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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…)
God vs Wealth, part 7: The Woman with the Alabaster Jar
Image from theepottershand.com
In the previous parts of my God vs Wealth series, I’ve explained why I’m convinced that Christians neither should be rich nor spend money on unnecessary stuff like luxury, beauty products and entertainment. There’s a common counter argument against this though: the woman with the alabaster jar.
In Matthew 26, Mark 14 and John 12, we read about this woman who poured out really expensive perfume from her alabaster jar on Jesus’ body. The disciples get upset and tell her that that perfume could have been sold for a lot of money, which could have been given to the poor.
However, Jesus’ defends the woman and calls her act “beautiful”. Countless (rich) Christians have told me that this is the proof that there are times when we don’t have to give our money to the poor but spend them on luxury instead. If it was okay for Jesus, and He was sinless, why would it be a problem if we from time to time enjoyed some extravagance and glamour?
My answer to that is that this text cannot be applied to any situation today whatsoever. I’ll show you what I mean. Firstly, we have to realize that the disciples are doing something very logical if we think about the teaching Jesus already has given them. He commanded them in Lk 12:33 to sell everything they have and give the money to the poor – of course they get upset when a woman refuses to do the same with an extremely expensive perfume (it says that it was worth 300 denarii – a year’s wage for the avarage worker).
Seven Reasons Why Inequality Sucks
Inequality in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Milton Jung
I’ve already described how the Bible tells us to support social and economic equality and bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Now that I am going to one of the most unequal countries in the world, I feel the need to return to this topic. Let me explain why I’m convinced that inequality is immoral, unjust and unholy.
There is a very common argument against equality, used by Christians and non-Christians alike: inequality is acceptable and right if everyone benefits from it. For example, if inequality produces more economic growth than equality would have done, and rich and poor alike benefits from this growth, then inequality is something good.
There are several problems with this argument:
1. Inequality produces social problems. In 2009, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett authored a book called The Spirit Level, which looked upon how inequality impacts social issues in OECD countries. The results were staggering: they found correlation between inequality and infant mortality, crime, poor health, lack of education, etc. Of course the poor suffered most, but even the rich were worse off in unequal societies compared to equal ones. Thus, the thesis that everyone can benefit from inequality is not true when it comes to social aspects and quality of life.
Iris Relief Starts Supporting Syrian Refugees
I know, I’ve written about the crisis in Syria before, it shouldn’t be new to anyone that the humanitarian situation there is catastrophical. But things have become even worse. Today, leaders of four giat UN agencies – UNICEF, WFP, OCHA and UNHCR – published the video above were they demand more support for the humanitarian relief in Syrian and neighbouring countries. There isn’t enough money. People die because of lack of money. The political leaders of donor countries are to blame for this of course, but it won’t hurt if we dig in our pocket books ourselves to save lives.
Iris Relief, my favourite humanitarian organization, have now started to work with Syrian refugees. They write:
As of the beginning March 2013, Jordan has received over 320,000 Syrian refugees, with the numbers expected to double or triple over the coming months. There are wide spread shortages of food, water, medical, hygiene and education resources. Jordan is under pressure and struggling to keep up with the demand of the ever increasing basic needs of those seeking refuge. (more…)
The Ministry of the Apostle
Old School Apostle
“Pastor” comes from the Latin word for shepherd, and is commonly used as a description for the person leading a congregation. You know how many times the term is used in that sense in the Bible?
Once: Ephesians 4:11.
The other ministries Paul lists there – apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers – are much more described and discussed in the Scriptures. Still, in many churches and denominations today, pastors are much more common than apostles and prophets (and often evangelists as well).
Let’s focus on the ministry of the apostle. The Greek word describes someone who have been send, a clear illustration to Matthew 28:18-20. Looking at the lives of Peter, James, John, Paul and the others we see that their ministry simply is about missions and church planting. It’s a translocal ministry that equip local churches and start new ones so that the Gospel may reach the end of the world.
Catholics and Orthodoxs have tried to replace the ministry of the apostle with church tradition. Protestants have tried to replace it with the Bible. In both cases, apostleship is viewed as something cessational and temporary, a ministry that gave us the foundation of our faith only in order to disappear after that. This is contradicted by the simple facts that:
1. Apostleship is never described in the Scriptures as something that would cease or decline; on the contrary, more and more apostles pop up the further we read the New Testament (Rom 16:7, 2 Cor 8:23).
Heading to Africa
People from Michael’s Children’s Village
You may have noticed that I’ve written a bit about South Africa lately. Well, that’s because I’m going there. Lord willing I will go to White River, Mpumalanga, in May, and visit Iris Ministries there. They have a children’s home called Michael’s Children’s Village which is led by Mozambiquians Surprise and Tryphina Sithole and Americans Teisa and Jean Nicole.
They’re practicing true charismatic activism. Surprise have seen food miracles as well as people raised from the dead, and at the Village they combine social work and compassion with prayer for signs and wonders. The reason it’s called Michael’s Children’s Village is that the arch angel Michael appeared to them and told them to start it.
There are huge needs of this type of social ministry in SA. Many may think of the country as a prosperous, emerging economy; however, it is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The traces of apartheid are still visible, damning millions of people into poverty while the richest only get richer.
Half of SA’s children live in poverty. 5.6 million South Africans suffer from HIV and over 200 000 die from AIDS annually. And the social unrest make crime very prevalent, making the rich isolating themselves from the poor even more.
School Revival in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
From an article by Gateway News, published a year ago:
Shannon-Leigh Barry
St Thomas High School in Gelvandale, Port Elizabeth has been transformed by a move of God over the past two months during which hundreds of learners have committed their lives to Jesus Christ and a number of miracles have been reported.
The revival began at a school assembly on Monday, March 5 when about 500 learners put up their hands when former St Thomas learner, Shannon-Leigh Barry, 25, asked for a response from anybody who wanted to know the Jesus that she had been speaking about. Shannon-Leigh was leading the assembly at the invitation of her father, Mark Barry, a teacher at the leading Northern Areas school which has more than 1 000 learners.
Since the March 5 assembly, several hundred more learners had turned to Jesus, and there were regular manifestations of spiritual gifts such as healings, prophecy and speaking in tongues at the ongoing revival meetings at the school during breaks and after school, said Shannon-Leigh in an interview yesterday.
Celebrate the New Arms Trade Treaty!
One year ago, me and my dear friend Michael Liliequist made a (very improvised) video clip lobbying for a global arms trade treaty, simply because selling bananas was more regulated than selling weapons:
A few weeks later we made a new (more directed) video explaining how much money is wasted on the killing industry instead of doing good things, like eradicating malaria:
And guess what? We did it!!
Living in Resurrection Power
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Eph 1:18-21)
Christ is truly risen from the dead!! This is an undeniable cornerstone for our faith and should be central in the gospel we preach. If miracles cannot happen and Jesus has not risen, Christianity is worthless according to 1 Cor 15. But if miracles do happen and Jesus has risen, Christianity is the most important thing in the world.
But not only is the resurrection of Christ the basis for our doctrine, it should also be the fuel for how we live our lives. As Paul writes above, the same power that rose Jesus from the dead is in us. Through the Holy Spirit we have the same authority to do miracles like He did, the power of the resurrection is available for everyone who wants it!
The Role of Suffering in the Charismatic Movement
Image: Michael Clarke
We have now entered the holy week, the last step of lent in which the liturgical year remembers the passion, that is suffering, of Jesus. In my experience, it is not so common among Pentecostals and Charismatics to talk about suffering as something achievable. Rather, our emphasis on healing has often made us think that pain is always evil. And while I am convinced that we should always pray and work to alleviate involuntarily suffering, we should also be ready to suffer for Christ’s sake – and even count it as a joy! (Mt 5:11-12)
After all, we follow a crucified God who told us to take up our crosses and follow Him (Lk 14:27). He told us that we should expect persecution and turn the other cheek when attacked (Mt 5:39). We are also told in the Scriptures that we will experience spiritual trials and hardships (Jam 1:2ff.).
This may seem hard to sync with the Kingdom message of fighting suffering through healing, deliverance, poverty reduction and peacemaking. But it is one of the Kingdom paradoxes – while we should alleviate suffering, we should be ready to suffer. We should not seek suffering or be happy when others suffer, but when we are affected by suffering, which undoubtedly will happen from time to time, we should not interpret it as being abandoned by God but see it as a humiliating experience for us to identify ourselves with Christ.
Many Charismatics who experience a lot of miracles and breaktrough has also gone through deep pain. Smith Wigglesworth, the British Pentecostal healing preacher who raised several from the dead, lost his wife in the beginning of his ministry, and he himself got very sick in kidney stones. John Wimber prayed för thousands of people who got healed, but he died in a very painful fight against cancer. Heidi Baker is living in revival in Mozambique but just before the breakthrough she, her husband and her daughter were very, very sick and they had barely any money to continue.
(more…)
Holy Spirit Explosion in Stockholm, Sweden
One and a half year ago I attended a Healing School conference in Malmo here in Sweden, arranged by Global Awakening and New Wine Sweden. Randy Clark, Bill Johnson, Tom Jones and Will Hart were speaking in 26 different sessions about how to pray for the sick and seeing the Kingdom of Heaven manifest on earth. Many miracles happened during that conference, as can be seen in the video above that I made. For example, a guy named Magnus was damaged in a car accident 21 years earlier and got metal plates to stabilize the body, something that made it impossible for him to bow down entirely. He named and claimed his healing and bam – he could touch the floor.
With this wonderful conference in mind, I was excited when I attended the New Wine leader’s conference in Stockholm this week where Randy was the main speaker. It was the same message – healing does not belong to the church margins but is at the heart of the Kingdom – but he had some new wonderful testimonies that illustrated his points. For example, he showed us this powerful video about a woman getting healed from metal constraints, just like Magnus:
Randy Clark
I like Randy. Even though I think his former mentor John Wimber (someone I keep comparing him with) had a slightly sounder theology at some points, I love his passion for Jesus, the Kingdom, and the spiritual gifts. His ministry, labeled by Wimber as apostolic, has changed the life of millions – including Heidi Baker. And God surely blesses his meetings through marvelous signs and wonders.
At the first night of the leader’s conference, a man started to shout joyfully and clap his hands. It turned out to be Pekka Liljeblom, a passionate Pentecostal evangelist – and a Facebook friend of mine. He got up on stage and explained that about 30 years ago, he got hurt in a boat accident and damaged his left eye. Since that day, he could only see ten centimeters with it. After receiving prayer at the conference however, his vision got restored with 90 %. He could now see to the other end of the room! I spoke with him two days later and his vision continued to improve.
The author
Micael Grenholm, a Swedish charismactivist, apologist and author.
A Living Alternative
God vs Inequality
Charismactivism 