[Cal]

But getting back to the OnePub discussion...

On the one hand the OnePub does not attempt to restrict publications by churches. On the other hand, in the list of example publications that churches might publish it never mentions "books." In short, it stops short of opening that door all the way. This is vague and equivocating. Then it goes on to suggest that these non-OnePub publications should not be distributed widely. This is out of line.

Who has the right to say any person or church cannot distribute their publications widely among the Church? Well, this is where the bait-and-switch comes in. They substitute "the Recovery" for "the Church," and suddenly they have the right, or at least that's what they want people to think.

Here's the scenario: LSM envisions this entity, called "the Lord's Recovery." What is it? Well, again, it is another equivocation. Originally it was said to be the Lord's general working to bring his Church "back" to his original intent for it. Somehow, though, during the time of Nee and Lee, it became something else, a move or movement of specific people. Eventually it even gained official leaders, and finally it seems, even exclusive owners or at least caretakers.

LSM assumes, manifestly, to have exclusive rights to "the Lord's Recovery," which is actually a way of saying they own the Church, or at least the best part of the Church, the part that really matters. They get to define what it is and where it is. Now, think about that for a moment. We are talking about something that started with God's work among various people in various places, with no human control or authority, which somehow morphed into an organized movement of people who claim unique ownership of the thing. That's is a startlingly audacious presumption! Not only so, but this move or movement or whatever it is, is considered God's very best. Nothing can compare to it, and LSM and the BBs alone have been given control of it. How do we know that is true? Because they tell us, that's how!

So, because they are the move, they get to control what gets distributed in it. So the concept of "the Recovery" simply exists to define an entity which the leaders can control. It's a way to assert authority over multiple churches, by creating a supposed "holy" sphere over which God has given a few authority. This sphere is grandiosely called "the Lord's Recovery," which though an impressive title, is not a biblicly defined entity.

Now, is any of this reasonable? Well, on the one hand it is similar to what other large Christian organizations do. They define a sphere, the scope of their denomination or ministry, and say if you want to operate in this sphere under our name you are going to have to follow our rules. That part is completely reasonable. God could not organize anything without some kind of understanding and cooperation like that.

Where "the Recovery" differs is they have taken this concept of a unique move of God and equated it with their organization. The problem is they are overstepping their bounds by doing this. Who can know for sure whether they are what they claim to be? Yet they proceed as if that is already settled, when it hasn't and cannot be. This belief and claim places undue pressure on members and churches to fall in line. This is the basic problem. If "the Recovery" would acknowledge that they have no biblical basis for assuming they are a special subset of the whole Church to which all believers should fall in line, they would be fine. But they don't, and that is the root of all the problems the movement has caused and seen. They are the fruit of the irrational and even fanatical belief that their sphere is the unique move of God.

So the OnePub is off-base by telling Christians and churches they cannot distribute within "the Recovery," that is, unless they want to admit it is simply an organization. In short, the leaders need to make a choice. If they want to regard themselves as something completely of God, simply the Church and his ministry, then they cannot restrict. But if they try to restrict, then they are admitting "the Recovery" is simply an organization of man. It can't be both. Said another way, the Church itself as a whole is the only extra-local entity the Lord recognizes as wholly and purely of him. You cannot carve out a piece, even if you call it "the Recovery," and say it is uniquely and purely of him. Only the whole Church has that status. Once you carve it, you have an organization of man. Organizations of man can and are used by God, but they do not have anything approaching the unique status of the Church, and neither does "the Recovery."

"The Recovery" then, is a manufactured entity masquerading as "God's pure and unique move," created to leverage control over many Christians and churches. It doesn't exist as something purely of God. It's just another religious organization, with no standing more than any other. Within this organization, like any other, some great things of God might occur. They may seem unique outwardly, but they are not unique in nature, nor do they make the organization uniquely of God.

Thus "the Recovery" is a hoax sold to the people of God there. It's another wile of the devil, perpetrated by people who should, by now, know better.