The world's best footballer these days, a young Brazilian by the name of Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, or better known as just KAKÁ isn't just a wonderful football player, he is also a great testimony of Jesus Christ and what Jesus has done in Kaká's life. After each goal, and there are many, he points to heaven to show who gets all the glory in Kaká's life, and after each trophy he has won, and he has won many, he shows his t-shirt saying I BELONG TO JESUS!
In fact it seems like the only problem with this wonderful Christian brother, is that he isn't willing to switch club to Real Madrid..!:-)
More about Kaká here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaká
Torben - who also belongs to Jesus!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Kaká - he belongs to Jesus!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Sorry
It has been brought to my attention that some have read my previous post called "The joys and sorrows of Facebook" and have seen it as me being judgmental. I am so sorry that that's how I've come off. I have no intention of judging anybody. I obviously don't know what's going on in peoples' hearts and where anybody is at with God, and yet I am concerned about many people I know.
Is that concern born out of a love for people? I hope so. I am a discipleship trainer. That's my job, my calling, and who I am. And I want more out of life. More of the abundant life that Jesus promised. More for myself and more for others.
Sometimes it gets overboard, and I end up challenging too much or in inappropriate ways, or I am plain, old wrong.
I am sorry to anybody who has felt judged by my clumsy attempt to express the sadness I do have in my heart regarding friends who seem to be far away from God. And I apologize that I didn't mention that obviously my sadness and concern is more based on personal contact than on a Facebook-profile.
In Christ's service (also when I'm clumsy:-))
Torben
Is that concern born out of a love for people? I hope so. I am a discipleship trainer. That's my job, my calling, and who I am. And I want more out of life. More of the abundant life that Jesus promised. More for myself and more for others.
Sometimes it gets overboard, and I end up challenging too much or in inappropriate ways, or I am plain, old wrong.
I am sorry to anybody who has felt judged by my clumsy attempt to express the sadness I do have in my heart regarding friends who seem to be far away from God. And I apologize that I didn't mention that obviously my sadness and concern is more based on personal contact than on a Facebook-profile.
In Christ's service (also when I'm clumsy:-))
Torben
The joys and sorrows of Facebook
Hello!
A while ago I gave into peer pressure for the first time in my life (??!!!) and joined the Facebook world. Now, a few months later, apparently I have 160 friends! Friends seems like a pretty broad term, especially for those people who have 400 or 898 friends:-)
It's been interesting and fun to catch up with old friends and acquaintances from different eras of my life. Some are married and have kids, others look like they haven't changed a whole lot since I said goodbye to them 10-15 years ago. Some are still going strong with God, but I have to admit that there is a huge sadness in my heart when I read a lot of my friends' profiles. So many who once claimed to be Christians and where the things of God were their, at least spoken, priority seem to have changed those priorities. I'm not the Holy Spirit, and I can't say what's going on in peoples' hearts, and I realize that not everybody wants to put a big sermon on Facebook, but still....your interests, your spare time activities, the books you read, he music you listen to, your favorite quotes, what your friends write on your wall, etc. all of it a story. And - as far as I can see for a number of my friends - a sad story.
"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost" the author of Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote. And I have to hold on this little nugget of truth. People might be running away from God, but he doesn't run away from them. People might be caught in mediocrity, suffering the consequences of poor (relationship) choices, etc., but God is the constant one. His patience doesn't end. His love never fades.
So I'll keep praying for my wandering friends, even those who have decided to cut contact with me, because I talk too much about God and the things of his kingdom...:-(
I know God is in control, and I know that he has plans and purposes even for those of his children who run far away. Thank God he is always out looking for us. And thank God he never gives up on me. I can always come back to him.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20)
God bless you!
Torben
A while ago I gave into peer pressure for the first time in my life (??!!!) and joined the Facebook world. Now, a few months later, apparently I have 160 friends! Friends seems like a pretty broad term, especially for those people who have 400 or 898 friends:-)
It's been interesting and fun to catch up with old friends and acquaintances from different eras of my life. Some are married and have kids, others look like they haven't changed a whole lot since I said goodbye to them 10-15 years ago. Some are still going strong with God, but I have to admit that there is a huge sadness in my heart when I read a lot of my friends' profiles. So many who once claimed to be Christians and where the things of God were their, at least spoken, priority seem to have changed those priorities. I'm not the Holy Spirit, and I can't say what's going on in peoples' hearts, and I realize that not everybody wants to put a big sermon on Facebook, but still....your interests, your spare time activities, the books you read, he music you listen to, your favorite quotes, what your friends write on your wall, etc. all of it a story. And - as far as I can see for a number of my friends - a sad story.
"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost" the author of Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote. And I have to hold on this little nugget of truth. People might be running away from God, but he doesn't run away from them. People might be caught in mediocrity, suffering the consequences of poor (relationship) choices, etc., but God is the constant one. His patience doesn't end. His love never fades.
So I'll keep praying for my wandering friends, even those who have decided to cut contact with me, because I talk too much about God and the things of his kingdom...:-(
I know God is in control, and I know that he has plans and purposes even for those of his children who run far away. Thank God he is always out looking for us. And thank God he never gives up on me. I can always come back to him.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20)
God bless you!
Torben
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A word about the tragedies in YWAM Denver and New Life Church, Colorado
The God of resurrection and life
This past Sunday a tragedy happened in Colorado, USA. Two young YWAM’ers (Youth With A Mission), Tiffany and Philip, and two young churchgoing sisters, Rachael and Stephanie, were murdered by a young man, Matthew Murray.
Murray was attending a Discipleship Training School (DTS) five years ago, but was asked to leave due to health and most likely mental issues that were hindering him from getting everything out of his DTS. Five years later he showed up at YWAM Denver, murdered Tiffany and Philip and wounded two other young men. Then he traveled to New Life Church, murdered the two sisters, injured three others, before he was eventually shot to death by an alert security guard.
A terrible tragedy. And obviously for me as DTS director, who have also had to ask students to not continue their studies with YWAM this hits home with a lot of force. I’ve cried when I’ve read the reports from these tragedies, and I’ve asked God to intervene in mighty ways.
And this is one of the cases where your view of who God is comes out in the open. Either God doesn’t care about us, and this is yet another meaningless tragedy, or he is he who he says he is in the Bible, and we can trust that God will bring life and resurrection out of this terrible event.
I believe and hold on to the latter understanding. God is the God of life and resurrection, and he will always bring life out of death. Jesus had to die to bring life to many. We die to ourselves to get full life in Christ. In the kingdom of God things are turned upside down. Death brings life. Lay down your rights to receive all God has for you. Humble yourself and God will exalt you. Don’t defend yourself and judge others, for God will do both for you. How do you grow? You die to yourself and accept that you have everything in Christ.
Because there is a God of of life and resurrection I’ll never lay down my life and die without being resurrected again. Every time I humble myself, God will exalt me. In situations like the one in Colorado, all we have to cling to are verses such as Psalm 30:5b “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” and John 12:24 “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”.
I believe God will bring resurrection, life, freedom and joy through the sacrifices, the kernels of wheats, of Tiffany, Philip, Rachael and Stephanie. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”, the historian Tertulian wrote hundreds of years ago. And it’s still true today. Life will spring forth. Death and darkness shall not have the last word. This may look like a victory for Satan, hopelessness, depression and darkness, but it isn’t. God will bring life. God will bring victory. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the almighty God of the Bible that I – and many others – have put our lives in the hand of!
May God bring forgiveness and life to Matthew Murray’s parents as well who now after the death of their son are left with the haunting question: “what did we do wrong?”. May the God of all comfort, comfort them and bring hope into their hearts.
This past Sunday a tragedy happened in Colorado, USA. Two young YWAM’ers (Youth With A Mission), Tiffany and Philip, and two young churchgoing sisters, Rachael and Stephanie, were murdered by a young man, Matthew Murray.
Murray was attending a Discipleship Training School (DTS) five years ago, but was asked to leave due to health and most likely mental issues that were hindering him from getting everything out of his DTS. Five years later he showed up at YWAM Denver, murdered Tiffany and Philip and wounded two other young men. Then he traveled to New Life Church, murdered the two sisters, injured three others, before he was eventually shot to death by an alert security guard.
A terrible tragedy. And obviously for me as DTS director, who have also had to ask students to not continue their studies with YWAM this hits home with a lot of force. I’ve cried when I’ve read the reports from these tragedies, and I’ve asked God to intervene in mighty ways.
And this is one of the cases where your view of who God is comes out in the open. Either God doesn’t care about us, and this is yet another meaningless tragedy, or he is he who he says he is in the Bible, and we can trust that God will bring life and resurrection out of this terrible event.
I believe and hold on to the latter understanding. God is the God of life and resurrection, and he will always bring life out of death. Jesus had to die to bring life to many. We die to ourselves to get full life in Christ. In the kingdom of God things are turned upside down. Death brings life. Lay down your rights to receive all God has for you. Humble yourself and God will exalt you. Don’t defend yourself and judge others, for God will do both for you. How do you grow? You die to yourself and accept that you have everything in Christ.
Because there is a God of of life and resurrection I’ll never lay down my life and die without being resurrected again. Every time I humble myself, God will exalt me. In situations like the one in Colorado, all we have to cling to are verses such as Psalm 30:5b “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” and John 12:24 “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”.
I believe God will bring resurrection, life, freedom and joy through the sacrifices, the kernels of wheats, of Tiffany, Philip, Rachael and Stephanie. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”, the historian Tertulian wrote hundreds of years ago. And it’s still true today. Life will spring forth. Death and darkness shall not have the last word. This may look like a victory for Satan, hopelessness, depression and darkness, but it isn’t. God will bring life. God will bring victory. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be the almighty God of the Bible that I – and many others – have put our lives in the hand of!
May God bring forgiveness and life to Matthew Murray’s parents as well who now after the death of their son are left with the haunting question: “what did we do wrong?”. May the God of all comfort, comfort them and bring hope into their hearts.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
"As if you should do things my way..."
Beautiful song of surrender. I especially love the line "as if you should do things my way". So often I want God to do things my way. How safe it is to surrender to the God of love and allow him to have things his way. And his ways always happens to be the best ways in the long run! I need to be reminded of this truth these days when my perspective is clouded and my head and heart seem filled with doubt, unbelief and fear regarding the future. He knows what he is doing "and I surrender to Your ways"
A quote about love
"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."
C.S. Lewis
How hard it is for us to love. How precious and wonderful it is when we allow ourselves to love. In this weekend of Thanksgiving in America, I've been reminded of how thankful I am that God has given me the courage to love. Or rather that he is loving through me. He knows that I'm afraid, but I'm so glad that he loves people through me.
I'm so happy that God has given Jeannette and I the courage to be vulnerable and open with each other. What a wonder that is!
Thank you, God! - are there any readers out there??
C.S. Lewis
How hard it is for us to love. How precious and wonderful it is when we allow ourselves to love. In this weekend of Thanksgiving in America, I've been reminded of how thankful I am that God has given me the courage to love. Or rather that he is loving through me. He knows that I'm afraid, but I'm so glad that he loves people through me.
I'm so happy that God has given Jeannette and I the courage to be vulnerable and open with each other. What a wonder that is!
Thank you, God! - are there any readers out there??
Monday, November 12, 2007
When God doesn't make any sense...
We have been richly blessed these last couple of months here in Kiev with a wonderful young man from a Muslim nation who has been here studying. He has a wonderful testimony of what Jesus has done in his life. I had tears streaming down my face when he was sharing his story of how Jesus found him. Jesus is truly the hero of his story. Mohammed (not his real name, but he does have a brother with that name) was born into an all Muslim family. Everybody in his family, and every single person he knew was a Muslim. To believe in God was to be a Muslim for Mohammed. There was no other way, no other religion. But Jesus had a different idea. He found Mohammed. Mohammed was crying out to God in his frustration: “God if you’re really there, please show up!”. And Jesus, the true living God, did show up. He met Mohammed in his dreams and talked to him about coming to him and experience rest in him.
Mohammed had no idea who Jesus was, but Jesus kept showing himself in Mohammed’s dreams. Jesus sent a local, Christian missionary to speak to Mohammed and after a while Mohammed gave his life to Jesus Christ.
And he was never the same again.
It’s an incredible story of how Jesus found and completely transformed Mohammed’s life. I have never met a young believer, Mohammed has only been a Christian for four years, with such a clear understanding of the truly important things of God. He understands very well who God is and who he is in God. I’ve been amazed of the clarity of his faith every time I’ve had the privilege of talking to him.
He has been a huge blessing to me these weeks. I have a heart for Muslims and want them to meet Christ and get to experience real life, truth, peace, joy and love. And it has been so encouraging to see how Jesus has met Mohammed. It shows me that there truly is hope for all Muslims. There was no good reason that Mohammed would meet Jesus. But Jesus found him, and he can’t find anybody. Even those who seem far away from him.
And now Mohammed has to leave again. He thought he was gonna be here for nine months, but now he has to go after just a couple of months. Circumstances didn’t work out. Some people didn’t do what they promised to do, and he couldn’t get the right visa. And he has to leave, and it doesn’t make any sense.
It doesn’t make any sense that he isn’t gonna stay here. He doesn’t think so either, but how encouraging it was to hear him say: “those who hope and believe in God will renew their strength”. Mohammed will go and make a difference no matter where he goes. Jesus has changed him and will continue to change him. And Jesus will meet other people through Mohammed.
I will continue to pray for my friend, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again some day whether it’ll be here on this planet or on the new earth someday.
I know that God’s plans are higher and better than ours, so I’ll trust in him. And I’ll look forward to hearing how God’s plans will look like for Mohammed.
“I’ll praise you in this storm, and I’ll lift my hands. You are who You are no matter where I am. And every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hands, and though my heart is torn, I’ll praise You in this storm”, Casting Crowns “Praise You In This Storm”
Mohammed had no idea who Jesus was, but Jesus kept showing himself in Mohammed’s dreams. Jesus sent a local, Christian missionary to speak to Mohammed and after a while Mohammed gave his life to Jesus Christ.
And he was never the same again.
It’s an incredible story of how Jesus found and completely transformed Mohammed’s life. I have never met a young believer, Mohammed has only been a Christian for four years, with such a clear understanding of the truly important things of God. He understands very well who God is and who he is in God. I’ve been amazed of the clarity of his faith every time I’ve had the privilege of talking to him.
He has been a huge blessing to me these weeks. I have a heart for Muslims and want them to meet Christ and get to experience real life, truth, peace, joy and love. And it has been so encouraging to see how Jesus has met Mohammed. It shows me that there truly is hope for all Muslims. There was no good reason that Mohammed would meet Jesus. But Jesus found him, and he can’t find anybody. Even those who seem far away from him.
And now Mohammed has to leave again. He thought he was gonna be here for nine months, but now he has to go after just a couple of months. Circumstances didn’t work out. Some people didn’t do what they promised to do, and he couldn’t get the right visa. And he has to leave, and it doesn’t make any sense.
It doesn’t make any sense that he isn’t gonna stay here. He doesn’t think so either, but how encouraging it was to hear him say: “those who hope and believe in God will renew their strength”. Mohammed will go and make a difference no matter where he goes. Jesus has changed him and will continue to change him. And Jesus will meet other people through Mohammed.
I will continue to pray for my friend, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again some day whether it’ll be here on this planet or on the new earth someday.
I know that God’s plans are higher and better than ours, so I’ll trust in him. And I’ll look forward to hearing how God’s plans will look like for Mohammed.
“I’ll praise you in this storm, and I’ll lift my hands. You are who You are no matter where I am. And every tear I’ve cried, You hold in Your hands, and though my heart is torn, I’ll praise You in this storm”, Casting Crowns “Praise You In This Storm”
Monday, October 29, 2007
Les Misérables - a story of grace
Jeannette and I just saw the wonderful movie Les Misérables, based on Victor Hugo's novel, again. What a wonderful movie. And what an excellent portrait of the contrast between grace (Jean Valjean) and the law (Javert).
Enjoy this little clip where a new man is born.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Identity In Christ
As I prepare for teaching about Identity In Christ in the Discipleship Training School (DTS) here in Kiev, I wanted to share three wonderful quotes with you regarding this life changing topic that continues to change me from within.
"My primary identity rests on what God has done for me through Christ" (Brennan Manning)
"Your real new self will not come as you're looking for it. It'll come as you look for Him (Christ). Only in Him will I know who I am" (C.S.Lewis)
"And now, with God's help, I shall become myself" (Søren Kierkegaard)
Amen, brothers!:-)
Torben
"My primary identity rests on what God has done for me through Christ" (Brennan Manning)
"Your real new self will not come as you're looking for it. It'll come as you look for Him (Christ). Only in Him will I know who I am" (C.S.Lewis)
"And now, with God's help, I shall become myself" (Søren Kierkegaard)
Amen, brothers!:-)
Torben
Arsenal - you've got to love them!
How can you not love a team that plays football and scores goals the way Arsenal do these days?!! Wow!!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Paul Potts - opera is only for old people.....:-)
Maybe it's because I'm 30 and I'm getting soft(er), but this clip always gets me. Look at the changing attitudes of the different judges, and enjoy this awkward, but extremely talented young man from England sing beautiful opera. Of course he went on to win the whole show, and is now doing very well with his first album. Good job! There is a touch of grace here, it reminds me of the wonderful movie, Forrest Gump. I love it when very unlikely people succeed in a world that's so caught up on appearance, smartness, etc.
Go Paul Potts:-)
God bless, Torben
Sunday, October 21, 2007
God is alive
I just returned to fall-beautiful-Kiev after a week of teaching about Discipleship at my old YWAM-base, Holmsted Manor, just south of London, England. It was a great week of teaching about life as a disciple. I was speaking about brokenness (2 Corinthians! I love that letter. The most personal of Paul's letters!), following Jesus as my Shepherd (Psalm 23) and growing in trust (all of my life!). It is always interesting to teach, and especially on the basis of what has become so clear to me these last six months: it is not about me! It is not about my teaching, my illustrations, my jokes, my material, my powerpoint or whatever. It's about Christ! It's about him working through me his precious, broken vessel.
And I hope and pray that God will bring more revelations in the days and years to come of what I was sharing with the DTS in England this past week. I have often seen in my life how I've heard teaching at some point that I wasn't really ready for, but how God has used the first encounter with whatever truths to plant a seed and help me be ready for it some years down the road. God's timing is incredible!
For me it was encouraging and humbling to realize that even though I taught about the same topic, Discipleship, in England in February and in Rostov-on-Don in Russia in May as I was speaking about this past week, I couldn't use any of my old notes anymore. I've learned too many new things with God. He is alive. He is alive in me. He is changing me. And his Word is alive!
Hallelujah! This past Wednesday it was so cool to see how God wanted to make sure that Jeannette and I felt united though we were physically apart, so he spoke to both of us through the same Psalm, Psalm 139, which we were talking about in both England and Ukraine the same morning! He is great!
Love, Torben
And I hope and pray that God will bring more revelations in the days and years to come of what I was sharing with the DTS in England this past week. I have often seen in my life how I've heard teaching at some point that I wasn't really ready for, but how God has used the first encounter with whatever truths to plant a seed and help me be ready for it some years down the road. God's timing is incredible!
For me it was encouraging and humbling to realize that even though I taught about the same topic, Discipleship, in England in February and in Rostov-on-Don in Russia in May as I was speaking about this past week, I couldn't use any of my old notes anymore. I've learned too many new things with God. He is alive. He is alive in me. He is changing me. And his Word is alive!
Hallelujah! This past Wednesday it was so cool to see how God wanted to make sure that Jeannette and I felt united though we were physically apart, so he spoke to both of us through the same Psalm, Psalm 139, which we were talking about in both England and Ukraine the same morning! He is great!
Love, Torben
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Our God Reigns
An excellent video featuring an excellent song. Do we remember that Our God Reigns in the midst of the seeming chaos around us? Do we believe in the God of Hope and do we share that hope with people who don't know him yet?
Torben - who will ask all to excuse the guy who did the video and obviously didn't get that the drugs Delirious sing about is medicine (for poor people in Africa), and not heroin or other narcotics....a minor mistake:-)
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Activist?
How tragic it is to read the news agencies' version of the story of Rami Ayyad's death. Most of them use the heavily loaded word "activist" to describe this young man who was murdered because he believed in Jesus and was spreading too much good news.
"Activist"? Running a bookshop, spreading good news, helping people with computer classes and other basic skills so they might be able to get a job, doing mercy ministries, helping, caring, praying....how does that make you an activist??
Peacemaker would probably have been a better term.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:9)
God bless! I'm looking forward to meeting Rami Ayyad and many others who have gone before him some day on the new earth.
Torben
"Activist"? Running a bookshop, spreading good news, helping people with computer classes and other basic skills so they might be able to get a job, doing mercy ministries, helping, caring, praying....how does that make you an activist??
Peacemaker would probably have been a better term.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God" (Matthew 5:9)
God bless! I'm looking forward to meeting Rami Ayyad and many others who have gone before him some day on the new earth.
Torben
Pray for the Palestinian Christians!!
I have had a heart for Palestinian Christians living in the Gaza Strip - see the map - since I read Brother Andrew's "Light Force" a year and a half ago. There are 1,4 million Palestinians living in the little area called the Gaza Strip. It's 360 square km. (139 square miles), but only 5,000 Christians are still living there. Most of the Christians have fled to other countries, many of them fled during the long period of Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Christians who are still in the Gaza Strip are for the most part forgotten by everybody. 
PLO and Fatah fight for a Palestinian State that would be largely Muslim. Hamas, recognized by the United Nations as a terrorist group, want war with Israel, Israel to disappear from the face of the earth and a strong Muslim state in Palestine.
Christians in the West tend to pray for Israel, which is great, but who intercedes for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip?
The Gaza Strip is a very difficult place to live. There have been countless wars, attacks, occupations, etc. and people are tired, jobless and poor. The little Christian population have been allowed to live relatively unharmed by the Muslims for the past many years, but that stopped this Sunday morning when Rami Ayyad the leader of the Gaza Strip's only Christian bookshop was found murdered from multiple stabs and gunshot wounds. Ayyad, 26, leaves his pregnant wife and two small children behind.
Noone has claimed responsibility for the murder.
Read this article to get more information http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/octoberweb-only/141-12.0.html
And pray for the Christians in the Gaza Strip. Pray that they won't seek revenge. Pray that God will help them in this terrible and fear-provoking situation.
And pray that God, once again, will prove that even though the powers of darkness think they have won a victory, he'll show that he brings life out of death!
John 12:24: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" - pray that Rami Ayyads death will produce much life in the Christians and in the Muslims in the Gaza Strip!
God bless!
Torben
PLO and Fatah fight for a Palestinian State that would be largely Muslim. Hamas, recognized by the United Nations as a terrorist group, want war with Israel, Israel to disappear from the face of the earth and a strong Muslim state in Palestine.
Christians in the West tend to pray for Israel, which is great, but who intercedes for our Christian brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip?
The Gaza Strip is a very difficult place to live. There have been countless wars, attacks, occupations, etc. and people are tired, jobless and poor. The little Christian population have been allowed to live relatively unharmed by the Muslims for the past many years, but that stopped this Sunday morning when Rami Ayyad the leader of the Gaza Strip's only Christian bookshop was found murdered from multiple stabs and gunshot wounds. Ayyad, 26, leaves his pregnant wife and two small children behind.
Noone has claimed responsibility for the murder.
Read this article to get more information http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/octoberweb-only/141-12.0.html
And pray for the Christians in the Gaza Strip. Pray that they won't seek revenge. Pray that God will help them in this terrible and fear-provoking situation.
And pray that God, once again, will prove that even though the powers of darkness think they have won a victory, he'll show that he brings life out of death!
John 12:24: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" - pray that Rami Ayyads death will produce much life in the Christians and in the Muslims in the Gaza Strip!
God bless!
Torben
Monday, October 08, 2007
Have you prayed for Osama Bin Laden lately?
An old hero of mine is the little Dutchman, Brother Andrew, who started the wonderful organization Open Doors (www.opendoors.org) and who has been travelling to closed countries (first Communist and in the last many years to Islamic nations) preaching the Gospel of Christ to everybody he comes in contact with (including fundamentalist Muslim leaders - read his excellent book "Light Force" to hear those incredible yet true stories of meetings with leaders from Hamas, Hezbollah, Yassir Arafat, etc.) and strengthening the Church where it faces persecution. I stumbled across an article on Christianitytoday by Brother Andrew, that I encourage you to read. It asks many thoughtprovoking questions, and the question: "when was the last time you prayed for Osama bin Laden?" requires an answer from you and me. Enjoy!
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/juneweb-only/125-52.0.html
God bless!
Torben
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/juneweb-only/125-52.0.html
God bless!
Torben
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Where Is The Love?
I don't listen to much (any!) hiphop normally, but this Black Eyed Peas' song from 2003 is so thought provoking that I shared it with the DTS this week. They ask the question "Where is the love?', and if you listen to the lyrics you hear that they can't find the answer anywhere in the world. And the chorus turns to a God that (as far as I know) they don't know themselves: "Father, Father, Father help us, send some guidance from above". If we as Christians don't know the answer to the questions posed in this song, nobody will, and all of us are truly doomed....but we know the God of love! And he is the one everybody needs to know. The God of love, life, freedom and joy! Hallelujah!
Excellent first week
Hey!
We've just finished our first week of this fall's Discipleship Training School (DTS). And it's been a great one! The staff have all told me that they have not been stressed during this week (definitely a first time experience for some of those who have many DTSes under their belts), the students seem open and are already asking many questions and we've had a wonderful week of scratching the surface of many of the topics that we will spend more time on these next 11 lecture weeks.
I had the privilege of speaking about Hearing God's Voice and spending time with God, and it came to me to ask a interesting question to the students that went like this: "How do you feel that God feels about you when you fall asleep while you're praying to him?"
Some interesting answers came forth that revealed that many of us still struggle to see God as a real Father who will not be disappointed or frustrated with us, but will just, like any good human father, be happy that we're spending time with him and will enjoy the closeness of having his child fall asleep in his lap!
Thank God we have next week to learn more about God's fatherheart. There is so much to learn for all of us whether student, staff or speaker. And we ask God to reveal his fatherheart to us this next week and the following.
God bless!
Torben
We've just finished our first week of this fall's Discipleship Training School (DTS). And it's been a great one! The staff have all told me that they have not been stressed during this week (definitely a first time experience for some of those who have many DTSes under their belts), the students seem open and are already asking many questions and we've had a wonderful week of scratching the surface of many of the topics that we will spend more time on these next 11 lecture weeks.
I had the privilege of speaking about Hearing God's Voice and spending time with God, and it came to me to ask a interesting question to the students that went like this: "How do you feel that God feels about you when you fall asleep while you're praying to him?"
Some interesting answers came forth that revealed that many of us still struggle to see God as a real Father who will not be disappointed or frustrated with us, but will just, like any good human father, be happy that we're spending time with him and will enjoy the closeness of having his child fall asleep in his lap!
Thank God we have next week to learn more about God's fatherheart. There is so much to learn for all of us whether student, staff or speaker. And we ask God to reveal his fatherheart to us this next week and the following.
God bless!
Torben
Monday, September 24, 2007
How Great Is Our God
Great song by Chris Tomlin. Watch the video, enjoy the song and the pictures, and worship the Creator of the Universe who dwells within each one of his children. What a wonder!:-)
Torben
Saturday, September 15, 2007
When God Ran
God is not disappointed with you, mad at you, angry at you, disinterested in you....he is running to you! The God of the Universe, the Mighty Warrior of Heaven runs to you! He loves you just the way you are. No matter how many times you've behaved like a prodigal son or daughter, he still loves you. He always has, he always will! He will never reject you!
God bless you as you listen to this song!
Torben
Revelation needed
We're now 15 short days away from the next Discipleship Training School (DTS) starting here in Kiev. We've had a wonderful time of preparation as staff, where we've focused a lot less on leadership principles, techniques, laws, etc. and a lot more on God, God's character, God's grace and God's ability to work through our brokenness.
The school verse is from Ephesians 1:17 - a wonderful verse that shows our dependency on God!
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better"
We need God's revelation. Without it all we have is words. Lot of them. But the students and ourselves don't need more words and information, we need more revelation.
So that's what we pray about, and we trust that God will give it!
God bless!
Torben
The school verse is from Ephesians 1:17 - a wonderful verse that shows our dependency on God!
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better"
We need God's revelation. Without it all we have is words. Lot of them. But the students and ourselves don't need more words and information, we need more revelation.
So that's what we pray about, and we trust that God will give it!
God bless!
Torben
Thursday, September 06, 2007
A place called grace
Listen to this wonderful song, enjoy the video and come to the place of Grace and know that your heavenly Father is always out searching for you! He loves you just the way you are!
God bless you!
Torben
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
About loneliness
If there is one topic we as Christians try to avoid it's definitely loneliness! The truth is that all people are lonely. C. S. Lewis once said that we suffer from "lifelong nostalgia". We know we were created for the Garden of Eden, and we long to be back there. Paul, in Romans 8, talks about all of creation groaning and looking forward to the day where the life we were created for will be revealed.
If you google loneliness+Christian you'll find that apparently the only people who are lonely are: singles, divorced people, and people with counselling-worthy depressions......!....
I did, however, find one gold nugget out on the world wide web, that I'll link to and encourage you to read. The author has a lot of the same thoughts about loneliness that I do, so I'm just gonna let him speak on my behalf for now.
Enjoy http://www.adventistreview.org/2003-1501/story2.html
God bless and meet you in your loneliness! "Our souls are ever restless until they find their rest in you" - St. Augustine
Torben
Saturday, September 01, 2007
What God wants from you?
What does God want from me? What are his requirements on me?
The disciples asked Jesus that question and he gave an interesting answer.
John 6:28-29: "What must we DO to do the works God requires? Jesus answered: The work of God is this to BELIEVE in the one he has sent"
That's it. It's that simple. All you must do is believe in Jesus. Abide in him. Rest in him. Be who you are in him. Be the Beloved son or daughter of God.
That's it. He is the vine.
Why is it that the Church so often puts heavy burdens on Christians? Why are so many Christians so tired? When Christ said these words: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)
Abide in Christ!
God bless!
Torben
The disciples asked Jesus that question and he gave an interesting answer.
John 6:28-29: "What must we DO to do the works God requires? Jesus answered: The work of God is this to BELIEVE in the one he has sent"
That's it. It's that simple. All you must do is believe in Jesus. Abide in him. Rest in him. Be who you are in him. Be the Beloved son or daughter of God.
That's it. He is the vine.
Why is it that the Church so often puts heavy burdens on Christians? Why are so many Christians so tired? When Christ said these words: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)
Abide in Christ!
God bless!
Torben
Leading from brokenness
It just hit me how Peter is a wonderful example of somebody who had to lead in his brokenness. Everybody in the early Church knew Peter as Christ's apostle, and one of his closest friends, but first and foremost he was known as the disciple who had failed Jesus on the evening of Christ's crucifixion through claiming not to know him and even swear that he didn't know him.
Talk about brokenness....being known as a deserter of the one who called you to lead a Church that was gonna change the world upside down.
I love Peter. I love his openness, frankness, big head, faith in himself, and how through his life as a disciple he came to the point of brokenness. He came to the place where all of us need to come to, where we're at the end of our rope, at the end of our own strength, and we have to surrender to Christ and accept the fact that we can't do it, we need Christ to live through us.
And then he was ready to lead. Ready to lead not out of his own strength, but in Christ's strength.
Many Christian leaders have told me that you should never say "I don't know" to people you're leading. I firmly disagree. I've also been told that you can't show weakness, and that you're struggling with different problems when you lead. I firmly disagree.
A good, Christian leader is open about his own brokenness. Is open about the fact that him/her does not have it all together. Is open about the fact that he is on the journey with Christ himself. He hasn't arrived.
If I as a leader want my students/followers to know what openness and brokenness is, I need to model it. And thank God, I have a man like Peter to look at.
God bless!
Torben
Talk about brokenness....being known as a deserter of the one who called you to lead a Church that was gonna change the world upside down.
I love Peter. I love his openness, frankness, big head, faith in himself, and how through his life as a disciple he came to the point of brokenness. He came to the place where all of us need to come to, where we're at the end of our rope, at the end of our own strength, and we have to surrender to Christ and accept the fact that we can't do it, we need Christ to live through us.
And then he was ready to lead. Ready to lead not out of his own strength, but in Christ's strength.
Many Christian leaders have told me that you should never say "I don't know" to people you're leading. I firmly disagree. I've also been told that you can't show weakness, and that you're struggling with different problems when you lead. I firmly disagree.
A good, Christian leader is open about his own brokenness. Is open about the fact that him/her does not have it all together. Is open about the fact that he is on the journey with Christ himself. He hasn't arrived.
If I as a leader want my students/followers to know what openness and brokenness is, I need to model it. And thank God, I have a man like Peter to look at.
God bless!
Torben
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Law vs. grace
I have to admit that the more God reveals his grace to me, the easier it is for me to see law all around me and in me. There is so much law being preached in the worldwide Church. I work with discipleship training, and I see it over and over again, in students, in staff, in other missionaries, and in myself too.
Law. People have come to know Christ, and he has taken away their sins. Hallelujah! But they start in grace and continue in law. How do you recognize people who live by the law and not in grace? Look at their faces and their fists! Not too happy, very concerned, negative about many things, always quick to point out problems but rarely part of the solution, tired, frustrated at all the others, talking about experiences with God that happened 10 years ago, they suck life out of you, you get tired from spending time with them.....and clenched fists: angry, wanting more people to do more, they respond aggressively and defensively to criticism, they rarely express what they really feel but are often very sneaky with their criticism and judgments, they display I'll show them-attitudes, and they are controlling....oh so controlling! Maybe control is the primary characteristic? Ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden that has been mankind's primary problem: I want to be in control!
So people of the law who belong to the Church (whether they actually know Christ as their Savior is up to God, I have no clue with some of those I've met in my life) stick to control.
If you know grace, you live in freedom. You give people freedom to make choices and make mistakes. You accept that things are not always the way they seem. You understand that you've never seen a motive, only God has! You don't just see problems, but you want to be a part of the solution. You have fresh experiences with God, because you know him and you know he loves you. You can be tired, but you understand that Christ in you is your strength, and it's not a matter of you pulling yourself together.
You are not afraid to let other people run their lives. You understand that you can't control anybody anyway. You understand that you have rebellious tendencies in yourself, so you relinquish your right to be in control over yourself or others to your heavenly Father. You take criticism lightly. You accept that you make mistakes from time to time, and you can take responsibility for your own actions without fearing that people will reject you. You're not afraid, because your identity is in Christ. When you confront you're direct and loving, not sneaky and beating around the bush.
I love it when I encounter grace-filled people. I've only met few compared to all the law-based people I've encountered in the worldwide Church. But when I meet the grace people, I feel my spirit come alive. I'm attracted to them. To their simple and living faith. I see freedom and I long to know God better.
Thank God for the little group of broken, failing, incomplete people who are not afraid to let their Master's light shine through their brokenness!
I owe those of you I've met a lot of gratitude, and I know that you'll just pass it on to your Creator and Friend.
God bless!
Torben - I pray that God will keep me on the road of brokenness. It hurts. It doesn't feel good. My flesh protests. But I know that there is life here. I know that only when I accept the fact that I'm a cracked pot, but God loves me just the way I am can God's life freely flow in me and through me!
Law. People have come to know Christ, and he has taken away their sins. Hallelujah! But they start in grace and continue in law. How do you recognize people who live by the law and not in grace? Look at their faces and their fists! Not too happy, very concerned, negative about many things, always quick to point out problems but rarely part of the solution, tired, frustrated at all the others, talking about experiences with God that happened 10 years ago, they suck life out of you, you get tired from spending time with them.....and clenched fists: angry, wanting more people to do more, they respond aggressively and defensively to criticism, they rarely express what they really feel but are often very sneaky with their criticism and judgments, they display I'll show them-attitudes, and they are controlling....oh so controlling! Maybe control is the primary characteristic? Ever since the fall in the Garden of Eden that has been mankind's primary problem: I want to be in control!
So people of the law who belong to the Church (whether they actually know Christ as their Savior is up to God, I have no clue with some of those I've met in my life) stick to control.
If you know grace, you live in freedom. You give people freedom to make choices and make mistakes. You accept that things are not always the way they seem. You understand that you've never seen a motive, only God has! You don't just see problems, but you want to be a part of the solution. You have fresh experiences with God, because you know him and you know he loves you. You can be tired, but you understand that Christ in you is your strength, and it's not a matter of you pulling yourself together.
You are not afraid to let other people run their lives. You understand that you can't control anybody anyway. You understand that you have rebellious tendencies in yourself, so you relinquish your right to be in control over yourself or others to your heavenly Father. You take criticism lightly. You accept that you make mistakes from time to time, and you can take responsibility for your own actions without fearing that people will reject you. You're not afraid, because your identity is in Christ. When you confront you're direct and loving, not sneaky and beating around the bush.
I love it when I encounter grace-filled people. I've only met few compared to all the law-based people I've encountered in the worldwide Church. But when I meet the grace people, I feel my spirit come alive. I'm attracted to them. To their simple and living faith. I see freedom and I long to know God better.
Thank God for the little group of broken, failing, incomplete people who are not afraid to let their Master's light shine through their brokenness!
I owe those of you I've met a lot of gratitude, and I know that you'll just pass it on to your Creator and Friend.
God bless!
Torben - I pray that God will keep me on the road of brokenness. It hurts. It doesn't feel good. My flesh protests. But I know that there is life here. I know that only when I accept the fact that I'm a cracked pot, but God loves me just the way I am can God's life freely flow in me and through me!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Two wonderful years
What a joy it has been for me to be married to my wonderful wife Jeannette for the past two years! What a blessing she is! We celebrated our second anniversary yesterday, and I can only say that I'm falling more and more in love with her.
As you can read in the rest of these blog entries we learn many new things about who we are in God and how he loves us, and that gives us new freedom in our relationship with each other as well. I'm getting to know the real Jeannette more and more as we share life together. And what a joy that is!
There is freedom in knowing who you truly are. There is freedom in sharing that with your spouse. There is freedom and life in seeking God together and knowing that he's always there for you.
There is freedom in our marriage. A freedom that's growing as we see more of who we are in Christ. Our marriage isn't always perfect, but it's wonderful, challenging, encouraging, full of blessings, fun, and crazy at different times and all at once some times :-)
I guess I just wanted you, dear blog readers, to know how much I love my wife!
Torben
A visit to hell
I can’t even begin to imagine the horror of spending eternity in hell away from God, away from love, kindness, grace and all else that’s good, away from meaningful human contact, and I’m so delighted that I’m not going there because I know Christ and have my life, my salvation and my identity in him!Comparing anything to the horrors of hell may seem futile, but what else can you do when you’re faced with the horrors of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp called Auschwitz-Birkenau an hour’s drive away from the beautiful Polish city, Cracow. This camp, by far the largest camp during World War II, saw more than one million people dying there under horrifying conditions.
The vast majority of the people who were murdered were Jews from Hungary, Poland, Greece, Norway, Germany, Holland, etc. But there were also many Polish intellectuals, Gypsies from all over Europe, and Soviet prisoners of war who were all gassed, shot, starved to death or worked until they died which normally took less than three months.
We got to see gas chambers, cells where prisoners were starved to death, a train station platform where a Nazi doctor with a hand motion decided whether the people coming out of the train were ready to work or were sent directly to the gas chambers to die immediately. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp tells more about the horrors that happened in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
WHY FORGIVE?
So many impressions, so much horror, so much pain and tears and blood being spilled for no other reason than hatred and dehumanization. And sadly we as the human race haven’t learned a whole lot from the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Civil wars in Africa, ex-Yugoslavia, horrible wars in Asia and South America all speak about what happens when we dehumanize each other. It’s a lot easier to torture and kill somebody who is not a human to you than somebody who is just like you.
I was doing a little research on some of the famous people who either survived or died in Auschwitz. People like the Dutch diary-girl Anne Frank (who was there for a month before later dying in Bergen-Belsen in Germany), the Italian author Primo Levi, the Romanian-born American novelist Elie Wiesel and the French politician Simone Veil. All had a sad thing in common. Not only did the Nazis manage to steal their lives while they were in the camps, but they also stole their lives afterwards. Anne Frank’s dad, Otto Frank, spent the rest of his life trying to prove to people that her daughter’s diary was original. So in turn he spent the rest of his life thinking about the Nazis, thinking about the people who killed his family, thinking about people who believed Nazi-lies. I doubt that Otto Frank died a free man.
Levi, Wiesel, Veil also fought the fight against Holocaust deniers and were because of that tied to those people the rest of their lives. That’s the universal law of forgiveness we see here. If you are able to forgive the people who have done evil towards you, you set yourself free and you leave punishment to God. If you don’t forgive, you’re tied to the person who did the evil deed towards you, however horrible it may seem.
From a 2007 postmodern perspective, or from a 1945-perspective for that matter, it’s certainly not reasonable to ask people who survived the Nazi concentration camps to forgive the people who killed their entire family and tortured them.
It’s not reasonable either to ask a young woman who was molested as a child to forgive her dad. It doesn’t make sense to ask a father to forgive the murderer of his wife and three children. But only forgiveness will lead to freedom.
If you don’t forgive you can’t experience freedom.
Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau, lived with his wife and five children right outside the extermination camp. He tortured, and murdered thousands of people and was responsible for hundreds of thousands of people dying. Höss was sentenced and hanged in a special made gallow right outside the first gas chamber in Auschwitz on April 16, 1947.
Many people witnessed the hanging of Höss. Some were survivors of the camp. Many probably cheered, rejoiced, sighed with relief and thought “now he got something of what he deserves”, but did Höss’ death mean freedom to the left behind family members of the people he murdered? No. Does any other death sentence mean freedom to the left behind family members? No. Does hating your molester give you freedom? No.
There is only (!!) the road of forgiveness. There is no other way. How ever difficult and unfair it seems and feels. We forgive, because he forgave first!
God bless!
Torben
Meeting Muslims
I've met many Muslims from pretty much all Muslim countries in the world during my traveling in Malaysia, Turkey, Singapore, etc. and during the time in Cambridge, England where I helped out with a summer outreach a few years ago.
Yesterday I met a couple of Muslim guys, Rashid and Tareq from Kuwait, as we were on the train between Krakow, Poland and Kiev, Ukraine. They were from rich families and were traveling around Eastern Europe. Rashid spoke fine English after having spent six years in the United States, and naturally we talked about Kuwait, the Arabic world in general and of course about Islam and Christianity.
I have a special heart for Muslims. So devoted, so serious, so fun-loving and caring and kind people (this is true for approximately 85-90% of all Muslims...all those who don't attract the big headlines in the news...:-(), yet so misguided in what they believe. Yet so bound by laws and regulations. Yet so foreign to freedom, (eternal) security, relationship to God and knowing him as a loving Father!
I have studied Islam some and know some of the Arabic terms for the things Muslims believe, and this always helps in conversations with Muslims.
Rashid was telling me how he tries to be a good person all the time, and how he doesn't know if he'll go to heaven. Only Allah knows. I shared how I know that I can't live up to God's demands and that I know that I go to heaven the day I die, because Jesus lived the perfect life and paid the price of sin that God required.
Rashid shared how Muslims emphasize that it doesn't matter how much you pray and how much you think about Allah, if you don't do good deeds. Without good deeds, Allah won't be pleased. I agreed that it's important to do good things that God tells you to do, but that God loves me just the way I am and will love me just the same if I don't do a single good thing the rest of my life.
Rashid shared how he hopes that Allah will be merciful to him on Judgment Day, I shared how I know that God is merciful and that I will share eternity with him.
Rashid explained to me that he thought Allah could force anybody to become believers in him if he wanted to, I thought to myself that I'm delighted that God respects free will and gives us a choice to make.
I explained to Rashid how Jesus came down to save us, where all other religions (humanity, atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) is about us coming up to God through our good deeds or ourselves being gods. He heard it, but he didn't see the wonder, the joy, the gift.
Sadly Rashid has met many narrowminded, legalistic Christians so me talking about freedom, joy and life sounded strange to him.
I pray that God will let me meet many more Muslims. There is 1.3 billion worldwide. God loves them all. Jesus died for them all.
Don't be afraid of Muslims, don't walk away from them, don't believe the stories the media tell you. Love your neighbor, even if she wears strange clothes and even if he has a funny hat on his head. They are not that different from you anyway.
Torben
Yesterday I met a couple of Muslim guys, Rashid and Tareq from Kuwait, as we were on the train between Krakow, Poland and Kiev, Ukraine. They were from rich families and were traveling around Eastern Europe. Rashid spoke fine English after having spent six years in the United States, and naturally we talked about Kuwait, the Arabic world in general and of course about Islam and Christianity.
I have a special heart for Muslims. So devoted, so serious, so fun-loving and caring and kind people (this is true for approximately 85-90% of all Muslims...all those who don't attract the big headlines in the news...:-(), yet so misguided in what they believe. Yet so bound by laws and regulations. Yet so foreign to freedom, (eternal) security, relationship to God and knowing him as a loving Father!
I have studied Islam some and know some of the Arabic terms for the things Muslims believe, and this always helps in conversations with Muslims.
Rashid was telling me how he tries to be a good person all the time, and how he doesn't know if he'll go to heaven. Only Allah knows. I shared how I know that I can't live up to God's demands and that I know that I go to heaven the day I die, because Jesus lived the perfect life and paid the price of sin that God required.
Rashid shared how Muslims emphasize that it doesn't matter how much you pray and how much you think about Allah, if you don't do good deeds. Without good deeds, Allah won't be pleased. I agreed that it's important to do good things that God tells you to do, but that God loves me just the way I am and will love me just the same if I don't do a single good thing the rest of my life.
Rashid shared how he hopes that Allah will be merciful to him on Judgment Day, I shared how I know that God is merciful and that I will share eternity with him.
Rashid explained to me that he thought Allah could force anybody to become believers in him if he wanted to, I thought to myself that I'm delighted that God respects free will and gives us a choice to make.
I explained to Rashid how Jesus came down to save us, where all other religions (humanity, atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) is about us coming up to God through our good deeds or ourselves being gods. He heard it, but he didn't see the wonder, the joy, the gift.
Sadly Rashid has met many narrowminded, legalistic Christians so me talking about freedom, joy and life sounded strange to him.
I pray that God will let me meet many more Muslims. There is 1.3 billion worldwide. God loves them all. Jesus died for them all.
Don't be afraid of Muslims, don't walk away from them, don't believe the stories the media tell you. Love your neighbor, even if she wears strange clothes and even if he has a funny hat on his head. They are not that different from you anyway.
Torben
Thursday, August 09, 2007
The one question Jesus will ask?
Brennan Manning, author of Ragamuffin Gospel and Abba's Child, speaks in this short video about God's love. Listen and think about the points he makes!
God bless!
Torben
The poor in spirit
I keep feeling inspired to write these days...so here we go again: Jesus said "Blessed are the poor in spirit", but what does it mean to be poor in spirit or to be humble? I just read this wonderful piece by Brennan Manning in his book "Reflections for Ragamuffins":
- "The awareness of our innate (*something we're born with*) poverty, that we were created from the clay of the earth and the kiss of God's mouth, that we came from dust and shall return to dust, pulls away the mask of prestige, of knowledge, of social class, or of strength - whatever it is we use to command attention and respect.
Poverty of spirit breaks through our human pretenses, freeing us from the shabby sense of spiritual superiority and the need to stand well with persons of importance. Poverty brings us to the awareness of the sovereignty of God and our absolute insufficiency. We simply cannot do anything alone.
Any growth or progress in the spiritual life cannot be traced to our paltry (*small*) efforts. All is the work of grace. We cannot even acknowledge that Jesus is Lord except through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Life is lagniappe (*something given as a free gift*). We are faced with the possibility of genuine humility. I am convinced that without a gut-level experience of our profound spiritual emptiness, it is not possible to encounter the living God" -
Amen, brother! Well written!
Torben
- "The awareness of our innate (*something we're born with*) poverty, that we were created from the clay of the earth and the kiss of God's mouth, that we came from dust and shall return to dust, pulls away the mask of prestige, of knowledge, of social class, or of strength - whatever it is we use to command attention and respect.
Poverty of spirit breaks through our human pretenses, freeing us from the shabby sense of spiritual superiority and the need to stand well with persons of importance. Poverty brings us to the awareness of the sovereignty of God and our absolute insufficiency. We simply cannot do anything alone.
Any growth or progress in the spiritual life cannot be traced to our paltry (*small*) efforts. All is the work of grace. We cannot even acknowledge that Jesus is Lord except through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Life is lagniappe (*something given as a free gift*). We are faced with the possibility of genuine humility. I am convinced that without a gut-level experience of our profound spiritual emptiness, it is not possible to encounter the living God" -
Amen, brother! Well written!
Torben
How you get to know God's love for you...part II
"I'm not sure I truly believe that God loves me, if I have to be quite honest. In glimpses maybe but not continuously. I don't know ... Others I've met find it very easily to grasp but I just find it very, very, very difficult. It seems to me that you've gone through a process where you really embraced God's love... Was there anything in particular that made you realize that God really loves you? Anything you heard, learnt ... or was it just a long process?"
Still the same question. Here comes the more personal touch on that question.
Why do I know God's love better now than I did a few years ago? Wow...what a question! God only knows for real, but I do have some thoughts about it. I believe it's because I've asked God to show me his love for me. In some ways that's all I've done. I've asked him: "take me to a place where I know your love, and where you're enough for me". A brave prayer, and one you shouldn't pray if you're not ready to walk the road of brokenness with Christ. There is no other way to really experience God's love for YOU than the road David, Joseph, Peter, Paul, Jesus himself and countless others have walked: the road of humility and brokenness.
Churches and missions organizations talk a lot about humility and brokenness these years, but often they mean something else than the Bible does. Often humility and brokenness is just something you do. It's an add-on to your Christian life. You serve some homeless people once a week and that proves that you're humble. You admit that you sometimes lose your temper, and that proves that you're extremely broken. These comments are not actual quotes, but they are in essence, what I've heard from many Christians, when I've talked about these two words!
Look at Jesus who walked the road of humility. Humiliated, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, accused of being a drunkard and a party animal, accused of breaking the law, lying, blaspheming, finally convicted in an unfair trial, hung a cross, mocked even while dying and dead.....Yet Jesus was close to his Father in heaven! He knew God's love for him and for the world. "Father if there is another way, can we go that? Yet not my will, but your will be done", "Forgive them for they know what they do"
Joseph...dreamer, proud young man. Learned about humility through being sold by his own brothers as a slave, was thrown in prison though he was innocent, suffered many kinds of agony, but learned to trust God despite his circumstances and was, after many years, ready to forgive his family and save many from certain death because of hunger.
Peter....boastful, proud, strong, always the first disciple to talk whenever Jesus asked them a question. Convinced that he would ALWAYS be there for Jesus, but his own strength and courage failed him. He learned to be humble, he learned that in his own strength he can do nothing, but in Christ's strength, the strengt of humility and brokenness he can do anything. And humble and broken Peter was the first great Church leader.
Paul....powerful evangelist after his extreme conversion experience. On fire for God. Ready to do anything. But...he had a thorn in his flesh (2. Corinthians 12). We don't know what the problem was. Only God knows. But it helped Paul be humble and not trust in his own strength.
WHY HUMILITY?
Was God trying to punish Jesus, Joseph, Peter and Paul? Is he mean-spirited when he puts them and us in circumstances we don't enjoy? Yes, some Christians say and feel that! Because they don't trust God to be who he says he is. But God putting the mentioned great ones and ourselves through difficult circumstances is God's way of loving us and taking us to a place where he is all we have.
He has to strip of all the things that we hold on to (reputation, abilities, ministry, spiritual gifts, sense of humor, work, family, friends, achievements, good looks, etc. etc. etc.) to give us our sense of worth. So that he can become all for us and in us.
My own road of humility started (at least this stage of it! God has been at work in me for many years) almost two years ago. I had just gotten married, and we were headed back to a YWAM base in the United Kingdom where I was convinced that we needed to go. I had big plans and dreams for our time there. I saw myself as the next great leader to come out of that base, I was gonna pioneer this school and that ministry...big plans! And the people there, like all other people I had met previously in my life, had never-ending faith in me and my abilities. All was good. But God didn't agree! It's a long story, but through various circumstances that I don't mind sharing about, but it takes too long right here, God took Jeannette and I away from my dream place in the UK and here to Kiev where things have been more difficult. Again, it's a long story, but God has, in his mercy, taken away many of the things that I built my life around (my performance, my reputation, my admiration, etc.) to replace it with him. He took me to a place where I was willing to admit: "I don't know what to do, but I'm looking to you (only to you) for help" (2. Chr. 20: 12b).
I continue to learn more about humility, brokenness and trust. Sometimes it's a lonely path, but it's also a good path, because I know God is here with me. Psalm 23 speaks about life with God better than I can express:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Jesus has taken me through difficult times and fun times, but he is the Shepherd, I'm the follower. Jesus says it very clearly in John chapter 10 where he talks about himself as the Good Shepherd. I am his sheep. I hear his voice. I recognize his voice. I follow him. And it's in this context that he promises us the ABUNDANT LIFE in him. It's all about Jesus. I allow God to be God and me to be me, and I experience intimacy with him! But it all goes through the road of brokenness and me realizing that I don't have it all together, that God is more than an add-on to my own efforts, that truly I'm dead and Christ now lives his life through me.
Hmmm...did this reply help anybody? It's a difficult question to answer, because without trusting God it's a terrible thought that he would lead me through the "valley of death". And my journey to God and with God is not your journey. It's personal and intimate and hard to explain and express..!
But it all starts with a simple prayer: "God I want to know you and I want to know your love for me. Take me to a place where you will be all I have and where I can experience intimacy and life in you. I give you permission to take away everything that you see hinders me from truly knowing your love for me. Teach me to trust you more and more and throw myself in your arms and know that you're my good, loving Father" and then the adventure begins:-)
God bless!
Torben
Still the same question. Here comes the more personal touch on that question.
Why do I know God's love better now than I did a few years ago? Wow...what a question! God only knows for real, but I do have some thoughts about it. I believe it's because I've asked God to show me his love for me. In some ways that's all I've done. I've asked him: "take me to a place where I know your love, and where you're enough for me". A brave prayer, and one you shouldn't pray if you're not ready to walk the road of brokenness with Christ. There is no other way to really experience God's love for YOU than the road David, Joseph, Peter, Paul, Jesus himself and countless others have walked: the road of humility and brokenness.
Churches and missions organizations talk a lot about humility and brokenness these years, but often they mean something else than the Bible does. Often humility and brokenness is just something you do. It's an add-on to your Christian life. You serve some homeless people once a week and that proves that you're humble. You admit that you sometimes lose your temper, and that proves that you're extremely broken. These comments are not actual quotes, but they are in essence, what I've heard from many Christians, when I've talked about these two words!
Look at Jesus who walked the road of humility. Humiliated, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, accused of being a drunkard and a party animal, accused of breaking the law, lying, blaspheming, finally convicted in an unfair trial, hung a cross, mocked even while dying and dead.....Yet Jesus was close to his Father in heaven! He knew God's love for him and for the world. "Father if there is another way, can we go that? Yet not my will, but your will be done", "Forgive them for they know what they do"
Joseph...dreamer, proud young man. Learned about humility through being sold by his own brothers as a slave, was thrown in prison though he was innocent, suffered many kinds of agony, but learned to trust God despite his circumstances and was, after many years, ready to forgive his family and save many from certain death because of hunger.
Peter....boastful, proud, strong, always the first disciple to talk whenever Jesus asked them a question. Convinced that he would ALWAYS be there for Jesus, but his own strength and courage failed him. He learned to be humble, he learned that in his own strength he can do nothing, but in Christ's strength, the strengt of humility and brokenness he can do anything. And humble and broken Peter was the first great Church leader.
Paul....powerful evangelist after his extreme conversion experience. On fire for God. Ready to do anything. But...he had a thorn in his flesh (2. Corinthians 12). We don't know what the problem was. Only God knows. But it helped Paul be humble and not trust in his own strength.
WHY HUMILITY?
Was God trying to punish Jesus, Joseph, Peter and Paul? Is he mean-spirited when he puts them and us in circumstances we don't enjoy? Yes, some Christians say and feel that! Because they don't trust God to be who he says he is. But God putting the mentioned great ones and ourselves through difficult circumstances is God's way of loving us and taking us to a place where he is all we have.
He has to strip of all the things that we hold on to (reputation, abilities, ministry, spiritual gifts, sense of humor, work, family, friends, achievements, good looks, etc. etc. etc.) to give us our sense of worth. So that he can become all for us and in us.
My own road of humility started (at least this stage of it! God has been at work in me for many years) almost two years ago. I had just gotten married, and we were headed back to a YWAM base in the United Kingdom where I was convinced that we needed to go. I had big plans and dreams for our time there. I saw myself as the next great leader to come out of that base, I was gonna pioneer this school and that ministry...big plans! And the people there, like all other people I had met previously in my life, had never-ending faith in me and my abilities. All was good. But God didn't agree! It's a long story, but through various circumstances that I don't mind sharing about, but it takes too long right here, God took Jeannette and I away from my dream place in the UK and here to Kiev where things have been more difficult. Again, it's a long story, but God has, in his mercy, taken away many of the things that I built my life around (my performance, my reputation, my admiration, etc.) to replace it with him. He took me to a place where I was willing to admit: "I don't know what to do, but I'm looking to you (only to you) for help" (2. Chr. 20: 12b).
I continue to learn more about humility, brokenness and trust. Sometimes it's a lonely path, but it's also a good path, because I know God is here with me. Psalm 23 speaks about life with God better than I can express:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Jesus has taken me through difficult times and fun times, but he is the Shepherd, I'm the follower. Jesus says it very clearly in John chapter 10 where he talks about himself as the Good Shepherd. I am his sheep. I hear his voice. I recognize his voice. I follow him. And it's in this context that he promises us the ABUNDANT LIFE in him. It's all about Jesus. I allow God to be God and me to be me, and I experience intimacy with him! But it all goes through the road of brokenness and me realizing that I don't have it all together, that God is more than an add-on to my own efforts, that truly I'm dead and Christ now lives his life through me.
Hmmm...did this reply help anybody? It's a difficult question to answer, because without trusting God it's a terrible thought that he would lead me through the "valley of death". And my journey to God and with God is not your journey. It's personal and intimate and hard to explain and express..!
But it all starts with a simple prayer: "God I want to know you and I want to know your love for me. Take me to a place where you will be all I have and where I can experience intimacy and life in you. I give you permission to take away everything that you see hinders me from truly knowing your love for me. Teach me to trust you more and more and throw myself in your arms and know that you're my good, loving Father" and then the adventure begins:-)
God bless!
Torben
How you get to know God's love for you...part I
"I'm not sure I truly believe that God loves me, if I have to be quite honest. In glimpses maybe but not continuously. I don't know ... Others I've met find it very easily to grasp but I just find it very, very, very difficult. It seems to me that you've gone through a process where you really embraced God's love... Was there anything in particular that made you realize that God really loves you? Anything you heard, learnt ... or was it just a long process?" was a comment under my entry "What You Truly Believe".
What a great, honest question! Many things could be said, but since my dear sister, www.ingenkommentarer.blogspot.com, claims that my blog entries are too long, I'll try to make my answer as short as possible, or maybe write a few entries about the same question.
First, I have also met many Christians who claim that they know God loves them. They talk about God's love. Maybe they even preach and teach and blog about God's love. But still they feel abandoned, unlovable, confused, angry, disappointed when the door is closed and they are all alone with their thoughts. So just because they say that they know God's love doesn't mean that's necessarily the truth. Look at the fruit in their lives, look at their world view - do they look at what's happening in the world and in their own life from the perspective "God loves me, and even though this seems difficult, I know his character, and I know he's up to something great"? Or do they, like the world that doesn't know a God who is love complain and say: "there is no hope for them or for me and all is terrible and will never get any better". A Christian who knows God's love never loses hope. Because he knows that God is the God of the hopeless people (like himself!) and the God of the hopeless situations.
On the other hand I've met just a few, very few in fact, where I just know that God's love is what compels them to do and be everything they do/are. My spirit connects with these people. They are rarely the people who get the most publicity. They are rarely the most popular ones. They are often misunderstood. Many Christians look at them as weird and not-connected-enough-to-this world. They are the ones who embrace their brokenness. They know they're beyond repair, and they can only do one thing: put their brokenness, their faults, their weaknesses into the hands of a God who loves them just the way they are! And that's where they get their confidence, that's where they get their life, strength, joy. In Christ. In Christ in them. "Christ in you, the hope of glory", Paul talks about. And that's true. If we want to give God glory, and if we want to experience a glorious, abundant life there is only the way of Christ. To accept and agree with the fact that I'm dead (Galatians 2:20), and that Christ now lives in me and through me.
I believe this was enough for part I - part II will follow shortly:-)
God bless!
Torben
What a great, honest question! Many things could be said, but since my dear sister, www.ingenkommentarer.blogspot.com, claims that my blog entries are too long, I'll try to make my answer as short as possible, or maybe write a few entries about the same question.
First, I have also met many Christians who claim that they know God loves them. They talk about God's love. Maybe they even preach and teach and blog about God's love. But still they feel abandoned, unlovable, confused, angry, disappointed when the door is closed and they are all alone with their thoughts. So just because they say that they know God's love doesn't mean that's necessarily the truth. Look at the fruit in their lives, look at their world view - do they look at what's happening in the world and in their own life from the perspective "God loves me, and even though this seems difficult, I know his character, and I know he's up to something great"? Or do they, like the world that doesn't know a God who is love complain and say: "there is no hope for them or for me and all is terrible and will never get any better". A Christian who knows God's love never loses hope. Because he knows that God is the God of the hopeless people (like himself!) and the God of the hopeless situations.
On the other hand I've met just a few, very few in fact, where I just know that God's love is what compels them to do and be everything they do/are. My spirit connects with these people. They are rarely the people who get the most publicity. They are rarely the most popular ones. They are often misunderstood. Many Christians look at them as weird and not-connected-enough-to-this world. They are the ones who embrace their brokenness. They know they're beyond repair, and they can only do one thing: put their brokenness, their faults, their weaknesses into the hands of a God who loves them just the way they are! And that's where they get their confidence, that's where they get their life, strength, joy. In Christ. In Christ in them. "Christ in you, the hope of glory", Paul talks about. And that's true. If we want to give God glory, and if we want to experience a glorious, abundant life there is only the way of Christ. To accept and agree with the fact that I'm dead (Galatians 2:20), and that Christ now lives in me and through me.
I believe this was enough for part I - part II will follow shortly:-)
God bless!
Torben
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Marcus Allbäck's goal!
Phew...F.C.København were close to disaster, but the good, old Swede, Marcus Allbäck, as usual saved F.C.København with his extra time goal that gave F.C.København the aggregate victory against Beitar Jerusalem. Now they have to play Benfica from Portugal to see if they again this year can qualify for Champions League.
I saw the game on the internet, and I'm afraid I woke up our neighbors, when Allbäck scored....!;-)
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
The two biggest problems
A Christian counselor, the late David Seamands, said these wise words:
"Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people...We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions."
(quoted from the wonderful Philip Yancey book "What's So Amazing About Grace")
I believe he's absolutely right. Four years in Christian ministry has showed me that countless Christians (including many missionaries and leaders!!) talk about grace and believe grace in theory, but have very little understanding that they're loved, and they have very little love and grace to give to anybody else. Because unless the truths of God's free grace and love penetrate your life, it'll remain nice theories that don't have the power to change anything or anybody. The power of grace (see other entries about this topic on this blog!) is incredible, but unless you truly believe that you are loved just the way you are grace hasn't won you over, and you have no, or very little, love and grace to offer to other people.
"We love, because God loved us first" the apostle John (who refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved"!) tells us, but if you don't know that you're loved by God, how can you love other people? In my flesh I only really have love for one person: Torben! Not even for Jeannette or anybody else....according to my flesh, it's ALL about me! But praise to God that he lives in me and loves people through me. As Fyodor Dostoevsky put it: "To love a person means to see him the way God intended him to be" - without God's grace flowing freely through me, I simply can't do that!
God bless!
Torben
"Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people...We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions."
(quoted from the wonderful Philip Yancey book "What's So Amazing About Grace")
I believe he's absolutely right. Four years in Christian ministry has showed me that countless Christians (including many missionaries and leaders!!) talk about grace and believe grace in theory, but have very little understanding that they're loved, and they have very little love and grace to give to anybody else. Because unless the truths of God's free grace and love penetrate your life, it'll remain nice theories that don't have the power to change anything or anybody. The power of grace (see other entries about this topic on this blog!) is incredible, but unless you truly believe that you are loved just the way you are grace hasn't won you over, and you have no, or very little, love and grace to offer to other people.
"We love, because God loved us first" the apostle John (who refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved"!) tells us, but if you don't know that you're loved by God, how can you love other people? In my flesh I only really have love for one person: Torben! Not even for Jeannette or anybody else....according to my flesh, it's ALL about me! But praise to God that he lives in me and loves people through me. As Fyodor Dostoevsky put it: "To love a person means to see him the way God intended him to be" - without God's grace flowing freely through me, I simply can't do that!
God bless!
Torben
Saturday, July 28, 2007
East to West
Another wonderful song by Casting Crowns. Listen to the lyrics and watch the beautiful pictures.
Psalm 103:11-12: "For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the EAST IS FROM THE WEST"
Thanks Keith Green, Rich Mullins and Jack Frost
Hey!
Today, July 28, 25 years ago a young man named Keith Gordon Green died in a plane crash along with two of his small children and some of their friends. Keith Green was only 29 when he died. He was only a Christian for nine years, and he only released five Christian albums, but yet I challenge anyone to find anybody who has made a stronger impact on the Christian music scene. I came in contact with Keith Green's music when I was 14-15 years of age, and I was hooked immediately. Sure the style of some of his music was a bit out-of-date already in the mid-90's, but you couldn't help but being touched by the passion of his piano playing and the intensity in his voice. Keith challenged the Church to be real. To start practising what we preach. To obey God when he calls. Sure some of what Keith said were over-statements (God doesn't say to his children "If you can't come to me every day then don't bother coming at all"), but Keith was so passionate to show that being a child of God was and is serious business. God is not a happy Teddy Bear or a Santa Claus figure. God is living and alive and God loves passionately and desires passionately to know us and spend time with us. Keith understood this and spend every moment he was awake eating the Word of God and telling others about Christ.
But make no mistake, Keith knew the love of God. Keith was a man that made mistakes and stood on people's feet from time to time (don't we all?), but he had an all-or-nothing, no compromises-faith that shook the world and still does. I warmly recommend "No Compromise" - the story of Keith Green and the two double albums "The Ministry Years" volume 1 and 2. You will never be the same again, if you listen to the message of these songs and of Keith's writings! Wikipedia has made this article about Keith: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Green
Keith, I'm very much looking forward to meeting you in person and attend one of your concerts on the new earth! See you:-)
RICH MULLINS - an honest ragamuffin
Another one of my musical heroes (I basically have three: Keith Green, Rich Mullins and Casting Crowns) is also dead. His name was Rich Mullins. I don't know the story of Rich Mullins as well as I know Keith's. And I don't like as many as his songs as much. But I absolutely love The Jesus Record. A little album which contains two CD's. The first CD is a recording made in a small church with just Rich, a guitar and an old tape recorder, where he recorded the songs that were gonna be made into the album The Jesus Record. He never finished the project since he died in a car crash in 1997 at the age of 42. But his band, the Ragamuffins, alongside a group of Rich's Christian singers' friends decided to sing the songs and make it into an album as a tribute to Rich and to God! A wonderful, honest collection of songs. Rich was honest to the core. No pretending. I love the story of how the song "Hold me Jesus" came about. Rich and a friend were in a motel room during a tour around the States, and Rich was tempted to watch pornography on the cable tv. He was waiting for his friend to fall asleep so he himself could give into this temptation, but his friend kept waking up. After a while Rich sat down and wrote this song instead of watching pornography - praise God:
Well, sometimes my life
Just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small
CHORUS:
So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace
And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart
CHORUS
Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something
I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
Now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees
And this Salvation Army band
Is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin
CHORUS
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace
Much more about Rich Mullins here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Mullins
JACK FROST - living in the Father's Embrace
Just a little while ago the father of three children and the husband of Trisha Frost died battling cancer. Jack Frost was the man behind Shiloh Place (www.shilohplace.org) and the author of the wonderful book "Experiencing the Father's Embrace". I came in contact with Jack Frost's teaching while in Malaysia doing a three month Bible School with Youth With A Mission. I was part of a small mens' group and we watched some of Jack Frost's teaching about living in the light and experiencing the Father's embrace on DVD. The teaching about living in the light (based on 1. John chapter 1) challenged me in deep and meaningful ways and helped me come to the point where I decided to tell Jeannette (my wife whom I was engaged to back then) EVERYTHING there was to know about me, the good, the bad and the really ugly..! It was hard and painful, but it was worth it. It set our marriage of to a wonderful start and we have continued walking in the light ever since. We have chosen to be painfully honest with each other and truly know each other and forgive and love each other.
I'm eternally grateful to Jack Frost and God for helping me see these truths.
So....this was a little blog about some men who have inspired, challenged and blessed me. I hope and pray that I will continue to encounter men and women like these. They are beacons of hope, love and peace in a troublesome world.
God bless!
Torben - what type of people, living or dead, have inspired you dear readers in your Christian walk??
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
What you truly believe
It keeps getting clearer and clearer to me that most of our confessions of faith mean very little. In fact I see more and more how the only confession that truly means anything is the one you make when the door is closed and you're all alone with your thoughts.
That's where the rubber meets the road. That's where you see what you truly believe. And that's where Satan attacks you. That's where he'll question whether you truly believe or not.
Satan is not intimidated or impressed with your big confessions of God's love at church, with your friends, on your blog or wherever, if only he can keep you from truly believing that you're loved by God just the way you are!
To know that you're God's Beloved is the biggest revelation anybody can receive. And it's the revelation that Satan fears the most.
If you - when the door is closed and you're all alone with your thoughts know that you know that you know that you're LOVED just the way you are, not the way you should be, could've been or will be and that God will love you just the same whether you sit in a couch and eat potato chips until you die or you travel the world and share the Gospel of Christ until you die - then you know the peace of God! Then you know your standing before God! And then Satan is terrified of you. Then he knows that you know that it's not about your power, but it's about Christ living in you! And nothing scares Satan more than God's children who truly know that they are loved.
Do you know that for yourself? Or are you still trying to earn God's love? Are you in ministry to impress God or other people? Or do you serve God because the "love of Christ compels you" as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5, 14. Or to update Paul's words a little bit: "I serve God because I simply can't help myself" Paul knew he was loved. Therefore he was free to serve and give.
If you serve God for any other reason than that....you're serving under the law not under grace!
So what do you believe when the door is closed and you're all alone with your thoughts?
God bless you as you ask him to reveal his love for you! It's only through revelation that we can know that we are loved just the way we are!
Torben
That's where the rubber meets the road. That's where you see what you truly believe. And that's where Satan attacks you. That's where he'll question whether you truly believe or not.
Satan is not intimidated or impressed with your big confessions of God's love at church, with your friends, on your blog or wherever, if only he can keep you from truly believing that you're loved by God just the way you are!
To know that you're God's Beloved is the biggest revelation anybody can receive. And it's the revelation that Satan fears the most.
If you - when the door is closed and you're all alone with your thoughts know that you know that you know that you're LOVED just the way you are, not the way you should be, could've been or will be and that God will love you just the same whether you sit in a couch and eat potato chips until you die or you travel the world and share the Gospel of Christ until you die - then you know the peace of God! Then you know your standing before God! And then Satan is terrified of you. Then he knows that you know that it's not about your power, but it's about Christ living in you! And nothing scares Satan more than God's children who truly know that they are loved.
Do you know that for yourself? Or are you still trying to earn God's love? Are you in ministry to impress God or other people? Or do you serve God because the "love of Christ compels you" as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5, 14. Or to update Paul's words a little bit: "I serve God because I simply can't help myself" Paul knew he was loved. Therefore he was free to serve and give.
If you serve God for any other reason than that....you're serving under the law not under grace!
So what do you believe when the door is closed and you're all alone with your thoughts?
God bless you as you ask him to reveal his love for you! It's only through revelation that we can know that we are loved just the way we are!
Torben
Monday, July 23, 2007
Too many pigeons...
We really do have quite a lot of pigeons running around everywhere here in Kiev. This might be the way to get rid of them?:-)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
God's song over his children
Foolish heart, looks like we're here again.
Same old game of plastic smile,
Don't let anybody in.
Hiding my heartache,
Will this glass house break?
How much will it take before I'm empty?
Do I let it show?
Does anybody know?
CHORUS:
But You see the real me.
Hiding in my skin, broken from within.
Unveil me completely.
I'm loosening my grasp,
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me.
Painted on, life is behind a mask,
Self-inflicted circus clown.
I'm tired of the song and dance,
Living a charade, always on parade.
What a mess I've made of my existence.
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow...
CHORUS
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me.
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life
Into a perfect tapestry.
Oh, I just wanna be me,
I wanna be me.
CHORUS
and You love me just as I am.
wonderful, beautiful is what You see
when You look at me.
"The Real Me" by Natalie Grant - what a wonderful and true song! God knows the real me, and he loves me just the way I am not the way I could be, should be, or will be! Just the way I am today! I'm God's delight!
Same old game of plastic smile,
Don't let anybody in.
Hiding my heartache,
Will this glass house break?
How much will it take before I'm empty?
Do I let it show?
Does anybody know?
CHORUS:
But You see the real me.
Hiding in my skin, broken from within.
Unveil me completely.
I'm loosening my grasp,
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me.
Painted on, life is behind a mask,
Self-inflicted circus clown.
I'm tired of the song and dance,
Living a charade, always on parade.
What a mess I've made of my existence.
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow...
CHORUS
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me.
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life
Into a perfect tapestry.
Oh, I just wanna be me,
I wanna be me.
CHORUS
and You love me just as I am.
wonderful, beautiful is what You see
when You look at me.
"The Real Me" by Natalie Grant - what a wonderful and true song! God knows the real me, and he loves me just the way I am not the way I could be, should be, or will be! Just the way I am today! I'm God's delight!
Voice Of Truth - Casting Crowns
There are many voices in my life. But I will choose to listen to and believe the Voice of Truth - Jesus, the Son of God living in me and through me!
When words are not enough
Dear readers!
Jeannette and I came back to Kiev a bit more than a week ago from a wonderful month in England where we did a four-week-seminar centered around Identity In Christ.
The key verse for the four weeks was Galatians 2:20 where Paul writes: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of Godwho loved me and gave himself for me". An exchange took place on the Cross. Christ died, I died with him, Christ gave me his life, and I gave him my life. Christ lives in me!
What a wonder!
We spend four weeks trying to unpack this wonder, well-knowing that it's only the revelation of God through the Holy Spirit that can make this truth come alive and become my reality.
I came to the seminar with many questions and much fear. I left the seminar with a new sense of hope, and a sense of hope that'll last because it's rooted in God and his never-changing word.
I can't really explain what happened in me during the seminar. I cried, I questioned, I celebrated, I thought, I rejoiced, I shared, I symphatized with the other participants, I grew! I guess I don't really want to explain too much at this point, it's something sacred between my Father in heaven and me.
But I have a new sense and a renewed faith that tells me that when the door is closed and I'm all alone with my thoughts I know that I know that I know that GOD LOVES ME JUST THE WAY I AM!!
You can't get a bigger revelation. God loves me just the way I am. Jesus' disciple John refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved". That was his identity. His identity wasn't in being an apostle, a teacher, a leader, a church father, or anything else. He was the one Jesus loved.
My identity is not in my performance, my achievements, my successes, my failures, my gifts - "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so" is the highest truth. And that's what I'll allow to be my identity. Christ in me the hope of glory!
I could say much more, but I won't. Many truths in my heart are new. They need time to grow and develop. I need time to rest in God and rest in what he has done for me and who he is in me. I want to embrace a road of brokenness, because that's where the ABUNDANT life that Jesus promised is! My dictionary tells me that broken(ness) means: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order. That's who I am in front of God. I'm broken and not in working order. For many years I thought that I was in working order, but I just needed God to replace my batteries. But that's not the truth. I need God for everything. Psalm 40:17: "I am poor and needy, may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer". There are many tears on the road of brokenness, and few choose to go there. But Jesus says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:3-4). I'm on a journey with God, and I don't know what's ahead of me, but it's okay. I will continue to surrender my felt right to be in control and let God be God and me be me!
There is hope! Lots of hope!
Praise God!
Torben
Jeannette and I came back to Kiev a bit more than a week ago from a wonderful month in England where we did a four-week-seminar centered around Identity In Christ.
The key verse for the four weeks was Galatians 2:20 where Paul writes: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of Godwho loved me and gave himself for me". An exchange took place on the Cross. Christ died, I died with him, Christ gave me his life, and I gave him my life. Christ lives in me!
What a wonder!
We spend four weeks trying to unpack this wonder, well-knowing that it's only the revelation of God through the Holy Spirit that can make this truth come alive and become my reality.
I came to the seminar with many questions and much fear. I left the seminar with a new sense of hope, and a sense of hope that'll last because it's rooted in God and his never-changing word.
I can't really explain what happened in me during the seminar. I cried, I questioned, I celebrated, I thought, I rejoiced, I shared, I symphatized with the other participants, I grew! I guess I don't really want to explain too much at this point, it's something sacred between my Father in heaven and me.
But I have a new sense and a renewed faith that tells me that when the door is closed and I'm all alone with my thoughts I know that I know that I know that GOD LOVES ME JUST THE WAY I AM!!
You can't get a bigger revelation. God loves me just the way I am. Jesus' disciple John refers to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved". That was his identity. His identity wasn't in being an apostle, a teacher, a leader, a church father, or anything else. He was the one Jesus loved.
My identity is not in my performance, my achievements, my successes, my failures, my gifts - "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so" is the highest truth. And that's what I'll allow to be my identity. Christ in me the hope of glory!
I could say much more, but I won't. Many truths in my heart are new. They need time to grow and develop. I need time to rest in God and rest in what he has done for me and who he is in me. I want to embrace a road of brokenness, because that's where the ABUNDANT life that Jesus promised is! My dictionary tells me that broken(ness) means: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order. That's who I am in front of God. I'm broken and not in working order. For many years I thought that I was in working order, but I just needed God to replace my batteries. But that's not the truth. I need God for everything. Psalm 40:17: "I am poor and needy, may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer". There are many tears on the road of brokenness, and few choose to go there. But Jesus says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:3-4). I'm on a journey with God, and I don't know what's ahead of me, but it's okay. I will continue to surrender my felt right to be in control and let God be God and me be me!
There is hope! Lots of hope!
Praise God!
Torben
Friday, June 01, 2007
God's Beautiful Church
Hey!
My wife Jeannette and I recently experienced four powerful days with approximately 800 other Christians who have that in common that we all work for Youth With A Mission (www.ywam.org) in Europe. People came from countries as different as Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland. It was wonderful to be in this international atmosphere and celebrate God together!
There were many times of wonderful worship where we acknowledged God as our Father, Sustainer, Provider and Comforter. Wonderful to worship God with so many different people in different languages!
There were many challenges during the different seminars, workshops and big gatherings where the international YWAM leaders Lynn Green, Braulia Ribeiro and YWAM's founder, Loren Cunningham were sharing. God is up to something great in Europe! God wants to change Europe! God wants to revive his Church in Europe! Europe is not forgotten or abandoned by God! Hallelujah!
At a personal level, it was exciting to meet other Danish YWAM'ers and hear about some of the good things that are going on in my little nation. God is good! And God hasn't even given up on Denmark! I joke with Dutch people that Denmark and Holland are rivals in terms of being the most ungodly nation in Europe. Maybe that's about to change? Maybe Denmark and Holland will rise as some of the forerunners for the spiritual awakening that's coming in Europe? Some say the party is over....that God is gone in Europe....it'a lie! It's Satan's lie! We are not praying "Your will be done, your kingdom come on earth (but not in Europe!) as it is in heaven"....! Or do we?....
We participated in The Global Day of Prayer (www.globaldayofprayer.com) on the day of Pentecost. What a powerful morning! What a privilege to be in prayer in front of the throne of God with millions of other Christians all over the world! There was a time of true repentance, , prayer and worship. What a wonderful God we serve!
What is God doing in your life? In your city? In your country? I would love to hear comments from you, dear blog reader!
God bless you!
Torben
My wife Jeannette and I recently experienced four powerful days with approximately 800 other Christians who have that in common that we all work for Youth With A Mission (www.ywam.org) in Europe. People came from countries as different as Spain, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Germany, Norway and Northern Ireland. It was wonderful to be in this international atmosphere and celebrate God together!
There were many times of wonderful worship where we acknowledged God as our Father, Sustainer, Provider and Comforter. Wonderful to worship God with so many different people in different languages!
There were many challenges during the different seminars, workshops and big gatherings where the international YWAM leaders Lynn Green, Braulia Ribeiro and YWAM's founder, Loren Cunningham were sharing. God is up to something great in Europe! God wants to change Europe! God wants to revive his Church in Europe! Europe is not forgotten or abandoned by God! Hallelujah!
At a personal level, it was exciting to meet other Danish YWAM'ers and hear about some of the good things that are going on in my little nation. God is good! And God hasn't even given up on Denmark! I joke with Dutch people that Denmark and Holland are rivals in terms of being the most ungodly nation in Europe. Maybe that's about to change? Maybe Denmark and Holland will rise as some of the forerunners for the spiritual awakening that's coming in Europe? Some say the party is over....that God is gone in Europe....it'a lie! It's Satan's lie! We are not praying "Your will be done, your kingdom come on earth (but not in Europe!) as it is in heaven"....! Or do we?....
We participated in The Global Day of Prayer (www.globaldayofprayer.com) on the day of Pentecost. What a powerful morning! What a privilege to be in prayer in front of the throne of God with millions of other Christians all over the world! There was a time of true repentance, , prayer and worship. What a wonderful God we serve!
What is God doing in your life? In your city? In your country? I would love to hear comments from you, dear blog reader!
God bless you!
Torben
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Do you ever feel homesick?
I love this song by Mercy Me! I feel homesick many times. I'm created to live on a perfect planet without any pain, sorrow or death.
I miss people I knew who are already with God. And I'm not looking forward to losing more dear friends and family members in the years to come.
Listen to this song and remember that you are also created for so much more than we have here!
God bless!
Torben
Sunday, May 20, 2007
The top 10 blessings of living in God's Grace!
Hey!
In Rostov-on-Don we were studying Romans, which - as always - was wonderful!
We didn't have time to study the whole book in depth, but we did look at Romans 1-8 using the inductive study method, where we allow the Bible to speak for itself, instead of forcing our theology down on the Bible texts (maybe I should write another blog about the inductive method some other time?).
In chapter 7 Paul shows how life is for anybody who tries to live up to God's law in their own strength ("the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. And what I want to do, I don't do!). In chapter 8 Paul explodes in joy and shouts out all the wonderful blessings that are available, if you live in God's grace and walk in the power of his Holy Spirit. And that is for all, no matter if you have Jewish, Gentile or any other background!
Here are the Top 10 blessings when you live in God's grace according to Romans chapter 8 - enjoy!:
1. Peace (8:1) - no matter the circumstances, you can experience and live in God's peace
2. Life (8:6) - there is life and joy when you abide in God and trust his promises and principles
3. Wonderful relationship to God as our Father (8:15-16) - The Holy God of the Universe is our Father! Wow!!
4. Access to God's riches (8:17a) - what Christ has is yours, you are co-heir with Jesus Christ to all heaven's riches!
5. Privilege of suffering for Christ (8:17b-18) - might sound like a weird blessing, but many Christians can testify to a fantastic intimacy and a fantastic growth in their relationship with God during suffering for Christ!
6. Power of the Holy Spirit (8:26) - The Holy Spirit lives in you. He helps you, he guides you and he constantly intercedes for you!
7. Assurance that God loves us (8:28) - God loves you just the way you are!
8. Promise that we'll get all we need (8:31-32) - God, your Father, takes care of you and will give you all you need!
9. Victory over all evil (8:37) - God if for us! Who can be against us?
10.Assurance of remaining in God's love (8:38-39) - God will never let you go! He'll always love you!
Praise God!
Torben - here is a picture of the DTS class in Rostov
In Rostov-on-Don we were studying Romans, which - as always - was wonderful!
We didn't have time to study the whole book in depth, but we did look at Romans 1-8 using the inductive study method, where we allow the Bible to speak for itself, instead of forcing our theology down on the Bible texts (maybe I should write another blog about the inductive method some other time?).
In chapter 7 Paul shows how life is for anybody who tries to live up to God's law in their own strength ("the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. And what I want to do, I don't do!). In chapter 8 Paul explodes in joy and shouts out all the wonderful blessings that are available, if you live in God's grace and walk in the power of his Holy Spirit. And that is for all, no matter if you have Jewish, Gentile or any other background!
Here are the Top 10 blessings when you live in God's grace according to Romans chapter 8 - enjoy!:
1. Peace (8:1) - no matter the circumstances, you can experience and live in God's peace
2. Life (8:6) - there is life and joy when you abide in God and trust his promises and principles
3. Wonderful relationship to God as our Father (8:15-16) - The Holy God of the Universe is our Father! Wow!!
4. Access to God's riches (8:17a) - what Christ has is yours, you are co-heir with Jesus Christ to all heaven's riches!
5. Privilege of suffering for Christ (8:17b-18) - might sound like a weird blessing, but many Christians can testify to a fantastic intimacy and a fantastic growth in their relationship with God during suffering for Christ!
6. Power of the Holy Spirit (8:26) - The Holy Spirit lives in you. He helps you, he guides you and he constantly intercedes for you!
7. Assurance that God loves us (8:28) - God loves you just the way you are!
8. Promise that we'll get all we need (8:31-32) - God, your Father, takes care of you and will give you all you need!
9. Victory over all evil (8:37) - God if for us! Who can be against us?
10.Assurance of remaining in God's love (8:38-39) - God will never let you go! He'll always love you!
Praise God!
Torben - here is a picture of the DTS class in Rostov
Why is it so hard to say : "I don't know!"?
I just came back to the baking oven formerly known as Kiev (it's superhot these days...) after a great week of teaching in a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Eight students from Russia, Azerbaijan, Canada and the United States along with staff and myself were talking about Discipleship this week. The students had many good questions, so a lot of the teaching time was spend talking about a number of their questions.
One thing struck me: why is it apparently so hard for pastors, Bible teachers, Christian leaders, etc. to say: "I just don't know".....Might sound like a weird thing to be thinking about, but it struck me how often these people (including myself from time to time sadly) end up answering questions that God himself has decided not to give definitive answers to as of right now!
Especially regarding the topic of healing it was clear that the students had heard many well-meaning people answer a lot of questions with a certainty found nowhere in the Bible. Students had heard that all Christians will be healed from all sicknesses if they just had enough faith. That's simply not true! It's a - pardon my French - ridiculous statement. Look at the many, many Christians who are not healed in this lifetime. Look at the apostle Paul who had a "thorn in his flesh" and asked God to take it away. God chose not to take it away (and to this day we don't know what the problem was, despite many people claiming that they know...!), but God chose not to and taught Paul the important lesson: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2.Corinthians 12:9).
We just don't know why God chooses to heal some and not others. It's true that there is some link between faith and healing in the Bible, but exactly how it works is still a mystery. There is NOT a Scripture saying that if you have this and that amount of faith, and the wind is blowing from that direction and you say exactly this prayer you will for sure be healed...it doesn't exist!
We have to admit that God is God and we're not. There are many things we don't know fully. Let's not be afraid to admit that. And let's not try to explain things that God, in his infinite wisdom, has chosen not to explain! Many well-meaning Christians feel that they have to be like Job's friends, who thought that they knew exactly who God was and who thought they could explain why so many bad things were happening to Job ("Obviously you must have sinned!!"). The Bible shows us that it wasn't anything Job had done that made God curse him. And when God breaks through in the final chapters of Job, he doesn't explain "why good things happen to good people" - and quite frankly I don't think God needs our help in defending himself!
God bless!
Torben - who is glad that God has revealed the answers to many of life's questions to us, and who, with Paul, is looking forward to the day where we'll know fully - "Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror (the mirrors back then were made out of polished metal and gave a pretty bad image of how people looked), then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1. Corinthians 13:12)
One thing struck me: why is it apparently so hard for pastors, Bible teachers, Christian leaders, etc. to say: "I just don't know".....Might sound like a weird thing to be thinking about, but it struck me how often these people (including myself from time to time sadly) end up answering questions that God himself has decided not to give definitive answers to as of right now!
Especially regarding the topic of healing it was clear that the students had heard many well-meaning people answer a lot of questions with a certainty found nowhere in the Bible. Students had heard that all Christians will be healed from all sicknesses if they just had enough faith. That's simply not true! It's a - pardon my French - ridiculous statement. Look at the many, many Christians who are not healed in this lifetime. Look at the apostle Paul who had a "thorn in his flesh" and asked God to take it away. God chose not to take it away (and to this day we don't know what the problem was, despite many people claiming that they know...!), but God chose not to and taught Paul the important lesson: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2.Corinthians 12:9).
We just don't know why God chooses to heal some and not others. It's true that there is some link between faith and healing in the Bible, but exactly how it works is still a mystery. There is NOT a Scripture saying that if you have this and that amount of faith, and the wind is blowing from that direction and you say exactly this prayer you will for sure be healed...it doesn't exist!
We have to admit that God is God and we're not. There are many things we don't know fully. Let's not be afraid to admit that. And let's not try to explain things that God, in his infinite wisdom, has chosen not to explain! Many well-meaning Christians feel that they have to be like Job's friends, who thought that they knew exactly who God was and who thought they could explain why so many bad things were happening to Job ("Obviously you must have sinned!!"). The Bible shows us that it wasn't anything Job had done that made God curse him. And when God breaks through in the final chapters of Job, he doesn't explain "why good things happen to good people" - and quite frankly I don't think God needs our help in defending himself!
God bless!
Torben - who is glad that God has revealed the answers to many of life's questions to us, and who, with Paul, is looking forward to the day where we'll know fully - "Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror (the mirrors back then were made out of polished metal and gave a pretty bad image of how people looked), then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (1. Corinthians 13:12)
Thursday, May 10, 2007
We are the Champions!!
I know that you, dear international readers, have been very concerned about the well-being of my favorite football club, F.C.København (www.fck.dk), but now I'm happy to tell you that tonight they have won the Danish football championship for the fifth time in seven years!
They defeated their archrivals, Brøndby, at Brøndby's own stadium and sealed the championship four games before the end of the tournament!!
YIHAAAAAAA!!!! One of the pictures show the two biggest stars of the team, the Dane Jesper Grønkjær and the Swedish striker, and the man behind the only goal in tonight's match, Marcus Allbäck celebrate in champagne:-) The other one is of the goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen - who happens to be my wife Jeannette's hero:-)
F.C.København!!!!!!!!!!
Torben ;-)
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
The Power of Forgiveness
I wrote about it earlier on this blog in the blog-entry "Why Christians don't burn down Mecca" (it is, if I may say so myself, worth reading if you haven't already read it...:-)) that the big difference between Christianity and Christians and people from all other religions and life philosophies is grace and forgiveness. That's what makes us unique.
If you don't have the Spirit of God in you, if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, if you haven't been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.....then true forgiveness (where you don't hold a grudge!) is next to impossible. Why would you forgive anybody?
And even if you forgive somebody who asks you for forgiveness, you wouldn't seriously consider forgiving somebody who is not sorry and who doesn't ask for forgiveness at all...!
But that's Christian forgiveness. Moedeled by Jesus Christ as he was hanging on the cross dying: "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing". None of the people who crucified him were repentent. None of them were asking for forgiveness. But Christ forgave them anyway. Paul talks about this attitude in Romans 5:7-8: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But Christ demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
This is not normal. This shakes the world. This changes hearts. It did 2000 years ago, and it still does today. And it changes people when we show the same forgiveness that Christ models for us.
People want revenge when somebody has hurt their family. It's only reasonable. People rejoice when a mass murderer's life ended. A mother talks about how relieved she is that her son's murderer now has a death sentence on his plate. She looks forward to the day where he'll be executed. But it won't bring freedom. It won't bring peace. Never.
The excellent movie The Interpreter (with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn) talks in a scene about how the African tribe, the Ku, have a ritual when somebody has been killed. The murderer is bound and thrown in the river, and the family members can either choose to let him drown and get their justice (but no peace in their hearts), or choose to swim out and save the murderer and through that gain freedom through saving a life.
Another movie that portrays the power of forgiveness in powerful ways is the movie To End All Wars with Kiefer Sutherland. Buy it and watch it, you won't regret it!!
Anyway...the reason I'm writing this long blog on forgiveness is two current events that once again show how powerful a testimony true, Christian forgiveness is. On April 15 the Palestinian Bible Society in the Gaza-strip was, for the second time in the last two years, hit by a bomb that blew up a lot of their building. The leader, Labib Madanat, said to the press: "We have so much love for the people who live in Gaza". No hatred. Just love.
Even more recently there was the situation in Turkey where three missionaries (a German and two Turkish) who worked for a Christian publishing house were brutally murdered by Islamic fanatics. Their wives and children were left behind and the Turkish media sought out the widows to hear their comments about the murders. They wives response was incredible: forgiveness!
Forgiveness changes the world. Hopefully there were many Turks watching the news that evening who saw true forgiveness. Saw love. Saw hope. There is no such thing as forgiveness in neither the Islamic world, nor the secular, Western world (I recently watched the movie "An Unfinished Life" with Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez that the producers claim is about forgiveness. The truth is that nobody in the movie confesses anything or talks about past hurts. Forgiveness Hollywood style is "You get over it. And time heals all wounds" which has nothing to do with the truth!)
God forgave me, so I'm called to forgive others. It's not easy. But it's the only way. May I, once again, recommend Philip Yancey's masterpiece "What's So Amazing About Grace" where Yancey tackles all the hard questions concerning grace and forgiveness.
I often struggle to forgive and give grace for little offenses against me. So I read "What's So Amazing About Grace" at least once a year, and I ask God to change my cold heart and give me a heart of forgiveness like some of the Kus, the Bible Publisher, the widows of some other Bible publishers, and countless others who change the world for good, one act of forgiveness at a time.
God bless you!
Torben - another wonderful book/movie about the power of forgiveness is Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"
If you don't have the Spirit of God in you, if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, if you haven't been moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.....then true forgiveness (where you don't hold a grudge!) is next to impossible. Why would you forgive anybody?
And even if you forgive somebody who asks you for forgiveness, you wouldn't seriously consider forgiving somebody who is not sorry and who doesn't ask for forgiveness at all...!
But that's Christian forgiveness. Moedeled by Jesus Christ as he was hanging on the cross dying: "Father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing". None of the people who crucified him were repentent. None of them were asking for forgiveness. But Christ forgave them anyway. Paul talks about this attitude in Romans 5:7-8: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But Christ demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
This is not normal. This shakes the world. This changes hearts. It did 2000 years ago, and it still does today. And it changes people when we show the same forgiveness that Christ models for us.
People want revenge when somebody has hurt their family. It's only reasonable. People rejoice when a mass murderer's life ended. A mother talks about how relieved she is that her son's murderer now has a death sentence on his plate. She looks forward to the day where he'll be executed. But it won't bring freedom. It won't bring peace. Never.
The excellent movie The Interpreter (with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn) talks in a scene about how the African tribe, the Ku, have a ritual when somebody has been killed. The murderer is bound and thrown in the river, and the family members can either choose to let him drown and get their justice (but no peace in their hearts), or choose to swim out and save the murderer and through that gain freedom through saving a life.
Another movie that portrays the power of forgiveness in powerful ways is the movie To End All Wars with Kiefer Sutherland. Buy it and watch it, you won't regret it!!
Anyway...the reason I'm writing this long blog on forgiveness is two current events that once again show how powerful a testimony true, Christian forgiveness is. On April 15 the Palestinian Bible Society in the Gaza-strip was, for the second time in the last two years, hit by a bomb that blew up a lot of their building. The leader, Labib Madanat, said to the press: "We have so much love for the people who live in Gaza". No hatred. Just love.
Even more recently there was the situation in Turkey where three missionaries (a German and two Turkish) who worked for a Christian publishing house were brutally murdered by Islamic fanatics. Their wives and children were left behind and the Turkish media sought out the widows to hear their comments about the murders. They wives response was incredible: forgiveness!
Forgiveness changes the world. Hopefully there were many Turks watching the news that evening who saw true forgiveness. Saw love. Saw hope. There is no such thing as forgiveness in neither the Islamic world, nor the secular, Western world (I recently watched the movie "An Unfinished Life" with Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez that the producers claim is about forgiveness. The truth is that nobody in the movie confesses anything or talks about past hurts. Forgiveness Hollywood style is "You get over it. And time heals all wounds" which has nothing to do with the truth!)
God forgave me, so I'm called to forgive others. It's not easy. But it's the only way. May I, once again, recommend Philip Yancey's masterpiece "What's So Amazing About Grace" where Yancey tackles all the hard questions concerning grace and forgiveness.
I often struggle to forgive and give grace for little offenses against me. So I read "What's So Amazing About Grace" at least once a year, and I ask God to change my cold heart and give me a heart of forgiveness like some of the Kus, the Bible Publisher, the widows of some other Bible publishers, and countless others who change the world for good, one act of forgiveness at a time.
God bless you!
Torben - another wonderful book/movie about the power of forgiveness is Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"
Cry out to Jesus - Third Day
An absolutely wonderful song talking about the true hope we have in Jesus Christ no matter how hard our circumstances might seem. He is the hope for all of us, yesterday, today and forever!
Cry out to Jesus
Idiotkovic...
I've recently switched cell phone operator and now I have LIFE. That's wonderful since I have free calls to everybody else with a LIFE number, but apparently the whole idea of free calls inspires certain people to do somewhat stupid things.
Four nights ago my wife Jeannette got a call from somebody who knew no English. He called a few times, laughed a lot with his drinking buddies and hung up again.
Later the same evening the same guy called me (my number is only one digit different from Jeannette's). He said "My name is Vova" which is a quote from a Ukrainian tv-commercial, but that was the only English he knew. He called again and again and again. After a few calls I started yelling at him and told him to stop calling me. That didn't help. Then I decided to use a sense of humor and I started singing songs to him in Danish, English, plus a little German and French when he called. That kind of had the opposite effect. He started calling even more frequently, and after 15 calls that evening, I put him in my contact list as IDIOTKOVIC and stopped picking up the phone.
He has called a few times every day since. I wonder when my phone will ring and I'll see "Idiotkovic calling" on the display again? In fact I kind of miss him...he hasn't called me today yet...:-)
Torben
Four nights ago my wife Jeannette got a call from somebody who knew no English. He called a few times, laughed a lot with his drinking buddies and hung up again.
Later the same evening the same guy called me (my number is only one digit different from Jeannette's). He said "My name is Vova" which is a quote from a Ukrainian tv-commercial, but that was the only English he knew. He called again and again and again. After a few calls I started yelling at him and told him to stop calling me. That didn't help. Then I decided to use a sense of humor and I started singing songs to him in Danish, English, plus a little German and French when he called. That kind of had the opposite effect. He started calling even more frequently, and after 15 calls that evening, I put him in my contact list as IDIOTKOVIC and stopped picking up the phone.
He has called a few times every day since. I wonder when my phone will ring and I'll see "Idiotkovic calling" on the display again? In fact I kind of miss him...he hasn't called me today yet...:-)
Torben
Monday, April 30, 2007
F.C. København - En hyldest
Life has been great as a F.C.København-fan this year. We're heading for a new Danish Championship and during this season we finally (!!!) made it into UEFA's Champions League and even beat mighty Manchester United ;-)
Monday, April 16, 2007
What is love?
What a rush! We've just had a wonderful week of teaching by Dean Sherman about Relationships and Love and Spiritual Warfare. Dean is a world travelling Youth With A Mission speaker and has worked as a full time missionary for YWAM for more than 40 years. He brings a wealth of experience and insight and it was a pleasure to sit and listen to his insightful teaching taken straight out of the Word of God!
He talked a lot about love, and I firmly agree with him that love is our message. And the world needs love. The world is desperate for love. There is no such thing as a human being who isn't longing for love. From the hardest criminal to the sweetest grandma there is a need to be loved and love.
And God has given us the answer to the question that many authors, singers, movie producers, etc. have made fortunes exploring their versions of: "What is love?" Most people say that they don't know...that it's too complicated to explain...that it's a warm feeling in your stomach....the impossible dream some might even call it?!!
John Gray, who has made millions writing about men and women apparently being from different planets, gives this rather vague definition: "Love is a feeling directed at someone which acknowledges their goodness". Another author, Paramahansa Yogananda says this about love: "To describe love is very difficult, for the same reason that words cannot fully describe the flavor of an orange. You have to taste the fruit to know its flavor. So with love."
But God is the Creator of love. "God is love", John tells us in his first letter (1.John 4:8), and God who is love gives us the definition of what love is in 1.John 3:16 (which corresponds very well with John's Gospel ch.3 verse 16!): "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (and sisters)"
Laying down your life is love. Jesus loved all people at all times so much that he laid down his life for them. Jesus told his followers that he was the only one who could choose to end his life. It was Jesus's choice. It wasn't the Romans, the Jews or Satan who chose to kill Jesus. It was Jesus who, out of his love for you and I, chose to give up his life.
And laying down your life for another person will always (!) in all cultures, in all religions at all times be the highest measure of love. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends", Jesus said. And it's a timeless, universal truth!
We are called to love because God loved us first. And we can only love in sacrifice and service. Nobody needs more talk about what love is. Nobody needs (Christian) theories. Nobody needs people who say one thing and do something completely different. We all need real love. And this is the kind of love that will change the world, nations, your city, families, relationships. Love is the answer to the world's problems. Love is the answer to my problems. But not any version of love. The love of Jesus Christ. The love that has transformed and is transforming me! Do your friends, colleagues, family members, yourself know this kind of love?
Thank God I'm loved!
Love, Torben
He talked a lot about love, and I firmly agree with him that love is our message. And the world needs love. The world is desperate for love. There is no such thing as a human being who isn't longing for love. From the hardest criminal to the sweetest grandma there is a need to be loved and love.
And God has given us the answer to the question that many authors, singers, movie producers, etc. have made fortunes exploring their versions of: "What is love?" Most people say that they don't know...that it's too complicated to explain...that it's a warm feeling in your stomach....the impossible dream some might even call it?!!
John Gray, who has made millions writing about men and women apparently being from different planets, gives this rather vague definition: "Love is a feeling directed at someone which acknowledges their goodness". Another author, Paramahansa Yogananda says this about love: "To describe love is very difficult, for the same reason that words cannot fully describe the flavor of an orange. You have to taste the fruit to know its flavor. So with love."
But God is the Creator of love. "God is love", John tells us in his first letter (1.John 4:8), and God who is love gives us the definition of what love is in 1.John 3:16 (which corresponds very well with John's Gospel ch.3 verse 16!): "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (and sisters)"
Laying down your life is love. Jesus loved all people at all times so much that he laid down his life for them. Jesus told his followers that he was the only one who could choose to end his life. It was Jesus's choice. It wasn't the Romans, the Jews or Satan who chose to kill Jesus. It was Jesus who, out of his love for you and I, chose to give up his life.
And laying down your life for another person will always (!) in all cultures, in all religions at all times be the highest measure of love. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends", Jesus said. And it's a timeless, universal truth!
We are called to love because God loved us first. And we can only love in sacrifice and service. Nobody needs more talk about what love is. Nobody needs (Christian) theories. Nobody needs people who say one thing and do something completely different. We all need real love. And this is the kind of love that will change the world, nations, your city, families, relationships. Love is the answer to the world's problems. Love is the answer to my problems. But not any version of love. The love of Jesus Christ. The love that has transformed and is transforming me! Do your friends, colleagues, family members, yourself know this kind of love?
Thank God I'm loved!
Love, Torben
The Political Situation in Ukraine
Hey!
Kiev is still filled with pink (socialists), red (communists), and blue (Yanukovich-supporters) flags and at another location also orange flags (Yuschenko-supporters), and nothing much has changed the past week since President Viktor Yuschenko decided to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections at the end of May. The Parliament, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, still says that the decision was unconstitutional, and that they won't do new elections, and Yuschenko says that he will not back down either.
So we're at a very locked down point. Experts in law texts from Western nations such as Austria and Switzerland have been called to Ukraine to help understand the law text and to check what the constitution really says.
It's all a big mess. The excitement that surrounded the Orange Revolution in the fall of 2004 is long gone. People are disappointed that President Yuschenko didn't change things for the better in drastic ways in a year. And the political climate in the Parliament is one where no serious work and reforms can take place. Yuschenko felt he had to appoint his big rival from the Orange Revolution, Yanukovich, as the Prime Minister due to pressure from the majority in the Parliament. This in turn means that Ukraine is in a situation, where they have a President who has one agenda (working with the West, being integrated in Europe and eventually - hopefully - join the European Union) and a Prime Minister with a very different agenda (remain in a very close relationship with Russia).
What's the solution? Hmm...the Ukrainians need to agree. About something. As far as I can see there isn't much of a choice. In terms of financial prospects for Ukraine, the country needs to look West. There is no strong economical future in sight in a partnership with Russia. It's simply not gonna happen. And people need to understand that the idea of just working closely will Russia will never work either. Russia doesn't exactly have a history of working well with its surrounding nations. Russia and Vladimir Putin will like to control Ukraine, as they have already done for many years.
But Ukraine wants to and needs to be free. It's time to tell Moscow that Ukraine is Ukraine, and Ukraine will make its own decisions, regardless of what Russia thinks! It's time for Ukraine to elect politicians who will think at the future and make the necessary financial reforms instead of only focusing on what works today and gives me money today. It's also time for Ukraine to work more on rediscovering what is truly Ukrainian as opposed to Russian/Soviet Union-Ukrainian. Soviet Union succeeded in destroying much understanding of what Ukraine is and people are confused. But God has put his specific finger prints on all nations, including Ukraine, and it's the Ukrainians job to find out where they are and how God wants Ukraine to be a blessing to other nations. Ukraine is very new in terms of democracy. The 17-18 years of independence since the mid-90's is in fact the longest period in Ukrainian history where they have been there own master. Let's hope and pray that something good will come out of this political crisis. Something that helps establish Ukraine as a modern, independent, democratic nation. And something that unites Ukraine as a nation where people disagree on many important issues.
God bless Ukraine!
Torben
Kiev is still filled with pink (socialists), red (communists), and blue (Yanukovich-supporters) flags and at another location also orange flags (Yuschenko-supporters), and nothing much has changed the past week since President Viktor Yuschenko decided to dissolve the Parliament and call for new elections at the end of May. The Parliament, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, still says that the decision was unconstitutional, and that they won't do new elections, and Yuschenko says that he will not back down either.
So we're at a very locked down point. Experts in law texts from Western nations such as Austria and Switzerland have been called to Ukraine to help understand the law text and to check what the constitution really says.
It's all a big mess. The excitement that surrounded the Orange Revolution in the fall of 2004 is long gone. People are disappointed that President Yuschenko didn't change things for the better in drastic ways in a year. And the political climate in the Parliament is one where no serious work and reforms can take place. Yuschenko felt he had to appoint his big rival from the Orange Revolution, Yanukovich, as the Prime Minister due to pressure from the majority in the Parliament. This in turn means that Ukraine is in a situation, where they have a President who has one agenda (working with the West, being integrated in Europe and eventually - hopefully - join the European Union) and a Prime Minister with a very different agenda (remain in a very close relationship with Russia).
What's the solution? Hmm...the Ukrainians need to agree. About something. As far as I can see there isn't much of a choice. In terms of financial prospects for Ukraine, the country needs to look West. There is no strong economical future in sight in a partnership with Russia. It's simply not gonna happen. And people need to understand that the idea of just working closely will Russia will never work either. Russia doesn't exactly have a history of working well with its surrounding nations. Russia and Vladimir Putin will like to control Ukraine, as they have already done for many years.
But Ukraine wants to and needs to be free. It's time to tell Moscow that Ukraine is Ukraine, and Ukraine will make its own decisions, regardless of what Russia thinks! It's time for Ukraine to elect politicians who will think at the future and make the necessary financial reforms instead of only focusing on what works today and gives me money today. It's also time for Ukraine to work more on rediscovering what is truly Ukrainian as opposed to Russian/Soviet Union-Ukrainian. Soviet Union succeeded in destroying much understanding of what Ukraine is and people are confused. But God has put his specific finger prints on all nations, including Ukraine, and it's the Ukrainians job to find out where they are and how God wants Ukraine to be a blessing to other nations. Ukraine is very new in terms of democracy. The 17-18 years of independence since the mid-90's is in fact the longest period in Ukrainian history where they have been there own master. Let's hope and pray that something good will come out of this political crisis. Something that helps establish Ukraine as a modern, independent, democratic nation. And something that unites Ukraine as a nation where people disagree on many important issues.
God bless Ukraine!
Torben
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