Erling Thu

Hacked - no access to Facebook

Nearly two weeks ago someone hacked, phished or otherwise compromised my Facebook account. I have been deleted from all my sosial media groups.
My Facebook account has been taken over by a person called Kien Con Cac. I have no longer access to Facebook, Messenger or Instagram. It is not a nice experience. I feel cheated, exploited and stupid. I have reported everything to Facebook but have had no help. The links they have sent me does not solve my problem and Facebook seems to be unable to help in this matter. I find this very strange.

Before Facebook I was an eager blogger. After Facebook came on the scene it has taken over and I have only been using my Typepad platform for blogging occationally. I now plan to take up blogging again.

I may have no access to my Facebook account, but I have full access to all the heavenly blessings in Christ. I am a child of God and I can enter the presence of the Almighty God. I may be blocked from using Messenger, but I no one can block me from using the door of prayer. I may be shut out from sosial media, but I am still part of the holy community of the covenant people of God. What I have lost is not really very important. The real values in life no one can take away from me. I have free access to the Throne of Grace. No one can steal my identity as a child of God. My heavenly profile or account can not be compromised. Therefore I rejoice in the Lord. God is good. I am safe in his hands!

A tribute to Tony Ling

To be somebody is to be like Tony Ling

Being truly, uniquely, one of a kind,

• The eloquent prince of preachers
• A visionary man with a message
• A prophetic father,
• An outstanding hero,
• The best example, a true legend,
• A covenant friend

Being an awesome man of God,

having humility and inspired wisdom.

Being an amazing man of the Word,

sowing seeds of truth that liberates people.

Being a container of revelation,

opening up the Word of God,

helping people to find Jesus on each page of the Bible.

Being warmhearted and devoted to Jesus,

expressing passion and zeal for his Master.

Being unforgettable funny,

having a deep sense of humour,

making people laugh, creating so much laughter.

Being an incredible man of God,

making everyone feeling welcome and special

Being humble and brimming with the word,

always imparting revelation of Jesus

Being an incredible giant of faith,

leaving an immeasurable legacy

that will continue to enlighten

the people of God in generations to come.

Being a remarkable prophetic man,

changing people’s lives through his prophetic words,

envisioning and empowering them

to fulfil their calling in life.

Text: Erling Thu, May 6, 2020

Blessed house church

We had a most wonderful time at our house church yesterday. Our leader and his wife shared their testimonies. The rest of us gave feedback, prayers and prophetic words of encouragement to them. I was so blessed by being together with my brothers and sisters in the presence of God.

The young husband told us how his brother had been praying for him in two years before he came to Christ. He told us about the pastor that noticed him while he was about to leave the meeting and came to talk to him and challenged him to receive Jesus Christ. Later he had a powerful encounter with the love of God at home, and how an article the the magazine Folk helped him at a crucial point in his life as a new believer. When he attended Bergen Bibelskole he became established in the Word and equipped to serve God. His greatest joy is to share the Good News with others.

His wife shared with us some personal og dramatic incidents that had taken place and how God had intervened. She also told us how she met some former students from Bergen Bibelskole at a stand when she was studying to become a nurse. They helped her to a spiritual breakthrough as they baptised her in a lake in cold water.

I was very blessed by their testimonies of how God was using people, an article in our magazine and the Bible School to bring them to Christ and maturity. This couple is really a blessed couple. They are radiant with the love of God all around them.

I am so blessed to part of this house church. I can see the grace of God in each and every one of my brothers and sisters. God is so good!

What a joy to celebrate 70 years

What a joy to celebrate 70 years together with family and friends at Gullbotn yesterday. Solveig has been working hard the last months in preparing a big party. I am overwhelmed by her love and creativity.
The celebration was unforgettable. The food was delicious, the cakes outstanding in taste and in outlook. The grandchildren performed in an excellent way. Sons and daughters gave nice speeches and wonderful poems written for me. My friends brought many encouraging words that touched my heart. I thank God for my wonderful family and faithful friends. I am so rich. I am richly blessed by God.
I have been rereading all the birthday greetings I received on cards and on Facebook. I have been moved to tears and my heart has been overflowing with joy. I am so thankful to God for his marvelous grace and favour towards me. God is so God.
My friends in Kristent Fellesskap Nordhordland gave me a MacBook Pro. My friends in DNA Oslo gave me an iPad. Now I have to learn to use those useful tools to advance the Kingdom of God. I am excited that I have to explore new things and new ways of doing it.

At the end of November I completed 50 years in the ministry. 26 of November 1962 I had completed 5 weeks of Bible School training and started to travel to preach the gospel. I was traveling together with Samuel Gjersdal who was an experienced preacher. We spent several months on the Fosen peninsula in Trøndelag. For many years I was an independent traveling pentecostal evangelist bring the Good News to many people.

Since the beginning of the Eighties I have been in Kristent Fellesskap's churches mainly. From the beginning of the Nineties I and my wife have gone regularly to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries. God has been so good to us during these years. We have seen his grace in our lives in many different ways. We can testify that the Lord is faithful. We have seen many miracles.

When I was a litle boy and was in and out of hospitals all the time the doctors told my parents that I would never grow up. They never expected me to become more than twenty years. By the grace of God I have turned 70! The doctors were wrong. God had better plans for me. He has already given me 50 miracle years in the ministry. Now I am praying for 50 more years in active ministry for the Lord.

Mother's Day

We are celebrating Mother's Day in Norway today. My mother has already gone to be with the Lord so I can't phone her or visit her. But I still like to honour her sweet memory. There are myriads of galaxies and stars in the sky, but there is only one mother to me. There are countless flowers in the field and some marvellous sparkling diamonds, but there is only one mother. There are so many beautiful pearls and amazing jewelleries, but there is only one mother. Her face, marked by wrinkles, is the most beautiful image I have ever seen.

My wonderful wife, Solveig, has been a wonderful mother to our six children. No she is also the best grandmother in the world. She has had several greetings already from some of our children. Before the day is over I expect them all to have been in touch to express p and gratitude. When she had her first phone call this morning from her elder son and read her card from her younger daughter her eyes were filled with tears but a smile was playing on her mouth. And she gave thanks to God for all His goodness towards her in giving her the privilege of being a mother.

I thank God for my mother. I thank God for my wife who turned out to be the best mother my children could ever have. I thank God that he comforts me like a mother!

The joy of fatherhood

I have just taken the last Christmas guests to the airport. The house in the forest is quiet and peaceful. It has been amazingly peaceful all the time though, but not quiet. With grandchildren in the house it would be something very wrong if it was quiet. The house has been full of joy and all the sounds that go with it.

Life moves on

I have not been very active on my blog recently. My blogging life has come to a kind of halt. But I don't intend to keep it like that for ever.

This year has been a special year in many ways, but life moves on. I plan to slowly increase my activity on the blog and even my Norewgian pages. We all go through different stages in life and this year has been a year of much practical work as we have been extending the house in the forest. This work is now coming to a completion. In a two weeks time we leave for Sri Lanka, Nepal and India. I hope to be able to share from the trip on the blog.

Life moves on!

The joy of giving

The greatest joy is only found in making other people happy! The greatest joy is the joy of giving! Giving is living a happy life of seeing other being blessed by your gifts. Real Christians are never stingy, but always giving generously. The live by the saying, "Give and spend and God will send" as they enjoy giving away things and trust God to take care of all their needs. Christians know that it is possible to give without loving, but that is impossible to love without giving.

RESOLUTIONS

New Year is the time for resolutions for many people who want to change their lifestyle in one way or the other. I normally do not make new resolutions when we enter a new year. I have resolved that I will live my life fully for the Lord and that I want to serve his purpose in my entire life. But today I came across some resolutions made by the famous American revivalist Jonathan Edwards. I am posting his 70 revolutions which he read to himself once a week, and think there are lots of things to be learned from these resolutions.

I love the covenant community

We have been through a dramatic car accident in India and have just arrived back home in Norway one week after the serious event. We have been overwhelmed by the love and care from the covenant community in India and in Norway. We have had phone calls, SMS, emails, etc. from many of our covenant friends. It has been very moving to hear all the kind and encouraging words. Many covenant communities in India have been fasting and praying for us after hearing about the serious accident we met with.

Family worship

This weekend we have had a large gathering of our family at the house in the forest. All our children, except one, have been staying with us with their precious children. We have been ten adults and seven grandchildren together for the weekend, and on Sunday we even had four more visitors. It is such a joy to have a big family around us like this. All are having a lot of fun as we are playing, fishing, picking berries, making bird boxes, building huts in the forest or just talking and fellowshipping.

Ram Singh has been promoted to glory

Saturday morning we had a SMS message asking for prayer for Ram Singh as he had been admitted to Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Jaipur. Solveig and I spend some time in prayer for him, but in the afternoon we had another message telling us that our beloved brother had expired in his second heart attack. Both Solveig and I felt very sad for the loss of a close friend, faithful co-worker and a prophetic voice.
Ram Singh and his wife Pushpa were the first disciples of Zephry and Brenda D'Souza in Jaipur. Ram Sing was an elder in the covenant community and he was a beloved brother and friend. Now he has joined his wife in the joyful presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ram Singh was an extraordinary man. He was a true saint. He was caring for all the people in the covenant community. He had the gift of encouragingment and exhortation. He loved the Lord Jesus Christ and the people of the Lord. He was always overflowing in thanksgiving and praise. He was a prophetic voice to the covenant community and to me as well when I was visiting Jaipur.
I thank God for the privelege of knowing Ram Singh for about 18 years. His blessed and loving memory will be with us till me meet again when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.

Back to blogging again!

I have been quite busy recently and have been off line quite a lot so I have not been blogging for awhile.  Now I am  back online and will try to let my presence be felt in the world of blogs again.
We have just celebrated our national day. I am always enjoy that celebration. God has been so good to my nation and we have so much to be thankful for. Our flag is the most beautiful, I think,  with the cross in red, white and blue. Norway has been blessed by God in many ways, but now I am very concerned for our nation which seems to turn away from the Christian heritage.

Life goes on

For several weeks there has been no new entry on my blog. This has been unusual, and it will not become the new trend. Most of this time of absence on the blog has been due to lack of online connectivity. It has been a wonderful time with children and grandchildren, and a time of reading, prayer and reflection, as well as of cutting down big trees.

The joy of having grandchildren

This summer God has blessed us wit a lot of time with our grandchildren. Yesterday we had 6 of them with us and we had a lot of joy together. Taj Kristian, Jai Ruben and Sunniva have just arrived from England. Jakob, Sara and Lars Benjamin live in Bergen and we see them more than the other grandchildren. Earlier Jonathan and Mathilde have been with us for more than a week. Today Kristina and Daniel, who live in Tromsø in the northern part of Norway will come as well.

I love my grandchildren. They bring me great joy. We have a lot of fun when we are together. Grandchildren enrich my life. I am still hoping for more grandchildren!

Meditation on the prophetic ministry

In April I started to meditate on the prophetic ministry as I was reading in the Books of Samuel. I even started to blog about it on my Norwegian website "Kva seier Herren?". During June and July I took a pause in blogging about it, but continued to meditate as I read through the Books of Samuel, the Kings and the Chronicles. From August I have taken up writing about it again on my Norwegian website. I have so many things I am working on at the moment that I don't find time to translate it into English, but if some of my friends will help me, I will be very grateful!

Let us reason together

In my blog I am sharing from my heart and sometimes I am “thinking loudly” and even inviting my friends to “think loudly” with me and reason together and learn from one another. This entry and my previous entry  "Don't talk too much" are this kind of loud thinking or wondering and asking for insight from fellow disciples of the Lord. Therefore I am thanking every person that leaves a comment on my blog. The comments and questions enrich the blog.

A command from God

Yesterday I had a telephone call from a saint from the northern part of Norway. He said he had a word from God to me, then he corrected himself by saying that actually he had a command from God to me. I was listening carefully. This is the command he gave me: "Take rest!"

I have heard that several times the last few months and now I wonder why the Lord is giving me a command through this saint from the north. The last month I have not been doing any of my ordinary work. I have been resting from my normal work, and still I am having this command. I wonder why?

Restoring a farm house?

Recently I have been looking for an old farm house to restore. I think I have found the right place. There is certainly a lot of work to be done on the place I am in the process of buying. Actually I am buying myself a lot of work. But that is what I need at the moment. There is still some more things to be sorted out before I can buy this place 90 minutes drive from where we live. We are praying and trusting God to work it all out wonderfully!

Bite the bullet!

I am getting better and better! I want to say thousands thanks "Tusen takk!" to all my friends for  encouraging comments, good wishes, prayers and emails. Some express their heartfelt care in this way: "I am glad that you are at last listening to your wife. All great men of Faith sometimes have to listen to their wives. Even if they have to be pushed to it like Abraham!!"

Others are translating the Norwegian idiom on biting the sour apple into proper English. Paul left four alternatives and Matthew decided which one was the best. Well done!

I find it very interesting that when the English people speak of biting the bullet, the Norwegian choose a more peaceful, organic and softer approach to explain the bitter experience of swallowing one's pride or giving up resistance to advice. The reason must be that most of us have never ever touched a bullet, far from biting it! But sour apples used to be around everywhere, especially when I was a child. The sour apples grow on wild apple trees and are quite small. But my father also used to grow sour apples in our garden. They were certainly not small but rather huge and hard! If you tried to eat them in the authum they were so sour that you never tried again! But my father harvested them when the frost came and then he stored them under the veranda safe from the winter frost. We forgot all about them, but in March he brought them forth. A miracle had happened. They were no longer hard, nor bitterly sour, but rather freshly sweet, or perhaps sweet and sour. At Easter the sour apples become sweet! When one take one's medicine and swallow the bitter pill, healing is normally the outcome!

I can't see that to bite the bullet can have any such effects as biting the sour apple have on people. But perhaps some of my English friends could tell me how many teeth they broke when they tried to bite the bullet!