Publication Work in The Lord's Recovery aka The One Publication

[OnHisPath]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

So I assume you don't have any Christian books other than just the New Testament. If you do, then this proves that the New Testament is not sufficient for you. That is what I meant by the insufficiency of Paul's writings, not that they themselves lacked anything except deeper and further revelation which others could complete.

The Bible never says it was complete, nor does it say ministry ceased when the Bible was written.

Evangelical, I'm curious about this. If Paul's writings could be in need of "deeper and further revelation which others could complete", do you feel the same is true for Nee and Lee's writings?

The Bible may never say it was complete, but the LC seems to say that Lee's writings/ministry are complete and will end the age. Since the Lord hasn't returned yet, could there be more revelation, ministry and such from believers? I personally don't see any need for more revelation than Christ and Him crucified, but I'm curious your thoughts.

I remember expecting my first child and reading some of Nee's writings having to do with family and child rearing with my in-laws. We read a portion where it was suggested that the whole family should be involved in the punishment of children. After the parents had hit the children's hands with an implement and made them bleed, the siblings should be ready with cloth and water to help tend to the wounds. Kinda freaked me out a bit. As you suggested that Paul didn't write sufficiently for us today, I would suggest that Nee and Lee didn't write sufficiently for us today, either.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by OnHisPath

I remember expecting my first child and reading some of Nee's writings having to do with family and child rearing with my in-laws. We read a portion where it was suggested that the whole family should be involved in the punishment of children. After the parents had hit the children's hands with an implement and made them bleed, the siblings should be ready with cloth and water to help tend to the wounds. Kinda freaked me out a bit. As you suggested that Paul didn't write sufficiently for us today, I would suggest that Nee and Lee didn't write sufficiently for us today, either.

W. Nee obviously never had children of his own. He spoke more from some ancient Chinese customs, than from the Bible.

And to think ... LSM regularly condemns Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Most of us had to read his books in secret.

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by OnHisPath

Evangelical, I'm curious about this. If Paul's writings could be in need of "deeper and further revelation which others could complete", do you feel the same is true for Nee and Lee's writings? The Bible may never say it was complete, but the LC seems to say that Lee's writings/ministry are complete and will end the age. Since the Lord hasn't returned yet, could there be more revelation, ministry and such from believers?

Well they are complete because they are dead. It doesn't stop anyone else coming along and providing further revelation.

[UntoHim]

"further revelation" has gotten false teachers and apostles and their followers in a lot of trouble since the beginning. Most of the time this is because their "further revelation" is untethered from the plain words of the Scriptures, or sometimes the twisting of or misinterpretation of the plain words.

Still other false teachers and apostles claim to be bringing us back to the original or "recovered" interpretations/meanings of the Scriptures. In most cases, this term recovered is nothing more than the wolf of heresy disguised in the sheep's clothing of "further revelation".
-

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

Well they are complete because they are dead. It doesn't stop anyone else coming along and providing further revelation.

That's not what the Blendeds teach. They said Lee completed the intepretation of Bible. The age of spiritual giants is over, say they, the only thing left to do is follow Lee's teachings to a "T" and "build the Body."

Getting those standing orders going! Buy those books!

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Igzy

That's not what the Blendeds teach. They said Lee completed the intepretation of Bible. The age of spiritual giants is over, say they, the only thing left to do is follow Lee's teachings to a "T" and "build the Body."

Getting those standing orders going! Buy those books!

I disagree with that because there are still lots of verses in my recovery version that have no foot notes or where the foot notes are very light in specifics.

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

I disagree with that because there are still lots of verses in my recovery version that have no foot notes or where the foot notes are very light in specifics.

Well, that's what they taught, dude. Best deal with it and talk to them about it. I'm just the messenger.

[OnHisPath]

Originally Posted by Igzy

That's not what the Blendeds teach. They said Lee completed the intepretation of Bible. The age of spiritual giants is over, say they, the only thing left to do is follow Lee's teachings to a "T" and "build the Body."

Getting those standing orders going! Buy those books!

This is exactly what I remember. There was no room left for other teachers, ministries, etc. It was put forth very clearly that the LC was the complete and final package and the sole move of God on the earth.

[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by OnHisPath

This is exactly what I remember. There was no room left for other teachers, ministries, etc. It was put forth very clearly that the LC was the complete and final package and the sole move of God on the earth.

Paul said he had not arrived, even Witness Lee said he had not yet arrived. I guess they should revise their RcV to say that they have arrived.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by OnHisPath

This is exactly what I remember. There was no room left for other teachers, ministries, etc. It was put forth very clearly that the LC was the complete and final package and the sole move of God on the earth.

Earlier you mentioned Nee's 'advice' on how to discipline children using a form of corporal punishment. These kinds of teachings are the perfect example of why these ministries are not any kind of "final package" to be followed 'absolutely'. Unless LC members are willing to follow Nee's advice and risk getting arrested for child abuse, then it seems they are not really as 'absolute' for the ministry as they claim to be. This highlights a lot of the irony involved in the exclusive use of LSM materials. These kinds of things are still published by LSM and then read among LC members, and while certain things they (hopefully) know not to take seriously, they read these things anyways as if there is some value in reading them. I suspect that the only reason anyone pays any attention to such nonsense like this is because such things came directly from the mouth of the perceived Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age.

Under normal circumstances, if LC members read something by Nee or Lee that they disagreed with, they should have every right to vocalize that disagreement. Instead, they are forced to read things that everyone knows won't be taken seriously, yet they have to keep the disagreement to themselves, and simply 'ignore' things that bother them. Valuable time is wasted reading things of little value. And I'm not saying that Nee or Lee's ministry have no value at all, but because an exclusive use of their ministries has been mandated, the things of little value are mixed in with the things that do have the potential to be helpful, thereby resulting in an ultimate watering down of any potential benefit of these ministries.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by Freedom

Under normal circumstances, if LC members read something by Nee or Lee that they disagreed with, they should have every right to vocalize that disagreement. Instead, they are forced to read things that everyone knows won't be taken seriously, yet they have to keep the disagreement to themselves, and simply 'ignore' things that bother them. Valuable time is wasted reading things of little value. And I'm not saying that Nee or Lee's ministry have no value at all, but because an exclusive use of their ministries has been mandated, the things of little value are mixed in with the things that do have the potential to be helpful, thereby resulting in an ultimate watering down of any potential benefit of these ministries.

I remember attending a home meeting where we read a Nee excerpt in which he went on a rant about casinos/gambling. Obviously, among LC members or Christians in general, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would be interested in gambling or patronizing casinos. Therefore, the inevitable question arises, what is the value of reading ministry on that specific topic like that? Towards the end of that meeting, I felt a bit frustrated when trying to think of what I could possibly share as my ‘enjoyment’ from that reading.

In a situation like what I have described, I don’t fault Nee for having ministered on a topic of questionable relevance, rather I fault whoever haphazardly selected the reading material. Unlike Nee’s opinions on discipline children, I don’t find anything objectionable about speaking against casinos or gambling, however, the question in a case like this is how relevant or necessary the topic is. We mustn’t forget that the LC criticizes ministries that focus on subjects like marriage that are indeed relevant to people, however, whenever Nee or Lee went off on some tangent about something hardly relevant to anyone, LC members are expected to just read it without objection or complaint.

I attended enough LC home meetings to know that the part of the meeting where everyone’s attention started to become a bit strained is when it was time to read whatever the assigned material was. I think part of the reason for that was simply that everyone knew that there was little likelihood the reading material would meet any practical need. Again, the inability to identify with the subject of the ministry material at hand doesn’t necessary fault the ministry itself, but how it is being utilized. The LC likes to do everything in a cookie-cutter fashion. It is assumed that anything Nee or Lee taught is relevant to any situation at any point in time.

As far as I’m concerned, the root of the problem is related to how LC leaders have attempted to utilize and promote the ministries of Nee and Lee. I’m not aware of anyone on this forum who has claimed that Nee and Lee didn’t any positive aspects to their ministries. But the pressing question is why, despite the seemingly positive aspects of either or both ministries, that both ministries remain largely irrelevant and suspect to the general Christian public? I would say that by strongly and haphazardly promoting anything related to these ministries, LC leaders have successfully caused many people to see the questionable or irrelevant aspects of either ministry instead of anything potentially beneficial. At the present, it seems LC members are also beginning to experience the same kind of disconnect with these ministries.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Freedom

I remember attending a home meeting where we read a Nee excerpt in which he went on a rant about casinos/gambling. Obviously, among LC members or Christians in general, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would be interested in gambling or patronizing casinos. Therefore, the inevitable question arises, what is the value of reading ministry on that specific topic like that? Towards the end of that meeting, I felt a bit frustrated when trying to think of what I could possibly share as my ‘enjoyment’ from that reading.

IIRC, that message was part of a series of books, "Do All to the Glory of God," in a section on recreation and playing games. Nee felt we should never play games of chance, a very extreme view, and only play games of skill. He did not differentiate between casino gambling and home games, nor did he differentiate between playing for fun and playing for money. I remember thinking, "chess good, monopoly bad."

How could a family game using chance, i.e. the rolling of dice, be bad for Christians? Playing games is a great family activity, especially for Christians. It's real hard for old and young to play games like Scrabble together, and rolling dice becomes a great equalizer. Nee didn't think so.