Erling Thu

Month: December 2013

  • Fear God or honour and love him?

    As I have been reading in the Psalms every morning in my new Bible, the Common English Bible, I have noticed that many places it speaks about those who honour God. I had not noticed this expression before and came to realise that it in older, more traditional translations, those verses do not speak about honouring God at all, but about fearing God. Here is some examples:

    Psalm 66:16

    Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. (NIV)

    All believers, come here and listen, let me tell you what God did for me. (Message)

    Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God! I will declare what he has done for me. (NET)
    Come close and listen, all you who honour God; I will tell you what God has done for me. (CEB)
    All you lovers of God who want to please Him, come and listen, and I will tell you what he did for me (Passion Translation)

    Most of my English Bibles are talking about those who fear God, but four versions are using different words: Believers, those who are loyal to God, those who honour God and those who are lovers of God and want to please him. I love these four different renderings better than the old traditional ones. I think they explain what it means to fear God.

    I think all of us understand that the attitude of fearing God is a very positive one. God is so great and awesome that we fear him and bow down in worship and pay respect to him. When we fear God, we will trust him and believe his promises. When we fear God, we will be loyal to him and give him our undivided devotion and commitment. When we fear God, we will honour him and pay respect to him by our words and deeds. When we fear God, we will love him and always want to please him in everything we are and do.

  • Truth in the most hidden places

    I was given a new Bible for my birthday recently. It is called the Common English Bible. I have been reading it awhile and find it very interesting. It is kind of a sober translation and not like some of the many paraphrases we have seen recently.

    Today, in my daily reading, I was struck by an expression from Psalm 51 verse 6: And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret place.

    It is David speaking, after he had committed adultery and consequently murder to cover his sin. He was found iut by the prophet of God: You are the man! You are the one guilty of death penalty! David was quick to repent when the prophet confronted him with his sin. In Psalm 51 he is confessing his sins to God and asking for mercy, forgiveness and purification.

    David discovered that God wants truth in the most hidden places. He had been untruthful. He had been doing bad things in secrets. He tried to cover up his wrongdoing, but it only lead to more untruth in the hidden places.

    First of all God is looking for truth in the most hidden place of our own heart. We may have a spledid appearance. We may look very well in the eyes of people. But God knows our heart. The religious leaders in the days of our Lord Jesus were excellent outwardly, but rotten on the inside. What a tragedy. Our hidden attitudes and secret thoughts in our innermost being must be truthful. If we are not truthful in the hidden place of out heart we will actualy not be truthful in anything we do or say.

    God want truth in the most hidden places of our lives. Our true character is shown in what we to when we are in the hidden places where no one knows us or sees us. In the hidden places we cast of all restraints and dare to be ourselves. That is why God is wanting truth in the most hidden places of our lives.

    In the most secret place God will teach us wisdom when he finds truth in the hidden places of our innermost being.

    The Passion Translation gives us a diffrent perspective on this verse: "I know You delight to set Your truth deep in my spirit. So come into the hidden places of my heart to teach me wisdom."

     

  • Høgtlesing

    I adventstida fekk me tilsendt ei bok med tittelen: "Mitt umulige barn".  Boka er skriven av Jostein Ørum og inneheld 25 meditasjonar. Me tykkte at boka såg interresant ut og bestemte oss for å lesa henne saman. Det er Solveig som les for meg, kvar morgon, helst ved frokostbordet. Eg berre nyt den mjuke røysta hennar og dei meditasjonane ho les. Her er mykje å tenkja og grunna på.

    Det hender ofte at me les høgt for kvarandre ting me liker eller finn verdt å tenkja på. Det er ein god ting å lesa høgt for kvarandre i heimen. Det skaper ro. Me må jo sleppa det me held på med og høyra godt etter det den andre vil dela gjennom høgtlesinga. Når me les ei bok, dag etter dag, meditasjon etter meditasjon, skaper det ettertanke og djupe samtalar. Høgtlesing skaper fellesskap i ein ny verden utanføre oss sjølve.

    Det hender ofte at me les i kvar vår bok eller i kvar vår avis. Det er vel rett å seia at for det meste les me kvar for seg våre eigne ting, på nettet, i tidskrift og bøker. Veden knitrar i peisen, stearinlysa er tende og freden rår mellom oss. Eg vil ikkje seia eit einaste vondt ord om dette som me oftast gjer, men å lesa høgt for kvarandre legg noko til. Høgt lesinga tek oss inn i ein ny dimensjon, eit nytt tilvære. Ho som les fargar orda med sitt tonefall og ansiktsuttrykk.

    Eg må nok konsentrera meg meir når eg lyttar til høgtlesing enn når eg les for meg sjølv. Det krev meir av meg å lytta enn å lesa, tykkjer eg. Likevel er det godt å øva seg til å høyra godt etter og leva seg inn i det som vert lese høgt av ei kjær røyst.

    Eg vil takka Hilde Lauten Halvorsen som sende oss denne boka som lærte oss å setja meir pris på høgtlesing enn før.

  • Det er ikkje alle planar det vert noko av

    For to år sidan hadde eg mange planar for ein ny blogg som eg ville kalla "Huset i skogen". Eg ville saman med kona skriva om livet på landet i Nordhordland, på den plassen som me kallar "Huset i skogen". Eg har blogga på engelsk i mange år og no ville me starta ein norsk blogg om det livet me lever i kvardagen, om folk me møter og bøker me les.

    Me ville samla alle dei andre wedsidene mine  Erling Thu, Meiningar,   I am Somebody, Solveig Thu og samordna dei ut frå hovudsida som skulle vera "Huset is skogen". Nokre flinke webfolk skulle hjelpa oss med layout og design og organiseringa av alle websidene på den nye sida. Me snakka saman, la ein plan og sette igang å arbeida. Men ein dag, etter eg hadde venta med tolmod ei stund, hoppa ekspertane av heile prosjektet. Då stoppa alt opp.

    No har det gått t0 år og eg vil prøva å starta på ny, men sidan eg ikkje kan programmera og laga noko samla oppsett for sidene mine så må det verta enklare. Eg vil berre starta å skriva på denne enkle sida og sjå koss livet veks og utviklar seg.

  • Let thousand flowers blossom!
    Let tens of thousand different plants flourish!
    Let hundreds of thousand seeds sprout, and grow to become a vast forest!
    Let the followers of Christ become numerous as the sand on the seashore and stars in the winter-sky.
    Let the believers excell in expressing love in practical and down to earth deeds.
    Let the covenant community explode with creativity!
    Let the church of Christ come to fulness!