The one who set the standard

With the writings on this site and some of our others sites, like Stepping Toes, the Brethren in Christ and our ecclesia site, we would love to bring more people to come to know Who took care of all the beautiful things we can see around us and what promises where given to humankind.

With the postings you shall be able to find on this site and on the above mentioned, we do hope you and many other readers coming along here, shall come to see what a beautiful message is given to humankind.
In the past many men of God told about the wonders which came and still shall come onto the people who are willing to recognise their Creator.

On this and the other mentioned pages we do hope to give an idea of the many promises which also can become a reality for us. All of us can find a hope which is set before all of us. We only should be willing to come to see it and believe those things which have been told in the past.


Once you begin to appreciate the Hope God sets before us in His Word, you want to know how to lay hold of it. You realize as you read more, that He sets a standard for men to follow which you have not begun to reach. If you really want to please God, you will feel the need, like those men in Jerusalem, to have your conscience made clean. The way God has prescribed for us is to be baptised into the Lord Jesus, symbolically washing away in the waters our old life, and starting again as if we were newly born, members of God's holy people. Then, the New Testament insists, we shall be heirs of those promises of the Kingdom of God:

 "For in Christ Jesus", writes Paul, "you are all sons of God, through faith" (Galatians 3:26). 

Imagine that! What a privilege, to be called sons and daughters of God!

"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise" (Galatians 3: 27-29).

All that Jesus inherits -- the land, the throne, the blessing-all will be ours. How exciting and moving it is, to think what God offers us. It is as if we are being introduced already to the new covenant God will make with His people. God's law is written on our heart, our sins are washed away, and we are enrolled for a place in that age when war and famine, sin and sorrow will be banished for ever from the earth. 

Paul uses another figure in Romans 11. He says we Gentile believers are like sprigs of a wild olive tree that have been picked up by God the gardener and grafted into the stem of the olive tree of Israel. We share the rich sap that keeps the life flowing, and we will be there in the time of harvest.

"I want you to understand this mystery brethren",

he says, as he explains the long gap between the two Comings:

"a hardening has come upon part of Israel".

He means that only a minority of the Jewish people accepted the good news Jesus and the apostles brought; the hearts of the rest were too hard for the good seed of the Kingdom to grow.
But Israel's hardness of heart is not for ever.

 "Until the full number of the Gentiles come in", he continues, "and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written"

  
-- and he quotes from one of the 'Messiah' passages in Isaiah -- 

"the Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them",

 he adds, repeating the passage we read from Jeremiah 33,

 "when I take away their sins" (Romans 11:24-27). 

Notice the time period-when the full number of the Gentiles has come in. It has not come in yet. God is still calling us to come into His family. But one day, soon, perhaps very soon, the door will be shut. The Lord Jesus will be here with power to rule over the nations, and bring men to judgement for despising God's laws. 

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• Romans 1 - God of Salvation (davegroberts.wordpress.com)
  God’s wrath does not portray the human weaknesses of vindictiveness, or an uncontrolled pique. We can dismiss such ideas, since due to His forbearance, God’s anger and judgment has been smouldering since the first rebellion of Adam and Eve. God’s wrath invokes justice (Romans.2:5).
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  God shows no favouritism (Romans.2:11), so whether Jew or Gentile, both can be saved and be declared righteous. God is eternally just and righteous. It is a reflection of His mercy, that nobody can claim God is unfair.
• Why Is God Now So Merciful to Gentiles? Romans 11 (markparks39.wordpress.com)
  Paul grieves that the majority of Israelites are not experiencing those birthrights. He spends the next two Chapters (9 and 10) explaining how God has always had his believing remnant within the descendants of Israel, and that God’s plan has not been thwarted. God has been just in the choices that he has made (Chapter 9). Israel has chosen to reject God’s powerful grace in Christ, despite God’s desire to give them freely his salvation (Chapter 10). Now in Chapter 11 Paul will address Israel’s future.
  +
  Elijah thought he was the only believer in Israel, but there were actually 7,000 more than he realized. In the same way today, God has a remnant upon whom he has had mercy. They have received his grace (powerful spiritual adoption) and are now living in saving relationship with God. They are trying to gain God’s acceptance of them on “the basis of works” (their performance in order to force God to owe them his approval) but on the basis of God’s merciful choice of them.
• Hardened hearts & Saved Sinners. (ckeck86.wordpress.com)
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• God's Chosen People (hopewithoutahome.wordpress.com)
  I believe as Christians, one of our main duties is to seek justice and healing for all people. How then, can we support the displacement of one people group in order to place another? Is that what Jesus would advocate?
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  Paul is clear in his proclamation that there is no longer a division between Jew and Gentile. All are now considered the children of Abraham by sharing the same faith of Abraham.
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  I do not believe God loves the lifting up of some of his people at the expense of the livelihood and happiness of another group of his people. In fact, didn’t Christ teach us to love one another as ourselves? That people would know us as his disciples by our love? As Christians, we cannot then support one group of God’s people at the expense of the lives of another. It goes against everything we have been taught and believe in. We should be fighting for a resolution that respects the lives and dignity of Palestinians and Jews, but not placing one group higher than the other. As a country, we helped create the current crisis, and I believe it is our duty, especially as Christian Americans, to work toward a solution that respects and values all the lives that have been impacted by the decisions of the past.
• SIH's Think On These Things: Ephesians 2:13 (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
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  Prayer: I Pray Father that you increase your Love and Grace over your Children through these times of Trail in Jesus Name, Amen!
• Note on the Physical Land of Israel: Who Inherits the Land of Israel - Christian or Jew? (ilyston.wordpress.com)
  This irrevocable promise to the seed of Abraham has been expanded.  It is no longer bound to the land of Palestine.  In Romans 4:13, we find that Paul states that Abraham is the “heir of the world.”  This is also stated in Psalms 25:13: “His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth” (Cf. Psalm 37:9, 11, 27).   Thus, it would seem that the promise of the land has extended to the entire world.
  This is not merely a Pauline distinctive.  We also find this idea in Jewish intertestamental writings.
• SIH's Think On These Things: Ephesians 3:6 (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
  Gentiles have access by water baptism into the body of Christ, which is the local assembly.  These Gentile assemblies are the same type of assemblies as their Jewish counterparts …
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  Gentiles have access by citizenship into the spiritual nation of God (the Israel of God).  This citizenship allows the Gentiles to become a party in the eternal promise (covenant) God had made with Abraham…
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  May we all apply this truth to our lives and share the Lord and His work with Jew and Gentile alike, accepting them with open arms as our spiritual brothers/sisters, fellow-citizens of Israel and fellow-members of His assemblies…
• Day 206 Romans 6:1-10 (chosenbygrace.com)
  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
• Must be done before our savior can return...page1...PHOPHECY (meanlittleboy2.wordpress.com)
  Jesus responded with a description of conditions and events that would lead up to His second coming. Moreover, He said that when these signs became evident, His return would occur within one generation (Matthew:24:34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.). Could this be that generation?
  Throughout the nearly 2,000 years since Christ gave His prophecy, many have thought that theirs was the time of His return—and turned out to be wrong, of course. But interestingly, there are a number of prophecies in the Bible that could not be fulfilled until our  modern era, the post–World War II period.
  
• The Restoration of All Things by Timothy A. Williams (ilyston.wordpress.com)
   First, we must note that this is the purpose, the goal, of the administration, which Paul has underscored as the mystery revealed. This “stewardship” was determined to be in the actual and manifested Headship of Christ. Second, the phrase “might gather together in one” may be literally rendered “that He might head up all things in Christ.” Lias notes, “The verb is only used elsewhere (in N. T.) Rom. 13:9, where A. V. reads “it is briefly comprehended,” summed up.”

Together tasting a great promisse

Lots of things are happening in this world by which we can ask questions. Certain events seem like we have heard already about them. Some of the disasters and wars have been spoken off already long before we were born. We can find them in the Book of books, but not many are really interested to read those very old books.

In those books we also can find that the best of the covenants of promise God made still lie in the future. We do not know precisely when they are going to be fulfilled. The majority of people who have believed and hoped in God's promises are already in the grave, and there is a chance we shall die, too, before Jesus comes again. Yet the glorious truth is that even if we die, we can still taste the joy of God's Kingdom. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his death cell, we can be brought back to life again, to receive

 "the crown of righteousness which the Lord", he said, "will award me on that Day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing". 

When the Messiah shall return to the earth we do not know. But what we do know is that we shall receive signs which are declared before. Those signs are having been spoken off in the Book of books. Perhaps not all will recognise them at first. But some will clearly see them and could and should help others to see them too. This site would like to help to find the words leading up to such a wisdom that can be given to us, for free, and which can open doors for us all, for free.

From the Bible we do know that a great tribulation will come over the world and that the Messiah shall return and will raise from the dead all those who have died in faith, and give them a strong, immortal body like his own. Abraham will certainly be there, and so will David, and Paul. We can be there, too. 

Israel 5 009.Jesus Christ Walk of Tears on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And it is all possible through the blood of Christ, which has brought us near to God. For whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we are sinners. We break God's laws, and deserve nothing but death. Jesus' death, the offering of his sinless self in sacrifice, broke the power of the grave for all who join themselves to him. Thus the two Comings are inseparably linked. 

In a few weeks time we shall remember the day Jesus was for the last time at the table with his disciples. It was that night in the upper room he established the last covenant. Some hours later he found his death at the wooden stake.

His dying preceded the crown; the suffering servant became the king of kings. And the same land where Abraham waited in his tent and Jesus walked with the good news of the Kingdom, is given to them both with their family around them, to enjoy for ever.
When Peter stood up in Jerusalem at Pentecost and began to explain the mystery of the two comings, he had an urgent message for the people. Let us look at his words again: "Repent therefore", he cried, "and turn again" (Acts 3:1 9). He was exhorting his hearers to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus by changing their lives, turning round and going a different way. Earlier that day when the crowds had asked him what they should do, he said to them:

 "Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (2:38).

What do you want to do, where do you want to go to. Have you chosen to go on your own or with others?

Today we do invite you to come and join us and to go together with us on the road to that Kingdom of God. Be a sojourner with us and share your thoughts and prayers with us.

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  I want you to know, that no matter who you are out there or what your history is, God promises salvation to you and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses you from all sin. No matter what you have done you will be forgiven and saved as long as you accept Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, that He sent down here from heaven to be a sacrificial lamb for the cleansing of our sins so that our names can be written in the book of life guaranteeing a spot in heaven for us.
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  The substance of John the Baptist‘s message was:  ”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Mat 3:2. This was also Christ’s message:  ”From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mat 4:17 Christ condemned the lack of repentance in contemporary cities: “Woe to you Chorazin! Woe to you Bethsaida! For if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” Mat 11:21 Christ also condemned the lack of repentance in his contemporary generation:  “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”  Mat 12:41 Christ proclaimed repent or perish:  “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”. Luke 13:3 & 5. Christ proclaimed the heavenly joy over one sinner who repents: “Just so, I tell you, that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”  Luke 15:7 And again: “Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
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  When God remembers a sinner for good, He forgives that sinner, forgets his past sins and delivers him or her completely from the power of sin that has enslaved him or her for a long time.
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  Genuine turn-around from wickedness to godliness (i.e. repentance) will earn earnest seekers of salvation divine remembrance.

Nieuwe naam een feit

Voor hen die op zoek waren naar "Christadelphian World" en hier terecht kwamen op "Our World" wil ik gerust stellen dat zij op de juiste plaats zijn terecht gekomen. De voorgaande dagen heeft er namelijk een "aardverschuiving" plaats gevonden en hebben veranderende omstandigheden er toe geleid dat er bepaalde beslissingen zijn genomen om nieuwe wegen of andere wegen in te slaan.

Oorspronkelijk is dit blog uit een MSN groep gegroeid die bij de sluiting van die groepen overgegaan is in Multiply. Bij de sluiting van Multiply zijn de twee blogs Bijbelonderzoekers en Christadelphians samen gevoegd en was het de bedoeling in Christadelphian World de Christadelphians beter kenbaar te maken aan het grote publiek.

Op Christadelphian World zou er kennis gegeven worden van het reilen en zeilen van de Christadelphian gemeenschap. Zo werden hier aankondigingen geplaatst van Bijbel klassen, Bijbel weekends, Bijbel weken of stages en Bijbel kampen, die door verscheidene Christadelphian ecclesiae of 'kerken' werden gegeven. Door dat bepaalde groepen niet met anderen wensten geassocieerd worden en verzochten de artikelen van deze site weg te halen, bleef er niet veel echt nieuws te vertellen over die Christadelphians. Daarom kon men zich afvragen of dat woord in de naamdraging nog relevant kon genoemd worden.

Nog steeds worden alle Christadelphians uitgenodigd om mij hun activiteiten te laten kennen voor publicatie, en zal ik deze graag op deze site en andere kenbaar maken, zodat de wereld getuige kan zijn dat wij wel degelijk een gemeenschap zijn die over de gehele wereld verspreid is en actief is.

Maar vanaf nu zal ik op deze site ook terug meer aandacht geven aan andere kerkgenootschappen en andere gebeurtenissen in de wereld die ons omringt. Graag hoop ik u, lezer, een boeiend aanbod te geven van nieuwsberichten, met hier en daar een toets eigen opinie en vanuit het christelijk oogpunt dat ik met mij mee draag.

Ik hoop van ganser harte dat ik mijn christelijke visie met u zal mogen delen en dat wij samen op stap kunnen gaan in deze wereld.  Hopelijk zullen er boeiende onderwerpen onder onze ogen mogen vallen en deze aan onze kritische blik mogen onderworpen worden.

Nu deze site niet meer het "embleem" "Christadelphian" draagt, hoeft de focus niet meer zozeer op die wereld van Christadelphians te liggen maar zal u nu hier een veel bredere kijk mogen verwachten, met meerdere onderwerpen waarmee de wereld in het algemeen geconfronteerd wordt.

Dit maakt dat u nu op politiek en cultureel vlak terecht kan om mijn persoonlijke webstek "Marcus's Space" terwijl voor religieuze en spirituele onderwerpen "Stepping Toes" meerdere stemmen zal laten spreken van uit verschillende invalshoeken. Zo wel "Stepping Toes" als "Our World" zullen proberen in te spelen op de actualiteit. Op dit platform hoop ik bij de tijd te zijn en de actualiteit te kunnen opvolgen van dag tot dag zoals ik het tegen kom, terwijl op Stepping Toes iets verder zal uitgebreid worden of diepgaandere artikelen zullen voorgesteld worden door meerdere auteurs.

Hopelijk mogen wij u ook op die nieuwssites aantreffen.

U veel leesgenot toewensend,

Marcus Ampe

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English justification: New name a fact

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• Helaas zeldzaam, het commentaar van een man die wakker is en bewust van de ellende (en de oorzaak) in deze wereld
• Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel (1986)

New Name a fact

In case you where looking for "Christadelphian World" and came onto "Our World", you are at the right address.

I did not manage to create a new blog with a new url and title, so I shall keep the old url http://christadelphianworld.blogspot.be/ but chose for the title "Our World".

In the past most articles on this site were written to promote the Christadelphian views and have people get to know the Christadelphian teachings.
In a certain way I would love to continue to let others know the Christadelphian community and  the teachings which follow the biblical teachings of the Nazarene Jew Jeshua, better known as Jesus Christ. Today there is not so much to see of the previous announcements for Bible Classes, Bible Weekends, Bible Weeks and Bible Camps from different Christadelphian ecclesiae or 'churches', because the last few months several Christadelphians asked me to take away those articles. Because several did not wanted to be on the same site or pages as some other groups.

I invite all the Christadelphians to let me know their activities and will be glad to announce them on this site, no matter from which group they come from or with what organisation they may be connected with. For me they all are part of one community in the Body of Christ.
I personally let others know that I am a free Christadelphian, not bounded to any other organisation than the Body of Christ.

Previously the main focus of "Christadelphian World" was on the Christadelphian community, but from now on I will look again at the world from a more open vision, following also what is going on in other Christian denominations or what gets the actuality.

On my personal site Marcus's Space I also look already on the world, but from a very personal viewpoint, and mostly on matters of environment, politics, economy and culture.

I also keep presenting the lifestyle magazine "Stepping Toes" I formed a few years ago on Xanga and restarted recently on WordPress from scratch. There you shall also be able to find articles on what is in the actuality or gets attention in the media (in Belgium).

Since March this site got a dip in viewers but I do hope we shall be able to regain some confused readers and shall get more new readers, interested in the more extensive material I shall hope to offer on this site.

Please be welcome on my and your world => Our World

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Please do find related:

Looking from different perspectives

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• A participation in the body of Christ
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Russian take-over of Crimea

The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, erupted in violent demonstrations and street clashes in late January, culminating with the removal by Parliament of President Viktor Yanukovych. Tensions mounted in the Crimea region, where additional Russian troops and armoured vehicles were reportedly deployed.

Ukrainian Presidential Election October 2004 - Viktor Yanukovych (First Round) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few days we saw how how the Crimean people could only give two votes in Sunday's referendum of which we can question if it was legally installed. The referendum in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favour of the secession could also been seen as a voice of the majority. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent. Those who did not turn up to give their vote in a certain way can now not complain.
It for sure did not resolve in Ukraine the country’s ongoing political crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Monday, March 17 the proclaimed independence from Ukraine, will further worsen the situation around Ukraine. 


Ban Ki-moon is “deeply concerned and disappointed” that this weekend’s Crimea secession referendum will only exacerbate an “already complex and tense situation.”

Since the beginning of the crisis, the UN chief has urged all parties to avoid “hasty steps” that could exacerbate tensions.

“He encourages all parties to work for a solution that is guided by the principles of the United Nations Charter, including respecting Ukraine’s unity and sovereignty,”

 said Mr. Dujarric.

What we in the West hear is only that most Tartars stayed at home and did not go to vote. So you could wonder if they now can complain. Looking at the results,in case they where received honestly the majority of the voters in Crimea overwhelmingly supported leaving Ukraine and joining Russia. The referendum caps months of political unrest, triggered by the Government's decision last November not to sign an agreement on broader European integration. The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, erupted in violent demonstrations and street clashes in late January, culminating with the removal by Parliament of President Viktor Yanukovych. Tensions mounted in the Crimea region, where additional Russian troops and armoured vehicles were reportedly deployed.

In his statement today, the Secretary-General condemned the violence which occurred over the weekend in eastern Ukraine and which resulted in injuries and loss of life on all sides.

“The Secretary-General once again urges all parties to refrain from violence and to commit themselves to de-escalation and inclusive national dialogue in the pursuit of a political and diplomatic solution,”

 said Mr. Dujarric, adding:

“A deterioration of the situation will have serious repercussions for the people of Ukraine, the region and beyond.”  

The UN chief also urged all parties in Ukraine and those with influence to avoid any steps that could further increase tensions.

“Above all, the Secretary-General urges all concerned to intensify their efforts and engage constructively toward a peaceful solution to this crisis, with the aspirations of all the people of Ukraine foremost in mind,”

said Mr. Dujarric, adding that Mr. Ban remains ready to work with all parties to resolve this situation.


Moscow and Kiev are on the brink of conflict following a breakdown in relations in the wake of last month's overthrow of Ukraine's former Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.
On Tuesday, Putin signed a treaty absorbing the Ukrainian region of Crimea into Russia and on Wednesday pro-Russian troops stormed a Ukrainian naval headquarters on the peninsula.
 
Much of the international community, including the United States and the European Union, rejects the annexation of Crimea as illegal, but Moscow in turn refuses to recognise the Ukrainian government. 

The Secretary-General will travel to Kiev on Friday, where he will hold talks with top Ukrainian officials, members of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission and representatives of civil society.
The statement said the visit was "part of (Ban's) diplomatic efforts to encourage all parties to resolve the current crisis peacefully". Key elements of the charter include respect for fellow U.N. member states' sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the peaceful resolution of international disputes.

The Christadelphian brothers and sisters in Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Crimea thankfully can report that they are all well, and unaffected so far by the protests and the Russian take-over of Crimea. However their cost of living will increase as the grivna devalues against foreign currencies, and imports cost more.

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Related articles

• The Ongoing Crisis in Ukraine (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
  The statement comes in the wake of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday, at which the 15-nation body was blocked from adopting a resolution urging the international community to affirm Ukraine’s national borders and declare the referendum in Crimea invalid, owing to a “no” vote from Russia, a permanent member.  China – who is also a permanent member, along with France, United Kingdom and the United States – abstained in the vote. 
• EU mulls further sanctions on Russia over Crimea (seattletimes.com)
  Pro-Russian forces seized three Ukrainian warships Thursday and Ukraine said its troops were being threatened in Crimea as the U.S. announced a new round of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.
  Tensions in the region remained high despite the release of a Ukrainian naval commander held by pro-Russian forces.
  Shots were fired but there were no casualties as the Ukrainian corvette Khmelnitsky was seized in Sevastopol, according to an AP photographer at the scene. Another ship, the Lutsk, was also surrounded by pro-Russian forces. An AP photographer later saw Ukrainian servicemen disembarking a third ship, the Ternopil corvette.
  
• Crimea crisis: Ukraine prepares to withdraw troops from region (descrier.co.uk)
  
  Ukraine is preparing to "quickly and efficiently" withdraw its troops and their families from Crimea, according to Kiev's security chief.
  Andriy Parubiy explained more details of Kiev's position regarding Crimea at a news conference, and said that Ukraine was seeking UN support to designate Crimea a "demilitarised zone", which would involve the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops to continental Ukraine as well as the withdrawal of Russian troops.
  He went on to say that Kiev are also drawing up plans to evacuate any Ukrainians that do not wish to live in an "occupied territory", and that Ukraine will be leaving the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) alliance.
  
• Pro-Russian Mobs Seize Two Ukrainian Warships in Sevastopol Harbor (matthewaid.com)
  Pro-Russian crowds seized two Ukrainian warships Thursday and Ukraine said its troops were being threatened in Crimea as the European Union considered new sanctions against Russia for its annexation of the Black Sea peninsula.
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  In an address to the German Parliament in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was readying further sanctions and that the G-8 forum of leading economies had been suspended indefinitely. Russia holds the presidency of the G-8 and President Vladimir Putin was due to host his counterparts, including President Barack Obama, at a G-8 summit in Sochi in June.
  "So long as there aren’t the political circumstances, like now, for an important format like the G-8, then there is no G-8," Merkel said. "Neither the summit, nor the format."
• Ukraine to withdraw troops from Crimea (therebel.org)
  On Wednesday, Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said the Kiev government would ask the United Nations to declare Crimea a demilitarized zone as it seeks to relocate military forces and civilians from the Russian-controlled peninsula to mainland Ukraine.
  The development comes as the ultimatum that Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov issued to Crimean authorities to release the country's Navy commander held by pro-Russia forces has come to an end.
  
• Ukraine would accept Russia's annexation of Crimea as new reality (drabdulruff.wordpress.com)
  Russians celebrate the annexation of Crimea – perhaps as the first ever Russian victory in the post-Soviet era. Many Russian leaders applauded Putin’s courage. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has defended Russia’s takeover of Crimea, saying that the referendum among the peninsula’s voters corrected a historical “mistake.” Gorbachev, the recipient of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, added that international sanctions — such as those the U.S. and European nations have brought against Russia — would be justified only on very serious grounds, but the takeover of Crimea had failed to provide that.
• Ukraine would accept Russia's annexation of Crimea as new reality (abdulruff.wordpress.com)
  Many Russians have used Crimea’s history as a reason to legitimate Russian military intervention in the peninsula, which harbors a 60 percent Russian-speaking population and voted in favor of joining Russia in a referendum. Crimea was part of Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it over to Ukraine in 1954, in a symbolic gesture that had little significance at the time since both countries were part of the Soviet Union. In 1991, the leader of the Russian Soviet Republic, Boris Yeltsin, and his counterparts from Ukraine and Belarus signed a deal breaking up the Soviet Union and establishing new independent states. Gorbachev did not participate in the 1991 meeting.
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  Given its military prowess and influences, perhaps Russia’s inexorable seizure of Crimea is unavoidable. Humbled but defiant, Ukraine lashed out symbolically at Russia by declaring its intent to leave the Moscow-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of 11 former Soviet nations. The last nation to leave the group was Georgia, which lost a brief war with neighboring Russia in 2008 and ended up losing two separatist territories.
  Moscow says it reserves the right to “defend” Russian speakers in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. Moving closer to the EU does not preclude Ukraine maintaining good relations with Russia, Yatsenyuk said. Beyond the grander political gestures of the day, Parubiy said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry had been instructed to introduce a visa regime for travel between the two nations. The move could badly affect Ukrainian migrant laborers, many of whom work in Russia and send home money. It came against the backdrop of claims that Russian citizens were pouring across the Ukrainian border to foment secessionist unrest in bordering eastern regions.
• Europe mulls response to Russia's absorption of Crimea (dnaindia.com)
  The EU faces tough decisions in finding a credible response to an explosive security crisis on its eastern frontier, with biting sanctions likely to hurt member states with strong economic links to Russia.
  Kiev said it was looking to withdraw its embattled troops from Crimea after pro-Moscow forces seized naval bases and detained Ukraine's naval chief in a tightening of Russia's grip on the peninsula.
  
• Putin adds Crimea to Kremlin fort, defends the action! Ramifications! (abdulrubb.wordpress.com)
  In a fiercely patriotic address to a joint session of the Russian
  parliament in the Kremlin, punctuated by standing ovations, cheering and
  tears, Putin lambasted the West for what he called hypocrisy. Western
  nations had endorsed Kosovo’s independence from Serbia but now denied
  Crimeans the same right, he said. “You cannot call the same thing black
  today and white tomorrow,” he declared to stormy applause, saying Western
  partners had “crossed the line” over Ukraine and behaved “irresponsibly”.
  The strong man of Russia thanked China for what he called its support, even
  though Beijing abstained on a UN resolution on Crimea that Moscow had to
  veto on its own, and said he was sure Germans would support the Russian
  people’s quest for reunification, just as Russia had supported German
  reunification in 1990.
  Putin has repeatedly accused the new leadership in Kiev of failing to
  protect Russian-speakers from violent Ukrainian nationalists. Ukraine’s
  government has accused Moscow of staging provocations in Russian-speaking
  regions of eastern Ukraine to justify military intervention.
  +
  EU foreign ministers agreed to subject 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials
  to visa restrictions and asset freezes. US President Barack Obama imposed
  sanctions on 11 Russians and Ukrainians blamed for the military seizure of
  Crimea, including Yanukovich, and two aides to Putin. Putin himself,
  suspected in the West of trying to resurrect as much as possible of the
  former Soviet Union under Russian leadership, was not on the blacklist.
  The US list targeted higher-profile Russian officials close to Putin while
  the EU went for mid-ranking officials and military commanders more directly
  involved on the ground. Washington and Brussels said more measures could
  follow in the coming days if Russia formally annexes Crimea. The EU also
  said its leaders would sign the political part of an association agreement
  with Ukraine on Friday, in a gesture of support for the fragile coalition
  in Kiev.
  
• Ukraine to withdraw troops from Crimea after being forced out of its own naval HQ by masked Russian soldiers (thisismoney.co.uk)
  Ukraine now plans to relocate armed forces to the mainland

Being Missional

Excerpt:

‎The earliest known usages of the term “missional” occurred in 1883 in C.E. Bournes’ The Heroes of African Discovery and Adventure and then in 1907 in W.G. Holmes’ The Age of Justinian and Theodora.

Figure of a Missional Perspective (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The meaning of the term has changed enough that neither of these occurrences embodies the way it is used today. Today, the term missional is commonly used in conversations among Christians. As it has grown in popularity, however, it raises some theological concerns, challenges, and opportunities.
‎

The defining missiological debate in mission history has been the relationship between “church and mission,” which has become a catalyst for three dimensions of missional: missionary, mission, and the missio Dei. …

Barry, J. D., Grigoni, M. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

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“The missiological consensus that Newbigin focused on our situation may be summarized with the term missio Dei, ‘mission of God.’”  

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“Is the church’s mission primarily the delivery of the message of the gospel—in which case the verbal element is all that really matters? Or does the church’s mission include the embodiment of the message in life and action? Sometimes this question is raised as the tension between proclamation and presence. Or between words and works. We will explore the integration of what the church is meant to be as well as what the church is meant to say.” (The Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church's Mission, p. 30).

Related articles

• Mission Is The Telos Of Theology (kwiyanifiles.wordpress.com)
  To say that theology “comes out of mission” makes perfect sense to me as someone who engaged theology via the route of missiology.
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  mission is not just the mother of theology. Mission is also the telos [purpose, goal, and end] of theology.
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  Good theology is born out of mission, but it also dies for mission Thus, I suggest, missio Dei might be the main purpose of theology. Of course, theology is more than just an academic discipline geared to enlighten and educate the mind. It is a spiritual exercise that enhances and serves mission. It is time for a mission-shaped theology (not just a missional theology or a theology of mission) to begin to take root.
  
• Umunthu as Missio Dei (kwiyanifiles.wordpress.com)
  A person, in the umunthu sense of the word, is one who humanizes others through selfless and sacrificial generosity.
• What Does it Look Like to be Missional? (thehighcalling.org)
  Much of the buzz about missional ministry is found among young church planters and consultants in new missional networks, like Missio Alliance, Forge, Missio, Verge Network, Acts 29 Network, and GCM Collective. I’ve been interacting with missional church leaders for the past nine years, ever since I started my previous website, Vanguard Church, which Friend of Missional named a “Catalyst for Missional.” So even old goats like me have been involved.
  But more importantly, the idea that churches should be “missional” has been around for a long time and has been articulated by some very thoughtful theologians and practitioners.
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  Do I see my work as a means to worship God? Am I thankful to him for the gifts, skills, and talents he has given me? Do I thank him for giving me opportunity to serve him in all that I do? Do I intentionally pray that God could use me and my work to bring him glory?

Showing favouritism to gain advantage

Just 4 years before Noah was born, the situation in the world had developed so that many harsh things that ungodly people had spoken against Enoch; people who were “loud mouthed boasters, showing favouritism to gain advantage” (Jude v16). Rings a bell with today, doesn’t it? This is the result when God is pushed right out of our thinking.

 “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8). God is all seeing. Do we find favour in the eyes of the LORD? David’s Psalms show he was very conscious...

Resources | Today's thought - based on the daily readings

“The LORD saw that …” (January 3).

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To whom do we want to be enslaved

Be enslaved to Christ

Name tags of two of . Created by Saaby. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In our search to come some where or to accomplish something it can well be that we do try to find solutions in human organisations. We try to clinch to those who seem to have the power to make everything work better.

Perhaps we are blinded and do not notice the reality behind the curtain. We want to believe those organisations would be able to create what we are not (yet) able to do, and we show them are weakness, but by doing that we also give them the assurance they can go ahead and take charge over us.

By putting our hopes and aspirations on those human constructions we perhaps forget to see the real man behind it all, or the man in whom we should better trust more.  Though we may try to follow Jesus not seeing any advancement around us, in this world, the danger looks around the corner that we go and clinch more to those human organisations instead of trusting in the cornerstone of the Church and in his Father, Who calls those Who He wants to be with Him.

But by not having patience enough, we do think human people could bring a solution. Normally they could help, yes. Normally people should help to continue missionary work, and getting people to come together to share the Word of God. In this world we do often forget that it is ruled not by Christ yet and not by God but by the powers of this world, where so many are being tempted to have a taste of such power.

Getting doors slammed against our face, undergoing several trials, it is up to us to get up after falling and to try to continue our way, in the name of Christ, and not in the name of such or such organisation. Our hope and our eyes should not be on those worldly organisations nor on worldly-things but on the spiritual and on the powers which are above all human power.

Hopefully we have found that answer and are among those who “followed him”, making our lives count in some meaningful ways, according to our abilities, in the way we follow him.

A last thought: “whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (2 Peter 2:19). Let us be enslaved to Christ; remember, it is not possible to be only half committed....

Each of us has to make the choice to whom we wanted to be connected and in which way we want to be united. We should find each other in love to be willing to be united under Christ willing to grow as a part of his body, and to become one in spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17; 12:27; Ephesians 5:30)

As son and daughters we should give each other the outstretched hand of peace and co-operation, with the aim to help each other to become one in Christ (Galatians 3:26, 28)

It is in Christ we should be willing to grow, giving ourself up as a volunteer to become a tool in  God’s workmanship ‐‐ His handiwork ‐‐ born anew in Christ to do his work (Ephesians 2:10) Hand in hand with brethren and sisters in Christ we should feel connected, not being slaves of this world or bounded by handcuffs to one particular organisation here on earth, but as free fellow citizens with the rest of God’s family (Ephesians 2:19)


In case we do have to be enslaved to somebody, or have to be a prisoner of, than it should be Jesus  Christ, the Nazarene man who liberated us from all chains. (Ephesians 3:1, 4:1)

As children of God we should come to see who is our brother and who is our sister,  and accept them with their own peculiarities, living under a new law, not made by man from  worldly organisations, but by a Supreme Being. A higher law and a more glorious dispensation.  By faith we receive it and should embrace it,  no longer walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Everything we do should not be for our own glory or for the glory of one particular worldly organisation. We should be a product of the Spirit and this Holy Spirit, the Power of God should find a welcoming place in our hearts. We should be willing to give ourselves so that the Holy Spirit can abide in us and that we are offering ourselves for His glory and no longer for our own.  (1 John 5:4)

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