[Thankful Jane]

Originally Posted by Matt

Dear Mom (Thankful Jane)

I'm reading what bookworm and Hope said that they originally gave themselves to. This goes to one of the core things I have thought about a lot. I don't want to say what I am thinking without further clarifying what this "ideal" / "vision" was in all of you guys minds.

So, can you describe in more detail what was the "ideal" / "vision" you gave yourself to?

Matt

Dear Matt,

I will only speak to my time period which started in the fall of 1967. There were others meeting in Texas a few years before this. Don R. was one of them. I never heard any talk like this until after we all moved to Houston in 1969. To my realization, the idea of a “vision” was something that gradually formed until it was clearly vocalized and understood by all.

1967-1969 (no “vision” talk)

Your Dad and I were excited about Jesus. We had just discovered how very, very, real He was, in the here and now. What was next? Find a church. We had new wine. The places we visited had empty wineskins. We didn’t fit. Then we met the little group in Denton, Texas. We were so excited to find other believers who loved Jesus only and were enjoying new wine. We were a happy little family. We sang together, ate together, talked about Jesus and listened to George W. talk (and talk and talk and talk .... and talk ) to us about the Bible. We even uttered a few sentences our selves like toddlers learning to walk. Soon we met some from Waco and Lubbock. Wow. A bigger family. Then we went to L.A. Whoa there! An even bigger family and more new wine.

While in Denton, I don’t recall any talk about a “vision” or giving ourselves for something. There was also no thought or talk about elders. (Though it is clear there were a few older ones in the Lord who were really interested in taking care of us, the main one being George.) There may have been a little said about the ground of the church, but it was presented in a more loosely defined way as just meeting in the city where we lived without having a name. Near the end of this time, I think, I may have heard my first message by WL clearly defining the ground of the church and its importance.

1969-71 (“vision” talk begins and develops rapidly)

We all moved to Houston. Lots of changing. In the background the official eldership formed up, but I was pretty much oblivious to this. Soon it became apparent (by who was on the front row in the meetings and the verses on the board before each meeting which told us what the topic would be) that we had leaders. (And they were just a few years older than us ... except for George... but he hadn’t moved yet and wouldn’t for another year.) At first, it seemed that most of the messages were about Christ as life and about our human spirit and functioning in the meetings. There was a secondary topic always flying on the radar and that was the church.

Over time more and more messages were about the oneness and the building up of the church. The basic theme, which we all easily bought into, was that the true church had been lost and God needed to recover it. All Christians were in the invisible Body of Christ, but that could not defeat the devil. What God needed was a visible expression of the true church, a practical expression of oneness, that men could see. This is what would defeat the devil.

This was being set forth as our special calling from God. By 1971 we were publicly consecrating ourselves to this vision, the vision of Christ and the Church. “Christ” had come to mean “to Christ in our spirit” and “the Church” had come to mean “the practical expression of the oneness on the ground of the city” with the little add on understanding of “with one eldership.”

We were sold out to stand in the gap like pioneers to pave the way for other believers to follow.

So definitely by 1971 we had a clear understanding of this special calling, the vision, and were consecrating ourselves to it in droves. As one song said, “We’ve seen the vision, we’ve heard His voice, now we meet as the church of His choice.”

Maybe can others can add their recollection...

Thankful Mom Jane