Showing posts with label carelinks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carelinks. Show all posts

Monday 10 February 2014

Priority to form a loving brotherhood

There might be people who do not like that others share the love of Christ with each other and do not mind being under Christ instead of being under one or the other organisation.


"Jesus Christ" - NARA - 559041 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Belgium we might have been under attack and have been surrounded by such a great cloud of unbelievers, having only a small amount of baptised brethren and several whom are baptised under Carelinks who do not get to know us, because their organisation does not bring us to their attention. You might think they could also look for other Christadelphians on the net and come to find us. But that does not seem to happen.

Having in between the battle of two organisations, CBM from the UK and Duncan Heaster with Carelinks on the other site, we got ourselves in trouble and annoied by two groups. Though we totally could understand the reason why CBM is so reluctant to accept Duncan Heaster in their community again.

He also accuses me now of slander because of my postings: Duncan Heaster en Carelinks onverbiddelijke verhinderaars + No reconciliation possible between CBM and Duncan Heaster from Carelinks.
A reply and justification by me shall be placed by those articles and shall needed to be added by the underneath words.

We in Belgium do not like the war going on between CBM and Carelinks, nor the war Duncan Heaster wants to keep going between me, Marcus Ampe.

Our priority is by bringing the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom and to form a loving brotherhood. For that reason we want to throw off everything that hinders and could get us into the sin that so easily entangles. Though we might not with many, we do prefer to be with a few who are willing to aim for the same goal. We want to reach people who are willing to believe in what the Bible tells us and who wants to take Christ Jesus as their cornerstone and not any human organisation.

To be able to follow the right path, we wish to find sincere people who are willing to share the Word of God with us. With all those who are prepared to put their own personal selfish "I" away and who want to become like one great family under Christ, we want to give out our hand.

We do want to run with perseverance the race marked out for us and therefore we do want to get rid off all obstacles this world wants to put in front of us.

The few members we do have in our ecclesia all do agree to fix their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. In him we do trust and want to find the cornerstone of that what has to be build in Belgium.

In case we do have to bear many crosses, we shall not mind to take up our cross in remembrance of the wooden stake Jesus died at. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in, we want to study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God.

Facing the troubles in Belgium and seeing how certain persons try to get division in the community we might find ourselves flagging in our faith, but than we do know we should go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he ploughed through. What a pleasure we may find in the glorious task Jesus has done and has given his followers. That will shoot adrenaline into our souls!” Therefore we invite anybody who is willing to follow Jesus to join us and to look at him who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. May we ask all those who are not sure to consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that they, you nor we, will not grow weary and lose heart.

We do know we do have to endure hardship as discipline and are pleased we may offer ourselves as brothers of Christ or as sisters of Christ, being children of God. Yes because of Jesus his actions the relationship between God and man is restored and Jesus his Father accepted Jesus peace offer and is treating us now as His sons and daughters.

We have all had human fathers, to whom we had to be submitted and who disciplined us and we respected them for it. Christ Jesus broke the chains of the world and the chain of death, becoming a high priest for God and our mediator by God. It is not the human organisation of a company, church firm or denomination that shall give us the key to enter the Kingdom of God. No it is how we personally want to make a good relationship with the people around us, with Christ and with God. The Elohim does not ask you to submit to any worldly organisation, but asks you to submit to His Will and His commandments. It is by submitting to the Father of our spirits that we shall be able to live!

We should come together as brothers and sisters and feel united under Christ!

Therefore we do want to strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees and continue to go forwards, even when we just be on our own (knowing that Jesus would walk with us), with two, three, or a few more. It is not the quantity that counts for God but the quality.

In case we are not with many or in case more want to join us, we want to go together and feel that we are like mountain climbers, able to count onto each other! All ready to make level paths for our own but also for the other feet," {Proverbs 4:26} so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

We decided to make every effort to live in peace with all men around us and to be willing to set-apart those who are willing to share that love of Christ which should bound us in union. Together, even with not many, we will be prepared to see to it that no-one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Trying to protect the flock, being responsible for the Belgian ecclesia, I shall have to keep the bad things out and should avoid that further damage can be done.

I consider it one of my tasks, for the good of what has to be build up, to see that no-one is in no way immoral, or is godless. We may not sell our soul to any person or any organisation. Our soul (= our total being) should be under one leader of the Church and that is Christ Jesus the Messiah.

We have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." {Exodus 19:12,13; Hebrews 12:19-20}

I shall continue to bring people to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, even when other individuals or organisation may want to  have me trembling with fear. {Deuteronomy 9:19} For me the main issue is to bring people to Jehovah God, not to make them another member of a human organisation.
Though I do know we do have to have order and law, and are bounded by forms of organisation; but that organisation or church should be under direction of Jesus Christ his commands and not of personal gain.

I would love to bring more people together in an environment where they can feel at home and where they can share their ideas in peace. I would love to bring more people to come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant. I am not willing to see any battle going on.

No blood I would like to see, but the blood of Jesus who liberated us. In remembrance I would love to take the symbols, the bread and the wine, so that we who want to come together may confess in Jesus name. Created things can be disturbed and shaken but we may trust that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for or our "God is a consuming fire." {Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:28-29}

As such I would like to call all those who are willing to unite with the ones who keep on loving each other as brothers. I also would say we shall not forget to entertain strangers and will remember those in other parts of the world, but also those in prison as if we are their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if we ourselves were suffering. {Hebrew 13:1-3}

Though one or more persons, might do all the work to get us divided, we shall try to see over all persons and organisations and shall not fall in the trap of the love of money. Therefore, although our community in this small country may not have many means to survive we shall be content with what we have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." {Deuteronomy 31:6}

There are people in this world who would like to frighten us. To them I would like to say they may perhaps do a lot of terrible things to us here on earth, but we have a better future and hope and believe in what God has promised to them that stay faithful to Him.
So we, in this small country which is not old yet and perhaps can fall in pieces very soon, say with confidence, "Jehovah, the Elohim and Only One God, is my helper; we will not be afraid. What can man do to us?" {Psalm 118:6,7}

I and my fellow brethren shall remember our leaders, who spoke the word of God to us and consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith when they lived according to the commandments of God. And we shall not let us be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

To keep the teachings clear, we know the importance of gathering, the need of meeting with each other on regular times. It is at such meetings our hearts can be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name. As brothers and sisters we should feel united under Jesus his name. We as brothers and sisters do find it important that we do good to each-other and do not keep things away from our other brethren and sisters. Those who intentionally do not allow other brethren and sisters to join with each other we consider have other priorities than to unite people under Christ. As brethren and sisters in Christ we may not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

It is important that all those who want to follow Christ can come together and that they help eachother to grow in the faith. Those making it not possible to share the faith we can not consider to be good at heart and having the right intentions nor the right heart to be a brother or sister in Christ.

We should pray for them and for the whole community that they may receive the heart of Christ and try to live accordingly.

As responsible for the ecclesia in Belgium I from my site have the responsibility to protect the community for false teachers, bad and false influences. Those in charge of the ecclesia do have  to take their responsibility and keep watch over those men and women who are willing to come under Christ and to be a member of the community, knowing that at the end all of us must give an account.

I would like to ask you also to pray for me and for our ecclesia, that we always shall obey God and that we may have a clear conscience and desire to live honourably in every way.

Let us all pray that those who want to follow Jesus Christ  may be guided by the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, and that He might equip us with everything good for doing His will, and that He may work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The UK album cover for the 1969 release of Jes...
The UK album cover for the 1969 release of Jesus Christ Superstar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


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Preceding:
Not words of any organisation should bind you, but the Word of God

Continue reading:

Disciple of Christ counting lives and friends dear to them
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Please do find additional reading:

  1. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  2. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
  3. Faith
  4. Do not forget the important sign of belief
  5. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
  6. Not enlightened by God’s Spirit
  7. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
  8. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience
  9. Choices
  10. Always a choice
  11. We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace
  12. A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses
  13. To be chained by love for another one
  14. No man is free who is not master of himself
  15. Fear and protection
  16. Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation
  17. Choose you this day whom ye will serve
  18. It is a free will choice
  19. For those who make other choices
  20. Your life the sum total of all your choices
  21. Answering a fool according to his folly
  22. You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone
  23. What’s church for, anyway?
  24. Feeling-good, search for happiness and the church
  25. The one who has not had a taste of love
  26. Casual Christians
  27. Christianity is a love affair
  28. The Law of Christ: Law of Love
  29. What Jesus did: First things first
  30. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
  31. The Greatest of These is Love
  32. A treasure which can give me everything I need
  33. The task given to us to love each other
  34. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love
  35. God demonstrates his own love
  36. Agape, a love to share with others from the Fruit of the Spirit
  37. Unarmed truth and unconditional love
  38. Unconditional love
  39. The Spirit of God imparts love,inspires hope, and gives liberty
  40. No fear in love
  41. When we love we do not need laws
  42. Love envieth not
  43. Love turns one person into two; and two into one
  44. Love is like playing the piano
  45. Love will cure more sins than condemnation
  46. If we love one another, God lives in us
  47. Spread love everywhere you go
  48. Love and cultivate that which is pure
  49. Blessed are those who freely give
  50. Those who make peace should plant peace like a seed
  51. Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair
  52. Work with joy and pray with love
  53. Self-preservation is the highest law of nature
  54. Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness
  55. Growth in character
  56. God let my compassionate affection be tolerant and kind
  57. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
  58. A Living Faith #2 State of your faith
  59. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  60. A Living Faith #5 Perseverance
  61. Parts of the body of Christ
  62. Breathing and growing with no heir
  63. God loving people justified
  64. United people under Christ
  65. Small churches of the few Christadelphians
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Thursday 6 February 2014

Kleine gemeenschap in ongeïnteresseerde wereld



In deze wereld waar niet veel mensen geïnteresseerd zijn in God en gebod trachten wij, hoofdzakelijk via het internet mensen te bereiken die op zoek zijn naar een meerwaarde in hun leven.

Na vele omzwervingen kan het zijn dat mensen toch op een punt komen waar zij de waarde van de Bijbel beginnen inzien en deze samen met andere mensen willen bespreken. De als maar kleiner wordende kring van gelovigen kan gerust wat nieuw bloed gebruiken. Maar veel mensen worden afgeschrikt door de kleine gemeenschappen. Bij de Rooms Katholieken ziet men de aantallen tijdens diensten erg verminderen. Bepaalde evangelische groeperingen zien dan weer een toename op hun levendige diensten. De vraag die daarbij kan gesteld worden is wat de mensen daar naartoe brengt.

De Broeders in Christus in België komen eigenlijk in een woestijn terecht. Hier is niet bepaald een vast staande structuur of eeuwenoude basis waar de broeders en zusters op kunnen bouwen. Men zou kunnen zeggen dat onze gemeenschap in België nog in haar kinderschoenen staat.

Zoals alle kinderen moeten wij groeien en moeten ook wij durven geduld uit oefenen om deze groei goed te laten verlopen. Het grootste probleem dat wij tegen komen is dat zulk een kleine gemeenschap vele mensen afschrikt. Men is bang op te vallen doordat er geen massa is waar men zich achter kan verbergen. Ander probleem is dat wij spijtig genoeg over heel België geen bereik hebben of niet kunnen rekenen op gelovigen die daar samen kunnen komen op regelmatige tijdstippen.

Spijtig genoeg willen de Carelinks Christadelphians niet samen gaan met de Christadelphian Bible Mission of CBM-Christadelphians. Hierdoor kunnen wij in Vlaanderen en Antwerpen de mensen niet mededelen waar zij regelmatig naar samenkomsten van Christadelphians kunnen gaan. De Belgische Christadelphians die aangesloten zijn bij de CBM zijn door deze impasse in de onmogelijkheid gesteld om voldoende mensen te kunnen opvangen of door te sturen naar gemeenschappen waar zij terecht zouden kunnen komen. Nochtans mag dat geen hinderpaal zijn om te blijven uit kijken naar mogelijkheden om een gemeenschap te vormen in de toekomst.

Men moet de stappen durven ondernemen om als gelovige voor de Waarheid te kiezen en hier voor recht op de benen te durven blijven staan, ook al is men met weinig. Indien men dat Ware Geloof ook aan anderen kenbaar wil maken houdt niemand de anderen tegen om samen gemeenschap te vormen en al was het om samen in de eigen woonst een huiskerk te maken. Zo moesten de eerste Christenen ook gemeenschap vormen.

In België moeten wij de toestand een beetje aanschouwen als in de tijd van de eerste Christenen en moeten wij op de kale gronden proberen het geloof te verspreiden en een gemeenschap van Christenen te vormen die bereid zijn om samen God te dienen.

Het zou heel fijn moest u in de toekomst ook deel willen uitmaken van de gelovigen die sterk willen staan in het Evangelie.

Wij willen graag zo veel mogelijk opbouwende lectuur aanbieden en kansen geven om samen ons geestelijk te verrijken en aan te moedigen om vooruit te gaan op het pad dat Jezus Christus voor ons geopend heeft.
Mogen wij u dan ook vriendelijk uit nodigen om met onze lectuur verder kennis te maken en hopen dat u onze meerdere websites een regelmatig bezoek zal brengen om u te laten inspireren?

Vindt meer over die kleine gemeenschap en waar zij voor staan: Christadelphians kleine gemeenschap maar sterk in geloof


}  Website Belgische / Belgian Christadelphians: http://sites.google.com/site/belgianchristadelphians
}  Broeders in Christus België: http://broedersinchristus.wordpress.com/
}  Ecclesia Brussel-Leuven: http://christadelphians.wordpress.com/
}  Ons internet Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes: http://steppingtoes.wordpress.com/
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Society
Society (Photo credit: Rétrofuturs (Hulk4598) / Stéphane Massa-Bidal)

 
 


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Wednesday 5 February 2014

No reconciliation possible between CBM and Duncan Heaster from Carelinks

It is really frustrating to have to admit that in the Christadelphian world it is like everywhere else in this world, that we do find people who are more interested in their own position than in the welfare of others.

For months now, several Belgian brethren and the CBM linkman for Belgium Chris Edwards have tried to come to a reconciliation between Duncan Heaster, Carelinks and CBM (The Christadelphian Bible Mission). We where surprised to find Duncan Heaster under the members of Christadelphians for Unity and as such we did hope he had come to other thoughts and intentions for the Christadelphian Community, wiling them to unite. But we got a wrong impression, he even tries to get more division in the Christadelphian community and succeeded in a certain way. (It will make him laugh at us.)

Like in many denominations the Christadelphians have by the years become victim of different opinions between its members and got different groups of which some did not want to work together with the other. Such division in Christian communities we do consider very bad.


English: cover of the Photodrama of Creation
English: cover of the Photodrama of Creation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In Christianity there are even groups who say that they are the right group because they have no division, but mostly we can see that they themselves are also an offshoot of an other denomination. For example you can find the Jehovah Witnesses who always claim to be the only right denomination because they have unity in their ranks. They forget they themselves came from a schism-group in the Biblestudent world. They even claim that their founder was brother Charles Taze Russell (a pupil of our brother Dr. Thomas), though he never founded that organisation. Several people who left the Jehovah Witnesses also formed other denominations, like the Nazarene Friends and many ex-Jehovah Witnesses groups.

Christendom has many many divisions, but it is not different by other religions as the Muslims and Hindu's. also in those religions you can find many different denominations or groups with different believes. as prophesied in the Bible we have come in to the days where those different groups will come to oppose each other and even will go fighting one against the other.

With much regret we do have to say to interested people in the provinces of West and East Flanders, Antwerp and Limburg that we can not offer them a meeting place, because Carelinks does not want to let us know where they have ecclesiae in those places.

For us it is more important that people could come together, gathering in the name of Christ, studying the Bible together. We are not concerned so much if they do belong to this or that group of the Christadelphian community. but it looked like others are really concerned with whom we do want to have contacts. So certain Christadelphians asked us to take away article from this site or not to show others their name on this site - probably they would not like to be associated with us or with people we would like to associate with.

The whole situation escalated and derailed in such a way that the linkman for Belgium in Great-Britain resigned after a harsh reaction of his fellow brethren at the CBM Great-Britain. a new linkman for Belgium has been installed, but I did not have contact with him. I do hope we shall be able to co-operate nicely in the future.

Because our trials to associate with Carelinks several Christadelphians would not co-operate with us and do not like to have news from their ecclesia on our site. Without much news from Christadelphians it is no use that this site will keep its name "Christadelphian World". Therefore I do invite all readers of this site to give me some advice, either to keep its name and to continue trying to build up a community of lovers of Christ willing to live in the "City of Christ" (Christadelphia) or to be brothers and sisters in Christ (Christadelphian); or changing its name to "Christian World" or "The World we live in" or something else?
All suggestions are welcome.

I do agree I became very frustrated to find also in this denomination such a division. When I was a non-trinitarian Baptist I have seen thousands of Baptists having to change form denomination because the Southern Baptist Union became to strong and imposed the trinitarian teaching on all of its members.

I did already change twice of denomination, being born in an Old Conservative Roman Catholic Family, having been an acolyte, though always having questioned the Trinity, having become a Baptist, where I also encountered a very free unbounded spirit where many ideas were allowed to be said. Now once more confronted with people who want to have their person put in the forefront and be taken as the leader, though Jesus should be our leader and not one other human person.

Jesus (Jeshua) should be the cornerstone of the Church and it are his teachings we should follow, not the commandments of a human worldly organisation. Those who want to accept Jesus as their Saviour and would like to accept what this man has done for them, having really died and not having faked his death as a reincarnated god, should join hands and come together.

I do hope those people who want to take Jesus as their lord and cornerstone of their community, living in Belgium (Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg, Wallonia) shall understand our limits and that it is not our fault we can not bring them in contact with other Christadelphian communities which are not linked with the CBM. We just do not have their addresses and Carelinks does not want to have their members to have contact with members of our community.

Also the contact with other Bible Students do not go so smoothly. Also some of them do not want to meet with other members of our community.
With my Lifestyle magazine Stepping Toes I would love to see more serious Bible Students working together and sharing ideas. But also their I am confronted with not many writers willing to write for the magazine or willing to share their ideas. I am thankful to those who do not mind writing on that platform and not mind meeting with other believing people, trying to edify  each-other and helping each other to grow in faith.

I do hope the magazine shall receive some more contributors in due time, but for now I am already pleased some different ideas may be posed together on one platform. I would love to find readers of this site also coming to look at that platform where many ideas may be put together. Please do find Stepping Toes and enjoy the writings over there.

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2014 February 14: (18.08 hours):

For those who commented on this article and can not see their comment, I do apologise. This website was also some time off public, beyond my own wishes. Because a person and his organisation attacking me, a complaint was made about this site being inappropriate. Therefore it got censored. I did also ask Google to reconsider the complaint and hope all reaction will soon be again available to the general public.

Please see also my open reaction about this dangerous situation of censorship: Certain people trying to stem freedom of speech



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