R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - find out what it means

Respect is earned, not given

One response to my writings thus far says: 

"Coming out of the Bible Student’s you missed the inherited respect for Br. Jolly. So any you had evaporated when this present distress came." (referring to the controversy surrounding the office of Executive Trustee and it's holders.)

My answer is YES you are correct!  Red flags invite Scriptural investigation of red words, so to speak.

As Bible Students we are taught by Christ, the Apostles and the two Star Members to ever be diligently on guard against would-be leaders, bosses, pastors, teachers, popes and what have you.  We are ordered from above:

Matthew 24:⁴ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Roger that.  And then there is this heads up from command!
¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Copy that!  I was never in the military. This simply comes from God and we are instructed to follow. I don't really see a choice in the matter.

So yes, coming from a background in the Bible Student movement, I can tell you that I certainly had learned respect for brother Russell, as he earned that respect through his work, not because of who he was or what he claimed for himself... 

Then I began to develop great respect for Brother Johnson through his work also...

I came to respect a number of faithful brethren who have served, such as Barton, Edgar and others of the one and same spirit, holding to the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). I also lost respect for certain brethren who did not prove faithful.  (Jud 1:16)

With a blessed bedrock foundation in Present Truth, certainly I well understood, and in fact:

Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.  Acts 10:34

And to: "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1  

THEN, I'm told to accept a man as "Spiritual Leader" a priori

 

See  Present Truth Winter 2015 - "Only God Appoints His People's Leaders"  Click on the link and ask yourself: Does this sound like the spirit of Christ and of the Star Members?

 

a pri·o·ri

  (ä′ prē-ôr′ē, ā′ prī-ôr′ī)

adj.

1. Proceeding from a known or assumed cause to a necessarily related effect; deductive.

2.

a. Derived by or designating the process of reasoning without reference to particular facts or experience.

b. Knowable without appeal to particular experience.

3. Made before or without examination; not supported by factual study.

---

[Medieval Latin ā priōrī : Latin ā, from + Latin priōrī, ablative of prior, former.]

Questions to the reader:  

1. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY false prophets out there ever since P.T. Barnum, wouldn't you agree?
2. And so it behooves us as wary sheep to lookout for wolves, does it not? 
   
3. We are to investigate claims made by such individuals, no matter who they are, would you not agree? 
4. Or would you simply accept someone's claims, A PRIORI, not even investigating whether or not they truly are of Him? 
5. Or don't you think apples sometimes fall away from trees on occasion?
6. Certainly anyone who claims the mantle of Pastor and Teacher of the Lord's people should be under the most careful scrutiny, should he not?
   
7. And if his conduct be unbecoming or his doctrines in error, then is it not our duty to speak out?
8. Should the brethren be on guard? or left as helpless prey to any power grasper who comes along?
   

Brethren, we can't accept the claims of any man without proper examination in the light of the Bible.  Yet now even today, some are not ashamed to call themselves "spiritual leader of the Lord's people", also claim it should be accepted without question!  To me, this is unthinkable among Truth people.

Just a few things you should know about me and this project: 

1. I believe in one God, Yahweh, and I believe also in His Son Jesus. I pray only to them.
   
2. I am a Bible Student, an elder of my ecclesia.  I am doing my best to follow Christ and I'm very serious about all this.
3. As for men they're all fallible. Only the apostles were inspired. That means I only accept the Bible and what it says and not what man says.
4. Pastors and Teachers were also used by God as special helpers and I accept as two Star Members to the Church of Laodicea Pastor Charles Taze Russell and brother Paul Johnson.
5. I'm an honest Truth person, known as a fair and balanced, impartial moderator and investigator with many years of experience on the Present Truth Forum in examining doctrinal issues. I pass the V.D.M. test. I've been blessed with many opportunities to arbitrate between differing brethren over doctrinal issues as impartially as the Lord has taught us to be.
   
6. I am highly literate and blessed with with the time and ability to read long-winded, complex arguments. I don't have voices in my head. There is no chatterbox TV or radio running while I write or study.
7. I have no interest in personal gain or influence among any in the world or among the brethren.

Stand in my shoes for a moment, minding my own business as a Bible student elder in my ecclesia who was then asked about errors in the Bible Standard and Present Truth magazines. Globally, Bible Students were discussing what I saw as deep-seeded problems with the doctrine of Justification by Faith.  Changes had been made.  Some things didn't add up. That was in March of 2015.

I had to investigate. Rather than start from now and then go backward all the way through history examining Herzig, Hedman and Gohlke, I decided to start at the beginning with Jolly. That is the subject of my work, available HERE:
  

It is my honest hope and prayer that there may be one or two, or perhaps many brethren who may be helped by my studies.  I would only hope that the brethren will be half as honest and sympathetic in their reading and responses as I know I have been in my writing on this.  

Now if my work be offered in an unkind spirit, that would be grounds for complaint. (I Cor. 13)  I present my findings in the spirit of love, all the while knowing that this will likely have some cost attached, the greatest of which would be the loss of the love and fellowship of my brethren.  However duty calls and conscience must be followed.  (Jas. 3:17)

Anyone can address these my findings on this blog site or on the PT forum, or personally by email or phone.

Yours in Truth,

Bro. Regan