Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
So the "burden" of this conference has little to do with scriptural revelation or vision. It's all about "commitment." Commitment and alignment with Cleveland under the old format. How can this weekend's "ministry" edify these believers, if the featured topic is not even spelled out in the Bible? If they really wanted to equip the saints with this "recovered truth," one would think that Nigel Tomes would be invited, since he has written two excellent articles on this very topic.
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There was a time when the GLA Annual Spring Conference normally held in Chicago attracted upwards of a thousand saints, and that was the reason Chicago built a huge expansion to their hall a decade or so ago. Last weekend's conference was but a fourth of that, composed mostly of older saints and 2nd generation raised in the program.
Apparently the repercussions of Nigel Tomes' recent article "
LSM's Sacrament..." reverberating from the saints' computers, forced Paul Neider and other "burdened" brothers to rethink their failed strategy. Instead of mentioning the "ground of locality" or the "ground of oneness," there was talk about the "city church" pattern in the New Testament. I have to wonder how many of the younger attendees showed up with Nigel's paper in hand.
Yet they still promoted the old schemes, that "
God is one, He created only one man Adam, He called only one man Abraham, etc." perhaps lifted directly from Lee's book
The Genuine Ground of Oneness. They even publicly acknowledged that the "city church" model in the Bible is merely descriptive and
not prescriptive. If that is the case, then what good is it? Is not the apostolic record also descriptive of riverside meetings, house meetings, prison meetings, and temple meetings?
If the N.T. is
not prescriptive of "city-churches" with the accompanying mandate of an uniquely exclusive "city-church-eldership,"
then why even discuss the topic at all. Why have a conference? Why waste people's time? Forgetting for a moment that the Neider household might not even be living in Cleveland, the question is whether Paul Neider is an elder over every Christian in Cleveland,
or not.
It would have been far more valuable for Paul Neider to invite Nigel Tomes and openly discuss this topic. Employ a seasoned moderator, open up the scriptures, take off the gloves,
and settle this thing once and for all! If it's in the Bible, then promote it fearlessly. If it's not in the Bible, then discard it with the weekly trash. Why play games and dress up this old failed doctrine in new clothes, promising "
life-changing" ministry on their website?
Apparently the only folks
not studying this old doctrine in the light of the God's word are the elders in Cleveland with their few remaining lackeys around the GLA, like the young hireling,
Chief Hoppin Mad. For a group of churches so proud of their scriptural knowledge and spiritual riches, they should heartily welcome a challenge to the basic tenets of their Recovery foundations. Nigel Tomes' recent paper only served to highlight how much of their foundation was built upon the sinking sands of Nee's and Lee's doctrines.
The talk around the meeting hall water cooler during the breaks could be summarized as "
Did you read Nigel's article? ... Nigel broke ranks with the brothers ... Nigel hijacked the proceedings of the conference ... " But did Nigel really do all this? Or was this really the Lord as the Good Shepherd and the Door of the sheep, leading them into a green Pasture. (John 10)