I first heard Dr. Milne guest speaking at Lord's Grace church in Vancouver and was immediately impressed with his passionate and simple presentation of God's Word. His lovely, impassioned, Scottish accent helps, too! What I really appreciate is that his outlines are taken straight from the outline of Scripture. Today, Dr. Milne's two points are taken from Paul's two responses to God's calling on the road to Damascus: "Who are you, Lord?", and "What shall I do, Lord?" (Acts 22:6-10). We first need to know (1) who we belong to, we need to know the heart of God, before we can know (2) what we will do for Him. A simple, clear two-point outline taken straight from the Bible!
This is the beef I have with structured devotionals like Rick Warren's famous "40 Days of Purpose", or even the C&MA "Vision prayer" that we used recently in a prayer meeting. I don't disagree with any individual point, but the outline appears to be out of someone's head -- and outline is content, too. Why these 40 points? Why this order? Is this exhaustive? Are some more important than others? Can they be categorized hierarchically? Someone else could come up with a different set of 40 points. The feeling I get is that the author first came up with an outline, then thought, "hmm, what verses can I find to back up my points?". That's a slippery slope! We need to read the Bible on its own terms, without our own preconceived agenda, and mold our worldview to fit it, rather than the other way around.
OK, off the soapbox again....