Quote:
Originally Posted by zeek
Excellent post ZNP. This is a critical distinction. I submit that this was the vision we saw when we first believed...when we proclaimed "Jesus is Lord". Our conception of authority hinges on this vision. Isn't it astounding that the LSM would have us believe otherwise? They have made their extra-biblical doctrine of MOTA the basis of oneness and excommunicated those who do not accept it. How can we have two grounds of oneness? It's an absurdity. Insofar as we are Christians, our oneness is in Christ. Don't ask me to accept another as my authority. And don't hide behind obedience to authorities as a means to evade personal responsibility as WN recommends.
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and a great response Zeek!! Here is my additional .02 worth for the benefit of lurkers.
The LC, be it through Nee or Lee got a few things right. First and foremost, was the biblical way of sharing the gospel in the heyday of early to mid seventies. We used various gospel accounts to bring to Light the fact and Truth, without Jesus in our lives, we are empty vessels, hungry and thirsty.
So we pointed and led people to Jesus. We had our bibles with us and pointed them to the scriptures so they could read and see the Word for themselves.
While Lee may have been laying the groundwork to become the MOTA, the working class believed Jesus was/is Lord and King.
We became aware of the Sanctifying work of the Cross, the Precious Blood of the Lamb, and we read our bibles to ourselves and with each other. We encouraged one another in Christ as best we could. We made a lot of mistakes along the way, but we had good intentions..Christ was always first.
But soon the MOTA dictated what we should read and he interpreted it for us. He inadvertently or on purpose perhaps, pushed the "Life Giving Spirit" out of the church.
He made people believe The church -UNDER his leadership- was God's eternal purpose. It became our goal to bring people into the church, his church, not to bring people to Jesus. Jesus was second to the church.
Fast forward, the only bible they use is the RcV although I heard Ron Kangas sometimes refers to the Amplified.
We know the drill: if the blendeds refer to it, then it's ok for the peons to have one too. (Just as they did with TVs. The blendeds began to have TVs, the "elders" followed suit as did the members).
Why did this happen? Because people stopped reading and studying the scriptures for themselves. Their revelation and insight came from Lee's footnotes, Lee's morning revival and their adulation of Lee. So as a whole, the Presence of God is no longer there. They replaced their First Love.
They forgot Jesus is the Author and Perfector (Finisher) of our Faith. They forgot or perhaps never read Jesus is our Great High Priest, The Intercessor between God and Man. Jesus the Lord is our Shepherd. He is our Fortess and High Tower, our Strength. We put our trust in Jesus because He ALONE is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Friend, our Bridegroom, Who is, Who was and is to come, The Almighty. Those that held on the Living Spirit in our spirit stood up for the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. That ruffled up the spirit of idolotry, the spirit of deception, it really ruffled up the spirit of fear for sure! The Life giving Spirit in our spirit surely ruffled up the spirit of deception and the spirit of Sin.
Jesus IS the Living Word of God Who became flesh and dwelt among us. He was with the God the Father and God the Holy Spirit before He put on flesh. In fact before He became flesh, Jesus' "real" Name was and still is the WORD of God.
Many of us did not know we were created with a spirit, soul and body when we came into the LC because we did not read/study the Word!
I am pretty sure that while the LC boasts in this Truth, they could not tell us where these scriptures are found! (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Zechariah 12:1 and John 4:24 for starters).
If Lee would have trusted the Holy Spirit to guide us and would have kept pointing us to our Creator, our boast in Christ would have been a testimony of our Oneness in Him and thus we would have been a role model to all brethren.
We would disciple the babes in Christ, encouraged the down trodden, healed the sick by the Power and Anointing in us...and brought many, many more people into the Kingdom to the Glory, Honor and Praise of the Father, the Spirit and the Word-- Jesus.
Sorry for the long post. I needed to vent!
Blessings all,
Carol G.