Seachange: Episode 2 - It All Began When...

Twenty years after chronic pesticide exposure left me with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) and multiple ongoing health problems there seemed little prospect of getting any better than I was. Despite all I could still do, ministry opportunities were becoming fewer and further between until only those I do on-line remained. But even these were beginning to suffer as maintaining a large house, lawns and gardens seemed to increasingly demand more and more of the limited time, energy and health I had.

Doors were closing but none were opening and I began to pray to the Lord to open a door and show us a way forward.

Unknown to me my dear hardworking wife was praying the same thing as she watched the toll it was taking on my time and health to maintain a large house and yard we no longer actually needed as she contemplated her own array of closing doors.

Then early in 2016 the Lord spoke in a small quiet voice, and my wife was listening. As often happens with such life changing events it began with a simple daily devotional and a Bible reading.

 “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19.)

"In that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess." (Deuteronomy 30:16)

And somehow my wife knew she had just been told that the Lord was preparing a way through the current wilderness for us to a place we are to go to possess. But where and how remained a mystery. The only things we knew was that we needed to downsize and that I always seemed healthier down on the coast than where we were living.

Years earlier the Lord had led us unexpectedly to a safe set of beachfront holiday units down on the coast managed by a very helpful couple who soon became good friends. Equally important it was an area I could safely walk around in each time we visited. But it was only now that we began to realise why the Lord had led us to that place all those years ago. When you have MCS the most important test for a safe place to live is also the most difficult to apply - the test of time.

About the same time we also discovered there was a nearby church that not only maintained a website but which also made podcasts of its sermons available online. A spirit filled church that appeared to be sound in both doctrine and Biblical teaching. It was even of the same denomination we were currently fellowshipping with. A place where we might find like-minded fellowship and opportunities to serve the Lord together.

Some might call it all a fortunate coincidence but when you believe in the Lord you stop believing in coincidence and begin to see the work of the mighty, and provident, hand of the Lord. A hand that seemed to be pointing very decidedly to the "where". But as to the "how", that was yet to be revealed. But that is for the next episode.....

Lord willing, back soon with the next part.

With the love of Christ in IslandBard. 

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

Seachange: Episode 1 - It Begins

OK, the reason things have been a bit quiet here of late is because we have been up to our eyeballs in the myriad complexities of simultaneously selling our old "MCS friendly" place, buying a new "MCS friendly" place, downsizing our life from house dwellers to unit dwellers and moving from an inland rural town life to a coastal city life. It has been an "interesting", if at times somewhat harrowing, couple of months as we vacillated between not being able to sell (and therefore not able to buy) and the very real risk at times of being homeless with no safe place for me to live either there or here. But we are in the new place now and with all praise and glory to the Lord it continues to prove safe for me. I suppose technically we are still moving in with one room still full of boxes and "stuff" waiting to be unpacked sorted and "downsized", and a few things we still need to do to keep the tradies employed and assorted government authorities, utility companies, and all the other organisations with a vested interest in our life, happy.

Still, with all praise, thanks, and Glory to the Lord here we are now in a nice "cosy" unit on the coast. Our only neighbours to the East of the complex are seagulls, pelicans, fish and other assorted marine life - and the odd houseboat dweller. But for an MCS sufferer a clean, fresh breeze from nothing but open ocean is about as safe as it gets.

Through it all we have seen the awesome hand of the Lord at work and I am hoping to share it all with you here over the next few weeks or so. Too many amazing things for a single blog so expect a "mini-series". Hopefully back soon with the first "episode".

With the love of Christ in IslandBard.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa 

The Church In My Garden

Around my house is a thriving, somewhat over-exuberant, garden. Once it was all pine bark chips over black plastic with spindly, sickly looking sticks with leaves in something that pretended to be soil, with a PH level approaching that of caustic soda. It was not a garden, it was not happy, and it was definitely not thriving.

It had not been designed to thrive, but simply to suppress weeds and grass. But a garden, like a church, is about life and cannot thrive if in the desire for control you suppress the very things that bring life to it. The secret to a thriving garden is not control, but a gardener who, waters, feeds, protects and nurtures each of the god given lives in it. Even pruning is not about control but the health and wellbeing of the plant.

First I released the plants from the shackles of pine bark, plastic, and a growth destroying alkaline environment. Then I fed and watered them, giving them the freedom and  resources to do what they had wanted to do all along - to grow and thrive.

And I have added to them. Some are brought at great price. Some rescued from sure death elsewhere. Others are the offspring of distant gardens, or blow-ins and grow-ins from next door, and still others are born here. Some have been moved several times in search of the place where they will thrive rather than struggle. And it is all natural and organic. They grow and thrive as God intended them to grow and thrive. Each free to be what God made them to be.  And as they are freed and encouraged do all this the most amazing things happen.

For instance you do not have to control weeds much at all. Once thriving your plants will do that. The bigger, stronger plants shelter and protect the smaller ones. They even help feed those whose roots cannot reach the deeper places by providing leaves and fruits as nutrition for all. And just by each one being as God intended them to be and rejoicing in it together they become a beautiful and refreshing place to be in.

D.J. Ludlow

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"The Church In My Garden" may be copied, used and distributed

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CHURCHIANITY: The New Religion of Corporate Idolatry

There is a new and dangerous religion sweeping through the "mainstream" Christian community. It has many names but perhaps the most descriptive and accurate is "Churchianity". It is dangerous because to the unwary it looks so deceptively and seductively similar to Christianity that it can covertly invade even well established churches virtually undetected but its final effects can be very destructive. But first a brief history lesson…

In 70 AD The Lord allowed the Temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed for the second and final time. He put mankind on notice that He was done with bricks and mortar and with "doing church". Something new was coming, something huge. Something that didn't need buildings, didn't need corporate structures and corporate hierarchies, job descriptions, intricate rituals, elaborate vestments, etc.. That which was but a poor shadow of things to come was being replaced by the real thing. The people of God were about to enter the decidedly unworldly, and indeed unearthly, Kingdom of God. The legalistic and physical "do this and do that" ways of the Old Covenant were about to be replaced but Grace and the spiritual "BE this and BE that" ways of the New Covenant. God's Church was about to be born again!

The power and unity of the Church of Christ Jesus would not come from big buildings, accumulated wealth, fancy robes, elaborate organisational structures, corporate strategies, policies and procedures, etc.. Its growth would not come from slick, popularity seeking marketing and promotional campaigns, psychological profiling and consumer surveys. It would come from God Himself by the outpouring and infilling of His Holy Spirit on all of His people. Church was no longer something you belonged to for all in it belong to Christ alone. It was not to be about church ownership and control, it was to be about relationship and fellowship among those who are owned and controlled by Christ.. A place where the children of God met together and worked together as brothers and sisters, equal before God and fellow servants of Christ. A believer no longer belonged to a church, they were the church, each and every one of them. Their power and authority did not come from those in the church, it came direct from Christ Himself. The Holy Spirit of God no longer dwelt in a place or in an organisation, He dwelt within each and EVERY believer. Even if only 2 or 3 believers gathered in His name Christ Himself would be there, working in them and through them.

From that time on God's only place of worship was to be in the redeemed souls of men and women. Men and women born of the Spirit were now the living stones of His living Temple as befits a living God. To those who believed, God gave the power to be more than merely the Sons and daughters of men . He gave each and every one of them the power to become the Sons of God. In this world but no longer OF this world or its ways. As Jesus had told the Samaritan woman at the well over 30 years before, the time had come in which those who belonged to Him would worship Him neither here nor there but in Spirit and in truth wherever and WHENEVER they may be.

But let's go back a little further and ask the question, whose temple was really destroyed in 70 AD? The truth is that by 70AD it was ... yet again ... no longer the Lord's temple. The Temple that was destroyed was in fact HEROD's temple. (And here is something to ponder for all "millennialists", pre-, post- and "A-" as well as all who may have succumbed to the teachings of the 70th Week of Daniel Theology.)

To stamp HIS mark on Israel the Rome appointed King Herod embarked on an ambitious project to totally rebuild the Temple to HIS own flamboyant design complete with the golden Eagle of Rome mounted on a WING of the Temple. The Abomination that causes desolation mounted on a WING of the Temple as spoken of in Daniel 9:27 "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a WING of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

Significantly this brand new, extravagant Temple was officially opened with all sorts of pomp and ceremony in 63AD just SEVEN years before its total desolation and a mere 3 and a half years before the daily sacrifices on behalf of Caesar were stopped due to severe provocation by the Roman procurator Gessius Florus. It would seem reasonable to me that among the pomp and ceremony of the opening of a rebuilt Temple Rome might be expected to renew its special covenant with Israel that allowed the Temple to be used exclusively for the worship of the God of Israel and not for Caesar and the Gods of Rome as was required in most countries ruled by Rome at that time. Part of that covenant was the offering of daily sacrifices on the behalf of the Roman Emperor. But I digress…

The Temple at Jerusalem had once again ceased to be dedicated to the reverence and worship of The Lord alone and had become nothing more than a stage and a backdrop upon which Herod and the self styled "representatives of God" could dress up and "strut THEIR stuff" before the nations and the eyes of men.

Sadly this propensity for men and women to use God to bring glory upon themselves and THEIR "church" was not destroyed along with the Temple. Ever since 70AD we have been adept at building our own temples, be they big or small, old and ornate or sleek and modern. But what is it that causes believers to constantly build temples and religious empires God neither wants nor asked for?

It begins when a group of people want to belong to something other than just God. The Bible encourages believers to come together often, but not to build temples or create corporate empires. The purpose of coming together is to encourage and support one another as people and fellow servants belonging to God. How is it then that our coming together does not unite all who belong to Christ but rather divides and separates them one from another in an endless parade of denominations and parochial, isolationist or empire building churches and "movements"? Especially when the writer of Hebrews says:-

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10: 24-25)

It is because we have forgotten that in the Kingdom of Heaven there is one, and only one, "body corporate". There is only one church, one body. We are not a body of churches, we are a single body of individual BELIEVERS in a single church with only one Father, only one teacher and master, only one Spirit, and only one Word. And in that church all members are equal before God. No earthly church stands between a believer and God. No earthly church will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, only individual believers accountable for their own actions, not those of their churches. There is one and only one name by which ANY man or woman comes to God the Father and that is through Christ Jesus. There is no other name, not even the name of a church or denomination by which a person can be saved. The judgment of God is not about your church, - it is about you.

So what goes so terribly wrong?

It happens like this, when a group of people get together they will at some point feel the urge to create a vision, a purpose and a plan for themselves in addition to the vision, purpose and plan Christ has already given them in the word of God. So no longer are they merely a group of believers in and followers of Christ Jesus abiding in and obeying the Word of God together, but they are also now joint believers in and followers of a corporate vision, a purpose and a plan for the group. As those who do not believe in or follow the vision, the purpose, and "the plan" (or perhaps the methods to achieve them) leave the church, those who do stay to pursue the vision, purpose and plan progressively enshrine it as their corporate identity. They are now a people who have come together with a plan for the purpose of achieving a vision, of their own making. They are now a people with a corporate identity that has a corporate name and a corporate plan, purpose and vision other than simply being children of God in the corporate identity of Christ Jesus Himself. And like Nimrod and the very first Babylonians they begin to seek to make a name for their church and to measure themselves by the size and "success" of the church they plan and build for themselves.

Pretty soon you find that the sermons are all about the church and seldom about Christ and the Word of God, or the mission of God. The focus subtly changes away from Christ and onto the church itself. It ceases to be all about Christ and becomes all about the church. How to make it bigger (more bricks and mortar and more flesh and blood), "better", more inviting, more financially successful, more influential, more prestigious, more socially active, and on and on. Pretty soon you end up with a church that is caught up in itself rather than caught up in Christ. Self centered rather than Christ centered. Even those who boast about how “Christ centered” their church is are actually still focusing everybody's attention on their church, not on Christ. The very boast of being Christ centered is, in reality, self-centered.

Corporate identities also have a way of eventually taking control and demanding obedience and subservience. They have a way of claiming ownership and control of those who "belong" to them. And pretty soon they begin to demand that those who serve them create for them ... A corporate image! And before long will have everybody serving it, and sacrificing to it. For now their church has an image to maintain, a reputation to upkeep and the bigger the image and name becomes the more will be sacrificed to maintain it. Like Nimrod and the Babylonians they have made a name for themselves and they want the world to love it. They want to grow it, promote it, protect it, raise it up as high as they can, draw as many people to it as they can, be an example of success for others to follow and emulate. But it is THEIR church they are serving, devoting their life to and lifting up, not Jesus. It is the leaders of THEIR church they look to for the vision, purpose and plan for their lives, not Jesus. But as Jesus said we cannot serve 2 masters. Those who are in Christ have only one master and they will serve Him alone. For those who are in Christ BELONG to and obey Christ wholly. A church is where they fellowship with others who equally belong to and obey the same master. Those who are in Christ follow Christ, they do not follow each other. As Paul said

1 Corinthians 1:11-13 (NIV)

"My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?"

.

To those who dream of building and leading large "multi-site megachurches" or even just large churches a word of warning. The Lord does not measure success by size or by numbers or by achievements. He measures us by repentance, by the love and mercy we have, by the truth of our teaching, and by faithful obedience - to HIM. The Lord does not care how many people are in YOUR church, He cares about how many people are in HIS Son and in His Son's Church.

Micah 6:8 (NIV)

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

There will always be many large churches and "multi-site megachurches" in the world. Some have been around for Centuries.  Others rise and fall like the grass that is here today and gone tomorrow. BUT there is only ONE multi-site megachurch that will stand for all eternity and outlive this world, and it already has a name. It is THE Church of Jesus Christ and it does not lift up its own name but the name of its one and only head, Christ Jesus. It does not need a name, it does not need to create a body corporate, it does not need to create a corporate identity. We ARE a body, we HAVE an identity, we ARE Christ Jesus for it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives and breaths in us. Our unity, our power, our strength, our achievements and our growth does not come from ourselves or corporate and marketing plans and strategies. It all comes from The Lord Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells in all who are His. Empowering them enabling them, uniting them.

The bottom line is that those in whom Christ dwells are not driven by a purpose, corporate or otherwise. They are wholly - CHRIST DRIVEN - and always will be.

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"Churchianity: The New Religion of Corporate Idolatry" 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

Staying "On Mission"

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be" (2 Peter 3:10-11 (KJV))

When you are a soldier the most important thing you must do when you are in the field is "stay on mission". That is the whole reason why you are out there; to complete the task you were sent out there to do. If you deviate from your mission it does not matter how many enemy you take captive, it does not matter how much territory you win, it does not matter how many fortified positions you establish. If you do not complete your mission you have failed to accomplish the very thing you were sent out to do. You may never know the cost of your failure but those who sent you will. You get no praise, no commendation, no medal and no victory, for going off mission. Therefore the most vital piece of information a soldier enters the battlefield with is knowing and understanding what his or her mission is. The very thing they were sent to do.

There is a lot of discussion going on in our church at the moment about mission and discipleship. But as I am listening to it the Lord keeps bringing me back to the passage above (2 Peter 3:10-11). If we are here on a mission for God we need to be very clear on what that mission actually is in a world marked for imminent total destruction. The Bible makes it very clear nothing we can do will stop it. Stopping it is not our mission.

The ultimate "fire sale"' - everything goes. All buildings, cities, farms, oceans, all churches / cathedrals / synagogues / temples / mosques etc. All orphanages, hospitals, schools, trees, grass, crops, etc. and all people and all nations - all gone.

Love will always compel us to help those in need wherever we find them, as it should, but it is not our mission here in this battlefield we call the Earth. Anybody can provide material support to the needy but there is something only those in Christ can offer -  the only way to escape that fast approaching destruction. No matter how well fed, well educated, well clothed, well housed, and healthy they are, without belief in Christ, repentance from sin, and baptism of the Holy Spirit they all perish.

But we ourselves cannot save them. Christ alone has that power for man (flesh and blood) cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. To be saved we have to be something else entirely, not sons of man but Sons of God. The only way to become Sons of God is to be in Christ and born again of the Spirit (Romans 8:14). The Lord has declared only those who are spiritually in Christ, who are born again a new creature, beyond mere flesh and blood, escape the destruction and inherit eternal life.

Our mission is to help people become born again as Sons of God before the coming destruction. Only then will they have eternal life and not perish. Not just to "make disciples" who are imitators of us but who are true followers of Christ Himself. That do not obey and abide in our word or the word of our churches, but obey and abide in the word of God alone. For neither we nor our churches can make people a new creature born of the Spirit. Only God can do that and He has declared that only to those who repent from sin, and believe in, give their lives to, and obey His Son Christ Jesus does He give the power to become the Sons of God. (John 1:12, Rom 8:14, Gal 4:6)

Even Paul rebuked those who said "I follow Paul" (1 Cor 1:11-17). For when he said imitate me he meant imitate me and follow Christ as I do. As Adam, our trainee pastor, preached a few weeks ago, WE are John (the Baptist). And like John once we have brought a person to repentance and water baptism we must point to the Lamb of God and say "I must now grow less in your life and He must grow greater, for I did not die for you nor can I give you eternal life .... But He did and He can. Follow HIM and He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit of God Himself."

THAT is our mission.

Provided it is done freely and without charge

"Staying ‘On Mission’" may be copied, used and distributed

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by brothers and sisters in Christ

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Me! Me! Me! - It's All About Me!

There are some in the Christian community of today who will want you to believe that  "it is not about YOU!". But they are quite wrong, it is all about you, it has always been about you.

It is a question some never ask. It is a question that never leaves the lips of others.  It is a question that pervades history, yet mocks time.  It is a question that has no answer.  Yet it is a question whose answer is life and death itself.  What IS the meaning of life?  What is it all about?  Why am I here?

The philosopher says “I think, therefore I am “, and yet after proving the existence of his own life is at a loss to explain its purpose.  Some say all life is one and yet in defining its dimensions are still seeking enlightenment as to its purpose.  Others say all life is illusion and in doing so deny it any purpose.  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph said, “I Am “, and in defining his own existence gave purpose to those who believe in Him.  “Fear (awesome respect and reverence ) God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man”. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) But like children we forever ask “Why “. Yet there is a reason why we cannot answer this age old question – What is the meaning of life?  I realized why the other day -   It is the wrong question! - Me! Me! Me! – It’s all about me!

I was thinking about the times I have been wronged, treated unfairly, wrongly accused, bullied, set upon ( Both physically and verbally), and a myriad other grievances ( it’s a very long list). “I deserve better”, I complained to my Lord! Vengeance is mine, said my Lord, but you - my child – you must forgive. “Why!” I cried, and my Lord said, “Because I alone have the power to achieve true justice. You have only the power to forgive - or not to forgive, and for YOUR sake it is better to forgive! For only in forgiveness do you free yourself from the past - and its burdens.

“Father”, I cried, “the world about me crumbles and I cannot save it from itself!” The power to do so is not given to you He gently reminds. It is given to no-one. Not even I can save the world - from itself! But I have given you, and to all the people of the world, the power, and opportunity, to save themselves. What have you done with yours?

“Father”, I asked, “through tears of frustration, there is so much need in all the world and I am weak and tired from effort, and I cannot meet it all. What should I do next?” He holds me in His hand and I find rest. “Be still”, He whispers, “I have not asked this of you. I have given you only opportunities to help and you are doing well with them”. And a light dawned and heralded a new day in my life. Me! Me! Me! – It’s all about Me!

What is the meaning of life? – There is no meaning of life! It’s the wrong question! The true question is........ “What is the meaning of MY life?” And the answer to that, lies within me alone!

Me! Me! Me! – It’s all about Me! In everything I do, in everything I say. How I respond to people, to events, to situations, to opportunities and to temptations, to praise and to criticism. The values I place on things. The choices I make. Only the Lord can give me life and empower it, - but only I can give that life meaning!

The question is not, “Are they worthy of forgiveness?” It is “Will I forgive?” For forgiveness is not a measure of the forgiven, it is a measure of the one who forgives. The question is not “What is the majority view?” It is “What view will I take?” For even a million with the same view are still wrong if it is the wrong view! Public opinion is not always the right opinion.

I am not responsible, nor accountable, for the moral and ethical standards and values of our society – but I am for my own! How others judge me is less important than whether I have been honest, open, and truthful enough to let them judge me for who I really am!

I know others may not always like to hear what I have to say, but sometimes it is more important that I say what others do not like to hear. But sometimes it is just as important that I listen to what I do not like others to say – to me!

One man is given power and sacrifices himself for his people. Another is given power and sacrifices his people for himself. Both are loved by some, both are hated by some. But both have determined the meaning of THEIR lives. One has become the harbinger of life, one the harbinger of death. And in determining the meaning of their lives they have determined the consequences of their deaths. Some are born into great wealth – and squander it in misery. Some are born into poverty and enrich their lives beyond measure. So it is with all of us. The meaning of our lives lies within our own hands.

What is to be the meaning of MY life? Only I, and I alone, can decide that!

Me! Me! Me! – It’s all about Me!

D.J. Ludlow

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"Me! Me! Me! - It's All About Me!" may be copied, used and distributed

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by brothers and sisters in Christ

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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

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"Being That Guy" may be copied, used and distributed

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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.

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"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