Testaments and discussing scriptures in them but never pushing local church membership in Birmingham AL.

"We were encouraged..." that's a loaded term. How about just saying "we were pressured", or "we were brow-beaten" instead?

It's like the word "fellowship". When is fellowship ever a two-way street with Rome (sorry, I mean Anaheim)? You get your "fellowship" from them, which is really a directive. In my local church we wanted to give a conference on a topic, and a brother came from Anaheim, and had "fellowship" with our elder, and instead we ended up re-hashing the latest training in Anaheim.

09-24-2011, 07:26 AM	#1
Admin He came not to be Served but Serve Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 39	Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary Originally posted 7/15/2009 Posted by Joanna Tysoe Hello and welcome to the forum Joy I too am from NZ and started in the LC in Palmerston North. I came along a little later than you I think. A whole lot of people had moved away and there was just a small group meeting there when I joined this group. I must say that I enjoyed the first 5 years , as the Christians were very loving and genuine. We passed through suffering and good times together and there was true brotherly love towards each other. However, after this time the Lord started to move us all about the country. We could not understand it at the time and cried to the Lord a lot, as we missed the group very much. During this time we realised that our individual walk with the Lord was severly lacking and that most of our experience was a group experience. It bothered us a lot. Eventually we moved to Hamilton and it was there that we saw the vain application of man's methods and processes. It became more important to follow a way rather than a person. We becam more bothered as the years went by. But we stuck with the group, as the 'vision' of oneness held us captive and we would suffer anything to maintain it. In all, we stayed in the group for nearly 30 years! But because we moved a lot, God often provided other Christian fellowship for us as well. 3 years ago now, I was made aware of the most recent conflict over Titus Chu. On what grounds did they dissassociate with him I thought? Certainly nothing biblical. All of a sudden I realised that what ever oneness the group possessed before, it was all now a mere outward show. I decided then to leave. It has been a rocky time. Yes, many tears and loneliness. My family has had a hard time too. Gratefuully I can thank God that they have been preserved. My children are all going on with the Lord in various other bible believing groups. My husband and I are meeting with a small local open brethren church down the road. Mostly we are learning to be humble and to learn from them. We still have a lot of baggage to loose as you can guess, but God is good. He is teaching us. It is great to hear of another sister here who has exited the LC and kept her family and her faith.

09-24-2011, 07:27 AM	#2
Admin He came not to be Served but Serve Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 39	Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary 03-31-2011, 05:21 AM Jim Guest I have not had any of these experiences as experienced by Joy. We were encouraged to give out BfA New Testaments and discussing scriptures in them but never pushing local church membership in Birmingham AL. We were just encourageing the Word of God. JM

09-24-2011, 07:30 AM	#4
Admin He came not to be Served but Serve Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 39	Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary 04-05-2011, 08:42 PM countmeworthy Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: in Spirit & in Truth Posts: 559 Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary NZ ________________________________________ Another question: Once a person receives a 'free' NT Recovery version, which I'm sure is the very small print version, do they get a call or visit from someone in the LSM?Mormons especially are notorious for this. Get a free 'bible' from them and next thing you know, someone's at your door. But almost every ministry does this even if you don't get a free 'bible'. Sometimes ministries offer free 'CDs' of the teachings of the pastor and of course, they get the name, adddress and phone # of the person. Even if they don't get a call or visit, they will get a list of all that ministries' products. Carol

09-24-2011, 07:31 AM	#5
Admin He came not to be Served but Serve Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 39	Re: My Experiences of the Local Church - Joy Hillary 04-06-2011, 08:40 AM Unregistered Guest. I beleive if I rembember correctly there is a card given out to get the free Bible which asks for your contact info and if you want to be contacted. One thing that always bothered me was the time that I was in a meeting to discuss BFA. They were giving us directions on how to distribute the Bibles. They very clearly and specifically reiterated that you do not tell the people that you are from a specific church. If the question is asked you are to say that it is a seperate organization called Bibles For America, that it is not a church, that it is not associated with the local church or RC. This bothered me because it was a lie. Last edited by Admin; 09-24-2011 at 07:45 AM.