Living Stream Ministry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Living Stream Ministry (LSM), founded in 1968, is a non-profit publisher of the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and is a member of the "Evangelical Christian Publishers Association" (since 2002) and the "Christian Booksellers Association" (since 1981).
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[edit] Mission Statement
The published mission statement of Living Stream Ministry is as follows:
"The Living Stream Ministry publishes the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, providing the authoritative and definitive collections of treasures from these two servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee focus on the enjoyment of the divine life, which all the believers possess, and on the building up of the church, the goal of God's work with man in this age."
Living Stream Ministry provides video tapes, audio tapes, and printed spiritual materials, which it distributes through churches and bookstores. The ministry also supports broadcasting programs that broadcast ministry messages.
Among the most noteworthy of Living Stream's publications is the Recovery Version of the Bible, which features extensive footnotes, charts, maps, and spiritual cross references by Witness Lee and the editorial section at LSM. Some of the footnotes in the Recovery Version is controversial, especially those which pronounces all denominations as wrong and divisive in nature of the One Body of Christ. Complimentary copies of Recovery Version are widely and freely distributed by Bibles for America, Bibles for Australia, Bibles for New Zealand, Bibles for Canada, and other local church related entities.
The Living Stream Ministry is the second largest publisher of church / parachurch ministries in the U.S., with total amount of $49,949,128 in net assets and $7,955,653 annual revenue as of 2005, only next to the American Bible Society, according to MinistryWatch statistics.
To learn more about Living Stream Ministry and their criticism as being identified as a "cult", please visit [1] [2].
[edit] Lawsuits
During its short history, Living Stream Ministry has been a consistent target of many denominations, certain groups of dissenting believers, and few authors (including books critical of local churches).
On December 1, 2006, the Texas Supreme Court denied review of the Local Church and Living Stream Ministry’s $136 million libel lawsuit against Harvest House Publishers and authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon. The Harvest House statement is available here. The Supreme Court ruled against the LSM, saying that it lawfully could be called a dangerous "cult." On the contending for faith one can see the further information on this case and the role of Living Stream in these lawsuits [3].
On May 16, 2007 some local churches and Living Stream petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari [4]. The petition filed with the United States Supreme Court and more up to date information on this can be seen here.
On June 18, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition by Living Stream and the Local Church.[5].
[edit] References
- Charity Navigator. Charity Summary - Living Stream Ministry. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
- Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Voting Members. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
- MinistryWatch. Summary Profile. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
[edit] External links
[edit] Official sites belonging to the Living Stream Ministry
- Living Stream Ministry Website
- Living Stream Ministry Bookstore
- Living Stream Ministry Online Publications - Complete online texts of many of its publications.
[edit] Other sites with Information on the Lawsuits
- Harvest House vs. The Living Stream Up to date, complete information on the case
- Contending for faith This Web site addresses controversies
- A Faithful Word Behind false accusations against the Living Stream Ministry
