FROM ETERNITY TO HERE

FROM ETERNITY TO HERE----A book review

This book by Frank Viola was published earlier this year, 2009, by David C Cook. It is basically Frank's attempt to establish in our minds that God has always had an "ultimate purpose" in creation. This ultimate, eternal purpose was, and still is, to have a companion (bride/wife) to rule and reign throughout eternity with His Son Jesus Christ. This is very similar to the theme of "Destined For The Throne" by Paul Billheimer published back in 1975. Much of the church has been focused on getting "fallen man" back into relationship with God, which was broken by the sin of Adam in the garden of Eden. This was part of the reason for God the Father sending Jesus the Son into our world, but not the total reason. It would seem that the Father wanted to enlarge His family, so to speak, from three to many members. When He created Adam in His own image, He said it is not good that man should be alone. He put Adam to sleep and removed from his side a bride/wife, called Eve. Apparently when Adam was created perfect in God's image, he contained both male and female gender qualities. Once these qualities where separated, they could reproduce children after their kind, and fill the earth with Godly offspring. However as we know from scripture, before this could happen, Satan was allowed to introduce his original sin of rebellion into the human race through Adam. So instead of the earth being populated with Godly offspring, it became contaminated by a race of sinners! The rest is history that is well recorded in our Bible.

Frank divides his book into three parts.

Part one---A Forgotten Woman: The Bride of Christ.

The first 11 chapters are devoted to developing this theme, from the creation of Adam with a woman inside of him, through to Jesus, who in sense, also had His Bride inside of Him. When Jesus shed His blood through the spear wound in His side on the cross, His bride was born, so to speak, although she was not introduced to the world until after the resurrection of Jesus.

Part two---An Eternal Quest: The House of God.

The next 9 chapters tell the story of how God has always desired to dwell with His people on planet earth. From the Garden of Eden, when He would come down to be with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, through the time of Moses, and the tabernacle in the wilderness, this was always His desire. Then He allowed Solomon to build a temple that He dwelt in until it was destroyed. At last He came to earth Himself in the person of His Son, and when Jesus was rejected and killed, He came to live in the Church, through the person of the Holy Spirit! One day according to the last two chapters of the Bible, He will set up His headquarters for eternity here on the renovated planet earth!

Part three---A New Species: The Body of Christ and The Family of God.

The last 7 chapters cover the history of how the church developed through the gospels, the book of Acts, and the epistles, to become the permanent home for God throughout eternity. I guarantee you that a careful, prayerful, read through this book will give you a new appreciation for the Church that Jesus said He would build. (Matt 16:18) Bear in mind that what we have seen as the church, is certainly not the Church Jesus was talking about. The true Church, the Body of Christ on earth, is the "Community of The King"! Are you part of this Body? If not--- why not? You can be, by becoming a follower of Jesus!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

LIGHT AND LOVE

LIGHT AND LOVE

These two little words taken from scripture, are both used to help us understand a bit more about our "Creator God". The first one appears several times in the Bible, starting in the very first book (Gen 1:3) "Then God said let there be light, and there was light." Then at the start of the gospel of John we see it again (John 1:4-5) "The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." Here the light is clearly Jesus, the Son of God, who came into our world as a human, in order to become our Savior. (John 1:14) Then in (1 John 1:5) we read "This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all." We are all familiar with darkness, which can be defined as the absence of light. When we enter a dark room, and turn on the light switch, we all know that the darkness disappears. Where does it go? The light simply "overcomes" it, because of the truth expressed in (John 1:5). This is a divine principle we need to learn early in our Christian journey: "Light" [Jesus] always overcomes "darkness" [Satan]! Jesus defeated Satan at Calvary, some 2000 years ago, when he shed His life's blood to pay the price of our sins. (Rom 6:23) Satan was not destroyed at that time, only stripped of his authority and power. His total destruction will only come at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ. (Rev 20:7-10).

Now we turn to (1 John 4:8), which reads in the NLT "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." This is one of the most basic statements in all of scripture! The Greek word John used here, as directed by the Holy Spirit, was [Agape]. We might call it the "God kind of love". We find it used in many scriptures such as

(1 Cor 13), often referred to as the love chapter. Then of course it is used also in (John 3:16), probably the best known verse in the Bible. There are several other Greek words that have a completely different meaning from [Agape], that unfortunately in most English translations, they are all rendered as love. Our English language is a poor comparison to the Greek in which the NT was written! Therefore, it is critical for those of us who have never studied Greek, to be familiar with a good concordance like Strong's. In (Heb 4:13) we read in the NLT "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable." This could be very scary, if it were not for the fact that we have been discussing: God is certainly "Light", and sees everything we do, but He is also "Love", so we don't need to fear being accountable to Him! Unless, of course, we have been trying to keep something hidden from Him. A careful reading of (1 John 1:5-10) should clear up any cause of fear in this regard. And of course consider the Cross of Calvary, where we see the perfect example of the love of God being shown!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

THE IMMOVABLE MAN

The Immovable Man

The apostle Paul made a profound statement in (Acts 20:24) "But none of these things move me: Nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." (NKJV). We can safely refer to Paul as the "immovable man", not only on the basis of this one statement, but when we consider everything he endured for the sake of the gospel. In (2 Cor 11:16-33) we can read the account of the many trials and tribulations he went through while taking the gospel message to the Gentile world. When you read through the book of Acts, in nearly every city he visited spreading the gospel, he was followed by a band of fanatical religious Jews from Jerusalem, accusing him of teaching wrong doctrine. They had rejected the teaching of Jesus, and had Him killed by the Romans, because He was upsetting their religious traditions! Jesus came to put an end to the Jewish religion of the day, not to start a new religion! Of course they couldn't understand this because God had caused a spiritual blindness to come upon them, causing their unbelief.

Once Paul, who was then called Saul, met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was never the same man. He was converted, and then prayed for by a humble disciple named Ananias, to receive his sight back, and be baptized both in water and the Holy Spirit, (Acts 9:1-19) He never forgot this experience, and often shared it, even before kings and rulers. In many of his letters to the churches he had planted, he referred to opposition he had faced. For example in (Phil 1:12-26), and in (2 Tim 4:9-18) we read about some of the ones who spoke against him, and abandoned him in the end of his ministry. In spite of all this, he always ended his letters with a positive word of affirmation and kind regards to all his co-workers and friends. Even his letter to the church in Rome, that he didn't start, and had never even visited, he closed the last chapter with a personal word of greeting to some twenty-five people. This is amazing to me, and only adds to the many positive attributes of this servant of Christ, who we freely call "The Immovable Man"!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

THE BIBLE (in a nutshell)

THE BIBLE (In a nutshell)

The Bible is a very special book, because it is the Word of God, the Creator of the universe and all it contains. It is composed of two divisions, or covenants, known as the Old Testament, and the New Testament. They are clearly divided by the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the coming to earth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This can be seen in (Matt 11:7-15), where Jesus explains John's ministry as the greatest of the OT prophets, but being less than the least member in the NT in the Kingdom of God. An understanding of this basic division into these two Testaments is so important because of the introduction of a teaching by C I Scofield in 1909 which claimed that all of human history is divided into seven divisions called "dispensations". This teaching has become known as "dispensionalism", and has had a tremendous influence on the church since then. The divisions were 1/ Innocence, 2/ Conscience, 3/ Human Government, 4/ Promise, 5/ law, 6/ Church, 7/ Kingdom. Each division was thought to finish before the next one could start, hence the confusion between 5 and 6, and between 6 and 7, because they clearly overlap. The Kingdom came to earth with King Jesus, over 2000 years ago, and the church age only began after He ascended back to heaven. The Kingdom will not be fully manifested until Jesus comes again in Glory, but it is certainly present on earth today. I prefer to believe the words of Jesus as recorded in scripture, over the theories of any man such as Dr, Scofield!

The OT starts with the creation story in Genesis "in the beginning", no one but God knows when that was. Once the earth was ready to sustain life, He caused plants to be added to it, then animals of all sorts, and finally, about 6000 years ago, He created the first man after His own image and likeness. After this first man Adam disobeyed the one and only direct command given to him by God, (Gen 2:15-17), and sin was introduced to his perfect environment. This sin spread throughout Adam's descendants until the earth became so wicked that all life had to be destroyed. All except Noah and his immediate family (Gen 6:9-9:29), because Noah was a "righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at that time" (NLT).Then God chose the family of a man called Abram to become His chosen Nation. God changed his name to Abraham, and his grandson Jacob had his name changed to Israel, and became the father of the nation Israel, who became God's People. They were given the task of setting an example before their wicked Gentile neighbor nations, of what God expected. Of course they failed many times to live up to God's commands, and He sent them prophets to warn them of the danger of disobedience. When they failed to listen to the words of these prophets, He would use these Gentile nations to take them into bondage. The rest of the OT gives us the history of His dealings with His People, and the promise of a Messiah, who would deliver them from both natural and spiritual bondage!

The NT begins with the coming to earth of Jesus, the Son of God, who always existed in heaven as part of the Godhead, which we refer to as "The Trinity". The four gospel writers give a good coverage of His life, death, burial, and resurrection. Then the book of Acts tell of his Ascension back to heaven where He will remain at the Father's side "until" He decides its time to send Jesus back to receive His "Bride", the Church that the Holy Spirit came to call out of the world. (Acts 3:19-21) Jesus told His followers what the Holy Spirit would do when He came to take His place on planet earth (John chapters 14, 15, and 16). The book of Acts gives the history of how the Church that Jesus said He would build (Matt 16:18) is being built by the Holy Spirit, as He carries out the will of Jesus who remains at His place at the Father's side. The various letters of Paul and others, give us the instructions the Church should follow, to prepare for the second coming of Jesus to receive His Bride who has made herself ready! (2 Cor 7:1). Then the book of Revelation wraps up this age of grace by recording a series of visions that Jesus gave to the apostle John, who also wrote the fourth gospel, plus three short letters. Remember it is a series of separate visions, and can not be taken as a chronological book like Acts. In other words, the chapters don't necessarily follow each other in a logical order. However a careful reading of this final book of the Bible, with the enlightening of the Holy Spirit who helped John write it, will allow you to understand how it all ends. This will require a "face value" interpretation of God's Word, and not some man made theories.

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

IN THE BEGINNING

IN THE BEGINNING

This phrase occurs twice in the Bible, in both the Old Testament, and the New. "In the beginning God created the heavens (plural) and the earth (singular)" (Gen 1:1), and "In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." (John 1:1-5) Then in verse 14 we read "So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." This Word, of course was Jesus, who came to earth to be our Savior. We know that every thing must have a beginning, and also an end, and Jesus declared in (Rev 1:8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end----". So from these few verses from God's Word we can see what is meant by this expression, "In the beginning". No one knows when this beginning occurred except God!

Then when we read in (John 14:6) the words of Jesus "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me" we realize that this simple statement is absolutely true! We live in a so-called "Post Modern" world, and one of the foundational statements they believe, and promote is "There are no absolutes". They have developed a theory of "Relativism", which assumes there is no absolute truth, and everyone can live by whatever they consider to be true. In other words, when it comes to matters of morality, or ethics, since there are no absolutes, every one can do whatever they consider to be right in there own eyes. That is why we see the world in its present condition! That's why people need Jesus to become Lord of their life, because He alone is "Absolute Truth"!! One of the key words in the post-modern philosophy is "tolerance", they treat it as their god. They expect everyone to be tolerant to the views of others, since they believe there are no absolutes. But they show little, or no tolerance to followers of Jesus, who believe the Bible, and know Jesus is "The Truth"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

Resurrection Sunday 2009

RESURRECTION SUNDAY 2009

Today we will be celebrating Easter Sunday again, when we remember the sacrificial death of Jesus, our Savior. This is really the highlight of the year for the church, when all eyes are focused on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Good Friday rallies have been very memorable times in the past, when the Saint John Ministerial sponsors a combined rally in one of the larger church sanctuaries in town, but Sunday morning has always been the most important day of all.

In the past few years I find more and more attention given to "chocolate bunnies" and "Easter eggs", and very little given to the story of Jesus. This has become more frustrating to me each year! How did the church ever fall into this completely non-scriptural tradition? It seems there was a pagan holiday that always occurred in the early spring, when all of nature was starting to come back to life after lying dormant over the winter months. The god called "Estar", who they believed was the god of "fertility", was worshipped at this time of year, and because it was always near the date of "Passover", it seems the church gradually chose this pagan holiday to celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This would account for the emphasis on eggs and bunnies, since they represent signs of "fertility".

Maybe 2009 could be the year that Christians rose up and refused to use the term "Easter", which is taken from the pagan fertility god named Estar, and start to use the term "Resurrection Sunday". This is certainly a scriptural term, and loaded with powerful meaning for us believers. This word is found in many scriptures like (Acts 23:6), where Paul used it to bring confusion between the Pharisees who believed in a resurrection, and the Sadducees who didn't. The word is taken from the Greek word [anastasis] which means, standing up again, restoration to life, or rising from the dead. It seems to me that "Resurrection Sunday" is a much more appropriate name for the most important day on the Christian calendar, than Easter Sunday!

How do you think we could go about redeeming this day from the pagans and making it into the "Holy Day" that it should be, instead of a day to honor some ancient fertility god? If anyone has a good idea how we could do this, maybe you can contact me. Let's strive to make it a day to honor and respect the memory of our Savior who deserves our best!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer

A NO-NAME DAY

A NO-NAME DAY

Today is Saturday April 11, 2009, the day between Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. Some one has said "Today is Friday, but Sunday is coming!". Those are two important days on the calendar for the Christian! The day Jesus died to pay the price for our sins, and redeem us to a place of fellowship with God our heavenly Father, and the third day after, when Jesus rose victoriously from the tomb! One of my favorite hymns is "Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o'er His foes---". But this day in between is a day of waiting, a no-name day, so to speak, but still a very important day for us. A day to mediate on yesterday, when personally, Dora and I were led to go to a service at Smithtown Baptist Church at 11:00 AM. This was a very simple service comprised of scriptures featuring the words of Jesus on the cross. They were read, with comments on them, by teen age young people together with their pastor, plus the singing of several appropriate hymns. The manifest presence of the Lord was clearly evident, proving that He was well pleased with the service!

Today is also a day to prepare our hearts for tomorrow, Resurrection Sunday. I prefer that to the term Easter Sunday, because of how the world has perverted Easter, by making it a celebration of "eggs, and bunnies". What have these to to do with the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ from the tomb? Absolutely nothing!! Easter is simply a Pagan celebration, recognizing spring as the time of year when nature comes back to life, so to speak, and hence the reference to eggs and bunnies. It was brought into church traditions during the "dark ages" of church history, along with many other pagan customs, because it overlapped with the celebration of Christ's resurrection. It has become a very profitable commercial time for stores selling candy and flowers, as have Valentine's Day, and many other days. It's a shame that Christians have fallen into the world's pattern of worshiping these days, and sort of worshiping the god of "mammon" (Matt 6:24), and leaving out Jesus, who should be our central focus in this season! The same thing has happen with Christmas, where Jesus is no longer the central figure of our celebrations, but has been replaced by Santa Clause! It's probably time for us followers of Jesus to rise up in protest!

Sincerely submitted

Dave Jamer