All Posts in Category "Public Statements"

A statement by Living Stream Ministry concerning Eastern Lightning, “the Shouters,” and other aberrant religious groups in China.

A list of articles written in response to Harvest House’s public misrepresentations on its corporate website and through other channels.

In various venues Harvest House President Robert Hawkins and authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon have misled the public regarding the local churches and facts surrounding the litigation over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

Harvest House and its authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon sought to make the local churches repulsive in the eyes of the Christian public using out-of-context quotation and misrepresenting our Scripture-based rejection of unbiblical teachings, practices and institutions as a rejection of fellow believers and of the faith. In doing so, they pervert Witness Lee’s plea for recovery to the biblical standards of life, service, and testimony among Christians.

The local churches seek to return to the biblical standard concerning the subjective experience of Christ, the function of every member of the Body of Christ, and the practical testimony of the oneness of the Body of Christ. Harvest House, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon misrepresent Witness Lee’s biblically-based critique of organized Christianity on these three lines, even though they and their associates acknowledge the same deficiencies in Christendom today.

Harvest House feigns indignation over our criticism of organized Christianity, yet their own books contain very harsh statements criticizing evangelical Christianity, Christianity and the church generally, and the Roman Catholic Church specifically. They even attack prominent evangelicals such as Billy Graham.

The Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions by John Ankerberg and John Weldon (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1999) accuses the local churches of rejecting Christianity, implying that we reject fellow believers and the Christian faith.The authors and their publisher have never corrected this deceit despite extensive documentation provided to Harvest House proving the contrary.

Harvest House has attempted to turn Christians against the local churches with a series of out-of-context quotations posted on its corporate website. This article contextualizes those quotes and exposes Harvest House’s unfaithfulness to the Bible and to the Lord’s church in misrepresenting the teaching of Witness Lee.

Harvest House publicly accused the local churches of being litigious. This article contrasts the history of the local churches’ appeals for relief from character defamation with Harvest House’s lawsuits against fellow Christians over financial disputes.

An introduction to a series of articles on how Harvest House misrepresented the local churches’ appeal for relief from libel and our objections to the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

Harvest House attempted to recast the litigation over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions as a theological dispute, but a reading of the libel complaint filed in The Local Church et al v. Harvest House et al shows this claim to be false.

John Ankerberg and his attorney Shelby Sharpe both claimed that the local churches registered no objections to “The Local Church” chapter. This article shows that their claims are false and misleading.

On a syndicated radio broadcast Harvest House President Bob Hawkins, Jr., gave a distorted account of the history of the local churches’ protests over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. This article contrasts the statements he made on the air with the actual facts.

To mislead both the court and the public, Harvest House portrayed the nature of the definition of cult in the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions as purely theological in nature. This article shows the falsehood and duplicity of that claim.

A public statement concerning the decision to appeal the Court of Appeals decision which granted Harvest House, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon summary judgment in the libel action over the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions.

An examination of what the Bible says about how Christians should deal with disputes and under what circumstances an appeal to a secular court system may be justified.

A press release concerning public postings on Harvest House’s corporate website libeling the local churches.

Ten irrefutable facts about the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions that show reckless disregard for the truth and malice on the part of both the authors and the publisher in including the local churches in the book.

Harvest House claimed to use “professional editorial standards” in the development and publishing of the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. This article shows the emptiness of those claims.

Harvest House claimed that its use of The Chicago Manual of Style discharged its responsibility to use “acceptable editorial standards” in publishing the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. The Chicago Manual, however, focuses on stylistic and not substantive issues and cannot be used to justify shirking editorial norms in publishing a book that makes false and defamatory accusations.

A press release responding to a Harvest House statement on its corporate website following the District Court’s rejection of its summary judgment motion.