Is "Local Church" a cult?

[Anti-Fear]

According to numerous scholars to whom I listened on radio or on tv Local Church organized by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee are a cult because of their doctrines. These doctrines include following teachings not of just Bible but of a person, Watchman Nee in this case. Many of them also believe, (witness lee himself said it in an interview) that theirs is the only way to practice christianity. In addition to that their practice of praying outloud almost to the point of screaming is another practice that cultic and occultic groups do. THat is they want to create this communal worshipping setting where people will feel some kind of responsibility towards other worshippers in the building.

I am upset because my friend goes there, and although i didnt even tell her anything like she must leave the church, I only told her to be careful and to check out other churches for alternative point of view. SHe gets on the defensive and claims that theirs is the right way to do it. They believe that all protestant denominations are divisive and are against the bible, but in this belief they become another denomination by themselves? Seems like a paradox to me.

In college I have attended Bible studies with this group and I became upset because they were not truthful to me aobut their group's doctrines. Its like they're defensive of it to the point of lunacy. THe worshippers in their church are nice people I am sure, but that doesnt mean they're not in some way coerced, misguided, or brainwashed. I am genuinely worried. I told my friend that Church is important but since its all between her and God she should not be so defensive of an institution she belongs to.

Anyway, I would like to hear about any experiences you may have had with the Local Church and tell me what you think.

[Bastoune]

The name of the church is "Local Church"? Do they have a web site? I'll pray about this for you. I notice there is another church in Tennessee, similar to this. Many gnostic-styled beliefs (the pastor puts strange twists on Greek roots -- but it's obvious he didn't ever study Greek, from how he "teaches"), distrust and even hatred of every other church (of course, Catholics are Babylonian, and Baptists and Church of Christ are heretical, Methodists worship the beast -- his words, not mine!) and the pastor SCREAMS all the time with a wild look in his eye.

Definitely, I will pray for your friend, and for you too (you may fall under some sort of spiritual attack for your concern; be prepared! PRAY HARD AND ALWAYS!)

[Lotar]

Pray for your friend, there is always hope. Augustine followed a heretic for years before he became one of the greatest of Saints.

[Anti-Fear]

The name of the church is "Local Church"? Do they have a web site? I'll pray about this for you. I notice there is another church in Tennessee, similar to this. Many gnostic-styled beliefs (the pastor puts strange twists on Greek roots -- but it's obvious he didn't ever study Greek, from how he "teaches"), distrust and even hatred of every other church (of course, Catholics are Babylonian, and Baptists and Church of Christ are heretical, Methodists worship the beast -- his words, not mine!) and the pastor SCREAMS all the time with a wild look in his eye.

Definitely, I will pray for your friend, and for you too (you may fall under some sort of spiritual attack for your concern; be prepared! PRAY HARD AND ALWAYS!)

Local church is a common name for this organization that was started in China by guy named Watchman Nee. His basic teaching was that the only "true church" is the one that meets locally. Then when he died the organizations was taken over by his apprentice Witness Lee, who radicalized this even more. He wrote a book where he claims that all the denomenations are sinful because in being denomenations they're "breaking apart the body of Christ" which he claims should be all one church. ITs hard to grasp this concept but he built a whole movement behind it.

In their church they techincally do not have any pastor or preacher. They arrange all chairs facing the middle and each other and worship God by screaming out his name and praying out loud. In reality it looks much creppier than it sounds in writing. They developed this communal style fellowship where everyone is expected to speak outloud.

The bigger worry is that they have their OWN BIble, the so called Recovery version. It was translated by that guy Witness Lee. The new testament has often more than half a page of footnotes which are exclusively his interpretations of the gospel, which are representative of his vision of worshipping.

I dont know if they have a like a website but you can search on google by typing in "Local Church" or "Witness Lee" "Watchman Nee"

They also run a bunch of organizations and sites two of which are Living Stream Ministries, and Bibles For America. IF you go to those sites you wont find anything I referred to in my post because they dont want to scare people, they wont even tell you that they'll send you a Recovery Version of the Bible. They just say they will send you The Bible.

I am not saying that the writings of either Watchman Nee or Witness Lee are wrong or not valuable, in fact I've read many sites that praise Watchman Nee, but it was written that Witness Lee is the one who radicalized their movement.