I Remember AW Tozer

 Aunt Kang-I, you have touched on two subjects that are quite dear to me, I will start with the author, Tozer. You mentioned this book, I did look it up and confirmed that it is "The Divine Conquest." I read this book when I was a college junior. I bought it in Calgary as part of the bookfair at my church, Calgary Chinese Baptist Church. When I initially read it, I immediately was very touched about the concept of 'eternal continuum.' He starts out with the idea that people have lost touch with God and could not hear him or feel his immediate presence so they assumed he is not longer with them. Tozer taught me that God is ever the same, this continuation stems from past to the future, nothing has changed. We are ignorant of this fact. I have read many of his works and has uplifted me each time. Books like, "Roots of Righteousness" "Born after midnight" "Collection of the Writings of AW Tozer" It is interesting to point out that Tozer did not have a formal theological or philosophical education, and he presided over only a few Alliance churches in his life time, one in Chicago and one in Toronto (at the modern day Bayview Glen Alliance Church in Toronto - which is not far from my parents' house at the time). 

I have been impressed by Tozer and he taught me that a great book is like a sign post, once it serves its purpose, there is no need of it. And he helped me to realize the futility of being an Alliance church member which I retreated from it in 1988, and have not gone back since. He is right, 'gospel Christians' are shallow, and I was one. I have since then delved deeper into the faith I was given. Sufficient to say that he is the sign post, and after I read him, I no longer need to look to a particular Christian tradition to be justified or to find my meaning in life.

I however, have read and re-read the Divine Conquest, and each time I do, I find more nuance from it. He is a humble man of God, having set his sight on the eternal coninuum, the concept is still well in my heart. I rarely see someone like him today, if there are (I am sure) people like him, they are likely to be buried in the pile of the rubble that screams, yells, and jumps up and down and proclaims their messages through loud microphones, and collect a huge amount of wealth, people and capital, I am sure my teacher Tozer would gravely disapprove of these modern day 'gospel Christians..'

After these many years, the mention of his name (rare these days), still brings a certain warmth to me, for this is someone who has helped me in my journey as a Christian. This journey has been attacked, sacked, jettisoned a few times, and in the end, I still look to him for guidance. Nothing has changed, even though the presence of God we so eagerly seek did change, the ideas of being an Evangelic did change, and the traditional teachings did so change, but this eternal continuum remains.


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