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Watchman Nee vs Local Church cult

Ronnie

Can’t wait to get to Beulah Land!
What is your thoughts on Watchman Nee?

I recall a a website called, “Watch Out for Watchman Nee”, I don’t recall the content though. I know of a man called, Witness Lee, who was closely associated with Nee and that that man formed a cult call “The Local Church” started in China, the cult’s HQ was in California.. I had an experience in the Local Church cult, but before I get to that let me tell you something about them.

Their mission and Bible is call “The Lord Recovery”.

The MO of the cult is they would start the cult “church’s” in university cities such as Baton Rouge and call then the Local Church of that city, there is a Local Church of Baton Rouge. In the Local Church you’ll possibly will find Chinese people and college educated in them, I don’t know about other Local Church church’s, but the Baton Rouge one had them and I assume that was commonplace to have the Chinese and the highly educated present.

The Local Church cult takes scripture out of context in which to built there false religion upon; I believe the following is the verse they use. Acts2:21, the apostle Peter quoted the Old Testament prophet Joel:


“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In the Local Church cult the attendant’s say the name the name of Jesus, using repetition, over and over again and they believe that that is calling upon the name of the Lord.

I contacted the Local Church of Baton Rouge representative and attended my first meeting with them. My discernment had previously been destroyed by the difficulties in my life at that time.

A man and myself mutually befriended each other to the extent that I have been to his home. I began to balk, privately, at their vain repetition. I mean it was like this, ‘Lord Jesus, r i g h t (in the affirmative and stretched out), amen, Lord Jesus. By my second meeting with them I had had quite enough, I got up during the meeting and walked out, outside I lingered, waiting for someone to run after me. I had contact with one of them a principal man of the “church”, but I was done with the Local Church.
But Pastor Adrian, what about Watchman Lee, if you know of anything, his associate Lee when off the deep end, but what about Nee. I do believe that Nee wrote a very wonderful book called “The Normal Christian Life” and if is allowed here is an online copy.

Excerpt:
The Apostle Paul gives us his own definition of the Christian life in Galatians 2:20. It is “no longer I, but Christ”. Here he is not stating something special or peculiar—a high level of Christianity. He is, we believe, presenting God’s normal for a Christian, which can be summarized in the words: I live no longer, but Christ lives His life in me.

On the book page you can select your preference of Bible that the page displays, click on the cog which is ‘setting’.

My opinion: Most Christians are not normal, but average Christian’s, the average Christian is not a normal Christian, do you get that?
 
When I was a baby Christian (around 2010) I read Watchman Nee. I had been listening to sermons from AW Tozer and he recommended a few authors who were a bit on the mystical side. Tozer and his wife never owned a car and he preached hard against materialism.

Anyhow, after I turned toward more Bible study, aside from books by solid Bible teachers I lost interest in Watchman Nee or authors who spend most of their book exploring the mysteries of God. For me, the Bible does the deep work that causes me to grow in grace. Maybe after I mature more I'll look into Nee again.

That story you tell about Witness Lee does sound like they are a cult.
 
Watchmen Nee was a devout Christian born in 1901 who loved the Lord deeply and was an outspoken evangelist. He had been saved through the ministry of the Plymouth Brethren (incidentally a group whose theology I still identify with.) He refused to be quiet about Jesus and even though he was repeatedly threatened by the communists after Mao took over China in 1949, he kept preachng openly.

He was arrested a number of times, beginning in 1952. I think it was in 1956 that he was arrested for the final time, extensively tortured, and then secretly martyred by the Communist Chinese. When his family eventually learned of his death and went to the prison to collect his body, they discovered that the officials had cremated the body so as to hide all evidence of the torture. (Reports leaked out of the prison that, among other things, the Communist officials had cut out Nee's tongue to keep him from speaking about Jesus to the other prisoners and the guards.)

His book The Normal Christian Life is a wonderful book. It and Andrew Murray's Absolute Surrender have significantly marked my life and ministry. Sadly many people who claim to follow Nee follow false doctrines which they attribute to him. They are wrong; just another effort by Satan to silence the teachings that God gave us through Watchmen Nee.
 
Jesse Pen-Lewis, “was the author, along with co-collaberator Evan Roberts, of War on the Saints. Born in Neath, South Wales, in 1861 (died 1927). Theologically she was of the same suasion as Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a Calvinistic Methodist.”
The Errors of Jessie Penn-Lewis
 
Years ago as a younger Christian but before I was as versed in the word as I am now, I read “The Spiritual Man” by Watchman Nee and it was very challenging and convicting. I still have it. Would be interesting to read it through the eyes I have now.
It seems as soon as a church founder dies, there are wolves waiting in the wings to take over the ministry and send it where God never intended.
 
He had been saved through the ministry of the Plymouth Brethren (incidentally a group whose theology I still identify with.
Interesting, I had never heard of this group. I did some digging this morning on the Brethern, and Im confused on one of their policies. What is the doctrine of separation, and how does that apply to the life of a member?
 
Interesting, I had never heard of this group. I did some digging this morning on the Brethern, and Im confused on one of their policies. What is the doctrine of separation, and how does that apply to the life of a member?
The surviving Plymouth Brethren Church is a very small group in the world, numbering fewer than 100,000. I'm in no way associated with them; but I do like the doctrines on which they were originally founded.

The doctrine of separation has been misunderstood: it is not so much intended to separate us FROM people in the world, but to separate us TO God. In other words, our lives should be focused on God. Here's an excellent explanation taken directly from the Plymouth Brethren website--

"For those unfamiliar with Christian teachings, the Doctrine of Separation may sound unusual or strange – we can understand that, but there is nothing mysterious about it.

"Members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) make a commitment to only eat and drink with those with whom we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday in small groups. This solemn and sacred occasion of fellowship together is a commitment to one another to seek to live a life of purity, in line with scripture.

"The doctrine of separation does not mean we isolate ourselves from the world. Instead, it encourages us to move closer to God, by distancing ourselves from the beliefs and practices that are contrary to biblical principles – the Lord’s Supper being central to our beliefs

"This does not mean that we hold ourselves superior to our fellow men, women, and children. We live and work harmoniously alongside them, in the mainstream of society, interacting with the broader community, whether through our charity work, our schools or in business.

"We live peacefully amongst people from all walks of life, in regular houses in ordinary streets, in towns and cities around the world, seeking opportunities to be of service to the local community. Our global charity, the Rapid Relief Team (RRT), is made up of 14,500 volunteers from our Church, serving people with care and compassion in their time of need.

"Far from being cut off from the world, many of our members run successful businesses, employing over 56,000 people from the wider community, who work alongside members of our Church on a daily basis."

I hope that helps. As I said, I'm not a member of this church; but I do believe in their founding principles as laid out by people such as John Darby and CH McIntosh (whose commentary on the five books of Moses, incidentally, is one of the finest Bible commentaries ever written.)

I hope that helps, Andy.
 
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