Friday, June 03, 2011
Friday, October 29, 2010
This fall.
It's funny how the interest in blogging goes up and down in periods. I used to think it was too bad, but now I don't care. It's ok to blog whenever I feel like it.
It's funny how the interest in blogging goes up and down in periods. I used to think it was too bad, but now I don't care. It's ok to blog whenever I feel like it.It's in the middle of autumn, it's been raining all day, and I've had my last official day of work in the kindergarten. I don't know what next week will bring, but right now I'm kind of excited about it. I've applied for several jobs, and I know that God has some good stuff in store for me.
It's been a really good fall so far. Better than expected, even though I knew deep down it couldn't turn out bad when God is in charge. I experience several times that even though I know that God has good plans, I don't have the greatest expectations because I don't see clearly what God sees, and then I become surprised at how extraordinary good things turn out. It's been such an eventful and interesting fall with lots of exciting spiritual content. God is awesome! :)
I've even been on a trip to Prague with my family, because Mom turns 60 in a few weeks. It was a great trip. Even there I was surprised. The first morning at the hotell I went down to have breakfast, and there I met a couple from my church in Bergen! They were staying in the same hotell as us in Prague for almost the same time period. During our stay we had several talks, and they got to know my family a little bit, as they are about my parents' age. It was a blessing to meet them there. I really felt God's finger in it.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I have started a new blog in Norwegian called Hageprat. Hageprat litterally means "gardenchat", which doesn't make much sence in English, but sounds ok in Norwegian. The reason for the choice of name is from The Song of Solomon 4:12-15 where the groom describes his bride as a garden and an orchard. I believe The Song of Solomon is both literal and illiteral. -it's about this couple, who are in love with each other, but also about God and his bride, the church. So, "Hageprat" is meant to be a blog about studying what the Bible says about the church. I started it both for my own practice of writing and studying, but also because I believe God has given me a dream to share with others about who we are in him and what we are to him. Check it out if you can read Norwegian: http://hageprat.blogspot.com/.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
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Thursday, March 04, 2010
The reason I like battle movies.
Some movies really inspire me. Over the last three days while I've been home from work due to sickness, I've been watching The lord of the rings again. There are several times during those three movies where I for some reason usually think about God or Jesus. I know it is a well-known fact that The lord of the rings contain many allegories about christian faith. But what is encouraging my faith the most with these films, is not Gandalf's death and resurrection or Frodo's task to save mankind from evil, but it is the battles and the circumstances connected to them. I often feel the same way watching other movies with battles. Even modern military movies or movies about sports and championships sometimes give me the same ardent feeling; They remind me of what Paul points out in more than one of his letters in the Bible -to stand strong and not let anything hinder you in doing what you need to do in your life with God. In 1. Cor. 9: 25-27 Paul compares his evangelising to being an athlete competing in the games; He does not run aimlessly, but he makes his body his slave, forcing it to do what he must do. He does it for the one goal to win the prize. This makes me think of how so many people in the world by their own will are both able and willing to sacrifice and give so much time, effort, and maybe also money to achieve a goal that only lasts a few years. If they can do all that in their own strength for a career as a sprinter or skier, it is surely possible for us by the power of The holy spirit to give the same efforts or more for something and someone so far beyond ourselves. I find this thought inspiring.
I tend to like Paul's allegory about the soldier and the officer (2. Tim. 2: 3-4) even better than the allegory about the athlete, just because this is more like our reality as servants of God. Before stating that a good soldier will not let himself be hindered in his task of pleasing his commander, Paul encourages Timothy to endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ. As we also see from Ephesians 6, Paul encourages the church as a whole to put on the armour of God to stand strong against spiritual forces of evil. We as followers of Jesus are indeed like soldiers.
So while thinking of Paul whenever watching these kinds of film scenes, I'm also pondering upon how to use my time, effort and sometimes money to train my spiritual «fitness» for the sake of God's kingdom, and also how to be a best possible soldier of Christ. Obviously the answer to the latter comes along with the encouragement to put on the armour in Eph. 6. -There's a user's manual: The belt of truth should be buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness put in place, your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God... All this is done through prayer and in The spirit. (Eph. 6: 14-18)
As for the first question about how to be spiritually strong, it is easy to think of things like fellowship, bible reading, worship, praying and fasting as good answers, and I am convinced that they are all true, but if we look to the beginning of the paragraph where Paul encourages Timothy both to be like a good soldier, a good athlete, and actually also like a hardworking farmer, he simply says: «You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.» And then a few verses later in verses 8-10: «Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.» So he says:«Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead...» And later: «...God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything...» What I draw from this is simply that focusing on Jesus, which is the one God's Word is all about, is what makes us strong and «spiritually fit» to serve God's will in His kingdom. For just as the battles in the movies are fought for the sake of a king, a kingdom and a people, so is Paul talking about being an athlete or a soldier for the sake of preaching the gospel! -for the expansion of God's kingdom.
While watching The lord of the rings again these days, part of the enjoyment in watching the battles, comes from how it is a matter of course to most of them to stay faithful to their king, their country and to their alliances, even if pain and death is a certainty. This is such a good example for me as a servant of God and co-heir with Jesus in His kingdom. It makes me think of all the great people of God that have lost everything, even their physical bodies and earthly lives because they stayed faithful to their King Jesus. Loyalty and faithfulness are in themselves such great virtues, that I simply enjoy watching it.
I'm not yet as much of a soldier and athlete in God's Kingdom as I dream of being. Neither have I got total revelation about all of this. But what I've written about here is a fascination of mine, and something I seek to apply to my understanding and way of living by the power of the Holy spirit. Because that -the power of the Holy spirit in me- is of course the food and the drink -the strength and the power- that enables me to do anything at all as a spiritual athlete or soldier of Christ.
Some movies really inspire me. Over the last three days while I've been home from work due to sickness, I've been watching The lord of the rings again. There are several times during those three movies where I for some reason usually think about God or Jesus. I know it is a well-known fact that The lord of the rings contain many allegories about christian faith. But what is encouraging my faith the most with these films, is not Gandalf's death and resurrection or Frodo's task to save mankind from evil, but it is the battles and the circumstances connected to them. I often feel the same way watching other movies with battles. Even modern military movies or movies about sports and championships sometimes give me the same ardent feeling; They remind me of what Paul points out in more than one of his letters in the Bible -to stand strong and not let anything hinder you in doing what you need to do in your life with God. In 1. Cor. 9: 25-27 Paul compares his evangelising to being an athlete competing in the games; He does not run aimlessly, but he makes his body his slave, forcing it to do what he must do. He does it for the one goal to win the prize. This makes me think of how so many people in the world by their own will are both able and willing to sacrifice and give so much time, effort, and maybe also money to achieve a goal that only lasts a few years. If they can do all that in their own strength for a career as a sprinter or skier, it is surely possible for us by the power of The holy spirit to give the same efforts or more for something and someone so far beyond ourselves. I find this thought inspiring.
I tend to like Paul's allegory about the soldier and the officer (2. Tim. 2: 3-4) even better than the allegory about the athlete, just because this is more like our reality as servants of God. Before stating that a good soldier will not let himself be hindered in his task of pleasing his commander, Paul encourages Timothy to endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ. As we also see from Ephesians 6, Paul encourages the church as a whole to put on the armour of God to stand strong against spiritual forces of evil. We as followers of Jesus are indeed like soldiers.
So while thinking of Paul whenever watching these kinds of film scenes, I'm also pondering upon how to use my time, effort and sometimes money to train my spiritual «fitness» for the sake of God's kingdom, and also how to be a best possible soldier of Christ. Obviously the answer to the latter comes along with the encouragement to put on the armour in Eph. 6. -There's a user's manual: The belt of truth should be buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness put in place, your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God... All this is done through prayer and in The spirit. (Eph. 6: 14-18)
As for the first question about how to be spiritually strong, it is easy to think of things like fellowship, bible reading, worship, praying and fasting as good answers, and I am convinced that they are all true, but if we look to the beginning of the paragraph where Paul encourages Timothy both to be like a good soldier, a good athlete, and actually also like a hardworking farmer, he simply says: «You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.» And then a few verses later in verses 8-10: «Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.» So he says:«Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead...» And later: «...God's word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything...» What I draw from this is simply that focusing on Jesus, which is the one God's Word is all about, is what makes us strong and «spiritually fit» to serve God's will in His kingdom. For just as the battles in the movies are fought for the sake of a king, a kingdom and a people, so is Paul talking about being an athlete or a soldier for the sake of preaching the gospel! -for the expansion of God's kingdom.
While watching The lord of the rings again these days, part of the enjoyment in watching the battles, comes from how it is a matter of course to most of them to stay faithful to their king, their country and to their alliances, even if pain and death is a certainty. This is such a good example for me as a servant of God and co-heir with Jesus in His kingdom. It makes me think of all the great people of God that have lost everything, even their physical bodies and earthly lives because they stayed faithful to their King Jesus. Loyalty and faithfulness are in themselves such great virtues, that I simply enjoy watching it.
I'm not yet as much of a soldier and athlete in God's Kingdom as I dream of being. Neither have I got total revelation about all of this. But what I've written about here is a fascination of mine, and something I seek to apply to my understanding and way of living by the power of the Holy spirit. Because that -the power of the Holy spirit in me- is of course the food and the drink -the strength and the power- that enables me to do anything at all as a spiritual athlete or soldier of Christ.
I came across a very interesting article about forgiveness, grace and restoration among leaders in the church, and how important this might be in our hunger for more of Jesus' presence among us. Really it is written about a certain case, but it surely gave me some very good general insight, and I was really encouraged by reading it. It is written by Rick Joyner in Morningstar Ministries in South Carolina. It's definitely worth reading even though it's quite long. Here's a link: http://tinyurl.com/y9ajlo5
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I visited the world's largest gingerbread city today together with one of my co-workers. It's located in the middle of Bergen, and is truely worth a look, I think.
There are trains passing by.
As you can tell; The city is quite big.
There was even a gingerbread UFO!
There are trains passing by. 
As you can tell; The city is quite big. There was even a gingerbread UFO! There are also boats and even a pirate ship. Unfortunately some houses had fallen apart, among them the Eiffel tower... I'm impressed with all the people that built this gingerbread city. It's very pretty, and fun to watch even if you're not of low age. :)
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