Smoking Gun?

[zeek]

Witness Lee did claim to be the unique minister of the age. I was shocked to hear him make the claim plainly and directly on an audio tape played at a meeting of the brothers of the Church in Fort Lauderdale in the '70s. Brothers who did not accept that he was the MOTA were ejected from the meetings.

Here's another instance of WL making the MOTA claim in a slightly indirect way:

We should believe that our God is living (1 Tim. 3:15). Since our God is living, He should be always moving. He is still moving today. Where is He moving? God's moving is always by speaking. Without speaking, He does not move. We must ask ourselves where God's speaking is. Is it in the Orthodox church, the Catholic church, the Protestant denominations, the state churches, the private churches, or the free groups? Our God who is living and moving always moves by speaking. We have to admit that His present speaking is among us. His present speaking is not concerning presbytery, baptism by immersion, tongue-speaking, gifts, healings, or evangelical movements. His speaking today is concerning God's New Testament economy. I hope we can all be enlightened. I am forced to be bold to recommend myself so much to you all. I am forced to be a fool. The one who can be the leading one in the Lord's move today is the one who knows God's New Testament economy, the one who knows what God's speaking is today. (Remaining in the Unique New Testament Ministry of God's Economy under the Proper Leadership in His Move, Chapter 1, Section 13)

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by zeek

Witness Lee did claim to be the unique minister of the age. I was shocked to hear him make the claim plainly and directly on an audio tape played at a meeting of the brothers of the Church in Fort Lauderdale in the '70s. Brothers who did not accept that he was the MOTA were ejected from the meetings.

I'd like to compare that audio tape to the highly edited printed message.

[zeek]

Originally Posted by Ohio

I'd like to compare that audio tape to the highly edited printed message.

Upon reflection I believe I heard that recording in 1975 because it was shortly after I got married. According to my recollection Lee actually referred to himself as the apostle of the age. Only brothers were called to that meeting, no sisters. It was a special meeting on a Saturday afternoon at the meeting hall in Wilton Manors. Something big must have been going on in Anaheim to warrant this urgent announcement, but that wasn't explained to lowly brothers like myself.

[Meribah]

Zeek, this means he had to have said it more than once. I heard it around 1979 or 1980. He clearly said, "I am your apostle". Everything after that was a kind of blur because it upset me so.

[zeek]

Originally Posted by Meribah

Zeek, this means he had to have said it more than once. I heard it around 1979 or 1980. He clearly said, "I am your apostle". Everything after that was a kind of blur because it upset me so.

Yes. I had a similar reaction. What shocked me about it was that I think intuited that either what he said was true or I was in a cult. What was worse is that later brothers were ousted from the meetings because they expressed publicly that they didn't accept Lee as the MOTA. That was a breaking of the principle of the ground of oneness. Belief in Lee as the MOTA was, in effect, made into an article of The Faith.