PROPER PERSPECTIVE

PROPER PERSPECTIVE
We see an "improper" perspective of a church when we read about the church in Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22). When Jesus told John what to write in his letter to them, He said to tell them in verse 17, "Because you say 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked". Talk about a wrong perspective, right? Because of this faulty understanding of what they were really like, Jesus said they were like "lukewarm" water and "I will vomit you out of My mouth"! I expect this would probably be His opinion of many whole denominations of churches in our 21st century culture! We have been so affected by the spread of the so-called "Prosperity Gospel", that some people are not aware of how much like the church in Laodicea we really are.

The common understanding of riches and wealth seems to be that the more "things" you can acquire in a lifetime, the more successful you are in the eyes of the world. And the happier and contented you should be living this sort of self centered life, but according to the testimonies of many people who reach this place of wealth and fame, they are most miserable! Why is this the case? I believe a careful look at the above mentioned scripture will supply the answer. This attitude that being rich and in need of nothing should be our goal, is certainly not the opinion of Jesus for His followers! True wealth is not measured by what you have, but by who you are in Christ! In a recent devotional thought from ODB, I read a little poem that said this very well. "In Christ we're rich beyond belief, with wealth the world cannot see; we have new strength and character, new righteousness and purity". The article that was written by Joe Stowell finished with the following one liner "The poorest person is he whose only wealth is money"! In (1 Peter 1:4) we read "And we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay". (NLT). It would seem to me that this "priceless inheritance" that Peter refers to here has to be our place in the Eternal Kingdom of God. We are "adopted" into God's family as a result of our "new birth", but we are "transferred" into the Kingdom, (Col 1:13). And according to (1 Cor 6:9-11) our behavior as a believer can prevent us from receiving this inheritance! Salvation is a gift, but not our place in the Kingdom of God, that depends on our obedience to His commandments!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

SPIRITUAL FOOD

SPIRITUAL FOOD

Just as our physical bodies need good nourishing food to sustain a healthy condition, so we also need a nourishing source of food for our spiritual lives. Our creator of course knew this, and had the written Word made available to us. We know it as the Bible, and it is now available in various languages, and many different versions, so most of us have many choices, and no excuse for not reading a version of our choice! One portion that comes to mind is (Psalm 19:1-14), which has many verses that speak about food. It "makes wise the simple" (Verse 7), and is "more desirable than gold" and "Sweeter than honey" (verse 10). This covers both our spiritual condition as well as our physical, and God provides ample food for both. The story of Elijah in (1 Kings 19:1-10) is a good example of an exhausted man who was physically and spiritually spent after his encounter with the wicked queen Jezebel. In this case God used one of His angel messengers to provide for His servant Elijah, in our case it will probably be a fellow follower of Jesus that we are in fellowship with!

A question that might naturally come to our minds is; why are so many people we meet in much the same condition as Elijah was in? Of course we are all living in a wicked world, which is under the control of Satan, "the prince of the power of the air". (Eph 2:1-3). But when we read verses 4-10 of this passage we find the answer to our dilemma! It is clearly, accepting the truth about the provision our Father God has made for us. That is receiving the salvation by faith plus nothing, that Jesus has provided for us by His "finished work" on the cross of Calvary, where He gave His life freely to redeem us. And of course this salvation is a free gift of God's grace, and can't be obtained by any amount of religious activity!

These facts from God's Word are for everyone, but sad to say many people are ignorant of this vital information simply because they do not read the Bible. Others read it from a background of certain religious traditions, which give their own interpretation to key scriptures like the one mentioned above from (Eph 2:1-10), and somehow miss the fact that salvation is a "gift", and must be received by "faith alone" and not by religious works! Those of us who are followers of Jesus must be diligent to share these truths from God's Word to all of our friends who might be caught in some "religious trap!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

A COMMUNITY CHURCH

A COMMUNITY CHURCH

Most local churches are named after some saint, or have their denomination as part of their name. Why not just their community name such as Loch Lomand Community Church (LLCC) for example. Why do we think that we have to let people know what denomination we are part of?

I have never been much for denominations anyway, although I have always been part of one. I started out in a Baptist Church, then an independent Pentecostal Church, then a Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, and now a PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada) Church. But I don't feel really attached to any denomination, although I have been part of them all when I attended services there. I just consider myself a follower of Jesus, and perhaps "Trans Denominational" might fit, if indeed there ever was one by that name.

But I like the idea of just naming the building we meet in a community place where we gather. I dislike calling it a "church", because we who meet in the building are the "Church", and not the building. But since church is the normal name for our gathering place, I can't think of another to replace it. I'm not really a rebel at heart, although I have been considered that by some, because I have always questioned certain traditions that are part of our normal services and doctrines. Since I started to search the truth through the scriptures more diligently, after my first stroke, I realized for the first time how much of what I had been taught, believed, and in turn taught to others, was not really based on scripture. This caused me to question many more of our traditions that make up the way we "do church".

That's when I found out that many others had been questioning some of these same things, and were actually declaring that God was doing things "outside the box" of the typical church structure. It would seem that God is using a different paradigm for His Church to follow, rather than the old one we have followed for the past century.

These are just some random thought to consider, and discuss.
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

Christianity is often included together with the other "World Religions", but in reality it is not a "religion" in the strict sense. A religion is a certain way of acknowledging and worshipping the "Higher Power" that people believe in. Their goal is usually to prove to this "god" that they love him/her or it. Some religions have many so-called gods, or goddesses, while others have only One God. The followers of Mohamed, for example call their religion "Islam", and their "Holy Book" is called the "Koran", and their god is called Allah. And most other religions have their own Holy Books, and are founded by some person that is the center of their worship. On the other hand the followers of Jesus understand our "Religion" to be a "Relationship" with the one true Creator God, through His Son Jesus Christ. The name Christian comes from His name, and means a "Christ-In", or in other words someone who has received Jesus as their Savior. Jesus is the only religious founder who was dead, but rose again from the dead, and lives now forever with His Father God in heaven.

We have a "Holy Book" called the "Bible", that explains all about our universe, and what God expects of us as inhabitants of this planet earth. He knew we would need a manual to instruct us in spiritual things, so He chose certain men and women, and inspired them by His Holy Spirit to write 66 books over a period of time, which make up our Bible. It gives the answer to all of our questions, about creation, where evil came from, what is sin, and how can we be free from it, is there life after death etc? These are questions that we all need to have reliable answers for, and God's Word, the Holy Bible, has answers to every one!

We all need a Savior from sin, and Jesus came from heaven over 2000 years ago, He was the Son of God, but by the miracle of the "Virgin Birth", He became a human being, lived a completely "sinless" life, and died on the Cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for our sins. All we have to do is repent of our sins, ask God to forgive us for our sins, and receive Jesus as our own personal Savior. We are then "born again", and are taken by God into "His Forever Family". So belief in what Jesus did for us on the cross is our doorway into a "Relationship with God"! That's much better than any form of "Religion", I believe.
Sincerely submitted!
Dave Jamer.

NO CONDEMNATION

NO CONDEMNATION

These words, taken from (Rom 8:1) should resound in our ears like the words "you are pardoned" must sound to a prisoner on "death row" in prison who has just received the word that at the last minute the Governor has granted him a full pardon! Paul begins this chapter with the words "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus". Every one of these words is important, and we need to look at each one carefully, if we are to really understand the full meaning that Paul had in mind. Whenever we see the word "therefore", we need to look back a few verses to find out why this word is used. In this case the reference is to the last two verses of the previous chapter. Here we see that Paul asked a question, and then answered it. This set the stage for this profound and awesome statement, "there is therefore now no condemnation". Notice the little word "now", this means right now, in our present situation, as long as we are "in Christ Jesus". Paul uses this same phrase in (2 Cor 5:17) "Therefore if any man (woman, boy or girl) be in Christ he is a new creation----". In this case he is referring back to verse 14 "if one died for all, then all died". This is certainly the theme that Paul has been dwelling on in chapters 6 and 7, and wants to reinforce here in chapter 8. This brings us to the words "no condemnation" which we will explore now in a little more detail.

Who among us has never felt "condemned" at one time or another? Usually it is our guilty conscience that will condemn us for some wrong thought, or action! Even after we have been forgiven by God, when we repent of our many sins and receive Jesus as our personal Savior, we often still feel condemned. This is because we have an enemy called Satan, sometimes referred to as the "accuser of the brethren". Not only is he the one who tempts us to do wrong, but then makes us feel condemned when we yield to his temptation. We have learned from our study of Rom 6 and 7 that our old sinful nature that we were born with, died with Christ on the cross. However we all have what Paul refers to as our "flesh", that part of us that wants to protect "self", and fights against the Spirit who now dwells in all believers. The Holy Spirit will "convict", but never "condemn" us when we do something wrong! Condemnation always comes from our enemy. We need to learn to distinguish between his condemning voice, and the affirming still small voice of the Spirit of God! This is part of the process of "sanctification" that comes with maturity in our walk with the Lord daily! There is no shortcut, or easy way that I know of!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer                                                                     24/09/11

BUT GOD

BUT GOD

This expression appears in several of Paul's letters. For example in (2 Cor 7:5-7), we see Paul in a very discouraged state. Actually this great apostle states in verse 5 "When we arrived in Macedonia there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside". Just imagine, this is Paul the apostle confessing to having fear! But notice how he starts the next verse "But God, who encourages those who are discouraged,-----". (NLT) Yes even great men like Paul can become discouraged by times, "but God" always comes to the rescue! In this case it was by the arrival of Titus with good news about the church in Corinth. Another example of Paul using this expression is in (Eph 2:4), after stating the sad condition of every one of us in verses 1-3, that we were all born in sin, he begins verse 4 "But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Jesus from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!)" (NLT). In my opinion, this second chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesian church, gives us a very clear picture of both the universal need of salvation, as well as how to receive it!

Just in these two uses of this expression "But God" by Paul, we can see clearly that they apply to us all, at some time or other. Certainly we were all born as sinners, and I expect that we have all been discouraged a few times. We should be greatly encouraged to know from God's Word that He is concerned about every one of us humans. This supernatural [Agape] love of God is so far above and beyond any sort of natural love that we can muster up, that we find it hard to understand. In (John 3:16) where we read that God loved us "so much that He gave His one and only Son", John used this Greek word [Agape] to describe this supernatural love. Whether we can really understand it or not, we can all take advantage of God's offer of His supernatural [Agape] love. First we need to receive it, and then we need to extend it to all those we come in contact with!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

SECOND SAMUEL SEVEN

SECOND SAMUEL SEVEN
In this chapter we read about King David's desire to build a permanent house for God to dwell in. Since the time of Moses, God was content to dwell in the "Holy of Holies" inside the tabernacle that Moses had constructed according to the plan shown him by God. The prophet Nathan brought the word of the Lord to David that his "Seed" (Jesus, not Solomon) would build a house "for My name". We know from reading the NT, that Jesus came to earth for this very reason, to build a house for God. While Jesus lived in His earthly body He was that house. Paul stated that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col 2:9), in other words as long as Jesus lived in His earthly body, He contained all of God there was to have! That's why He said to His disciples in (John 16:7) "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you".

We know that Jesus came to earth primarily to redeem fallen mankind back to God, by taking upon Himself on the cross the sin of every person since Adam. But He revealed the other purpose in His first coming by stating in (Matt 16:18) "I will build My church". This church which we see being established in the book of Acts was birthed in the upper room on the evening of the very day that He arose from the tomb. (John 20:22) "He breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit". This was the birth of this church, when these first disciples received the promised Holy Spirit. Then in (Acts 2:4) we see Him being poured out on the larger group of believers to give them power to be witnesses of the resurrection! (Acts 1:8). This church of "called out ones" became a "community of the King", which is really an extension of God's family in heaven. consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We cannot understand this mystery completely with our finite minds. Once we are "born again" into God's family, the Holy Spirit moves into our lives to bring us the assurance that we are indeed children of God, and part of the "household of God" that Paul speaks of in (Eph 2:19). God has always wanted to dwell with man on earth, and now He can do that through His church. According to (Rev 21) He will spend eternity here on planet earth with His church, the "bride" that comes down from heaven as the "New Jerusalem" which will be located just above natural Jerusalem, often referred to as the "city of David". What an "awesome" way to spend eternity!! This truth has been completely obscured by certain church doctrines that have come into the church since the fourth century!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer                                                                                20/09/11

GOD STILLS MOVES

GOD STILL MOVES

 

This phrase is part of a song on a tape by Back to The Bible radio ministry that I heard recently. There is much more to the song, but these words have been constantly in my mind for days! The line these words are taken from states "In the hearts of people God still moves". I believe that is a powerful statement, and explains a very basic scriptural principal that it is the heart, or spirit of a human, that God moves in! Heart and spirit are often used interchangeably in scripture. As you probably know, we humans are created in the image and likeness of our Creator God. (Gen 1:26-27) Since God has revealed Himself as a "Trinity", so we are a three part being. Someone has described us as a "spirit", who has a "soul", who lives in a "body". I believe that to be a proper description of a human being, spirit, soul and body. Paul states that in 

(1 Thess 5:23), where he clearly uses these three words to describe us followers of Jesus.

 

Church history records many moves of the Holy Spirit throughout the years since the first Pentecost of (Acts 2:4). Some of them have lasted for weeks, months, or sometimes years, but many were infiltrated by unholy spirits from the enemy's kingdom of darkness, and caused confusion and division! It would appear that every time there is a genuine move of God, Satan is quick to start a counter move, in an attempt to offset the real thing with a counterfeit move. It is often very difficult to tell the difference between a true and a false or counterfeit move of the Spirit. Paul lists the gifts of the Spirit in (1 Cor 12:7-11), in verse 10 he tells about one called "the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God, or from another spirit." (NLT)  

 

It seems to me that this might be the most important gift of the Spirit that the followers of Jesus require to stand against the deception that Jesus said to beware of in these last days! (Matt 24: 4, 5, 11, 24, 25). Paul also warns us in (2 Cor 11:13-15) to expect false prophets, and workers of iniquity sent forth by Satan to deceive believers, and hinder the extension of the Kingdom of God. So as followers of Jesus in these present times, let us pray for moves of God's Holy Spirit, both within the church, and outside the organized church structures. But let us also pray for the gift of discerning of spirits, so we can be able to discern between the true move of God, and the counterfeit moves of Satan. Yes, God still moves by His Spirit in the hearts of His people, but remember Satan still tries to hinder with his unholy spirits!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

I recently heard a definition for "ambassadors" that gives new meaning to
(2 Cor 5:20) from which the title for this article is taken. The dictionary tells us an ambassador is "a diplomatic agent of highest rank" or a representative of one country to another in the world. The new definition I heard was that an ambassador is really "the embodiment" of the country they represent! Try to wrap your mind around that thought for a few minutes!! As you probably know an ambassador's living expenses are totally taken care of by the government of the country they represent. Their housing, travel, meals, children's education, etc. Read (Matt 6:25-34) again with this thought in mind! Remember you are reading the words of the King of the Kingdom that you and I represent right? We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, of which Jesus Christ our Savior is the King!!

This concept of a kingdom has been replaced in our world by other forms of government. For most of us that would be some form of democracy, or a republic. Even most church forms of government have taken on the idea of a democracy, or a government of the people for the people. This was never God's plan; in fact it is the complete opposite of a kingdom concept. His plan called for a King or supreme ruler with delegated authority given to certain people, through whom He could govern His kingdom. Every world kingdom or empire before the Roman Empire came into power used the same technique when they conquered an enemy nation. They subdued the nation, dispersed the people from their homeland and often took prisoners back to their capital city. Daniel and his three friends are an example of this concept under the Babylonian Empire of their day. However Rome set up their empire under a kingdom concept, they left the people in their homeland and appointed governors in every conquered nation, to govern the people. Pilot in the time of Christ would be an example of this kingdom concept of delegated authority, answerable to the Roman Caesar as king. Because of this Roman influence God chose that time for Jesus to come to earth and introduce the Kingdom of God. (Gal 4:4)  As ambassadors of Christ we have been chosen by Almighty God to be His delegated representatives on Planet earth, the "embodiment" of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. That is a truth to meditate on!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

A SOUND MIND

A SOUND MIND
These words are found in Paul's second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:7) "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind". In the Greek this word that is translated as "sound mind" is a combination of two words, one means "safe", and the other "mind", hence "safe thinking". According to Strong's Concordance it denotes good judgment, disciplined thought patterns, and the ability to understand and make right decisions. It also includes the qualities of "self-control" and "self-discipline". As Christians we should give close attention to this verse!
The first thing we see is that fear is a "spirit", and it is not given by God! Therefore we know that fear must come from the enemy, and we should resist it in Jesus' name whenever it tries to enter our life. How many Christians do you know that are plagued with all kinds of fears, except the "fear of God", which is the only positive kind of fear? God has given us (past tense) "power", "love" and a "sound mind". These are all part of the package we receive when we repent of our sin and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit comes into our life to give us the assurance of salvation. We need to remind ourselves of this fact quite often,

"Self control" and "self discipline" are two things that should be evident in every believer's life. Self control is listed as one of the "fruit of the Spirit" in (Gal 5:22-23), and Peter mentions it as one of the signs of spiritual growth in (2 Peter 1:5-8). In verse 8 he states "for if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ". Paul goes on in 2 Timothy to talk about not being ashamed of the gospel. In verse 8 he states the power of God "has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" This is a powerful statement about the "gospel of the Kingdom" that Paul preached, as well as Jesus, John the Baptist, and the other disciples. The "so-called gospel" that is generally preached today is something quite different. It is "man centered", and might be called a "gospel of convenience". It lacks the power to change lives, and give people the assurance Paul talked about in verse 12 "For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day". This should be our testimony if we really know Jesus and are filled with His Spirit.
Sincerely submitted
Dave Jamer                                                                             20/09/11

A NEW NAME FOR CHURCH

A NEW NAME FOR "CHURCH"

I recently read an editorial in the magazine called Mission Frontiers, by Ralph Winter, in which he quotes a man named Bob Goldmann. Mr Goldmann makes the point that we should no longer use the term "church planting", but instead we should adopt the term "movements to Christ", or in other words fellowships built on families, not groups made up of loose individuals. His point is well taken because of the misunderstanding of what "church" really means to the average person in our Western society in this 21st century. In recent articles about the church we pointed out the scriptural meaning of the term church, and how it has come to mean something completely different in our day. To quote Mr Winter "We Americans live in a country where families are almost expected to drift apart, creating artificially 'individualized' people. Thus as a result we produce artificial "church" fellowships which collect loose individuals or family fragments into a surrogate family--which we then call a "church".

In much of the world this fragmentation of the family unit hasn't happened. There we still see families that are truly "multi-generational", which is much like those from NT times. In the scriptures we often read about whole families becoming "worshipping households" when one person from that home accepts Jesus as Savior. This is more the pattern of a local "church" as we see them in the NT. They didn't have buildings called "churches", so they met in each other's homes. This all changed of course in the 4th century when the church became part of the Roman Empire, and large cathedrals were constructed and called churches.

Today in our Western world we are seeing a definite move toward so called "house churches", where people can experience "koinonia" which is more like that mentioned in the NT. Perhaps these groups should even drop the term church from their name, and simply be known as "home fellowships". At least until we understand that the scriptural term "church" does not mean a building, a denomination of churches, or anything other than a group of followers of Jesus meeting for fellowship with their Lord. Jesus did say that wherever "two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among you" (Matt 18:20). It seems to me that is a proper description of "church" as it should be held, according to Jesus. And He should know because He said "I will build My Church" (Matt 16:18).  
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer                                                                             2/10/11

A WORD ON GUIDANCE

A WORD ON GUIDANCE

We talk a lot about "guidance" and our need of guidance from God in our daily walk of faith. You might be surprised if you look for this word in Strong's Concordance. You will find guide, guides, guiding, and guided, but no mention of guidance! This made me aware of how often we miss-quote the Bible in our daily expressions that we are sure is based on scripture.
It is very true that we need guidance, but this guidance comes from having a faithful guide, who will lead us in the right pathway. In the Gospels we see Jesus portrayed as the "Good Shepherd" who cares for His sheep (John 10 1-18) When these scriptures were written, shepherds were commonly seen leading their flock of sheep to and from their feeding ground, to the safety of a fold at nighttime. They never "drove" the sheep, but gently "guided" them From this we can see that although we need "guidance" in our lives, it only comes as we carefully follow the "Guide" provided by our loving Heavenly Father. This guide of course is none other than Jesus Christ!

Someone has pointed out that a "guide dog" that has been trained to lead a blind person on busy city sidewalks, is much preferable to someone shouting instructions to them from the other side of the street! They could tell the blind person to watch out for certain obstacles, but the guide dog would gently lead them around the obstacles. This is how Jesus guides us if we allow Him to. He knows all the obstacles that lie in our pathway, and how to avoid them! In other words, we need a Guide—not guidance, just as we need a Healer---not healing. We often seek after the experience that Jesus can provide, instead of seeking Him who is the source of that which we need! The Bible tells us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God in heaven right now, but before He left this planet some 2000 years ago, to return to His Father's side, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to take His place. You can read all about this in the (John 14, 15, and 16) The first chapter of Acts continues His instructions to the disciples, and the second chapter covers the event of the promised Holy Spirit coming. So if you desire "guidance" in your life, I recommend you seek it from the only reliable "Guide" Jesus Christ. First ask Him to become your Lord and Savior, then your Baptizer in the Holy Spirit! This is certainly our Creator God's method of giving us the guidance we both desire and need as followers of Jesus today!!
Sincerely submitted
Dave Jamer                                                                        20/09/11