Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I just have to wonder what it is that a "call to further recovery" means? What has been lost that needs to be found? What was missing? Seems that the things that Nee, Lee and the LRC stand for that are the cornerstones of their version of "recovery" are things that only appear as such because of the negative spin put on everything else and the special teachings that come from God's self-appointed oracle.
Without denying wonderful times that many had in earlier days, I question what it is that needed recovering and whether the LRC even managed to recover the things that it said needed recovering back in the 60s and 70s.
Or was the whole thing a set of slowly moving goalposts.
First it is just the ground and the church — that autonomous group in each city that does not answer to anyone but God. And we sang songs about how great the "church life" was. We lived to go to meetings. We learned to hack the words of the Bible into one to three words at a time — losing context and meaning — and chanted them until we were euphoric.
And it moved forward from there until one day there was an oracle. A minister of the age. Something that was strongly denied only a decade or so earlier as the lawsuits (did someone say a church suing?) were trying to establish the LRC as just a bunch of normal, orthodox Christians.
Some say that the LRC of today is not recognizable compared to that of the 60s and early 70s. But I would suggested that there was a curtain that was occasionally opened to let us into just a little bit of what was hiding there. Just enough to make us hungry for being special.
If we want a pure testimony of Jesus, we need to find people who are:
- Hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
- Who are meek.
- Who are truly humble.
- Who are peacemakers.
- Who shine the light of Christ.
- Who love their neighbors (and not just the lovable ones).
- Who demonstrate the character of Christ before trying to sell it.
That is not the testimony of the LRC. It may be of some individual members. But they cannot overcome what the group is. |
Singing songs about the church life - not about Jesus?
Living to go to the meetings - not living to Jesus?
Hacking the Bible - dangerous!
an oracle - not scriptural, its always plural
the minister of the age - never singular in the New Testament, unless we are talking about Jesus
That's degradation, not recovery. True recovery is OBW's list and the list of fruits of the Spirit. We have been measured in the balance and found to be lacking. Oh Lord! Help us!