The other day I saw a website promoting one of the “servants of God”, Dong Yu Lan.
http://reino.net.br/artigos/dong-yu-lan-eng.html
A servant of Christ for the work of expanding the kingdom of God on the earth and the growth in the life of the children of God
In the year 1975, brother Dong received the burden from the Spirit to help the churches in Brazil and South America to call upon the name of the Lord. This is a biblical practice in order for one to live in spirit and walk in fellowship with God, and also to pray-read the Word of God to obtain life. At that time, he was invited to minister to a group of young people in the city of Ribeirão Preto and there his main burden war to lead all saints to call upon the name of the Lord. The churches have experienced a great spiritual renewal from that time on. More than three thousand churches were raised in all South America as a proof of his labor in the Lord, confirming that the burden which he received was from the Spirit.
Another remarkable feature of this servant of God is to help the churches to not only to listen and appreciate the words of God, but also practice them, apply them in their daily living and disseminate it to other people. Thus, by giving due importance to the name of the Lord and His word, the churches that receive such aid now enjoy the reality of the church in Philadelphia, a model of a normal church mentioned by the apostle John in the Book of Revelation (3:7-13).
For over 30 years, year after year, this servant of the Lord has ministered Bible conferences regionally, nationally and internationally throughout South America and other regions to where he is invited. His biggest burden is to help the children of God to prepare themselves for the Lord’s return and hasten it (2 Pe 3:9, 12) by means of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom (Mt 24:14). All his life and ministry are controlled by that vision. In many trips it has made in various countries, always says that “Christ is our life, the church is our living and the Lord’s return is our goal”. In order to fulfill this burden and meet God’s interests, he has helped the children of God to take the Word as food, not as mere knowledge.
In order to record and propagate the precious revelations dispensed by the Spirit to this servant of God during conferences ministered by him, árvore da Vida Publishing House began to publish them in book form. There are now over 100 titles put out and distributed on a large scale in Portuguese, Spanish, English, German, Italian, French and Korean. One of his publications which has helped many children of God to walk and live the spirit is the “Daily Food”, a bimonthly journal that now has over 40,000 subscribers.
The burden that has burned in brother Dong’s heart over the years is to expand the sphere of the kingdom of God on earth, and he does that by cooperating with the establishment of the testimony of the oneness of God’s children in each city. To expedite the process of expanding the work of the Lord on earth, the Spirit, through brother Dong, produced some effective tools, such as árvore da Vida Retreat – extraordinary space for events with capacity for 10 thousand people, where two international conferences are held every year, the árvore da Vida Publishing House – the publisher of his books, and the árvore da Vida Newsletter – which aims to supply in a simple and clear way the word to all of God’s children; árvore da Vida Expobook – a bookstore-library bus that travels throughout the country taking the truth about the oneness of the Body of Christ; the Cooperatives of Colporteurs – units for the dissemination and distribution of books for churches and colporteurs, operating in various regions of Brazil, the CEAPE - Center for the Perfecting and Propagation of the Gospel; and the Colporteurs – brothers and sisters who take spiritual food to the children of God through the written word.
Among the titles published by brother Dong Yu Lan besides Daily Food mentioned above, we point out these classics: The Salvation of a Society in Crisis – The book of Judges; The Promise of Life and the Reward of the Kingdom; Daniel – The Destiny of Human Government; How to Serve God? – the book of Leviticus; A Vision of the Tabernacle; The Character of the Man of God; To Be Like God in Life and Nature; A Man according to God’s Heart; and The Greatest Suffering of Jesus. All these titles are published by árvore da Vida Publishing House.
www.dongyulan.com.br
I don't think I need to go into detailed, excruciating analysis of these statements. Suffice it to say they are clearly biased.
1) Those who promote themselves are merely playing a "confidence game": they convince the simple ones that they are the latest and greatest, and of the need to sign on with their pyramid scheme. Then their acolytes go around promoting the advancement of their hero, because the raising of the hero validates their own involvement. The acolytes are unable to perceive their own gifts apart from propping up the hero. And the hero looks around and says, "See all the churches raised up! See all the books published! See the radio and tv and webcasts, the jet airplanes and conference centers! Am I not God's man of the hour?" And so forth; round and round it goes, until inevitably it all comes crashing down.
2) With one puff of breath God can burn up your hundreds of books, thousands of subscribers, trips around the globe, and whatnot. Look at those before the Judge: "Didn't we do this? Didn't we do that?" They have clearly been trying to keep score. God says, "Your evaluations mean nothing here. Go away." See e.g. Matt 7:22,23.
3) Conversely, the drab, Marxist/Leninist/Maoist "we are all small potatoes" idea supposedly balances the "great man of the hour" theory (I guess). This also flies in the face of scripture. In scripture we are told repeatedly that there is variation. Some have 2 or 5 talents, some 1 or 10. Some stars burn brighter than others, and emit more light. 1 Corinthians 15:41 clearly says this. Jesus taught continually about the "great" and "least" in the kingdom, and used parables like being seated at a feast to illustrate degrees of glory. But the invisible, eternal realms of heaven correspond
inversely to the kingdoms of this age. Those who promote themselves in this age, even if they use spiritual terms, beware! And if someone's ministry necessitates pushing everyone (else) into the bland faceless proletariat, again beware. Some of us have gifts. Let them come out. But don't be tricked into promoting people, works, gifts, doctrines, or ministries. God will judge all in "that day". Don't try to anticipate God, in this age. You are not able, and you'll be disappointed at the Judgment Seat. Jesus warned us, clearly and repeatedly. Don't let yourself be deluded.