Tuesday 20 September 2016

The well of holiness

"I have built myself a well down through the years. A well of biblical truths which I draw from now and then, for myself or to share with others"
This quote is from a book by Tonje Haugeto Stang, and I read it the same day as I once again returned to my little well of reflections on holiness:

1 - It is about daring to be different
Searching the well....

2 - It is about drinking...
3 - It is about the beginning
4 - It is about resting
5 - It is about knowing, as in ...#1
6 - It is about knowing, as in ...#2
7 - It is about knowing, as in ...#3
8 - It is about baptism
9 - It is about coming home
10 - It is about spirit
11 - It is about images
12 - It is about breath
13 - It is about wind
14 - It is about language
15 - It is about fire
16 - It is about the forces of nature
17 - It is about a gentle whisper
18 - It is about a variety of images
19 - It is about 'my' image
20 - It is about a triune image
21 - It is about an important distinction
22 - It is about tent
23 - It is about a line
24 - It is about the 'other' trinity
25 - It is about 'holy ground'
26 - It is about a three-legged stool
27 - It is about a river
28 - It is about pain
29 - It is about a yoke
30 - It is about rejoicing
31 - It is about something that always is
32 - It is about my 'Most Holy' place
33 - It is abouty 'Holy' place
34 - It is about the court of my 'Sanctuary'
35 - It is about four steps
36 - It is about respect
37 - It is about honour and respect
38 - It is about anointing
39 - It is about penetration
40 - It is about healing
41 - It is about confirmation of the blood
42 - It is about 'contagion'
43 - It is about lubrication
44 - It is about an important part of the package
45 - It is about fighting misconceptions
46 - It is about groundbreaking
47 - It is about 'intravenous' love
48 - It is about experience
49 - It is about authenticity
50 - It is about beauty
51 - It is about small glimpses
52 - It is about purity
53 - It is about Christlikeness
54 - It is about Jesus-identity
55 - It is about communion
56 - It is about Christmas the whole year
57 - It is about God's kingdom
58 - It is about secularisation
59 - It is about self-denial
60 - It is about following
61 - It is about harvest
62 - It is about reproduction
63 - It is about the Gardener
64 - It is about purification
65 - It is about an absolute condition
66 - It is about the starting point
67 - It is about glory
68 - It is about durability
69 - It is about abundance
70 - It is about a good tree
71 - It is about fruit that gives strength
72 - It is about fruit that gives inner tranquility
73 - It is about time for reflection
74 - It is about being tested
75 - It is about being what he is
76 - It is about following in a double meaning
77 - It is about fruit that gives hope
78 - It is about mindfulness
79 - It is about being the Captain of your soul
80 - It is about a fruit that is also a gift
81 - It is about fresh fruit the whole life 
82 - It is about fruit that gives life
83 - It is about fruit in the right time
84 - It is about hardship and adversity
85 - It is about burning passion
86 - It is about the first fruit
87 - It is about fruit with consequences
88 - It is about values worth living and dying for
89 - It is about the good circle
90 - It is about making it your experience
91 - It is about living in the light
92 - It is about recipes
93 - It is about the ingredient faith
94 - It is about virtue
95 - It is about insight
96 - It is about the world of spiritual physics
97 - It is about spiritual 'sisu'
98 - It is about a healthy godliness
99 - It is about brotherly kindness
100 - It is about the goal of all fruit
 101 - It is about an important confession
 102 - It is about habits
 103 - It is about life-style

Monday 2 May 2016

Who acts through Acts

This is a series of my personal reflection around the the question "Who acts through Acts?"

Even though there are many references to theological facts that will contribute to enhance knowledge, it is important to state that the reflections are my contemplation on what these narratives say to me – both to my head and my heart. I have no intentions of pressing my views on anybody, but if they can be seeds that start a process of thinking and searching and create an appetite for more Bible-reading and enhanced spiritual insight, my purpose is reached.

Follow the link to each reflection:

Chapter 1
01 Setting the tone
02 Spiritual arena
03 Passive strategy
04 He drew a line
05 What is important?
06 A dynamic combination
07 A dynamic combination 2
08 Using new insights




Chapter 2
09 One, Two, 12 or 120?
10 Visible sings
11 "Tongues" of fire
12 Identity and language
13 Tongues of fire
14 Speaking in tongues
15 Com-plete
16 Dignified behavior 
17 I do not understand why I understand
18 It cannot be explained - or can it?
19 The Holy Spirit and more sings
20 Prophecies - God calling
21 A prophetic sandwich - the lower 'crust'
22 A prophetic sandwich - the upper 'crust'
23 A prophetic sandwich - the 'filling'
24 Why us food as a metaphor
25 Visions
26 Dreams
27 Liquid substance
28 On the move
29 She's a gift
30 Is the gift for me?
31 What is 'like that'?
32 Reciprocity - the key to release God's presence in the world

Chapter 3
33 What do I have?
34 An open prayer
35 Seize the moment
36 The 'insidious' attention
37 Divine strategy or pure coincidence?

 Chapter 4
38 An honest question
39 What was the motivation
40 We pray for peace, but is it uneasiness we need?
41 Uneasy ... they prayed
42 The prayer that is powerful and effective
43 A holistic prayer-life - for a holistic ministry
44 Signs mere side-effects?
45 The effects of the Holy Spirit on Joseph



Chapter 5
46 To put the Spirit of the Lord to a test
47 Signs and wonders
48 New confirmation
49 A new consciousness
50 An opposition under the influence of the Holy Spirit


Chapter 6
51 The criterions for leadership 
52 A very special man - or? 

Chapter 7
53 Why such anger?
54 To see the unseen - an effect of the Holy Spirit?

Chapter 8
55 Diaconal ministry 
56 Why did he not do it himself?
57 Apostle-focus versus ordinary people 
58 Not for sale
59 More than rhetoric 
60 Ready for new appointment 
61 Why was it so important to send Filip out in the desert?
62 Caught by the Spirit to catch with the Spirit

Chapter 9
63 Behold, he is praying
64 Does God have a bench of substitutes?
65 The long-term consequences of obedience
66 A recipe for growth and strength

Chapter 10
67 Spirit and angel in a common mission
68 Does the Holy Spirit violate my hospitality? 
69 No longer 'these'

Chapter 11
70 Who then am I?
71 Rejoice with those who rejoice
72 The prerequisite for new insight and growth
73 The obedience scale

Chapter 12
74 Sustainable visions
75 Abandoned?

Chapter 13
76 An environment for the Holy Spirit
77 Confirmation of the call
78 Who is the sender?
79 Spiritual authority
80 Please speak!
81 To speak, talk and converse...
82 Resistance

Chapter 14
83 Despite of...
84 To see the spark of faith
85 A total depence on the Holy Spirit - even in organizational matters

Chapter 15
86 The guidance of the Holy Spirit in doctrinal matters

Chapter 16
87 Fanaticism and pragmatism
88 Paradoxes 1
89 Paradoxes 2

Chapter 17
90 The ideal and the reality
91 Who? What? Where?

Chapter 18
92 Who are God's people?
93 "A Gospel according Hairfair?"
94 The Spirit and the word

Chapter 19
95 Have you checked the battery?

Chapter 20
96 He knew, and yet he went

Chapter 21 
97 To settle with the will of the Lord

Chapter 23
98 The resurrection is dynamite

 Chapter 27 
99 Paul and spiritual authority
100 Spiritual authority will encourage and build courage
101 Spiritual authority is explicit
102 Spiritual authority focuses on the task
103 Spiritual authority is about being an example
 Chapter 28
104 To the end of the story? 

Saturday 2 April 2016

What will make the world listen?

“What will make the world listen?”  was the “headline” on my blog published on the morning of Tuesday 12th of January 2016. 
Coincidentally Magna and I were in Istanbul this particular morning. When returning from our furlough back in Norway, we should fly transit through Istanbul and back to Chisinau with a scheduled landing Sunday night. However, due to fog in Chisinau the flights were cancelled and our transit-time in Istanbul expanded from two hours to two days.

When we finally knew that our return-flight was postponed until Tuesday night, we decided to go on a city-tour in the morning. After having seen the beautiful Hagia Sofia, Magna and I followed our group across the Hippodrome in the direction of the obelisk on the Sultanahmet Square by the Blue Mosque. As we walked, we spoke about how generous God is who allowed us to see the beautiful city free of charge and Magna stopped and took a picture of the obelisk. The next moment a suicide-bomber triggered the explosives in a group of German tourists ten meters away from us.

I started to run, but realized after a few steps that something had gone through my knee. I managed to move myself another few meters before I fell to the ground. When I lay there, my only thought was:

“Is Magna safe?” 
– only a few seconds later she was at my side. When I saw that she was unhurt, a strange kind of peace filled me. I could see many people had fallen to the ground, either dead or unconscious. Remains of human flesh were spread all over the place, and Magna’s clothes and my shoes were covered with it.

I knew straight away what had happened, and I just thought: “So this is how it is in real life” – with reference to similar scenes flooding the TV-screens. Magna and I very often say to one another: “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:8). 

My second thought was a question to God:
“Lord, for what purpose can you use this?” 
I knew that the suicide-bomber wanted to catch the world’s attention for his evil cause, and I know that God’s solution is: 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. (Romans 12:21) 

I reminded myself that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Therefore, I knew that he would give me opportunity to testify about his love to a wide audience.

As we sat waiting for the ambulances, I prayed for those who were killed and injured, and thanked him for life and for how he was going to turn this evil into something good.

After ten minutes the ambulances were allowed to start the rescue-work, and from then on everything went very fast. At the hospital, everything was very efficient and professional. In the midst of it all, media managed to get access to me despite the security, and I believe that less than three hours after the explosion, the first video of my testimony about God’s love as a the only remedy against evil, was on television.

And within the next 24 hours, it had been repeated to a number of journalists
and international news-agencies - and transmitted by national and international channels, like CNN, all over the world. God gave me the opportunity to speak and testify to two ministers of the Turkish government, one official from municipality of Istanbul and to the doctors and staff of the hospital as well as the Turkish police and members from the Swedish and German consulates.

When it finally calmed down in my room on my first day at the hospital in Istanbul, it was already late night, but I was able to pray and think. The first verse I thought of was: 
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  Genesis 50:20. I experienced that; 

God already had intended to turn the evil into good. 
With some humour, I thought that it was a little bit sad that the projectile had gone through the knee. If it had still been in the knee and the surgeons were able to remove it, I could have kept it and engraved the reference "Gen 50:20". 
This thought was of course inspired by Lily, the wife of Samuel Logan Brengle, who kept the brick that was thrown at her husband and almost killed him. Brengle used the 18 months of convalescence to write his first book about holiness. Lily wrote the reference on the brick and they kept it for the rest of their lives.

This is not my doing. God mobilized a huge army of prayer-warriors around the world. By the spreading of the news, both in official and social media, I think that several hundred thousands have been praying. And we have received so many greetings, and have only been able to respond to a few, but we are so grateful to God and to you who represent his body. One of the greetings that came after a few days contained this message:

I will be careful to declare that I have received a word from the Lord to you, but it seems to me that the verses from Gen. 50:15-21 are meant for you. Particularly verse 20. Please take it for what it is, and ask the Lord what this may mean for you.

I could write back to him and confirm that it is from the Lord. The only thing that will make people listen today is when we act and respond with the love of God. If I do not let him work through me with his love, I can confess with Paul: I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2).

In Istanbul God taught me once again that his love makes the world listen! So if we want to see God’s Kingdom come to Russia and Eastern Europe Territory, all we do, has to be saturated with:
 
God’s love. 
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Published in Вестник спасения issue №2 - 2016 - PDF-format

Link to the full version of Вестник спасения #2 - 2016 год

Sunday 24 January 2016

A greeting from the Lord!

We have received a lot of greetings since the bomb-attack in Istanbul on the 12th of Jan, and we thank you all for encouraging words. Last night we received an e-mail from a dear colleague. The greeting also included the following sentences:

I will be careful to declare that I have received a word from the Lord to you, but it seems to me that the verses from Gen. 50:15-21 are meant for you. Particularly verse 20. Please take it for what it is, and ask the Lord what this may mean for you.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Gen 50:20
This morning I was able to write back:

Thank you for your greeting – and “Yes!” - I confirm that you heard from the Lord. When it finally calmed down in my room on my first day at the hospital in Istanbul, it was already late night, but I was able to pray and think. The first verse I thought of was Genesis 50:20. I experienced that God already had intended to turn the evil into good. He had given me opportunity to testify about God’s love through media, for two ministers of the Turkish government, hospital-personnel and journalists, and I was so grateful both for life and for the possibility to meet terror and hatred with the only effective remedy – love.

With some humour, I thought that it was a little bit sad that the projectile had gone through the knee. If it had still been in the knee and the surgeons were able to remove it, I could have kept it and engraved the reference "Gen 50:20". This thought was of course inspired by Lily, the wife of Samuel Logan Brengle, who kept the brick that was thrown at her husband and almost killed him. Brengle used the 18 months of convalescence to write his first book about holiness. Lily wrote the reference on the brick and they kept it for the rest of their lives.

Today’s ‘manna’:

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 Joh 4:11
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(1) The letterhead is from another greeting. It is from the tour-operator of the guided tour we followed when the bomb went of. They had noticed that I on Turkish TV that I would return since I only had completed half of the tour. The letter is filled with good wishes and a confirmation that they are ready to receive us when we return.

Saturday 23 January 2016

How can I love God?

I believe that the experience of living with and in the gospel and letter of John for almost three years now, has prepared me for the encounter with the blind evil in Istanbul last week. 

A couple of days ago I wrote: “Because I love, I feel that I live. I love God…” …and that is the core of my heart’s desire, but how can I do this in a practical and concrete way when “The love” is not me loving God. John stresses that fact in the following verse:

This is love: not that we loved God,
1 John 4:10a
John confirms what love is with this conclusion: “Love is … that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Love is to love that which God loves, which is “all men” – and to make sure that they know that that there is an available atonement for sins. I believe that all people who do something evil or even just fail doing good, at the bottom of their hearts know that it is wrong. 


In my teens I read a sentence that has stayed with me: “Dad spanked Ole and said: ‘I’ll teach you to bully those who are smaller than you!’ – and that was just what Ole learned!” - simple, almost banal, but it still contains a lot of truth. 


If I meet evil with evil, I confirm that evil is OK. If I on the other hand meet the evildoer with God’s love, I give a signal about the fact that there is an atoning hope. That is why faith, hope and love will remain. Most people are actually receptive for this message. They long to be embraced by goodness because they need hope, they need something to believe in, they need God who is love.
 

Today’s ‘manna’:
To love God is to love what he loves!
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This is an English translation of my Hvordan kan jeg elske Gud?

Wednesday 20 January 2016

What I live "through" now … - and always

After the first day in a private apartment after a dramatic week that has caught attention all over the world, it is sufficient for me to live. What I can accomplish of physical activities, is very limited. Even to get into trousers, can be compared to a long physical workout, so apart from doing the necessities of life, I shall just rest. Life is broken down to “just” to live – which is 100% OK.

Because I love, I feel that I live. I love God, Magna, my family, people, nature, life, in fact anything that is worthy of love and honour. In some moments I have wondered if it was the adrenalin in my blood that helped me stay calm in the midst of it all, and that I had made a made a strenuous effort to compose myself. But this is not my accomplishment. I experienced a rest in God, a rest in the perfect love in the bizarre chaos caused by evil forces.

Of course there has been tears, of joy over life, and of sorrow over all those who have lost so much, but never one tear of bitterness, anger or frustration on behalf of myself. It all comes down to the boundless grace and unfathomable mystery that I live “through” him and “in” him. That is where my heart and my thoughts are kept – and it takes me to the verses were I am in my personal devotions:

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
1 John 4:8-9
Today’s ‘manna’
To live through him is to live through love.
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