Life is too precious

In 1999 Marcus Ampe got his second near death experience and was literally paralysed for 6 months. After ten years revalidation he started feeling again as ‘the old Marcus’ and started kicking again.

He never could resist to have some comments on our society in his artistic works. His ballet on the First Chechen War with Russia and the inhuman conditions in  Chechnya, making a lot of commotion. As choreographer and dance teacher he was never afraid to say what was on his lips. As Christian preacher he wanted to follow the task Jesus had ordered to his disciples, spreading the Good News. But such Good Tidings and warnings about how to make something of our life were not exactly welcome, so he had to endure many difficulties, also at his work. Not afraid so much of people, but more fearing God, he always continued to spread the message of peace and human respect.

Having had 2 nearly death experiences in his life, he knows what it is to be alife, and would like to get people to understand the importance of having the opportunity to be alive and kicking well.

According to him prediction is not easy, but in case we would know the past much better we could have an idea where the world is heading to in the the future. As teacher of the history of ballet, he always wanted his pupils to compare the past with the contemporary time and to have an open mind about evolutions in the world of art but also in the world of politics, because there shall always a connection between them.

To predict the future one needs to know all of the past and the now. But he is aware that knowledge will always be partial, and therefore (according to him)  predictions will never be reliable except when they do come from people send by God, namely the prophets speaking in the name of God. But we should always be careful not to fall in the hands of false teachers and false prophets.

“To make something of our life we should have an open mind.” he says. “We should be aware of what happens in the world but also of which position we would like to take in that world. Often we do think we can not change anything, but that is not believing in the possibility of the complementary rules that all small bits can make one bigger unit, and can make a difference.”

For Mr. Ampe it is clear that we do have to take our responsibility. He does not agree as so many other Christian preachers preach that we as Christians should stay politically neutral and should stay away from any discourse. ‘Though making up a mind and taking stance does not mean we do have to go into a political party, that is something totally different.” According to him we should give to the system what the system demands (giving Caesar what the emperor asks said Jesus). “Having a democratic system people are or should be given the right or/and duty to vote. In Belgium it is compulsory to vote, so we should bring out our voice and vote for those who come closest to our opinion, our Judeo-Christian values, even when we do have to chose the best one from the bad ones.”

“We only live once. It is all in the Now, that we do have to make it. We can not take anything into our death. All will end up in the grave or in the incinerator.” The Christadelphians do believe that there is no spirit that leaves the body to go to a heaven, a hell or a purgatory. “Once death it is finished. With death we have paid for our sins.” Which should be a warning “We do have to make it here on earth. In case you postpone everything until a later date, it can well be the date you wanted to do it shall never come into your life. There is no time like the present.”

For some years Marcus Ampe said that we had to be careful not to listen too much to all those doom-preachers and lots of American mega church preachers who may count a lot of followers and really succeed to fill their enormous meeting-rooms. But they could well be the falls teachers Jesus warned us for.  Several evangelicals try to frighten people for the end of the world, which is near. Mr. Ampe agrees that we clearly can see signs that the End-times are near, if they did not start yet. “But before we shall hear the final whistle we shall have to face a third world war. People shall not be able to leave over the Plan of God and Armageddon. Though they should be aware that it is know that they can prepare themselves and that they should be trying to get as many people ready.”

On several occasions he told people not so much to fear the end of the world, because it will come when it is destined to come. “At the moment we do see that somehow some people started to become afraid of what is going on in the world. Some even prepare themselves by doing exercises to survive, building stock, building bunkers, you can’t image how crazy it can be.” Instead of wasting no time worrying about what can not be changed or avoided we should be conscious of what we do can change and on what we can work to have a better world to live in. “We do not have to work to have a better heaven. Those who will be judged to enter the Kingdom of God, shall be judged for what they have done in their lifetime on earth, and not on what they had planned to do.”

“When we get too involved with the fear of the end of our lives and the world, we forget to enjoy the time we have been blessed with.” Out of experience he is assured that we got the chance to live on this earth and should be thankful to the Creator for being allowed to be here on this earth.  “So many people never see the blessings they receive every day of the Most High. Often they do not think about God, but as soon as something goes wrong they accuse Him of letting something go wrong and wonder ‘Why?’.”

“Instead of blaming God, people should think more about what went wrong in the world and what really caused it. There  are so many things we do have in our own hands. Even elements of nature. Instead of taking care of avoiding pollution and respecting the environment, we continue our selfish  behaviour, destroying gods Creation, of which He asked men to take care of” (Editorial note: At the beginning of humankind in the Garden of Eden.)

“We should be pleased that we can live and thank God for our blessings as well. Fear for what is around us and for what might come in the future distracts us from our relationship with God. We should work much more at making that relation as best as we can, while most people are putting most efforts in trying to be accounted for the world, having a place high on the ladder in the community. Their position in the world is much more important for them, and as such they walk away from faith in the Only One God.”

For him it is clear that we can fix the problems of the world ourselves, but to do so we shall need to be humble enough to recognise what we are doing wrong and what others can do better. According to him we also can not expect everybody to believe in the same values or things like we do. In case people want to believe in other gods than our God, we should allow them. Also those who do not want to believe in any God, we should give them a proper place in the world, because God allows all of them to be here. “We should respect Gods choice. It is He who allows plants, animals, human beings, governments to be on this earth. In the Garden of Eden man disputed Gods right to govern, so He has given men the right to look for solutions and systems to govern the world himself. In case we can not come up to the challenge we do not have to accuse God of being unrighteous.”

Living creatures given unto us for joy

Life is to precious to have let it be wasted. So we should take care that those in charge shall also be respectful to everything God has given to humankind for its best. “All the living creatures including ourselves should be our main focus.”

“Having local and provincial elections we should be conscious that it is this year not about electing those in charge of the whole country, but for those who are going to direct the guidelines for the future of the village, city and for those in charge of the province. But we should also follow what is happening in the world and get others to know our idea about governing a small unit, a city, a country but also a state. We should be aware of the consequences when people are going to vote for a president, and what implication this could have not only on their community but also on other people everywhere in the world. All the small countries are just a ping-pong ball in the global game. The world has become so complex that we cannot avoid any interaction between all the states. What happens in the United States of America, for example, shall have a major influence on what is going to happen in Europe.”

“We also see that many conservative Christians are willing to turn back the clock for many centuries. They do think it are only the Judeo-Christian values which can bring prosperity. I also do believe we would be able to live in a better world if more people would keep to those Judeo-Christian values. But Paling enthusiasts seem to have a total different idea of liberty than the Founding Fathers of the United states of America had. They seem to prefer getting a system where their values and ideas shall have to be the rule for everybody in the community. But they do not question which denominational rules shall take over the power, and will result in that what the Pilgrim Fathers tried to escape in the 18th and 19th century.”

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You can find more ideas from Marcus Ampe on his website: Marcus’s Space

Additional reading:

1. Christian values and voting not just a game
2. Which back voters in the US wants to see
3. The trigger of Aurora shooting
4. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #1 Christian Reform
5. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #2 Roots of Jewishness
6. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #3 Of the earth or of God
7. Built on or Belonging to Jewish tradition #4 Mozaic and Noachide laws
8. Judeo-Christian values and liberty
9. Faith related boycotts
10. Right to be in the surroundings
11. Bumpy road to success
12. Religious Practices around the world
13. Obama campaign expands faith effort
14. People of Faith for Obama video

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Also of interest:

God gave us a wonderful home and we should cherish it
With the Mayan Calendar countdown to zero pending in our minds and all the shows pushing doom and gloom there is a lot of people living in fear of the end.

Was the Apostle Paul the Original Preacher of Toxic Christianity?
The prominent religion in America is Evangelical Christianity. Belief in an inerrant, inspired Bible that is meant to be read literally is common in most every American denomination. I agree wholeheartedly with Rand that the Apostle Paul, based on his writings, would be a member on an Evangelical church.

True Christianity is a Relationship not A Religion
Any serious observer of Christianity can see that most Christians live lives opposite of what the Bible teaches.
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According to the Catholics there is One God, One Jesus, One Church, One Bible. As much as Protestants might like to say otherwise, the Catholics have the upper hand on this issue. The Protestants are the new-comers, the new kids on the block, kids who showed up 1500 years after Jesus and the first pope Peter got the whole shebang rolling.

The bottom line is this…….Christianity has ALWAYS been a religion. Christianity started as a subset of the Jewish religion, morphed into the Catholic religion, and splintered into the Protestant religion. Those trying to make a personal relationship with Jesus what REAL Christianity is have history, the Bible, and God himself against them.

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