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The Kindgom

Blue Planet III

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Did you watch those exciting episodes on Blue Planet II narrated by Sir David Attenborough?

We were thrilled as the underwater cameramen revealed exciting discoveries.

As Sir David pointed out, almost three quarters of our planet is covered in water.

The seas influence our weather, shape our climate and provide us with food. But although we depend on them completely, the vast majority of the oceans remains unexplored!

The way some creatures appear aware of the danger involved in collecting food is truly amazing! How did they learn these skills?

In geologically active regions on the margins of the Earth’s tectonic plates, the cracks in sea bed rocks spews out superhot water in excess of 400 deg C. Around some of these vents there are swarms of an interesting shrimp called dumbo octopus. This little vivid orange crustacean has no eyes but appears to have a sensor on its back that probably detects light from the vent.

This shrimp has a strange way of farming its life giving bacteria. It holds a population in its mouth and under modified gill covers. To feed them with minerals the shrimp must position itself directly on the border between cold oxygenated ocean water and the hot, mineral-rich vent water.

If it drifts into the hot water and stays a moment too long it cooks, and if it is too far from the vent its bacteria die. It has to work the first time! Who gave this creature this wisdom? Mindless chance or the Creator of the Universe? Many other such examples could be presented.

The Psalmist wrote about the God: “Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that that therein is …” (Psalm 146:6). In fact, at creation, Adam and Eve were to have “dominion over the fish of the sea” (Genesis 1: 26). Through sin they lost that privilege. However, at the return of Jesus to the earth this planet will be like the garden of Eden restored. Harmony will exist amongst all forms of life (please see Psalms 8 & 72, Isaiah 11 ), controlled not only by Jesus but by his faithful followers.

Do you want to be part of Blue Planet III with Jesus? We must prepare now.

To find out more about our hope and how you can become a part of it, visit our website: www.ammanfordchristadelphians.co.uk.

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The Weather

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The British weather is a constant topic of conversation! In spite of the very sophisticated equipment available to forecasters today the forecasts are often wrong. Many do not really appreciate how bad or unseasonable weather can affect horticulture and farming and even the retail trade.

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Jesus passed judgment upon the leaders of Israel when they asked him for a sign from heaven (Matthew 16:1)”He (Jesus) answered them, “When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening”. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”(Matthew 16: 2 – 3). We have a similar saying “Red sky at night shepherds’ delight, red sky in the morning shepherds’ warning!” Israel’s leaders’ tragedy was that they were aware of “signs” in the sky but did not recognise the signs of the times, namely that their Messiah, their Saviour, had arrived and was talking to them! Jesus had come, in fulfilment of their Scripture, the Old Testament.( read, for example, Micah 5:2. There are many other prophecies of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah.)

 

Now, in our day, the signs of the times point to the imminent Second Coming of Jesus from Heaven to establish God’s Kingdom on earth.(Ezekiel 37: 21, Luke 21:25-36) Sadly these signs are not known to most of our contemporaries.

The Old Testament makes clear that God controls the weather. If the nation of Israel refused to worship Him, their land would suffer; “And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you, until you are destroyed. (Deut 28: 23 – 24). In the book of Judges we read of the wickedness of Israel. Because of this a famine plagued the land (Ruth 1:1) so that families in Israel journeyed to Moab to escape hunger.

We can find many events in history where the weather has played a deciding role, the defeat of the Persian fleet by the Greek navy, the retreat of Napoleon and his troops from Russia and so on. God is in control and many of these happenings can be shown to fulfil Bible Prophecy. God does not only control the weather and climate change. In His good time He will send Jesus back to sweep away the chaos of human rule and establish a time of peace, and true prosperity for all (read Psalm 72).

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Quotes are taken from the ESV

*To find out more about our hope and how you can become a part of it, visit our website: www.ammanfordchristadelphians.co.uk.

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Say it as it is!

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We sometimes pretend that something is different from what it really is and hope that somehow it will become what we have called it. For example a small boy wants a horse. He finds a broomstick and straddles it and calls it a horse and, to him, it becomes a horse. We are wise if we confine this to childhood and with the Apostle Paul say, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

Do we, sometimes, permit this child’s play to persist into adulthood?

These days our laws have made progress in making sure that the products we buy are clearly labelled. The manufacturer must list all the components of the product. If a jumper is made purely of wool, the label must tell us, but if it isn’t the label lists all the yarns used.

When it comes to worshipping God, we must be accurate and call things by their true names. So often we hear that every man has a right to worship God as he pleases. However, just saying this does not make it so. Man has a right to worship God only in the way God Himself has appointed. To say that we are free to worship God as we see fit is not true, just as if our saying that the broomstick is a horse actually turns it into a horse!

Jesus Christ told the religious leaders of His day, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” Mark 7:6-7

God’s promise of salvation lies in calling things by their true names. We have to read the Bible as it was written, “…Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes by someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man; but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1: 20-21

We are not free to worship God as we see fit. We must worship Him as He has commanded. To find His commands, we must go to our Bibles with our minds ready to accept His teachings as they are written. To impose our private interpretations on God’s Holy Word, the Bible or to allow someone else to read it and tell us what to believe is disastrous. We must never replace Bible teaching with the doctrines of men.

When it comes to something as important as our eternal welfare, let us put away childish ideas and call things by their true names. Certainly we do not want to be found in the position of those who were condemned by Jesus when he said, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ……for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.” Matthew 15:3, 6

So, let us worship God, not as we see fit but as He commanded us. Let us search the Scriptures daily so that we will be numbered among those “…who feared the Lord and spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed His name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of Hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession and I will spare them, as a man spares his son who serves him.” Malachi 3:16-17

*To find out more about our hope and how you can become a part of it, visit our website: www.ammanfordchristadelphians.co.uk.

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