Twisted

[Demelza]

The twisting of scriptures is no longer subtle but quite blatant as is shown in the latest devotional poison below

VisionOne_devotions_01.jpg
VisionOne_devotions_02.jpg

Wednesday | 27 November 2024

Christ and the man

The second dimension of the double portion is ‘Christ and the man’. The secret of the man is to reveal the lordship of the Son as the Head of the man’s house. Note that the man is not the head of his house; Christ is the Head of his house. 1Co 11:3. Likewise, the woman is not the centre of the house, as if its expression revolves around her. The headship of Christ is expressed toward a house from the fellowship of the presbytery. The word of present truth proclaimed by the Spirit, through messengers who proceed from the presbytery, is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that shines from the face, or headship, of Jesus. 2Co 4:6.

Through a man’s submission to the lordship of Christ, this double portion connects his whole family to the bride city, the New Jerusalem. Rev 21:2. The man, with his family, then works in the service of the city of God, which is the bride of Christ. The reality of this connection to the bride of Christ is from house to house. Significantly, this is the basis of a local church that is ‘an elect lady’. 2Jn 1:1. That is, an elect lady is a congregation of two or three worthy households who are gathered in the name of Jesus. Jesus Himself said, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.’ Mat 18:20.

Although we may acknowledge this principle to be true, this has not been our reality as churches. In most cases, a local church has been identifiable through the ministry of a pastor, or leadership figure, and his wife, often in association with an assistant pastor and his wife, who are empowered through some form of ordination to service a congregation. The Lord is calling us to repent of this approach to ministry and church administration, and to be established as a fellowship of worthy houses who, through sanctification, serve one another in love. Gal 5:13. This is the basis of unfeigned, or open‑faced, agape fellowship.

[guest]

... The headship of Christ is expressed toward a house from the fellowship of the presbytery. The word of present truth proclaimed by the Spirit, through messengers who proceed from the presbytery, is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that shines from the face, or headship, of Jesus. 2Co 4:6.

I'm sorry, but that is NOT what 2 Cor 4:6 is saying. This is "Christian" gibberish claiming the CF leadership group are the 'face' of Christ. So disappointing.

Can I also point out, that this is yet another obvious example of cherry-picking verses. Reading this passage in context, Paul is talking about his Apostolic ministry. The 'presbytery' are stepping into his shoes, but also completely skipping the earlier verses...

1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, 2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God.

New American Standard Bible (2 Co 4:1–2). (2020). The Lockman Foundation.

They are not proclaiming truth, and there are many, many shameful and hidden things within that 'presbytery'.

[Dexter]

Yes, with the benefit of time and space between myself and the indoctrination I endured in the xCF establishment, it’s becoming more evident to me that the writer(s) have a predetermined outcome they are aiming for, and that they cherry-pick verses to coerce and manipulate the reader towards this desired outcome. The outcome, in my opinion, is complete domination over each individual in the congregation.

There were times while I was in the group that I’d hear the latest “present truth” (aka current lie) and think, “I do not think that scripture means what you think it means”.

Definitely twisted.

[guest]

I’ve always wondered.. do bcf members truly understand the devotionals and books written?

[guest]

They’re also trying to plainly have a go at any church that has a senior pastor. They do know that these churches have a board and eldership that oversee the whole thing? Basicallly Vic is saying: all other churches are bad, we are good, listen to us and obey us.
What’s with the worth house comment being slipped in there when it’s not in scripture?

[BreakFree]

in my experience no one in the group truly understands what is being said, but no one is game enough to say so. If you say you don't understand you can bet on the fact that next Sunday there will be a point made by the leaders about not coming to them with questions, because that is a lack of faith etc etc

[BreakFree]

Vic is a master gas lighter. He criticises everything about every religious institution but does the exactly the same thing just gives it a different name.

[guest]

it does appear that Vic Hall, as a central figure in the movement, functions in a role that resembles that of a pastor or leader, even if he does not carry the formal title.
I find it baffling that he’s so against having pastors in church.

[guest]

... The headship of Christ is expressed toward a house from the fellowship of the presbytery. The word of present truth proclaimed by the Spirit, through messengers who proceed from the presbytery, is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that shines from the face, or headship, of Jesus. 2Co 4:6.

I'm sorry, but that is NOT what 2 Cor 4:6 is saying. This is "Christian" gibberish claiming the CF leadership group are the 'face' of Christ. So disappointing.

Totally agree. Here's 2 Cor 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ESV

The only way you can arrive at the interpretation CF has outlined in this devotional, is to assume that when Paul says, "has shone in our hearts", the "our" is somehow just Paul and whoever was helping him write that letter. Then you have to take it a step further, and assume that the CF 'presbytery' are now today's equivalent of Paul.

In fact, the "our" is everyone, including those Paul was writing to. God doesn't shine his light exclusively through the 'presbytery leaders' as the CF claim. Talk about twisted... Thanks for alerting us Demelza.

[guest]

For those who would like some sound Bible-based content on 2 Cor 4:6, I’ve pasted in a few excerpts below with references.

I have no problem with Godly leaders and ministers proclaiming and reflecting God's light. But I do have a problem when leaders start claiming or inferring that they are the source of God's light, or even saying they are the only ones who can ‘channel’ God’s Word, or any language to that effect. That's a dangerous and heretical teaching that Paul the Apostle emphatically opposed.

What is the content of Paul’s preaching? It may be important that Paul first states that we do not preach ourselves (verse 5) and concludes the sentence by saying ourselves as your servants (literally, ‘slaves’). This is directed at the new ministers who claim to be superior to Paul (11:5) and whose ministry ‘enslaves’ the Corinthians (11:20). Their preaching, apparently, focused on themselves and had the effect of making the Corinthians serve them. These persons have the dubious distinction of being among the first of many subsequent ministers who, in the name of Jesus, have placed the spotlight on themselves in order to achieve some psychological or material benefit from their followers. By constrast, the apostle preaches Jesus Christ as Lord (verse 5). Paul’s words here vividly recollect the Damascus Road event. The Lord whom he preaches was spoken of in verse 4 as the ‘glorious’ image of God whose face, in the following verse, is said to radiate the glory of God (verse 6). Paul referred to this in the earlier letter when he wrote: ‘Last of all he appeared to me also’. Although in that passage Paul lists himself with those to whom the risen Lord appeared, he is probably speaking of the glorified heavenly Jesus as he is and will be, eschatologically, rather than as he was. Thus he spoke of himself as ‘abnormally born’, that is, as privileged, prematurely, to see Christ in his end-time glory. Paul was determined to present Christ to others with no glory subtracted through personal self-promotion. Paradoxically the message of the glorious Lord is effectively conveyed only by those who have the mind and manner of a servant.

Barnett, P. (1988). The message of 2 Corinthians: power in weakness (pp. 83–84). InterVarsity Press.

4:6. Why did Paul lower himself and honor Christ exclusively? His reason stemmed from God’s incredible act toward him. Paul described this divine act by drawing a connection between the light of creation and the light of re-creation in Christ. As the Genesis account reports, on the first day of creation, God … said, “Let light shine out of darkness.” Paul did not quote the Genesis record precisely, but he paraphrased it to draw the connection to Christ. God’s creative act of calling for light broke the darkness of the primordial world.
Paul’s confidence that true preaching focused on the glory of Christ rather than on its ministers rested in the fact that just as God first created light, God … made his light shine in their hearts. When God sent Christ, he acted much as he did when he created physical light. Jesus spoke of himself as the “light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5) and taught that his followers were also the “light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). The New Testament also describes life in Christ as walking in the light (1 John 2:8–10).
The illumination of the hearts of individuals is not just a mental state of enlightenment. From Paul’s perspective, it is an act of re-creation. Christ’s coming into the world, and the illumination of individuals to see his light, is a gracious divine act by which believers receive the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. When Paul came to know Christ personally on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3), this act of God surpassed the original act of creation in its ability to reveal the glory of God.
Paul expressed this conviction to validate his claim that his preaching was about Jesus … as Lord and not about himself or some other. He was so captivated by the greatness of the revelation of Christ that he could do nothing else.

Pratt, R. L., Jr. (2000). I & II Corinthians (Vol. 7, p. 336). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

4:6. The reason Paul served the church and openly proclaimed the gospel was because of God’s work in his life. Much as in creating the world God acted to bring light … out of darkness (Gen. 1:2–4), so in spiritual creation He brings light to the hearts of those in darkness (cf. Luke 1:78–79; Acts 26:18). This had been Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, when “a light from heaven flashed around him” (Acts 9:3). Confronted with the risen Lord, he became a new creation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). The light in believers’ lives is the knowledge of God’s salvation, a glory issuing from and seen in the face of Christ and reflected by Paul (cf. 3:18). When people were in the darkness of sin, they had no knowledge of God, no experience of His life and salvation (Eph. 4:18).

Lowery, D. K. (1985). 2 Corinthians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 563). Victor Books.

4:6. Contrast was a frequent *rhetorical device; Paul contrasts unbelievers in 4:4 with believers in 4:6. God spoke light into being at the first creation (Gen 1:3); he similarly could make the light of his glory shine in the hearts of those who saw greater glory than Moses had—the glory in Christ (thus he uses here wording from Is 9:1–2). In various Jewish traditions the light in Genesis 1:3 represented the light of God’s *law, of the righteous or of God himself; cf. comment on John 1:4.

Keener, C. S. (2014). The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Second Edition, p. 505). IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.