A WORLD OF OPPOSITES
In (Gen 1:3) we find that from the very beginning of creation God separated the darkness by sending the light. "Then God said 'let there be light' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness night". NLT. So we see that from the very start of creation we have had complete opposites, and God is able to separate between them. (Heb 4:12) This is an important principle to remember, when we consider things like we are presently seeing in the "church" today in this 21st century. One of the most important things, in my opinion, is the tremendous increase of "deception", in church circles. Those who have been around for quite a few years are perhaps more apt to detect this, because although deception has been part of the church since the fourth century, it has never been as bad as we have seen since the start of this century. Of course the reason for that was foretold by Jesus in the twenty fourth chapter of Matthew's account of the gospel.
The closer we come to the return of Christ, the more "false prophets" will appear with new exciting teachings, accompanied with false signs and wonders that will deceive many! (not just a few). In (2 Cor 11:3-4, 12-15) we see clearly from Paul, who was trusted by God with many special revelations about the church, how our enemy Satan will come with his false prophets to teach things that are opposite to what Paul had taught them. So this should not surprise us, if we read and heed what God tells us in His Word. After all that is why He had it recorded, by choosing men to record what He wanted us to know, for such times as this. (2 Tim 3:16-17). If you check the records, you can trace this increase in "false" prophets back to the appearance of certain "prophets" in the early '90's. From their influence there was created a "prophetic movement" that has spread its influence around the world by way of modern technology! Its not hard to realize that it has been centered around Kansas City, and certain of the men who have become well known have started their ministry from there. It is not my intention to point out certain individuals as false prophets or apostles, but I know from experience that whenever there is a "real genuine" anything there is certain to be "counterfeits" of it raised up. Counterfeit $100.00 bills is an example, as well as "knock offs" of expensive watches, or other popular objects. Why should we be surprised that Satan would try to bring forth counterfeits of something that God has established, like His Kingdom!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
KOINONIA
KOINONIA
True Christian fellowship,what the Greek New Testament calls "koinonia"--is the Spirit's gift to the church. Today whenever we think of "fellowship", we associate it with coffee and sweets after a church service! This is definitely not the New Testament understanding of the word. We see this type of real fellowship in the Spirit displayed in (Acts 2:42), and referred to by Paul in several places such as (2 Cor 13:14), or (Phil 2:1). The church today is suffering a "koinonia crisis"!! Part of this crisis is due to the typical church structure, which is designed to facilitate "pulpit to pew" one way communication. There can be little or no real fellowship in this type of structure. Someone has remarked "the only fellowship we have is with the back of the head of the person sitting in the pew in front of us". In the NT church they didn't have this problem because they met in homes, in a very informal setting. Church buildings, as such, were unheard of until Constantine married the church to the Roman Empire in the fourth century. The other factor in this crisis is the fact that until people experience real koinonia, they don't know what they are missing. Some churches have "cell groups", or some type of small groups that meet in homes to facilitate this koinonia, while some people are finding it in a new move of God known as "The House Church Movement".
There are two dimensions involved in true koinonia, a vertical dimension of the believer's fellowship with God, and the horizontal dimension of his kononia with other believers in the Spirit. A believer can have fellowship with God by themselves alone, but not koinonia! This is only possible in the company of fellow believers who are gathered in unity. In (Matt 18:20) Jesus said "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them". This is certainly the basis of koinonia! We could list a few things that describe real koinonia. 1/ the fellowship among believers which the Holy Spirit gives. 2/ the fellowship Christ had with His disciples. 3/ the fellowship of the early church. 4/ the earthly counterpart and foretaste of the eternal fellowship we can look forward to. 5/ it is analogous to the unity, fellowship, and communion between Christ and the Father. A quote from George Webber sums it up "No relationship of love can develop unless there are structures in which it can grow". The koinonia we have been discussing can only grow when there are structures to nourish it! So let us strive to promote those structures!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
True Christian fellowship,what the Greek New Testament calls "koinonia"--is the Spirit's gift to the church. Today whenever we think of "fellowship", we associate it with coffee and sweets after a church service! This is definitely not the New Testament understanding of the word. We see this type of real fellowship in the Spirit displayed in (Acts 2:42), and referred to by Paul in several places such as (2 Cor 13:14), or (Phil 2:1). The church today is suffering a "koinonia crisis"!! Part of this crisis is due to the typical church structure, which is designed to facilitate "pulpit to pew" one way communication. There can be little or no real fellowship in this type of structure. Someone has remarked "the only fellowship we have is with the back of the head of the person sitting in the pew in front of us". In the NT church they didn't have this problem because they met in homes, in a very informal setting. Church buildings, as such, were unheard of until Constantine married the church to the Roman Empire in the fourth century. The other factor in this crisis is the fact that until people experience real koinonia, they don't know what they are missing. Some churches have "cell groups", or some type of small groups that meet in homes to facilitate this koinonia, while some people are finding it in a new move of God known as "The House Church Movement".
There are two dimensions involved in true koinonia, a vertical dimension of the believer's fellowship with God, and the horizontal dimension of his kononia with other believers in the Spirit. A believer can have fellowship with God by themselves alone, but not koinonia! This is only possible in the company of fellow believers who are gathered in unity. In (Matt 18:20) Jesus said "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them". This is certainly the basis of koinonia! We could list a few things that describe real koinonia. 1/ the fellowship among believers which the Holy Spirit gives. 2/ the fellowship Christ had with His disciples. 3/ the fellowship of the early church. 4/ the earthly counterpart and foretaste of the eternal fellowship we can look forward to. 5/ it is analogous to the unity, fellowship, and communion between Christ and the Father. A quote from George Webber sums it up "No relationship of love can develop unless there are structures in which it can grow". The koinonia we have been discussing can only grow when there are structures to nourish it! So let us strive to promote those structures!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
Monday, August 15, 2011
FITTING TOGETHER PERFECTLY
FITTING TOGETHER PERFECTLY
In Paul's letter to the church he had planted in the city of Ephesus, in chapter 2 we see the secret to the proper structure of a local church. I have been looking for a local church for years, in which I felt I "fit". I was even part of a small "church" for 10 years in which I didn't fit, even though I was supposed to be the quote "pastor" at the time! But because, at that time I didn't have a proper concept of God's plan for church structure, it was not a good experience either. Thank God for His patience with us followers of Jesus, in showing us that becoming a spiritually mature person is a "process" and not an "event". Because I have been a "slow learner", it has taken me over 20 years to even start to understand the process. Now I'm too old, and because of the physical effects of this process, can only pass on to younger generations what I have learned in this process. And because we all were created with a free will, with which to make choices, what I write will only be understood by those who will read and heed what I offer.
As I now see this problem of not fitting into a local church structure, is not only the fact that the structure is not scripturally correct, but that we haven't been taught what we should have been. This falls back to the spiritual leaders we were under when we were "saved", who should have "disciplined" us as Paul did his converts! We naturally understand discipline as something we receive when we disobey some certain command given us by our parents, or anyone in a place of authority over us. But what about a situation where those people who are placed in this place of authority over us fail to carry out their God given task?, and when you add to that the fact that in some cases those who should be giving the instructions don't know what their task consists of? Then we have a "real problem", and I suggest that this is the basis of our problem with local churches!
The answer to this problem is a simple one really, we all need to get "back" to the Bible. And this goes for our spiritual leaders, as well as their church members, who should both be followers of Jesus! His directions for living a life here on earth, that not only is meant to prepare us for Eternal Life in heaven, but also a life that will please Father God now! After all is said and done, is that not what this life on earth is all about?
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer'
In Paul's letter to the church he had planted in the city of Ephesus, in chapter 2 we see the secret to the proper structure of a local church. I have been looking for a local church for years, in which I felt I "fit". I was even part of a small "church" for 10 years in which I didn't fit, even though I was supposed to be the quote "pastor" at the time! But because, at that time I didn't have a proper concept of God's plan for church structure, it was not a good experience either. Thank God for His patience with us followers of Jesus, in showing us that becoming a spiritually mature person is a "process" and not an "event". Because I have been a "slow learner", it has taken me over 20 years to even start to understand the process. Now I'm too old, and because of the physical effects of this process, can only pass on to younger generations what I have learned in this process. And because we all were created with a free will, with which to make choices, what I write will only be understood by those who will read and heed what I offer.
As I now see this problem of not fitting into a local church structure, is not only the fact that the structure is not scripturally correct, but that we haven't been taught what we should have been. This falls back to the spiritual leaders we were under when we were "saved", who should have "disciplined" us as Paul did his converts! We naturally understand discipline as something we receive when we disobey some certain command given us by our parents, or anyone in a place of authority over us. But what about a situation where those people who are placed in this place of authority over us fail to carry out their God given task?, and when you add to that the fact that in some cases those who should be giving the instructions don't know what their task consists of? Then we have a "real problem", and I suggest that this is the basis of our problem with local churches!
The answer to this problem is a simple one really, we all need to get "back" to the Bible. And this goes for our spiritual leaders, as well as their church members, who should both be followers of Jesus! His directions for living a life here on earth, that not only is meant to prepare us for Eternal Life in heaven, but also a life that will please Father God now! After all is said and done, is that not what this life on earth is all about?
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer'
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
JESUS and :MY CHURCH"
JESUS and "MY CHURCH"
In the gospel account by Matthew, in verse 18 of chapter 16, we read these words "You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it". NKJV. If we read the entire passage from verse 13-20 to put verse 18 in context, we clearly see that Jesus is talking about building "His Church" on the declaration Peter had given, in answering the question Jesus had asked in verse 15. So that is what He said He would build His Church on, and not Peter as a person. To Peter He said "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven", meaning he would be permitted to preach the "gospel of the kingdom", which he and the other disciples did after they were filled with the Spirit in (Acts 1:8). We all know that keys are meant to open locked doors, and that task was given to all followers of Jesus. But the "church" that developed out of the joining together of the "True Church" we see developing in the book of Acts, with the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, spawned what has become the "false church", in my opinion. And the two should never be confused by considering them all together as being the "church". That would be like mixing together several "counterfeit" 100 dollar bills together with real ones, and think you were quite wealthy. This would not be wise, and when we consider what we call the "church", as a building people go to on Sunday morning, we are not wise either.
Martin Luther, who is looked to as the "Father of the Reformation", who was a Roman Catholic priest who was given illumination by the Holy Spirit regarding the truth that Paul explained in (2 Cor 5:17-21), and this shoke up the church of the day. He certainly brought forth the truth of "righteousness by faith without works", but he stopped short of changing the "structure" of what the church had developed into, back into what Jesus had in mind when He made His original declaration in (Matt 16:18). Each of the Reformers who followed Luther, and started various "Protestant Denominations", all kept pretty much the same church structure. Derek Prince, in his book entitled "Rediscovering God's Church" which was published in 2006, a few years after his death, by the ministry he had established, deals with this whole matter in a clear easy to understand way. I definitely would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing how far off the original pattern for the church, that we have strayed in our day!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
In the gospel account by Matthew, in verse 18 of chapter 16, we read these words "You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it". NKJV. If we read the entire passage from verse 13-20 to put verse 18 in context, we clearly see that Jesus is talking about building "His Church" on the declaration Peter had given, in answering the question Jesus had asked in verse 15. So that is what He said He would build His Church on, and not Peter as a person. To Peter He said "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven", meaning he would be permitted to preach the "gospel of the kingdom", which he and the other disciples did after they were filled with the Spirit in (Acts 1:8). We all know that keys are meant to open locked doors, and that task was given to all followers of Jesus. But the "church" that developed out of the joining together of the "True Church" we see developing in the book of Acts, with the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, spawned what has become the "false church", in my opinion. And the two should never be confused by considering them all together as being the "church". That would be like mixing together several "counterfeit" 100 dollar bills together with real ones, and think you were quite wealthy. This would not be wise, and when we consider what we call the "church", as a building people go to on Sunday morning, we are not wise either.
Martin Luther, who is looked to as the "Father of the Reformation", who was a Roman Catholic priest who was given illumination by the Holy Spirit regarding the truth that Paul explained in (2 Cor 5:17-21), and this shoke up the church of the day. He certainly brought forth the truth of "righteousness by faith without works", but he stopped short of changing the "structure" of what the church had developed into, back into what Jesus had in mind when He made His original declaration in (Matt 16:18). Each of the Reformers who followed Luther, and started various "Protestant Denominations", all kept pretty much the same church structure. Derek Prince, in his book entitled "Rediscovering God's Church" which was published in 2006, a few years after his death, by the ministry he had established, deals with this whole matter in a clear easy to understand way. I definitely would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing how far off the original pattern for the church, that we have strayed in our day!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer
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