What should our attitude be concerning suicide?
Death does not resolve any problems in our relationship with God. This is true of the death of unbelievers as well as believers. For unbelievers death terminates their opportunity to receive God’s salvation, while for believers it puts an end to their opportunity in this age to turn their hearts back to God and so […]
Are the local churches litigious?
A few irresponsible individuals have recently brandished, as “proof” that the local churches are litigious, a discredited list of organizations purportedly sued or threatened with lawsuits for criticizing the local churches. The charge is deceptive. In nearly sixty years of history in the United States, the local churches pursued only three legal actions against books […]
What is the story behind the libel lawsuits filed by LSM and a number of the local churches in 1980 and 2001?
Many saints do not know the story behind the libel lawsuits filed in 1980 and 2001, and some may be troubled because they do not know the facts surrounding those actions. The following article from Shepherding Words provides a very broad historical sketch of what occurred based on publicly available documents, including those from legal […]
Were the libel lawsuits in 1980 and 2001 filed in keeping with the principles laid out in the New Testament?
On three occasions, twice in 1980 and once in 2001, some of the local churches and others filed lawsuits to obtain relief from defamatory writings, all coming from the same source but disseminated nationally and even internationally. Some have wrongly claimed that these lawsuits were filed to silence critics of our teaching. Others have claimed […]
What is the central line of the Bible?
In addition to the central line there are many supplemental points of truth in the Bible, including the types and the prophecies, and many outworkings of God’s economy in terms of practices, all of which should be understood and applied in light of the central line. Concerning these secondary matters there are divergent interpretations among […]
Is it wrong to allegorize the Bible?
The Bible is written in a marvelous way. Some words in the Bible are clear, direct teachings, but many are in the form of parables, of allegories, of pictures in words that are full of meaning. Those who argue that such things should not be interpreted cast aside the means by which God has chosen […]
What is the attitude of those who meet in the local churches towards other believers (Part 3)?
In any kind of labor, all parties must concur on both the goal of that labor and the way to carry it out. This goal and this way issue from the vision that governs that labor. If the parties’ visions differ, serious problems will inevitably arise. The goal of the Lord’s recovery is the building […]
What is the attitude of those who meet in the local churches towards other believers (Part 2)?
The vision of the Lord’s recovery is contrary to the practice of today’s Christianity. Our vision is that God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for us to redeem us, the sinners, in order that we can have the life of Christ and be regenerated by Him to be God’s […]
What is the attitude of those who meet in the local churches towards other believers (Part 1)?
According to the truth, every kind of divisiveness is wrong. All causes of division have been terminated by Christ’s death on the cross. His resurrection issued in His enlargement, the Body of Christ, in which the greatest division of all, that between the Jews and the Gentiles, has been totally annulled in Christ, to say […]
What is the relationship between God’s government and God’s grace?
The demands of God’s government are according to His life and nature and are thus absolute. He is absolutely righteous and absolutely holy, and He requires those in His kingdom to be the same. To express Him and represent Him, we must match Him. However, due to the fall this became impossible. That is why […]