Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
We could put it down to human obstruction/failure, and the Lord has found a way to move unhindered.
You are basically saying that the new move was claimed after let's call it the "real" new move was over - or at least that period of LC history that people on here seem to recall as being mostly positive.
But then we are told that if our church is in a poor condition it is the Lord's will. A church in a poor condition does not mean it is not a true church.
So we could interpret those graphs as saying the Lord has not left the denominations at all, the condition of the church has no bearing on whether or not it is a genuine church.
|
A true church is a hospital, there will always be the "sick" and "dying" in a genuine church and it will be full of very dangerous germs. I for one would be terrified to dig through the garbage of a hospital.
The church is not defined as being true based on the maturity of the believers.
I was recently touched by James 1:1. It seems clear to me, based on this book, that the errors made by the apostles was instrumental in their ministry.
Peter's denial helped him once he repented to stand strong in opening the kingdom to the gentiles. Paul's persecution of the Body helped him see the Body once the scales fell from his eyes. James was the head of a personality cult, bringing in the "judaizers" until the Lord appeared to him and he repented. Mark became impressed with Jesus as a slave after he ditched his responsibility with Paul.
But I didn't know how to encapsulate this idea until I read James 1:1
James, a bond servant. James had a debt, the Lord paid it and in return he was serving the Lord. This gave him the clear conscience to serve the Lord while at the same time never forgetting his past error.
I think we can all have that experience. James error didn't disqualify the church, rather it gave him a burden.
The book is written to the 12 tribes in the dispersion. Clearly that is an OT concept and indicates these ones, like James in the past, do not have a clear vision. But he refers to them as his brothers in the Lord.
This is the right attitude. They were being tried, their religion was falling apart, everything they thought they knew was coming undone, and they were being persecuted by both Jews and Romans. But James view is to count it all joy and that the rich should rejoice when they are brought low. That is a very interesting concept, Why?
The picture in James 1 is of a flower. The flower has withered and died but the seeds have been dispersed. This is why they should rejoice. They were that flower that burst and dispersed the seeds.