Commenting
This site was started by a group of former members of LFF. As has been said before, we write for many reasons, yet, none of those reasons are to in any way to hinder someone's relationship with God. This site quickly evolved beyond any of our imaginations. It has much more traffic than any of us ever expected. It is starting to take shape as a forum on the abuse of members and former members of LFF. Many people have written e-mails expressing their own pains, relating their own personal struggles and their steps toward healing. A select few of these e-mails have made it up onto the blog and some still will. As a result of the numerous questions that have come in via e-mail, we will start and maintain another website that aims to answer the most frequently asked questions we receive about Living Faith Fellowship. There is a link to it at the bottom of this post.
As the administrators of this site we realize that as people comment on here, they will be writing from different stages of the healing process. Therefore, the comments are the views of their author and not necessarily the views of those maintaining this blog. Many of the comments are in fact the views of the hosts, but we can not be responsible for what is said by the readers. We in no way wish to censor the views of anyone who visits here. We welcome and respect all opinions. In rare circumstances, if a comment is deemed vulgar or has outbound links to inappropriate material, it will be removed. We welcome a healthy exchange of thoughts and opinions on this site. This is something that was not possible at LFF and we, in no way, wish to replicate that environment on our site.
Thank you to all of you who have commented and e-mailed thus far. We appreciate all of your kind words and the overwhelming support in your e-mails. Frankly, we never imagined this site would touch so many people so quickly. Yet, judging by the sheer volume of hits we have received and the amount of e-mails you all have sent, the word has gotten out. We hope those of you who were hurt by this church will find healing. We will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Answers to Questions About Living Faith Fellowship
As the administrators of this site we realize that as people comment on here, they will be writing from different stages of the healing process. Therefore, the comments are the views of their author and not necessarily the views of those maintaining this blog. Many of the comments are in fact the views of the hosts, but we can not be responsible for what is said by the readers. We in no way wish to censor the views of anyone who visits here. We welcome and respect all opinions. In rare circumstances, if a comment is deemed vulgar or has outbound links to inappropriate material, it will be removed. We welcome a healthy exchange of thoughts and opinions on this site. This is something that was not possible at LFF and we, in no way, wish to replicate that environment on our site.
Thank you to all of you who have commented and e-mailed thus far. We appreciate all of your kind words and the overwhelming support in your e-mails. Frankly, we never imagined this site would touch so many people so quickly. Yet, judging by the sheer volume of hits we have received and the amount of e-mails you all have sent, the word has gotten out. We hope those of you who were hurt by this church will find healing. We will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Answers to Questions About Living Faith Fellowship
5 comments:
i currently attend LFF and am not aware of many of the things that you speak of. i'm not saying that it's false i guess you could say i have just kept my distance for much involvement. most of the reason that i attend are because of friends there and i enjoy thier fellowship. it sounds as if many people have had scaring experiences at LFF. how do i protect myself from these problems and how was your situation so different that you were affected in such an extreme manner?
This is just one opinion, I'm sure others will say more.
I would recommend that you avoid getting caught up in the leadership shemes they have there. The senior pastors in particular are very manipulative. You will be bombarded with stories of late night service and how rough life is and it is all "pull" to get you to feel sorry for them and support them more. The higher up the leadership ladder you get the more disgusting it gets. If you simply attend and enjoy the social functions you probably won't meet with many problems. However, if you should choose to "climb the ladder" by "pressing in" the games will begin. I could go on about other things but I will leave that to others. My main warning to you is to recognize the use of positions as rewards. As soon as they start saying "who shall ascend" watch out. They will acy as if it is their own desire and commitment that makes them holy. It isn't. It is the grace of God in each one of our lives that makes us holy. We can do absolutely nothing to deserve it. Now we could get into the "faith without works" discussion but I have better things to do right now. If you have more questions I'm sure others would be happy to answer or give their opinions. Once again all of the above is just my opinion.
My recommendation is know when to say "no."
When someone demands you sacrifice things precious to you--like family time, sleep, exercise, vacation--for extensive service of the church, say no and hold your ground. One thing you will notice is that some people playing the leadership game will be pointed out to you as those you should emulate. LFF leadership types act as if there is only one way to truly be a "passionate christian," and they will manipulate you to pursue that goal. Nothing less than all-out devotion and service is acceptable to them, and you should see that and say no.
While all-out service and devotion to God is important and essential, there is a big difference between that and all-out service of a church. Service of God takes many forms, for you it could be your job, your family, or even reaching your extended family for Christ. There are a million possibilities, and God has a unique one for you. LFF leadership will manipulate you to think that service of LFF and their ideals are the only way of true devotion, so be very aware of that. I know many people who have gotten caught up in it, some for decades, and when all is said and done they are left empty and broken, wondering were the last 10 or 20 years of their life went. Be very careful. Just say no.
I echo the advice of the last two comments. The fact you have not gotten very involved is your protection. The more you seek to be involved the more twisted it gets. But as long as you agree completely with what you are being told you will have no problem. Read that first chapter of Twisted Scripture that is linked in the last post. I read it when that post was put up and I was horrified. It described the control and manipulation at LFF to a "T".
If you are going to get involved with leadership just be careful. The worst place to get involved is on the worship team. It is very elitist. Pay close attention to your motives in anything you get involved with, don't allow pressure to guide you. And most of all guard your love for Christ, it is the source of your joy. When you have been robbed of your joy, you have lost. Don't let anyone take that from you, act out of love for Christ and let no person or system interfere with you and God.
It is imperative that you guard your ability to hear from God for yourself. This is a privilege available to ALL (Jesus' work on the cross ensures this), and if you give it up, you walk right into countles schemes and manipulation. I grew up at LFF, and yet I learned to hear from Jesus for myself. I'm not sure how...but I learned by the time I was 16 that if Jesus said something to me, I had better hang on to it, even if it went against what "leadership" was saying to me. I am where I am today (happy, in love with Jesus and not in Pullman) because I pursued what Jesus told me to pursue and I went where Jesus told me to go in spite of counsel I and my parents received to the opposite. God speaks to everybody...not just leaders. If you relinquish your right to hear from Him for yourself and to be lead one-on-one by Him, you lose your identity and all that goes with it. God bless you.
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