DICTATORSHIP of ROUTINE

DICTATORSHIP of ROUTINE

I recently read an old sermon by A W Tozer, in which he used the above expression, and stated that he thought it was the church's greatest enemy! As I thought about it I found myself agreeing with him, and would like to borrow some of his information from that sermon for the main content of this article. Brother Tozer has been graduated to glory for many years now, so I have no way to ask his permission, but feel sure he would not object! We are all creatures of habit, and feel comfortable doing things like we have done them before. This helps us to develop our technique, or routine, and can be a real asset to us if we are a tradesman or professional person who can benefit by being experienced in what we do. However for the average person, doing the same thing over and over has certain dangers. Our "routine" soon develops into what we could call a "ROTE", or in other words the ability to do something without thinking about what we are doing, or why we are doing it. I'm sure we can all relate to this scenario----you are in church and the leader says we will now sing hymn # 245, it's a familiar piece you have known for years and probably sang it hundreds of times, so you just sing it by "rote", not thinking about the message, or what the author had in mind when he penned those words many years before. That is what we mean by doing things by rote.

The next stage after rote is "RUT". This is when you know exactly what will happen next, so you never expect anything different. I'm sure we have all been there and done that. This can be especially damaging to personal relationships, such as marriage. If we let our response to the other person become completely predictable, then we could say you are in a rut. It can be a very deadly thing in church services, and if we are not careful it can happen even to the churches that seem to be the most "alive".

The third and final stage is "ROT". This starts out as "dry rot", like in a piece of wood that can be rotten and not show it, but soon develops into full blown rot, that can be seen by all! So our routine can become so familiar it develops into a "rote", which if allowed to persist becomes a "rut", and this in turn becomes "rot". Let's beware of this danger in all areas of our lives as we relate to other people! Remember we who claim the name of Christ, should show forth to the world around us the character of Christ! Paul calls this the "fruit of the Spirit" in (Gal 5:22-23), and allowing "routine" in our lives to digress through "rote", to "rut", to "rot", will certainly not be in line with the Holy Spirit of God who indwells us!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

UNDERSTANDING PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES

UNDERSTANDING PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES.

Many people are interested in the study of what the Bible has to say about future events. There is much confusion because of the many different, and often completely opposite interpretations, of the same scriptures. How can this be? Because not everyone uses a "Face Value" approach to understanding scripture. Following is a definition of face value by Robert Van Kampen. "Any given scripture passage must be understood at face value,in its most natural, normal, customary sense, making allowances for obvious figures of speech, taking the passage in its proper context, and taking into consideration all other passages of scripture dealing with the same issue. When in doubt as to the meaning of a particular word or phrase, let scripture interpret scripture! Look for the common denominator that harmonizes all the passages dealing with a particular issue, not just those that prove your presupposition at the expense of rejecting those that don't. Once a common denominator is found, then we have truth, that truth stands in judgment of us; never do we stand in judgment of it!"

This summary is based on the following five principles.
 1/ Seek to discover the author's intended meaning.--- Each and every passage of scripture has only one meaning, although it may have more than one possible application.
 2/ Recognize the importance of context.---Only when you know and understand the context in which a text is written, will you know how the writer intended the passage to be understood.
 3/ Whenever possible, let scripture interpret scripture.---Always interpret difficult passages in light of clear passages, since there are no contradictions in scripture.
 4/ Determine the Literal reference of figures of speech.---A figure of speech will normally employ a comparison, a substitution, or an amplification, in order to bring more clarification.
5/ Look for near/far implications and applications in prophetic passages. ---For example in (2 Samuel 7:8-16) this prophetic message to David applied to both Solomon (near), and Christ (far).

Since understanding this face value approach to scripture, I realized that many of the teachings I had received, believed, and in turn taught to others were not correct. For example the teaching that Jesus could return at "any moment" is completely contrary to scriptures that state clearly He will remain in heaven beside Father God "until" certain things are completed on earth. (Ps 110:1), (Acts 3:19-21). As far as to just when the Father will decide to send Jesus back to receive His bride, no one knows, but we do know that the church as we know it is no where near ready to be raptured! It must go through a period of purification to become the spotless bride that Jesus will come for. I believe this purification can best come through the time know as the "great tribulation" at the hands of the Antichrist! The best scenario describing His return is found in (Matt 24:4-44), which lines up with
(2 Thess 2:1-12), and of course with the book of Revelation. The answer of Jesus to the questions asked by His disciples in verse 3, are clearly answered in the balance of the chapter. Remember all of chapter 24 takes place during the final 7 years of life on planet earth, as we have  known it. This period is known as "Daniel's seventieth week". (Dan 9:24-27) and gives us a time line to follow in our study of end times. This period of time will start with the Antichrist signing a covenant with Israel for 7 years of peace, which he will break at the mid point. Then the time of "great tribulation" will begin for the church and for Israel. This will be the "Wrath of Satan" through his Antichrist, and will last until Jesus cuts short this time of persecution by His appearance (Matt 24:21-22) in order to save His "elect". This will be what is known as the rapture, which will end the "great tribulation", and clear the way for the outpouring of the 7 bowls of God's Wrath" (Rev 15:5-8). This wrath of God will be poured out on the ungodly who are left after the elect are removed, and is known in the OT as the "Day of the Lord". This is only a very brief outline of the end time scenario, that has come into view for me once I started to apply a "face value" approach to some of these familiar scriptures that I had always been told meant something very different!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

 

Who Am I

WHO AM I ?

I woke up quite early this morning, with the words of an old song going through my head. Part of the words were, "Who am I that a king would bleed and die for, who am I that He would pray, not my will, Thine Lord. The answer I may never know, why He ever loved me so, that to an old rugged cross He'd go, for who am I?" This got me thinking about who I really am! The government of Canada know all about me. They know my name, address, date and place of my birth, my income last year etc. But am I only a statistic on their records? Who am I really?

For the correct answer to this question, we only have to go to God's Word, where we read in (Ps 139:13-16) in the NLT "You (God) made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. You watched me while I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed." The scientists have now discovered that every human being on planet earth has a very unique DNA, that makes us different from everybody else! We are all a "masterpiece", or one of a kind. (Eph 2:10) Is it really so marvelous that these intelligent scientists are just now finally discovering things that were known by God from the beginning? (Deut 29:29) He revealed them to certain of His servants like king David, and Paul the apostle. So all we have to do find out who we really are, is to read, and believe, the Word of God. Our Creator thought of everything we would ever need to know, and had it recorded in the Bible. Thanks to many faithful men and women over the years, this book has been translated into most known languages on our planet. The Bible is still the most widely distributed book in the history of the world, and continues to be the best seller from year to year. Every major religion of the world has their own "sacred book", but none can compare to our "Holy Bible", the Word of the Living God! (Heb 4:12-13) Hallelujah!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer