House Church Talk - agenda
jpierceall at brtc.net
jpierceall at brtc.net
Wed Apr 21 09:51:25 EDT 2004
Private: from son's computer in Orlando
You have written extremely well below... I commend you for bringing it up (in the right Spirit I might add)
It needs to be thought out, and exaimed by all... for they repeatedly try and produce in the flesh what is intended by the Spirit...
thanks
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: Claire Bennett
Sent: 4/20/2004 8:46:02 PM
To: House Church Talk at housechurch.org
Subject: House Church Talk - agenda
> Since some of you are on multiple lists, I don't just want to repeat everything here. On koinonialife at yahoogroups.com and new-wineskins at yahoogroups.com there is some discussion and I answered some questions and mentioned some of the uncanny similarities between Christian legalism and Talmudic Orthodox Judaism; I believe it is the same spirit.
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> I didn't say that these men taught that one must homeschool, have a non-working wife, not have debt, have their women properly attired according to their specifications. Their statement is that this is necessary for a leadership position and that one must be more than an ordinary Christian to aspire to leadership. The above-mentioned practices are considered evidence of ruling one's house well and implies that practitioners are better Christians rather than the Joe Schmo brethren.
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> I see this as drawing conclusions that are extra-biblical. One thing I notice about the "control" people is that it is always the same ones; if they are doing such a good job of discipleship, we ought to see some new faces among their leadership. I wasn't involved in the heavy shepherding movement, but I had a number of friends that were. No one ever seriously examines what went wrong afterwards - it is all forgiveness and lets move on. Usually it takes 15 to 20 years before you see a repeat performance, and often a worse one.
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> I don't question anyone's sincerity, and remember Proverbs says that a gentle voice breaks the bone. Like Bill Gothard, the soft voice can hide a iron will, and it doesn't fool me. The wisdom from above is easy to be entreated, and these are rigidly held positions concerning leadership, the role of women, etc.
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