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Old 10-15-2018, 01:38 PM   #599
Indiana
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 718
Default Elders' Book of Cherishing - Lee Minoru Nee Chapman

"And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2)

* * * * *

2002

(intro to first site) "This website on hiding history brings out the negative aspects of our history that have had a serious detrimental effect on the recovery and on the Body of Christ. It is out of a high regard for the Lord's interests in His recovery and a concern for the oneness among His people that I have prepared this website.

"I am currently not in any of the churches in a practical way, and I would like to share the reason for this. On a smaller scale, I had tried to address church matters in 2000. I wrote a booklet and presented it to a leading brother, Dan Towle, from Southern California. I said in a cover letter,.

'I have written a little book for the sake of fellowship, mainly with leading ones, concerning our past 16-year history in the new way." I said that I didn't plan to have the booklet "widespread" and that I thought it was "safe" to come to him and that perhaps he could "catch me" if I was "inaccurate" or "unfair" in any matter so that I might make an "adjustment" or "terminate" the proposed fellowship. I also indicated my hope that the writing might build a bridge of communication to those who had left the recovery In the Wake of the New Way.'

"To my surprise, rather than grant me time for fellowship, Dan recommended to elders in my locality that I be placed into a discipline mode until I could "repent". I remain in a discipline mode today after 2+ years. I also remain without fellowship on the matters I asked Dan to address, and that other elders had read about also, but have not addressed.

The action of discipline taken against me when I was specifically asking Dan for his fellowship served only to inspire me to consider what kind of spirit this was in our brother and what kind of spirit it is that has come into the recovery.

"I had first encountered this spirit with local elders in 1996 and at that time began to consider tracing it back to its source. Something else compelling me to seek an understanding of this spirit was the lack of love and shepherding in the church in my locality. I began to search for answers by contacting former leading ones who left the recovery during a time of turmoil in the late eighties. It was this association with these formerly beloved brothers who were once among us that I was put aside, along with the assessment that I was attacking the recovery in my booklet. In my heart, my desire was simply to address serious concerns that many of us have and to build a bridge of communication with those who left.

This website is about these brothers' experiences and the manifestation of a spirit that brother Witness Lee partly describes in A Word of Love, and that the documents and testimonies on this site describe further. Brother Lee points out that it is a spirit that "has filled all the churches", and "is now spreading everywhere around the globe in the Lord's recovery". It is a spirit that "labels others" and does not care for the ones who are "inferior to us". It is a spirit that "condemns and regulates others, rather than shepherd and seek them." It is a spirit that does not "love the opposers", even the "top rebels". It is a spirit that "we have lost among the coworkers, elders, and vital groups.'

"As I have said before, the spirit of not shepherding and seeking others and being without love and forgiveness is spreading in the recovery everywhere. I believe that not having the Father's loving and forgiving heart and not having the Savior's shepherding and seeking spirit is the reason for our barrenness ...We condemn and regulate others rather than shepherd and seek them. We are short of love and shepherding. These are the vital factors for us to bear fruit, that is, to gain people. I am very concerned for our full-time training. Do we train the young ones to gain people or to regulate people? We have to reconsider our ways, as Haggai said (1:5). Our way is not right; something is wrong". (pp. 40-41)

I've shared this from 16 years ago to show I am the same today. Seeking fellowship. Far from being an opposer, I am a proposer. I propose we examine ourselves. and also consider this wonderful following fellowship. Inciting unto love and good works.

Elders' Book of Cherishing

https://www.amazon.com/Elders-Cheris.../dp/1508568006

I will look for the free pdf of this most useful book. A gateway, in fact, to revival.
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