Erling Thu

Month: August 2006

  • The joy of having grandchildren

    Dscf1125 This summer God has blessed us wit a lot of time with our grandchildren. Yesterday we had 6 of them with us and we had a lot of joy together. Taj Kristian, Jai Ruben and Sunniva have just arrived from England. Jakob, Sara and Lars Benjamin live in Bergen and we see them more than the other grandchildren. Earlier Jonathan and Mathilde have been with us for more than a week. Today Kristina and Daniel, who live in Tromsø in the northern part of Norway will come as well.

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

  • Profeten møter motgang og motstand med bønn

    Reaksjonen frå filisterane kom med ein gong dei høyrde om samlinga i Mispa der avgudane vart øydelagde og folket vende tilbake til Israels Gud. Vekking skaper alltid motstand. Verden liker ikkje at Guds folk tek radikale oppgjer med synd og falsk religiøsitet. Når Guds folk gjer seg fri det verdslege og religiøse åket som fienden har lagd på dei fylker verden alle sine hærar for å knusa dei og leggja dei under seg på ny.

    Då folket høyrde om filisterane som samla seg til strid, sa sei til profeten: "Hald ikkje opp med å ropa til Herren vår Gud for oss, så han bergar oss frå filistarveldet" (1.Sam.7,8). Då ropa Samuel til Herren for Israel, og Herren svarte han. Gud sende eit sterkt torever over filisterane og forvirra dei, slik at Israel vann på dei. Profetisk forbønn i samsvar med Guds vilje også i vår tid føra til stor framgang for Guds folk.

  • Transforming secular space

    Many religious people live with a sacred/secular divide. If we understand the nature of the Kingdom of God, we will live above that artificial divide and overcome all modern dualisms.  As Christians we give all of life over to God in worship and we recognize the work of God in formerly nonspiritual things or activities. "There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation," Madeleine L’Engle says according to be book Emerging Churches. "Even times of coffee turned into worship and to a centering on Christ," Dwight Friesen tells when he is describing the way of community life is is experiencing. This sentence brings into mind one of my most quoted and laughed of poems which goes like this:

    To be somebody

    Is to eat an orange

    In worship and wonder

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  • Nye profetiske handlingar

    Samlinga i Mispa (1.Sam.7,4-6) innebar ein ny start for Israelsfolket. Profeten Samuel ville oppnå to ting med denne samlinga. Først ville han gjenreisa folket til rett forhold til fedrane sin Gud. Han ville gjera det klart for alle at den nasjonale vekkinga hadde ført til heilhjarta omvending. Så ville han gå i forbønn for folket og be Den Allmektige om å gripa inn og gjenreisa folket til fullt rådvelde over det lova landet. Både det å fortelja folket om deira sanne stilling og det å gå i forbønn for dei er, er grunnleggjande i ei profetisk teneste.

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  • Meditation on the prophetic ministry

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

  • Profeten kalla folk saman

    Profeten tolka den stoda folket var i. Då forstod Samuel at tida var inne til å kalla saman heile Israelsfolket for å gje dei ei profetisk utfordring. Han kjende i si ånd at tida var inne for utfriing og gjenreising. Han visste at no var tida komen då Gud ville gripa inn, for no hadde folket den rette innstilling og vilje til sann omvending. Heile folket lengta etter Gud og hans nærvær. Då stod profeten fram med ein bodskap til heile nasjonen.

    Og Samuel sa til heile Israels-folket: "Vender de om til Herren av eit heilt hjarta, så få bort dei framande gudane og Astarte-bileta! Vend hjarta dykkar til Herren og ten han! Så skal han fria dykk frå filistarveldet." (1.Sam.7,3)

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  • Identifying with Jesus

    In the book Emerging Churches it is being claimed that the emerging churches focus on Jesus and the good news he embodied and proclaimed. It is the kindom hope that inspires emerging church leaders to realize the long-promised kingdom within their communities, striving for them to become servants and signs of the kingdom as they live God’s future, which is both already here and remains to come.

    I fully share this focus on the kingdom of God. The kingdom, or the reign of God, is about our life here and now, and it is concerned not just with individual needs and aspirations but also with the well-being and mission of the community of the representatives of Christ. It is directed beyond the present membership of the body of believers to encompass the world that Jesus came to save from the consequences of its rebellion by turning it in a radically differenr direction. The gospel of the kingdom is not confined to personal salvation. It is also a social transformation arising from the presence and permeation of the reign of Christ.

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  • Visiting the Norwegian Book-town

    After meeting with the church Sunday morning Solveig and I picked up Elisabet and Knut Osland and went to Fjærland in Sogn to visit the Norwegian Book-town. When we arrived in the evening we had a wonderful meal at Fjærland Fjordstue Hotell where we stayed for the night. Elisabet was not very enthusiastic about the Booktown and the old books. She had planned to leave us with the books and to visit the Glacier Museum or climb the mountains. However

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