The Page Turns
Jerry N Watts
Joshua 1:1-11
For God's word to resonate with modern man, it seems that we have decided it must address a 'specific' or (in the vernacular) a 'felt' need. Thus, we have the 10 ways, 7 steps, etc. This is today's Americanized church approach to God, the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity. However, when the Bible speaks, it speaks to the real need(s) of mankind not just the 'so-called' felt needs.
It began in the Garden when man chose a piece of fruit over immortality, rejected a perfect world with one rule over a fallen world with more rules and laws than we can count, and most importantly, choose a life filled with sin over a life filled with Sovereign God. Interestingly, the Garden experience tells us that man is ''prone to wander and leave the God (we love?).''
It was also in the Garden that God revealed His plan to bring man back to Himself. To the serpent He said, ''I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; HE SHALL BRUISE YOUR HEAD, and you shall bruise His heel.'' In other words, ''Satan you may hurt Him, but He will put you in your place.'' And with those words, we have a 'page turn' in history, the Bible story, and in life. The previous chapter was perfection and the new one?
Think about turning a page. Your reading a book and you get to the bottom of the page or the end of a chapter and the book is so interesting that you just cannot wait to read and find out what comes next. We call this 'a page turner'. The entertainment industry uses this anticipation very well. How many weekly shows have begun ending with a cliff-hanger, an unsolved issue, or a 'page turner.' You sit there and fuss at the TV (who is innocent) about having to wait.
Too often, when a page turn comes in the life of a believer or church, we miss it because we view it as an end. A family member moves, an employee goes to another company, or a Pastor's leaving is all too often seen as an END - and ...
Jerry N Watts
Joshua 1:1-11
For God's word to resonate with modern man, it seems that we have decided it must address a 'specific' or (in the vernacular) a 'felt' need. Thus, we have the 10 ways, 7 steps, etc. This is today's Americanized church approach to God, the Bible, Jesus, and Christianity. However, when the Bible speaks, it speaks to the real need(s) of mankind not just the 'so-called' felt needs.
It began in the Garden when man chose a piece of fruit over immortality, rejected a perfect world with one rule over a fallen world with more rules and laws than we can count, and most importantly, choose a life filled with sin over a life filled with Sovereign God. Interestingly, the Garden experience tells us that man is ''prone to wander and leave the God (we love?).''
It was also in the Garden that God revealed His plan to bring man back to Himself. To the serpent He said, ''I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; HE SHALL BRUISE YOUR HEAD, and you shall bruise His heel.'' In other words, ''Satan you may hurt Him, but He will put you in your place.'' And with those words, we have a 'page turn' in history, the Bible story, and in life. The previous chapter was perfection and the new one?
Think about turning a page. Your reading a book and you get to the bottom of the page or the end of a chapter and the book is so interesting that you just cannot wait to read and find out what comes next. We call this 'a page turner'. The entertainment industry uses this anticipation very well. How many weekly shows have begun ending with a cliff-hanger, an unsolved issue, or a 'page turner.' You sit there and fuss at the TV (who is innocent) about having to wait.
Too often, when a page turn comes in the life of a believer or church, we miss it because we view it as an end. A family member moves, an employee goes to another company, or a Pastor's leaving is all too often seen as an END - and ...
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