Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
I'm not saying all that to say brother Lee was 100% right about them in every aspect and he was right to assert authority over them or anything like that. But rather say that to say on both sides it seems there is a lot of extra information and nuance that could be being overlooked. Maybe both sides were majorly wrong in a lot of their behavior. so ultimately brother Lee just claimed the high ground and stood upon his laurels of being the founder of the local churches in America and this meant the bros in Moses Lake got cut off if they chose not to fall under him. He basically just claimed superiority through past merit and accomplishments despite both parties being majorly wrong in certain things. so to simply say that "the church in Moses Lake was rebellious for not bowing down to Lee" is really shorting the scenario of information. Probably both parties were majorly wrong and possibly because of Lee's major wrongness in certain things the Moses Lake brothers felt they had impetus to dissent. Now maybe they wanted to dissent anyways because they didn't want to be exposed of their bad behavior, but if Lee was majorly wrong then they had justification to "rebel" against him
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How disheartening. Whether leaders are decent or terrible, and I certainly believe Lee ultimately proved to be the latter, there are always those lurking below seeking to gain their own little kingdoms and abuse God's sheep.
Ezekiel 34:1-16
1 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?
3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.
5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.
6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.
12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.
13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.
16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
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I'm curious. Have you ever read Steve Isitt's account of the Rosemead locality? He titled his book "The Rosemead Rebellion."
If you wanna talk more about it,
TLF made a thread about it already.