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

Monday, July 25, 2011

THE NEW AGE

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT
This term we have chosen to represent what has been happening in our "religious" world of today, is really a "misnomer" because it is certainly not new. Actually it started back in the "Garden of Eden" with our original parents Adam and Eve. To truly understand it we need to go back much farther than that to a scene described by the OT prophet named Isaiah, that God chose as one of the men He used to record the scriptures. In (Isa 14:12-23) we read about this account of the archangel Lucifer rebelling against God, and being cast out of heaven. This was the beginning of "sin" coming to our planet and affecting the complete human race. (Rom 5:12).  Lucifer, who became Satan, has ever since then been the "enemy of God", and since he cannot touch God he takes out his wrath on us humans.

One of the ways he does this is by trying to bring the whole human race under bondage to him by polluting man's "religions"! Since our Creator God put a desire to worship someone in the hearts of all mankind, what better way to destroy God's plan than to invent lots of "False Religions" for people to follow? So ever since the Garden of Eden, when he deceived Adam and Eve, by causing them to doubt what God had told them. he has been busy creating new ways to deceive God's people today. That is why we read so many warnings in scripture about the danger of being deceived by false prophets and teachers! (Matt 24:4, 5. 11, 24) and (2 Cor 11:12-15) and
(2 Thess 2:1-12) are a few examples of these many warnings.

So check out all false religions, or any of the many cults, and so-called "new revelations" we hear about, very carefully with the Word of God to see if they contain truth or error. (Acts 17:11).  And remember that any truth taken out of context and pushed beyond its true meaning, becomes error. A couple of good scriptures to study are (John 8:31-59) and (1 John 4:1-6). Then remember that God can give us discernment, both natural (Heb 5:11-14), and supernatural (1 Cor 12:10). Both of these are necessary for all of us to prevent us from getting mixed up in any so-called "New Age" teaching that is flooding churches today in these "Last of the Last Days!! These are the days that we have been called by God to live in, so He has made available to us all that we need to stay close to Him, but He expects us to make use of them! So beware of all teachings that don't line up with scripture!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

Monday, July 18, 2011

MY BIG PROBLEM

MY BIG PROBLEM

I confess to having a problem that seems to be getting bigger every day, since I started to spend more time studying the Bible several years ago. It has to do with certain well known Bible teachers teaching doctrines that according to my new understanding of scripture are not true. I used to believe and teach these same doctrines for years, but since changing the way I have been approaching scripture lately, God has been showing me a different way of understanding certain passages. I had been taught they meant certain things by my leaders, but once I started using a "Face Value" method of understanding scripture, and laying aside what I had been told, the scriptures suddenly came alive to me! I have been given more "illumination" on certain well known scriptures by the Holy Spirit, that changes the meaning all together. And my problem centers around the area of "why do these experienced teachers" still keep spreading the same old lies to their hearers? This is the basis of my problem!

All I did was to realize that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the authors of scripture, (2 Tim 3:16-17), is the same Holy Spirit that indwells me as a simple follower of Jesus, and I could just ask Him to show me what He had in mind when He told them what words to use. It is a very simple process, and the results have been surprising, giving me a completely different understanding of passages that I thought I knew what they meant. Then I have to be bold enough to make public this new understanding, which often comes against the doctrines of "long standing" in our churches! This can result in you being considered a "rebel" or perhaps a "heretic", or worse. Everyone desires to be well thought of by their peers, and I am no exception, so it is still hard to dispute the doctrines that have been accepted, and taught, in our church circles for years, without being challenged. This is also part of my problem, and I will have to settle it with the Holy Spirit as to what to do with the new things He is showing me. So I would ask you to remember me in prayer, that I might have humility and wisdom as I try to introduce some of the results of this new "illumination" that God has been bringing to me  that are quite a bit different from what we have been taught. I certainly do not consider myself any sort of an expert on Bible interpretation, but simply a follower of Jesus, who has been trying to please the Father. I believe this should be the goal of all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jame

Saturday, July 16, 2011

why me

WHY ME

I recently read a little poem that prompted me to ask this question. The poem was part of a devotional in Our Daily Bread, and goes like this,
"On such love, my soul, still ponder
Love so great, so rich, so free;
Say, while lost in holy wonder,
Why, O lord, such love to me?"

Have you ever pondered this truth? Why would God ever care that much for anyone of us sinners that He would allow His Son Jesus to leave heaven and come to earth to die on that cruel cross for you and me? There is an old song that George Beverly Shea used to sing that contain the words  "Oh the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all, just to think that God loves me". This is the sense of wonder that we should never lose; no matter how long we have been a follower of Jesus. Then there is another old song called "Who Am I". Some of the words are "Who am I that a King would bleed and die for, who am I that He would say, not my will but 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 is certainly a valid question to ask, but every person who has received Jesus as their Savior should be able to give a right answer. I've heard the old saying "I'm just a beggar telling another beggar where he found bread", which I guess is OK, but I think I have a better one. Since hearing Bob Mumford's teaching on the Agape Road, I think the better answer to the question of "who am I", would be "I was a lost sinner who has been found by Jesus, and am starting a journey up the Agape Road with Him to find intimacy with the Father". You may have to see the DVD's of Bob's teaching to really understand the full meaning of this statement. I have learned so much from Bob over the years that we have followed his teaching on audio cassettes. But this is definitely his best yet, and is the result of many years of pursuing the word "Agape" (God's love), as opposed to "Eros", which a self centered kind of "taking" instead of "giving" love. This is at the very core of the gospel message, which in the NT scriptures is often referred to as the "gospel of the Kingdom", to set it apart from the many other "gospels" that have come forth at various times in church circles! Let's just use the expression "Believer Beware"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

Monday, July 4, 2011

WHY ME

WHY ME

I recently read a little poem that prompted me to ask this question. The poem was part of a devotional in Our Daily Bread, and goes like this,
"On such love, my soul, still ponder
Love so great, so rich, so free;
Say, while lost in holy wonder,
Why, O lord, such love to me?"

Have you ever pondered this truth? Why would God ever care that much for anyone of us sinners that He would allow His Son Jesus to leave heaven and come to earth to die on that cruel cross for you and me? There is an old song that George Beverly Shea used to sing that contain the words  "Oh the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all, just to think that God loves me". This is the sense of wonder that we should never lose; no matter how long we have been a follower of Jesus. Then there is another old song called "Who Am I". Some of the words are "Who am I that a King would bleed and die for, who am I that He would say, not my will but 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 is certainly a valid question to ask, but every person who has received Jesus as their Savior should be able to give a right answer. I've heard the old saying "I'm just a beggar telling another beggar where he found bread", which I guess is OK, but I think I have a better one. Since hearing Bob Mumford's teaching on the Agape Road, I think the better answer to the question of "who am I", would be "I was a lost sinner who has been found by Jesus, and am starting a journey up the Agape Road with Him to find intimacy with the Father". You may have to see the DVD's of Bob's teaching to really understand the full meaning of this statement. I have learned so much from Bob over the years that we have followed his teaching on audio cassettes. But this is definitely his best yet, and is the result of many years of pursuing the word "Agape" (God's love), as opposed to "Eros", which a self centered kind of "taking" instead of "giving" love. This is at the very core of the gospel message, which in the NT scriptures is often referred to as the "gospel of the Kingdom", to set it apart from the many other "gospels" that have come forth at various times in church circles! Let's just use the expression "Believer Beware"!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

TWO RULES TO LIVE BY

TWO RULES TO LIVE BY
God gave 10 commandments to Moses on the mountain (Exod 20:1-17), which were multiplied to 613 rules that religious Jews were expected to keep. These were enforced by the Pharisees during the time that Jesus lived on the earth. These were reduced to only 2 by Jesus, which He repeated several times in His teaching, as recorded in the 4 gospel accounts. They were simply, 1/ "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength", and 2/ "Love your neighbor as yourself". These are simple rules, but there is a lot more involved in keeping them than most people realize! I am slowly coming to understand what is involved since watching the "Agape Road" teaching by Bob Mumford on his DVD's. I first read his book by that title, and then listened to the audio CD's series given at a large seminar about 10 years ago, and am now enjoying the teaching much more by seeing Bob deliver the teaching in the original setting. I enjoy reading about the way Jesus replied to the Pharisees, who were the most religious crowd of Jews who were always trying to point out how Jesus didn't keep some of their religious traditions. One example of this is recorded by Matthew in his gospel (Matt 22:34-40), and then in the next chapter he records what Jesus thought of these "religious" leaders. He uses some very uncomplimentary names for these guys, like "hypocrites", "blind fools", and "whitewashed tombs"! Not the type of descriptive words you would expect to hear from the "gentle Jesus", that some people consider Him to be

I often wonder how He would describe the "religious leaders" of the church today that most people believe to be the Church that Jesus said He would build. When you compare the church we see in the book of Acts with what we call the "church" today, you are hard pressed to see any resemblance. This has caused me to use the terms "True Church" and "false church" to describe the two very different organizations! Actually the True Church that Jesus has been building for the past 2000 years is an "organism" because it is a living thing. An organization is not a living thing, but simply a group of people who are joined together to accomplish certain worthy goals, similar to the Kiwanis Club, or some other service club. We must always remember that the True Church is composed only of people who have been "born again" by the Holy Spirit, and are "New Creatures in Christ" as described by Paul in (2 Cor 5:17)!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer

Thursday, June 23, 2011

SOME THOUGHTS ON TIME

SOME THOUGHTS ON TIME              
The little word "time" is a very interesting word, that the Concise Oxford English Dictionary recently stated is the most often used noun in the English language. And the Bible has a lot of scriptures that speak about time. With our finite minds, it is very difficult for us to properly understand time. Most people complain about never having enough time, but the fact of the matter is that we all have the same amount of time. Every day has 24 hours, and every week has 7 days, that gives us all a total of 168 hours a week, or 10,080 minutes! The best description of time I ever saw presented was a large circle drawn on a sheet of paper to represent time and space inside the circle, surrounded by eternity. God exists outside of time in eternity, and is not confined to operate in our circle. From His perspective it is always "now", and in  (Ps 90:4) Moses stated when referring to God "For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours" NLT. And Peter was probably referring to this OT passage when he wrote "----a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day"
(
2 Peter 3:8) There are lots of scripture passages that warn us that the day is coming when time will be no more, and that God is giving us time to get things right with Him. But I believe He has an appointed time to roll up time as a scroll, so to speak, and our universe will become part of His eternity again. One of the most challenging scripture passages to me is the third chapter of 2 Peter, from which we quoted part of verse 8 above! If you read the whole chapter carefully you will see several references to "The Day of The Lord". This is probably the most important day mentioned in all of scripture, and is certainly worthy of some careful study. For the redeemed children of God it will be a glorious day, but for the wicked children of Satan, it will be a horrible day when God starts to pour out His wrath.  (Rev 15:5-8) Listen to the last two verses from the NLT, "I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your secure footing. Rather you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to Him, both now and forever! Amen." That is a word for all to read and heed!!
Sincerely submitted.                                                                                                             Dave Jamer