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Originally Posted by Liu Yi
On June 9th 1997, after more than sixty years’ service for the “Lord’s Recovery” (Zhu de huifu), Witness Lee (Li Changshou, 1905-1997) went to rest peacefully with God, as Watchman Nee’s most intimate co-worker, “a bondslave of the Lord,” and a “God-man.” During the memorial service on July 9 of 1997 in Anaheim of southern California, his life, divided into five periods, was recalled: the first period started from 1933 when he was called to serve, through the first three decades of his work both in mainland China and Taiwan; the second period was from 1964 to 1974, beginning with his move to America and ending with his settling in Anaheim; the third period covered his ministry of the New Way in Taiwan from 1974 to 1984; the fourth period (1984-1994), marked by his message about the God-man, was considered the peak of his ministry; the last period was the crowning years of his life from 1994 to his death. In between the recollection of each period, portions from 2 Corinthians chapter two and three were read, describing the six aspects of the New Testament ministry: its triumph, effect, function, competency, glory, and superiority. A controversial figure both in China and in the Christian world, Witness Lee’s journey exemplifies a Chinese church becoming globalized as a result of political, religious and international changes in the latter half of the 20th century.
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I'd like to key on the insert: 2 Corinthians 2 and 3. "Six aspects of the New Testament ministry: its triumph, effect, function, competency, glory, and superiority." Now, it seems to me that the gospel is about Jesus Christ. The New Testament shows us the apostles, holding up scripture (what we call the Old Testament), and saying that it was prophetic in nature, and its fulfillment was found in Jesus. The prophetic word of his suffering, his triumph, and his glory, was now clear to all. There was no more excuse for darkness. The light had come.
The paragon of this is the speech of Peter in Acts 2. Paul reinforces this trend repeatedly in his testimonies in Acts, and his epistles never stray from this. Nor do other epistles such as Peter's and "To the Hebrews". The New Testament concludes with "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants..." (Rev 1:1)
Now, what has happened? As we see above, the focus has shifted to the "New Testament ministry" and "the building of the church". In other words, the minister, his person, theology and works, and his history in building an organization. This is a kind of usurpation, in my view.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liu Yi
Furthermore, following the principles of the “Local Church,” the converts in every locality are mainly people of local origin rather than Chinese immigrants.
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This kind of statement seems to be propaganda, what the Living Stream Ministry wants us to believe. The author is either unwitting dupe or consciously providing erroneous information. Where did this idea come from? Observation? Or wishful thinking? My own observation, quite limited I admit but reinforced by some reading on this site, is that if you took away the immigrants and thier children the local church would nearly vanish. The ones who migrated 40+ years ago to "take the ground" are aged, their children are either "in the world" or "serving the ministry" somewhere. Only recent Chinese immigrants have stemmed the loss.
The irony is that there's hardly anything local at all about the Local Church of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.