Over the past week a lot has been made of Finland's election results, given its possible implications for Portugal's bail out by the E.U. The 'True Finns' party, who oppose EU membership and mass-migration, made pretty huge gains. Much of the media has over-emphasized the 'anti-imigration' stance and written them off as racists (although anyone who even discusses immigration seems to be labelled the same way). To be honest it was hard before the elections to get much media coverage of it in English. And due to the media portrayal I absorbed, I wasn't a big fan of the party.
However, many Christians I met seemed to see them in a slightly different light, which interested me. After the elections I some time with some people praying for Finland who clearly weren't against 'True Finns'. They began to explain to me why they believed the election results could be a positive thing, and it gave me more light on the subject. Then we spent time praying for the new parliament and the nation.
While praying, it dawned on me that I'd simply accepted the media's views without asking God about the situation. I know that there's a lot of stuff in the media that you really can't take at face value (the whole Middle East subject being one of them). I had to repent to God for my pride and thinking that by being 'well-informed' I therefore understand things (although it turns out I'd only got half the picture).
I'm still not a fan of some of True Finns' policies, but my eyes were opened again to the fact that politics and the media are governed by a different system. We need discernment from God to really find out what's really going on and what His purposes are for our nations. I believe there is so much more going on in our world under the surface than what the media is telling us. We need our spiritual eyes to be open and to be listening to what the Spirit is saying in these days.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Jealous Love
I've sung the song "How He Loves" so many times, in England, Finland, America and Israel, and also at my sister's wedding. I've heard the Jesus Culture recording, the David Crowder Band recording, the Glorious Unseen recording, John Mark McMillan's original recording of the song, and many other worship leaders' versions. The song has something powerful in it that our generation (and every generation) needs to know. It tells of the jealousy in God's love, the deep, unrelenting passion in God's heart for us.
He wants me, all of me - my weakness, my brokenness, my gifts, my talents, my time, my trust, my wholehearted devotion. I am Jesus' inheritance, His purchased possession, and there is something in me that longs to be completely, wholeheartedly His. Now I know this is a process will take my whole life, but what a life that will be. Yes, there will be many times of testing, times of weakness and times of sheer frustration. But I am determined that Jesus will receive the fullness of His inheritance in me.
So, I saw this video last week, and it's basically John Mark McMillan telling the story behind this song. I've watched it a few times already, and it is truly amazing. I think it also gives some idea of why the song has captured the heart of people around the world.
He wants me, all of me - my weakness, my brokenness, my gifts, my talents, my time, my trust, my wholehearted devotion. I am Jesus' inheritance, His purchased possession, and there is something in me that longs to be completely, wholeheartedly His. Now I know this is a process will take my whole life, but what a life that will be. Yes, there will be many times of testing, times of weakness and times of sheer frustration. But I am determined that Jesus will receive the fullness of His inheritance in me.
So, I saw this video last week, and it's basically John Mark McMillan telling the story behind this song. I've watched it a few times already, and it is truly amazing. I think it also gives some idea of why the song has captured the heart of people around the world.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
24/7 Prayer Finland 'Yhteyspäivä'
A couple of weeks ago, we had a 24/7 Prayer Finland gathering in Helsinki. About 50 people came along, some more directly involved with 24/7 in Finland and others keen to find out more. Despite the range of different people there, the overall feeling of the day was one of togetherness and family.
During the morning, various people involved with 24/7 in Finland shared something of what God has been doing where they are. It was really amazing to hear about prayer going on in prayer rooms, schools, day care centres, and Lutheran churches, in different places across this nation. Seeing people of different ages and from different church backgrounds share was pretty great, and helped me see that what God is doing here is so much bigger than the boxes we put ourselves in.
Both Susanna Rychiger, who heads up 24/7 in Switzerland, and Ian Nicholson, who is part of 24-7 Prayer's International Leadership Team, came to Finland for the weekend, and they both taught and shared with us some stories from their lives related to prayer.
These stories inspired, encouraged and challenged me, and throughout the day I got more and more passion to see prayer raised up across Finland. Our simple prayers, spoken and lived out in our everyday lives, can really change things.
One other highlight for me was towards the end of the day, when we spent some time praying all together for the relationship between the generations. There was repentance and humility on all sides, as well as love and reconciliation. It was really amazing to see God bringing unity between the different generations, which goes so much against today's Western culture, and i think particularly today's Finnish culture.
So overall, it was a pretty great day, and I'm excited to see more of what God is doing in Finland and the part 24/7 has to play in that.
During the morning, various people involved with 24/7 in Finland shared something of what God has been doing where they are. It was really amazing to hear about prayer going on in prayer rooms, schools, day care centres, and Lutheran churches, in different places across this nation. Seeing people of different ages and from different church backgrounds share was pretty great, and helped me see that what God is doing here is so much bigger than the boxes we put ourselves in.
Both Susanna Rychiger, who heads up 24/7 in Switzerland, and Ian Nicholson, who is part of 24-7 Prayer's International Leadership Team, came to Finland for the weekend, and they both taught and shared with us some stories from their lives related to prayer.
These stories inspired, encouraged and challenged me, and throughout the day I got more and more passion to see prayer raised up across Finland. Our simple prayers, spoken and lived out in our everyday lives, can really change things.
One other highlight for me was towards the end of the day, when we spent some time praying all together for the relationship between the generations. There was repentance and humility on all sides, as well as love and reconciliation. It was really amazing to see God bringing unity between the different generations, which goes so much against today's Western culture, and i think particularly today's Finnish culture.
So overall, it was a pretty great day, and I'm excited to see more of what God is doing in Finland and the part 24/7 has to play in that.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Come&Live!
A friend sent this video to me recently, and it is just so amazingly inspiring. It's done by an amazing bunch of people called Come&Live!, I'd recommend you check it out.
I'm helping to organise a nine-day-long 'worship and prayer tour' in Finland this July, visiting five different places. Our heart is very similar to the video below, and I've started to get a bit excited about it having just seen the video.
Enjoy
I'm helping to organise a nine-day-long 'worship and prayer tour' in Finland this July, visiting five different places. Our heart is very similar to the video below, and I've started to get a bit excited about it having just seen the video.
Enjoy
NEW ZEALAND {Our Story} | A Come&Live! Documentary from Come&Live! on Vimeo.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Not only meek and mild...
In C.S. Lewis' 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', Mr Beaver, talking about Aslan, says to Lucy, ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you’.
We often have a pretty clear picture of Jesus' gentleness, humility and servant heart; we see pretty clearly the 'Lamb' aspect of Jesus' nature. But as my friend Aki said on Saturday, we in the Church have often emphasised this, leaving another side of Jesus' character overlooked. Jesus is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
What I'm referring to isn't only important in terms of rediscovering what it is for us to be a man and follower of Jesus. This has been the focus of a number of books and teaching series, and is very important. But our understanding of 'Who Jesus truly is' must be central to everything.
I've recently been kinda fascinated by Jesus as presented in Revelation. In chapter 1, verses 12 to 18, we get a picture of the ascended Jesus, glorious and powerful. Eyes like a flame of fire, voice like the sound of rushing waters, out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword, etc. This picture of Jesus is fascinating and awesome, and I really feel that it is something we really need to re-discover.
If you want some stuff on this passage in more detail, Mike Bickle's notes on Revelation 1 are pretty amazing, see them here
We often have a pretty clear picture of Jesus' gentleness, humility and servant heart; we see pretty clearly the 'Lamb' aspect of Jesus' nature. But as my friend Aki said on Saturday, we in the Church have often emphasised this, leaving another side of Jesus' character overlooked. Jesus is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
What I'm referring to isn't only important in terms of rediscovering what it is for us to be a man and follower of Jesus. This has been the focus of a number of books and teaching series, and is very important. But our understanding of 'Who Jesus truly is' must be central to everything.
I've recently been kinda fascinated by Jesus as presented in Revelation. In chapter 1, verses 12 to 18, we get a picture of the ascended Jesus, glorious and powerful. Eyes like a flame of fire, voice like the sound of rushing waters, out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword, etc. This picture of Jesus is fascinating and awesome, and I really feel that it is something we really need to re-discover.
If you want some stuff on this passage in more detail, Mike Bickle's notes on Revelation 1 are pretty amazing, see them here
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