Being "THAT Guy"

BEING "THAT GUY".

"That guy"

Negative definition:- any person who does something considered inappropriate; "the kind of guy that does that."

Positive definition:- A person (or type of person) who does something noticeable but is not otherwise identifiable or well known. (Eg. "That guy" who plays the innkeeper in the first "Lord of The Rings" . Or, "He got the part of "that guy" who always gets killed in the first scene.").

I want to be "that guy". I want to be that guy who praises, honours, defends and lifts up his wife when those around him are joking about and putting down theirs. I want to be that guy who lays aside his own life whenever, and as long as, necessary, for the sake of his wife and children. I want to be that guy who lifts up and honours the name of God when others treat it with contempt and disrespect.

I want to be "that guy" who loves the unlovable, tolerates the intolerable, endures the unendurable, lifts up the downtrodden, gives hope to the hopeless, gives consideration to those who are not considered, gives respect to those who receive none. Who cares about those who others consider not worthy of it, who does not neglect the neglected.

I want to be that guy who contends for the unity of "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 1:3). Who is prepared to boldly stand unintimidated before leaders and kings, false teachers and false prophets and those who call themselves brothers but who are not, and declare "it is written ... and the scriptures cannot be bent, broken or set aside". Who is prepared to use the two edged sword of the word of God, as written, to cut through every deception, illusion and dark thing of this world and lay all things open to the light that comes from God.

I want to be that guy who, in a world of people driven by all sorts of things, chooses to be and desires to be, Christ Driven in all things. I want to be that guy who chooses to join the unpopular few on the narrow, single-laned stairway to Heaven and not the popular many on the broad multi-laned highway to Hell.

Daily I want to take up my cross and pointing firmly toward my Saviour, Lord and King, Christ Jesus, pray to my Father in Heaven, "Father recreate in me ..... THAT guy".

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"Being That Guy" 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

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

The Winnowing Wind

The world today is changing more rapidly and unpredictably than ever. The winds of change are growing stronger and it is worrying many who are puzzled why Jesus would allow Satan to deceive the nations and people of the world so that rather than coming to Christ the world is moving away further than ever from Jesus at an alarming rate.

The latest gale assaulting the nations of the world is, of course, the issue of "Marriage Equality". On the nod of just 5 judges even the USA, once considered the bastion of modern Christianity, has succumbed to the relentless winds of change determined to steer the world on a course away from the Lord. The same wind is now blowing through the corridors of power here in Australia. So what is going on?

The traditional way of ensuring a good and pure harvest of wheat involved a process called "winnowing". It was how you separated the good seed from the dry empty husks and accumulated rubbish that gets mixed in with it. You throw it all up in the air together and allow the wind to carry away the lightweight dry and empty husks and other rubbish while the much more substantial good seed always returns to where it was because the wind does not have the power to move it. But only when the wind is blowing will the good seed and the dry and empty husks be separated.

Satan is the winnowing wind the Lord allows to blow across the world to separate out and keep to Himself the good seed while the husks and chaff are carried away by Satan. And wherever Satan goes they will be carried along also to the end that has been decreed for them both.

As we face these winds of change sweeping over today's world there is coming a great separation among those who cry "Lord, Lord" and many will leave their churches. BUT do not be deceived for some will leave their church to chase after the winds of change. BUT others will find themselves faced with the heart rending choice of leave their church or die fighting for it, and with it, as it casts off both its purpose and anchor to be blown this way and that, ever further from Christ by the winnowing winds of change.

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"The Winnowing Wind" 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 2015

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

All The Little Pixels ... In The Big Picture

Jesus Christ often illustrated His talks and teachings using examples and stories drawn from the everyday lives of His audience. These parables taught about Heavenly things in the understandable terms of everyday worldly experience. Were it to have happened today I am sure Jesus would have spoken in parables about cars and computers and factories as readily as He then spoke in stories of wheat and grape farming, orchards, threshing floors and winepresses. Indeed I am certain He would use anything with which His audience was familiar. Even computer graphics perhaps and the tiny, humble, but oh-so important, ... Pixel.

You see the secret to a big, high resolution picture is not bigger, more powerful pixels. Indeed they just make a picture LOOK bigger, but at the cost of clarity and focus ... and detail. Indeed make them big enough and the picture becomes quite incomprehensible. In short, bigger more powerful pixels cause you to see LESS, not more.

No, the secret to seeing more of the REALLY BIG picture in perfect clarity and detail is to keep building it up from more and more tiny, high quality pixels. The more pixels the more you can see of the big picture, both overall AND in detail (blessed be the ZOOM!).

Don't worry,  Jesus' disciples often didn't quite "get the connection" either (for they had not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit who came later at Pentacost after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven). A post event "staff debriefing" was often in order before the "AHA" moment hit even them.

The lesson of THIS "parable" is that seeing the big picture of Christ Jesus and what He is all about that the Bible paints for us is. in attention to the "pixels" within it. The LITTLE THINGS that most people miss. Consequently not only do they not see the whole picture, but even what they do see is "fuzzy" and "unfocussed" for lack of detail.

OK "what pixels??" you might ask. "Too many to list them all here", I might reply. But let me point you in the direction of a few examples of "Biblical pixels".

I have heard many people over many years espouse many theories and sermons as to why Jesus uttered the words "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Yet not a single one of them ever mentioned Psalm 22 which begins .... "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Psalm 22 are the words of Jesus AS HE hung upon the cross. But they were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born by King David. And yet they ARE the words of Jesus on the cross, describing everything He saw, felt, and thought, as He hung there dying. Apart from totally blowing out of the water all our conceptions of TIME (past, present, and future) we also begin to understand that "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" was much more than a desparate cry of despair. Far from it. It was a final cry of triumph for Psalm 22 is a psalm of triumph over pain and agony. A psalm of the victory of the Lord, a FUTURE promise ALREADY fulfilled, a victory already won. Not a cry of confusion, but a rallying call and a comfort and encouragement to those who knew the scriptures and to His friends and disciples gathered there. Jesus wanted them to know that nothing was happening that was not meant to happen. That  this was not the victory of evil over good that it seemed, but the victory of God over evil that was planned from the beginning.

Then there is that perennial question that pops up with monotonous regularity from those who like to argue. If the Law came with Moses, and sin is transgression of the Law, then how is it that those who lived before the Law are guilty of sin?? (For the Lord says ALL have sinned). And how can those who never heard the Law be held responsible for transgressing it. Surely this is not right or just?? Like many others I simply knew they were because the Lord said they were, and I believe HIM. But I could never properly explain WHY they were. Then I had an AHA! moment (or perhaps a DUH! moment). What was the name of that tree that Adam and Eve ate from???? AHHH yeah, that's right,"The Tree of KNOWLEDGE of Good And Evil". The Law might have come with Moses, but the KNOWLEDGE of what is good and what is evil came with Adam and Eve. We KNEW right from wrong from the very beginning .... but did what was wrong (sinned) anyway.

Then there is the endless debate about the authority of the Bible. Some quite erroneously argue that the Bible was written about 300 years after Christ. What they forget is that the BOOKS of the Bible were actually written by the Prophets and Apostles themselves or their contemporaries. However history DOES tell us that one of the first acts of the first ever Christian Emperor and founder of the 1,000 year Byzantine Christian Empire, Constantine the Great, was to assemble ALL the church leaders previously scattered and persecuted by the Pagan Roman Empire. One of the first things this great council of churches did, after much talking among themselves, was to assemble ALL the preserved documents from among the churches and very carefully determine which were, beyond the shadow of any doubt, the genuine and authenticated, and/or endorsed writings of the Apostles themselves, together with the properly authorised and authenticated Jewish Scriptures (which became the Old Testament). These PROVEN 66 books where then assembled and bound into what we know today as "The Bible". This "Bible" was then faithfully copied and distributed to all the churches so that all would be able to have a record of what the Prophets and the Apostles had actually written or verified as a true and accurate record. As it were "a book of rememberance" of the things that are true beyond doubt and to be believed. The Early Apostolic Church and the Churches of the Byzantine Christian Empire called these 66 books "The Oracles of God", being held to be from the Lord Himself.

But all this happened around 325 AD hence the debate. BUT WHAT IF the OT Prophets and "The Oracles of God", THEMSELVES foretold of the Bible, not as a book written by man but as a "book of rememberance" ordered by the Lord Himself for those who desperately wished to know for certain and faithfully follow His will?? I have NEVER heard ANYBODY speak of such a prophecy ... until I came across THIS pixel myself while reading the words of the Prophet Malachi:-

Malachi 3:16  "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. 17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

Sounds to me like a great council of churches meeting to talk together (actually there were a number of such "councils" ) and a book of remembrance assembled for the guidance of those who believe and fear the Lord! BUT remember these prophetic words were written several hundreds of years BEFORE Jesus was born and the great Nicean Council of Churches and the assembling of the 66 books of the Bible did not occur until about 325 years AFTER the birth of Jesus. And yet the one is the perfect foretold description of the other. The Bible is no ordinary book, but a book FORETOLD and ordained by the Lord Himself.

Then there are the little "pixels" that speak volumes about the character and nature of Jesus Himself. One "pixel" I love in particular takes place after Jesus has risen from the dead but not yet ascended into Heaven. Here is the Son of the Almighty God, who had already been given ALL power and authority in Heaven and on Earth and over even Death itself. Someone with the power of God, and the host of Heaven at His command. And as Peter and the others wearily pull their boats up to the shore after a long night of fishing they find the risen Jesus on the beach standing next to a fire where some fish were cooking alongside some freshly made bread. (John 21) The Son of the Lord Almighty Himself ... had cooked breakfast on the beach for His friends....

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"All The Little Pixels ... In The Big Picture" 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 2015

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

CREATION MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL: An SGM at Heart and in Spirit

A BIG THANKYOU TO CREATION MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL (CMI) FROM THE FLEDGLING SMALL GIFTS MINISTRY MOVEMENT (SGM)

It would seem that CMI ( http://creation.com/ ), like me has been led by the Holy Spirit to the conclusion that the work of God has always been about ministry not money. And like me they have asked of themselves the hard question, why should the copyright laws of man hinder the great commission of Christ?

Small GIFTS Ministries ( #smallgiftsministries ) was born out of the conviction that the gifts I have been freely given by the Lord are intended to be freely shared among His people for the nurturing and benefit and ministry of the body of Christ here on Earth, not merchandise to be sold and traded and profited from. We know from John 2:13-16 what Jesus thought of those who would seek to make merchandise out of the things of the Lord.

My vision is that #smallgiftsministries will become a rallying point and search tool for all of those who, like me, wish to freely share,  or (as in the case of CMI) indeed are already freely sharing, THEIR God given gifts, and for those of limited resources who so desperately need them. (For the gifts of God are given for those who need them, not those who can afford them.) SGM is driven by the motto “To The Profit and Glory of The Lord Alone” (Hence also the search key  #ttpagoTLa ).

It was therefore with great joy and humble amazement that I found Creation Ministries International was already well ahead of me in adopting the SGM concept even if not the #smallgiftsministries hashtag. (To be fair I’m unlikely to be high on the CMI radar – or indeed anybody’s radar at the moment. J)

CMI produce and issue excellent (soundly) scientifically based articles as part of their “Infobytes” ministry. These articles are a very valuable and powerful tool for evangelical and apologetics ministry, both as a source of information and as personal handouts (or hand arounds?) when dealing with those who are naturally very skeptical or who have been strongly influenced by the deceptive claims of atheism. The GOOD NEWS is that CMI (like the SGM movement) gives special permission for these articles to be freely used, copied, printed, distributed and shared by people, churches, etc.  for non-commercial purposes.

Rather than put this special permission on each article CMI has created a webpage outlining its copyright and permissions policy. The webpage can be viewed here:- http://creation.com/our-copyright-policy .

At some future time, if the SGM movement gathers strength (Lord willing), I may be honoured to see CMI provide its own links to SGM by including the SGM hashtags somewhere on its searchable webpages. In the meantime because CMI has by its own leading of the Holy Spirit, so thoroughly embraced the SGM concept I am both pleased and proud to use THIS article to link the CMI website to the SGM movement  so that those who search either #smallgiftsministries or #ttpagoTLa will now (via this article) find the free ministry offerings of CMI. (This is how “Hashtag Angels” works).

If any would be “Hashtag Angels” out there (may the Lord bless you) are reading this article and are aware of other websites which  are also giving special permission for its ministry offerings to be freely used and shared or distributed by brothers and sisters in Christ (does not have to be all of their offerings but some at least) please post an article or link somewhere on the internet where search engines can find it. Include in your article a link to the relevant website or websites along with the hashtags #smallgiftsministries and/or #ttpagoTLa . This is all that is needed to make the relevant website findable (via your article) by those who enter the hashtags as keywords in any search engine, however a little blurb about the linked website would also be helpful to searchers if you can manage it.

Don Ludlow

What's That Strange Ticking?? ... (Short Version)

Ever wonder why some people are ... strange? Why they can't just behave like ... US “normal people”?? The truth is that for many people the very definition of "strange" is "not like me".

However it really has nothing to do with strange ("them") versus normal ("us"). BUT everything to do with "what makes us tick". And what makes us tick makes us neither strange nor normal, it makes us ... UNIQUE! What makes me "tick" is an ONGOING lifetime of experiences, opportunities, frustrations, relationships, health and illness, ability and disability, etc. If you have a spare lifetime to share I might be able to explain it all. In the meantime I just ask you accept that what makes me "tick" is not likely to bear too much resemblance to what makes you "tick". BUT it is what makes me "me" and you "you", and not just robotic clones.

We sometimes have trouble getting our head around the idea of "uniqueness". Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12 makes it clear being a Christian is not about everybody being the same, but being of the same body, because even back then many could not quite grasp the concept that when you bind something that is unique (each of us) with something that is the same (the ONE Holy Spirit) you don't get something that is the same, you still get something that is unique. Each indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces, not a clone of itself, but a unique combination of man and God. The diversity of man united by the sameness of the Lord. Diverse as ever in function and purpose and a myriad other ways, but bound by a common membership of one body and one Spirit.

But what is the “it” factor that enables people from all over the world and throughout history, of diverse cultures, socio-economic groups, abilities (and disabilities), personalities, interests, idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, etc. to not only join together, worship together, and work together, but also to share life together and be of one accord? What is the “it” factor that makes the body of Christ tick?

It is this:-

Greater is He that unites us than the differences that seek to divide us.

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"What's That Strange Ticking?? ..."  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 2015

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

What's That Strange Ticking?? ... (Long Version)

Ever wonder why some people are ... strange? Ever wonder what makes them tick? Ever wonder why they can't just behave like ... US normal people?? The truth is that for most people the very definition of "strange" is "not like me".

But the division between strange and normal is, at best, very subjective, at its very worst it is a self-serving judgement and condemnation of those who are different. However it really has nothing to do with strange ("them") versus normal ("us"). BUT it has everything to do with "what makes us tick". And what makes us tick makes us neither strange nor normal, it makes us ... UNIQUE! What makes ME "tick" is an ONGOING lifetime of experiences, opportunities, frustrations, relationships, health and illness, ability and disability,etc. If you have a spare lifetime or two to share I might be able to explain it all (after I manage to sort it all out myself). In the meantime I just ask that you accept that what makes me "tick" is not likely to bear too much resemblance to what makes you "tick". BUT it is what makes me "me" and you "you", and not just a cloned copy of me (or vice-versa).

Even Christians sometimes have trouble getting their head around the idea of "uniqueness". Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12 makes it clear that being a Christian is not about everybody being the same, but of being of the same body, because even back then many Christians could not quite grasp the concept that when you bind something that is unique (each of us) with something that is the same (the ONE Holy Spirit) you don't get something that is the same, you still get something that is unique ... but which is united by a sameness, just as (as Paul illustrated) there is one body but many different and unique members of that one body. Diverse in function and purpose and a myriad other ways, but bound by a sameness of body and Spirit. Each indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces, not a clone of itself but a unique combination of man and God. The diversity of man united by the sameness of the Lord.

A mathematician might explain it like this:-

AB + AC + AD

Does not equal 3A + B + C + D (three individuals with three versions of God)

Nor does it equal 3A's or 3B's or 3C's or 3D's (identical clones)

It ACTUALLY (mathematically too I might add) equals A(B+C+D) (a combination of unique individuals multiplied by a unique God.)

NOBODY gets lost or abandoned ... or devalued ... in the equation. I am neither YOU nor GOD, I am a unique and valid combination of me and God just as much as you are a unique and valid combination of you and God.

BUT it is easier and less complicated to just pass judgement on a life than to share a life. There is an old indian saying that before you judge another you should walk a mile in their moccasins. But Jesus simply says DO NOT judge others. (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37) And if they asked you to walk a mile with them walk two.(Matthew 5:41) And if you asked Jesus how many times you should do it I think it is more than likely that He might say even up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21,22).

The irony is that we are most often condemned by those who know us least and forgiven (should we seek it and repent) by the one who knows us best.

But what is it that enables people from all over the world and throughout history, of diverse cultures, languages,  nationalities, socio-economic groupings, abilities (and disabilities), natures, jobs, intellectual  strengths, interests, idiosyncrasies, etc. to not only join together, worship together, and work together, but also to share life together and be of one accord? What is it that makes the body of Christ tick?

It is this:-

Greater is He that unites us than the differences that seek to divide us.

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"What's That Strange Ticking?? ..."  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 2015

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

With This Life ... I Do!

Ever notice how "achievement" orientated the world is these days. It's all about "results". Success or failure is measured by what is and what is not achieved. Those who achieve results are a "success", those who do not are "failures".

BUT that's the way of the world ... NOT of the Lord. And if you really sit down to think about it ... it's the Lord who has, again, got it right!

Where did this little "epiphany" moment come from? Well I am currently reading Ezekiel - again - and this time it was THIS passage that hit me square between the eyes (it takes that to open them sometimes :-) ).

Ezekiel 2:7 "You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

What struck me this time was that Ezekiel's success or failure did not depend one iota on how many people actually listened to him, it depended on whether or not he DID as the Lord commanded. In other words success for Ezekiel was not in what he achieved, it is in what he DID. But that wasn't the end of it because then it dawned on me that this didn't apply just to Ezekiel .. it applied to everyone ... even to Jesus Himself.

Jesus spent the first thirty years of his life in the flesh in relative obscurity, mainly surviving and growing up. Indeed little is written in the Gospels about this period of His Earthly life. Then after a mere three years of teaching and preaching and discipling He allowed Himself to be captured and executed. By the time Jesus ascended into Heaven again all there was on earth to show (physically) for all His efforts over 33 odd years were a mere 120 nervous followers hiding out in an upper room in Jerusalem. Nor did Jesus raise HIMSELF from the dead, nor did He sit HIMSELF at the right hand of the Father, nor did He give HIMSELF authority over all things in Heaven and on Earth. These incredible things were done FOR Him because ... of what He DID. What is it that Jesus DID in those 33 years on earth? He did the will of the Father - whatever was asked of Him - even to the enduring of punishment and death on the cross, not because He deserved it but because the Father asked it of Him. The model and lesson of success that Jesus has left with us is not that of the "great achiever" but that of the humble and obedient servant. Not of what WE can achieve but of what the Lord can achieve through, and for, us if we but obey HIM.

But it does not stop there either.Take for example the Apostles. There is much in the Bible about the exploits, travels, and church building of Paul, Much about the leadership and evangelism of Peter, and the revelations and teachings of John. But there were 10 other Apostles beside Peter and John (Paul was not actually one of those 12 but a 13th Apostle as it were). We do not hear much about them, but no one Apostle is greater than any other Apostle and ALL twelve names will be equally inscribed on the foundations of the new Jerusalem. Then there is Stephen. Stephen had little opportunity to achieve much at all being among the earliest of martyrs for Christ. Does this make him any less important, or any less "successful"? Rather we note that in Stephen's stance for Jesus, even in the face of death by stoning, great things arose from his death, including the rapid spread of the Gospel and the leading of many to Christ:-

Acts 11:19 "Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20  And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21  And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord."

But this all happened AFTER Stephen's death when he was in no position to achieve anything!!

A preacher / minister / priest / elder / or other church leader will not be judged by the size of their congregations, the wealth of their church (or indeed their own), the opulence and beauty of their robes or their church buildings, nor by the esteem of their peers or followers. Rather they shall be judged by what they have done with the will and word of the Lord in their lives ... along with everybody else. Not by what they have or have not achieved, but by what they have done and how they have lived. 

If you want to know whether it is about what we achieve or about what we do, listen to how the Lord set Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, straight on the matter:-

Daniel 4:30  "The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31  While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32  And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will."

But the lesson holds not just for Christians either.

We hail as a hero the lifesaver who rescues three people on his first day ... but what about the one who dutifully and loyally patrols a beach for 20 years and never has occasion to rescue anyone? Is the loyal hardworking employee of 10 years any less hardworking or loyal than the hardworking and loyal employee of 30 years, simply because the company he works for closes down? Is a marriage that lasts 20 years then ends in divorce more successful than a happy marriage cut short after 5 years when one spouse dies? Who is the greater hero - the soldier who dies on the beach, or the soldier who survives to achieve victory?? Indeed is their bravery and sacrifice any less if victory is Not achieved? Dead soldiers do not win wars - but who would dare not call them heroes all the same?? Is he who achieves great wealth by dishonest means better than he who gains what little he has by the honest labour of his own hands? Is the player that actually shoots the goal better than the team who gets the ball to him? Are the rest of the team lesser players if the shooter misses? A player is not judged by whether or not their team achieves a win or loses but by how the player plays the game.

The stark truth is that WE don't have any real control over what we achieve or don't achieve (the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that). BUT we do have total control over what we DO and don't do. So next time you are sitting around wondering just what it is you are achieving with your life stop and think instead about what it is you are DOING with your life!

The reality is that victory and defeat, achievement and failure have ALWAYS been in the hands of the Lord alone. OUR choice is to DO or not do the will of the Lord, to obey or rebel against His word.

As for me, with this life, I choose to DO ... the will of the Lord.

But before I go, a little something for those who may feel they have nothing important to do for the Lord ... know that NOTHING you do - for the Lord - is unimportant!

THIS ONE THING I DO.

I am a screw,

This one thing I do

I hold the piston to the shaft.

If I should fail

The piston would impale

Upon the casing aft.

The pump would cease,

The water increase.

The bilge would overflow.

The ship would sink,

Quick as a wink,

In the murky depths below.

I am a screw,

This one thing I do

I hold the piston to the shaft.

D.J. Ludlow Copyright 1992

--o0o--

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"With This Life ... I Do!" ( the poem"This One Thing I Do" may also be
used separately with this notice) 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 1992

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

THEOLOGIES: The Weeds From The Seeds of Unbelief

Part of my research for my apologetics articles and videos is to try and understand where various theologies and beliefs come from. We find, these days, the wider community that identifies themselves as Christian is overgrown with a tangled mess of complicated, conflicting and competing theologies and beliefs which, for the most part, do not accord with the Bible. The perpetual virginity of Mary, the belief Mary is herself deity to be worshipped and "Queen of Heaven". The orphaned "70th week of Daniel" cut off and lost in some kind of strange time warp. All those Millennial theologies and their tribe of "Tribs". And more seem to spring up each day. Where is this veritable jungle of strange ideas coming from?

I was surprised (yet also not surprised) to find that every single one of these theologies I encountered stemmed from one single thing - UNBELIEF. The inability to believe what the Word of God actually says. A theology seems, to me, to be what a person thinks the Bible SHOULD say when they are unable to believe what the Bible DOES say.

If you have ever been involved in a theological discussion it is almost certain that at some point somebody will eventually utter the words "I know that is what the Bible says but that is not what it means." ... WHOA! back up a moment. (especially if your the one who said it). Did that person just say that the Lord does not mean what He says!!! They have a name for somebody who does not mean what they say, they are called ... "deceivers" or "lairs", those whose words are not to be trusted or believed because they do not say what they really mean or really mean what they say. Are they really accusing the Lord of such a thing?

Of course that is not what they are really saying (even if they don't realise it). What they are REALLY saying is "I know what the word of God says, *I* just can't believe it means what it says."

For instance the whole theology of the perpetual virginity of Mary is simply the inability of some to believe that after giving birth to the Son of God Mary could possibly use her womb for anything or anyone else. That after having the child of the living God of all creation she could never even consider having normal relations with Joseph. Therefore when the Bible speaks of the brothers of Christ they cannot believe that is what it means, and so begins the process of reinterpreting everything else the Bible says to conform with a theology born of unbelief.

The theology that elevates Mary to the Mother of God Himself and therefore Queen to God the Father ("God the Mother" as it were) comes only from the disbelief that Mary could be nothing more than an ordinary woman before AND after being blessed to be chosen by the Lord to bear His Son. Therefore when Jesus tells them point blank in Matthew 12:48-50, (and in Mark 3:33-35 and Luke 8:21) that His mother and brothers are absolutely no different to, or better than, any of those who believe on Him they are unable to believe even His own words. Indeed had they paid proper attention to the scriptures they would have known that Mary is not the "Mother of God". For Jesus the SON OF GOD existed before He was begotten of Mary as ... SON OF MAN (flesh and blood). They must then keep on reinterpreting everything the Bible says in order to hold on to a belief they maintain by NOT believing what the word of God AND the word of Jesus actually says.

The theology of the orphaned 70th Week of Daniel arises from the inability to believe that Gabriel answered TWO questions Daniel had, not one. (One was dealing with the sevenfold increasing curses of Leviticus 26:14-46. The other was dealing with Jeremiah's prophecy about the coming Messiah.) Because of that inability to believe what is written they mash together two answers that were never intended to be mashed together. Nor do they believe the words of Gabriel when HE clearly declares in Daniel 12:7 "when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." (the sevenfold increasing curses of Leviticus 26:14-46 ends with the scattering of the nation of Israel - the power of the Holy people - it is from the sevenfold increases we get the 70 "weeks" or 70 x 7 years, the timing of the last curse after the 70 year exile).

They then have to reinterpret a WHOLE LOT of other passages throughout the entire Bible (and history also) to fit in with a "missing" 70th Week that has never been missing. It is only missing in their eyes because they have not believed what the words of Daniel himself clearly say, that he was puzzled over TWO separate prophecies from two separate prophets at two separate times, not one single prophecy. Gabriel only gives a start date for the coming of the Messaiah, but in Daniel 12:7, gives an ENDING of the prophecy of the 70 weeks with the total destruction of ALL cities and high places in Israel and the scattering of the Israelites among the Gentile nations as prophecied in Leviticus 26:14-46. This prophecy has already come to pass in 74AD with the scattering of the nation of Israel after the fall of the LAST city and stronghold of the Jewish nation - MASADA. (Jerusalem was not the last city of the nation of Israel to fall.). AND it occurred precisely 70 "weeks" (in Jewish years) after Nehemiah's restoration of Jerusalem was COMPLETED circa 409BC.

But they do not believe that either Daniel or Gabriel mean what they say. And now we have a whole lot of followers of a theology that has risen out of unbelief in the word of Daniel, the word of Gabriel and the word of God.

  

One of the purposes of many of my videos and articles is to show that the Lord DOES mean what He says and says what He means. That you can believe what the words themselves say no matter how unbelievable they may seem. That you can be 100% certain that if you have trouble believing them the error lays in what you may have been taught, or in your own preconceived notions or assumptions, not in what the words and sentences and paragraphs of God actually say.

The bottom line is that if you have the Word of God you do not need a theology to interpret it for you as if the Lord was a man that He would lie. The born again believer does not require a theology because they HAVE the Holy Spirit to lead them into all UNDERSTANDING of what the Lord has actually said and NOT said in HIS word.

It is by God's word that we judge the truth of all other words. It is the compass that always points to the truth. Those who do not believe it points where it should will lose themselves in an ever changing sea of words blown about by the diverse winds of tradition and the tides of popular opinion. We need to understand that the foremost experts on the Bible are those who, by the power and Spirit of God, WROTE it. Their words above those of ALL theologians, commentators, churches, and other "experts" are to be believed as true and faithful. But even more than that, THEIR words, no matter how unbelievable they may seem, CAN be believed for the Lord does not say what He does not mean. God is not a man that He should lie. (Numbers 23:19)

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"THEOLOGIES: The Weeds From The Seeds of Unbelief" 

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IMITATING LIFE

As the song says, "we were made to thrive". But it is one thing to thrive as an individual believer, quite another to thrive as a fellowship of believers. When Jesus tells us 7 times to listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the CHURCHES it is a good indication we should listen very, very carefully.

A servant of Christ BELONGS to Christ individually. A church, however, is where they join in fellowship and mutual support and encouragement with others who equally belong to Christ. But fellowship among equals is not without its problems. The 7 letters to the churches could easily be published in a short book titled "What Can Go Wrong When Christians Get Together."

One letter I always found specially intriguing is that to the church at Sardis. A church enjoying  a REPUTATION as an alive (and thriving) church. No accusations of false teaching or false prophets are made. Nor accusations of being lukewarm like the church at Laodicea. And yet for all the appearance of an alive, thriving, doctrinally sound church the Spirit pronounced it DEAD already and in urgent need of resurrection or else the Lord Himself would visit it as a thief in the night. But a thief in the night comes to quietly steal away a householders possessions. The Lord is no thief so what is it He would take from such a church? I think He would take back what was His to begin with. His people, His gifts, His anointing, His blessing, His Holy Spirit. The Bible does not tell us what happened but one has to wonder, if the Church at Sardis did not even notice it was dead, would it have even noticed the Lord's people and the Lord's anointing, blessing and Spirit leaving? Or would it have simply substituted these things with corporate strategy look-alikes, stage managed shows, and groovy music in order to preserve the illusion of life for the sake of its reputation?

Sardis provokes the obvious question HOW DOES a dead church imitate life so well it can deceive even itself that it is a living, thriving church? It also provokes the follow up question, how do other churches stop themselves falling into the same trap?

It is not surprising that the key to a thriving personal life IN Christ and a thriving church OF Christ are the same thing. It is to get REAL with God and to get REAL with others. To have the courage (in Christ) to actually live and breathe the exciting, adventurous, and abundant, God purposed,  compassionate, loving, good working, truth seeking, World defying, Spirit filled life for which Jesus suffered and died .... And not just try to imitate it.

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"Imitating Life." may be copied, used and distributed

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by brothers and sisters in Christ

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By special permission of 

D.J. Ludlow copyright 2015

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ROASTS, CHIPS, AND OTHER SERVINGS!

There seems to be a new buzzword these days - "feedback". Apparently, provided you call it "feedback" nobody is allowed to get upset even if you really rip into them, criticise everything they do and leave them a dejected and demoralized wreck. As long as you can say "hey I'm just giving you some feedback" then it is clearly all their fault if your "feedback" upsets them.

But really when you think about it "feed back" is little more than a euphemism for throwing up something you ate. So next time you feel the urge to give some "feedback" to somebody try saying instead "hey I just want to throw up all over you because something disagreed with me". If nothing else it might make you stop and realise it is probably much closer to the truth than you are really comfortable with. 

But when Jesus said to Peter if you love me feed my sheep (John 21:17) He made it clear that there is a way to feed one another that is loving and nurturing as well as nourishing. However the way we feed others determines whether we are actually giving them food for thought or are simply "dishing it out".

What is it about home cooking that makes it so much better than cafeteria cuisine? After all food is food is food isn't it? A carrot from the kitchen and a carrot from the cafeteria are both carrots, probably even from the same supplier. Why should one be any different from the other? And yet we would all prefer a lovingly prepared home cooked meal over the impersonal fare a cafeteria dishes out on any given day.

Strangely enough the answer does not lay with the cook either. The answer actually lays in the relationship between the cook and the eater! What makes a home cooked meal so much nicer AND so much more nutritious and healthier than a meal dished out at the cafeteria is the bond of love that exists between the cook and the eater. So much more goes into a home cooked meal than what is on the plate. Each meal is the product of an intimate knowledge of likes and dislikes, individual needs and individual problems, capacities and incapacities, tastes and timetables  In short all those things that can only come from spending hours, days, weeks, and years of quality time and quality involvement with each other in a loving relationship that has genuine and loving care and concern for the other at its heart. The type of loving relationship that alone says "we are FAMILY!".

So next time you are planning to give somebody the "feedback" you think they need, remember that unless you have taken the time and made the effort to spend quality time and involvement getting to know all about them in a loving and caring relationship that says to BOTH "we are family". And unless you are prepared to sit down with them, and eat that meal you are serving up together with them, as well as help to tidy up after then the truth is you are simply doing nothing more than impersonally DISHING IT OUT in the cafeteria of your own self-righteousness.

D.J. Ludlow

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"Roasts, Chips And Other Servings!" 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

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