Erling Thu

Month: August 2008

  • Accummulated wisdom

    Wisdom from heaven

    But the
    wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving,
    gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and
    good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are
    peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness. James
    3:17-18 NLT

    Such wisdom
    is the fruit of covenant living and fosters community!

    Earthly wisdom

    For
    jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly,
    un-spiritual, and motivated by the Devil. For wherever there is jealousy and
    selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every kind of evil. James
    3:15-16

    Earthly
    wisdom destroys community life!

    The wisdom of the farming
    community

    Ploughing
    must be followed by sowing

    Cultivating
    must be followed by planting

    The
    different seeds must be planted in each own section of the land – don’t mix it!

    Don’t
    thresh all the crops the same way!

    Repeating
    one activity is not sufficient!

    We must
    work systematically – in many ways and fields!

    Don’t use
    the same method on all situations

    People must
    be treated individually!

  • The covenant community accumulates the wisdom of God

    Look at Isaiah
    28:23-29  and discover some  amazing  truths:

    They know
    exactly what to do and when to do it. Their God is their teacher. Message

    The farmer
    knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding. NLT They

    The Lord
    Almighty is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom. NLT

    How did God
    teach the farmer? How did the farmer come to know exactly what to do? This
    wisdom has been gained, refined and accumulated in the farming community. In
    the same way there is a tremendous wisdom accumulated in the covenant community
    of God’s people!

    The Church
    Fathers, the saints, the great missionaries, and the poets of faith, represent
    a wonderful treasure of spiritual insight and wisdom that we need to make use
    of if we want to be wise people! Even among contemporary believers outside of
    ourselves there is great wisdom and insight!

    ScandinaviaIf we are
    wise we may even learn from people we strongly disagree with! Among each
    community of people there is a certain wisdom and insight that we may benefit
    from! We need to be readers! The born again believers in Scandinavia used to be called The READERS because they were constantly reading the Bible and other books as well!

    Hopefully
    we will accumulate more wisdom and insight to pass on to the next generation
    than we what we were given to start with! If we are working into foreign
    cultures we need the wisdom of God to reach them. If we find other believers in
    these cultures we will benefit enormously if we learn from their wisdom and
    insight.

  • The covenant community is colourful like the rainbow

    There is a
    great variety of spiritual gifts in the church which is the body of Christ. God’s
    purpose is to show his wisdom in its rich variety – show his colourful wisdom –
    to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, through the covenant
    community.

    When Jews
    and Gentiles, Norwegians and Indians, Americans and Africans, Men and Women,
    young and old, are joined together in a colourful, covenant relationship, then
    the covenant community is a prophetic sign to the world.

  • The covenant community is to reflect diversity and variety – not uniformity

    Today I will take up again my meditation on the covenant community. We are still on vacation, touring Ireland, and we are staying in family homes, B&B, and enjoy the atmosphere of the home.

    People are
    longing to be accepted for what they are and for belonging, – being a part of a
    community. We are social beings – created in the image of the social Triune God.
    It is not good for people to be alone. We are all created for community. True
    friendship, fellowship and community are the hallmark of the covenant people of
    God

    God is
    making originals not copies – we are not to be clones of anybody! God loves
    variety – he loves a manifold expression of his wonderful nature and character.
    Every human person is unique. Each person reflects a unique part of the glory
    of God. What we can be together is greater than the sum of what each one of us
    can do or be on our own.

    In the covenant
    community we are enlarged and complemented, and we find fulfilment in serving
    one another – we belong! The purpose of God can only be fulfilled through a
    corporate body of people.

  • Touring the Kerry Ring and Dingle

    After a delicious Irish breakfast we started our journey to explore the Kerry Ring or the Iveragh Peninsula. Again I must say that we have had a wonderful time enjoying beautiful scenery and we have been praising God for his goodness towards us. We were even able to tour the Dingle Peninsula as well! At the beach of Inch we both had a fresh bath in the Atlantic ocean! Again, God heard our prayer for good weather. The heavy rainfall that was predicted did not come!
    After returning to our B&B 2Mile Lodge for a short rest we went to Kenmare for a very good dinner at "The Coachman’s".  The ambiance was very good and the food was excellent.
    Saturday we start our journey back to Dublin but we will not be home in Norway before Monday evening.

  • The Beara Ring

    Yesterday we drove from Blanrney to Kenmare. On the way we took the Beara Ring around the Beara Peninsula. The weather forecast was not good, but by the goodness of God we enjoyed sunshine the entire day. Many places there had been torrential rainfall, but we only had a very small shower! God is so good to us. We like the scenery very much, now wonder since much of it reminds us of Norway!
    We are staying two night at "2 Mile Lodge" two miles outside Kenmare. This is a beautiful B&B with excellent service! Highly recommended!

  • The Merry Plowboys

    While we have been in Dublin we attended a show and enjoyed a good meal with the Merry Plowboys. It was good value for money and we thoroughly enjoyed the show of traditional music, singing and dancing. My favorite was Tom who played on many different flutes as well as the Irish shoulder bagpipe.
    The Merry Plowboy pub dates back to the 1780’s and is famous for its live music and dance. We were seated with some nice Americans with Irish roots and that made the evening even more perfect.

  • The book of Kells

    What an amazing book we have been looking at today! The book of Kells is probably the richest, most beautifully illuminated, manuscript version of the four Gospels in the Celto Saxon style that still survives. According to legend, St Columba was the creator of this most beautiful of books, nearly 1500 years ago. It is all written by hand and carefully illustrated in full colour. It is a masterpiece of art.
    The book is a witness to the deep love of the Word of God. I was filled with wonder when I touched the pages of the book (even though I knew they were just copies). So much creative work and love were put into it.
    We need creative people today with the love for the Bible to illustrate it and make it available to people in our postmodern age.

    (more…)

  • Visiting Ireland

    Early this morning we left Bergen for Dublin in Ireland for one week of exploring this green island. First we will stay a few days in Dublin and then we plan to go south west to explore the coastal area. We are very excited to be here for a vacation. This summer we have been busy working at the house in the forest and now we are happy to relax and regain new strength before a busy autumn a head of us. It was a pleasant surprise to find an Internet connection at the hotel in Dublin. We are expecting more pleasant surprises from the Lord while we are here!