Notes 47-49, 51-52, 58 - Brother Dong Claims His Ministry
Surpasses the Ministry of Brother Nee and Brother Lee
47Brother Dong Claims That Watchman Nee's Writings Were "Judicial"
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Growth in Life for the Kingdom, Week 1, Friday:
Watchman Nee read all the Christian books, since the first century all the way to the twentieth century. The writings that helped him the most were the writings of the Brethren. And Brother Witness Lee told us that Brother Nee's room, even on his bed, was full of books. So we can say that was a transfer there. He took all the writing from tradition and brought them to the judicial realm. All these truths are excellent but what if we don't practice the truths? These truths become doctrines.
48Brother Dong Claims That Witness Lee's Ministry Was "Judicial"
Dong Yu Lan, Conference in Piracicaba, Brazil, September 29, 2007, Message 1:
Brother Lee's judicial ministry has passed away, but his burden is being carried on by us—calling on the Lord and pray-reading the Word—until the Lord comes back.
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Dong Yu Lan, Conference in Piracicaba, Brazil, September 29, 2007, Message 1:
If Brother Lee's ministry were like John's ministry, it would have been possible to last until the Lord comes back. But he passed away and took with him all the riches. I truly feel that on one hand, we are blessed; on the other, we are entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
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Brother Dong has specifically referred to particular interpretations in Brother Lee's ministry as "judicial":
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Growth in Life for the Kingdom, Week 7, Wednesday:
In the past, we emphasized the matter of the church in the book of Matthew. In chapter 16, Christ reveals the mystery of Christ, the church! Then we paid too much attention to the matter of the church! Brother Watchman Nee saw this when he saw the ground of oneness. He emphasized the matter of the local church very much. Then, in Brother Lee's ministry, he paid much attention to the matter of the practice of the church life, especially how the church should be managed in each locality.
I believe that many saints already have a strong impression about the church. But though we may know about the kingdom of the heavens, we are not deeply impressed yet. When we enter into John's latter, organic ministry, and we go through the entire Bible again, everything becomes life and Spirit.
In the past we paid too much attention to the matter of the church life. Brother Lee taught us much concerning the matter of the church, the ground of the church, the oneness of the church, the practice of the church, the management of the church, the church propagation, etc. All these items were presented very clearly, but all these things are in the judicial aspect. We remained in this realm in the church life.
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Growth in Life for the Kingdom, Week 3, Lord's Day:
Matthew tells us many things concerning growth. Since we are already the kingdom people, Matthew uses three chapters, from 5 to 7 to show us the nature of the kingdom, and the standard that we should have as kingdom people. This can also be considered the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. A constitution is something that it is fixed. But here besides being a constitution, these three chapters have a very organic aspect. We read Matthew before in a very judicial way. Now, when we read the gospel of Matthew according to John's burden, it becomes very organic. Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 are not just laws for us to keep in a rigid, legal way. These three chapters bring us to the organic realm.
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Growth in Life for the Kingdom, Week 3, Lord's Day:
After these nine lessons, Matthew shows us the nature of the kingdom people. We must be the salt and the light. In the past, we were under the realm of the judicial things, and many times in the past we received the teachings of those who were in the judicial realm. We are the salt of the earth (v. 13). Whenever we talk about the salt, a negative aspect is emphasized. I am not saying that this is wrong. In a legal way, the salt is for killing the germs and salt can preserve the food so it would last. This is a function of salt.
By extension, Brother Dong claims that the co-workers' speaking about the uniqueness of the ministry in the Lord's recovery and "the ministry of the age" is judicial [Note: Brother Dong's accusation that the co-workers claim "that only one person's ministry is the ministry" in the following excerpt is false]:
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Growth in Life for the Kingdom, Week 2, Tuesday:
But Paul, when he wrote the book of Ephesians didn't say so! Paul wrote the words he had heard from the third heavens. In chapter 1 he speaks about the dispensing of the triune God into tripartite men. God wants this regenerated man (the man He dispensed Himself into) to become a minister with a ministry!
This is different than the judicial ministry some promote today claiming that only one person's ministry is the ministry. In the Bible, the ministry is not of only one man. The ministry was with the twelve apostles and, after Judas died, there was a need for someone to take his place in the ministry (Acts 1:17, 26).
49The "Old Messages" in the Recovery Are "Doctrine"
Dong Yu Lan, International Conference at Estância Árvore da Vida, September 7, 2007, Message 11:
How do we grow? We need to be in the spirit. Why were the Ephesians unable to grow? Because they lived in their soul. They kept talking about doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. We all know about it very well. No need to re-speak those old messages. We have been brought into the Spirit.
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51Brother Dong Claims That Witness Lee's Messages No Longer Apply
Dong Yu Lan, Service Meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, August 2004:
It is not a question of agreeing or disagreeing with the Holy Word... but since they started to use the Holy Word for Morning Revival, there have been more problems in the church. It is not that Holy Word is bad—the contents are all taken from Brother Lee's words. Brother Lee has gone to be with the Lord for many years; can his messages still apply to us today? Brother Lee urged us to get into the present truth, as we see in 1 Peter 1 [sic]. Why could Brother Lee no longer use Brother Nee's truths such as head covering and laying on of hands? Because those were the truths of that age, not the present truth.
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52Brother Dong Claims That What He Teaches Is "the Present Truth"
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: The Organic Ministry of John, Week 4, Monday:
Throughout the years we have promoted these words. We began by the Spirit, calling on the name of the Lord and pray-reading the word, and we have gone on in this way. Since 1975 we have been practicing the organic recovery. Even since brother Lee left, the Lord has continued to give us revelations and show us many truths. We have the truths given by brothers Nee and Lee and the present truths.
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: The Latter Ministry of the Apostle John, Week 16, Saturday:
The way to be blessed by the Lord is not to pay attention to the accusations and attacks of the enemy but to be positive and always advance according to the leading and orientation of the Holy Spirit. We shouldn't touch negative things because they increase more and more by themselves. In 2 Peter 1:12 we read, "Therefore I will be ready always to remind you concerning these things, even though you know them and have been established in the present truth." The present truth is not something from the past, is not something judicial, but is organic. Let us leave the traditional things behind and advance in the present truth.
The present truth the Lord has given us to practice is Spirit and life! Calling on the name of the Lord and pray-reading the word are excellent ways to be in our spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit, and grow in life. Praise the Lord!
Dong Yu Lan, Conference in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, September 16, 2007, Message 2:
2 Pet. 1:12 says, "Be established in the present truth." What is the present truth that the Lord has given to us in South America? Simply, to practice spirit and life by calling on the Lord and pray-reading the word... The present truth is not the outdated truth, not the "judicial" truth, but the organic truth....[T]he American co-workers want us to submit to them and follow their command. We cannot have our own conferences; we can only listen to their messages in the conferences. If that is the case, how can we have the present truth? We should not turn back to the outdated truth.
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Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: Practicing the Book of 1 Corinthians, Week 14, Saturday:
The Daily Food has been a great help to us all these years. This publication has become the indispensable, daily, spiritual supply of the saints. If they don't read the Daily Food, they feel a lack. However, many think that the Daily Food is just a devotional reading. Actually, it is more than that. The Daily Food is the result of the speaking ministered in the big conferences and the regional conferences. These conferences result from experiences lived out by the churches over a period of time. They are not messages that come from a study prepared in an office, but are the issue of visiting and fellowship among the churches. The words that are ministered are the present truth, which produces and promotes God's move.
Dong Yu Lan, Conference in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, September 16, 2007, Message 2:
Which church on the earth is following the Scripture more strictly than we are? No addition and no subtraction. We are established in the present truth. We have progressed from the traditional truth and the judicial truth.
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Helcio Almeida, Perfecting Meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, May 9, 2008:
Finally we saw the up-to-date word. Amen! From '98 until today, this is what the Lord has given us. The Lord has given us many items that are, on the one hand, to correct the path of the recovery and, on the other hand, for us to advance till He comes.
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Helcio Almeida, Perfecting Meeting in São Paulo, Brazil, May 30, 2008:
Since '97 to now, since Brother Lee went to be with the Lord, we have considered how to effectively realize what the Lord has done and evidently, with the passing away of Brother Lee, to initiate a new stage in God's move and in the very word of God. So, we see a correction and a new direction of the Spirit. We have seen the deficiencies in the recovery and we were able to realize, based on what the Lord produced since '98 up to now, exactly what is the correction and the burden to bring us to complete the work of the building up.
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58Brother Dong Claims to See More Than Brother Nee and Brother Lee
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: The Organic Ministry of John, Week 4, Monday, p. 66:
Even since brother Lee left, the Lord has continued to give us revelations and show us many truths. We have the truths given by brothers Nee and Lee and the present truths.
Dong Yu Lan, Daily Food: The Organic Ministry of John, Week 6, Tuesday:
We can say that today we are standing on the shoulders of the Brethren, Brother Nee, and Brother Lee. Everything they saw, we see today. However, now the Lord has shown us more.
Dong Yu Lan, Conference in Piracicaba, Brazil, September 30, 2007, Message 2:
As the Holy Spirit gives to us new revelations and visions, they pretend not to see them.
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Pedro Dong, Meeting with Businessmen at Estância Árvore da Vida, May 20, 2007:
John has a much greater meaning than what Christianity thinks, and it has even more than what we in the recovery think it has. But today, brothers, we rediscovered John.... Brothers, this is not a small thing. This is not a small thing. Sorry to say, even Brother Lee has not spoken this! Watchman Nee did not speak this! Witness Lee did not speak this. When I was listening [to Brother Dong]... I said, "The Lord is sealing this ministry."...No one has ever said this before! No one!...Not even Watchman Nee or Witness Lee spoke about this. The Lord is really raising up a new phase. We have been brought into this new phase.
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Pedro Dong, Service Brothers Meeting, São Paulo, Brazil, August 4, 2008:
No one ever spoke in this way concerning what we are speaking that Brother Dong revealed. No one. No one! You can read all the books that you know of the great man of the past, you have never seen anyone speak like this, the way it is being spoken now.
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Simply because one devises different teachings does not mean one has seen more. The fact is that Brother Dong's teaching is vastly inferior in its standard of truth to the ministry of Brother Nee and Brother Lee. On the one hand, Brother Dong advances novel and self-serving interpretations to exalt his own ministry. When his teaching is called into question, he and his co-workers hide behind claims such as the following statement Ezra Ma made in Aracaju on March 7, 2009:
The ministry of Brother Dong—he never vindicated himself as having a ministry to compete with the ministry of Brother Lee. The burden of Brother Dong is not to interpret the Word. The burden of brother Dong is not to interpret the truth.
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It is dishonest to promote one's own interpretations and to claim to see more than anyone else but then to deflect scrutiny of those teachings by claiming no intention to interpret the Word of God.
