Arthur M. Casci Testimony

[aron]

Zealous and Misled: I Once Lost My Way, by Arthur M. Casci

Our Lord Jesus said, "If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." This verse still rings in my mind when I think of my experience more than 10 years ago.

It all began when a friend shared the Gospel with me. Though raised in a church-going family, I had rejected Christianity at age 18. When Jeff told me about the forgiveness of sins, I said, "Flake off." But a few weeks later I attended a Bible study and the Holy Spirit put faith into my heart. I repented and believed the Gospel; after 21 years of living, my new life began.

The "Jesus People" movement was at its peak, and I enjoyed the informal atmosphere of sitting on the floor, singing, and studying the Bible. I attended different churches but felt that they were dead and had abandoned Jesus. Like many my age, I was rebellious and distrusted any organization run by comfortable, middle-class adults. Zealous for Jesus, I could not understand why others were not as enthusiastic. This attitude, combined with my lack of a Biblical foundation, left me wide open to false doctrine.

One evening I stopped to visit a Christian friend who had some unusual visitors. They were young, "on fire," roving evangelists from an organization called "The Children of God." They did not believe that a Christian should hold a normal job, but rather should leave job, home, family, and goods to preach on the streets.

The next thing I knew, I had quit my job and prepared to leave with these young street preachers for Dallas, Tex., one of their outposts. Fortunately, some dear Christian friends I visited stopped me from going, thus preventing me from joining a cult (at least for the moment). But I was still plagued with a burning desire to serve Jesus wholeheartedly-and now I had no job.

Another friend, Randy, invited me to go with him to Akron, Ohio, to introduce me to another zealous organization. So, once again, I packed my few belongings and left. This time no one stopped me.

I will never forget my first encounter with this organization. In a meeting, they sang loudly, shouted out verses of Scripture, danced, and one by one gave strong testimony about what Jesus meant to them. I saw young and old, black, white, and Oriental people.

I immediately joined in the singing and shouting. Mentally I maintained a few reservations, but emotionally I was caught. The love, unity and volume of the service overwhelmed me. I thought to myself: Here are people who truly love Jesus and are not afraid to show it.

That night after the meeting, Randy introduced me to many of them. They immediately welcomed me and showed great concern. I asked to stay for a week or two as a trial period, and was housed in a large duplex with about 10 members, who said I could stay until I decided whether to join the group.

Nobody forced me to join. Nobody needed to. I was ripe for the picking.

The organization is known as the "Local Church." lf such a group were in St. Louis, they would call themselves "The Church in or of St. Louis." They take the name of their locality.

The organization is led by an elderly Chinese man, Witness Lee. Lee brought the movement to America in the early 1960's. Lee's co-worker, Watchman Nee, had started the movement in China. When the communists took over, Lee fled to Taiwan. Nee stayed behind and, after nearly 20 years in prison, died.

In its first decades, the movement stayed in the mainstream of "fundamentalism." They believed that the Bible was the Word of God. They believed in the blood atonement of Jesus for the sins of the world, the Resurrection, the second coming of Jesus, and the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. However, shortly before coming to America, Lee changed some teachings. Lee claims that when he crossed over to America, he dropped his doctrines in the Pacific Ocean and found a new way.

The foundation of Lee's doctrine is his understanding of the Trinity!. Lee teaches "modalism," the idea that there is one God who reveals Himself in three different modes or stages. One of Lee's analogies is that prior to Christ, God was like "raw wheat." At the incarnation, the raw wheat became "flour." Finally, when Christ returned to heaven, God became the "loaf of bread," or the Holy Spirit. This runs counter to orthodox statements of faith such as the Athanasian Creed, which teaches that God is one in substance, but three in person. Lee's teaching destroys the distinction of persons in the Godhead.

Lee's teaching on the person of Christ is also contrary to historic Christianity. Lee teaches that the incarnation "mingled" together Jesus' humanity and divinity. The Definition of Chalcedon teaches that the two natures of Christ form one person but are distinct and not to be mingled together. Lee makes the divine nature something less than God but more than man and the human nature something more than man and less than God. Lee forms a new creature, God-man.

Thus, to "be saved," Lee teaches that God's intention for man is to be mingled with God in the way Christ was mingled with God. To accomplish this, one must "call" on Jesus' name literally. lf one says the name of Jesus out loud, one becomes a believer, and can begin the process of becoming mingled with God.

Lee teaches a simple "technique" whereby one can be mingled with God-calling on the Lord and pray-reading. Calling on the Lord means chanting Jesus' name over and over in private and in group services. Using the mind is not encouraged; one should block out thoughts. I did this for periods of 15 minutes or more. "Pray-reading" involves reading the Scripture out loud; repeating the same versus but with different emhasis each time, also individually or in the group. As in chanting, one is encouraged not to think but merely to do.

Lee calls this "exercising the spirit" or "eating and drinking the Lord." Since he teaches that one becomes what one eats, one is eating Christ and thus being mingled with God. The aim is to do away with one's own self-life and to be transformed into this new God-man creature.

To be sure, Lee teaches that all this is not necessary if one wants only to enter heaven; however, he believes that going to heaven is not full salvation. Lee asserts that a select few or "remnant" will receive something more. Those who have mingled themselves thoroughly with God will be "overcomers" and enjoy 1,000 years with Jesus while those believers who were not mingled must stay in the grave until after the millennium. Lee claims that although people can become "overcomers" if not in his organization, it is highly unlikely. Thus, if one wants to experience God's full salvation, Lee's organization and method is the only way.

Another teaching central to Lee's system is submission and authority. Members must obey without question Lee's teaching and directives. I was told that even if I was given directions contrary the Word of God, I was to obey. Because God would honor my submission to the leaders, it would not be wrong.

Lee labels as "Satanic Christianity" all churches that are not under his rule. Lee assures members that outside the movement all are deceived. lf one leaves the movement, it is unlikely that one could lead a Christian life. I was told of some who had left and how their lives had consequently fallen apart. This created an even greater psychological dependence on the group. Outsiders were feared, because they may seek to remove one from the group.

My zeal for Lee's teaching catapulted me into responsible positions. Within six months, I headed a house of single men. I fervently recruited new blood and never missed one of the four to six weekly meetings I was expected to attend. Weekends were devoted to bringing in new converts and holidays to conferences in various places. These demands, plus a 40-hour-a-week job, kept me busy and exhausted.

The life style is semicommunal. Members do own private property; however, a strong sense of community and sharing of material goods is encouraged. Once one is in the organization, basic needs are met. With no anxiety for material needs, members are freed to better obey the hierarchy.

I recall that nearly 100 people were moved from California to Virginia in order to form a new group there. The organization cared for these members until they could reestablish themselves in the new locale. Moves such as these were common. Yearly, the leaders would ask for a certain number of members to move to a different city. Some were asked and others volunteered. It was expected that every few years one would be relocated.

In Christmas 1972, I faced the dilemma of choosing between going home to my parents or going to Detroit for a conference. I wanted to go home, but I was strongly encouraged to go to Detroit. An unspoken law of the group was that one should forget family and be committed to the cause. I remember my mother crying when I called, saying I would not be home for Christmas for the second year in a row. I went to Detroit for another wild weekend of singing, shouting, and teaching.

But through God's providence, this seemingly wrong choice turned around my life and my commitment. A middle-aged man taught about King David's repentant and teachable heart before God. The teacher encouraged us to have a similar disposition. Of course, the teacher meant that we should be willing to be taught by the movement and to do what we were told by our leaders. But what he said, the Lord used for good.

I returned from that weekend with a different attitude. I still had a strong commitment to the movement and did not then think about leaving. But I was determined to allow Scripture to speak to me and wanted to repent of anything in my life that was not in line with Scripture. This new change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, provided the impetus for my leaving the group.

During the next six months, I continued to be zealously active in the movement. I became one of the teachers in the young adults group that listened to taped lectures by Witness Lee, which came from our Los Angeles headquarters, and repeated the contents during our teaching periods.

I listened to the tapes, but simultaneously spent more private time in the Word. I would rise early to pray, to read, and to seek the Lord. I started doubting what I was being taught. I saw that I was to obey God rather than men and that, contrary to Lee my mind was good and God wanted to renew and use it. The chanting and pray-reading seemed strange to me in light of Scripture that taught God's good order and the right use of reason.

The lot was soon cast. One April morning, while living in Cleveland, I left. During the next two weeks, I nearly had a mental breakdown. I was paranoid and exhausted, not knowing exactly what to do, but armed with the promise that the Lord was my Shepherd and that He would never abandon me.

I went to a local community center to sort things out. The people there led me to a large old church with Christian men who helped college age men and women. I attended some of their meetings, the informal type I had attended previously.

One evening a young man read Romans 5:1, emphasizing that peace with God was possible by grace alone. Our striving to please God couldn't do it. Those words told me everything. All my zest and dedication had been attempts to please God and to win His approval. My tears flowed. At last I was at peace in His grace.

Arthur Casci is the pastor of the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Detroit, Michigan. He is open and willing to discuss his personal experience with The Local Church. He may be reached at the following address and phone number. This article was published in The Lutheran Witness magazine, August 1982. The author has given full written permission for the electronic distribution of his article.

Arthur M. Casci
Resurrection Lutheran Church
20531 Kelly Road Detroit, Michigan 48225
1-313-372-4902

[aron]

I think Casci's title, "zealous and misled", is an entirely fitting summary of his testimony of his involvement in the LC. If you look at the young ones being filtered through the FTTA, and thenceforth out to "serve the ministry", what is the difference between them and young Mormons going into the MTC and thence to their missions? In the words of LSM prophet RK, "Absolutely nothing"!

http://www.mormonwiki.com/Missionary_Training_Center

They all serve the "ministry of the age", seeking to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and build up His unique Body. No difference that I can see. They all push a proprietary revelation, as the one speaking of God today. No compromise, no discussion: be absolute. This enthusiasm, this misled zeal, attracts the young people, who want to belong to something, and find definitive purpose and meaning in their lives. Here it is, folks, your handy-dandy one-stop shopping: just accept the revelation of God's Oracle and you are set for life. You never have to think again, just ask, "What would the Oracle want us to do?" which has been answered in long streams of books and pamphlets and hammered into you with innumerable training sessions. The answer is that you have been put here on earth to serve the ministry. This is the sole, unique, move of God on the earth today. Don't you want to be part of it?

[kumbaya]

Originally Posted by aron

I think Casci's title, "zealous and misled", is an entirely fitting summary of his testimony of his involvement in the LC. If you look at the young ones being filtered through the FTTA, and thenceforth out to "serve the ministry", what is the difference between them and young Mormons going into the MTC and thence to their missions? In the words of LSM prophet RK, "Absolutely nothing"!

http://www.mormonwiki.com/Missionary_Training_Center

They all serve the "ministry of the age", seeking to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and build up His unique Body. No difference that I can see. They all push a proprietary revelation, as the one speaking of God today. No compromise, no discussion: be absolute. This enthusiasm, this misled zeal, attracts the young people, who want to belong to something, and find definitive purpose and meaning in their lives. Here it is, folks, your handy-dandy one-stop shopping: just accept the revelation of God's Oracle and you are set for life. You never have to think again, just ask, "What would the Oracle want us to do?" which has been answered in long streams of books and pamphlets and hammered into you with innumerable training sessions. The answer is that you have been put here on earth to serve the ministry. This is the sole, unique, move of God on the earth today. Don't you want to be part of it?

Thank you for pointing this out!! I have some Mormon clients and was very surprised to hear about a 2 year "mission" for their young people that sounded very similar to the FTT! It's also when the military wants you to join their ranks- such an impressionable age!

It's sad that Christians are buying into the same tactics instead of relying on the Holy Spirit. Instead, certain people have an agenda and they employ these tactics under the guise of a "Bible school" where ultimately- they just need a certain percentage of those people to end up as full-timers. Which, would be hard to accomplish without the added thought reform practices in the FTT!

Wake up people, this is happening.

[leastofthese]

Originally Posted by kumbaya

Thank you for pointing this out!! I have some Mormon clients and was very surprised to hear about a 2 year "mission" for their young people that sounded very similar to the FTT! It's also when the military wants you to join their ranks- such an impressionable age!

It's sad that Christians are buying into the same tactics instead of relying on the Holy Spirit. Instead, certain people have an agenda and they employ these tactics under the guise of a "Bible school" where ultimately- they just need a certain percentage of those people to end up as full-timers. Which, would be hard to accomplish without the added thought reform practices in the FTT!

Wake up people, this is happening.

There are alot of similarities between the LSM churches and Mormons - maybe thats why Witness Lee said this, "A number of times I have been asked something like this:

“Brother Lee, you say that the ministry is unique. This means that there is just one ministry. When you say that there is one ministry, that the ministry is unique, do you mean that your ministry is this unique ministry?” Some of those who question me like this may have the concept that I think of myself as someone like Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. I always answer this question by saying, “No, I definitely do not mean that my ministry is the unique ministry.”"

[kumbaya]

Originally Posted by leastofthese

There are alot of similarities between the LSM churches and Mormons - maybe thats why Witness Lee said this, "A number of times I have been asked something like this:

“Brother Lee, you say that the ministry is unique. This means that there is just one ministry. When you say that there is one ministry, that the ministry is unique, do you mean that your ministry is this unique ministry?” Some of those who question me like this may have the concept that I think of myself as someone like Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. I always answer this question by saying, “No, I definitely do not mean that my ministry is the unique ministry.”"

This is where I get really frustrated. Granted, I get some of his wording might be "lost in translation" and that's a reasonable excuse SOMETIMES. But at some point- "say what you mean, and mean what you say."

I don't know if I've ever read someone's writings that seem so contradicting. Everything gets so convoluted it's hard to even point out his errors in doctrine bc somewhere else, he seems to prove himself wrong. I've read some of the doctrinal debates on here and its just overwhelming. There's a big problem when you're not clear with what you mean and WL either intentionally or unintentionally talks in circles and is VERY UNCLEAR.

If he said, "No, I definitely do not mean that my ministry is the unique ministry," like LofT is saying- it's just completely hypocritical.

How can WL say that and also determine that there can only be ONE publisher (LSM) in the Lord's Recovery?? That fact alone sort of disproves his claim that he doesn't see HIS ministry as "THE UNIQUE MINISTRY."

Also, WHY are other churches quarantined and members excommunicated, slandered, and accused of "building up something for themselves," by publishing and printing their own material, if WL didn't believe that his was the "unique ministry." There's really no need to go to all that trouble of stopping other people from doing the exact thing he was doing. Unless, of course- he did see his ministry as "the unique ministry." If he really said the quote above, it's no wonder people suspend all logic, blindly follow, and stick their nose in the sand when issues come up. You'd be a total hypocrite to believe what WL says, and then support actions in the LC that blatantly contradict his statements.

WL would have made a great politician. The practice of saying whatever you need to in the moment and trusting nothing will actually change isn't a newfound occurrence. Most people, citizens and church members alike, will just blindly follow "laws", continue to trust, and not care enough to "speak up" against the blatant hypocrisy....

MOST people

(sorry to hijack the thread)

[leastofthese]

Originally Posted by kumbaya

I don't know if I've ever read someone's writings that seem so contradicting. Everything gets so convoluted it's hard to even point out his errors in doctrine bc somewhere else, he seems to prove himself wrong.

Lee contradicting statement and talking in circles is precisely what allows those fallen to the teachings of Witness Lee to justify their found position. I remember sitting in a meeting when a sister began to bemoan the LSM way of speaking - that weird, yet ever present tonality - during a prophecy. She said at first it bothered her, then laid out how she had justified it being OK, in her opinion.

I was reading this recently, reminds me of many LSM church members - Self-justification has costs and benefits. By itself, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It lets us sleep at night. Without it, we would prolong the awful pangs of embarrassment. We would torture ourselves with regret over the road not taken or over how badly we navigated the road we did take. We would agonize in the aftermath of almost every decision: Did we do the right thing, marry the right person, buy the right house, choose the best car, enter the right career? Yet, mindless self-justifcation, like quicksand, can draw us deeper into disaster. It blocks our ability to even see our errors, let alone correct them. It distorts reality, keeps us from getting all the information we need and assessing issues clearly.

That inability (or unwillingness) to see errors is a glaring issue within the LSM churches. Like the author says, it can draw us deeper into disaster... It draws many of those within the LSM churches to the creature, rather than the creator.

[aron]

Originally Posted by kumbaya

I don't know if I've ever read someone's writings that seem so contradicting. Everything gets so convoluted it's hard to even point out his errors in doctrine bc somewhere else, he seems to prove himself wrong. I've read some of the doctrinal debates on here and its just overwhelming. There's a big problem when you're not clear with what you mean and WL either intentionally or unintentionally talks in circles and is VERY UNCLEAR. . .

WL would have made a great politician. The practice of saying whatever you need to in the moment and trusting nothing will actually change isn't a newfound occurrence.

New poster Steel was saying how much he appreciated Ed Marks' talk on Psalm 68. I got curious & dusted off my RecV. At one point (vv 21 -23) the psalm was talking about dipping his feet in the enemy's blood, crushing his head, &c. The footnote talked about Jesus defeating Satan.

But elsewhere in the Psalms, the footnotes pan such violent imagery because the NT principle is to bless and forgive your neighbour!! I kid you not! So which is it?

[aron]

Originally Posted by A.M.Casci

The "Jesus People" movement was at its peak, and I enjoyed the informal atmosphere of sitting on the floor, singing, and studying the Bible. I attended different churches but felt that they were dead and had abandoned Jesus. Like many my age, I was rebellious and distrusted any organization run by comfortable, middle-class adults. Zealous for Jesus, I could not understand why others were not as enthusiastic. This attitude, combined with my lack of a Biblical foundation, left me wide open to false doctrine.

Here is the LSM version of what happened, from the "Local Church Controversies" website.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Church_controversies

The local churches and the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee have been the subject of controversy in two major areas over the past fifty years. To a large extent these controversies stem from the rapid increase and spread of the local churches in the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s. In the 1970s they became a target of opposition of fledgling countercult ministries. Unsupported criticisms of anti-social behaviors led to three libel litigations. In addition, some criticized the teaching of Witness Lee on the nature of God, God’s full salvation, and the church.

By the 1960s the writings of Watchman Nee had become popular among evangelicals, including many in Campus Crusade for Christ. In 1968 Campus Crusade’s national field director Jon Braun, who had read Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Church Life, and all of the regional directors under him left Campus Crusade seeking the New Testament church. A short time later Braun joined a group led by Gene Edwards, a former Southern Baptist evangelist. Edwards had met with the local churches briefly before leaving to carry out his own interpretation of what the church should be.

In 1969 Campus Crusade launched what became Christian World Liberation Front (CWLF) at UC-Berkeley as an attempt to reach the young people in the counterculture. Jack Sparks, a former statistics professor at Penn State and Crusade staff member, soon became the dominant figure in CWLF. Throughout the early 1970s Sparks and Braun, who knew each other through CCC, gave talks at CWLF gatherings against Witness Lee and the local churches to stem the loss of members to the (local) church in Berkeley. Braun, who had a bitter split with Gene Edwards and left his group, joined with Sparks and five other former Crusade leaders to establish the New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO) with themselves as apostles. In 1979 six of the original seven NCAO apostles appointed themselves bishops of the newly formed Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC).

In 1974 three CWLF members founded a subsidiary countercult ministry, Spiritual Counterfeits Project (SCP). In early 1975 Sparks asked a young CWLF staff member, Alan Wallerstedt, to prepare a manuscript critiquing the teaching and practices of the local churches. Later that year Sparks tried to convert CWLF into a church and bring it under the authority of the NCAO. The large majority of members would not go along and CWLF split. Wallerstedt followed Sparks but completed the manuscript he had been commissioned to write for SCP. Thus, both the NCAO and SCP had copies of Wallerstedt’s manuscript.

In the summer of 1976 Peter Gillquist, the presiding NCAO apostle, became the head of the new books division at Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nelson), a respected Bible publisher. The first book Gillquist commissioned was The Mindbenders by Jack Sparks. Sparks was listed as the putative author but the chapter on the local churches was written by Braun, who, although he had never met with the local churches, blamed Watchman Nee and Witness Lee for his negative experience with Gene Edwards. Meanwhile, SCP was independently developing Wallerstedt’s manuscript into a book titled The God-Men. First editions of both The Mindbenders and The God-Men were published in 1977.

Responding to the strong demand for countercult publications after the Jonestown tragedy of November 1978, second editions of both books were published. Before and after each edition of either book was published, members of the local churches wrote letters of protest to the authors and publishers and attempts were made to contact them both personally and by phone. Nelson alone received approximately three hundred responses. InterVarsity Press, the publisher of the second edition of The God-Men, received a response including over five hundred pages of supporting documentation refuting the book’s charges.

The Mindbenders and The God-Men accused the local churches not just of theological error but of sociological deviance, including practicing authoritarianism, thought reform, isolation of members, deceptive recruiting, use of fear and humiliation to control members, and financial malfeasance. Following publication, members of the local churches became objects of harassment, physical assault, and attempted deprogrammings. In addition, members were dismissed from jobs and family relationships were damaged. In China the Three-Self Patriotic Movement commissioned two men to write a book to provide justification for a nationwide persecution against the local churches. The authors relied on The God-Men and its accusations in their writing. Over two thousand local church members were arrested, many were given extended sentences, and some were even executed.

Now, LSM clearly portrays Sparks et al as the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight, and this may ring at least somewhat true, but why was the Gang even shooting at all? I find LSM's admission to be rather telling. They say, "Responding to the strong demand for countercult publications after the Jonestown tragedy of November 1978", these works were birthed into the public consciousness. Witness Lee & Co became the cousins of Jim Jones and the People's Temple, according to reputable Christian presses like Thomas Nelson Publishers.

So, according to LSM, Witness Lee became popular because of the "rich ministry" which met the need of the age, but then came under attack because of the Jonestown tragedy? I would say, rather, that WL's ministry became popular for the same reason it eventually became a target of the countercult folks: because he offered something new and different. Look at Casci's comments at the top. The young people wanted something new. You can see it in their songs: "It may be with us you'll find a better way" (from: We love the Church life). This way was new, and different, therefore (to the young mind) must be better. Eventually when things got weird and people started drinking poisoned kool-aid out in the jungle, "new and different" was suspect in the public's eyes. The cultural pendulum now swung the other way. In the '60s WL & company made hay out of being new and different, but in the '70s those differences became suspect, and rightly so.

The Mindbenders and The God-Men accused the local churches not just of theological error but of sociological deviance, including practicing authoritarianism, thought reform, isolation of members...

According to Casci, in the 1960s "sociological deviance" had its appeals. The adults were old and tired and square. Where was Jesus? He was sitting on a floor, in a circle, singing folk songs. But 10 or 12 years later when the cultural pendulum had swung back, and people became alarmed, and no longer thought mind control was a harmless fringe event, the Mind Benders and God-Men books now had some ammo. Whether or not they did a good job is irrelevant. LSM tries to have it both ways: that WL became popular because his ministry met the timely need, then it became unpopular because of wrong associations with cultish activity. No, it became popular because it deviated from the norm, and eventually it was publicly punished because it deviated from the norm.

Greetings,
This is Art Casci. I am stunned that my ancient is still in circulation. Just this morning I was contacted about your blog. It has been over 40 years since the "movement" and probably 20 since I have given it a thought. I will observe this blog an see if I have anything to offer. I am a pastor in the lutheran church missouri synod (the orthodox branch) and my walk wiyh christ has certainly taken a few turns since the movement days.

Interestingly enough, after the lee movement I was also part of the new covenant apostolic order for a while. I knew those men Braun etc. I was in Mansfield ohio and Ray Nethery who was a member of the ncao departed from them and I stuck with ray for a while but eventually to the lcms.

Feel free to contact me but I don't know how much help I can be.

Art

[aron]

Originally Posted by Amcasci

Greetings,
This is Art Casci. I am stunned that my ancient is still in circulation. Just this morning I was contacted about your blog. It has been over 40 years since the "movement" and probably 20 since I have given it a thought. I will observe this blog an see if I have anything to offer. I am a pastor in the lutheran church missouri synod (the orthodox branch) and my walk wiyh christ has certainly taken a few turns since the movement days.

Interestingly enough, after the lee movement I was also part of the new covenant apostolic order for a while. I knew those men Braun etc. I was in Mansfield ohio and Ray Nethery who was a member of the ncao departed from them and I stuck with ray for a while but eventually to the lcms.

Feel free to contact me but I don't know how much help I can be.

Art

Hello Art,

Thanks for the reply. Two things: first I wonder if you remember the song, "You love to call the young/to carry out your move/to leave the world behind/to have a change of mind/(Chorus)New, new, new/Your move is so new/Take us Lord, possess us to be channels for You" That song may have been after your time. But if you had a dollar for every time WL said "new" you could probably buy a house. Everything was made new, with him. Like the song, "New, new, new".

"He's [Christ] so new and fresh/available and dear" (Splendid Church Life). This was attractive to the young folks: who didn't want to be new? Conversely, who wanted to be old, and stale? But this sleight-of-hand maneuver allowed centuries of Christian understanding to be overturned on a whim of WL. Everything became new, even Christian understanding. For better and for worse. If he woke up and decided to vaporize traditional Christian teachings, 'poof' it was gone. And everybody cried "Hurrah!"

Secondly, if you feel at all inspired or care to remember, it would be helpful to get some of the details of some of those names that LSM mention in their version of the events, in the "Local Church Controversies" wikipage that I copied here. I'm pretty sure they only give part of the story. Anything you share likely hasn't been told publicly before. So for historical completeness you might help out here. It seems you have some personal experience with names that are fairly unknown to most here (and I'm pretty familiar with a lot of the online material).

Thanks.

[OBW]

Originally Posted by aron

I wonder if you remember the song, "You love to call the young/to carry out your move/to leave the world behind/to have a change of mind/(Chorus)New, new, new/Your move is so new/Take us Lord, possess us to be channels for You" That song may have been after your time.

I don't remember that song. Maybe it had come and gone before me (73 - 87).

Originally Posted by aron

This was attractive to the young folks: who didn't want to be new? Conversely, who wanted to be old, and stale?

Yes, "new" is always attractive until you have been burned too many times by "new and improved" products.

But the real problem is that the whole thing was predicated upon the idea that old was bad, stale, dead and decaying. But there is nothing inherently true about that way of thinking. It is just one more cliché that we have to think past/through. New may be dead as it comes. It is just exciting. Old may be full of life. Just not always exciting. (And life does not equal exciting or outwardly joyous.)

And it is funny that a group that is claiming to be returning it all to the 1st century practices would be hollering so much about old=bad and new=good.

I remember a song to the tune of fulsom prison blues. I can't recall itall but I remember the line...we're locked in this prison the inmates sing and shout please don't eer let us out. Wow..that woke me up.

Enforce I get all wrapped up I thisbusness again, I want tosay that I have fond memories of many people: Gao Tomothy Liang, Pkiland Ellen Trimphour who nursed me to health when very sick, Tony Lyons, Tom McNaughton, Jim McNaughton. Thankfully did locate Phil Comfort and was able to talk to hin on the phone a few years back. If you can help me locate the McNaughtons I would be grateful and any others from Akron/Cleveland in 71-73. It brings me to tears when I think of them andi look forward to the grand reunion at the marriage supper of the lamb in his kingdom which has no end.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by aron

Arthur M. Casci
Resurrection Lutheran Church

Goodness! Bro Arthur left the LC and went back to pre-UntoHim's orthodoxy. And back to the infancy of The Recovery ...

[Amcasci]

Originally Posted by awareness

Goodness! Bro Arthur left the LC and went back to pre-UntoHim's orthodoxy. And back to the infancy of The Recovery ...

I would say to the maturity of the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by Amcasci

I would say to the maturity of the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Amcasi,

Dave & Zeek (mostly on Alternative Views) out here, and myself, were in the C. in Detroit back in the early 1970s, when Ron Kangas was lead elder.

That's a long time ago. I don't remember a conference during those days. Can you remember much about it? Like who spoke and such, and how many were there?

[Amcasci]

The conference I went to was in Chicago and not detroit. I don't recall speakers but I believe there was a hundred or so. A good bit of Akron went. Memory says it was the first conference I attended. I think I have it right...Christmas of 71.

[awareness]

Originally Posted by Amcasci

The conference I went to was in Chicago and not detroit. I don't recall speakers but I believe there was a hundred or so. A good bit of Akron went. Memory says it was the first conference I attended. I think I have it right...Christmas of 71.

Now that makes sense. If I remember, and maybe Zeek and Dave can chime in, it was John Ingalls speaking ... but I could be wrong about that. I didn't keep a list like Dave.

[aron]

Bringing this forward. Interesting view of how the LC caught so many young people circa 1965-70.

Originally Posted by Arthur M. Casci

The "Jesus People" movement was at its peak, and I enjoyed the informal atmosphere of sitting on the floor, singing, and studying the Bible. I attended different churches but felt that they were dead and had abandoned Jesus. Like many my age, I was rebellious and distrusted any organization run by comfortable, middle-class adults. Zealous for Jesus, I could not understand why others were not as enthusiastic. This attitude, combined with my lack of a Biblical foundation, left me wide open to false doctrine.

One evening I stopped to visit a Christian friend who had some unusual visitors. They were young, "on fire," roving evangelists from an organization called "The Children of God." They did not believe that a Christian should hold a normal job, but rather should leave job, home, family, and goods to preach on the streets.

The next thing I knew, I had quit my job and prepared to leave with these young street preachers for Dallas, Tex., one of their outposts. Fortunately, some dear Christian friends I visited stopped me from going, thus preventing me from joining a cult (at least for the moment). But I was still plagued with a burning desire to serve Jesus wholeheartedly-and now I had no job.

Another friend, Randy, invited me to go with him to Akron, Ohio, to introduce me to another zealous organization. So, once again, I packed my few belongings and left. This time no one stopped me.

I will never forget my first encounter with this organization. In a meeting, they sang loudly, shouted out verses of Scripture, danced, and one by one gave strong testimony about what Jesus meant to them. I saw young and old, black, white, and Oriental people.

I immediately joined in the singing and shouting. Mentally I maintained a few reservations, but emotionally I was caught. The love, unity and volume of the service overwhelmed me. I thought to myself: Here are people who truly love Jesus and are not afraid to show it.

That night after the meeting, Randy introduced me to many of them. They immediately welcomed me and showed great concern. I asked to stay for a week or two as a trial period, and was housed in a large duplex with about 10 members, who said I could stay until I decided whether to join the group.

Nobody forced me to join. Nobody needed to. I was ripe for the picking.

The organization is known as the "Local Church." lf such a group were in St. Louis, they would call themselves "The Church in or of St. Louis." They take the name of their locality.

The organization is led by an elderly Chinese man, Witness Lee. Lee brought the movement to America in the early 1960's. Lee's co-worker, Watchman Nee, had started the movement in China. When the communists took over, Lee fled to Taiwan. Nee stayed behind and, after nearly 20 years in prison, died.

In its first decades, the movement stayed in the mainstream of "fundamentalism." They believed that the Bible was the Word of God. They believed in the blood atonement of Jesus for the sins of the world, the Resurrection, the second coming of Jesus, and the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. However, shortly before coming to America, Lee changed some teachings. Lee claims that when he crossed over to America, he dropped his doctrines in the Pacific Ocean and found a new way.

The foundation of Lee's doctrine is his understanding of the Trinity!. Lee teaches "modalism," the idea that there is one God who reveals Himself in three different modes or stages. One of Lee's analogies is that prior to Christ, God was like "raw wheat." At the incarnation, the raw wheat became "flour." Finally, when Christ returned to heaven, God became the "loaf of bread," or the Holy Spirit. This runs counter to orthodox statements of faith such as the Athanasian Creed, which teaches that God is one in substance, but three in person. Lee's teaching destroys the distinction of persons in the Godhead.

Lee's teaching on the person of Christ is also contrary to historic Christianity. Lee teaches that the incarnation "mingled" together Jesus' humanity and divinity. The Definition of Chalcedon teaches that the two natures of Christ form one person but are distinct and not to be mingled together. Lee makes the divine nature something less than God but more than man and the human nature something more than man and less than God. Lee forms a new creature, God-man.

Thus, to "be saved," Lee teaches that God's intention for man is to be mingled with God in the way Christ was mingled with God. To accomplish this, one must "call" on Jesus' name literally. lf one says the name of Jesus out loud, one becomes a believer, and can begin the process of becoming mingled with God.

Lee teaches a simple "technique" whereby one can be mingled with God-calling on the Lord and pray-reading. Calling on the Lord means chanting Jesus' name over and over in private and in group services. Using the mind is not encouraged; one should block out thoughts. I did this for periods of 15 minutes or more. "Pray-reading" involves reading the Scripture out loud; repeating the same versus but with different emhasis each time, also individually or in the group. As in chanting, one is encouraged not to think but merely to do.

Lee calls this "exercising the spirit" or "eating and drinking the Lord." Since he teaches that one becomes what one eats, one is eating Christ and thus being mingled with God. The aim is to do away with one's own self-life and to be transformed into this new God-man creature.

To be sure, Lee teaches that all this is not necessary if one wants only to enter heaven; however, he believes that going to heaven is not full salvation. Lee asserts that a select few or "remnant" will receive something more. Those who have mingled themselves thoroughly with God will be "overcomers" and enjoy 1,000 years with Jesus while those believers who were not mingled must stay in the grave until after the millennium. Lee claims that although people can become "overcomers" if not in his organization, it is highly unlikely. Thus, if one wants to experience God's full salvation, Lee's organization and method is the only way.

Another teaching central to Lee's system is submission and authority. Members must obey without question Lee's teaching and directives. I was told that even if I was given directions contrary the Word of God, I was to obey. Because God would honor my submission to the leaders, it would not be wrong.

Lee labels as "Satanic Christianity" all churches that are not under his rule. Lee assures members that outside the movement all are deceived. lf one leaves the movement, it is unlikely that one could lead a Christian life. I was told of some who had left and how their lives had consequently fallen apart. This created an even greater psychological dependence on the group. Outsiders were feared, because they may seek to remove one from the group.

My zeal for Lee's teaching catapulted me into responsible positions. Within six months, I headed a house of single men. I fervently recruited new blood and never missed one of the four to six weekly meetings I was expected to attend. Weekends were devoted to bringing in new converts and holidays to conferences in various places. These demands, plus a 40-hour-a-week job, kept me busy and exhausted.

The life style is semicommunal. Members do own private property; however, a strong sense of community and sharing of material goods is encouraged. Once one is in the organization, basic needs are met. With no anxiety for material needs, members are freed to better obey the hierarchy.

I recall that nearly 100 people were moved from California to Virginia in order to form a new group there. The organization cared for these members until they could reestablish themselves in the new locale. Moves such as these were common. Yearly, the leaders would ask for a certain number of members to move to a different city. Some were asked and others volunteered. It was expected that every few years one would be relocated.

In Christmas 1972, I faced the dilemma of choosing between going home to my parents or going to Detroit for a conference. I wanted to go home, but I was strongly encouraged to go to Detroit. An unspoken law of the group was that one should forget family and be committed to the cause. I remember my mother crying when I called, saying I would not be home for Christmas for the second year in a row. I went to Detroit for another wild weekend of singing, shouting, and teaching.

But through God's providence, this seemingly wrong choice turned around my life and my commitment. A middle-aged man taught about King David's repentant and teachable heart before God. The teacher encouraged us to have a similar disposition. Of course, the teacher meant that we should be willing to be taught by the movement and to do what we were told by our leaders. But what he said, the Lord used for good.

I returned from that weekend with a different attitude. I still had a strong commitment to the movement and did not then think about leaving. But I was determined to allow Scripture to speak to me and wanted to repent of anything in my life that was not in line with Scripture. This new change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, provided the impetus for my leaving the group.

During the next six months, I continued to be zealously active in the movement. I became one of the teachers in the young adults group that listened to taped lectures by Witness Lee, which came from our Los Angeles headquarters, and repeated the contents during our teaching periods.

I listened to the tapes, but simultaneously spent more private time in the Word. I would rise early to pray, to read, and to seek the Lord. I started doubting what I was being taught. I saw that I was to obey God rather than men and that, contrary to Lee my mind was good and God wanted to renew and use it. The chanting and pray-reading seemed strange to me in light of Scripture that taught God's good order and the right use of reason.

The lot was soon cast. One April morning, while living in Cleveland, I left. During the next two weeks, I nearly had a mental breakdown. I was paranoid and exhausted, not knowing exactly what to do, but armed with the promise that the Lord was my Shepherd and that He would never abandon me.

I went to a local community center to sort things out. The people there led me to a large old church with Christian men who helped college age men and women. I attended some of their meetings, the informal type I had attended previously.

One evening a young man read Romans 5:1, emphasizing that peace with God was possible by grace alone. Our striving to please God couldn't do it. Those words told me everything. All my zest and dedication had been attempts to please God and to win His approval. My tears flowed. At last I was at peace in His grace.

[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

Zealous and Misled: I Once Lost My Way, by Arthur M. Casci

Our Lord Jesus said, "If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." This verse still rings in my mind when I think of my experience more than 10 years ago.

It all began when a friend shared the Gospel with me. Though raised in a church-going family, I had rejected Christianity at age 18. When Jeff told me about the forgiveness of sins, I said, "Flake off." But a few weeks later I attended a Bible study and the Holy Spirit put faith into my heart. I repented and believed the Gospel; after 21 years of living, my new life began.

The "Jesus People" movement was at its peak, and I enjoyed the informal atmosphere of sitting on the floor, singing, and studying the Bible. I attended different churches but felt that they were dead and had abandoned Jesus. Like many my age, I was rebellious and distrusted any organization run by comfortable, middle-class adults. Zealous for Jesus, I could not understand why others were not as enthusiastic. This attitude, combined with my lack of a Biblical foundation, left me wide open to false doctrine.

One evening I stopped to visit a Christian friend who had some unusual visitors. They were young, "on fire," roving evangelists from an organization called "The Children of God." They did not believe that a Christian should hold a normal job, but rather should leave job, home, family, and goods to preach on the streets.

The next thing I knew, I had quit my job and prepared to leave with these young street preachers for Dallas, Tex., one of their outposts. Fortunately, some dear Christian friends I visited stopped me from going, thus preventing me from joining a cult (at least for the moment). But I was still plagued with a burning desire to serve Jesus wholeheartedly-and now I had no job.

Another friend, Randy, invited me to go with him to Akron, Ohio, to introduce me to another zealous organization. So, once again, I packed my few belongings and left. This time no one stopped me.

I will never forget my first encounter with this organization. In a meeting, they sang loudly, shouted out verses of Scripture, danced, and one by one gave strong testimony about what Jesus meant to them. I saw young and old, black, white, and Oriental people.

I immediately joined in the singing and shouting. Mentally I maintained a few reservations, but emotionally I was caught. The love, unity and volume of the service overwhelmed me. I thought to myself: Here are people who truly love Jesus and are not afraid to show it.

That night after the meeting, Randy introduced me to many of them. They immediately welcomed me and showed great concern. I asked to stay for a week or two as a trial period, and was housed in a large duplex with about 10 members, who said I could stay until I decided whether to join the group.

Nobody forced me to join. Nobody needed to. I was ripe for the picking.

This post shows how Witness Lee's group was able to draw in so many young people, 1967-72. I think of the famous "Life" magazine photo of a young woman clutching a tuft of sod and grass, which Ringo Starr the drummer for the pop band "The Beatles" had just trod upon. Her eyes were closed and she was weeping uncontrollably. There was a lot of excitement in the air in those days, but a lot of hysteria, a lot of instability. Witness Lee plucked thousands of these young people from the Jesus Movement and into his "Lord's recovery" system. They had a lot of excitement and enthusiasm but precious little discernment.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Arthur M. Casci

That night after the meeting, Randy introduced me to many of them. They immediately welcomed me and showed great concern. I asked to stay for a week or two as a trial period, and was housed in a large duplex with about 10 members, who said I could stay until I decided whether to join the group. Nobody forced me to join. Nobody needed to. I was ripe for the picking.

I wanted to bring AMCasci and awareness' testimonies forward to show something of the time (late '60s-early '70s) that caused Witness Lee's movement to grow, flourish, and spread, and that set the seeds for the issues that followed. I came in 10 years later, when those who remained were talking in hushed tones about "rebellions" and "storms" and "turmoils".

These testimonies show that the zeitgeist, or spirit of the time, does indeed matter, and influences how people react. Something like "Beatlemania" informs us how the Witness Lee 'recovery' group grew in the West, because both fed from the same source: a pool of young, impulsive teens (Baby Boomers) who wanted something new. And they poured in by the hundreds, even by the thousands. Just like 400,000 who went to a rock concert on a farm in upstate NY (Woodstock). The people were moving, restless. The "flow" was already there - Witness Lee just tapped into it. The Jesus Movement was soon afoot, and there were naïve young Christians waiting to be siphoned off. Look at how many groups sprung up in that era. David Berg and the Children of God, the Peoples Temple that ended in Guyana with mass suicide. Instability. Moonies, Hare Krishna, Weathermen, etc.

I hold that understanding the "climate" of a time helps tremendously. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a case in point. Jesus and John the Baptist both came out of the wilderness, and had very harsh words for the priests from Jerusalem. The Qumran sect, supposedly the Essenes, also had a lot of harsh things to say about the established priestly and kingly classes in Jerusalem. Probably they had withdrawn since they felt corruption was so bad there.

It's perhaps not a coincidence that John called the Jerusalemites "brood of vipers" and the Qumranites, also desert-dwelling sectarians, had similar invective in their scrolls. But the fact that another witness or testimony has arisen besides John the Baptist in the NT, gives us a picture into the Zeitgeist of the times. Both political and religious dissatisfaction was high. And people like Witness Lee and the Blendeds, with their "there is nothing new to learn" mantra, miss that. We shouldn't make the similar mistake. Just because Watchmen Nee didn't read something doesn't mean we can't learn.

Back to the late-'60s and early-'70s local church of Witness Lee experience, the so-called Lord's recovery, we sang songs like, "I'm so happy in this lovely place... He [Christ] is new and fresh, available and near". Witness Lee sold subjectivism. Like awareness says, it's a kind of 'special-sauce-gnosticism' that supposedly brings the initiates into a new and fresh plane of existence. But it's really just new and fresh marketing for the unwise. It's the same-old, same-old in a 'new and fresh' box.

The remedy for it all is Jesus. Look at the hymn (#1237) Splendid Church Life. Who's the subject? The "I" of the "I'm so happy in this lovely place" is the naïve young Christian snookered in by Lee & Co. But the "I" of the Bible is Jesus. Witness Lee sold us the "NT believer enjoying grace" but the subject of the Bible is Jesus. Accept no substitute. Or the "grace" you "enjoy" might be dust.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

Oh, sorry, one more point. The remedy for it all is Jesus. Look at the hymn (#1237) Splendid Church Life. Who's the subject? The "I" of the "I'm so happy in this lovely place" is the naïve young Christian snookered in by Lee & Co. But the "I" of the Bible is Jesus. Witness Lee sold us the "NT believer enjoying grace" but the subject of the Bible is Jesus. Accept no substitute. Or the "grace" you "enjoy" might be dust.

The entire body of Christ should give thanks for the "Jesus People" move of the Spirit of God during the unrest of the civil rights Viet Nam Era. It is worthy to note that the media tagged it the "Jesus People" movement with pics of young people being baptized in lakes and rivers.

Our Heavenly Father really shook things up, that His chosen ones could believe in His Son, and more importantly, that new wine could seek out fresh wine skins. He basically ended the grip of archaic denominations, just as Jesus ended the stronghold of Judaism 2 millennia ago. Totally new church settings popped up in their place with new found liberties for these new creations. Free groups, home meetings, community churches, even mega-churches. Options were endless. But so were the risks. It was a risk that the Spirit of God deemed necessary.

During those early days of blessing in the LC's, Lee mostly worked with the Holy Spirit to minister new wine. He was not alone. Many gifted ones were also given to the body of Christ. Charismatics, Baptists, Pentecostals, etc. all had fresh beginnings. There was even a Catholic priest preaching the gospel at my Ohio State University Newman Center ... imagine that!

In the LC, Witness Lee soon went back to his old ways. He felt the LC's needed his exclusive ministry and only his ideas. Slowly, apparently dating back to mainland China, he became obsessed with megalomanic illusions of importance and superiority. He soon introduced all sorts of fleshly means to build his empire. Had he stuck to his original mission objectives during those times of blessing, many children of God would not have suffered.

[aron]

Originally Posted by Ohio

The entire body of Christ should give thanks for the "Jesus People" move of the Spirit of God during the unrest of the civil rights Viet Nam Era. It is worthy to note that the media tagged it the "Jesus People" movement with pics of young people being baptized in lakes and rivers.

Our Heavenly Father really shook things up... that new wine could seek out fresh wine skins.

The subject of the Bible is Jesus. He is the way home to the Father. Not the ground of oneness, not the ministry of the age, not God's economy, not the present recovered truth, not NT believers enjoying grace. Our unyielding focus should be on him alone. All those extras are bad wine skins. If we focus on them our "enjoyment" will soon be cobwebs and vapours. The wine will pour out and be lost.

There's one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Jesus. There's no other. Any other intermediary fails. There is one name by which we can be saved. No other name (or 'non-name', wink-wink) should catch our attention or hold our allegiance.

In 2 Kings 4, look at the Shunnamite woman's posture when her son dies. She looks neither right nor left, nor will she slow down. She must see Elisha. Well, Jesus is our Elisha. Not Witness Lee nor any other. Lee tricked us into settling down in his local church. We sang, "Home, home in the church/It is here that I've ended my search". Oops.

Lee's church is not our home - our home is with the Father. And Jesus is the way.

[aron]

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him where are you going
And this he told me
I’m going on down to Yasgur’s farm
I’m going to join in a rock ‘n’ roll band
I’m going to camp out on the land
I’m going to try an’ get my soul free

We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it’s the time of man
I don’t know who I am
But you know life is for learning

We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation

We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil’s bargain
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Woodstock, by Joni Mitchell

I don't know Ms Mitchell's philosophical background, but she like many saw the gathering of freaks and hippies as a watershed event. Before Woodstock we didn't realize what we were. Then we saw - we were a people and a nation.

The Jesus Movement felt itself not as an offshoot or a rejection or redirection of the Woodstock nation, but rather it's actualization.

"We are stardust - we are golden" and "we've got to get ourselves back to the garden" were affirmations, and challenges. And Jesus was the way. A great spiritual door had opened, and it had a name. Its name was Jesus.

Now, not every 19 year-old went to Woodstock, or wanted to. But it was big, and it sourced the Jesus Movement, which in turn fed Witness Lee's group. I see it as a kind of Pilgrim's Progress: if you look at post #84 and #85 you see those trying to siphon off the souls - Witness Lee and his local church, the Children of God and Moses Berg, the Rosicrusians. Etc, etc. As AMCasci wrote, "I was ripe for the picking".

The song said, "I don't know who I am; but you know life is for learning". Amen. May the Lord keep us awake always, and watchful unto prayer. If we seek, we will find. "Were not our hearts burning, as he opened for us the scriptures?"

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road...

What does that got to do with the Casci testimony?

[HERn]

Originally Posted by aron

The subject of the Bible is Jesus. He is the way home to the Father. Not the ground of oneness, not the ministry of the age, not God's economy, not the present recovered truth, not NT believers enjoying grace. Our unyielding focus should be on him alone. All those extras are bad wine skins. If we focus on them our "enjoyment" will soon be cobwebs and vapours. The wine will pour out and be lost.

There's one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Jesus. There's no other. Any other intermediary fails. There is one name by which we can be saved. No other name (or 'non-name', wink-wink) should catch our attention or hold our allegience.

Pretty much the best short apologetic response to the Lee-dominated movement of the Lord's Recovery I've read.

[HERn]

Originally Posted by aron

The subject of the Bible is Jesus. He is the way home to the Father. Not the ground of oneness, not the ministry of the age, not God's economy, not the present recovered truth, not NT believers enjoying grace. Our unyielding focus should be on him alone. All those extras are bad wine skins. If we focus on them our "enjoyment" will soon be cobwebs and vapours. The wine will pour out and be lost.

There's one mediator between God and man, and that is the man Jesus. There's no other. Any other intermediary fails. There is one name by which we can be saved. No other name (or 'non-name', wink-wink) should catch our attention or hold our allegience.

The best short apologetic response to the Lee-dominated sect of Christianity that I've read.