In 1979 six of the original seven NCAO apostles appointed themselves bishops of the newly formed Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC). As Ephesians 1:22-23 also shows us, the church is Christs Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all. Jean Garvin, Dear Jack and Arnie, August 4, 1975. The Fuller panel stated: The Fuller panel further wrote that the teachings of Witness Lee have been grossly misrepresented and therefore most frequently misunderstood in the general Christian community, especially among those who classify themselves as evangelicals.[81] Christianity Today endorsed the Fuller panel's findings in an editorial in its March 2006 issue. [13][14][15][16] 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 the 1970s they became a target of opposition of fledgling countercult ministries. The group's beliefs and practices are considered by many to be aberrant and cultic, although theologians . Christianity. People even attempted to meet with the authors and or/publishers in person, but all requests were ignored. [90] These articles and related materials were subsequently published in a series of books titled Brothers, Hear Our Defense.[91]. The oneness of the Recovery is built solely in Witness Lee, but done in the name of Jesus Christ. Nee dedicated his life to those four aspects of ministry. The church in a city and the church in a house. Witness Lee's view of God's organic salvation is related to his understanding of Christology, specifically, the relationship between the divine and human natures in Christ. Are the Local Churches, Founded by Watchman Nee and His Protg Witness Links. Thousands of local church members were arrested and some were even killed. 1:22-23). Many were also dismissed from their jobs. 2. One was undertaken by a panel of faculty members from Fuller Theological Seminary, including President Richard J. Mouw, Dean of Theology Howard Loewen, and Professor of Systematic Theology Veli-Matti Krkkinen; the other was by Christian Research Institute, headed by Hank Hanegraaff, along with Answers in Action, headed by Gretchen Passantino. Witness Lee and Watchman Nee: the history of the local churches Witness Lee, a Bible scholar and teacher from mainland China and a co-worker of Watchman Nee, realized very early in his ministry that such confusion about the local aspect of the church had become a source of much damage to the universal oneness of the believers as well as a frustration to the accomplishing of the Lords purpose among mankind. [56], Early in The God-Men case Neil Duddy and SCP had a rancorous split stemming from Duddy's claims of SCP's financial mismanagement. To understand the local church movement, we should first learn more about the man who started the movement: Watchman Lee. 9. While on this trip, Nee felt the call to full-time ministry. Chapter 4 - Ex-Insider's Analysis of Witness Lee & The Local Church Among those who disagreed with these publications was Dr. J. Gordon Melton, who published an open letter in which he faulted the research and apologetic method of The God-Men and stated that Witness Lee's teachings had been grossly misrepresented. [63], The court awarded damages in the amount of $11.9 million, which at the time was the largest final libel award in American history. In Acts 13:1 we find this phrase, Now there were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers. What does the Bible mean by the phrase the local church? The start of the controversy with him begins with the Christian World Liberation Front and the countercult ministry. According to vocabulary. Eugene Gruhler and Dan Towle, interview with Neil Duddy in Aarhus, Denmark, February 28, 1983. 1 language 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. You can read his book here. Watchman Nee taught the local church is an expression of the body of Christ. In December 2001 The Local Church (internally known as the Lord's Recovery) and its publishing arm, Living Stream Ministry, filed a $136 million lawsuit against Harvest House Publishers and authors John Ankerber g and John Weldon, in relation to the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions. It is a guide to true spirituality. This encyclopedia was written by John Ankerberg and John Weldon in 1999 and published by Harvest House. "Local Church" Information Site With this knowledge, they were able to go and teach others about God. 2:5), a type that other Bible teachers, including the Plymouth Brethren, also understood to refer to the dual nature of Christ, that is, His divinity and His humanity. In 1980, they filed a liability lawsuit against Sparks, Braun, and three other men involved in the publication of The Mindbender. Their conclusion stated, It is the conclusion of Fuller Theological Seminary that the teachings and practices of the local churches and its members represent the genuine, historical, biblical Christian faith in every essential aspect. The full statement made by the seminary is available here. Witness Lee continued to follow and expound this principle in his work and ministry. Deposition of Jon Edward Braun, The Church in Dallas et al v. Thomas Nelson et al, December 19, 1981:610. It was co-written by Ron Rhodes. Witness Lee's Local Church - BCBSR The God-Men book was used to help support their argument against the local church. He was born in 1903 in Shantou, China. The unique ground of locality. In 1942, a revival broke out in Yantai and the church proceed to meet for a hundred days straight. This helped to confirm Lees decision to enter ministry full-time. Geisler and Rhodes made many accusations against CRI and the local church in his letter. Both of his parents were Methodist and he was baptized through the Methodist church when he was a young child. Corps is "The few, the proud, the Marines." Some. My name is Sterling Byassee. Letters of Protest Written Prior to Litigation, www.contendingforthefaith.org/libel-litigations/harvest-house-et-al/PublicDocs/letters.html. A Brief Response to An Open Letter to the Leadership of Living Stream Ministry and the Local Churches (lctestimony.org/ResponseToOpenLetter.pdf). Summary The Local Church Founders In my ministry to the Chinese Christian community in the Boston area, the Lord has led me to minister among a group known as the "local church" or The outcome of the cases was widely dismissed by the countercult community and the Christian press. [74] Weldon had worked for both SCP and Christian Research Institute (CRI) between 1975 and 1985. Nee started the first local church in Malaysia. This church was at the center of his ministry. The court granted the plaintiffs petition for permission to present their evidence despite the SCP bankruptcy and the other defendants default. Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov, eds.. See The Triune God at www.an-open-letter.org/resources/triune-god. The first is judicial and is carried out through the death of Christ, by which the believers are redeemed and reconciled to God. He had been a critic of Witness Lee and the local churches. They even saw revival break out. Melton asked for this book to be discarded and for responsible Christian scholars to inspect Witness Lees teachings. That's because Witness Lee bears authority as the Minister of the Age, a position that is nowhere in Scripture. 1:2; Heb. Christians, sadly, have manufactured the equivalent of. Introduction Over the past nine decades the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee has edified believers in Christ and produced local churches on all six inhabited continents. The first issue of the LSM journal Affirmation & Critique (A&C), published in 1996, discussed the local churches view of biblical trinitarianism. Christian Websites. However, his presentation here emphasizes, in response to the urgent need among Christians today, the more practical aspect of the local church. He worked with Watchman Nee and the local church movement. Similarly, because of his reading of Isaiah 9:6, which says that the Son given to mankind will be called the eternal Father, Witness Lee has been accused of teaching patripassianism (a subcategory of modalism). He was arrested for theft, cheating on contacts, bribery, and more. Weldon had written a draft for a proposed encyclopedia in the early 1980s as part of a doctoral dissertation at Pacific School of Graduate Studies, a now defunct diploma mill. Witness Lee ( Chinese: ; pinyin: L Chngshu; September 5, 1905 - June 9, 1997) was a Chinese Christian preacher and hymnist belonging to the Christian group known as the local churches (or Local Church) in Taiwan and the United States. Their opinion stated that a reader could not reasonably construe the Characteristics of Cults as itemized in ECNRs Introduction as applying to every group discussed in the individual chapters. A leader, Peter Gillquist, over NCAO worked as head of books at Thomas Nelson Publishers. After the court cases were closed, Dr. J. Gordon Melton wrote an open letter. His writing ended up being published in a series of books called, Brothers, Hear Our Defense.. He said. Because the fall of man was occasioned by seeking knowledge, God uses the foolishness of the cross to destroy the wisdom of the wise. For a month, they worked to help bring revival to Hong Kong. Lets look more into the theological debate surrounding each one of these topics. [75] They made several attempts to meet personally with Ankerberg and Harvest House president Robert Hawkins, Jr. Appeals were made by the local church, but they were denied. Living Stream Ministry - Publisher of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee Watchman Nee taught that the universal church, the Body of Christ, is properly expressed in local churches, that is, local assemblies consisting of all believers in their respective localities. Paying the price to stand on the ground of oneness. Jill Shook, To people in CWLF from Jill Shook, n.d. Bernie and Fran Adeney, Why we must leave the church which Jack and Arnie are caring for: an explanation, July 29, 1975. Harvest House Publishers, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon v. The Local Church, et al.Appeal from 80th District Court of Harris County. law.justia.com/cases/texas/first-court-of-appeals/2006/82536.html. Plaintiffs Original Petition, www.contendingforthefaith.org/libel-litigations/harvest-house-et-al/PublicDocs/pd12.pdf. His most comprehensive exposition of this principle can be found in The Normal Christian Church Life,[135] although there are significant treatments of the subject in other books as well. [51], Discovery in The Mindbenders case revealed that Gillquist had used his position within Nelson to push for publication of the book over objections from internal staff and outside reviewers of the pre-publication proofs. Deposition of Brooks Loftin Alexander, Lee et al v. Duddy et al, August 6, 1982, 505. Although he attended a Baptist school and church, he never converted to Baptist. [35][37], Responding to the strong demand for countercult publications after the Jonestown tragedy of November 1978, second editions of both books were published. In 1950, Watchman Nee and Witness Lee were together for the last time in Hong Kong. Originally we are not stones; we are pieces of clay. Ex-Insider's Analysis of Witness Lee & The Local Church Movement He was able to lead many of his friends during this time to the Lord. This book was about Witness Lee and the local church. Living Stream Ministry. People within the local church stood up and fought for Nee and Lees teachings even after they had both passed away. Our vision is to impact and . We read all the feedback given, but it often helps to follow up with questions. Deification is one of the main beliefs critics used against Lee. Why the Local Church was included in the - Apologetics Index Loose Cult Talk, Christianity Today 50:3, March 2006, www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/march/15.27.html. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Receiving All Genuine Believers. We are a friendly Christian community where we welcome others to join us in our worship and service to God. Post Contents: Who Was Watchman Nee? Jesus was fully human and fully divine. Many believers are quite clear concerning the universal aspect of the church, but relatively few have seen from the Bible its local aspect. Many of the messages he spoke were later put into a book called, The Normal Christian Life. While I was researching, the local church movement came up over and over again. LSM Christian Radio Streaming ministry and music that focuses on the enjoyment of Christ. In the mid-1970s LSM published four booklets to explain their understanding of the Trinity. Jack Sparks, Where We Are Going, June 1975. According to The Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas opinion, a reasonable reader wouldnt apply the things listed above every single group wrote about in the book. [36] First editions of both The Mindbenders and The God-Men were published in 1977. He became a Christian at the age of 19 in 1925. A chapter about the local church made its way into the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions(ECNR). [94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104] Two messages by Witness Lee on this subject have been reprinted in LSM journal Affirmation & Critique (A&C). By the 1960s the writings of Watchman Nee had become popular among evangelicals,[1][2][3] including many in Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). [65] However, a recent publication has challenged the veracity of this claim using SCP's own financial reports.[66]. Having said that, we must also realize that in addition to being universal, the church is also local. Witness Lee was born in 1905 in China. (Gal. This, Lee said, showed that the elders in the church equaled the elders in the city, meaning that the boundary of the church was the city. [93] The subject of deification in various Christian traditions has been the subject of much recent study. The "Local Church" as Movement and Source of Controversy (Part 1 of A From there, he went on to teach more conferences. Since 1975, critics of Witness Lee and the local churches have focused on three main areas: In his later ministry, Witness Lee used the term deification to refer to the process of Gods organic salvation. From this moment forward, Lee was dedicated to serving God. With reference to Witness Lee's own words, it is clear that The Local Church, which sees itself as part of the Lord's recovery, claims it has "returned in a full way to the Lord's Word" and "has the revelation and presence of the Lord," while Christendom is "degraded" and has committed "spiritual fornication.". But when we accepted Christ, He came into our spirit and has been continually working to transform us. According to modalism (a heresy condemned by the early church) the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not eternally co-existent, but are three successive manifestations of God. Discussing beliefs is acceptable. Critics rejected the belief that man could become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead. They claimed this was deification. [60] Neither Duddy nor representatives of Schwengeler-Verlag made an appearance. Over the last few years, many have come to similar conclusions and to varying extents have withdrawn, looking for fresher, saner fields. the Church in Los Angeles). Later on, he began studying the Bible. [142] Furthermore, he noted that even though there were thousands of believers in Jerusalem, the church there was referred to in the singular and there was only one group of elders in the church.[143][144]. An appendix addressing points of doctrine and claims of occult involvement in the new religions. 8:29; 1 John 3:2).[120][121][122][123]. Witness Lee introduces the notion of the local church in the following passage: In this chapter, Witness Lee provides the reader with a balanced view of the church as universal as well as local. Local Church / February 22, 2020 by Julia Oates. A. All Rights Reserved, Two Aspects of the Church Universal and Local, The Oneness, Nature, Life, and Essence of the Local Church, The Local Churches are the Practicality of the Universal Church, The Six Characteristics of a Genuine Local Church, The Ground of the Church Sequentially Typified in the Old Testament, The Ground of the Church Revealed in the New Testament, The Testimony of Church History Concerning the Ground of the Church, Administration and Teaching in the Local Church, The Practical Building up of the Local Churches, The Meetings and Spiritual Exercise of the Local Church, The Relationship Between All the Local Churches in the Body of Christ, The Local Churches in the Book of Revelation, Christs Speaking to the Local Churches in Revelation, Gods Eternal Purpose Being Realized through the Local Churches, The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms, The Experience and Enjoyment of Christ in the Local Churches, Its Nature, Ground, Condition, and Fellowship, The Recovery of the Ground and Practice of the Local Churches, The Universal church and the Local Churches, Eating and Drinking Christ in the Local Churches, Christ in Revelation - The One Walking in the Midst of the Local Churches, Christs Requirements of the Local Churches, Gods Revelation and Gods Recovery of the Local Churches, The Offices-the Official Positions-in the Church, Revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:18, Revealed by the apostle Paul in the Epistles (house of God, Body of Christ, bride, new man), Miscellaneous aspects (e.g., the wineskin), Revealed by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 18:17, Revealed by the Apostles in Acts and the Epistles, The church, Body of Christ, is expressed in the local churches, The practical building up of the church is in the local churches, The practical administration or government of the universal church is realized in the local churches, The work of the apostles and prophets was carried out practically in the local churches and for the local churches, The practical coordination of the members of the Body in the local churches, All the local churches together constitute one universal church, We must advance from knowing the church in a general, universal way to knowing the church in a specific, local way, The difference between the ground of the church and the foundation of the church, Illustrations of the ground of the church, The unique place of Gods choice for keeping onenessDeuteronomy 12, The blessing on the ground of onenessPsalm 133, The loss of the ground of onenessdisvision and captivity, The recovery of the ground of onenessFrom Babylon to Jerusalem, The principle of the remnantEzra and Nehemiah, The progressive revelation of the ground of the church, The ground of the church being constituted of three crucial elements, The unique oneness of the universal Body of Christ, The church in a city and the church in a house, Paying the price to stand on the ground of oneness, The Body of Christ needs the local churches for its practice, The governing principles of the practice of the local church, Practical virtues for the church life [Romans 12:9-21; Hebrews 13:1-7, 16-19], Teaching emphasized in the local churches, Identical in nature, shape, and functionbearing the image and appearance of Christ, The seven lampstands as symbols of the local churches (Revelation 1:20), The seven lampstands being seven churchesonly one in a city, The progressive revelation of the lampstand in the Scripture (Exodus 25; Zechariah 4; Revelation 1), The substance, shape, and expression of the lampstand, In the Bible, lampstands always being related to Gods building, The Spirits speaking to the churches being in the local churches, In Revelation, the one Spirit of God being intensified as the sevenfold Spirit, The sevenfold Spirit meeting the need of the local churches, The universal and local aspect of the church, Every believer belonging to the church of God, The history of the local churches as seen in the New Testament, Watchman Nees seeing of the truth concerning the ground of locality, Watchman Nees burden for the local churches, Witness Lees revelation and taking of the way of the local church, For the display of Gods manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers, The church as the kingdom of God in the New Testament, The reality of the kingdom in the local churches, The organic development of the kingdom in the local churches, The relationship between the church, the Work, and the apostles, The principle of Jerusalem and of Antioch, The local churches not being entirely autonomous, The local churches and the oneness of the Body, The temple and the house of God as types of the local church, Experiencing Gods dealing in Gods house, Zion as a symbol of the universal church and the local church, The city of God as a type of the local church, The bride (the queen) as a symbol of the local church, Gods salvation to His people being practical in the local church, The local church being built up by Christ, The victory of God over His enemies being in His dwelling, Gods purpose being fulfilled through Christ and the church, Giving Christ the pre-eminence for the restoration of His dwelling place, The experience of Christ in the local church described in the Old Testament types, The enjoyment of Christ in the local church revealed in the Old Testament types, The experience of Christ in the local church revealed in the New Testament, The enjoyment of Christ in the local church portrayed in the New Testament, The nature, ground, and condition of a local church, The church of God, possessing the divine nature of God, The churches of Christ, being in the element of Christ, The genuine oneness of the Body of Christthe oneness of the Spirit, In the limit of the boundary and jurisdiction of a localitythe ground of locality, The Body of Christ being uniquely one universally, Each local church needing to fellowship with all the other genuine local churches on the whole earth, Every local church needing to receive all kinds of genuine believers in Christ, A believer to be kept away from the fellowship of a local church if committing gross sins and living in them, Not recommending any believer in the local churches to have any share in the divisions, Not rejecting any believer who does not promote anything divisive, but considering as divisive and rejecting anyone who promotes sectarian divisions, The way for the practice of the church life, One church for one city, one city with one church, The servants of the Lord keeping the results of their work in their own hands, The proper ways for the Lords servants to minister to the believers, The attitude and relationship of the workers, Our work being to minister Christ and to build up the church, Not keeping the results of our work in our hands, The three crucial elements of the church ground, The unique ground of locality of a local church, The genuine ground of the church keeping the genuine oneness of the church in practicality, The base of the genuine fellowship of the believers, The recovery of the practice of the local churches, The many expressions of the one Body of Christ, With the ministry of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers, Without any absolute autonomy or federation, For the churchs administration in its locality, To bind and to loose with the authority of the heavens, As revealed by the apostles in Acts and the Epistles, Taking a city as the boundary and ground of each local church, Each being not greater nor smaller than its city, As lampstands to bear the testimony of Jesus Christ in separate cities, All the local churches being the one unique Body of Christ in the universe, The independence and oneness of the churches, A local church as the highest christian authority, Preserving the local character of the churches, The local church revealed in Revelation chapter 1, Walking in the midst of the Local churches, Having a voice as the sound of many waters, Having the seven Spirits and holding the seven stars, Anti-doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, The universal church being the unique Body of Christ, The universal church comprising all the local churches, The local churches being the local expressions of the Body of Christ, All the local churches constituting the one Body of Christ, The ground of localityone city, one church, The ground of the genuine onenessone Body universally, The local administration and the universal fellowship, The administration being separate and equal locally, The apostleship being universal and being over the eldership, The eldership being local and being under the apostleship, The elders not lording it over the believers, The Progressive knowledge of the four main figures in the Bible, Being up-to-date in following the Lord by knowing the local churches, The Lords recovery of the truth and practice of the church and the practicality of the churchthe local churches, The present age being the age of the local churches, Only the apostles having the position and right to appoint elders in the local churches, Not lording it over the church but being patterns of the flock, Taking care of the finances in the local church, Managing the business affairs in the local church, The full gospel according to the heavenly vision, The local church being the practicality of the church, The local churches being the destination of Gods revelation and manifestation, The local churchthe church manifested in a locality, No particular teaching in the Lords recovery, No hidden connection with other organizations, The Scriptural record of the local church, Four aspects of the practicality of the church.
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