NO SAFE PLACE .... EXCEPT ONE!

Throughout history Christians have been looking for a safe place to meet. A safe place to talk, worship, fellowship. Some sought it in monasteries and nunneries. Some in segregated communities and compounds Even on the internet I have seen people expressing the desire for a "safe place" to interact with other Christians.

The truth is there is no safe place on Earth for followers of Christ and few of those seeking one have understood that while we are told Satan has been confined TO this world (that is - Earth), the Bible tells us he is not confined ON the Earth. Rather that he "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)

Satan is the Prince of THIS world and there is no place he cannot be on it ..... except one. The only place Satan cannot be is ... in Christ. This is why Jesus could say: "These things I have spoken unto you, that IN ME ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

What then does this mean for us? Firstly it means we cannot make A VENUE a safe place for Christians. Make no mistake Satan has been here a long time already and we know he can masquerade as an angel of light. Masquerading as a good and devout Christian is something he has had a lot of practice at. Do not be deceived, he is among us in many guises, indistinguishable from anybody else - to the human eye. He roams as free here as anywhere on earth. Indeed the internet is probably among his most favorite playgrounds these days. But like elsewhere there is only one place he cannot be even on the Internet and that is, in Christ.

There is only ONE safe place for Christians to be no matter where in the world (and cyber world) they may find themselves, and that is to remain in the will and in the word of God - for that is where Christ is and will always be.

But what IS the will and word of God? It is what is WRITTEN in the Bible. It is what the words of the Bible themselves say and mean for the Lord means what HE has said and has said what HE means. No matter how learned or knowledgeable they may be no man's or woman's, or church's interpretation of the Bible is the word of God. The world's foremost authority on the Bible is the Bible itself. But so many want you to give more authority to what THEY say the Bible says, than what the Bible says for itself. But no man is an authority on the Bible, rather the Bible is an authority OVER all men.

Want to know about Revelation? The world's foremost authority on Revelation is the Apostle John - LISTEN to him. Want to understand the book of Daniel? The world's foremost authority on the prophecies of Daniel is ... Daniel - note carefully what HE says.

The foremost expert on the letters of Paul is Paul. On the book of Isaiah it's Isaiah, etc., etc.. Understand for WHO God wrote the Bible. He did not write it for theologians, or church leaderships, or commentators. He wrote it for ... YOU AND I.

The Bible itself there in YOUR hand is the fulfillment of a prophecy.

"And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."  (Jeremiah 31:34)

If you want to make wherever and whenever you meet a safe place for Christians let every conversation remain in the word and will of God. Let God Himself teach you through HIS word. The Lord Himself has promised you He will. That is why He wrote it all down - for YOU!

Satan CANNOT preach and teach or allow to be preached and taught, the word of God truthfully and correctly for then he would serve Christ. He can only preach and teach falsely and do whatever he can to discourage or prevent people from turning to and invoking the actual word of God Himself. BUT the Lord has given YOU His word in writing in your very own hands. Pay careful attention, in the counsel of the Holy Spirit that dwells within you, whether or not any man's words agree with the actual words the Lord has WRITTEN down for you Himself and you will remain safe in the word and will of the Lord for that is where you will find yourself in Christ, a place Satan cannot enter. For God has written His word so that YOU will be able to read AND understand it for yourself and not be deceived.

There, and there alone, will you find the safe place for Christians that you seek. Let no man prevent you from invoking and declaring the authority of the WRITTEN word of God Himself. Rest assured it will soon reveal to you the true nature of all present.

"Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." (Malachi 3:16 KJV)

Provided it is done freely and without charge
"No Safe Place .... Except One!" may be copied, used and distributed
(in its entirety only including this notice)

by brothers and sisters in Christ

to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)

By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright  2014.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa 

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.""

Sitting there by the door of our local church listening to the sermon the other week The Lord turned on another lightbulb somewhere in the dimmer recesses of my mind (Hope He's got a lot of light bulbs :-). It never ceases to amaze me how many times I can read a passage and still miss some of the most important stuff.

Why does it take two laws to sum up everything in the Law of God? Surely if we love God will not EVERYTHING ELSE flow from that one single law to love our God with all our hearts and souls and minds? Why TWO laws? Then came the lightbulb.

We are called to have two loves, not one. If we do not have two loves we have none. It's double or nothing.

How often do we hear, or even say ourselves, " It is because I love Christ that I do this for you." Or perhaps "It is the love of Christ that leads me to do this for you." Or something else similar. But this misses the point of why the Law of God is summed up in two laws, not one. The Law speaks of OUR love. WE are to have two loves. If we do not serve our neighbors out of our OWN love for them we do not do as The Lord has asked.

We cannot love God and also speak evil of, criticise, or gossip about, one another. We cannot love God and also treat each other harshly or unkindly. We cannot love God and yet do nothing for the needs of others. The Good Samaritan could not meet all the needs of the stranger - but he ensured all his needs were met nonetheless' even in his absence. But the parable does not speak of the relationship of the Samaritan with The Lord, that was not the point Jesus was making. The parable says "when he saw him, he (the Samaritan) took pity on him. (Luke 10:33). The important message Jesus was getting across was the relationship the Samaritan himself had with his neighbour as an example of what it means for us to love our neighbour as ourselves.

If you are sitting in church reading this, look around you. These are not your only neighbours ... BUT they are your closest neighbours. Love each and every one of them dearly, love them deeply. It may not always be easy, but it will always be necessary.

John 13:35 "By THIS all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Provided it is done freely and without charge
"Double or Nothing" may be copied, used and distributed
(In its entirety only including this notice)

by brothers and sisters in Christ

to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)

By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright 2013.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

A NEW THING UNDER THE SON!

Easter is the time we remember the day Jesus triumphed over even death itself. The day The Lord revealed to mankind the biggest surprise of all. For those who believe in Christ Jesus, death is only the beginning of an incredible new life.

When speaking of the ministry of Jesus many are tempted to focus on the three years up to His crucifixion, but that misses the whole point of the resurrection and ascension. In one very important way the ministry of Jesus did not begin until Pentacost. Up until then it had in many ways been preparation for that ministry to mankind. It was at Pentacost, beginning with those in the upper room, that men began to be born again in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I did not fully appreciate the meaning in Rev 21:5 when it says "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." . That is until I was reading Ecclesiastes the other day and Solomon's conclusion that "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9) .

At Pentecost Jesus ushered in something "never before seen" new and incredible.  If we but lay down our "same old, same old" lives under the sun, Jesus, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is able to recreate in us a new life, a new creature unlike mankind had ever before witnessed. No longer confined to, or conformed by, this tiny, same old, same old, world under the sun we become sons of God Himself under HIS Son. 

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God

But the incredible magnitude and miracle of what it means to be truly born again as "Sons of God" is only fully appreciated if you understand WHO the Bible refers to whenever it speaks of the "Sons of God". When the Bible speaks of the "Sons of God" it is not speaking of man or mankind but of the angels of the Lord, the "elohiym".

But as I look around today it saddens me to see so many "same old, same old" churches and Christians doing the "same old, same old" things everybody else is doing. Trying to gain popularity and members by meeting the community's expectations instead of by meeting its needs. Jesus came, not doing what was "expected", but doing what was needed, regardless of what the world "expected" of Him. We are called to continue what He began.

I see so many who, in truth, are only half dead to the world and only half alive in Christ. That will just tear a person apart. Half and half does not mean we have a foot in both. It means we are, like the Church at Laodicea, not really a part of either and Jesus died for us in vain.

Christ is risen, behold there is now a new and very different thing under the sun - the question we must each ask ourselves is ..... Have I become that new thing under the Son?

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"A New Thing Under The Son" may be copied, used and distributed

(in its entirety only, including this notice)

by brothers and sisters in Christ

to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)

By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright  2013.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

THE WORTHSHIP OF THE LORD

No it's not a spelling mistake in the title. We make much of "worship" but do we really understand what it is ... and what it is not? For instance worship is not the music we play and the songs we sing nor is it the Sunday morning rituals they are part of. It is not the ministries we do although it is to be found  - or not found - in the way, the why and the attitude in which they are done.

To worship is to ascribe worth. How much you worship is measured by how much worth you ascribe. But how do you measure ascribed worth? In accounting there is a way to measure the ascribed worth of investment possibilities, that is, where best to invest your limited finances and resources. It is called " Opportunity Cost". Basically it is the value of the investment you would have to forego if you spent your limited resources on the one planned.

The point behind "Opportunity Cost" is, when you can't do both (limited time, energy, finances, etc.) you ascribe "worthship" to whatever you choose to do by the sacrifice of what ever else you might have been able to do with that time, energy and effort. Worship is measured by the VALUE to you, of the time, energy, effort, and resources ( including heart, mind, and soul) you are prepared to sacrifice to a thing or person. Some people worship their cars, some their professions or jobs. Others worship their chosen sport. Some worship the maximisation of fitness, wealth, possessions, and other material goals. The list is endless.

But The Lord has commanded that we love and worship HIM with ALL our heart, mind, soul and life. The good news is that He has provided endless ways in which to express that worship so that none of us should feel unable to obey Him in this, the most important commandment of all. When we sacrifice time and energy and effort in fulfilling our marital vows it is an act of worship because we made those vows to The Lord Himself. When we love and care for our children and make sure they are raised in a loving and godly home that too is a command of The Lord to which we ascribe worth in the obeying and doing. If we actively choose to love and do only good, not only to those who love us but also to those who do not, this too is an act of worship.

How much time, energy and effort we choose to sacrifice to the use of our God given gifts, talents and abilities, and in the undertaking of our various ministries is also a measure of worship. Especially if we compare it to how much care and effort we put into our everyday workplaces and professions. It must always be remembered that The Lord's commandment that we work for our employers as if we were working for Him (Colossians 3:22-23)  is a call to greater care, effort and application, not less care, effort and application.

We all have many opportunities daily, in our life and ministry choices to ascribe worth to The Lord above all that is in Heaven and Earth. Are you making the most of your opportunities?

Matthew 13: 44-46 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"The Worthship of The Lord" may be copied, used and distributed

(in its entirety only, including this notice)

by brothers and sisters in Christ

to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)

By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright 2014.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

A PECULIAR PEOPLE

1 Peter 2:9-10 (KJV) "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:"

I think one of the saddest things about churches today is they no longer want to be considered "peculiar". Like the Israelites of Samuel's time they no longer want to be a peculiar people but "normal" people, just like the Israelites wanted to be a "normal" nation and have a real flesh and blood king they could parade around like all the other nations. But we are called to be a peculiar people, a people like no other on Earth. Indeed a people  so peculiar they live their lives as citizens of Heaven who are visitors and strangers upon the Earth. 

An early writer (130AD) who called himself "Mathetes" (meaning "The Disciple") gives a beautiful description of the unashamedly peculiar manners of those first Christians who are also our brothers and sisters in Christ. You can read it at  ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.iii.ii.v.html . 

We are to be a people who do not hold any one of us to be more, or less, important than any other of us but equally united in a peculiar love found nowhere else but in Christ. We are not a people bound by a common purpose as "normal" groups and associations are, we are a people in-dwelt and empowered by a single Spirit, who serve a single master and are the beloved children of a single God.

We are a peculiar people who do not plan for the future so much as seek to discover and  follow the plan that we know has already been laid out before us. A peculiar people with a peculiar destiny. To be as ONE in complete unity with Christ Jesus just as He is one with our Father (John 17:20-23).

A people who do not so much believe in life after death ( for on the last day some will not die but be changed in the twinkling of an eye), but rather a people who believe in life beyond Earth.

The Apostle Peter asks us a question we must each decide the answer to when he said: 

2 Peter 3:10-11 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?"

I and my brothers and sisters in Christ are a peculiar people, and for that I give thanks to The Lord.

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"A Peculiar People" may be copied, used and distributed

(in its entirety only including this notice)

by brothers and sisters in Christ

to the profit and glory of The Lord alone (ttpagoTLa)

By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright  2013.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

OBVIOUS QUESTION #3: Why Privatisation?

OK this one is of a more general interest as privatisation is a worldwide phenomenon of more recent times. The claim seems to be that taxpayers, and ratepayers and consumers somehow mysteriously benefit from our elected representatives selling off vital governmental and municipal services and assets to profit driven PRIVATE enterprise. The obvious question that comes to my mind is:-

"If the only assets and operations private enterprise are interested in buying are those they can make a profit from (i.e. The cost of running them is MORE THAN OFFSET by the income they can produce.), AND the only ones that CAN'T be privatised (because nobody wants to buy them) are those that cost more to run than any income they can produce (i.e. They can't pay for themselves), AND the first thing a private company is going to do is ADD a profit margin to the actual cost of running the service or asset, exactly HOW does selling off profitable services and assets to those who intend to keep the profits for themselves help ANYBODY but those lucky enough, and rich enough, to have brought them?"

Will let you know when the next obvious question comes to mind.

OBVIOUS QUESTION #2: About the "Secret" Asylum Seeker Policy?

This one is more relevant to my fellow Aussies but it has probably hit the world news media. Still a little intro is in order for those who may not be familiar with current Australian politics.

The LNP party under the Prime Minister Tony Abbott has introduced a policy of "turning back the (asylum seeker) boats" they have called "Operation Sovereign Borders". Many people in Australia and overseas are highly concerned about what is happening under "Operation Sovereign Borders".  However the LNP government won't tell anybody what IS happening, even a Senate enquiry convened for the very purpose of finding out.

The reason for all the cloak and dagger, military style, secrecy they claim is because they do not want to let the "people smugglers" in Indonesia and elsewhere know what they are doing by making it public knowledge.

Sounds plausible if you DON'T think about it or ask any awkward questions. But here is the obvious question that came to MY mind:-

"IF the LNP government do not want to let the "people smugglers" know what they are doing to "turn back the boats" WHY are they sending BACK to these "people smugglers" the very people best able to debrief them on EXACTLY what the people of "Operation Sovereign Borders" are doing? Namely the asylum seekers being intercepted and sent back to Indonesia where they can go back to the "people smugglers" and give them a firsthand blow-by-blow account of everything that happened?"

It seems to me that the only people being kept in the dark are the Australian voting public and those of other political parties. Those best informed ( by the asylum seekers themselves) as to what is happening seems to be ... the "people smugglers" aided and abetted by the Australian government's own "turn back" policy!

Well the question seems obvious to me. How does it seem to you?

But, in closing, it would be wise for the government to heed the warning The Lord gave to those in the past who also withheld compassion and mercy for WHATEVER reason. For though it might, as Abraham Lincoln once observed, even be possible to fool some of the people all of the time  - if you think you can fool The Lord at any time the only person you are fooling is yourself:-

(Malachi 3:5) "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify AGAINST sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, AGAINST those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens/foreigners/strangers of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty."

OBVIOUS QUESTION #1: ???

The obvious question #1 is, of course, why have a blog entry titled "Obvious Question #1"?

If you have browsed through some of my many videos you will see that what I try and get people to do is to inform themselves, think about things for themselves and reach their own conclusions.  The Lord created us with a brain, the gift of logical and rational thought processes AND the free will to use them to think about, meditate on and reach our own conclusions and decisions about the reality we find ourselves in. The Lord gave us these things in order that we might use them to discover not only the truth about the reality He has created but more importantly to discover and get to know the truth of Him. After all, only when you know the truth can you truly love.

Those who do not want you to know the truth and who wish to deceive you, will discourage you from using the brain The Lord gave you, to do your own thinking about, and more importantly, asking awkward questions about, the things they want you to believe are true. They will try and convince you by many different ploys that you do not have the qualifications, intellectual prowess, special secret knowledge, education, information, etc. to be able to think about these things for yourself and that it is best to leave the thinking to those who do and simply put you faith and trust in what THEY tell you to believe. In otherwords they are saying "let US do the thinking for you."

 In stark contrast The Lord encourages us to always think rationally and logically for ourselves AND question and test EVERYTHING to see for ourselves if it is true or not.   The Lord assures us that those who desire the truth enough to SEEK the truth shall find it. He WANTS those who love the truth to find it. He ENABLES them to find it.

So back to the obvious question of why "Obvious Question" posts.  I have found that one of the best ways to find the truth is to ask questions in my own mind. But sometimes it is more interesting, informative, ... and, let's be honest, just plain fun, to ask them out loud. And usually the more obvious and awkward the question the better .... And OK the more fun.

"Obvious Questions" will be the questions that pop into my mind as I listen to or read the news, contemplate current affairs, ponder social issues etc.  You might like to ask them in your own mind too (or you may come up with different ones). Or if you want to join in, start up (or stop dead as the case may be:-) a conversation just pop the question into the mix and see what happens. Could be interesting and might even be fun to watch.

OK now you know what they are when they pop up on the blog I'll throw a couple up so you get the general idea....

NOW A CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER ON 123RF

Latest breaking news in this neck of the woods is that I have now been accepted as a contributing photographer on the royalty free images site 123RF. (Click name to go there). Early days yet but my initial 10 photo submissions are up as well as 5 short video footages I put in recently. Another 20 photos are still in the queue being processed but hopefully will be up on site in the next day or two. There will be many more to come in due course and in fact I am out and about right now capturing more of The Lord's wonderful creation. (Yes I am actually sitting out in the Australian bush doing this post via the mobile phone network.)

 The above link will take you directly to the 123RF website but if you want to view just my (growing) collection then click HERE.

In relation to Small GIFTS Ministries the 123RF website is an excellent resource and I use it for my own videos when I need images that I cannot capture for myself. In fact the eagle images in my video "On Wings of Eagles" are licensed from 123RF. The concept of royalty free images is that you pay just the one up front price (price varies according to size of the image selected) to download an image but included in the price is a license to use it many times over without the need to keep paying royalties every time you use it. Major commercial uses and users do require special licenses but the standard Licence should adequately serve most SGM applications.

Except for large commercial users Photographers earn their income from the number and size of images downloaded, not the number of times they are used. This is good news for SGMs as images can be downloaded for as little as a dollar or two, and even less if you take out their subscription packages. What is even more good news for SGM's is that photographers often put up a certain number of images from their collections as free downloads. In fact once I can get a decent collection up on site I too will be offering a selection as free downloads as part of my own SGM efforts.

So if you are an SGM or a small group or local church and are looking for relatively inexpensive (and sometimes free) images that you can use royalty free as often as needed for all sorts of purposes I can highly recommend that you check out 123RF and what it has to offer.

PS: Having rather limited financial resources I am hoping to use the sale of my images at 123RF to help fund my own Small GIFTS Ministry efforts. So if you decide to download any of my images you will not only only have some ( hopefully very nice) images you can use and enjoy, you will also be helping my SGM. Even using the above links to visit 123RF and linking others to this blog post will be helping me. My heartfelt thanks to all who do, may The Lord bless you abundantly.

With love from Christ in IslandBard.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

THE HIDDEN GIFTS OF THE "HASHTAG ANGELS"

Don't think you have any Small GIFT Ministry to offer? Think again!

The SGM concept is all about CONNECTING those brothers and sisters in Christ who have gifts to freely give, to those brothers and sisters in Christ who have need of them. The idea is to use the hashtags #smallGIFTSministries and #ttpagoTLa as keywords that allows us to quickly find each other on the Internet.

There is a very important and valuable SGM that anybody and everybody can share. I call them the "Hashtag Angels". These are brothers and sisters in Christ who make their SGM the task of locating (or they may already know of) existing places on the Internet where gifts and resources are already freely available and using their own site, blog, facebook page, Google account, etc. bring those sites into the SGM movement by sharing the link with others and including in the write up the hashtags #smallGIFTSministries and #ttpagoTLa. Simply by including the hashtags with a link and information about the site brothers and sisters in Christ will be able to find it with a SGM hashtag search even if the site itself does not have the hashtags.

With the help of Hashtag Angels the SGM movement can grow much, much faster because we do not have to wait for sites to come on board the SGM concept. Hashtag Angels can reach out and bring into the SGM search range existing resources that are already out there and freely available to the body of Christ.

May the Lord bless the SGM movement (if it becomes a reality) with many wonderful "Hashtag Angels".

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa