Alan Hirsch: The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church
(*****)
James Rutz: Megashift: Igniting Spiritual Power
Fantastic book! (*****)
Wolfgang Simson: Houses that Change the World
Excellent! Challenging and prophetic!
This morning 12 pastors met for a wonderful time of prayer. Last night the elders met with some group leaders to hear from them what God was doing. Last week we were visiting our daughter and some friends in England. Before that, while I have been busy not blogging, we had a wonderful time with some prophets at Gullbotn. In all these gatherings or encounters with different people, I am hearing the same thing: God is at work!
In the book of Acts Paul is speaking about the Jews (13:27) who had the word of prophets read to them every Sabbath, but who didn't hear the voice of the prophets. They were hearing without hearing. The word was read to them, but they didn't hear God speaking to them through the word of the prophets. They didn't hear the voice of the prophets. Because they didn't hear the voice of the prophets they actually fulfilled their words in a negative way.
The last few days I have been sharing some insight to the prophetic ministry and anointing by the Holy Spirit. The prophetic Spirit of God is present among the people of God everywhere. There is a surge of prophetic activity in these days. The prophetic Spirit is moving powerfully in all the corners of the earth, among all kinds of people, in many different ways.
I have been stirred in my heart this year by the prophetic anointing in a new way. It has caused me to spend more time with God and to be aware of his presence in everyday situations. I love having God speak to me through his Word in the Bible. I am excited when the Spirit gives me dreams and visions. I enjoy being with people overflowing with the life of God, they make me realise that I am spending time with God, even during menial tasks and my daily work. It is wonderful that we actually can spend all our time with God. We
can live our entire life in his presence, walk with him, talk with him,
enjoy his company at all time everywhere!
The anointing brings about an exactness in the prophetic ministry in obeying the word of God and expressing in life the very heart of God. The anointing brings us into a first-hand touch with God, like seeing God face to face. This is how the life of Moses was summed up: “There has never been another prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face (Deut. 34:10). When we enter into the place of direct spiritual knowledge of God, we cannot, under any consideration be a person who compromise. When we have seen the Lord we cannot for any advantage at all deviate from what has been shown to our heart.
We can in a general way accept all the knowledge of biblical teaching or doctrine. We may understand in a general way our dependence of the Holy Spirit. We may in a general way accept that without him we can do nothing. We may in a general way believe that it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to do everything – initiating, leading, governing, and being the power and inspiration of everything. But the reality is that this general acceptance of these biblical truths of the work of the Holy Spirit is not sufficient for living in the reality of it. Actually, this is a matter of life-long learning high lightening our need for revelation. Everything must be given by revelation.
The prophetic ministry is totally dependent on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings detailed knowledge of and insight into God’s purpose. This follows naturally from the fact that only the Holy Spirit of God has the full and detailed plan in view and can make everything true in principle to the intention of God. When we study the Scripture we discover the wonderful thing that when we go back to the simplest, earliest, the most elementary expression of divine things in the word of God, everything there is true in principle to all that follows later in greater fullness. God has kept everything true to principle: however fully a thing is developed the principle is there and we cannot get away from that. The more developed teaching of the New Testament is always true to the original principle of that matter as it was first introduced. The superstructure of the New Testament is in every way of principle true to the foundation of the Old Testament. God is still working according to his original purpose!
The prophetic ministry is to hold things to the full thought of God, to his original intention, to his plan and purpose, as it centres on the sovereign will of God. Therefore the prophetic ministry may be seen as a reactionary thing. We find often in the Scripture that the prophets arose as a reaction from God to the course and drift of things amongst his people. They called the people back to God, back to the Law and the basic foundation of the covenant people. They declared anew the will of God. They pronounced anew the mind of God as it already had been done by prophets before them. The prophets always brought into clear view again the thoughts of God.
Continue reading "Prophetic ministry is related to the full purpose of God" »
The
function of the prophet is throughout the Scripture portrait as that of
revelation that brings restoration. They all spoke on that subject (Acts
3:21-24), and restoring the people to their rightful place in God was their
main function during their lifetime. The prophetic ministry is always related
to the need for the recovery of God’s full thought as to his people and the
entire creation that has been brought into disharmony because of the effect of
sin.
When we look at the situation in the church or even in the world, we realize that it is not in line with the eternal plan and purpose of God. When we search the Scripture we come to understand by the enlightening of the Spirit that God has intended something better for the world and even for the church than what we see at the moment.
Continue reading "Prophetic ministry – a ministry of restoration" »
All over the world the Spirit is moving to bring the people of God into a new apprehension of Christ and God’s eternal purpose concerning him. This revelation by the Spirit comes with a revolutionizing power to the people of God throughout the world. This revelation by the prophetic Spirit of God never comes as a tradition handed down from the fathers, or as a ready-made system, all set and entered into as such. Revelation is always fresh, as though it newly dropped from heaven upon the virgin soil of a thirsty heart. The moving of the Spirit is creating a mighty upheaval of all traditions and “old” things by a practical experience of the cross.
This evening the snow has been pouring down. We have had a lot of snow since we returned from India. Snow in March is not totally uncommon, but this winter feels strange. Earlier we have had a very mild winter with almost no snow. It is strange to have so much snow pouring down at the end of March.
From some dear friends in India I have just received a wonderful report on how a Christian lady, Sushila, handled a very difficult situation when her believing husband died and his Hindu family wanted to give him a Hindu cremation. I believe that Sushila's testimony will be an encouragement for all, and even help us to better understand some of the challenges that new believers are facing in India.
From Wednesday night to Easter Sunday believers from all over Norway have been gathered for a holy convocation in Bergen in the presence of God. From the very beginning God was speaking to us prophetically. During the different gatherings during the days from Wednesday to the Sunday morning worship service we have hearing from God. The ministry of the Word has been wonderful. Great grace has been on Noralv Askeland, Keri Jones, Per Arne Gjerde, Arne Skagen and myself in the main gatherings. And I am hearing the same thing about the children's ministry.
This morning my attention was brought to a several Scripture verses on the all inclusiveness of the New Covenant. In the last days all people, sons and daughters, old and young, men and women, will be filled with the Spirit and prophesy. We may all come to the Father through one Spirit. We have all been baptized with one Spirit and have been given to drink of the Same Spirit. We may all prophesy. We are all supposed to bring with us something from the Lord to share with others when we meet as the church. We are all members of the same body, we all need each other and belong to each other. We are all ministers of the new covenant. We are kings and priests ministering to the Lord. We are brothers and sisters in the same family. We have all been born from above and have an anointing remaining in us.
It was a cold experience to come home to Bergen last night and even colder today as we are in the midst of a snow blitz. Everything is covered with the white snow pouring down almost horizontally because of the heavy wind. The windows of the house is covered with snow and we can almost not see through them. Everything is so different from the hot India we left yesterday! We have had to adapt to totally different weather and living condition in just a few hours. Only as we are able to adapt to changes like these we will survive. Actually it is the ability to adapt to differing circumstances that enables us to not only survive but to be fruitful and multiply!
The challenges I face in returning home from India are not big. I am used to this weather and I also like it very much. This cold weather is what I am used to. But the fact that we went from 33 degrees to -2 in just hours made me meditate on the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
The last four weeks we have been visiting three Asian countries. We have seen the grace of God at work in the different setting. We have heard many good reports of what God is doing in the nations we have been visiting. One thing all the countries have in common is that the good news of the Kingdom of God is spreading among the tribal peoples of these countries. It seems to me that God is visiting the tribal peoples in a special way in these last days in which we are living.
Continue reading "The good news is spreading among tribal peoples" »
The last
three days we have had wonderful fellowship with a lot of Vietnamese covenant
people from many different ethnic groups. We have been able to share our
revelation in the Word with them and they have been very receptive. Today we
had a breakthrough of the Spirit in morning and even in the afternoon. About 15
people have received the gift of the Holy Spirit as we have being praying for
them and laid hands on them together with our Vietnamese friends. This
afternoon we heard some wonderful stories of what God is doing in this nation.
The Spirit is clearly moving powerfully among these people. Before we left our
friends the Spirit fell on all of us as we prayed for one another and brought
prophetic words from God to people. Tonight we will spend time with three fine
young men enjoying a good meal together and rejoice in the fact that the Spirit
is moving powerfully in Vietnam at the moment.
At the
moment I am visiting Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, together with my friends
Noralv and Thomas. The people here are very friendly and we have been enjoying
their hospitality. We are staying at Kim Ahn Hotel and I was pleasantly
surprised to discover that a wireless Internet connection was provided freely
for all the guests.
Tonight we
have been have a most delicious and biggest meal I have had for a very long
time at the Au Lac do Brazil Steak Restaurant. We were enjoying a so-called
buffet but it work in the way that waiters continually came to serve all kinds
of meat and salads. We had different beef meat, roast lamb, ham, ribs, chicken,
scrimps, bacon, sausages etc as much as we wanted! I can recommend this
restaurant to everyone visiting Hanoi! Here is a quote from their website:
The specialty served is the Brazilian churrasco,
which is a buffet of charcoal grilled meats brought to you
at your table on long skewers. Tender, hot slices of meat
are carved right in front of you by the ‘passadors,’ waiters
armed with meat, long knives and friendly smiles.
We have
just finished a most wonderful prophetic gathering of leaders of covenant
communities from all over India, and even from Nepal. From Monday to Friday it
has been as one full week of prophetic movement of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit
has been in control from beginning to end. We have been taught by the Spirit in
a most amazing way. We have been in the presence of God continually. The gift
of prophecy has been operating from morning to evening each day. I think that all the leaders present did
prophesy at one time or another. Several of them had never prophesied before
but after the laying on of hands and being ministered to prophetically they
received the gift of prophecy and began to speak prophetically. We have been
waiting upon God together. We have shared fresh insight in the Word by the
Spirit. We have been praying and interceding for all the areas represented. We
have been given prophetic direction for the work of God in all those places. We
have ministered to one another by the Spirit. We have dialogued and we have
been praying for each other. We have shared meals together and we have had good
time of fellowship – all in the presence of God. Many of my plans were
overruled by the Spirit and I am very happy as everyone else!
I think
this is the best gathering of leaders I have ever been to in India. When we
parted today we felt like we were at a new beginning and not at the end of a
gathering. I am convinced that the prophetic anointing we increase in each and
everyone as we move from here. The prophetic anointing is very contagious and I
expect it to spread to all the communities as the leaders return home refreshed
and on fire for God.
One of the
leaders had a phone call from home asking for prayer for a very seriously ill
lady. She had been taken to the hospital but the doctors said they could do
nothing for her and sent her home to die. When we got the phone call,
immediately we prayed and lifted the lady up to God. Within three hours we had
the report that the lady was totally healed! God is so good!
Yesterday God gave us a big surprise in a small building. When we came to the Rotary Club to meet with the covenant community we discovered that the big hall had been taken over of some business people. Therefore we had to meet in a very small building. Our first reaction was frustration and anger at the Rotary people for not letting us know. Our second thought was that God was in control. That turned out to be true!
Yesterday I celebrated the birthday of my most wonderful wife. She is my Valentine wife and the love of my life. I thank God that he has given me such an outstanding woman to be my life-companion. We have been married for 43 happy years and look forward for more than that number of years to come!
Solveig was teaching about 70 pregnant women at the maternity clinic on her birthday. She is always serving others! Last night we had a most enjoyable time with our friends Tone and Noralv Askeland at a very good restaurant in one of the nearby towns.
I even got a Valentine card and a love teddy bear from my Valentine Darling. I was able to give her a card and a rose in the morning and also to present her with some small gifts as token of my love during the day. At the restaurant I surprised her with a Valentine heart filled with beautiful jewelery set. Still I felt I had not given justice to what my dear wife deserves on a day like this. However, she seemed to be very happy and enjoyed the day to the full.
During all day she had telephone calls, text messages on her mobile phone and even emails.
We have
just returned from a very fruitful visit to Mindoro, one of the more than seven
thousands islands on the Philippines. It is a beautiful island with even more
beautiful people! We thank God for bringing us there.
Tone and
Noralv Askeland are doing a tremendous work in this island as well as in other
islands on the Philippines. On Mindoro they are running a pre-school as well as
distributing school material to hundreds of young students. They are also
engaged in community transformation programs, especially directed towards the
Manyan tribe. We were able to visit many villages of the Manyan people. At the
village of Kadilavan we were really impressed with what has been achieved. The
entire village was destroyed in a severe typhoon, but has been relocated and
rebuilt, or more exactly a totally new villages has been built with a multi-purpose
hall. The people are being given the word of God and lives are being changed.
When we
visited Kadilavan we took part in a pastor’s seminar on training people to
follow Christ. Seventy men and women were gathered to receive teaching from the
word of God. I brought a mango with me as an illustration. I asked them what
they saw while I held the mango in front of them. They all saw the mango only
and could describe the delicious taste of the mango. I asked them to see beyond
the visible and tell me what they could see. The seed was mentioned. Then I
asked them to see beyond the seed and look prophetically into the future. Then they
could see a tree and eventually they could see a mango forest or a mango
plantation.
This
illustration helped them to see beyond the present situation and look for the
seed and the potential of each new disciple to produce a great harvest of
disciples who make disciples and multiply living churches.
Friday
evening we arrived safely in Manila after about 24 hours journey from home. We
flew with the Star Alliance all the way, and we are very satisfied with the
service they offer. Only Solveig was not fully happy as she got the same gluten
free meals as I had ordered for myself! Both of us were able to sleep a lot so
we were not exhausted after the long journey.
In Manila
our friends Tone and Noralv Askeland waited for us. They took us to the beautiful
base of Ministries Without Borders which they have had built in the county of
Cavite. Here they have a maternity clinic and a training centre. Everything has
been built to glorify God.
This first
has been a day of rest. We have been taken on a guided tour on the base. We are very impressed with what we have seen.
Many children are taken care of and at the moment four ladies are giving birth
to new babies. Solveig has just left me to assist Tone and the other midwives. Before I was able to post this entry she was back to get the camera and reported that a beautiful baby boy was born!
Today Solveig and I leave for an exciting journey to the Philippines, India and Vietnam. We have never been to the the Philippines or Vietnam before and we are looking forward to these new places. In the Philippines we will spend time with our friends Tone and Noralv Askeland and see the great work they are doing there. Hopefully I will be able to report from our visit while we are there.
At the beginning of this year I had a prophetic word from a man of God from India saying that this year I would be prophesying into many nations. I am so happy that God already has opened the door to two new nations! I am so grateful to God for his faithfulness and kindness towards me.
There is a new prophetic anointing flowing among the people of God in these days and I am excited to be alive!
Sunday night we had a wonderful time with my friend and prophet of God, Tony Ling, together with around sixty other people hungry for God. Tony Ling gave us some very exciting insight into the prophetic people we have been set apart to be through the new birth by the prophetic Spirit of God. I believe all of us who were present were encouraged and strengthened in our inner being. The prophet of God was able by the grace of God to show us how being prophetic is our nature as children of God, and how to increase and develop the indwelling anointing in us.
This morning my friend Tony Ling spoke at the morning service on the story of the unknown man and Jesus at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-14). He brought out some very good points on the two different men at the center of this story. The unknown man had been ill for a long time. He had no friends to help him, and he was very frustrated by seeing others being healed while his suffering was still the same.
Our frame of reference determines our perception of life. We need a prophetic understanding of the plan and purpose of God as our frame reference in life. Far too many people try to understand the new creation on the background of an old creation of failure and sinfulness. Often Christians have a redemption philosophy or salvation-world-view in which sin and the sinful world is the underlying principle from which we need to be redeemed from. Then the Fall is the underlying colour on the our canvas of life colouring our entire existence, and hinders us in fully enjoying the greatness and the glory of the New Creation in Christ, as God original intended us to enjoy.
Today I have had a wonderful time with the students at Bergen Bibelskole teaching on the eternal plan and purpose of God. I love this subject and I always start in the first chapter of the letter to the Ephesians and then I turn to Genesis chapter one. I had four session at the Bible School today and will have ten more next week. I find it a very important subject. Understanding the eternal purpose of God is one of the keys to understand the entire Bible and be able to live a meaningful life. Our destiny is found in our origin.
Today and tomorrow I am attending a DAWN FORUM gathering at Holmavatn conference centre near by Stavanger. More than fifty Christian leaders are gathered to share experience and insight concerning church planting in Norway. I find it very encouraging to hear reports from others and learn from their work in bringing people to Christ and multiply churches. Certainly we are living in exciting days. I thank God for all these zealous leaders I have met today! The Kingdom of God is advancing in Norway and I am so grateful to the Lord that I can serve his purpose in my generation. I was quite taken a back though when one of the leaders spoke of building the church without any reference to God the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit! He seemed to build a kind of business organisation and not a spiritual house!
I have been reading a new Norwegian translation of the Bible these days. In Leviticus I found the expression "the tent of revelation" where my normal version is saying the tent of meeting. I found that new expression very exciting. The tent of meeting is the place where God met with his people. The new version is saying that the tent of meeting with God is the tent of revelation. It is the place where God shines forth, where his glory is seen. The covenant community is supposed to be such a meeting place with God, a place of revelation, a place where God is making himself known.
This is what the apostle Paul is constantly praying for, that the Spirit of Revelation and wisdom might give light to the eyes of the heart that the believers may know God and begin to understand the incredible mighty power at work within us, the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead.
This weekend we have had a gathering of elders at Gullbotn. The unity and blessing of the apostolic team gathering overflowed into the elders' gathering as well. I was enabled by the Spirit to bring a prophetic message about the new year 2008. The word of the Lord really touched people and strengthened their faith and expectancy. The fresh prophetic anointing that came upon the gatherings in the weekend released many encouraging prophetic word to situations, individuals and churches.
It is very clear that we have entered into a new epoch in our work for the Lord. We have truly entered into a prophetic season that will release the word of the Lord and the power of God for healings and miracles.
The last few days I have been together with my fellow servants of the Lord in the apostolic team. We have had some very frank and honest dialog in love and truth, but more important than anything else is that we have been in unity before the face of God. The anointing oil from our High Priest has been flowing. Revelation in the Word of God has flooded our souls and the prophetic gifts have been operating abundantly. We are refreshed in our bonding in the Spirit and we are overflowing of joy and thankfulness to the Lord. I don't find words to describe the blessing of unity I have experienced these days we have been together.
I have a strong feeling that this year will be very significant for the people of God world wide. We will see a new outpouring of the prophetic Spirit of God. A new prophetic movement will take place among the people of God. The gift of prophecy will be widely distributed. Sons and daughters, young and old, men and women will speak prophetically in this year. A new prophetic generation will rise. A prophetic people will stand forth to represent God in words and deeds. They will move in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Signs ans wonders will follow their prophetic proclamation of the Word of God. There will be a great harvest of souls in to the Kingdom. Prophetic Kingdom communities will emerge in many places.
I am happy to be alive and able to serve God in a time like this!
We have had a very peaceful Christmas celebration in our house in the forest. The house is full of joy. The grandchildren are great. We have even been skiing in the mountain area. The roads were covered with ice and when we wnt home I lost contoll of the car and the card ended in the ditch. A friend with a big tractor help me back on the road again and we all reached home safely!
Our joyful Christmas celebration stands in stark contrast to the message I got from friends in India this morning. My longstanding friend Zephry sent me this text message on my mobile phone:
Bimbadhar reports fundamentalist violence in Daringbadi. Read Indian news. 1 killed and 4 churches destroyed, curfew/war like zone. Pray!
Continue reading "Peaceful Christmas and persecution of believers" »
As we are celebrating Christmas I feel the Lord impressing on me that we are entering a season of miracle in the year of the Lord's favour. In this season we need to give heed to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Fresh anointing will be released from the throne of God. We will be taken to new levels of faith and expectations. The power of God will be manifest in visible ways, but it will also work in secrets ways, like the yeast doing its work inside the dough. We will see instant healings as well as people being gradually healed. But the power of God will not be limited to healings only, we will see his power a work in many areas and in great variety.
Today I am
turning 65. It is a miracle. The doctors told my parents that I would never
grow up! But I did grow up against all odds. My parents wanted to call me
Emanuel (God with us) after my grandfather, but the priest refused to give me
that name while he was christening me at the Norwegian State Church. Instead I
was called Erling (earl – relative of the king), but in spite of being denied the name Emanuel, God
has really been with me.
I did my last Christmas shopping today! As far as I remember, I have now bought all the Christmas presents due to me to buy. Solveig is the one doing most of our Christmas shopping as well as other preparations to make sure the Christmas season is a time of awe and wonder, joy and light, praise and thankfulness, and above all worship.
I had a long wish list as my guide today but I normally don't feel limited to these kinds of lists. I met a young couple from the church in one of the shops and they were amazed to find me doing Christmas shopping on my own. I didn't understand why they were surprised to find me buying gifts. I like to live by the teaching of Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive!
The month of December has so far been filled with all kind of meetings and activities giving me the feeling that time is disappearing. It is already ten days since I posted a blog. This is not the way I like it to be, but sometimes we don't seem to have full control on what is going on in our life.
Today Hanna, Dajlinder and their wonderful children Taj Kristian, Jai Ruben and Sunniva Isha are arriving to take part in our great Christmas celebration.
Solveig has been working hard in baking cakes, cleaning and decorating the house, as well as buying presents for everyone. Our celebration starts tomorrow, the twenty first of December, when the sun turns and the days are beginning to become longer and lighter all the way to the summer when even the night is light. These days before Christmas, when we have no snow yet, are very short and dark. But from tomorrow everything will getting better and lighter!
The great festival of Christmas is fast approaching. My wife is very busy preparing. This weekend we had our three grandchildren in Bergen helping us at the house in the forest. My wife has already made several traditional Norwegian Christmas Cookies and Cakes. This year only our three grandchildren living in England and their dear parents will join us for the great celebration at Christmas Eve. Therefore we are working hard to prepare for a fantastic time together. I love the Norwegian Christmas Eve with it's special dinner and distribution of gifts. At Christmas we all become like children and enjoy being together to play and have fun as well as to worship the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ our Lord.
During our visit to Tromsø we had a prophetic weekend in the darkness beyond the artic circle. This picture was taken at the middle of the day. Only a few hours did we have some kind of a twilight.
Friday evening about 25 people were gathered at the Red Cross House in the middle of the town. First I gave some simple teaching from the Bible and then we entered into the presence of the Lord. The Spirit of God was moving and many people prophecied in the name of the Lord. I think everyone was ministered to in one way or the other.
When he was 22, in 1994, Randeep, then a nominal Christian with no real desire to follow Jesus, was walking down the street of his home town in the state of Himachal Pradesh. He saw a woman who was rolling on the ground screaming. He recognised that she was demonized, and sensed God saying to him that he was to pray for her. However, he had no desire to do so and walked on, until again he fancied he heard God talking to him. This time God said "I can easily get someone else to pray for her - but where would that leave you and your salvation?" He then prayed for her, and she was instantly completely healed and restored to her right mind.
Since we returned home from our wonderful trip to India we have been visiting several covenant communities where we have been blessed by what we have seen of the grace of God at work. I have been to several early morning prayer meetings, board meeting, and team meeting. It has all been blessed gatherings, but the highlight has been visiting the covenant communities.
Just a few weeks ago Ramesh from Rajasthan told me this story: In my village there was a lady who worshipped evil spirits. She became very ill and suffered great pain. She went to ask many idols for healing, but nothing happened, even though she brought big sacrifices. The witchcraft doctor could not help her even though she followed all his advices. No one was able to help her and after three months of terrible sufferings she fell unconscious and subsequently died.
During our visit to the Covenant School in Rajasthan we met some very good students. One of the students, Shushikant in the front of the picture, was a new disciple of Jesus Christ from Mumbai. He told a very encouraging and simple story of how he came to know the Lord. He had been ill for more than 3 years and his father sent him away. He was sent to Gujerat since his father was not able to look after him. In the city of Surat he met some followers of Jesus Christ who had moved to that place from Jaipur.
We have arrived home safely! God has been good to us and protected us during all the six weeks we have been away. We left Jaipur and our dear friend Zephry yesterday and we arrived in Bergen after nearly 25 hours journey. It was a cold experience to land in Bergen with only 2 degrees Celsius while we have been having nearly 30 degrees in Jaipur. It is good to be back home. I have a lot of emails to catch up with and lot of work to do - also with my blog.
The last few days we have been shopping in Jaipur. I really like shopping here. The prices are very good and the selection is absolutely astosnishing. This time we were taken to some new malls and big shops for the first time. Solveig has been able to buy a lot of Christmas gifts. And we have also bought some new clothes for ourselves. Børge, who is here for the first time ever, went berserk at the Westside. I found great joy in encouraging him in his shopping experience. He was knocked out by the colourful collection of modern or western inspired, yet very Indian clothes. He could not believe his own eyes when he look at the prices and therefore he enjoyed himself very much. He had to buy a new bag to be able to take everything he bought with him home.
My dear friend Zephry took us to the Jaipur Covenant School this morning. We were able to spend the entire morning with them. We had a wonderful time of dialog and sharing. We told the students a little bit from Norway and I was asked to share on how we can understand the Bible. I could not resist the temptation to tease them and teach them by giving them a very convincing imaginary interpretation of a well known Bible story. To my delight they all swallowed everything I said with no objection, just like the Bible school students in Norway. Then I had to point out to them why this free fantasy interpretation could not be correct, and than I was able to emphasize the need of rules for interpretation of Scripture.
Børge was very nicer than me, so he gave them a plain teaching straight forward.
The students are great and I hope we will be able to spend more time with them.
Today we met with a house church in one of the housing estates of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, more known as the Pink City. Anil from the Sindhi community is leading the house church. Nearly 50 people were packed together in the front room. They were singing, clapping and even dancing as they were praising the living God for about one full hour. Some brought words of prophecy and encouragement. Others were leading in prayer, and quite a lot shared testimonies about the goodness of God and his help in the last week. I love listening to these testimonies! People are telling about answered prayers, how they have been healing or been used to bring healing to their friends. One lady told of a boy that was serious ill. He could not eat or drink. Then she fasted and prayed for him, and within 24 hours he was healed. One new convert told of tension and problems in the marriage, but after coming to Christ she had an inner peace that helped her to cope with the difficulties. One lady had been fasting for 40 days for a young man that was paralysed because of an accident. By the grace of God he had now been enabled to walk! One brother told how God had used him to bring healing to several people.
The gathering was full of life and joy. At the end they all shared Divali sweets and had a wonderful time of fellowship. We were also able to pray for several people, and some of them were instantly healed from pain in the body. Two new believers were baptised by the disciples that had brought them to Christ.
We have been visiting many places in Andra Pradesh this week, and we have met a lot of people telling great stories of miracles and wonders. God is really working wonders in this state in India. Abraham has seen many mad people completely healed. We met some of them and heard their testimonies of deliverance.
We are now in Hyderabad and have had a wonderful time in Udaipur, Kalimpong and Bhubaneswar. Every place we have visited we have seen a powerful move of the Holy Spirit. We have been praying for people to be baptized in the Spirit in all the three places and the Spirit has been falling on the entire gathering. As good as everyone we prayed for received the baptism in the Spirit. We heard them speak in tongues and prophecy. We have been very much encouraged by seen the Lord confirm our teaching in this wonderful way.
Jorgi is one of my Indian friends whom I have known for many years. He is a true evangelist. He travels widely to bring the Good News to new villages. God is using him powerfully to bring people to Christ through signs and wonders. Today he told me several stories of wonders he had seen taking place recently.
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