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Yearly Archives: 2013
The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
“I Saw You in a Vision”
Tryphina Sithole
Two weeks ago, Surprise Sithole took his kids to Kruger National Park to look at the wild animals. His wife Tryphina and their oldest son Enoch stayed at home in Nelspruit. Suddenly, they saw something amazing through the window: a castle levitating in the sky.
When Tryphina told us about this in Iris Revival Church, she emphasised that it wasn’t a vision. Both she and Enoch saw this castle with their very eyes. They went away quickly to get a camera, but when they came back to the window the castle was covered by clouds. When the clouds disappeared, the castle was gone.
“What do you think it means?”, one church member asked. “Well, a castle belongs to a king”, Surprised said, and revealed that he actually had seen the same thing a couple of years ago in Florida. The Kingdom of Heaven is near.
God is truly speaking to His people here in South Africa. Shortly after I had arrived to Block B where I am currently staying, I was attending a cool wedding. Cool because it was lead by a “prof. apostle” and included prophetic messages and prayer for healing. As a European I’m however not so used to eight hour weddings, so after a while I went outside.
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Village of Hope
The story of Iris Ministries South Africa is to a large extent the story of Surprise Sithole, a man of God who has experienced many miracles. In the mid-90’s, shortly before he connected with Iris, he received a prophetic word from the Lord about moving to a white river. At first he didn’t understand what it meant, buy then he found out that there’s actually a place named White River in South Africa. So he and his wife Tryphina moved from Mozambique to SA.
God continued to speak to Surprise about ministering on “the mountain” – Backdoor, a township outside White River. Back then, Backdoor was known to be a very dangerous place, where the crime rate was very high and robbery was a part of daily life. The Sithole family moved there anyway, and they were severely tested – once they were almost killed by a violent gang. But as their church plant grew and their social ministry expanded, the community started to change.
As I wrote in my previous blog post, there are still many problems in Backdoor, but the crime rate really has decreased a lot since Iris started working there. Of course, it’s hard to tell if that would have happened anyway, but surely Iris has contributed a lot to the good trend. Its community center, Village of Hope, includes a preschool, a bible school, a feeding programme, a sowing center, a youth ministry and soon also a carpentry. Everything they do is aiming to bring help and hope to the people.
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Crushing the Spirit of Apartheid
Nelspruit
I knew SA would be unequal, but this is ridiculous. White River is a 100% Western town, with supermarkets, KFC:s, cinemas and luxurious houses with large fences. 15 minutes from it you will find Backdoor, an informal township where thousands live in favelas without running water, where there is 80 % unemployment and where so many are suffering from HIV.
Backdoor
The contrast is so painful. It’s obvious to all that the poor aren’t poor because of lack of resources, but because they have been oppressed and neglected for decades.
White River
However, it would be wrong to say that apartheid created Backdoor’s poverty. The swati people living there were probably just as poor before they immigrated to Backdoor, or even poorer. What apartheid does is that it ignores people and denies them their rights. And even though there has been some progress during the later years, the spirit of apartheid is still alive here, separating people based on their colour.
But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness…
Luke 11:11-13
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks you for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Pray for Moldova
The poverty is devastating in Moldava. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe. You can help easily.
This video is made by “Serve East”, founded by brothers and sisters from the Vineyard in Bern, Switzerland. They pour out their hearts and lifes into this country.
Pray for the people of Moldova to encounter a God who gives them hope, acceptance, justice and restoration.
Visit “Serve East” here: http://www.serve-east.ch/
or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stepout.goeast
The Book of Psalms
The Book of Psalms
The book of Psalms is a devotional worship section of the Bible. It records some of the most intimate prayers and worship songs of Biblical saints. When we read the book of Psalms, it is as though we are stepping into God’s house and reading his private love letters. There is something very sacred about them. They reveal not only the character and yearnings of the sender but also the receiver. Reading these verses, not only gives us encouragement to speak to God with boldness and honesty, but also gives us a glimpse of the magnificence of our God through his communication with these saints.
In Psalms, God is portrayed as omnipotent and omnipresent. He is the creator of all things. He is full of love and has compassion for all he has created. As a ruler, he is just. He has deep concern for the world and listens to the righteous, forgiving those who humbly repent of their sins and turn to him.
By praying the eloquent words of the Psalms, we are able to bare our souls to God in a spirit-led way that brings healing and encouragement, especially in times of personal crisis.
The book reveals that Biblical saints did not just think positive and be happy, when faced with doubt and depression but expressed their honest feelings and confessed their transgressions. In doing so, they brought everything that weighed upon their souls into the light, both their joys and sorrows.
God wants an honest relationship with us, not a false one. He does not value us singing empty words of praise if that is not what we’re really feeling. Although we should praise him at all times, even when full of doubt and disillusionment, we should not pretend to be happy if we are not. In a superficial relationship, people will put on a smile and talk about things which they feel will be acceptable to each other but in an intimate friendship, people will bare their souls to one another. It is clear that the writers of the Psalms, not only bared their souls to God, but were also aware of God’s feelings towards them, which shows us they were trusted friends of God.
By Andrew Meakin http://outreach7.webs.com/
Joseph
This is the story of Joseph.
Joseph was the son of Jacob who was the son of Issac, who was the son of Abraham who God had made a covenant with that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.(Genesis 15:4) Joseph was son number 11, Jacob had 12 sons(Genesis 35:23-26). Joseph’s brothers hated him because Jacob favoured Joseph and gave him a coat of many colours. (Genesis 37:3-4).
One night God sent Joseph a dream and in this dream, he and his brothers were binding sheaves of grain, when all of a sudden, his sheave arose and stood upright, while his brothers sheaves gathered around his and bowed down to it. The dream showed him he would one day rule over his brothers. So when he woke from that dream, he immediately shared it with excitement with his brothers, who not surprisingly did not share his enthusiasm and they hated him even more. Then he had another dream in which the sun, the moon and 11 stars bowed before him, representing his father and mother and 11 brothers. When he shared this dream, even his father was offended. (Genesis 37:5-10).
So his older brothers went out to feed the flock. Jacob told Joseph to go and see how his brothers were doing. So Joseph went searching for his brothers and finally found them but when they saw him coming from a distance they said “Here comes that dreamer! Let’s throw him into a pit and say a wild animal devoured him, than ripped off his coat of many colours and threw him into a deep pit to die. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” So when he came, they grabbed him, ripped off his coat of many colours and threw him in a pit. (Genesis 37:19-23).
Pacifism in the early Church
Pacifism:
The principal support for the view that the Bible advocates pacifism comes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:39-44, He states:
But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.
In addition, in Luke 6:27-35, from Christ’s sermon on the plain:
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. And just as you want men to treat you, treat them in the same way. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
John 6:15:
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Mathew 26:50-52:
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”
Walk with New Heart Vision
Lately I felt that one of my greatest wishes is to have everything I say or do or even think coming right and unfiltered from my heart.
I’ve grown quite confident in that wish, because I feel that the promise given in Ezekiel 36:26 becomes my reality:
“But… I mean… what happens when I forget to make this choice one day? Would I be ignorant then to the Spirit? Isn’t this really another religious rule to apply?” – Well, yeah. If you put it this way it kinda is. Which brings me back to my wish uttered in my introduction. It is also a prayer:
God, change my heart
and let me be so fully aware of it
that I can not live any other way
than out of the vision
I have through my new heart of flesh.
Until I see that this has also become my reality, I choose to follow – everyday.
Focus
Oh well, here I am writing again, although I’ve wanted to post something days ago. I just have so much going on in my head that I find it hard to write coherent texts. Focus…
In times like these I tend to be content with shots of wisdom. Tiny relevations shoving my heart and mind into some direction. However, I realize now that this is not enough. This is what most people are open to (to get changed a little bit… you know), but it leaves me in between finding importance in my day-to-day life and at the same time wanting to have a greater impact on the world. In conclusion I change nothing really.
The truth is it’s not one or the other: It’s changing your day-to-day life so that it can change the world!
Focus… sure, there are more things you want to see changed, but there is only so much time and resources you are given. Use it wisely and effectively. If you feel there are more time and resources needed – get more people on board!
That’s how it’s done. Choose your path – wholeheartedly.
And remember that major changes in your day-to-day life cause major changes in the world.
I guess this is what I’ve had on my heart today. My next post is going to be more spiritual/biblical – I promise, haha!
Be blessed!
The Gospel told entirely from Old Testament prophesy
5:2)
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son” (Isaiah 7:13)
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall
be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon
his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even for ever. . . . ” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For
he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry
ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he
was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. ” (Isaiah 53:1-4)
Some inspiring quotes from the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr :)
Strength to Love (1963)
Ch. 4 : Love in action, Sct. 3
Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. … The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Keep Moving From This Mountain (1965)
Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood (196-02-25) – Online text and audio
“The great tragedy of life is that too often we allow the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live.”
“We’ve been in the mountain of war. We’ve been in the mountain of violence. We’ve been in the mountain of hatred long enough. It is necessary to move on now, but only by moving out of this mountain can we move to the promised land of justice and brotherhood and the Kingdom of God. It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satisfied with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.”
Beyond Vietnam (1967)
Speech at Riverside Church in New York City (196-04-04) – Online text and audio
“As I have walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through nonviolent action. But they asked — and rightly so — what about Vietnam? They asked if our own nation wasn’t using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government.”
Say hello to Andrew and Friederike!
Now that I am going to South Africa, my Internet connection will be very limited at times. Consequently, I have asked two friends to write on this blog to prevent it from turning silent. Both are Jesus-loving disciples who like charismatic activism.
Andrew Meakins from Australia contacted me half a year ago and said that he was glad to have found someone else who connected charismatic theology to Christian pacifism. On his own website, Charismatic Holiness Anabaptist Theology, he has several articles, links and media about this. He also has a Facebook page with the same name, which he lets me contribute to.
The other blogger is Friederike Berghauer from Germany. I found her through the Facebook group Awakening the Bride which connects charismatic Christians from all around the world. Friederike is a proud member of the Vineyard movement and likes to promote justice and Fairtrade within and through it. She has several tumblr blogs, of which this one is convenient for non-German speakers.
I’m so thankful that Andrew and Friederike are willing to help me with this, and I’m also really excited to see what they are going to write about! God bless them. 🙂
Testimonies from the Durban Awakening
With four days left before I’m going to South Africa, I get really excited when I hear about the current outpouring in KwaZulu-Natal. Famous and controversial healing evangelist Todd Bentley is leading meetings at a church in Tongaat, and people come from all over the world to take part in what God is doing. Many get healed, saved and filled with the Spirit. Christian News Wire reports:
Todd has been touring South Africa this month and many healing miracles have been documented. These include a girl who was born deaf in both ears and mute, who spoke for the first time and a man blind in his left eye who was instantly able to see. Over 10,000 people have attended the meetings in Durban and hundreds of Muslims and Hindus have committed their lives to Christ.
“Something is really happening here in Durban SA. It’s a move of God,” said Todd Bentley. “It’s an explosion of power. The hospitals are calling for prayer. They are bringing the sick from the hospitals too. One man that was crippled and blind from kidney failure was healed. This is the closest I have been to revival since Lakeland!”
The meatings are being broadcast live at God TV, and people watching the outpouring get touched as well. On their website, God TV share some testimonies:
NAME: DR H
FROM: TONGAAT, SOUTH AFRICA
I am a registered medical doctor and the revival is taking place at my church. I have a patient who has been diagnosed with a large cyst on her uterus 2 years ago. She came in yesterday for consultation saying that she wanted an ultrasound done. Upon asking her why? She replied that the day before whilst she was seated at church, Todd Bentley said “Place your hand on the body part that needs healing.” She did, she felt electricity going through her uterus. I did the ultrasound upon her request… THE CYST IS TOTALLY GONE!!!
Stories of Hope from the Syrian Border
As I’ve mentioned previously, Iris Relief is right now helping Syrian refugees in Jordan, bringing food, love and the power of the living God. On their facebook feed as well as through other sources, the team publish several testimonies of hope and relief in the midst of unimaginable suffering. Here are some of those testimonies:
I have been been brought to tears today as I sat with the Syrian Refugees listening to their tragic and horrific stories of what war has cost them. Love looks like something! – Daniel
Our Iris Relief Middle East team had so much favor today and made it into the refugee camp in Zaa-tari where 100,000 refugees are staying. We listened to horrendous stories of imprisonment and torture. We saw inner healings as well as many physical healings as we prayed at each tent. The indigenous Jor-danians said that the kind of breakthrough that we saw today has never happened before. These desperate people are absolutely beautiful and Papa God has broken our hearts for them – Christian
Sitting in a UNHCR tent w/ a family of Sy-rian refugees who fled war only 4 days before, I was blown away by this muffin. At her young age she has lived through bombs, bullets and 2 massacres. 1 of 400 ppl and another of 500 ppl. Looking deep into her eyes, holding her in my arms and echoing each other’s giggles I could only lean back on the goodness of God. No matter how bad the circumstance, his love is ALWAYS enough. Always. His beauty is found in the hope he brings to the hurting, the life he restores to the broken-hearted and the fact that he powerfully pursues us wherever we’re at. We’ve seen so much pain, so much devastation but I’ve never been more in love or filled with more hope. – Cassandra (more…)
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