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Originally Posted by Thankful Jane
While I’m at it, whatever happened to praying and asking Jesus about who to marry...
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Hi Jane,
Good points all. In the Local Church we were indeed robbed of the opportunity to have a personal relationship (outside the LSM agenda) with the Lord.
However, in any church, not just an LSM church, the eldership does have the responsibility of oversight. Part of that oversight has much to do with preserving a healthy atmosphere where the saints can go on unhampered.
In our locality, the most predominant Evangelical Church does an excellent job with the youth. They even provide a youth activity center. On several occasions it was clear that without the proper oversight, it would have just become a meat market, and certainly an opening for the destruction of the Church. The elders' responsibility for oversight is very well established in the Scripture, and the writers were indeed specific on certain issues.
It is important that we have a very personal relationship with Jesus. But the right personal relationship with Jesus will always lead to a gathering of the saints (assembly/church). This is indeed the Lord's corporate expression. At least in word, Witness Lee didn't get that wrong.
I feel that the LSM model is an extreme example of how not to do things. And...I think that the way things went had more to do with the fact that Watchman Nee and Witness Lee were Chinese, than anything else.
Roger