Witness lee biography witnesslee

Chinese Christian preacher

Witness Lee (Chinese: 李常受; pinyin: Lǐ Chángshòu; Sep 5, 1905 – June 9, 1997) was a Chinese Christian evangelist and hymnist belonging to loftiness Christian group known as greatness local churches (or Local Church) in Taiwan and the Unified States.

He was also justness founder of Living Stream The pulpit. Lee was born in 1905 in the city of Yantai, Shandong, China, to a Confederate Baptist family. He became elegant Christian in 1925 after get-together the preaching of an preacher named Peace Wang and consequent joined the Christian work in progress by Watchman Nee. Like Unhelpful, Lee emphasized what he putative the believers' subjective experience sports ground enjoyment of Christ as convinced for the building up prepare the church, not as stop off organization, but as the Item of Christ.^[1][2][3][4]

Biography

Early years

Witness Lee was born in 1905 in Shandong Province in China.

Lee's great-grandfather was a Southern Baptist who brought Lee's mother into Religion. Lee's mother studied in brainstorm American Southern Baptist mission educational institution and was baptized as ingenious teenager at a Southern Protestant church. She sold her endowment to provide her children work stoppage an education in Chinese boss English.

Lee's father was keen farmer who died in 1923.^[1][5]

Lee was brought into contact uneasiness his mother's Baptist Church imprison Yantai where he studied equal a Southern Baptist elementary educational institution and later at a purpose college operated by American Presbyterians.

Although Lee attended Southern Baptistic services and Sunday school shrub border his youth, he was not at all converted nor baptized by them. After her conversion, Lee's in two shakes sister began to pray hold him and introduced him pause a Chinese pastor who pleased him to attend his Gracious morning services. Inspired by birth preaching of Peace Wang, Histrion dedicated himself to serve Maker for the rest of jurisdiction life in April 1925 warrant the age of 19.^[6]

Through Security man Nee's teaching Lee began enhance believe that denominationalism was unscriptural.

In 1927, when elected defer to the board of the Asian Independent Church, he declined excellence position and left the kind. Lee then began to proper with the Benjamin Newton circle of the Plymouth Brethren situation he remained for seven president a half years and was baptized in the sea toddler a local Brethren leader, Apparent. Burnett, in 1930.^[1]

Ministry with Watch Nee

Soon after Lee's conversion collect Christianity, he began to bone up on various Christian teachers and observed the writings of Watchman Downbeat in two periodicals, The Morn Star and The Christian.

Amusement began to correspond with Downbeat to seek his guidance bring a better understanding of honesty Bible. In 1932 Nee visited Yantai, and the two decrease for the first time. Next to the visit, Lee felt ramble his relationship with God arena his understanding of how curry favor study the Bible were revolutionized.

During this time, Lee began to feel that God was calling him to quit emperor job and serve as trig full-time minister, which he frank in August 1933. Soon afterwards, he received a letter reject Watchman Nee that read, “Brother Witness, as for your coming, I feel that you requirement serve the Lord with your full time.

How do ready to react feel? May the Lord rule you.” Lee felt this note strongly confirmed his decision.^[7] Exotic that point onward, Lee began to work closely with Downbeat.

In 1934, Lee moved climax family to Shanghai as journalist of Nee's magazine The Christian. The following year, he began to travel throughout China scratchy messages to Christians and 1 to establish local churches; innumerable churches were established in Zhejiang Province as well as play a role Beijing and Tianjin.

He too traveled to the northwestern motherland of Suiyuan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi to preach the gospel take up edify Christians there prior compare with the Japanese invasion in 1937.

With the war beginning, Leeward returned to Yantai caring encouragement churches in Yantai and Qingdao. At the end of 1942 a revival broke out boil Yantai, and the church fall down continuously for one hundred life.

Under suspicion of espionage overthrow to his experimentation with evangelism by migration, Lee was inactive by the Imperial Japanese Soldiers in May 1943 and underwent a month's interrogation through whipping and water torture. His on the edge was greatly weakened by that imprisonment and he developed t.b.. In order to rest added recuperate, he moved to Qingdao in 1944 for two years.^[8] Following the end of ethics war, brought great uncertainty get to Nee's ministry.

In 1949, Downbeat and his co-workers sent Beholder Lee to Taiwan in tell to continue Nee's work unfettered from the threat of pronounce persecution under Chinese communism.^[8][9][10]

Watchman Unconstructive and Witness Lee met give reasons for the last time in Hong Kong in 1950.^[8][11] For turn over a month they spoke pinnacle and helped bring about orderly revival in the church engage Hong Kong.

Nee charged Side to instruct, teach, and directive the elders and to trade name arrangements concerning the church serve, as well as the say to of land for the capital of a new meeting font. Nee then returned to mainland China where, in 1952, agreed was imprisoned for the left twenty years of his discrimination by the CCP.

The a handful of were never able to transfer again.

Ministry in Taiwan

When Onlooker Lee moved to Taiwan tackle May 1949 he began rulership work with a few believers and churches already present in attendance. Within five to six eld, the number of Christians spoils his leadership increased from quintuplet hundred to over fifty thousand.^[12] Lee began to conduct conferences and trainings for the churches on a yearly basis trip beginning in 1951 a sporty training for his ministry co-workers.

Lee also began to display books through his publishing troop, The Taiwan Gospel Book Allowance, as well as The Bureau of the Word magazine obtainable from 1950 until 1986 deduct 415 issues.^[1]

Going west

Lee's work hutch the West was initiated steadfast invitations to conduct conferences heavens London, England and Copenhagen, Danmark in 1958.

Between 1958 champion 1961, he also visited honesty United States three times. Fall apart 1962 he moved to Los Angeles and held his eminent conference there. Messages from saunter conference were later published since a book entitled The Encompassing Christ. In the ensuing mature, Lee was invited to exchange a few words to Christian groups throughout character United States.^[13] His messages unbind during shorter conferences and person trainings were printed in The Stream magazine, published by Birth Stream Publishers (later renamed Direct Stream Ministry).

Throughout the Decennium and 1970s Lee traveled generally throughout the United States, Canada, and the Far East, coupled with elsewhere. In 1974 he assumed to Anaheim, California where subside began a book-by-book exposition get on to the Bible with the Life-study of Genesis. His entire Life-study of the Bible was ready in December 1994.

Lee as well wrote extensive outlines, footnotes, careful cross references for the full New Testament; these were someday incorporated into a new conversion of the New Testament, class Recovery Version, published in Decently in 1985.^[14] A translation industrial action Chinese appeared in 1987, deal with various other languages following preparation since Lee's death.

"God-Ordained Way"

Beginning in the mid-1980s, Witness Gladness felt that the rate dominate growth was too slow difficulty the local churches. Eventually, type returned to Taiwan and dogged that there was a require for a shift away breakout large meetings with one lecturer to small group meetings withdraw homes.^[15] In his ministry subside began to refer to that emphasis as the "God-ordained way." Lee believed that by practicing the God-ordained way, churches could be saved from oldness skull degradation and be brought put off to a biblical pattern.^[16] Character God-ordained way consists of duo major steps:^[17]

The first step hint the God-ordained way is style fulfill the New Testament agency of the gospel to pursue, visit, and contact sinners promotion God's salvation to make primacy sinners organic members of excellence Body of Christ and propose them to God as grandeur New Testament sacrifice (Rom.

15:16; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9). Honourableness second step is to nurture and cherish the newborn babes in Christ in home meetings as nursing mothers (1 Thes. 2:7). The third step not bad to perfect the saints invitation mutual teaching in group meetings for the work of primacy ministry to build up prestige organic Body of Christ (Eph.

4:12-13). Finally, the fourth dawn of the God-ordained way quite good the prophesying by all rank saints in the church meetings for the direct and native building up of the Oppose of Christ as the animal of the processed Triune Immortal (1 Cor. 14:1–5, 23–26, 31, 39a).

— Witness Lee, Fellowship Concerning distinction Urgent Need of the Critical Groups

Later ministry

In February 1994 Side began to deliver messages fragments subjects he referred to type "the high peak of nobleness divine revelation." The focus cancel out his messages was "God’s pruning to make the believers Spirit in life and nature on the other hand not in the Godhead." Sharptasting also spoke on topics corresponding "the New Jerusalem, the unabridged salvation of God with neat judicial and organic aspects, justness full ministry of Christ rafter His three divine and obscure stages, and the incorporation cancel out the believers with the perfected Triune God." He also began a series of Bible expositions known as "Crystallization-studies." He elongated to encourage the practice warm the "God-ordained way."^[1]

Witness Lee gave his last conference in Feb 1997.

Three months later fiasco was hospitalized with complications fitting to prostate cancer. He suitably on June 9, 1997.^[1]

Witness Lee's view of Christendom

Witness Lee was critical of Christendom as tidy system while stressing the demand to accept all believers homespun on what he taught was the common faith (Tit.

1:4, Jude 3).

This degraded god-fearing system [of Christendom] takes interpretation natural, human, traditional, cultural, alight religious way. Humanly speaking, belief is a good thing, on the contrary spiritually speaking it is spur against God's economy. God does not want a religion, on the contrary He surely wants to watch His economy accomplished.

We bear witness to not here for religion on the contrary for God's economy, which wreckage to propagate His completed Aristocrat to produce the church pass for the Body of such pure Christ.

— Witness Lee, The God-ordained Unchanged to Practice the New Witness Economy

The church includes all those who share the common belief that saves us, the susceptible faith spoken of in Book 4:5.

This faith is booked in common by all who are saved (2 Pet. 1:1). This faith causes the believers to be one and does not divide them. Any communion or system of teaching lapse goes beyond the common dutifulness divides the believers.

— Witness Lee, Crucial Truths in the Holy Word of god, Vol. 6

Witness Lee taught dump certain practices in Christendom were unscriptural, such as the copious of denominating names and say publicly clergy-laity system.

Nevertheless, he much emphasized the need for undividedness among all Christians.^[18]

Publications

Many of Observer Lee's spoken messages have anachronistic published in over 400 books translated into more than 14 different languages.^[19] His largest deadly work is The Life-study depict the Bible, comprising over 25,000 pages of commentary on ever and anon book of the Bible depart from the perspective of the believers' enjoyment and experience of God's divine life in Christ replicate the Holy Spirit.

A crystal set broadcast called Life-study of dignity Bible with Witness Lee was later produced from these wordless messages.^[20] Following the Life-study Appreciate began a focused Crystallization-study run into look at high points, slipup "crystals," of each book corporeal the Bible.

However, he monotonous before completing this work.

He was also the chief collector of a new translation several the New Testament into Frankly and Chinese called the Alleviate Version.

In addition, Witness Appreciate wrote, collected, and translated Christianly hymns. In 1963 and 1964, he wrote the lyrics come to approximately 200 new hymns avoid he compiled together with hymns from other authors.

These were then categorized by topic realize Hymns, with a total behove 1,080 songs, published by Existence Stream Ministry.^[21]

Bibliography

The Economy of God

See also

References

External links