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Evangelical · 10-11-2016, 07:28 PM

NewManLiving, you are forgetting or perhaps not aware that I believe LSM is an organization and that it is perfectly acceptable for a ministry to have an organization. But the church belongs to God and not something built by the hands of men but men working in cooperation with God. (On this point many mistakenly believe that something built by God does not involve fallen men or is purely an invisible and spiritual thing.) I would reference Nee's writings about the difference between the church and the ministry. Many people and on this forum do not know the difference between church and ministry and cannot differentiate between the two. In regards to the practical administration of each local church, we don't have to use LSM material, just the Bible is fine. There is no one from LSM leadership telling us what to do so there is no authoritarianism. In fact, there is a thread on this forum showing the diversity of views and practices (Indonesia, for example). Two local churches may be completely different, yet both use LSM material and be in fellowship with the BB.

There is no authoritarianism, as evidenced by many local church websites, for example this one:

http://pj.localchurch.my/faq.php

Who is your leader?
Our unique leader is Christ. We have no official, permanent, organized human leadership. Furthermore, there is no hierarchy of any kind and no worldwide leader. We regard no person as infallible, and we do not follow anyone blindly. On the contrary, we follow only those whose teaching and practice is in accordance with the truth of God's Word. Those who take the lead do not lord it over the saints, but rather shepherd them in love. Likewise, those who serve the Lord do not control the churches, but rather serve them as bondslaves of Christ in the ministry of the living Word

In fact if you or others attend a denomination or even a small nondenominational house church or community church with a so and so pastor or priest, and you cannot have a church meeting or service if that pastor or priest is not present, I can quickly show you that you have a leader with an authoritarian structure, much more easily than you can say about us.

10-11-2016, 07:28 PM	#80
Evangelical Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 3,965	Re: My Local Church Experience - And My Testimony NewManLiving, you are forgetting or perhaps not aware that I believe LSM is an organization and that it is perfectly acceptable for a ministry to have an organization. But the church belongs to God and not something built by the hands of men but men working in cooperation with God. (On this point many mistakenly believe that something built by God does not involve fallen men or is purely an invisible and spiritual thing.) I would reference Nee's writings about the difference between the church and the ministry. Many people and on this forum do not know the difference between church and ministry and cannot differentiate between the two. In regards to the practical administration of each local church, we don't have to use LSM material, just the Bible is fine. There is no one from LSM leadership telling us what to do so there is no authoritarianism. In fact, there is a thread on this forum showing the diversity of views and practices (Indonesia, for example). Two local churches may be completely different, yet both use LSM material and be in fellowship with the BB. There is no authoritarianism, as evidenced by many local church websites, for example this one: http://pj.localchurch.my/faq.php Who is your leader? Our unique leader is Christ. We have no official, permanent, organized human leadership. Furthermore, there is no hierarchy of any kind and no worldwide leader. We regard no person as infallible, and we do not follow anyone blindly. On the contrary, we follow only those whose teaching and practice is in accordance with the truth of God's Word. Those who take the lead do not lord it over the saints, but rather shepherd them in love. Likewise, those who serve the Lord do not control the churches, but rather serve them as bondslaves of Christ in the ministry of the living Word In fact if you or others attend a denomination or even a small nondenominational house church or community church with a so and so pastor or priest, and you cannot have a church meeting or service if that pastor or priest is not present, I can quickly show you that you have a leader with an authoritarian structure, much more easily than you can say about us.