Erling Thu

Category: English posts

  • The Kiss of God

    There was a season in my life when the world I had built collapsed.

    For years I had lived inside a Christian world filled with sermons, conferences, worship, prayer, and ministry. My days had been shaped by faith, vision, and expectation. Then, almost overnight, everything changed. Disappointments accumulated. Relationships broke down. Dreams dissolved. The future I had imagined disappeared.

    I left the ministry and found work in the construction industry. It felt as though I had landed on a different planet. The language was different. The values seemed different. Instead of worship and prayer, I heard swearing, complaints, and crude jokes. The sounds echoed in my head. I felt like a foreigner among people who spoke a language I barely understood. I carried my confusion with me to work each day and returned home with the same unanswered questions.

    Who was I now? What had become of the calling that once gave direction to my life? Had I misunderstood everything? At night the questions became louder. Sleep often stayed far away. Problems multiplied in the darkness. Old wounds reopened. The future felt uncertain, and I could see no clear path forward. I lay awake wrestling with fears and disappointments until, finally, one night, a quiet cry escaped my heart.

    “Lord, how is this going to work out?”

    The answer came unexpectedly. Not as a sermon. Not as an argument. Not as an explanation. Just a gentle whisper:

    “Do not be afraid. We will manage this together—you and I.”

    I smiled in the darkness. For the first time in many months, I felt hope. The questions did not disappear. The circumstances did not change. Yet somehow everything felt different. I was no longer carrying the burden alone.

    Looking back, I realise that God often came to me during those difficult years in simple ways. Sometimes he felt like a strong hand leading me through fog when I could not find my way. Sometimes he felt like a protective presence standing behind me when fear threatened to overwhelm me. Sometimes he came as a friend when loneliness became almost unbearable.

    And sometimes he came through his Word. There were mornings when I opened my Bible feeling exhausted, confused, and empty. I was not looking for theology. I was not searching for answers to difficult questions. I simply needed God. Then something beautiful would happen.

    A passage I had read many times before would suddenly come alive. A familiar verse would shine with unexpected warmth. The words on the page became more than words. They became a meeting place. It felt as though God himself had drawn near.

    I have often thought about the creation story. God formed Adam from the dust of the earth and then breathed into him the breath of life. That first breath awakened a living soul.

    In moments like these, I felt something similar. Whenever God’s voice reached my heart through his Word, it was as though he breathed on me again. His life touched my life. His heart touched my heart.

    The only image I can find for it is a kiss. A heavenly kiss.

    Not a kiss of romance, but a kiss of love, acceptance, and life. A kiss that healed wounds I could not heal myself. A kiss that awakened hope when hope seemed lost. A kiss that reminded me that I was still known, still loved, and still held by God.

    The greatest miracle was not that I gained new understanding. The greatest miracle was that I met him.

    Questions that had seemed impossible became less threatening. The tangled threads of life slowly began to loosen. What had appeared closed started to open. Not because I suddenly understood everything, but because love had entered the room.

    I discovered that God’s Word is more than information. It is encounter. More than instruction. It is communion. More than truth. It is the voice of the One who loves us.

    Even today I come to Scripture with that same longing. I open my Bible the way a thirsty traveller approaches a spring. I come hoping to hear his voice once more. I come longing for the touch of his grace.

    For once the soul has tasted the kiss of God, nothing else can fully satisfy it. We simply want more of him.

    His words become sweeter than honey. His love becomes better than wine. And deep within, the heart continues to pray: “Lord, I long for the kiss of your Word.”

  • God’s Church

    Which one of the many Christian denominations is God’s Church? Is it the Orthodox Church? Or could it be the Roman Catholic Church? What about the many protestant churches, could any of them be God’s Church?

    In the letter to the Corinthians the apostle Paul define God’s Church as those who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made us holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

    This apostolic definition tells me that the many different ways of organizing the church, whether new or traditional, is not the defining element of God’s Church. The apostle is saying that God’s Church is people who has been called by God to be his very own people. All those people who belong to God is His Church. All people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, have been made holy, and together they are God’s Church. God has called us and invited us into a living partnership and friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

    All people everywhere calling upon his name and living in this intimate friendship with Jesus Christ our Lord, are together God’s Church. Whenever or wherever any of the friends of Jesus Christ meet, two or three believers, or larger groups of people calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is God’s Church. Whether we meet in a park, in a restaurant, in a home or in a sacred building, we are God’s Church whenever we meet!

  • The Kingdom of God is life

    Romans 14:17 is saying that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

    The Kingdom of God is a matter of living a life in the Holy Spirit. It is not a matter of eating or drinking. The Kingdom of God is all about something much more important than food. It is more important than any human interests or activities. The Kingdom of God is all about a righteous life, a peaceful life, and a joyful life – produced by the Holy Spirit.

  • Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ!

    The apostle Paul gives us this admonition in Romans 13:14 as an antidote to participate in the deeds of darkness.

    In other words the apostle is saying that we must immerse ourselves into the Lord Jesus, the Anointed one. We should not even waste a moment’s thought on our former identity as children of darkness. Rather we have to clothe ourself with the shining armour of right living. Once and for all we will clothe ourselves with the radiance of light as our weapon.

    We are called to live honourable and decent lives surrounded by the light of this new day and not in the darkness of the world that is passing away.

    This a a new day. Let us clothe ourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

  • Fosen Mission Update 6

    Our days at Fosen is coming to and end, but our mission will continue. God has led us in a wonderful way and we have met with some very precious people. We have names and telephone numbers and a lot of follow up work to do when we return home. We don’t know how this will turn out. The fruit of this mission trip is in the hands of God. But we know that his word will never return to him empty.

    Yesterday we went to Stokkøya. Actually, we didn’t know what to do in the morning. The day was kind of open as we had not made any specific plans. Early in the morning we had a message and a phone call from someone we never met before, inviting us for an evening meal. The we talked with Roald, a Christian leader in the Lutheran prayer house in Åfjord (NLM). He was very kind and helpful. In his understanding all the free churches and most of the Lutheran prayer houses in the coastal villages had been shut down and turned into ordinary houses for people to live in. Some had become summer houses. The only free church that was not closed down, according to Roald, was the Baptist Church at Stokkøya.

    Therefore we decided to go to Stokkøya yesterday. On the way I called a Baptist preacher, a friend of mine, who was from Stokkøya and recently had moved back to his native place. He was not at home but told the amazing story of his greatgrandmother who became a baptist in 1890 and had been praying for revival. In 1930-1934 the revival came. 100 people out of the 600 inhabitants on the island repented and was baptised as believers. Almost every family on the island was touched by the revival and had some baptists among them. But today the church consists of mainly elderly people praying for a new revival.

    When we came to the centre of Stokkøya we went to the local Coop store and asked for direction. Then we had a very good conversation with the people at the store and was able to witness for them. They were very friendly and open. One of them had attended the Sunday school in the Baptist church.

    According to Wikipedia about 300 people live on the island today. That is only half as much as the number of people who lived here a hundred years ago. The same thing has happened to all the coastal villages of this area. The number of people has been drastically reduced as many families have moved away to sette in more central areas of Norway. But God loves the people in islands and distant coastlands. The precious people of these villages scattered along the coast are longing to hear the word of God. Who will bring them the Good News of the Kingdom of God?

  • A new person

    This morning I was reading Romans 12. This verse caught my attention: “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of ths world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then yoiu will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

    Praise God, we don’t need to copy the behaviour of the world. We don’t have to follow the customs of the society in which we live. Christ has redeem us. He has set us free from slavery to the basic spiritual powers and principles of this world. Now we are free to bring our bodies to God as a living and holy sacrifice that is acceptable to God. This is truly the way to worship him.

    Praise God, we are not even stuck with ourselves. We are not stuck with our old and stubborn personality. We can let God change us into new persons by letting him change the way we think. As a person thinks in his heart, so he is. Therefore we need to lear to think God’s thought about us. He will teach us his ways. We can learn to know God’s will for our lives. His will is good and pleasing and perfect.

    What a privilege! We can let God transform us into new persons by changing the way we think! Hallelujah! God is good!

  • Fosen Mission Update 5

    Again, we have had a wonderfulday in Åfjord. We have met some very good people who has given us valuable information. First we met with a believer at the same age as Solveig and myself. His name was Roald and he was from Roan. He had probably been to some of my meetings about 64 years ago. It was such a blessing to talk to him. He knew a lot about the Christian churches and activities in this area. He confirm what we had discovered, that many prayer houses and church buildings had been turned into family houses as the churches had been closed down and no longer existed.

    Actually, the spiritual situation in the coastal area is quite sad. The numbers of born again believers have been drastically reduced since the time I was ministering the Gospel in this area. Lots of people have moved away from the small villages scattered along the coast, in the fjords and on the islands. So naturally the numbers also have gone down, but is seems like the free churches and mission organisations have been more severely hit. Roald did not know of any living, born again believer at all in his home village of Roan. The pentecostal church no longer existed and their building was turned into an ordinary house.

    But he gave me names of some of the children and grandchildren of the families I stayed with long ago. Now I will be able to contact several of them. One of them is actually living not far from home. He was very helpful and helped us to a better understanding of the spiritual situation of the area which is in a desperate need of revival.

    We have spoken a lot of local people. They have all been very open ond friendly. As we have told about the goodness of God and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ, the people have been listening and open to our message. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. We feel a real burden for the people in this area. They are kind and friendly, they are longing but do not understand what they are longing for. We will pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to the many villages in this area without any living Christian fellowship. Many of these places don notm even have a state church building. And in the few state church buildings there seemed to be only one service in every three weeks or even more seldom.

  • Intended for His glory

    Romans 11:36 is saying that everything comes from God and exists by his power, and is intended for his glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.

    I was reading this verse again this morning in my daily Bible reading/devotion. This verse kind of summarize our Christian faith and worldview. Everything comes from God. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He sustain the entire universe. Everything exists by his power. This truth gives me peace, security, stability and confidence. I am resting in God’s loving and caring hands.

    Everything is intended for his glory. This is the purpose of life. Knowing that I am created for his glory gives me the blessed assurance that I am part of a greater plan and purpose. We are all intended to bring glory to God. And he has purposed to bring us to glory through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and his triumphal resurrection.

    So we keep praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honoured because of the way you live, and you will be honoured along with him. This is made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. 2 Tess 1:11-12

  • Fosen Mission Update 4

    As I was writing update no 2, we were having a fruit lunch at the harbour at Bessaker. Then I saw an elderly couple walking not far from us. The husband was using a stick and when I saw it, I jumped up and ran over to him. In the car God told me that I would see a man with a stick and that I should give him a greeting from God. The couple were Germans and did not speak Norwegian or English. I had to call Solveig to help me explain to them the situation. They were kind of bewildered, but very friendly as we tried to explain things to them. In the end I could give him this simple message in German: Gott liebe dich! Both of them were happy, and I was very happy.

    It is very exciting and a great joy to be able to the small but good things God has planned for us to do long ago. God is good. Hallelujah!

  • Fosen Mission Update 3

    This is the church building where I lives at the flat at the first floor.

    We found the church building at Vik at Bessaker. It was no longer used as a church building but was turned into a family house.

    We found that has happened to several prayer houses in the Fosen coastal area. The believers seem to have given up and moved away from this area. Several have moved to settle down in the city of Trondheim.

    But a new move of the Holy Spirit is on the way!