Responding to Recent Comments

Dear friends from India. Your thoughts are interesting examples of how Paul Johnson has brainwashed people into believing he was God's special messenger. You offer no proof for your proposition. In no ways can it be proved that Johnson was God's special prophet except from his own writings. Where is there one instance of something that has come true that was predicted in advance by Johnson? The Bible itself is full of fulfilled prophecy and is internally consistent.

In a previous post, we list factual details of the many things that Johnson predicted in his writings, that did not come true. If what Johnson wrote is to be considered prophecy, then it is FAILED prophecy. If this is the work of God and His wisdom, it is not a God that would be reliable to follow.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15-23)

If we look at the "fruit" of Johnson's work, in many cases we see a trail of hurting people. Many of these people eventually left the group and then are no longer seen by those still in it. Some stayed and struggled through the abuse. Nonetheless, that is the fruit. There are very few stories of truly positively changed lives by the accumumlated knowledge that Johnson "revealed". How could it? A majority of the information is historical and about him. A majority of the people that I know who have left the LHMM, have gone on to lead healthier and more fulfilled lives and never realized the bondage they were under while participating in the LHMM. They have found a true freedom in Christ.

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them –- bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up." (2 Peter 2:1-3 NIV).

One Scripture you quote here as proof that the Epiphany works were inspired by God: "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." 2 Pet 1:21
I believe this Scripture refers to true prophecy as evidenced in the Bible itself...not the Epiphany or Parousia volumes written by Johnson or Russell.

Then you say that if Pastor Johnson was wrong, King Solomon was also wrong (Proverbs 8:22-31). I'm not following the logic. In this passage Solomon (the writer of Proverbs) is not talking about himself. He is talking about wisdom...and later Paul and John may have alluded to some of these statements to describe Christ's presence at the creation of the world. (Colossians 1:15-17; 2:2, 3; Revelation 3:14)

My heart is not hurt by any of the replies to this blog. I am encouraged to know that there are some that are reading it. I hope that it can help you on your journey in sorting out truth.
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1-3 NIV).

The Man of La Mancha?

When you look closely at Johnson's actions, he was a lot like Don Quixote or the Man of La Mancha. After reading much about knights and chivalry, Don Quixote loses his mind and transforms himself into a knight. Even though it is a delusion, he sets out to fight injustice. In a similar manner, Johnson read about the many great church leaders before him and wanted to be like them. He called them "star members". So he went about creating the story for himself by interpreting the Scriptures to include himself as a major player in types and antitypes. He even admitted to having a mental breakdown (brain fag). He fought diligently those that disagreed with his interpretations and in so doing majored in the minor issues.

Along the way, so much of the truth and beauty of God's Word was distorted and lost. Instead of looking at God's Word as applicable to our daily lives, much of his writings focus on the history of a time period that has no practical value to our lives. During meetings, the focus is often on getting "the right answer" from the book instead of actually reading God's Word and seeing how it applies to us.

LHMMers today look back on Johnson as a hero. Even when many of his errors became evident at his death, his followers want to continue the delusion. An older sister that had actually met Paul S.L. Johnson, once said that "he was a man of tall stature and when he entered the room you could tell that he could be trusted and believed." Bill Clinton was also tall leader with a commanding presence. Do you believe everything that he has said? What about Eliab? He was an impressive Old Testament character who was tall and handsome. When comparing him to his little brother David (the future king of Israel), the prophet Samuel chose him. The Lord said to Samuel, however: “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

The facts are that Johnson abused and deceived people. He predicted the future like tarot cards or Nostradamus. He was delusional. He tried to make events work out or when they didn't he made up excuses for them. Johnson lacked good judgment in Britain. The examples are plentiful and many come from his own writings. When reading his writings with the idea that Johnson was God's chosen "Epiphany Messenger", LHMM adherents are able to make excuses and completely miss the truth of who he was.

Helpful Bible Study Information

There are many helpful and relevant Bible study resources available including podcasts, books, etc. Here are some great places to start...

North Point Community Church - Andy Stanley
Fellowship Church - Ed Young
Menlo Park Church - John Ortberg
Woodland Hills Church - Greg Boyd
Willow Creek Classes and Willow Leadership Summit - Bill Hybels
Answers in Genesis - Excellent infomation on various Bible topics and their relation to science
Heartlight - Daily devotional verse and prayer
YouVersion.com - Awesome online Bible including iPhone version
Online Bible or Online-Bible.com - Powerful and inexpensive electronic Bible.
CrossWalk Bible Study - Well-organized access to tools

Sifters

After the death of Pastor Johnson in 1950, Raymond G. Jolly led the movement, but there were quickly disagreements with other members. The people that started these disagreements are known as "sifters" because they were helping to separate the "wheat" (good Christ followers) from the "chaff" (bad Christ followers). [Matt. 3:12] Being labeled as a SIFTER by the LHMM means that you are basically disfellowshipped and that all good followers of Christ should avoid you. Another possible definition for a sifter would be anyone that disagrees with the movement and the teachings published in its journal. Being a sifter means you are on a path to destruction according to the LHMM.

Each splinter group that formed from the LHMM was led by someone that Johnson or the current executive trustee of the LHMM would label as a "sifter". Here are some:

• W.S. Stevens of Atlanta left in 1935 and circulated a letter claiming Johnson was dictatorial.
• S.A. Cater of Vancouver, B.C., departed in 1948 (Johnson implied Cater had gone into second death-everlasting oblivion. [PT 1949 May 1, p.79.])
• Thomas T. Ryde in Los Angeles left soon afterwards
• Cyril Shuttleworth, the British representative, left in 1951
• John Krewson of Fort Myers, Florida formed the Laodicean Home Missionary Movement in Philadelphia through which he published "The Present Truth of the Apocalypsis" journal. Krewson was suspended by R.G. Jolly 1954 Sept. 13 and disfellowshipped 1955 Aug. 21. Disfellowshipping was extended to some of his adherents.
• John Hoefle of Mount Dora, Florida, had left the Watchtower Society to join Johnson in 1928, and was disfellowshipped in 1956. He formed his own group, the Epiphany Bible Students Association. After he died in 1980 his wife continued his work. Hoefle taught that the elect of the church continued longer than the LHMM taught.
• Most recently, there have been others labeled as sifters by the LHMM. One of their websites is the following: Preserving the Parousia and Epiphany Truth - http://theepiphanyselect.blogspot.com Another is The Epiphany Truth Forum

I remember as a child seeing John Hoefle come into the same elevator as me and being extremely fearful since everyone said that he was such a dangerous and evil man. In reality, maybe he had a minor difference of opinion on doctrinal issues that was not to be tolerated within the group. The types of doctrinal issues that cause someone to be considered a sifter by the LHMM are often centered around a simple date in assumed chronology or the authority of the present leadership. If such relatively minor theological issues can drastically change the fellowship of an individual within the group, it does not bid well for those that have even greater theological differences.

So are the writers of this BLOG sifters?
We would say not so. We can not be classified as sifters because we are not trying to draw away followers to our interpretations of the Bible. We do not have a group or organization that we are heading up. We are not following the teachings of Russell or Johnson with modifications as were others that left and started their own organizations.

We are simply stating the truth and freeing people to make an informed choice of who to follow. We beleive the facts speak for themselves. There is no one best church. All churches are imperfect because they are filled with imperfect people. We do believe that some churches are better than others regarding the freedoms and opportunities that they afford. If a church points you to Christ and encourages a personal relationship with Jesus then they may be a candidate.

The Real Issue

The real issue with the LHMM is not so much the doctrinal debate of the truth. In fact, Biblical doctrines are constantly debated today and so there is some ambiguity that is OK. There are some truths worth dying for, some worth defending, and others worth only discussing.

The main issue with the LHMM is following one individual as the final authoritiy and definitive answer to all Bible questions. Followers of the LHMM will state that they are reasoning from the scriptures and proving their faith. In some cases this is true, but many times the interpretations would never be a conclusion that could be drawn from scripture. In this case, the only answer is that the correct interpretation comes from following what Johnson (or the present leader of the LHMM) wrote. This is the danger. At this point, you must then establish the authority of that individual. How is this done? By studying their writings. So it is a completely circular argument.

Imagine that I said today: "I am the final authority for interpreting the Scriptures. I am the mouthpiece of the Lord. You can not interpret the Scriptures for yourself without going against the Lord's arrangements."

How would you know this is true?

"I can help you find some scriptures in the Bible to prove it....and you must believe those interpretations because I am the person that will provide you with the correct interpretation because God has given them to me."

This is exactly the argument on which the LHMM has founded so many of their Epiphany truths and beliefs. It is extremely dangerous as it puts the leader in a position of authority that is not Biblical and ripe for abuse. They are not accountable to anyone. If a present day pastor from some other church claimed this today, my advice (and that of many other Christians) would be to run away as fast as you can...now.

The unfortunate thing is that LHMM followers somehow have been blinded and cannot see this simple truth. Even if there are many beautiful and correct Biblical interpretations within the group, this one corrupt view cancels them out.

No One Asked Why

This blog is written primarily by those that left the LHMM in hopes that it will help others that are going through similar experiences possibly due to similar reasons. In the movie Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis says "We read to know we are not alone." Since the LHMM and their doctrines are so specific, it is easy to feel alone in your beliefs. You are not alone. Others have had similar thoughts and feelings.

There were reasons for leaving. It was not an overnight decision. For each of us, study and prayer went into the event. It was based on some of the things discussed on this blog and other reasons. One big reason for the separation was based on doctrine and beliefs. Ultimately, I had many questions that were never answered appropriately. In personal conversations with the executive trustee of the LHMM at the time, he acknowledged some of the errors I pointed out. His response was this: "I agree but I do not believe that the LHMM is strong enough to withstand this knowledge." So nothing was done. Continuing to preach things that are known to be incorrect is wrong. In essense, the response was similar to Col. Jessep in the movie "A Few Good Men" when he said "You can't handle the truth."

So one day it changed for me. Something that I had spent my entire life knowing became harmful and not the wisest course to continue following. I took a step in faith and separated myself from the system of belief put forward by the LHMM. The strange thing I found was that out of all the people that stayed in the LHMM...no one asked WHY? Over the years, I had built many close friendships as well as my closest family members. Yet, you just let me go without a question. No one even asked "Are you OK? Is there anything we can do for you?"

I find this hard to understand. If you believe that the LHMM has the one and only correct truth, and desire to share it with everyone, and then someone leaves that purity and fellowship, then why are you not interested in "why?". Why are you not curious? Here are some possible reasons:
* It makes you uncomfortable.
* You don't want to know the answer because you are fearful it may influence your decision to stay.
* You were taught to disassociate with anyone that might possibly disagree.
* You see the leaving person as dangerous or a possible sifter.
* You don't care.

I don't think the reason is "because you don't care". in general, the people associated with the LHMM are good people with loving and caring hearts. If the reason is one of the others, then how did that come about? Where did you get the idea that talking with someone that has different beliefs would be harmful? Isn't your faith strong enough to handle real questions? Any system of belief that is built on truth should be able to withstand honest questioning. Many of the thoughts put forth on this blog remain undefended. How do you come to terms with your beliefs?

Study Results Are In...Knowledge is Less Important

The more you study in depth via multiple sources and with differing viewpoints, the more you realize how little we really know. There is some mystery and faith required in belief in God. This results in humility.

Those who study in depth via a single source with one viewpoint believing they have already determined it is truth, have closed their minds to actual truth. They may believe that the answer to all of their questions is contained somewhere in a set of certain books that explain the Bible correctly. Subconciously, they may fear that looking at something outside of their experience might disprove their views or they have been TAUGHT and CONTROLLED to not go outside of their literature boundary for study. The danger is that they may then believe that they know a lot about doctrines which may result in spiritual pride.

One main Scripture that appeals to study in the Bible is used by the LHMM to justify their focus on study...
2 Tim 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Unfortunately, the word "study" here only appears in the King James Version. Other translations are "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved...", NIV and "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God..." NKJV So "study" isn't even the primary meaning of this text.

Another place in the Bible talks of the Bereans who did study the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true...but the Paul they were verifying wasn't Paul S.L. Johnson.
Acts 17:11 "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Paul's message directly related to the Gospel "explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead." (Acts 17:3) He did not preach about types and antitypes and himself other than relating his personal story which was a powerful tool to reach people for Christ.

The LHMM focus is on knowledge. It is the thing that separates them from other Christians. "...Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." 1 Cor 8:1

Bible Study has it's place in a balanced Christian life, but the focus should not be on STUDY but LOVE. That is the greatest commandment.
"Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." - Ecc 12:12-13
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." -- Matthew 22:37-39
Some things are just not very complicated. Living for Jesus can be boiled down to two principles: (1) love God with everything I am and have and (2) love others and treat them like I would like to be treated. Not too hard to understand. Living it is the challenge.

Of what PRACTICAL value are the doctrines that you hold so tightly? Is it just about being right? Do you fear studying literature that may disagree with your assumptions?

More on Paul Johnson and LHMM History

It is at times difficult to gain the large perspective within the LHMM due to the minute studying of details. Here we lay out some more information about the LHMM and its history in an effort to sort things out as they occurred. We begin with some of the predictions that Paul S.L. Johnson (PSLJ) made about himself. Among them:
* That God knew ahead of time he would be faithful as the Epiphany Messenger and that he would be recognized as the Epiphany Messenger by the other Bible Student groups (like Joseph was recognized by his brothers). - This did not happen. Many Bible Student groups rejected him.
* That he would be the last of the Little Flock. - There is no way to know this.
* That he would die a violent death in October, 1956. - He died in 1950, instead of 1956....and his death was not violent.
* That he would write 21 volumes. - He did not.
* That he would expound the entire Bible. - He did not.

Here are a few of the other unfulfilled predictions that PSLJ wrote:
* That he would be in rank in the kingdom behind Bro. Russell, and the 12 apostles. - There is no way to know this. Possibly, God would reward false prophets with a high rank.
* That the time of trouble would end in 1956 and the Kingdom would be established with the collapse of society, anarchy, etc. - According to the LHMM, the time of trouble" is still going on.
* Before 1939, he said there would not be another World War. - When there was another World War, he said that it wasn't another war, but a continuation of the first one.
* He said that Germany would win World War Phase II. - They did not.
* That revolution would start in 1934. - When that didn't happen he said that revolution would start in 1949.
* That communism would overthrow the capitalist countries. - Didn't happen.
* That JWs would form a union with the state and grow to be the majority religion in America. - Not true.
* That labor unions would revolt against capitalists (based upon the types Jehu, etc.) Some of these predictions were just continuations of the ones Russell made. - No.
* That the end of Epiphany would be in 1954. - Unverifiable.

None of these statements are true and he was not coerced into making any of the statements. They were just a product of his imagination and wishful thinking. The confusion that resulted from the lack of fulfillment gave rise to differences of opinion about what happened, which caused splits and siftings. The fact that these predictions did not come true made his followers wonder about the other predictions. They said that it was a "trial of faith" and by this they meant it was a trial of their faith is Paul Johnson AS THE EPIPHANY MESSENGER.

Johnson said also that the Great Company would recognize themselves as Levites (those in lower rank than the priests) and they would leave Babylon (other churches). He said that Raymond Jolly was the leader of the Good Levites, and that he should succeed him. Jolly took over as the Executive Trustee, as Bro. Johnson had planned, but he also said that the Little Flock would last until 1956. Some people then said that there were Little Flock members remaining, including themselves, and that Jolly shouldn't be leading them. Jolly was teaching that it was the time for the Great Company members to recognize themselves and cleanse themselves. Some denied that they were in the Great Company and there were classes that split over this issue.

When 1954 arrived, it was to be the end of the call of the Youthful Worthies, and the LHMM taught that there was a new class forming called the "Consecrated Epiphany Campers", and a new period called the Basileia. The controversies with Krewson and Hoefle and other so-called sifters were over these points and over who the leader should be. They would quote without ceasing PSLJ's own statements and try to make sense of them. PSLJ made predictions that could not be harmonized in light of the events. This was similar to the case of Charles Taze Russell (CTR) dying with some of his predictions not occurring, and causing confusion and division.

By 1956, the kingdom had not come, nor had world revolution or anarchy, nor had the other predictions been fulfilled. The Epiphany was to be the period when the world would recognize that Christ was present, but during the period 1914-1954, the world never recognized this. Even today, the world still does not recognize that Christ is present as taught by the LHMM, and the kingdom has not come, and the timetable has not been realized.

There are further reinterpretations that lead to contradictions such as:
* The Great Company converting Israel - Did not happen.
* Babylon falls, and the Great Company recognize themselves, and give the message that Babylon has fallen - Did not happen.
* The planning stage of the Revolution began in 1949 - Did not happen.
* The lease of the Times of the Gentiles expired in 1914, and the kingdoms of this world are being destroyed. - Many more new countries have been established since then.

There are about 11 books that Johnson wrote that contain his typing, predictions, and controversies with others, disagreeing with their types and predictions. These instances are not isolated and stray points, but something he did constantly. The LHMM is still selling these books AS TRUTH without apology or corrections. PSLJ was likely influenced in his typing, predictions, and personal claims by Russell's typing, predictions, and personal claims. Charles Taze Russell predicted the time of trouble during 1874-1914, and the Kingdom in 1914. This did not occur, and these predictions are false statements, or error. They did not come from God, because God is truth. He was not God's messenger in making these statements, and it is wrong for Christians now to be studying in depth these erroneous statements.

It is apparent now that PSLJ was presumptuous and an unreliable leader. The siftings and controversy and confusion were all unnecessary, and caused by his own foolish statements. Some of the predictions are still "on the books", but others have been reinterpreted like the CEC class, and Basileia, etc. There is a folly in the belief in "God's messengers", of dogmatically predicting the future, of establishing doctrines based on types, and of classes studying at a snail's pace books that teach these things.

As evidenced by the history shown here, the present day troubles within the LHMM and manifesting of certain people as "sifters" is nothing new. It is more of the same. It amounts to spiritual abuse and overstepping bounds in incorrect Biblical interpretation.

The big question is: Can Paul S.L. Johnson and the LHMM be trusted? You must answer and make a choice for yourself what is true. If your conclusion is no, then everything is up for grabs. How do you decide what he wrote was true? In his view, you don't have a choice. You must take it all on faith that he was the Epiphany Messenger. Do you put your faith in man or God?

Invisible Return of Christ

Christ's return was predicted by the Miller movement...a predecessor to the LHMM. He didn't come at that time so they revised their predictions and came up with 1874. After there was still no evidence of Christ returning, they changed their position and realized that he DID return...only invisibly!

See the Wikipedia articles on William Miller and Great Disappointment

"Jonas Wendell, an Adventist preacher, experienced periods of weak faith after 1844. After studying Bible chronology, he came to the conclusion that the Second Coming would be in 1868, and in 1870 he published a booklet concluding it was to be in 1873.
Charles Taze Russell was in turn influenced by Jonas Wendell (as well as by the Millerites in general). One-time Millerite ministers George Storrs, George Stetson, and Nelson H. Barbour were also influential in Russell's doctrinal development. Like Wendell, Barbour had also predicted Christ's return in 1873, and when that failed, he revised the prediction for 1874. Soon after that disappointment, Barbour's group came to believe that Christ had returned in 1874 but invisibly. Russell met Barbour in 1876 and accepted the teaching of an invisible presence of Christ from Barbour. Russell developed an elaborate chronology with 1914 being viewed as the end of a forty year "harvest period." A schism in the movement occurred after Russell's death. In the early 1930s, the leadership changed the date of the Second Coming to 1914. The main branch of that movement came to be known as the Jehovah's Witnesses, while many members refused the change; Bible Students today still hold that the Second Coming was in 1874."

Two points on the Scriptures concerning this point of an invisible return of Christ:
(1) No one knows the time or date of the return of Jesus. If anyone predicts the date, it can't be the right date.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. - Matthew 24:, 3,36

(2) "Like a thief in the night" can mean unexpectantly or without notice. It doesn't need to mean quietly or invisibly. In fact, thieves are not invisible...especially if you turn on the light.
1Th 5:2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

Date setting diverts people's attention from Jesus to a date. It builds expectations that will be shattered by disappointment. That disappointment will, in turn, produces embarrassment and disillusionment.

The Trinity

What trinitarians believe, is misrepresented by those in the LHMM. They spend time refuting a form of modalism, which is different than the trinity doctrine. Arguments like, "How could Jesus pray to himself, while here on earth?" is based on refuting modalism, and not the trinity doctrine. They set up a straw man argument and then proceed to defeat it with logic. If you don't understand the trinity doctrine and then proceed to disprove your misunderstanding you haven't really accomplished anything.

The following scripture passage strongly supports the Trinity.
“I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." John 10: 30-33 (NIV)
The verse “I and the Father are one” can not mean one IN PURPOSE as the LHMM claims. If it did, then the Jews would not wish to stone Jesus. In fact, they would be happy that he considers himself in the Father's will as they would also desire to be. Wouldn't the Jews, who lived in the time of Jesus and spoke his language understand better what he meant than we could today?

The Bible speaks clearly about The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all spoken of with some similar attributes that can be used in reference to God only. The Bible also tells us clearly that there is one true God. The dilemma is then...how can we reconcile this apparent contradiction? The doctrine of the trinity does this by stating that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three different expressions or personalities of the one true God. "For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." 1 John 5:7-8

This solves several issues and problems in interpretation and practice for Christians. For example, Who do you worship or pray to? Jehovah the Father or Jesus? The trinitarian answer is that it is OK to worship or pray to both since they are expressions of the same God. Jesus accepted this idea when Thomas said "my Lord and my God!" John 20:28

An advantage of the Trinity is that it makes God very personal and caring. The idea that God Himself totally sympathizes with us and understands us...so much so that he is willing to enter our world and sacrifice even more than his Son...in a sense himself. In that way Christianity is totally unique from any other religion...in that God Himself came into our world to save us and in the process came to know us intimately. 1 Tim 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."

Does this seem so unreasonable? Isn't it somewhat attractive? When you look at the fruit of many Christians that believe in the Trinity you will see the doctrine does not do damage to the Christian faith. They often have more zeal for spreading the Gospel than those in the LHMM who call themselves missionaries and yet do little real missionary work.

LHMMers that do not believe in the Trinity often think they have more understanding about God and who He is than Trinitarians. This is an illusion. By stating the definitions of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in a different way it doesn't really mean you know any more. There is just as much mystery surrounding God that way. Often in life we will assign something a name and then somehow think that we know more about it when we don't. The more we understand, the greater we realize how much we do not know. Coming to terms and being OK with not knowing and fully trusting in God is the next step.

How important can the Trinity doctrine be for Christians if there is no way to understand it correctly without the aid of Russell or Johnson's writings?
A plain reading of the Bible will easily lead one to believe that Jesus is God. "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself EQUAL WITH GOD." John 5:18 What about all the people that are just now getting the Scriptures in their native language? What hope is there for them to possibly understand God's Word?

Check out the sermon "Jesus: Avatar or God?" for an interesting discussion.

The Great Pyramid

One of the beliefs of the LHMM is that the plan of God is illustrated by the Great Pyramid in Egypt. They believe that it Is referred to in the Bible by
Isaiah 19:19 "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border."
Besides symbolism of the passages to various features of God's plan there are also measurements that they believe correspond to time features of God's plan down the the year, month, and day.

It is possible that there are some demonstrable and amazing scientific design features of the pyramid. This is good evidence to show that man is quite intelligent, ingenious, and even inspired even so long ago. Unfortunately, what they believe to be an amazing witness to God is not. Today it is a witness to Satan, the New Age movement. etc. It does not draw people to Christ. It is a distraction from Jesus for those that spend a lot of time studying it.

The people that studied the pyramid the most and wrote the major work entitled "Great Pyramid Passages" were John and Morton Edgar. They and others went overboard measuring things with precision entirely impossible to verify. A Swiss brother that came up with some of these ideas went to the extreme of calculating 20 decimal places of accuracy for the coffer. There are several verifiable errors in their writings regarding prophecy predictions using the pyramid, etc. None of these have been corrected or even pointed out in later writings.

In the Russell section on pyramids at watchthetower.com it shows scanned copies of the original volumes and how Russell changed the measurements in the Great Pyramid over time.

One of the most important classes to the LHMM is the Great Company...they even receive a heavenly reward. They are not represented anywhere in the Great Pyramid.

The LHMM teaches the death of Paul S.L. Johnson and Raymond Jolly are verified by time measurements in the Great Pyramid. If their death is symbolized in the Great Pyramid, it puts them on the same level as Christ in the symbolism. In addition, the method of determining the death of Jolly is a random measurement with no symbolism to the passages. Why isn’t Russell’s death shown if Johnson and Jolly were?

Other groups believe in the testimony of the Great Pyramid. The ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) claim that the birth of Krishna and other incarnations of their gods are marked in the Great Pyramid. Bahai (a mix of Christian & Muslim faiths) have found teachings in the Great Pyramid as do the Freemasons.

Even if the Great Pyramid was truly what they say it is, it is quite an ineffective witness to God in today's world.

Worship of Leaders

The LHMM places such a high value on the lives of Russell and Johnson that it approaches worship. At times they set up special memorial services to honor their death long after they have been gone. Why wouldn’t one do this for the Apostle Paul for example? After all, he wrote a large portion of the Bible. Russell and Johnson were not even inspired.

Some LHMM followers and many Bible Students hang a picture of Russell on the wall of their homes. It’s interesting to note that these same people often do not have an image of Jesus on the wall. Who is more important?

Reasoning

Often the LHMM places the writings of Russell and Johnson above the Bible, reason, and facts. What are our REASONS to believe? Many times the arguments presented in meetings get so complex that it is difficult to simply state the reason a doctrine might be true.

Here’s an exercise in reasons that should really help: Pick a subject or doctrine you feel strongly about. List three reasons why you believe that is true. Reasons can be Scriptures, facts, logic, etc. If you can’t think of three reasons then you really don’t understand WHY you believe that. It may be that you accept it as fact entirely on FAITH. If that is the case, you need to admit it...and also admit that someone else that doesn’t believe what you do, but has some reasons behind his/her belief could be right as well.

The REASON you believe something should NOT be because Russell or Johnson said so. If you can’t explain it to others then you don’t really understand it. FAITH needs to be based on something otherwise it is a blind faith.

Hell

The LHMM believes that one of their major doctrinal purities comes in their unique view of hell as a place that is not eternal torment. This idea is not unique to the LHMM. In fact, other churches believe it and it is still debated today. The view is known as Annihilationism.

Greg Boyd discusses this view in depth in a recent sermon with some good commentary on theological debate.

Other churches state that hell is eternal separation from God without necessitating literal fire. Billy Graham was quoted in TIME magazine (November 15, 1993) "When it comes to a literal fire, I don't preach it because I'm not sure about it."

"Hell is not eternal torment, but it is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely and so absolutely that the only end is total non-being...Annihilation might be a truer picture of damnation than any of the traditional images of the hell of eternal torment. If God has created us with the freedom to choose, then those who make such a final choice choose against the onl source of life, and they have their reward." -- "The Mystery of Salvation," the third 'Report by the Doctrine Commission of the General Synod of the Church of England," published 'under the authority of the House of Bishops and is commended by the House to the Church for study.

U.S. News and World Report had a cover story from 1/31/00 about Hell and changes in doctrinal views over time called "Hell Hath No Fury—With fire and brimstone out of fashion, modern thinking says the netherworld isn't so hot after all"

Heaven

One of the biggest differences between the LHMM and mainstream churches is the idea of who goes to heaven. Present day LHMMers do not believe that they have the opportunity to go to heaven. They believe that time has passed and a limited number of people (144,000) and some others (in a group called the Great Company) already have been selected for this reward.

The number of the 144,000 comes from three scriptures (NIV):
Re 7:4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
Re 14:1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Re 14:3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/144,000

This term "144,000" is used to refer to The Church. Other terms for the same group are Little Flock and those that tried out for the High Calling.
LHMMer appeal to a Present Truth article that offered "88 proofs" that the High Calling was closed and ended. These "proofs" are actually more of indications. None of them are plain or easy to understand. Most of the logic involves a prior belief that the antitypes shown are true and then a mental jump is required to get the date.

Sometimes they appeal to an argument from Mt 7:14 "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." and say that this shows that few would go to heaven. The number of all Christians in the world today could be defined as few in comparison to the entire world population. According to some sources Christians of all denominations make up only 33% of the world today and it is dropping while other religions such as Islam are growing. How do you define few?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Some LHMMers argue that you can see the faithfulness of those that had the opportunity to go to heaven because of the amazing trials they experienced that we do not have today (example martyrs who died for their faith, etc.) This is a view that is not up-to-date or uniformed.
"Modern-day persecution is well documented, despite some reports to the contrary. In fact, it is estimated that more Christians were martyred in the 20th Century than in the prior 1,900 years combined." http://www.persecution.com/
Also see the Persecuted Church resource.

Here are some issues with the LHMM teaching about heaven:
1. Revelation is a book of symbols. Why does this number (144,000) suddenly become literal and refer to an actual limited number of people that have the opportunity to go to heaven?
2. The concept of a limited number of people in heaven is based heavily on Bible chronology and the time period WHEN that opportunity is available. Since there are major problems with the chronology, it doesn’t hold true.
3. Dividing people into classes of those that are more or less faithful and who will receive greater or lesser rewards from God is not helpful. It encourages separation, pride, and spiritual abuse because some people are considered more important than others. There is no reason why we should need to know the kind of reward that God gives us. It can mainly have harmful effects one way or the other.
4. What about the Great Company? It is also a heavenly class and the only reason they believe it is closed is because Jolly said he was the last one. If he wasn't the last one, then there could be a lot more people going to heaven according to their own teachings.
5. How do you define heaven? If the future presents "a new heaven and new earth" then where will those that have believed in Jesus as their Savior spend eternity? Is a new restored earth a "part of heaven" that Christians could enjoy as well?
Maybe we have to leave some of the details in God's hand. The Bible doesn't specify so we don't really know. It is possible.
2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Re 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

A Cult?

Is the LHMM a cult? The answer depends on how you define a cult. The dictionary defines a cult as "A group of followers." Psychologists define a cult "as a group which deviates from cultural norms." Another definition is that "A cult is a spurious or unorthodox system of religious beliefs and ritual." The word cult is pejorative, labeling, and emotional loaded. There is not universal agreement on what group is a cult.

Many Christians would say the LHMM is a cult primarily because they do not believe in the Trinity. So for theological reasons it could be characterized as a cult because its views differ in some major respects from mainstream Christianity. The LHMM may be more of a sect than a cult. They claim to be non-denominational and non-sectarian but in practice they are not. For example, you won't find any Catholics or Lutherans among their fellowship. They believe you must leave those other churches for the purity of doctrine within their own group.

There is a large difference between theory (teaching) and practice within the LHMM. Here are four categories of typical cult traits and explanation of how the LHMM does not conform ...

1. Taking advantage of members:

• No breaking of the law or sexual abuse
• No stockpile of weapons
• No physical violence
• No financial pledges or tithing of members required
• Church meetings are not wild, but quiet rational discussions or lectures on beliefs

The LHMM is relatively harmless in this way.

2. Non-authoritarian:

• No clergy or bishops
• Democratic voting in church matters
• Shared leadership in giving talks, leading meetings

In practice, disagreements with the are not tolerated and will lead to disfellowship or loss of position. The democratic nature of the group is contradicted by the star-member teaching.

3. No overt mind control:

• No creed to subscribe for membership
• No creed to be elder or speaker for movement
• Teaches that one should prove all things and not to accept with unquestioning minds the teachings of the church
• Questions encouraged in church meetings and conventions
• Lengthy debating done at mealtimes on beliefs

In practice, you must believe in the writings of Russell, Johnson, Jolly, etc. as the final authority. Those that were "star members" have more authority as do those that are of higher classes. The the freedom of thought is contradicted by the star-member teaching and the repeated study of the same volumes.

4. Non-exclusive:

• Does not keep any membership rolls
• Accepts as brother any who profess Jesus as savior
• Little proselytizing
• Believes there are Christians in other churches
• Does not condemn to hell all those outside group
• Believes that heathen and unbelievers can be saved
• Teaches that God loves all mankind
• Believes that God has given certain truths to each denomination

In practice, people in other churches are looked at as in error and with a somewhat prideful attitude. The thought is that if those people were truly serious about studying the Bible, then God would lead them into the truth as the LHMM understands it. The non-exclusive nature of the LHMM is contradicted by their teaching that God has cast off the churches, they are Babylon (and will be destroyed soon), the Great Company, revolutionism, and sifters.

One cult characteristic is that they have a charismatic leader. It can be argued that Paul Johnson was this leader from the respect given to him and way people that met him talk about him. He died in 1950 and so the LHMM's charismatic leader only has influence through his writings.

A cult mindset is shown through the unquestioning acceptance of authority, the dependence of a fixed pattern of thought or behavior, and a willingness to rationalize unethical behavior. Some of these characteristics are present in the LHMM. The antidote against this mindset is the willingness to question accepted ideas, a priority given to truth over personal wishes, and a refusal to justify means over ends.

Following are some good resources to look at and see if they apply:

Abusive Churches and Control Oriented Leadership

Cults and Spiritually Abusive Churches

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

Ask yourself these questions: Can you leave the LHMM? If not, why not?
Is the idea of being associated with a group that is a known as a cult to anyone beneficial to witnessesing?

Dealing With Change

After you read some of the posts here regarding doctrinal issues and problems you may be thinking about change. Making a decision to leave the LHMM might be one of the most difficult but also the most rewarding things you could do to change your life for the better. Here are some steps that may be helpful in getting over the obstacles to leaving the LHMM.
1. ADMIT that the group is not right on everything.
Admitting who Russell, Johnson, Jolly, etc. were...fallible men
2. REALIZE that important doctrines of the LHMM are not unique. Many people study them in Christian college theology classes or seminaries all the time. The doctrines have names and various followers. Examples: earthly kingdom, Trinity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity, oneness doctrine, annihilationism (hell) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilationism.
3. REJECT unsupportable, unfactual, unscriptural things. Some details are not true or you would never believe them unless you implicitly trust the source.
4. ACCEPT new worship styles, new study practices, and a new way of living.
5. CELEBRATE freedom, fellowship with God’s people, God's grace, seasons, and variety of life.
6. CONCENTRATE on what is important. What doctrines are truly edifying? What will help you be more loving and fulfill the primary commands of God to love God and others?

Freedom

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. -- Galatians 5:13

Based on the experiences of several people that have left the LHMM, there are many freedoms and joys to be found. For example, you may:

• Serve God in ways that you are particularly gifted and called for without an organization and structure that stops you. When you discover what your spiritual gifts are (this may be done via several online tests), you can serve in ways that are consistent with your gifts, passion and temperament, You will experience greater satisfaction.
• Worship with music that is of a different style that simply traditional hymns with Old English language. It may be inspiring and up-beat.
• Read any version of the Bible and stop wasting time correcting the errors of older translations such as the KJV.
• Read and study the Bible directly without reproach.
• Walk into a Christian book store and look at any book without fear.
• Gain the ability to respect Christian leaders and speakers that bless many and have good ministries.
• Be able to fellowship with Christians from various denominations and respect and learn from them as brothers in Christ. Meet with people of your age group that can encourage you. You will not have to travel great distances at your expense to find fellowship.
• Wear comfortable clothes to gatherings.
• Participate more fully in ministry if you are a woman.
• Attend a Church that is attractive, up-to-date, relevant, and in tune with the times.
• Listen to messages from a many different teachers with gifted speaking abilities that are motivational and relevant to life.
• Find a church where they care for children and have special services geared for their age.
• Pray in normal English language and God will understand you fully.
• Find people that are real, authentic, and honest about their lives and walk with God.
• Experience church in ways that are tangible, practical, and meaningful.
• Experience different times and seasons of life and more flexibility in your schedule. For example, you may do a home Bible study for six months and then try a different one. Services at church will vary according to the time of year like Easter or Christmas. You may have the choice to go to church on a Saturday. You will not be tied to a strict discipline on church on a certain day and time with the same people for the rest of your life.

Many of these freedoms are gained by finding a good church home to be with other believers. It takes time to feel like this is not a sin since the LHMM calls these churches the "nominal system" and "Babylon" (meaning confusion). This may at first come as a surprise, but we assure you that there are sincere, faithful, and knowledgeable Christians to be found outside the LHMM. No one has all the truth. The world is not that simple. No set of books will give you all the correct interpretations of every Scripture. You need to be OK with that.

The Memorial Celebration

The LHMM celebrates the memorial of Jesus' death once a year as possibly the one most sacred event in their group. The memorial consists of sharing bread and wine (or juice) according to 1 Cor 11:26. ("For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." NIV) This is similar to communion celebrated in most churches at various times. This verse says "as often as" or "whenever" implying that the remembrance need not be only once a year. Even though type of the memorial (the Passover) occurred once a year, there are other indications in Scripture that it may have been celebrated properly more often in the early church. It is interesting to note that according to this verse the LHMM has a problem because they believe that the Lord has already arrived invisibly in 1874. So they are no longer "proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes".

They go to great lengths to calculate the "correct date" of this event and consider others that may celebrate (sometime more often as communion which is essentially the same service) at other times to be wrong. There is quite a difficulty among Bible Students in calculating this date which falls around the time commonly known as Easter. Practices for calculating the yearly date vary among Bible Student groups. Paul Johnson changed his method of calculating memorial dates in the later 1920's based on conjunction of the moon with the sun, rather than on first visibility. The modern Watch Tower organization (Jehovah's Witnesses) go by conjuction at Brooklyn, NY to give no credit to Jerusalem. A majority of others Bible Students groups choose the date by the published Jewish calendar.
Who's right? Maybe it just isn't that crucial. Maybe with God it's "the thought that counts"?
When is an issue important enough to divide over, or should it just be a matter of friendly discussion?

LHMM writings tend to over stress small things as if there is always only one right and correct way to be. The Bible doesn't make it that clear. One possible reason why the LHMM stresses the yearly observance on their day is to create a visible difference between the LHMM and other churches. It seems that certain traditions were instituted for the sake of differentiation and not necessarily because of their Biblical nature.

"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity." - Attributed to John Wesley or St. Augustine

Ruth and Naomi

The Bible story of Ruth and Naomi is an amazing example that applies to our lives in a relevant way. Various commentators and podcasts bring out the beauty contained in the details of this story. Among the many lessons we can learn are the following:
* Faith and trusting God above all
* Willingness to risk for a good cause
* God can use the ordinary lives of people to do extraordinary things. King David and Jesus eventually came through the family of Ruth.

None of these things were taught by Johnson. He focused solely on the usefulness of the story to support his own purpose which was determining who are the correct brethren in the truth and who they should follow (him).

There are types in the Bible and many are directly explained. They are there as an illustration of God's plan…mainly as concerns Jesus and the plan of salvation.
Col 2:17 "which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."
They are not there to teach doctrines or provide details on classes, etc. Johnson abused types and went beyond what he even stated as appropriate uses. Both JF Rutherford (founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses) and Johnson used the story of Ruth to prove that their view and leadership was correct. By doing so each removed much of the beauty of the lessons that can be learned from Scripture that is relevant to our lives.

The story of Ruth and Naomi is explained by Johnson in E4 chapter 6. Here are some the basic antitype time periods as Johnson explains them:
* Famine - Scarcity of new truth from 1844 to 1921
* Ruth Chapter 2 - Period from 1881, when the gleaning began, to 1916
* Ruth Chapter 3 - Period from Dec, 1918, to July, 1919
* Ruth Chapter 4 - Period from July, 1919, to about July, 1921.

Why are these periods of time so important? There is little reference in the Bible to the present time which in the view of the LHMM has even scarcer new truth. Why doesn't the Famine refer to this time?

The character and place antitypes are explained by Johnson as this:
* Elimelech - People who didn't make it into the Church and were in the Miller movement
* Naomi - People who followed Elimelech
* Orpah - Less faithful people…
* Ruth - More faithful people…Youthful Worthies and Jesus (not the Church)
* Boaz - Jesus speaking through Johnson's specific magazine articles
* Nearest Kinsman - Society leaders, its directors and editors
* Moab - Nominal Church
* Canaan - Domain of Truth and its Spirit

Is this information relevant today? How does any of this information help anyone to be a better person? Even if it was true, it amounts to trivia.

Johnson states: “The agreeableness of this Naomi class, indicated in the meaning of Naomi (pleasantness), which made them comply too readily with the wrong directions of their leaders, had made her amenable to bitter (Mara) experiences of disappointment and loss. Beloved brethren, it is always thus when people leave the Truth and its Spirit for error and the world. This should put us on our guard against an easy-going compliance with the directions of leaders, especially at this time when almost all leaders among the Lord's people have become misleaders.”
Who would want to be on the road to disappointment and loss by “leaving the Truth”? Who determines truth and by what standard?

Johnson states that the “fullness of the Gentiles came in, in 1878” - This chronology is highly debatable. See the book “The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ's Return” by Carl O. Jonsson for a detailed discussion of this topic which leads to the conclusion that most LHMM chronology is faulty.

Paul Johnson uses circular reasoning to prove his point many times. For example, “Thus our application is decidedly factual, for most of us are witnesses that these events occurred in 1918 among Truth people.” To paraphrase this, one might say “Because this story is a type of this article being published in our magazine…and we all saw the article published…this proves that the we're correct.”

Johnson writes “Boaz' going to the gate and sitting down there represents our Lord's preparing to circulate widespread among Truth people the May (printed in February and circulated in July) and August, 1919 TRUTHS” This statement is proof that Johnson believes and uses this Scripture passage on Ruth to prove that only he is the correct leader and distributor of truth in the world. He says Boaz represents Jesus (not Johnson who actually did the publishing). Also, the assumption is made that the people receiving this magazine are “the Truth people”. To paraphrase his statement today: “Boaz represents our Lord preparing to put up a web site in February of 2008 that explains the truth of what Ruth really means to the Truth people.” If you don't accept what is written there, you are evidently “the Error people”.

Fellowship

LHMM followers meet in small classes of 3-40 people once or twice a week for Bible Study, to hear a talk, or for a testimony meeting. This is their primary form of fellowship. It is estimated that there may be about 20 classes in the U.S. with an average of 10 followers making the number of followers in the U.S. at about 200 people. There are more LHMM followers in other countries. These estimates are believed to be correct based on some of the known congregations:
Chicago, IL - 7
Minneapolis, MN - 5
Athens, Ohio - 30
Muskegon, MI - 15
Chester Springs, PA - 10
Florida - 4
Norfolk, VA - 7
Oklahoma - 5

At national gatherings which they call a General Convention, adherents will commonly meet at a hotel and listen to talks (sermons) for 3 days at a time. Most conventions in the U.S. currently will draw an average of up to 60 people and at most 100. For 2008, there are 4 conventions planned in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. See the official Bible Standard web site.

The incredibly small numbers is an indication of the importance of pure doctrine to this group. They will divide at even the smallest doctrinal differences. This severely limits their fellowship causing followers to make travel to conventions across the country extremely important so that they can meet with others "of like minded faith". For followers is difficult not to feel alone in the world with so few people that believe as they do.

Regarding their numbers, they appeal to the "quality not quantity" mentality and quote Scriptures like Mt. 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
and Deut 7:7 "The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples."

LHMMers take pride in practices that are different than mainstream churches such as meeting in homes and not passing a collection plate at services (called meetings). This is a positive spin on the fact that when your numbers of people gathered are so small, there is little reason to have a facility or have an orderly request for donations.

The Ephipany Messenger

In the book entitled The Epiphany Messenger (E10), E13, and other places Johnson writes about himself as seen in Biblical antitypes. From informal surveys, many LHMM adherents have not even read these books. In some of the countries where there are larger numbers of followers than in the U.S. (such as Poland and France) the books have not even been translated into their native language. Here are some things presented in those writings that are difficult to believe:

* Johnson sees himself in so many types that it makes him into an overly pivotal person in God's grand plan…mentioned only second to Jesus in importance.
* Dates and times of some events were not recorded and so he guessed at the times to make it work out (See E10, p. 22)
* There is little Scriptural proof offered that these detailed types are in the Bible. (Only Amos 3:7)
* Many of the facts presented can not be verified. They are things that happened in Bro. Johnson's head or during his time period. We can only take his word for it.
* Many of the parallels are questionable. For example, on E10 p. 57 Claude of Turin dies and this types Johnson completing wrting up to a certain paragraph of a certain article.
* Certain events could have been influenced by Johnson's desired or expected outcome…like losing a debate on a certain day.
* Parallel events are not consistent. Sometimes like events in the type represent multiple kinds of events in the antitypes (for example, someone's death types writing an article, someone failing to go somewhere, or someone returning from a trip, etc.)
* Johnson speaks of Jesus taking over his mind exclusively while talking to a brother. It's hard to believe he was used in this way. E10 p. 305
* If some details of types can be verified as untrue, how can we accept the rest of them as true? For example, in E10 p. 594 Bro. Johnson sees God's speeches to Job typing God speaking to him about the creative works he wrote in the Creation book. In E2 p. 472 Johnson indicates that Behemoth was a hippopotamus and Leviathan was a crocodile. A hippopotamus obviously does not have a tail like a cedar (Job 40:17) nor does a crocodile breath fire (Job 41:19-21). These creatures were more likely dinosaurs considering their descriptions. If God was telling Bro. Johnson what to write, why did he allow him to write these errors?
* All the detailed types such as those presented by Johnson ended with his death. Is Jesus done with His work on earth?

How can we reconcile these things? If we decide that some of the types Johnson gives are simply not true, how can we decide which ones are true? How can you prove Johnson was the Epiphany Messenger without appealing to his own writings? Why would God allow him to make such mistakes? How important are these types in a Chirstian's life? How much time should be devoted to studying them?

Johnson stated that no doctrine of the Plan should be based solely upon a type. Types are used to illustrate doctrines taught in clear Scripture and not used to teach (E4 p. 254 ). How can one prove there is a Youthful Worthies class without using types? How can one prove the High Calling is closed without using types? These are contradictions.

Various Bible Students have stated that they don't believe in Johnson because he saw himself in types so much. This is a valid point. If you read the 10th Epiphany volume it is evident. How can one answer this objection? It seems we must first, prove that Bro. Johnson was the Epiphany messenger, then we can accept some of the types he presented by faith. But what if he wasn't? It is a vicious circle of reasoning. Can we prove the types by the source and prove the source by the types?

The Armor of the Lord

Johnson often made lists of 7 or 10 items because of the significance of the numbers. At times this was quite forced. For example, In Ephesians 6:10-17 (and 1 Thessalonians 5:8) the Apostle Paul shows the armor of God to be the following:
1. Belt of truth (girded)
2. Breastplate of righteousness
3. Feet fitted with gospel of peace (sandals)
4. Shield of faith
5. Helmet of salvation
6. Sword of Spirit, the Word of God (only offensive weapon)

Evidently, since this is not a list of 7, Johnson saw it as incomplete. So he added another part to the armor called the Greaves (leg armor) from 1 Sam. 17:6. See PT 1966 p. 52, PT 1977 p. 42
This leg armor was used by Goliath.
Why would this Old Testament reference to armor worn by an enemy of God be included in this list for God's faithful?
If we include it, why wouldn’t we also include then the other parts of Goliath’s armor (or weapons) such as the “target of brass between his shoulders”, or “the staff of his spear”, etc. in the armor of God as well?
Although, this is really a very minor point, most people in the LHMM take it as fact without questioning. This shows the significance they place on Johnson for interpretation of Scripture. When this question was posed at a convention it was defended as true without reasoning.

In Epiphany volume 9, The Parousia Messenger, Chapter 9 (see page 561, etc.), we read of a type concerning David and Goliath. Here it is suggested by Johnson that David is a type of Pastor Russell and Goliath is a type of evolution. Today we see evolution deeply affecting the thinking of almost everyone, even Christians that may think they are free from it. (See www.answersingenesis.com for some good defenses against evolutionary thinking.) In the type David destroyed Goliath.
How can we say this type is accurate if, in the antitype, Pastor Russell only argued against evolution and didn’t destroy it?

False Prophecy

There is much evidence of failed or false prophecy in the LHMM. The biggest claim to “correct” prophecy is the pivotal date of 1914 as the start of World War I. It is one date where something visible happened that they can point to as proof. The date was not originally predicted as that way in the writings, but after the fact they changed their views to make it appear that it was a known conclusion.

Here are a few predictions that Johnson made that did not come to pass:
E10 p. 140 Johnson claimed that “the entire Bible would be revealed and commented on before his death.” He never wrote about or commented on a large portion of Scripture before his death.
E5 p.40 The Bible passages which Bro Russell did not explain before his death…about 66% of the Bible …will be correctly explained during the Epiphany period.
E6 p.322 By the end of the Epiphany everything in the Bible will be clear. See also E8 p.448 and E8 p.627-628. The LHMM believes the Epiphany period ended in 1954. So is everything clear yet?
E10 p. 108 Johnson predicted when and how he would die (October 11, 1956). He was wrong. He actually died October 16, 1950 and of different causes.

In general, Johnson predicted the future like tarot cards or Nostradamus. He tried to make events work out or when they didn't, he made up excuses for them. He even indicates this “In a few cases we construe sometimes the date...because of uncertainty as the exact date” (E10, p. 22) For many of the parallels (type and antitype) found in his books, there is no way to verify that they occurred at the times indicated because the people are dead and there are no other witnesses that viewed the events or wrote about them.

The LHMM believed they would have a pivotal role toward the Jewish nation and had a separate name called “The Israel Commission” to do this work. Raymond Jolly predicted that his booklet “Jewish Hopes and Prospects” would be pivotal to converting millions of Jewish people to Christianity. This never occurred and Jolly died in 1979.

Given these obvious false claims how much can we trust the LHMMs other claims to “truth”?

What does the Bible say about those who prophesy and their prophesy turns out to be wrong? Deuteronomy 18:20 “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.”

Star Members

Johnson refers to certain individuals including himself as “star members” or those special individuals that the Lord has designated to bring out truth. Here are some statements Johnson wrote about these people:
E9 p.124 Only star members should study the Bible as a textbook; all others will end up in error if they do.
E9 p.134-135 Only star members can give new doctrine. Doctrine from anyone else will result in error. The Epiphany Messenger gives doctrines for Great Company and Youthful Worthies and Epiphany world.
E9 p.129 these two and all other star members have had privileges as to Bible Study, denied all other brethren.
E9 p.130 Star Members have been our Lord’s eye, mouth, and hand….makes them sustain a closer official and personal relationship to Him than any other contemporary members of the Little Flock and this is due to their office under the Lord and to their greater faithfulness than the rest of the members of the Little Flock living in their individual times.
E9 p.131 Star Members would so get the Truth by personal Bible Study and none others would get it by personal Bible Study.
E9. p.107 non-star members must present new things to star members first before presenting them to general brethren. Star members are Jesus’ agents in interpreting the scriptures as due.

How does the idea of star members affect your personal study of the Bible? How does it affect control of non-star members?

Youthful Worthies

The LHMM believes the “Youthful Worthies” is a class of believers that may still have members alive today. To be in the class you needed to have consecrated your life to God before a certain year…possibly 1954. They are currently debating if the class began in 1878 or 1881. Here are some of the things written about this class as they believe:
E4 p. 438 God is not the father of the Youthful Worthies who are not actually His children.
E4 p. 439 The Youthful Worthies do not have access to the throne of grace…They should not be asked to lead prayer in a meeting of Priests.
E4 p.465-467 Antitype of Lot and his daughters - Those who teach the High Calling is open lose their Youthful Worthy standing, etc.

What is the point of separating people into classes? How does this benefit our Christian walk? Should we leave the determination of rewards to God?

Learning True Doctrine

Is it possible to learn true doctrine without following the writings of Russell and Johnson? In Present Truth 1940 page 12 it says,

“And whoever refuses to be taught by Jesus, speaking through these special mouthpieces, is not taught by the Lord Jesus at all; and the interpretations that such get are from Satan; and not from the Lord , since Jesus interprets the Bible through His special mouthpieces. These have no monopoly on it at all. He has that monopoly. He is pleased, and always has been pleased to use certain brethren in the Church through whom He gives His interpretations to the others, and does not give the others the interpretations through their study of the Bible alone.”

God Hearing Our Prayers

According to the LHMM does God directly hear our prayers today? In Present Truth - 1937 page 15 it says

“But the privilege of praying to God and that of access to the Throne of Grace are not the same thing. The privilege of prayer extends to more than does having access to the Throne of Grace. Perhaps the matter can most easily be clarified by an illustration. E.g., all Japanese do not have access to the Mikado as such, i.e., in his throne room, to consult or to petition him. This is a privilege reserved to specially invited ones only. But any Japanese may petition the Mikado in any one of his ministers, especially in his prime minister. And the Mikado will hear him in such a minister, i.e., the petition will come to the Mikado, not directly, but indirectly, the minister being the one actually hearing it. The Mikado gives his ministers general principles according to which they are to treat all petitions coming to them. Acting according to these the ministers decide on the answer without specially bringing the matter to the Mikado's attention. So it is with the heavenly Father. He invites only the priesthood to approach him in the throne room, so to speak, there to confer with Him or petition Him. All other prayers come to Him only indirectly, i.e., our Lord or the guardian angels directly hear them and answer them according to the principles that the Father has given Him or them. It is because only priests have access to the Throne of Grace that we advise that in priestly meetings, not Youthful Worthies, but priests offer prayer, since the prayers of the priests are more effectual then those of all others, they having access to the Throne of Grace, whereas others do not have that privilege which makes their prayers less effectual than those of priests.”

No Scriptural proof is offered for this view. Here are a few Bible verses to the contrary...

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.-- James 1:5
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." -- Matthew 7:7
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. -- James 5:16
I love the Lord. He heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. -- Psalm 116:1-2
Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. -- Colossians 1:9
"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2, NIV.

The Arrangements

The Arrangements - These are a set of rules and regulations within the LHMM that were mainly set up by Paul Johnson for the basis of organization and control. They are unwritten and not Biblically based. People within the group appeal to them all the time to justify decisions. A better name for them might be called “the traditions”. It has been said that the arrangements are simply common sense with a little of the holy spirit mixed in which is a very subjective statement. It means the arrangements can be whatever you want them to be, yet you must follow them.

How important is following “the arrangements”? In E5 page 136 Johnson writes, “Revolutionism against the Lord's arrangements given through “that Servant” is a sign that the Lord gave to enable ones living in the Epiphany period to recognize those manifested as having lost the High Calling.”
In other words, if you go against what Johnson has determined were the rules, then you have lost your place in heaven. In many cases Johnson publicly declared who were the unfaithful ones.
See the book "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church" by by David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen

Studying the Bible

The LHMM discourages the direct study of the Bible in a class setting...as in a verse by verse study of a particular book. (See Present Truth magazine July-Aug 1984 #592) In that article, it is called "textbookism" (or "open" study) as opposed to "topical textism" (also called "Berean Bible Study") which would be the studying of the Studies in the Scriptures volumes in a subject manner order determined by their literature with Scriptures used as proofs for the various points.
Some objections presented are the following:
* God did not design the Bible to be a textbook so we should not use it as one
* God's special servants have been used to help us understand the Bible and we should avoid interpreting it ourselves

Some references:
E7 p.223-224 Extreme Textbookism repudiates the Truth and thus brings one into the second death class. Textbooksim...where so called open Bible study that is study of Biblical books chapter by chapter and verse by verse.
E5 p.136 Mild form of Textbookism – In the second of these forms it sets aside the “Studies in the Scriptures” as text-books, using the Bible as such, and doubtless results in one’s being remanded to the Great Company.

2 Tim. 3:16,17: "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." It doesn't say "the writings of those who interpret the scriptures," etc. Every book of the Bible, except maybe Proverbs, is written within a context, and each verse has a place in that context. Topical study of the Bible can help us to understand it, but if we never see the context of the verses we read, how will we really know what it says?

Jesus said in John 16:13, "When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth." He didn't say "the interpreters of scripture". This doesn't mean others aren't used to help us understand, but it does point us to the source!

If Berean Bible study is the only correct method what literature apart from the Scriptures did the Bereans use to guide their study?
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Is it possible that Johnson discourages direct study of the Scriptures because people may come to different conclusions that do not agree with what has been written in his books? If so, why would he fear this?

Do you believe you should not study the Bible directly?
How would we determine who "God's special servants" are?

Classes of People

The LHMM believes that there are several classes of God's people regarding time period, faithfulness, and responsibility on the earth. The classes are roughly in order of importance: The Little Flock, Great Company, Ancient Worthies, Youthful Worthies, and Consecrated Epiphany Campers. Throughout its history, those of the higher class have been the official leaders over the subordinate ones. They believe these classes will be rewarded by God differently...some with a heavenly reward and others with a future eternity on earth. They also believe that due to their superior knowledge of the truth at this time they will be used by God to teach the entire world these things at some future time.

One of the main proofs offered for these classes are various symbols or types. One example is Jerusalem Type/Antitype. In The Bible, Volume 12, pp. 525-528 Johnson speaks about Jerusalem type and anti-type in the Millennial age picture. The views expressed in this book directly conflict with ideas presented in the Present Truth article of July-August 1978, Topography of Jerusalem, p.55 where the PT article also lists the Volume 12 reference as a source. Here is a summary of the symbolism taught:

VIEW 1 - p. 526, The Bible, Epiphany Volume 12
East - Heavenly invisible phase
Two south-eastern peaks (Solomon's temple and palace built...Moriah and Ophel) - Little Flock
North-eastern eminence (Bezetha) - Great Company
West - Earthly visible phase
South-western eminence (Zion) - Ancient Worthies
North-western eminence (Akra) - Youthful Worthies

VIEW 2 - p.55, Present Truth July-August 1978, Topography of Jerusalem
Mountains - Higher powers of kingdom
Zion (Herod's Palace built there) - Heavenly kingdom, the Little Flock
Moriah - Earthly kingdom, Millennial Ancient Worthies
Hills - Subordinate powers of kingdom
Akra - Great Company
Bezetha - Youthful Worthies
Ophel - Consecrated Epiphany Campers

To understand how one of these must be incorrect you need to look at a map of Jerusalem. Which view is correct and how do we know? This question was posed at a general convention of the LHMM in 1989 and there was no satisfying answer provided. One of the writings is incorrect...or are they both? You get to choose.

Terms and Definitions

The LHMM (Bible Standard organization) uses many terms internally. For those not familiar with the group, here are a few terms that may be helpful:

Ecclesia - This is the name used to identify a regional group of LHMM adherents as in the "Ohio Ecclesia". Origin is from the Greek word for church.

Truth - The collection of writings and ideas presented first by Charles T Russell and followed by Paul S. L. Johnson, Raymond Jolly, etc. These writings are considered the correct answers to all Biblical questions. Adherents to LHMM teachings are said to be "in the truth".

Parousia Writings - Literature that was written during the time period from 1874-1914 mainly by Charles T. Russell such as the original 6 Studies in the Scriptures volumes and the Watch Tower magazine. The Bible Standard magazine also might be considered somewhat "parousia truth" in that it is more focused toward the general public with more basic content. Parousia comes from the Greek work meaning "presence". They believe that Jesus returned to the earth invisibly in 1874 and so his presence resulted in these writings.

Epiphany Writings - Literature mainly written by Paul S.L. Johnson (and other subsequent LHMM leaders) during the time period approximately from 1914-1954 and beyond with overlappings. Epiphany writings are considered to be deeper truths and are not generally shared with new comers because they require an understanding of the basic things before it would make any sense. They are largely comprised of types and antitypes. Epiphany writings are the main differentiator between the LHMM and other Bible Students groups. They believe that the "truths" explained in them are built-on and in complete harmony with the Parousia writings. Epiphany comes from the Greek word meaning "bright shining".

Bible Standard Magazine - The LHMM magazine for the more general public. Abbreviated BS.
Present Truth Magazine - The LHMM magazine for adherents with deeper Epiphany "truth". Abbreviated PT. (originally entitled "The Herald of Christ's Kingdom")
Epiphany Volumes - A set of 17 volumes by Paul S.L. Johnson that are mainly compiled versions of the Present Truth magazine. Abbreviated E1, E2, etc.

Type - A Bible story that is a shadow (picture or pattern) of something to come.
Antitype - The more recent events that were foreshadowed by the type. For example, Johnson believed and wrote that the Biblical story of Job was a type of God dealing with him (the antitype).

Welcome

The purpose of this blog is to discuss the teachings and practices of Bible Standard Ministries ...formerly known as the Layman's Home Missionary Movement or LHMM. By doing so in an open forum and from personal experiences we hope that people will be better informed about the nature of the group. We will attempt to show problems in logic and Biblical interpretation that are unfortunate at the least and harmful at the worst. We do this out of love and with a genuine desire to have LHMM adherents come to a place of increased freedom and joy by knowing Christ better and having greater fellowship with Christians.

The group itself is going through some major changes due to its present leadership. It has caused many to question it's authority and the validity of its teachings. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." - 1 Thess. 5:21

Overall, we hope this is a blessing to others. We will discuss doctrinal points as they relate to life and end each post with questions to encourage posting of responses and thought. We allow anonymous postings.