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As I looked over these photocopies I noted some interesting ones regarding Germany and Europe:
DSC02543 In a conversation with John Ingalls on 1-7-88 in which J. I. says John So tells about Germany, that the saints there know “Mt 16 is the foundation of the church, that it was not given by W. L. or W. N., but the Father. No new way for Ecclesiastes states there is nothing new under the sun. He said he is happy they are far away, that Germans are not gullible.”
DSC02589-2590 “Don Rutledge urged me to call John So.” 3-2-88
“P. L. was on John So’s case for 2 years. 5 bros went to Germany to bring printing under Str control and to get them to submit to P. L. But John So couldn’t for conscience sake tho he gave them the liberty. 5 bros got daily instruct from P. L. Then Germany was cut off from Liv Str. Germany sent 4,000 sheets camera ready to L. Str but not printed… John So and Germany in old way. Str set up office in Eng and tried to cut off Germany, cause prob among Eng churches. Also now bros in Switz have permission to print anything but exclu Germany.”
Pathwalker, here is a little side story that fits with what you found in these notes.
My husband and I traveled to Spain in 1997 for a vacation (may have been 1996) with another couple. While there, the couple we were traveling with took us to meet a friend of theirs (I’ll call him Juan) who lived in or near the city of Malaga. We spent a day with this Juan and his wife. While there Juan told us the story of what happened to their small indigenous home church that his father (I’ll call him Pedro) had started in the early to mid 80s (not sure about the date … just know it was before the late 80s). The home church was growing and having a wonderful experience with the Lord. Juan and his brother Jose and their families were both attending.
The quick version: One day Pedro met someone from the Local Church. Soon Pedro learned about the ground of locality and was flown to Anaheim to meet Witness Lee and to attend a training. More from Pedro’s church attended trainings. Pedro’s church and all in it were captured for the “Recovery.” Some time passed. Then came the visit from two LSM brothers: Benson and Ray. They had come with some other brothers to help rescue the situation in Europe in the late 80s “rebellion.”
Bottom line: Benson and Ray’s mission was to keep Pedro’s church in affiliation with LSM during this “rebellion.” They gave some messages about loyalty to Witness Lee’s ministry and then left. After the visit from Benson and Ray, there was a big split in Pedro’s church: LSM and non-LSM. Juan and Jose and families ended up divided from each other. Pedro was heartbroken over what he witnessed happen to his once happy and thriving indigenous church. After realizing he could not correct the situation, he gave up and not only walked away from both sides of the division, he locked himself away and refused to talk about it or to fellowship with anyone. Juan was very emotional as he shared with us this tale of destruction not only of their small church, but of family relationships.
At the time of our visit Juan and family were still meeting with the non-LSM believers and his brother Jose was meeting with the LSM faithful. Their relationship with each other remained broken. Their father would not speak of the matter nor would he fellowship with anyone about the Lord. In Juan’s view, his father’s faith had been shipwrecked by their encounter with LSM. He wished they had never heard of LSM or the ground of locality teaching.
Jane, while reading your post about your trip to Spain, the name Malaga “rang a bell” for me. It appears that Dan Towle and Jim Clark were sent there in December of 1994 to maintain LSM’s solid grip on the unsuspecting Malagainians. Here is message 1 of that Conference in case you are interested: https://blendedbody.com/_cl/_audio/_Espana-MalagaDic2004/Espana-Malaga-Dic1994.m01.mp3
Steve Nelson
Thanks, Steve. I made it through a most of Dan’s message by sheer force of will. It is beyond shameful to use the beautiful prayer of Jesus in John 17 to hold “oneness” over the heads of young, trusting believers, with the purpose of manipulating them, or maybe I should say guilt-ing them, into staying loyal to Witness Lee–even if it meant ultimately dividing their families and destroying some Christians’ faith, as it eventually did in Malaga. (By their fruits you shall know them).
Dan missed the whole point of Jesus’ prayer and especially what oneness really is. He pressed the idea that the only way to be in the “oneness” was to be in “the body” (meaning the practical, visible, church on the earth now, as defined by W. Lee). The truth, however, is that the only way to be one with the Father and Son (and one with one another) is to be holy because the Father is holy (John 17:11).
Anyone who misuses the word of God in order to control others is not holy. That unholiness puts such a person outside the oneness that Jesus prayed for!
Dan could have saved a lot of time if he had just summed his Lee-parroting by stating the truth of the real message he wanted to leave them with: “You better be afraid not to stay one with Witness Lee, one with those who really see what the body and oneness is, the only ones who practice it (not like those other dumb Christians everywhere else), or you will not be included in this oneness, you will be left out. Got it? Okay, good. I’m done.”
Such a sad thing. This kind of teaching hides Jesus in its shadows, instead of lifting Him up and making Him front and center so people can be drawn to Him. Very sad.
The good news is that one way or another, Jesus prayer in John 17 will be answered.
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