"I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me," John 10:27. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me". John 10:14. Jesus is the good shepherd. He takes care of His sheep, the believers with a tender love.
They had made a post on Facebook about the fellowship meal. In the months ahead meals were being served in the various housing areas in the city where they lived. They were refugees. But they chose to see themselves as expats with refugee experiences unlike how the government saw them. They came out of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, and Congo to Denmark. Nations around the world where there had been war, violence, and terror for years. Many of them were deeply traumatized by what they had been through in their home country, and during the often yearlong and not very pleasant case management until they were given official status of refugees.
They had found a venue, a big hall in a worn-out business school where there would be room for at least 200 people. They hoped for many people to show up. It would be easy even for unemployed people to attend because the meal was free of charge, sponsored by different foundations.
When the deadline for registration was met 95 people had said yes to joining the meal. Nicolas who oversaw everything told the ladies and one man who volunteered to cook that they would prepare food for 110.
“There is always some who come even though they have not registered” was Nicolas’s argument.
The four ladies and one man from Iran, Somalia and Afghanistan had agreed upon what each should cook on the day of the arrangement. One would make salad with vegetables in many colours, another cooked the Somali casserole with beef, one wanted to cook tasty Arabic rice, there were more dishes with chicken, beef. A woman made a lot of samosas. The Afghan people presented their cool delicious yoghurt with mint, cucumber and water.
Nicolas and the always faithful Daria had been in the bazar and purchased all the ingredients, and now the volunteers had been in the not-so-big kitchen sweating over the pots and pans for six hours since 10am. Nicolas and other men who volunteered to put up tables were doing all they could to get the hall ready and festive for the evening. They were decorating the room with beautiful tablecloth, and they hung up light garlands on the walls.
Everything was set up for an enjoyable evening where the expats and the Danes would have a good time together. Mustafa from Syria had planned with his musician friends to come and play Syrian music on traditional instruments, and there would be dancing.
….
The disciples of Jesus had been out in the villages for three days. They had visited people there, and had been welcomed with raisin cakes, and rich dishes of goat and lamb with yoghurt and bread. They felt richly blessed because they had the opportunity to talk about the Kingdom of God, all the things Jesus had taught them for two years now. Now they were back and together with Jesus. Matthew told with great enthusiasm of a blind man who had gotten his sight when he was prayed for. Another one said,
“Demons left a young girl when we prayed for her!”
Jesus cheered and told them that their names would be remembered in heaven because they had believed in the Son of God and had done his deeds in their life on earth.
“But now, my dear friends, we need to rest and have a time of fellowship and prayer. Let’s sail over to the other shore and find a quiet place there”.
They borrowed a big fishing boat and rowed all together over to the other side of the lake of Gennesaret.
Everywhere Jesus went crowds were following him. He had a magnetic personality, people immediately liked him, and came in the hope to get a word of encouragement or getting healed of some serious sickness.
Not that all the people liked him though, far from that, because he also told them some of the not so pleasant things about their sinful, selfish lifestyle. And besides, how could he, an ordinary carpenter’s son, be the Messiah as he claimed to be. People were really divided in their opinions of Jesus of Nazareth.
When the people found out that Jesus was heading for the other side, they collected their sick, and shouted
“Come on now, if you want to have a touch of Jesus, he went this way”.
They walked and ran as fast as they could. From the villages people came out to see the spectacle, and they joined the crowd when they heard where they were heading. Two men were carrying their friend, a builder on a stretcher, who last year fell from a building, and broke both legs. The legs had grown together wrongly so it was very painful for the man to walk, and most of the time he was not able to walk at all. The sun shone blazingly hot from a clear sky, they were sweating, and some of the children complained
“Why are we going all this way to meet that Jesus man. My feet hurt, and I am hungry”.
“Shhh” the father said, “We are almost there. Just keep on running. Why don’t you count the steps you take, and each time you get to one hundred you’ll get a reward!”
When Jesus and his 12 disciples got out of the boat, they heard the chatter and shouting of the crowd. Peter and Jacob tried to look to the opposite side and to rush the disciples away from the people, but Jesus stopped, and looked down at the crowd which was very close to them.
“I am moved with compassion for these people because they seem so lost. Nobody to take care of them. They are like a flock of sheep without a shepherd”.
And he waved at them that they should follow him. Some of the disciples said to each other
“So much for our time of rest…”.
Another one answered
“Don’t you realize that Jesus loves these people. He does not just see them as a nameless crowd. He wants to do good to them just as he is doing good to us!”
They all sat down in the grass, and Jesus stood so that they could all see him. He began to preach and teach them about the Kingdom.
….
At 6pm the party was about to start. People were arriving in the hall. There were elderly couples, families with 2, 4 or 5 children, and few Danes. It didn’t take long before the tables were filled. They had put up tables for 110 to match the amount of food. But even still there was a major influx of people. Nicolas and the other men went to the depot for more tables and chairs. Amelia said to her friend Henry:
“Why don’t you help with the tables. I will reserve a place for you at this table”.
She pointed to a table with just two empty chairs. Tables and chairs were moved and put closer together so that there was room for more. Nicolas went to the women in the kitchen,
“Do you have some extra food somewhere? …. No, of course you do not. Can we do something so that people don’t eat so much, and there will be food for all?”
Nobody answered because there were no good answers.
“We just must hope that people can restrain themselves, and not eat as much as they use to when there is a free buffet”, Daira said.
When half an hour had gone by Nicolas counted the guests, and nervously said to two of the other men
“We are 198 in total, and we have prepared food for 110”.
Nobody had imagined that so many would come without having made a reservation.
Another 15 minutes went by. At last, it seemed that there were no more people coming. The hall was buzzing with happy voices. The children ran about playing and screaming. Nicolas stood up, clapping his hands, and shouted with a happy voice
“May I have your attention please. Now, let’s begin the party. A warm welcome to everyone. Also, welcome to those of you who have not made a reservation! I hope and believe that we will have a fun evening together. It is wonderful to see that so many people have come for this very first big fellowship meal. We have been looking so much forward to this, and the women in the kitchen have been sweating all day to prepare delicious food. There is just one thing I must tell you to be aware of: we have prepared food for 110, 95 had registered for the evening, and we are now a total of 198. This means that there probably is not quite enough food. So, I urge you to not put too big portions on your plates, so that there will be enough for everybody”.
People clapped their hands, and the volunteers carried the food in from the kitchen.
Amelia said to Henry,
“We must pray. God may give a miracle so that there is enough food after all”.
“Yes, definitely we must”, Henry said.
“Dear Father God, dear Jesus. You see that there is food for 110 and we are 198. Please Jesus multiply the food like we remember you did when you walked with your disciples on this earth”.
….
It was getting late in the afternoon, and in a few hours it would be dark. People had been sitting for a long time listening to Jesus. Many people had been healed and set free from oppressing demons. The man with the broken legs sat joyful between his good friends with a big grin on his face. His legs were totally healed. He even did not have the pain he used to have in his knees after having worked sitting on his knees for many years.
Peter and John came up to Jesus and interrupted him saying
“Master, we need to send the people away to the villages and farmhouses to buy food. They have been sitting here in the sun for many hours, and they are hungry. Soon the sun will be down.”
Jesus answered,
“Why don’t you give them something to eat?”
The disciples frowned and looked at each other, then looked at Jesus.
“What do you mean Jesus, how would we be able to feed these 5000 men plus women and children?”
“Go and look how much food you have”, Jesus told them.
“We have five loaves of bread and two fish, but that is ridiculously little for such a huge crowd”, Peter said.
“You believe that nothing is impossible for God, don’t you?” Jesus asked.
“Yes, Lord, we believe that. We have come to know you as our Saviour who can do all things!”
“Now my friends, please go down among the people and arrange them in big groups”.
The disciples did as Jesus had told them, made them sit together in groups of 50 and some of 100, but they were still puzzled over what he was up to.
When they were done with that, they went up to Jesus again, and asked “What now?”
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, he looked up towards the heavens and blessed the food. He then told the disciples to come up and take bread and fish as he broke it off. Jesus broke the bread and the fish in big chunks, and the disciples went down to the crowd, still wondering how they would fulfil the task of feeding all those people. Peter took the lead, broke the bread in smaller pieces and gave it out to people. The same he did with the fish. When the other disciples saw how Peter did it, they went and did the same thing. All the time as they broke the bread and the fish in smaller pieces there was still bread and fish left in their baskets, and they continued to distribute bread and fish to people and lastly to Jesus and themselves. Everyone was eating and became full. Jesus shouted,
“Are you happy my friends, do you have enough to eat, are you full?”
The crowd cheered, clapped their hands, and shouted back
“Yes Lord, thank you for a delicious meal!”
….
Nicolas shouted while pointing round in the hall
“OK, let the children have food first, and when they are finished the table down in the corner comes up and then that table and so on”.
Amelia and Henry kept praying, and when they came up to the buffet there was still plenty of food. They did not notice if people had restrained themselves to not taking so much food. But they had been at meals where there was barely enough. Here though, when everyone were finished eating there were still dishes and bowls half filled with food. But nobody took the opportunity to take a second or third serving.
“Then it looks like God has heard our prayer”, Henry said.
….
It was now dusk, and very soon it would be pitch dark. Jesus told the disciples, “Please take your baskets and collect the surplus food”. The disciples went out among the people and collected the leftovers. When they came back all twelve baskets were full.
“Jesus, you were right, nothing is impossible with God”, Andrew said.
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.
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.
Humble ourselves.
Seek the face of God.
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):
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
