Quote:
Originally Posted by Hope
It is a shame but it is true. I just cannot read Lee. I have not been able to since around 1989. I tried to recently. Here in Durham we have a few gospel friends. They are happy to come to our homes for refreshments and some social contact and we have been having a short gospel sharing with them. I recalled a publication by WL called “Gospel Outlines.” I looked it up on their web-site. I tried to see how it might help but I felt I was wading through a knee deep East Arkansas river swamp. You ought to visit their web-site. It is unique in its reverence to the man WL and his heritage.
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I fully sympathize with you, dear brother Hope. If you go to
austin-sparks.net, you should find a refreshing change. Yes, this site is a repository containing many writings and audio speakings from TAS, but it does not reverence the man TAS. Statments like the the following one can be found at various places on this site:
"Based in Honor Oak, London, TAS (as he was affectionately known) was not lacking in opposition and rejection to himself and his ministry in the denominational circles of the day, he felt he should neither defend himself nor promote himself. Something which becomes clear when reading the writings of T. Austin-Sparks is that very little information is given about himself or his personal life; instead the focus is consistently upon Christ as his (and our) Life. Your attention is continually directed away from the messenger to the One Who is the Message: 'For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Cor 4:5).'"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hope
Criticizing people behind their back and the cowardly method of attacking people in public where there will not be push back was an awful trait of WL that was not checked and was picked up by others. This was a huge personal flaw that along with family loyalty and unchecked ego eventually swallowed up WL’s positive portion.
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Ah, yes. How sad. The flip side to being a "seer of the divine revelation in the present age" is the very real danger of developing a terrible sense of pride and an unchecked ego. A part of my previous quote from dear brother Richard Rohr stated: "The more spiritual it looks, the more dangerous it is." Engaging in the business of seeing "high peak" revelations without the counterbalancnig humiliations from some "thorns in the flesh" is perilous indeed! Pride and an unchecked ego are sure to result. Just like the seven scrawny cows seen in Pharoh's vision, the "scrawny cows" of pride and an unchecked ego can easily swallow up the "fat cows" of previous positive portions.