We praise the Lord for bringing us into His recovery, the work He is doing today to recover us back to the New Testament economy of God.
The focus of this economy is that the Triune God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit is dispensing Himself into us, His believers, to regenerate us, transform us, glorify us and build us up in oneness as the Body of Christ and the dwelling place of God.
The economy of God is so high, and any shortcoming that we as individual believers or even the co-workers may have do NOT nullify the vision of the Lord’s recovery or the standing of the local churches on the unique ground of oneness.
We need to realize that, as revealed in the New Testament, not every believer who meets in the local churches or says he’s “in the Lord’s recovery” is walking in life and light.
Things such as sins or evil things can happen, but this doesn’t prove that the ministry we receive is not of God.
For example, if we look at the church in Corinth which was full of things that were not so positive, Paul still called it “the church in God which is in Corinth”.
Similarly, the churches in the Lord’s recovery experience problems, but many of the accusations that some have made either online or via word of mouth lack a factual basis.
Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, neither is it to prove this or that; we do not fight against those who spread rumours nor do we point fingers at the accusers.
We simply take up the whole armour of God so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day (Eph. 6:12).
May the Lord have mercy on us all and may He grace us and all the saints to turn away from vain talking, contentions of words, and questionings (1 Tim. 1:6; 2 Tim. 2:14, 23) and instead to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58) for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12).
This website, ShepherdingWords.com, addresses rumours that have arisen over the years regarding the local churches and the ministry of God’s word through brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.
Some of these rumors were long ago disproven but still circulate today. Others are new inventions. The accounts on this site are factual and are presented to help those who have encountered these rumors and those who desire to be equipped to respond to inquiries or accusations that may come their way. This site will also seek to clarify principles concerning how to face the difficulties that the saints and churches may face from time to time. Those who sincerely seek answers to questions can find them through genuine fellowship. It is our hope that the material presented here may rescue some from stumbling (2 Cor. 6:3; Rom. 16:17; Luke 17:1-2) and restore their hearts to the Lord, His life, His light, and the joy of their salvation.
We recommend reading these articles in a spirit and atmosphere of prayer. They are in the nature of inoculation, and if we open to the Lord as we prayerfully read these articles, we ourselves can be inoculated and kept on the way of the Lord in a pure way. Read some articles on teaching and fellowship, History Articles, and Letters from the Co-workers in the Lord’s Recovery.
History Articles – Shepherding Words
“Stealing” Meeting Halls?
Some dear saints have been influenced by malicious claims that Living Stream Ministry (LSM), the Defense and Confirmation Project (DCP), or the co-workers “stole” meeting halls by suing churches. Neither LSM, nor DCP, nor the co-workers have initiated any legal action against any local church, much less laid claim to any asset of any local church. Furthermore, no meeting halls were “stolen” either by LSM, the co-workers, or DCP. In stark contrast to these accusations, LSM has contributed funds to many local churches for them to acquire properties.
Non-profit corporations, including churches, are governed by particular federal and state laws which mandate making corporate documents and financials available and recognizing the rights of their members according to the corporations’ governing documents. On occasion, when these requirements were violated by some who improperly asserted authority, local saints have appealed to the courts to protect the members’ rights as set forth in the churches’ bylaws. These appeals prevented the “stealing” of meeting halls from the churches in their respective localities. Continue reading this article at, “Stealing” Meeting Halls?
A Response from the Church in Houston
The church in Houston has issued a statement to correct factual errors and misrepresentations that have recently arisen concerning an event that occurred there. Read this statement via Shepherding Words and also via the Church in Houston website.
Are the Local Churches Litigious?
A few irresponsible individuals have recently brandished, as “proof” that the local churches are litigious, a discredited list of organizations purportedly sued or threatened with lawsuits for criticizing the local churches. The charge is deceptive. To accuse a person or organization of being litigious is to accuse them of being unreasonably prone to take others to court to resolve disputes. Those who accuse the local churches of litigiousness have never properly researched the matter and seemingly cannot be bothered with the facts. Further, when presented with proof that their claims are not true, they simply ignore the evidence. Continue reading this article at, Are the Local Churches Litigious?
Concerning the Church of Almighty God/Eastern Lightning
Some with cursory knowledge have wrongly associated The Church of Almighty God (CAG), commonly known as Eastern Lightning, with the local churches and the ministry of Witness Lee. This misunderstanding derives from ignorance of the differences in their teaching and a superficial knowledge of history. Continue reading this article via, Concerning the Church of Almighty God/Eastern Lightning.
Facts Concerning Daystar Motor Homes
Daystar Motor Homes was established in January 1972 to generate funds to support full-time workers and build church meeting halls. Throughout the United States and overseas many were seeking help in practicing the New Testament pattern of the local church. Witness Lee had observed Watchman Nee using profits from a business to meet the financial needs of workers among the churches (Witness Lee, Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age (LSM, 1991), 98-99). With a similar desire, Witness Lee and others had set up Overseas Christian Stewards (OCS) in Taiwan to support the Lord’s work to raise up local churches in the United States and abroad. Continue reading this article at, Facts Concerning Daystar Motor Homes.
Facts Concerning Lily Hsu
Readers of a self-published book by Lily Hsu that accuses Watchman Nee of immoral activities should know the story behind the book. Lily Hsu was a new serving one among the young people in the church in Shanghai in the early 1950s with little direct knowledge of the things she claims as “memories.” When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, one of its strategies to consolidate power was to launch “struggle campaigns” against real and perceived enemies and rivals. Mass rallies, mass media, and trained propagandists were used to stir up hatred toward “class enemies” that were to be eliminated. When sufficient fervency was produced, carefully scripted public accusation meetings and show trials were conducted to precipitate action against the state’s “enemies.” The strategy was successful in breaking down old loyalties, as neighbors, co-workers, and even family members accused one another of disloyalty to and crimes against the state. Millions of ordinary citizens and even party members were falsely accused, imprisoned, and even executed. Continue reading this article at, Facts Concerning Lily Hsu.
Facts Concerning Statements Attributed to Max Rapoport
Max Rapoport, an elder in the church in Anaheim, walked out of a meeting on August 13, 1978, and never returned. Although he had been informed six months earlier that Rapoport was attempting to undermine his ministry and foment a “revolution,” Witness Lee took no action publicly or privately toward him. Rather, Witness Lee travelled widely, encouraging young believers to spend personal time to read the Bible and pray daily. He also gave messages that were subsequently printed in books such as The Experience of Christ and Life-study of Ephesians. The contrast between the encouragement to pursue knowing Christ personally and subjectively and the rich opening of the Word of God in Witness Lee’s ministry and the shallowness of what Rapoport was promoting became evident, and many younger believers who had been drawn to Rapoport by his dynamic personality turned away from him. Continue reading this article at, Facts Concerning Statements Attributed to Max Rapoport.
Facts Concerning Three Libel Lawsuits
Many saints do not know the story behind the libel lawsuits filed in 1980 and 2001, and some may be troubled because they do not know the facts surrounding those actions. The following factual account provides a very broad historical sketch of what occurred based on publicly available documents, including those from legal proceedings.
In 1967 Campus Crusade for Christ (which is Cru today) sent 600 staff and students for a weeklong campaign at UC-Berkeley, the epicenter of campus radicalism. The “Berkeley blitz” brought a good number to the Lord, but Crusade staff members were disappointed with its lack of long-term impact. Two men in particular came to different conclusions as to why and embarked on radically divergent paths. Jon Braun, Crusade’s national field coordinator, had read The Normal Christian Church Life by Watchman Nee, as had many staff and students in Crusade. He and several regional directors concluded that the problem was that Crusade was not the church, the building up of which is the goal of the New Testament. They left Crusade to try to establish house churches. Jack Sparks, a former statistics professor, decided that to reach radicals he would have to dress like them, talk like them, and act like them. He moved to Berkeley, grew a beard, donned overalls, became “Daddy Jack,” and started the Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF). Continue reading this article at, Facts Concerning Three Libel Lawsuits.
Hiding History?
In recent years a myth has been spread on the Internet that the leadership in the Lord’s recovery has systematically concealed the “real” history of the local churches. Lacking firsthand knowledge of the events in question and the objectivity to differentiate evidence and conjecture, those who have propagated this myth claim to unveil an alleged “hidden history” of the churches. A few others, mostly too young to have witnessed the events discussed or to know the people involved, have repeated the rumor that the “real history” of the local churches has been concealed. However, there is considerable documented evidence that contradicts their claims. Continue reading this article at, Hiding History?
Lawsuits and the Scriptures
On three occasions, twice in 1980 and once in 2001, some of the local churches and others filed lawsuits to obtain relief from defamatory writings, all coming from the same source but disseminated nationally and even internationally. Some have wrongly claimed that these lawsuits were filed to silence critics of our teaching. Others have claimed that the New Testament prohibits a Christian from appealing to a secular authority to adjudicate any issue with another believer. These two important issues deserve careful examination of facts and of the Scriptures. Continue reading this article at, Lawsuits and the Scriptures.
Were Max Rapoport and John Ingalls “Forced Out”?
A small but persistent group has propagated a false narrative that leading brothers who brought “concerns” to Brother Lee in the 1970s and 1980s were subsequently forced out of the Lord’s recovery for doing so. The facts of history tell a different story. Continue reading this story – with facts of what exactly happened with these two leading brothers – via the article entitled, Were Max Rapoport and John Ingalls “Forced Out”?
Letters from the Co-workers in the Lord’s Recovery
Letter from the Co-workers, 3/29/21 and Ministry Excerpts
This is a further follow-up to the co-workers’ previously posted letter dated January 14, 2021. Both letters demonstrate a practical outworking of some principles mentioned in the July 5, 2019 letter also published on this site. The ministry excerpts that accompanied the January 14 letter are still available below:
Letter from the Co-workers, 3/29/21 (PDF)
Ministry Excerpts Pertinent to Facing a Recent Situation (PDF)
Letter from the Co-workers, 3/26/20
In light of the current pandemic the co-workers in the Lord’s recovery released a letter on March 26, 2020, to the saints in all the churches in the Lord’s recovery throughout the earth. This letter provides a timely word of encouragement concerning the sufficiency of Christ and the need to exercise mutual fellowship and care, to pray, to spread the gospel, and to rise up to meet the Lord’s need in the present time. The letter has been translated. Read the letter online via Shepherding Words.
Letter from the Co-workers, 7/5/19
A letter circulated in 2019 has become the subject of social media postings and emails that purport to expose wrongdoings, including abuses and cover-ups, among the churches in the Lord’s recovery. Despite the seriousness of such accusations, careful examination of the letter has shown it contains numerous factual errors and unproven allegations, as well as a gross misrepresentation of the ministry of Brother Lee. This letter from the co-workers in North America constitutes a preliminary response and also sets forth important principles for how, in cleaving to the biblical standard, problems of this nature should be addressed for the protection of the saints and preservation of the Lord’s testimony. Read this letter online via Shepherding Words here.
