To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Mob Attacks Church in Sri Lanka
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 09:07:03 -0500

Excerpt from:

      C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
         by the Editors of ReligionToday

February 23, 2001

Mob Attacks Church in Sri Lanka

Witnesses said about 35 people were severely beaten, and three people were
in serious condition after a mob attacked a Sri Lankan Christian evangelical
group during Sunday worship services recently. "They came with machetes
and clubs, and assaulted almost everyone in the church, and the building was
almost completely] destroyed," said H.M.A. Laksiri, a member of the village
church located 125 miles northeast of Colombo, the capital.

Christians account for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's overwhelmingly
Buddhist population of 20 million. Proselytizing by Christian groups often
angers members of the Buddhist community. However, the attackers' religion
was not identified.

Laksiri said some people had smashed some of the building's windows on
Saturday night and warned the people not to go to church the next day.
"They were very angry that we were preaching the gospel and threatened to
kill us and rape our women if we did not leave the area," he said. "They were
angry about the noise caused by the church service." Rumors were spread
that there were "lepers attending church meetings."

(Express India News: http://www.expressindia.com/news/daily)

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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] "The Laodicean Lie"
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 14:11:18 -0000

[Just something I came across that made me think.]

Revelation 3:17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Confronting the interpretation which Michael Brown, author of "Let No
One Deceive You" calls the "Laodicean Lie," where it is believed that
the seven churches in chapters 2-3 of the book of Revelation
represent seven Church ages that extend from New Testament times
until today, he argues several issues that he believes makes this
interpretation an impossibility. On one point Brown argues,
specifically with reference to Rev 3:17 that the Church-age theory is
in error as it applies to the present age:

"The description doesn't fit. It is a North American and/or European
projection of the state of the Church, and it is completely
inapplicable to the Body of Christ in most of the world today. In
other words, although the message to Laodicea most definitely applies
to much of the complacent, rich, self-sufficient, and lukewarm
Western Church as it has existed over the last few decades...it does
not apply in the least to most of the Church in China, Africa, India,
Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, etc. Instead, it is the message to Smyrna
[Rev 2:9-10] that so aptly describes these impoverished, persecuted,
yet thriving believers who actually make up the bulk of the Body
today.

"Stop for a moment and think. How absurd it is to apply the
words, 'You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a
thing,'' to the persecuted house churches in China, where Bibles are
as scarce as precious jewels, or the grass-hut churches in the
villages of India, where one family in 10,000 has running water and
electricity. And how ignorant and self-centered it is to project the
state of a small-but-influential part of the Body (i.e., the Church
of the West) on the rest of the Body (i.e., the Church of the Third
World, better called 'the Two-Thirds World').

"Right now, more Christians are dying for their faith every year than
at any other time in history, 'being faithful to the point of death,
that they may receive the crown of life" (in the words of Jesus to
Smyrna; see Rev. 2:10). In contrast with this, we sit in our
luxurious homes in North America, drive our air-conditioned cars to
our multi-million dollar sanctuaries, and spend more money on new
carpenting than on foreign missions. For many of us today, sacrifice
is defined as, 'The remote control on the VCR is not functioning' --
in which case we actually have to get up and change channels! And
from this overstuffed vantage point, we look at our backslidden,
compromised, comfortable condition and say, 'How Laodicean we are!'
And I agree! The messages to Laodicea, as well as to Sardis, really
do apply to most of us in the West today. But they don't apply to
most of the Church worldwide by any stretch of the imagination." (pp.
204-5)

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========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [bprlist] "The Laodicean Lie"
From: Lambert Dolphin <lambert@ldolphin.org>
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:37:52 -0800

There is some flaw in this thinking in my opinion.

There is a historical progression of churches from one through seven.
Each of the seven churches has its day in the sun, a time of
widespread influence.

But at any time in history we can find representative churches of
each type thriving in various places. That is, there are always these
7 types of church in existence at any point in history.

The church at the end of the age will generally be weak and diluted
and ineffectual, i.e. Laodicean. This is especially true within the
revived Roman Empire (and its extension into the US) since the
apostate "great harlot" church of the tribulation arises in Europe
primarily.

Bible events always have Jerusalem at the center. The next circle out
is the Roman Empire. After that the remainder of the Gentiles. The
Bible does not pay much attention to the nations of the world which
do not have an impact on Israel. (Egypt, Persia, Babylon, Tyre,
Sidon, Jordan, Arabia, Gomer, and so on).

But the article is helpful to us in the "prosperous" western world
because, as he says, the majority of Christians elsewhere are
suffering or persecuted and part of fast growing new congregations
where the gospel penetration is still in its early stages.

I do think the overall character of the church age has now reached
last stage. "When the Son of Man returns, will he find the faith on
earth?"

Lambert Dolphin
http://ldolphin.org/
lambert@ldolphin.org

>[Just something I came across that made me think.]
>
>
>
>Revelation 3:17
>Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
>need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
>miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
>
>
>Confronting the interpretation which Michael Brown, author of "Let No
>One Deceive You" calls the "Laodicean Lie," where it is believed that
>the seven churches in chapters 2-3 of the book of Revelation
>represent seven Church ages that extend from New Testament times
>until today, he argues several issues that he believes makes this
>interpretation an impossibility. On one point Brown argues,
>specifically with reference to Rev 3:17 that the Church-age theory is
>in error as it applies to the present age:
>
>"The description doesn't fit. It is a North American and/or European
>projection of the state of the Church, and it is completely
>inapplicable to the Body of Christ in most of the world today. In
>other words, although the message to Laodicea most definitely applies
>to much of the complacent, rich, self-sufficient, and lukewarm
>Western Church as it has existed over the last few decades...it does
>not apply in the least to most of the Church in China, Africa, India,
>Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, etc. Instead, it is the message to Smyrna
>[Rev 2:9-10] that so aptly describes these impoverished, persecuted,
>yet thriving believers who actually make up the bulk of the Body
>today.
>
>"Stop for a moment and think. How absurd it is to apply the
>words, 'You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a
>thing,'' to the persecuted house churches in China, where Bibles are
>as scarce as precious jewels, or the grass-hut churches in the
>villages of India, where one family in 10,000 has running water and
>electricity. And how ignorant and self-centered it is to project the
>state of a small-but-influential part of the Body (i.e., the Church
>of the West) on the rest of the Body (i.e., the Church of the Third
>World, better called 'the Two-Thirds World').
>
>"Right now, more Christians are dying for their faith every year than
>at any other time in history, 'being faithful to the point of death,
>that they may receive the crown of life" (in the words of Jesus to
>Smyrna; see Rev. 2:10). In contrast with this, we sit in our
>luxurious homes in North America, drive our air-conditioned cars to
>our multi-million dollar sanctuaries, and spend more money on new
>carpenting than on foreign missions. For many of us today, sacrifice
>is defined as, 'The remote control on the VCR is not functioning' --
>in which case we actually have to get up and change channels! And
>from this overstuffed vantage point, we look at our backslidden,
>compromised, comfortable condition and say, 'How Laodicean we are!'
>And I agree! The messages to Laodicea, as well as to Sardis, really
>do apply to most of us in the West today. But they don't apply to
>most of the Church worldwide by any stretch of the imagination." (pp.
>204-5)
>
>
>
>

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