Is it legal for a Christian divorcee to remarry?

Sadly (too) many Christians today are getting divorced. In no way I want to point fingers at these unfortunate couples. I am part of the divorce history myself! Many Christians are finding happiness in a new marriage. That is good, for the Lord says "It is not good that man should be alone", and he made Eve as a wife to Adam. Anyway it is disputed if a Christian is allowed to divorce, and if a Christian is allowed to marry a divorcee.If you read the scriptures as they are translated, you may easily come to the conclusion that it is a sin to get a divorce, it is a sin for at divorcee to remarry, and it is a sin to marry a divorcee. But is this what the scriptures really mean? If you read the Hebrew and Greek texts and examine the meaning of the central words around divorce you may conclude that what seems simple  is maybe not so simple after all. Most of us do not know Hebrew or Greek, so it is good that a scolar with insight into these biblical languages can lecture on the whole subject. This video sheds some new light into the subject of divorce, remarriage and putting away. 

You may think that this one video does not tell the whole story. In that event please watch the next video as well. Here you'll get the same understanding of the verses concerning divorce and remarriage, and more. In addition I think this video is filled with wisdom and love from God. 

Transformation

 God's values as recounted in the Bible

God of the Christian Bible has a solution to the world's problems, and it is entirely different from any of those solutions we as humans can come up with no matter which political party we belong to, no matter how much money we have and no matter which philosophy of life/religion we live under.

First of all, God wants us to love God, our Creator and Lord, and we must love ourselves and other people - our neighbors. God wants to be Lord, but He is not like human rulers, who are often known for their lust for money, power, control, oppression and inhumane measures. For people, it is impossible to make everyone comfortable, and our inherent selfishness makes us think first and foremost about ourselves and what may serve us best.

Therefore, the elite of power and economy often makes sure to provide the greatest possible wealth for themselves and aim to help others who are rich and powerful like themselves.

Socialism versus God

Conversely, Communism, Marxism and Maoism etc. have ideas about helping the poor of the earth, those who are exploited and suppressed by the rich. Unfortunately, however, history shows that not a single one of the regimes that have confessed to these ideologies have lived up to their political objective, all having been governed by a powerful, dominant avaricious and deceitful upper class.

I say this even though, when it comes to the political systems of this world in democratic societies, I have more sympathy for the socialist/communist parties than others (except for their policies related to family, sex, and abortion), and it is true, at least in my own country, Denmark, that these parties are the most likely to pursue a policy that helps the economically unprosperus or downright poor classes and the weak people in general.

But it is basically a counterfeit solution trying to bring God’s values into a worldly system without God himself, and that is deemed to fail.

Blessed are ... according to Jesus

Jesus says,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

(Matthew 5:3-12)

God's values differ from the world's values

Jesus says here that the people who have the hardest time and those who think more of others than themselves are blessed, they are happy, blessed, or lucky (though not in the sense we use the word when we say you are lucky when it is a question of chance/pure luck). They are blessed because they depend upon God.

In the Kingdom of God, there is no difference between people. Only if you or other people think you are worth more (or less) than others – there will be a difference, which is then a manufactured, false distinction.

God counts all as equally much worth, man and woman, children and adults, people from different countries, different tribes and with different languages, rich as well as poor. God's culture is different from the one that defines the world. When we today see increasing recognition of the equal worth of all mankind it is a humanistic, ideological value.

Love, pray for, and forgive your enemies

God's law, morality, or culture says that we should love our enemies and pray for them. We must forgive those who have hurt us. In the same way Jesus forgives us for our trespasses if  in faith we ask for forgiveness. We see this law expressed in The Lord's Prayer. This is a value which is foreign to the value of the world, which is mainly revenge, hatred, and unforgiveness.

We are chosen as stewards of the earth

An intriguing feature of God is that He is omnipotent, he has created us, and he has given us the right or duty to look after and rule over/steward animals, plants, and the whole earth by virtue of or in cooperation with His power in love. I dare say that God has taken a big risk, for are we worth that responsibility? We have always ruled the earth, but have we done it God's way? No, it is a known fact that ruling mostly have been done by exploiting others, exploiting animals, plants, and the earth itself, by scolding and hating and even murdering those we get into trouble with.

Neither we who call us Christians have done very well. So, we rule by the opposite means of those with which God asks us to rule, which is love, gentleness, indulgence, long-suffering. Jesus says that a leader is not a leader to be served, on the contrary the leader must serve those he leads.

Have we failed?

We, the Christians have not lived up to God's plans for us to rule or steward the earth. If we to a greater degree had lived out of what God teaches us in the Bible, we would have had more of a positive influence on society.

Being a Christian is not just about your mind or heart, thoughts, and feelings. Just as it does not make sense if a man says to his wife “I love you inside my heart, I feel I love you” but does not live with her and does not do anything good for her, nor lives in a love relationship with her, so does it not make sense that we sit in church and sing beautiful songs and hymns about or to God on Sundays, and the rest of the week we do not live with Him. Then He does not have the opportunity to engage with us or cooperate with us, so that we will be able to live and rule the way God would like us to do it, and one may rightfully question if we know God at all.

Does "Churchianity" equal normal Christianity?

In and by ourselves, in our own power we are not able to live according to God's values. And we, the Christians, the church, the congregation, the pastors, historically have mostly lived by our own standards and values. It suits us best to stay secluded inside a church building and preach about God, sing about God, and pray prayers to God to help us with the problems we have, or plainly fix them all. I recently heard someone call this kind of Christian life “Churchianity”. When we look at church history this seems to be "normal Christianity", but is this what normal should look like?

Jesus went about in the community, he was in the temple, the synagogue (the church) as well as out among people to teach them to live according to His values, and to help them through His acts of love, loving care and by healing and saving them. God expects for Christians to live this kind of a life. If we lived like this, I believe we would to some extend have been able to drive away violence, power of arms, economic power, and the exploitation of others, so that society would be imbued with God's love.

The evil enemy

When that is said, we must also recognize that God has an enemy, satan that is also the enemy of all man and not least Christians. He is doing everything he can to block the way for God's values and to become the essential part of our lives and that of society. He does it with cunning, with lies and deception. He makes us feel righteous in our own minds, he makes us think that our own  thoughts and ideas should be better than God's thoughts and values, and he makes us feel less or more worthy than other people. He sets people up against each other and against God. He makes us sick, sad, sorrowful, scornful over other people's bad luck and imposes upon us lots of other sentiments. He walks around like a roaring lion and tries to scare us into doing his will, and he is much more active in getting people to join his party than we Christians are actively giving people a chance to get to know God.

Don't let the enemy be an excuse for not doing good

But the fact that we have an unscrupulous and evil enemy must never be an excuse for us not to get to know God, for not doing good and for not living with love as the central value. Unfortunately, this happens all the time - people confuse God with satan, and if we the Christians don't talk about God, this misconception will prevail.

Jesus says we are in the world, but we are—or should not be of the world. Although we live our lives with both feet in the world, this world that does not know God, we must live by values and action as the persons we truly are, marked by God, saved by God, released  and liberated by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. When He lived a life in human flesh, walked with us as our brother, and took the punishment on the Cross for all our sins, so that we would not receive the punishment that we had rightly deserved.

Rhonda Mathisen (formerly Hughey) writes in her book "Desperate for His presence: God’s design to transform your life and your city" (Published 2004)

"The truth is, we in the Western church have become a subculture instead of a counterculture. A subculture can only reflect the value  system and worldview of the culture of which it is a part. Therefore, a subculture cannot be an agent of change because by definition it has become part of the culture it is trying to affect.The church is not meant to be a maintenance organization. We are supposed to be change agents in our communities! When we are double-minded and unstable, we cannot influence our culture. (...)

 

During Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness, it was Satan who tempted Him. He was offered the kingdoms of the world with all their glory, but He refused. Jesus knew there was a real kingdom and a real glory, and He was not about to settle for a counterfeit.Neither should we!

The kingdom Jesus brought to us is not of this world. The question for us, then, is: Where are we living—in the reality of God’s kingdom or in the world? Are you living as an agent of change or following the status quo?God is looking for revolutionaries! It’s time to stop trying to ‘‘add’’ Jesus into our culture and step into His kingdom! (page 91).

God's promises to us

It is exciting that God has set us in the position to steward or administer the earth. When we look at what He has promised us we realize that He does not intend that we should enact this leadership all alone. If we do what he says then he will keep his promises, then he will do what he has promised.

Just look at the awesome promises he has given to us:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:8-11)

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16b).

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The Word He speaks has creative power

God tells that He has great plans that are far better than our plans. When He says that His plans are as high above the earth as heaven is, it means that His plans are immeasurably, endlessly higher than our plans.

And He says that his Word, His written Word in the Bible, the Word He speaks, makes a difference. His Word went out and created the world. The Word carries out what it proclaims, it does the will of God and performs his tasks. And it is not just God's Word that makes a difference; what we say to God, in prayer, makes a big difference—God creates with His word, so, when we have prayed, God can send out His Word to answer our prayer, and there is change! In this way we partner with God to bring about the good that He wills.

God's word manages what it does because it is alive and effective, and it penetrates and reveals our motives, the thoughts, and opinions of the heart. It can change people of faith from within- so our character becomes more and more like God's.

The first thing God does when we come to Him as new believers is to create us anew.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. 2.Corinthians 5:17.

In the Old Testament, God says to the Jews,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgements and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.." (Ezekiel 36:26-28).

The Jews had turned from God and had been abducted into captivity in Babylon, where God gracefully told them that His will was to restore them and resettle them in the land, he had given to them. We can also see it as a prophecy of what happens when Christ makes his entry into our lives and society. A transformation is happening, a transformation that no psychologist, politician, coach, stylist, pastor, or businessman can bring about.

God has given a mighty promise of His will to listen to the prayers of the righteous and act upon them.

”If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. (2. Chronicles 7:14).

We, the believers have different tasks in connection with this prayer.

1. Humble ourselves.
2. Seek the face of God.
3. Turn from our wicked ways.

The prayer must come from a humble, broken heart, from a woman or man who is aware that she/he is a sinner who is tired of being haughty to God and someone who will humiliate herself/himself and seek the face of God.

It is not a form of prayer in which you reel off some phrases, which you have learned to say with an underlying expectation that God is a machine where you pick up prayer answers. Here it is a believer who is aware that he/she stands before the living God, he/she has come to the end of himself/herself, who is fearful because God has all the power, but who, on the other hand, also knows that he/she is expected, that God is waiting for him/her to come before the face of God in prayer, and that He wants to answer the prayer.

Repentance

God is not unapproachable; he is not a distant ruler whom one cannot reach. He wants fellowship with us sinners, just as we see it in the New Testament with Jesus.

Along with the humbleness comes the repentance of a human being who is sad that he/she has sinned and of the fact that he/she basically has an evil heart. This is a man or woman who does not try to cover up something; he/she has come “to the end of the rope” with himself/herself and realizes that only God can put the broken pieces together again.

When this kind of prayer comes to God in heaven, He will listen to it, and He promises that He will forgive that man or woman, and He will heal the land.

Here we come back to the responsibility of stewardship. God did not set us to rule over or steward the world and His creation all alone. He has always expected for us that we should do it in cooperation with Himself. Only by the power of God can we truly manage and transform the world around us.

If we as a congregation of God, as Christians, had continued to work in society in cooperation with God in the way they did in the first church, just after the shedding of the Holy Spirit, as we see it in the Acts of the Apostles, then the world would surely have looked different. Then we would hardly have experienced the destruction of the world economy and the threat of a new world order and a fascist dictatorship. Evil had not been eradicated, but the world would have been a lot more peaceful to live in.

Transformed communities today

Around the world there are communities (around 1000) where God in cooperation with local believers has transformed life, where He indeed has healed the land. These are communities where there have been an extremely high level of crime, alcoholism, unemployment, rape and sexual abuse of children. The situation has at some point become so serious that pastors have come together, across church boundaries and have regularly prayed together .

Police officers, politicians, mayors had typically also been involved in the common prayer for their communities and themselves. After they had persevered in prayer, it has happened that God has intervened with a spiritual awakening/revival, so that the whole community has come to know God, and He has healed the land. The overriding problems that were before are seen to have disappeared. The healing of the land may even go thus far that the earth becomes much more fertile than it has ever been. The crops become healthy and huge.

Rhonda Mathisen is the founder and head of Fusion Ministries Inc., and  I remember from a meeting that she mentioned an example from one of the transformed societies. Here a stream that ran through the land area in question was very polluted and completely opaque. After the transformation had begun, the stream became clean and clear on the stretch that ran through the land that was affected by God. Reports have been collected from many of these communities and videos have been made, Transformations I, II and III.

God's answer to the corona crisis

This is without a doubt the answer God is waiting to give to the corona crisis. He is awaiting that we, his church, his people, who believe in him turn towards him and pray for our country—and the world.

Paradigms for healing prayer

Rhonda Mathisen sets up a number of paradigms or mindsets that we, the Church must abide by in order for God to work with/for us (pages 170-174 - my paraphrases):

1. We must move from suspicion to trust. One result of the suspicion may be that Christians in a city only gather across denominations once a year to pray, at the Evangelical Alliance prayer week, but for the rest of the year agree that the differences in theology are too great for the churches to cooperate and pray together. Here we must realize that it is not only possible to regularly pray together, but that it is also useful for us and our city.
2. We must move from a unit of function to a unit of relationship. We should not just make projects and events together, but also make sure that we have vibrant relations with people in other church communities.
3. We must move from horizontal agreement to vertical agreement. It is of no use if we have a unity with each other (horizontal) but are not in common unity with the Lord (vertical). We must seek the Lord together.
4. From revival visits to transforming dwelling. We should not settle for the temporal awakening inside the church, and expect God to visit us, but we must focus on being a community where the Lord stays so that society outside the church can be transformed. So that institutions are transformed: offices, classrooms, restaurants, prison cells, nursing homes and sports halls!
5. We must stop building our own “empire” but become aware that when we hope that God will come and transform our society, we co-build the Kingdom. Here we lay down our own agendas and work together on God's intentions for our cities.
6. We must go from being workers to being loved. We move away from performing to resting and the satisfaction of being loved — so that we can love ourselves and can express it in the ministry.
7. We must go from being warriors to worshippers. Many have grown tired and even wounded by too much emphasis on warfare against the enemy, satan. When we begin to rest in that we are loved, warfare is a product of our eyes being directed at Jesus, where it is not the struggle but the worship at Jesus' feet that oustes the kingdom of darkness.
8. We should not be focused on “secular versus sacred” but be focused on the Kingdom of God. We don't get much concerned about whether we're with Christians- but whether we serve God where we are at in the workplace, in the sports club, as a business manager, as a local politician, as a neighbor, and so on. That is what Martin Luther called serving God in calling and standing.
9. We go from human methods to God's presence. Right now, we are seeing a frustration in the churches about man-made programs and methods. Here we turn away from busyness to instead seeking God in prayer, where our character is cleansed, and we become willing to wait for Him.
10. From experts to learners. In the Western world, we value knowledge, and when we know a lot, we consider ourselves experts in the church. But we do not live out our knowledge in great fertility. In contrast, God works with great power and efficacy in the non-Western world, in signs and wonders, revival, salvation and transformation of cities. Leaders become teachable disciples, so we are in training instead of being experts. Here we are in a weak and humble position where God can come through with His solution.

Watch this video where Rhonda Mathisen at a conference in Norway speaks about what transformation is.

Transformation in Fiji

Rhonda Mathisen highlights Fiji as a place where the transformation of society is very extensive. Here was a military coup where the nation was moving in a downward spiral- and the clerics acknowledged that they were responsible-that violence and rebellion were a consequence of their lack of unity. They then gathered across church boundaries and cried out to God for forgiveness and grace. Tribal leaders began convening their villages for prayer meetings, where they humiliated themselves before God and pleaded with Him to send His presence.

30 days before a nationwide election, a new political party was formed, and because of God's intervention, a God-fearing prime minister was elected. The church is in a call to repentance and prayer for the surrender of the nation to God. New believers fill the churches, and the military leaders who went to prison after the year 2000 coup were saved in prison.

“God is touching the nation of Fiji and responding to the cry of the people. One of the most noted features of the revival in Fiji is the pervasive influence the revival is having through so many spheres of society. Transformation is happening in the church, in politics, in the economy, in ecology, and in business. Many signs and wonders are also occurring in nature. Coral reefs are being renewed almost overnight, following decades of disintegration; fish that had nearly disappeared for fifty years have returned in abundance. The fruit trees that were barren are now bending over with the weight of ripe, abundant fruit.” Page 163.

There are citrus trees which produce fruit every month, and in Almalonga, Guatemala they grow huge carrots which weigh three kilos, and they stay fresh for months. Lettuce that are much bigger than a very big pumpkin.

Creation liberated from sin expresses its joy with abundance

From the video:

“When creation is liberated from sin, it’s expressing its joy with abundance. It’s an amazing thing to see. What we realized was  appening is something we now call the transformation of communities. And it describes the changes that happens when the presence of God comes.

When God visits a community with His light and His life, hope comes into  the community just like when Jesus was walking on the earth. His  presence brings light and life. The good news of the Kingdom of God.

It brings an awareness of God’s holiness. It changes the climate of the  community. It’s a manifestation of God’s love, His glory, His power, His wisdom. And He comes to a people who have intentionally prepared themselves for His arrival. And this is very different from the revivals we saw in the twentieth century. The transformation today is not like the revivals we have seen before where God just breaks in and blows everything up for a couple of months, and then He leaves. And people try to hype it. They write books about it, they take credit for it, they start fighting about it, and the Lord just leaves. It’s no mystery why the Lord just leaves.

But this is different. This is something God is requiring us to prepare for. Transformation is a significant invasion of the Kingdom of God. It’s God’s salvation destroying the works of the devil. That’s what Jesus said about Himself. He said,

“I have come to destroy the works of the devil!”

He wants to destroy the works of the devil in your community. (…) When He went into a community it says that people brought to Him all the  people that were sick, the demon possessed, those suffering pain, the  paralyzed, and He healed them.

That’s what He wants to do today. He wants to destroy the works of darkness in the communities, He wants to bring His extravagant grace to replace poverty. He wants to bring His justice to all the injustice. He wants to bring His love and His light to the brokenness in our communities. That’s the dream of His heart.” 

“Jesus came to set us free, to save us from sin, and to give us abundant life. He not only intended that reality to affect us personally but also corporately. Jesus has much more in mind than personal salvation for individuals and blessing for His church; His plan includes bringing salvation, restoration, and transformation to multitudes of people, cities, and nations before He returns (see Ezekiel 47:9, 12; Revelation 7:9, 14)!"

It isn’t possible to know our true identity until we meet Jesus.” (page 182.)

Call to prayer and work while it is day

Transformation is possible, and this blog post aims, among other things, that the call to prayer reaches as far out into the world as possible. We have no promise that the world will be totally renewed, for the end will come as prophesied in the Book of Revelation, the antichrist will come, and men will come to face the choice of accepting the mark of the beast. But we must work as long as it is day (John 9:4).

The call is to get on your knees today.

Bring family, friends and congregations, pastors, deacons, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and worshippers/prayer warriors with you. 

Pray for Covid-19 to disappear and for the entire threatening conspiracy to be completely stopped.

Finally, I would like to reference to an article which shows how much we need Jesus as is our solution (in Danish).

https://www.tagryggen.dk/article/covid-19-vaccine-mundbind-og-den-store-nulstilling-den-store-traengsel

Over the last nearly 2,000 years, the world has had the Bible proclaiming the future of the past — yes from eternity, for none other than God, who is outside of creation and not subject to the time domain as we are, can look forward in time.

He lets us know what the world would be like, and what He has allowed us to see is a future in which a dictatorial, global government, submits to the Earth - and we are now beginning to see how it can be done. A world where we as human beings are on a permanent footing because we are a virus, a cancerous node that shuts the Earth down, unless the globalists, the elite, intervene.

2020 has been a year of events as most as the world has never witnessed before. It has been a year that has proved that now, politically speaking, there is an intertaffled world order, as the Bible has spoken of (Rev.13:7). The whole world follows one health agency: the World Health Organisation. Few people's tactsticks are followed by all world leaders.

Through the corona farce- with which the elite have besieged the world for a year, they have been given what they call a unique opportunity to reset the world. It's not all about a virus, it's about a new world order. With corona, they have destroyed the present, in their eyes evil, capitalism, where you and I can earn our own money and maintain a reasonable standard of living.

Read more ...

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Fear is a liar

On Facebook I receive updates from writerslife.org with small writing assignments. Usually fun and creativity kickers. The other day this one came:

Write your story about the image below.

Shared by www.WritersLife.org

Here originally was linked to a picture showing a cupboard overflowing with banknotes. It has apparantly been taken down, and it was not to be found by searching Google.

The sight of these many thousands of dollars surprised me a lot. At first I felt a great relief. Now I could buy that luxury SUV I had been looking at for so long. Anyway this feeling only lasted two seconds. I was then hit by worry and fear. Who had placed this much money in a cupboard in my new home? I pictured gangsters, robbers and finance wizards with gold watches. What if they came back to collect it? I had no weapon to defend myself, and I could not hide indefinitely. I knew the number series on the bank notes were recorded. If I called the police I might be accused of robbery or crime related to this exact money. I decided the best thing would be to lock the cupboard and put a seal on it. I also purchased and installed the best theft protection available. So I waited. And waited. No one came to collect the money. I had a hard time getting a good nights sleep. I became overly sensitive to unknown noises, and I was prescribed drugs from my psychiatrist in order to cope with this unpleasant situation. My friends were very persistent in asking what was hidden inside this safe as it were. I tried different stories, but they failed because they were not coherent. So I had to dump most of my good and old friends. The money had become a pestilence in my life. I had to quit my job as a school teacher due to several nervous breakdowns in classes. I bought an automatic rifle, a baseball bat and a dog for the last money that month I sacked myself. Months went by. I survived by eating weeds from the garden. I sent out the dog to hunt for his own food, while inside I was preparing to die. Actually I had considered very seriously to end it all myself.

One sunny day I had a glance through the blinders of a very beautiful lady walking up to my door. She rang the door bell five times. I was very hesitant to open the door. But after she had persistently ringed the bell for five minutes I went to the door, decided to give it a go. I was to die anyway so what could go wrong. The lady handed me her business card, and presented herself as partner in Simmons, Ericsson & Simmons, solicitors in the city I lived in. "I come to present the will of the late Sir Edward to Windborrow Castle and cattle farm. May I come in?" Hesitantly I showed her in, placed her in the couch and gave her a glass of water. Long story short what she told me was that Sir Edward's will had been hidden and long forgotten in her office. Suddenly yesterday she had found it, and realized that I should get to know about it right away. The will told of a large sum of money placed in a cupboard in the very house I lived in. Then it came to my mind how I had bought the house. A niece of Sir Edwards had told me that her uncle wanted to sell the house to me for very cheep. I had only seen Sir Edward once when I was 16, but I had made a lasting impression on him, so that he wanted me to have his house which previously had been inhabited by his fiscal manager. I was pleasantly surprised by this outstretched hand, and was sorry I could not thank Sir Edward personally. This very large sum of money was mine! I embraced the lady solicitor, and shook her hand violently with loud outbursts of "Thank You, Thank You".

My dear dog "Bailey" had been away hunting for food for several days now. I was beginning to worry if he would ever return to me. Luckily the same evening he stood barking outside the door, I let him in and we were happily united. He looked at me with his good eyes as if he would say “Now everything shall be good again”.

A couple of days later as I had been out buying new clothes and had been in a meeting with my bank advisor, I met Jenny Simmons in the street. I was very happy to see her, and invited her home for at cup of coffee.

Jenny asked about my life, and I told honestly and without further ado about the terrible years with the safe. Jenny told me she was very sorry to hear how fear completely had controlled my life. But she knew that God had taken care of me and that it was he who had saved me in the end. She did understand that I had been so scared since I did not know Jesus. I did not quite understand what she meant – would I have been less scared if I had known Jesus?

“If you know Jesus you know love, the most beautiful and all perfect love, and then you know that no matter what happend you have nothing to fear. Jesus says numerous of times in the Bible “Fear not””.

I kept seeing Jenny, we were comfortable together. After a while I also learned what it means to have faith in Jesus, and as time went by I knew that Jesus has saved me, and that I by the faith I have in my heart always is accompanied by Jesus as my best friend. I asked Jesus for forgivenes that I had been in so much fear that I almost died.

When a year had gone by, I proposed to Jenny and we were married seven months after. I had again become a teacher in my old school, and I had regained contact with most of my friends except for those who were offended by my faith in Jesus. Life was not perfect, but a light had been lit, it kept up flaming, and could not be put out.

A path to Heaven

It has been way too long since my last post. So here I am again. On Facebook I receive updates from writerslife.org with small writing assignments. Usually fun and creativity kickers. Today this one came:

Write your story about the image below.
Shared by www.WritersLife.org

My submission is this:

The man with the sword held high above his head raced after me. He closed in on me now. I felt I could barely breathe. I tasted blood. My feet hurt. My head was spinning, was this the end? Now I could see the ocean in front of me. I forced my legs to run faster. But he seemed to do the same. He came closer by the minute. I could hear his breath behind me. He was growling. He shouted in a loud voice "Now I have you!" I screamed "Jesus help me!". The white beach came closer. It would only take minutes before I would be running in the sand. Now the option was, will I die by drowning, by being cut to pieces or stumbling in the sand with his sword in my heart? At first I did not feel anything but a small sensation in my skin. One second after I felt wet on my back. I stumbled and fell headfirst in the sand. Everything went black for short a moment. I looked back. There I lay in the sand, my head separated from my body and blood all over. He lay on top of me, laughing the most sinister laugh I had ever heard. I turned and saw a strong light. Before me was the most beautiful flight of stairs going up towards heaven. I could not see the end of it. I began walking it. I was surrounded by flowers in vibrant colours like no colours I had seen on earth. The steps were emitting light and looked like gold and crystal. The most beautiful music came to my ears. I realized it was the flowers singing. They sang praises to Jesus, God Almighty, to life, to love. I began to run, overcome with a joy I had never known before. Now the stairs were transformed into an escalator. I was carried along upwards all the time upwards. The light became stronger. It was so kind, gentle, loving, warm. I felt cuddled all over. Suddenly I could see a gate with pearls all over it. A person with a love, gentleness and tenderness beyond anything met me at the stairs. I knew it was Jesus. He adressed me "Welcome beloved, come to my garden. I have been waiting for you.". I then saw my grandmother who passed away last year, and I saw my faithful dog "Bella". She jumped up on me wagging her tail in joy.

Morning

Morning filled with memories of a night of dreams.
Is it hard to get up? - a little.
My feathered friends already tweet outside my windows.
Every morning it gets brighter and brighter. Good to remember and appreciate.
Coffee is in demand this morning, every morning. Aahh.
I enjoy the stillness of the morning
Before the face of God.
The bible on the screen of my iPhone
and His name on my lips.

Present

I am present in the present tense, but am I a present to anyone? I cannot present myself well enough to the public if I am not clear on who I really am. To be present to another is vital for life. Noone is an island. Present present present. If I am not present I am not. If I am not present I could as well be dead. Let people know you are present. Presently. You are a present to your neighbors, You have to believe that. It is not a haughty self promotion, it is a reality in social life. Then be as observant and as considerate as you can to be that precious present.

Find

It has been the fight of my life to find myself. Who am I, why am I here, does anybody care? I have never been good at socializing and bonding, getting friends, so I have mostly done the search alone, which has not made it easier.
When I found Jesus, or I let Him find me, some parts of the puzzle were revealed. But still, how can it be that I am so awkward, why am I so indifferent towards people and projects? Why do I hurt people so much with my selfishness and evilness? And how do I become a better person?
Now the search mostly has become a prayer for help, and it is up to Jesus if He wants me to find more of me on this side of eternity. I try to rest in the knowledge that He has found me.

Try

Just eat a bite. You don't know if you like it if you do not try to taste it! Many parents will know this phrase. As an adult I also have to remind myself that I have to try things out. I have to get out of my confort zone and get my hands dirty by trying. The reality is the test of all things. Our thoughts need the test of reality to become to life, and I don't know the outcome of the thoughts if they remain thoughts in my mind. I have to try to speak out forgiveness towards the person who hurt me. I have to try taking contact in order to get a new friend. I have to try painting that painting, writing that letter, At least just try. It may be the path for your greatest break through!

Hope

"I hope for rain tomorrow; my lawn is yellow from draught". But I am not certain it is going to rain. The worldly hope has its root in sin, we hope for a better world in the near or distant future. But because sin reigns we cannot be certain.
When Paul writes about faith, hope and love in 1Corinthians 13:13 it is the hope God gives. God cannot lie, so if He gives hope, it is a sure thing. Hope is fulfilled, God is to be praised!
The Christian hope is anchored in God's love and in faith in God. We may not doubt God, but hold fast in the hope He gives. All that the Lord does has it basis in love, His love which never fails. Love is the greatest, says Paul. For God is love.
Without love no faith and no hope. We would be lost and forever doomed to live in our sinful self, pityful and detestable. Hope gives future a meaning, as does faith in God and His love. It gives me such comfort, a warm feeling, something to stay alive for and something to die for. I am grateful that I am so much loved although I never deserved to be. Hope is the result of God's decision for us!

Gift

What do you give to the man/woman who has everything? A common question to be posed - and a question to be posed to people of this world who believe to have it all; even heaven itself!
Before I was saved I did not think I had it all, but I was certain that I had heaven before me; that happy ever after in the sky. After my salvation I slowly learned that I did not have it all, and that my natural expectation of being heaven bound was vain and presumptious without guarantees.
The realization that I had presumed wrongly about my eternal citizenship came gradually. The first sensation and realization that Jesus brought me was that Jesus loves me and is alive in me and my world. It was a completely unexpected gift. A foretaste of heaven inside me.
By reading the Bible I learned about my sinful nature and how lost I am without Jesus. I learned that the gift of grace, freedom from sin, salvation,and heaven is the greatest gift of all. And I am awestricken!
I have also learned that the first year's sensation is not something I can expect here. I am on a travel in enemy territory, and it is not always a pleasure. But the gift of faith makes the travel possible and worthwile. I have learned that all I have is Jesus, and that He has promised to be with me eternally.
The gift of heaven is being unwrapped during my walk, and I have learned and will experience that this gift is incomprehensible, that I will never receive any greater gift. Heaven equals Jesus, Jesus equals love. The perfect gift!

Door

Jesus says: Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me.
We say that every new day is a door of opportunities. I can choose to let the door be closed, I can choose to stay where I am or I can choose to go out of the door. But I can also make the better choice and let Jesus in. He wants to have fellowship with me, he wants to eat with me. 
I am not very good at answering Jesus' knock on my door and hear His voice. My day easily becomes centered around myself and my routines. 
Jesus keep on calling on me. I do want to listen do you, and eat the bread of life which is you, and drink the living water from the fountain which never runs dry.

Hide

I hide myself in you God. In the shadow of your wings that's where I want to stay forever. Hide me from the evil that lives in me. Thank you that I am forgiven, that I am set free. I have to remind myself of this every day, and you, dear Holy Spirit keep on reminding me of this treasure, this out of the box transcendent freeing fact. I am free in you, Jesus! You hide me through the storms of life. In your tranquil love I live and breathe. It is the only place I can live and breathe. In the raging storms, when everything around me seems to go absolutely bankrupt, when everything seems to fall apart, then I am in your arms, in the stillness close to your heart. Make my heart, my whole being more like your heart, Lord. I am yours. In the hiding place. Hidden inside of your love, in your forgiveness, in your grace. Forgetting all that is behind, all I see is You!

Tomorrow

I have just discovered "Five Minute Friday" which is a blog link-up in which you participate by writing for five minutes each Friday on the prompt of the week . Now I do feel a bit intimidated because I only see women on display there. But nowhere I see it expressed as a women-only community. So I take the plunge and try to write for five minutes on the one word prompt of the week: "Tomorrow". If I am in the wrong, somebody please tell me, and I will start a blog link-up for men!

Tomorrow has always been a magical word for me. Tomorrow I will do the things that really needed to be done today. Tomorrow has been misused and abused. A prompt for procrastination.

Within the last few years I have learned that it is typical for people like me who suffer from depression or bipolar to be procrastinating. It is soothing to know that I am not alone in that respect. It is not the ultimate sin. But neither is it a legal excuse nor should it be taken lightly "Oh, I suffer from depression so I procrastinate and I can't help it. I can live with it - so you, who are suffering at the expense of my procrastination - you just have to live with it as well". I have to make a way out of tomorrow and stay in today with all its feelings of being in a no comfort zone for action. Beginning today! Today I will do one thing to make me stay on track for today's tasks.

Recently I have bought some watches, pilotes watches, which were produced as collector's items. They were claimed to be quality watches, so I decided to buy them. What a big disappointment when I found out that they were not at all quality. I have decided to give in a complaint on the web site of the company where I bought the watches. Up until now I have postponed it to tomorrow for several days. This I have to do today!

Then yesterday I told my colleague about the watches. He told me he had a watch in his car which I could borrow. When he came back with it he said that I could keep it.

I was stunned and very thankful. God knew my situation and provided the perfect solution to it. The watch is a beautiful blue face Casio Oceanus. It is water resistant and it automatically synchronizes with the Japanese, the American or the European time signal. In short - it is a quality watch. It has the ability to keep me focused on today. The right time is today, not tomorrow. In a worn out phrase: Carpe Diem. I have the responsibility to not postpone to tomorrow what I can do today. So help me God and use my Casio Oceanus to stay on track.

P.S. As a sidenote I right now stumbled upon this blog post http://onethingalone.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating-and-take-action/ which has this graphic imbedded. Amazing!

Oh - and I have to admit I used far more than five minutes. English is not my first language, and this is my first attempt so what do I have to sacrifice to stay within the five minutes - meaning or clarity of thought and language? I decided to not sacrificing anything.

Brian Houston's stand in relation to LGTB

Senior Pastor from Hillsong Church Brian Houston has been criticised for not wanting to take a public stand on LGTB issues. I think people get him wrong. I do agree with the critics that the bible does not condone homosexual connections. But are we called to publicly declare what is sinful and an unappropriate lifestyle? I think the church must do all it can to attract sinful people, not to condemning them. Jesus never condemned, but he said go and sin no more.

Who is more sinful - the adulterer, the prostitute, the robber, the pedophile, the man who almost spanked his son or wife to death, the homosexual, the transgendered? Let's show love and compassion to the world like Jesus did, and let the Holy Spirit convict people of sin and of righteousness. That's His job to deal with people once they are saved and transferred into the Kingdom of God. I would be very careful not to present themes to unsaved people that could scare them away and make them feel condemned and get the impression that "the church hates people like us" because they in their present spiritual state do not understand the point. In times of great revival The Holy Spirit has been seen to convince people on the street of personal sins and made them rush to the altar, but that is the Holy Spirit doing it, and urging the preacher to speak on these subjects. 

To sum it up I do not think it is the church's job to go out and tell people that what they do is sinful. We have no right to judge how people choose to live. It's their own responsibility. If we should do it, then we had to address a lot of things in the world today. Instead make friends with whomever you meet. Show them Jesus' love. Point to Jesus always.

The article that speaks about Brian Houston's opinion is here:
http://www.charismanews.com/world/45811-brian-houston-hillsong-won-t-take-public-stand-on-lgbt-issues 

God's Kingdom

Do you know that God is operating both behind the lines and on the front line? Today in my local church I really experienced both these truths.

The pastor was preaching an excellent message from the Lords Prayer: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven".

According to him there is three dimensions to God's Kingdom:

1. The horizontal: Citizenship "For our citizenship is in heaven", Phil 3:20, 
2. The vertical: Power (God's power) “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit”, says the Lord (Zech.4:6). 
3. Doing God's will on this earth, where we live "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven". Math.7:21.

It is truly on God's agenda that we realize that the Kingdom of God is not in the church on Sundays alone or through the pastor or in the small group in which we come together. The Kingdom of God is here and there and all around where Christians are living.

So in line with this message it was very appropriate that we had a church café after service where the Mayor of Kolding was speaking and answering questions.
Many people had questions pointing in the direction of How can we as a church be a church for the whole city? Many people want to let the church be more than a club for saved Christians. We want to show the world that there is a message that is full of love and power to heal the broken hearted, to cleanse the leper, to comfort the lonely, to make bonding easier between strangers, to bring joy and feasting into a life full of tragedy and depression.
So the pastor ended up with a conclusion that encouraged us to open our eyes and see where needs are in our city:

• The city has had to cut down on expenses to clean the parks - why not grab a bag and some tools and go out on a Saturday to clean up in the park. 
• The older citizens grieve over the loss of many of their friends, they end up sitting lonely in their homes. Go to the Red Cross and offer yourself as a friend to them or to a family low on resources who needs a helping hand with the kids.
• Young people in the blocks are bored and resort to destructive behavior with graffiti, drinking, crime etc. - why don't you offer your help to be a good role model in their neighborhood? 
• Unemployed people get depressed and discouraged. Why don't you go out and offer to give them a hand with the CV or other elements in the search for a job - or just be a friend?

So many possibilities to be a History maker where you live. To be influential, to bring the good news "in person" - because the Holy Spirit lives in you.

Welcome to my Blog!

Let me introduce myself a bit. My name is Lars Krøgholt, I am Danish and I attend "International Apostolic Bible College" in Kolding, Denmark. I am born in 1954, so I am not so new any more. But I have a son born 2000, so he keeps me young (among other things).

So, I am a Christian, I believe in the living God, who created Heaven and Earth.

The title of my blog: "Sheepish Thoughts": Jesus says "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. So He is the Shepherd, we are the sheep, the flock He protects. And sheep think about things the have heard in the sheepfold. That's all there is to it. Btw. You'll see this reflected in the URL of my blog: it was meant to be shepherd.blogspot.com, but somehow I misspelled it, but well ... the sheep hears His voice, so this blog is what this one sheep has heard from Him.

Anxiety Is Disbelief

The fall term at the Bible College is rushing off. For several months I have been desperately pursuing an online income opportunity. I have entered into a to me totally new community on the Internet. I admit it: I have worried a lot about my economy, because in this hour I do not have any income, and I have to pay for tuition, for my son's school, I have debt to pay off and other expenses. In this I have ignored the Lord's command Mt.6:31-33 ”Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, With what shall we be clothed? For the nations seek after all these things. For your heavenly Father knows that your have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”

This is our heavenly Father's guarantee for us. He is our provider! I have been reminded of this so many times recently. So I do have to take it seriously. Even in the Sunday service today the sermon was about this subject. Have faith in Him that He will provide for you. He does not come too late. I often tend to think ”Can I really trust God that He will provide for me? What if I help God so that I am sure to be able to pay my bills?” But this attitude is really an expression of disbelief. To worry and being anxious is to distrust God!!!

Do you know this: you are anxious about a matter, and it keeps on coming up in your mind all the time. Your thoughts return to this matter all the time. But what good does it do?? Following the verses above Jesus says: ”Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.” (Mt.6:34). Anxiety does you no good at all! To be anxious in this way equals meditating. And if we believe in the power of meditating (as a Christian I do), then we should stay far away from thoughts of this kind. Words are seeds and they are powerful to create what they say. If we sow positive words from the Bible in our mind, we reap positive biblical thoughts. If we sow negative anxious words in our minds we reap a negative worldly and distrusting mindset.

So my assignment to you, dear reader and to my self is to surround yourself with positive biblical truths in order to undermine anxiety and disbelief and a worldly mindset.