Consider this
 

I'm reading a book by Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life
Published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Nee tells us that God has given us a dual rememdy for our sin problem.

First the blood that was shed washes away all our sins.
But because of Adam we still have a sin nature.
Next we must reckon ourselves to be crucified with Christ.
It is a fact that we were crucified with Christ.
So while the blood does away with our sins,
the cross does away with our nature to sin, making us free from sin.

"the blood deals with what we have done,
the cross deals with what we are." (Nee 14-15)

thank you Jesus that I am cleansed from sin and free from the sin nature that I inherited from Adam.

I was crucified with Christ, it's a fact. Lord today as I go about my day,
help me to remember that my old nature is dead, and because I am dead, I am not a servant to sin.
I am your servant.

Re: Consider this
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchman_Nee

Watchman Nee's ministry used eight different means to carry out what he believed had been wrought into him by God: preaching the gospel, teaching the Bible, traveling and revivals, contacting people, corresponding with people, holding conferences, conducting trainings, and producing publications.

Nee suffered much for his belief that, according to the Bible, denominations are wrong in that they divide the One Body of Christ. Because of his firm stand for the oneness of the Body of Christ against the denominations, he experienced much suffering. Some denominations despised and criticized him, and some opposed and did their best to destroy his ministry. They also spread false rumours about him and misrepresented him to the extent that Watchman Nee once responded:

"The Watchman Nee portrayed by them I would also condemn."

By the time Nee was arrested in 1952, approximately four hundred local churches had been raised up in China through his life and ministry. In addition, local churches had been raised up in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Today the local churches have grown to over 2,300 worldwide through the ministries of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.

below is an Intro to Nee's Book, and a link to read it online

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nor...External_links

The Normal Christian Life, considered by many to be a spiritual classic of Christianity, is one of the best known books by Watchman Nee. As of 2009, it has sold over a million copies. It is based on talks given by Watchman Nee during and after his trip through Europe in 1938-1939. This book was originally published by Gospel Literature Service in Bombay in 1957 from a collection of Nee's spoken messages. It is based on the first few chapters of the New Testament book of Romans. In The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee presents his views on what the normal Christian life should be. His classic work unfolds the path of "Christian Life" in the light of God's desire and presents the eternal purpose of God in simple terms. This book has sold over 1 million copies and is available in many languages.

the Normal Christian Life is a Romans-centered exposition of what Christian living should be. The key verse is Romans 6:6: "Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves." Here in this book Nee brings an eternal perspective to the work of Christ (verses 7 to 11). The writings of Watchman Nee focus God's grace, which all the believers possess, and the goal of God's work with man through His Son by His Spirit in this age.

Here is the link to his book online
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/nee/normal.pdf

Re: Consider this
 

I think it is interesting that Watchman Nee did not believe in denominations, but that the body of Christ is one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._denominations

there are reported to be approximately 38,000 Christian denominations, the link above attempts to list and trace the ancestory of the denominations

Re: Consider this
 

wow, one of the denominations is a Gay OP Church

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Apostolic_Pentecostals

Gay Apostolic Pentecostals are people who adhere to the beliefs and theology of the Oneness Pentecostal churches, but who identify as LGBT, which is unacceptable in mainline Apostolic churches. Gay Apostolic Pentecostals first began to organize separately from mainline Apostolic churches in 1980 in Schenectady, NY. The concept of Gay Christians is still very controversial in the church world. The existence of Gay Apostolic Pentecostals is considered by some to be an oxymoron

The movement to create LGBT-affirming Apostolic or Oneness Pentecostal churches began in 1980 in the city of Schenectady, NY. The movement to create gay-affirming churches had begun in 1968 with the founding of the Metropolitan Community Church. The founders of the affirming Apostolic movement envisioned an international network of affirming Apostolic churches, including the more fundamentalist theology inherent with such churches. They began what was known as the National Gay Pentecostal Alliance (NGPA). The organization opened its first church in Omaha, NE.

Although NGPA was an Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal organization, due to the lack of affirming Trinitarian Pentecostal churches, NGPA originally welcomed all affirming Pentecostals to belong to their churches.[3] Once Trinitarian Pentecostals began to organize their own churches, NGPA became fully Apostolic.

Early in the 21st century, NGPA merged with a smaller organization, Apostolic Intercessory Ministries (AIM), under the new name Apostolic Restoration Mission (ARM). In March 2010, ARM merged with the larger Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals (GAAAP) under the GAAAP name. In recent years, other affirming Apostolic Pentecostal organizations have come into existence. These include the Affirming Pentecostal Church International, which is currently the largest such group, operating churches around the world,[7] Reconciling Pentecostals International and Covenant Network.

TheologyLGBT-affirming Apostolic Pentecostals share the same basic doctrinal beliefs as other Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostals. These include the Oneness of God, the plan of salvation consisting of repentance, water baptism by immersion in Jesus' name for the forgiveness of sins, and receiving the infilling of the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues. One major area of difference is the belief that homosexuality is not sinful, and that God blesses same-sex marriage. Affirming Apostolics maintain that scripture in the original languages did not condemn homosexuality, but did record same-sex marriage.

Re: Consider this
 

If you were the Pastor of a Gay OP Church, what would your standards be like?

What would Watchman Nee say now.

Re: Consider this
 

can you expound on being free from the sin nature? I thought it was dealt with by the life long process of santification.

there is a thread here about the gay apostolic church.

Re: Consider this
 

Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life
Published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Nee explains that everything we need is in Christ, and we already have it.
Even though it is a fact of life that we are crucified with Christ, and are already dead,
we can not "substantiate" it in our life except for by faith.

We struggle to overcome sin, but falter and wonder about our experience with God.
Nee says that if we abide in Christ we can overcome sin by faith.

"If we do not believe the facts of the Cross they still remain as real as ever, but they are valueless to us. It does not need faith to make these things real in themsleves, but faith can "substantiate" them and make them real in our experience." (Nee 75)

As a pentecostal, I want an experience in Christ. Instead of looking for an experience in Christ I should be just looking to Jesus. It's not about me and my experience, It's about abiding in Jesus, looking to Jesus, having faith in Jesus. I'm crucified with Christ, so that I am free from sin, and the life I now live I live by abiding in Jesus.

Re: Consider this
 

Nee teaches that we can overcome sin by our faith. When we look to our own nature and look at ourselves we falter. But through faith we can abide in Christ and trust him that when we were crucified with him we were given a new nature. Through faith we can manifest that new nature.

It's a little difficult to grasp coming from a background of trying to strive for perfection and holiness. To just abide and rest in Jesus, not looking at our human nature but having faith that we now have his nature, and believing that as we abide in him, the fruit of the Spirit will manifest in our life. He is the branch, we are the vine. We abide in him by faith and allow him to manifest in us.

Re: Consider this
 

1 John 5
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Re: Consider this
 

Don't know, wouldn't be pastor of gay church.