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Home » Discussion Area » Bible Issues » Do you hub, take this spoke? -- till death do you part?
Do you hub, take this spoke? -- till death do you part? [message #527] Mon, 19 March 2007 21:00 Go to next message
william  is currently offline william
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This quote from Joe Brenneman's blog contains an interesting concept that I've heard all my life. If possible, I would be interested in hearing the biblical basis for the concept... see if you pick it up.
Quote:


And He {the Lord--editor} groans not just concerning all the false prophets, but also concerning those who say they are "believing for" a restoration, who point to the positive passages as the promise of coming restoration, but who do not take seriously the passages that indicate the need for personal repentance. It is clear from Haggai’s prophecy what hinders the restoration of God’s work. And Zechariah gives no encouragement for us to expect blessings apart from utter consecration to Him, His kingdom, His house, His work, His body.
I can see it how it will be: many who are now watching from afar will suddenly realize God has already begun to move in an awesome way at Faith Assembly. So, they will decide it’s time to come on board, and they will do . . . whatever . . . maybe move closer . . . you finish the sentence . . . and maybe God will allow them to come along, just to see from close at hand what He is doing. But, they will come with the attitude that they should be important; that they should be in the forefront; and God will just look the other way. They will come with their own fixed opinions of what restoration will be, and they will see it isn’t coming out the way they had in mind. They will come expecting to be recognized, or given credit for "holding fast all these years," but they will not be recognized. No one will recognize them, because they remained aloof; they kept their distance; they watched, and waited, and judged, and criticized, , while others were taking the heat, taking a step at a time by faith. Halting steps, perhaps; but steps of faith, against all contrary circumstances, just to keep God’s work called "Faith Assembly" alive; just to continue to be church. Those who watched from afar, more skeptical than supportive, more critical than caring; not contributing one iota to the work, maintaining a distance, waiting for something to happen, waiting for the things they themselves have in mind to happen, thinking that then they will just jump right in and be part of it, once it gets exciting -- they are grossly deceived. Restoration will come only when those who truly have God’s vision of restoration make it their priority to dive in, get their own idleness-softened, lily white hands involved, and help in the hard work of building God’s house.
Well, it’s time for prayer meeting now. We are expecting -- and seeing-- God’s moving among us.



I'd like to deal with the concept he expresses (not him personally). It is a concept that was prevalent in the good old days and, if I'm not misunderstanding, is still present to one degree or another. Be clear, I'm not going to eviscerate (something we learned to do quite well) Joe Brenneman, FA, or any of the multitudes that attended FA or the satellite offsprings; I'm only concerned with the biblical basis for these words that have been expressed in the past and apparently (again, if I'm not misunderstanding his meaning) to this present hour. The full text of his blog can be seen by clicking on the link at the bottom of this site and navigating to the Friday, March 16, 2007, 6:30 p.m. EDST Zechariah 14, section.

It is the concept that says that those who have heard the message of God must stay in the place where they heard the message, or miss out on the move of God. Is there a biblical basis for this thinking?

I know that some denominations believe and teach this, the difference being that there are branches of the denomination in just about anywhere you'd want to move. The same holds true for the Catholic church.

But is this the proper attitude for a NT Church?

One can make the case that the tabernacle and later the temple in the OT were central locations where God chose to localize His presence in a manifest way. Presumably this is the pattern the Roman church loves to emulate, but is this a NT concept?

The synagogue pattern (a precursor to the Church) doesn't seem to hallow any particular location as "the place to be!"

Then we have the Church. Thank God Paul's attitude wasn't to hang around Jerusalem so he wouldn't miss anything. The Jerusalem Church certainly had some claim to fame as being the place where God was moving, but after a little persecution and a scattering of the "members" you don't find James telling everyone to come back lest they miss out on the end-time move of God.

Where does this attitude come from? The very first charismatic meeting I attended had a prophecy that said that "this assembly" is the hub and spokes would fan out across the nation. This was in podunk Alabama. I'm presently in another charismatic assembly that essentially says the same thing. Heck, we've even got the famous Pastor Cho saying that he looked at a map and our fair city was where he saw it all beginning to happen. I'm in a quandary. Do I move back to FA to be a part of the end-time move of God? Do I stay where I am and trust that Cho knows his stuff? Or do I try to resurrect the original body (you know, the hub) and let the mighty spokes begin to turn once again?

The Hub mentality. I guess I'm just a lonely spoke in search of a felloe. (I've already been at the hub end!)

William


I want to believe!
Re: Do you hub, take this spoke? -- till death do you part? [message #528 is a reply to message #527] Mon, 19 March 2007 21:49 Go to previous message
william  is currently offline william
Messages: 1450
Registered: January 2006
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I just realized the one constant in all of the hub churches I mentioned--ME! I've been guilty of wrong thinking about the situation. I've thought of myself as a mere spoke... I should be acknowledging that I'm the hub! WoW. Where I go the wheel must necessarily follow!

William


I want to believe!
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