MINISTER CLAIMED CANADA MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE

Believe it or not, the minister at the house church I once attended claimed that Canada was mentioned in the bible. He used the following verses to back his preposterous contention:

Zechariah 9:10 (KJV)  And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 72:8   (KJV)He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Brother Herald, as I called him, believed that Canada fit the "sea to sea" description. He taught us that the Saint Lawrence River was the one mentioned in both scriptures and the "ends of the earth" meant the north coast. Not knowing any better, I believed him.

Now that I know how to read the Bible for all it's worth, and all its worth, I realize how ridiculous Brother Herald's claim was. The key to understanding any passage in Scripture is context. For example, Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." It obviously refers to Christ coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The verse Brother Herald thought proved Canada was the Lord's dominion actually spoke of the Messiah's reign.

Likewise, Psalm 72 is about the Messiah and has no relationship to Canada. When it's read with the understanding that King David wrote it to his people and not to gentiles thousands of years in the future, the verses make perfect sense.

Had I known this key to biblical exegesis, I'd never have fallen for the absurd teachings of that lay minister. Since I now know the technique of reading the scriptures in context, I want everybody else to learn what I learned. I Wrote How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity for the purpose of showing how deceived I once was and how God freed me from  Brother Herald's cultic ideas with God's help.

We Are Works in Progress - Bruce Atchison

When I worked for Transport Canada's Airports Branch two decades ago, my friend Cliff put up a sign behind his desk. It read, "WORK IN PROGRESS. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE." I laughed aloud when I read it. This sign, innocuous on a construction site, became so hilarious when placed in a government office. I couldn't help but admire the clever sense of humour Cliff had.

Sometimes I believe I should have a T shirt with that sign printed on it. I don't mean to cause people "inconvenience" but the Lord is at work in my life, as well as in the lives of the rest of us.

Writing How I Was Razed has shown me that I'm far from perfect. Yet Christ is continually sanctifying me. As with any renovation project, it's a messy process.

Various teaching ministries have shown me that there are no instant cures when it comes to character flaws and personality problems. The Bible shows this in the life of the apostle Peter. Even he became caught up in the movement to impose the commandments of the law on the new Greek believers and sat apart from the gentiles at dinner. Paul corrected his notion and pointed out his hypocrisy in public.

Likewise, Paul and Barnabas parted company when they couldn't agree on taking John Mark with them. Since such men of God had their problems, why shouldn't we less-experienced Christians deal likewise with the ones we have?

I hope my upcoming memoir blesses its readers in some small way. It contains the lessons I learned about who God really is after being misled in a cultic church. My hope is that it will prevent others from making the same mistakes. I'll doubtless continue to blunder in future until either I die or Christ comes. The best thing for all of us to do is to repent of our sins and try again.