This Sunday (5th June), the group of 7 of us will start our road trip to Macedonia. I can't quite believe it's so soon. I've never visited any of the countries we will be visiting, and I'm pretty excited about seeing lots of new places. God seems to have especially placed Europe on my heart, and I feel sure that this trip will be significant.
On our way to Macedonia we will be stopping and staying a couple of days in Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary. Our journey back to Finland will include visiting Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland again (probably including visiting Auschwitz), Latvia, and finally back to Finland via the ferry from Estonia.
Between all this traveling we'll be spending a few days in Skopje, Macedonia, and then in Ohrid, where we'll be part of 24/7 Prayer Balkan gathering. There will be people from over 10 countries, and we'll be worshiping, sharing our hearts, and just spending time together.
Psalm 84 seems very relevant at the moment - "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage." I think a major theme of this Psalm is that God's presence is our home, that we can choose to dwell in His house. His presence is where we belong.
One the things I'm most excited about is the chance to travel together as a group, to worship and pray together, and see what God has planned for us in each place we visit. I'm sure there will be challenging moments, but I know there's a lot God wants to do in each of our hearts through the experience.
We have a blog for the trip, so you can follow what's going on along the way - http://joyinthevan.blogspot.com/
Bring it on!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A future shaped by the hands that formed the universe...
Recently, while praying with someone, God showed me this picture. I thought it summed things up so well that I'd share it with you.
There was a lump of clay on a wheel that God was shaping. As I was watching, I suddenly thought I'd figured out what God was making. Hastily I pushed in front of Him and tried to form what I thought He was making. Pretty soon, however, I was just left with a bit of a mess.
Two things became very clear (1) I have a very poor understanding of exactly what God is making and (2) even if I knew exactly what God is forming, I am completely incapable of producing that result.
This really highlighted for me that trying to plan the future and make things happen in my strength is really pretty futile. God's plans are so much more beautiful than what I can imagine, and full of so many intricate details that I could never come up with.
I guess, as with so many things, it comes down to trust. Am I willing to leave the clay in God's infinitely skillful hands and amazingly creative imagination? Do I really trust that His plans for me are really perfect, designed with total knowledge of what I really need? Am I ready to let go of control, and allow the Creator to form my life into what He has always dreamed it could be?
There was a lump of clay on a wheel that God was shaping. As I was watching, I suddenly thought I'd figured out what God was making. Hastily I pushed in front of Him and tried to form what I thought He was making. Pretty soon, however, I was just left with a bit of a mess.
Two things became very clear (1) I have a very poor understanding of exactly what God is making and (2) even if I knew exactly what God is forming, I am completely incapable of producing that result.
This really highlighted for me that trying to plan the future and make things happen in my strength is really pretty futile. God's plans are so much more beautiful than what I can imagine, and full of so many intricate details that I could never come up with.
I guess, as with so many things, it comes down to trust. Am I willing to leave the clay in God's infinitely skillful hands and amazingly creative imagination? Do I really trust that His plans for me are really perfect, designed with total knowledge of what I really need? Am I ready to let go of control, and allow the Creator to form my life into what He has always dreamed it could be?
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Dancing
A few weeks ago someone told me that God wants me to know that He loves it when I dance for Him. While I probably kinda knew that deep down, it was still pretty amazing to hear. Now to be clear, I'm pretty sure I don't have a lot of natural talent for dancing. But I do really enjoy worshiping God with dance, although that hasn't always been the case.
It all really started about a year and a half ago while I was in Oklahoma. I was at a 24-hour BURN in - essentially 24 hours of worship. After about 4 or 5 hours of just worshiping, I felt God tell me to dance, and I knew He meant 'floaty' dancing, that kinda 'un-cool' sort of dancing. I had little intention of doing that, so I tried to dismiss the thought. The thought just kept coming though, along with reminders of times I'd told God I'd do anything for Him and even one time I'd told God He could even take my dignity! I was at the front of the church building, and I knew I was about to look like an idiot.
Eventually I saw I was fighting a losing battle, so I gave in and made up about 10 seconds of generic 'floaty' dancing, finishing nicely on my knees. God then told me to dance some more, so I got up and danced again for maybe 30 seconds. One more time God said the same thing, so I then just completely surrendered and danced freely for about 5 minutes or so. I've rarely felt that free, it was an amazing feeling. So since then every so often I've had the opportunity to dance in worship, and sometimes I've lost the battle with my self-consciousness, and other times won.
Now clearly I love to worship with music - it's probably how I express myself best, and it can be so much fun to play and sing. But there's something about dancing for me that is a little bit different. I guess it could be because when I dance, it's completely for God, I really don't dance apart from to worship Him. And when I play music, others may enjoy that, but I'm fairly sure my dancing isn't great to watch. David's example in 2 Samuel 6 inspires me, where he said “It was before the LORD". He simply didn't care what anyone else was thinking of him.
So now sometimes in the prayer room here in Jakomäki I put on a cd and dance before God, knowing that He loves it when I dance for Him. Recently I've been dancing along to 'JOY' from IHOP Awakenings, and yes, it is great fun. But I'm dancing in adoration for the Eternal King who delights in me, why shouldn't that be fun?
This is the first song from that album
It all really started about a year and a half ago while I was in Oklahoma. I was at a 24-hour BURN in - essentially 24 hours of worship. After about 4 or 5 hours of just worshiping, I felt God tell me to dance, and I knew He meant 'floaty' dancing, that kinda 'un-cool' sort of dancing. I had little intention of doing that, so I tried to dismiss the thought. The thought just kept coming though, along with reminders of times I'd told God I'd do anything for Him and even one time I'd told God He could even take my dignity! I was at the front of the church building, and I knew I was about to look like an idiot.
Eventually I saw I was fighting a losing battle, so I gave in and made up about 10 seconds of generic 'floaty' dancing, finishing nicely on my knees. God then told me to dance some more, so I got up and danced again for maybe 30 seconds. One more time God said the same thing, so I then just completely surrendered and danced freely for about 5 minutes or so. I've rarely felt that free, it was an amazing feeling. So since then every so often I've had the opportunity to dance in worship, and sometimes I've lost the battle with my self-consciousness, and other times won.
Now clearly I love to worship with music - it's probably how I express myself best, and it can be so much fun to play and sing. But there's something about dancing for me that is a little bit different. I guess it could be because when I dance, it's completely for God, I really don't dance apart from to worship Him. And when I play music, others may enjoy that, but I'm fairly sure my dancing isn't great to watch. David's example in 2 Samuel 6 inspires me, where he said “It was before the LORD". He simply didn't care what anyone else was thinking of him.
So now sometimes in the prayer room here in Jakomäki I put on a cd and dance before God, knowing that He loves it when I dance for Him. Recently I've been dancing along to 'JOY' from IHOP Awakenings, and yes, it is great fun. But I'm dancing in adoration for the Eternal King who delights in me, why shouldn't that be fun?
This is the first song from that album
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Week in Ruurikkala
A couple of weeks ago I was at Ruurikkala, a YWAM base in Evijärvi, which is about 5 or 6 hours north of Helsinki. I was there for a 5-day conference over the Easter weekend called 'Going Deeper', having been invited by my friends up there who run the YWAM base. I arrived a couple of days early just to spend some time there and find out about the plan for the gathering. Ruurikkala is a guest house set in pretty beautiful surroundings, right next to a lake, and it's one of those places where God seems to speak very clearly through His creation.
The conference itself was pretty awesome. There were about 90 people there, pretty much all aged between 20 and 30, and from all over Finland. The 5 days consisted of worship, some really great teaching, great food and time getting to know each other. I was helping to facilitate our times of corporate worship (in a combination of Finnish and English), which was really great. It was amazing to see how people became so much more free in worship over the course of the 5 days, some of whom clearly weren't familiar with a more 'free-flow' approach to worship.
We had some wonderful teaching, on stuff like identity in Christ and living in the rest of faith. Over the five days God did so much in people's lives, especially inner healing. Many people shared stories at the end of the gathering of how God had brought healing to some area of their heart. God's really given me a love for Finnish people, so seeing what God was doing in these people's lives was really amazing.
Another highlight of the time for me was getting to meet and get to know a number of really cool people. I've found that Finns, once they open up to you, will be completely open, which makes it quite easy to connect on a deeper level with them. I also enjoyed to talking to people who didn't speak much English, forcing me to use my Finnish. It seems I've got to the point where I don't worry too much about making mistakes and just try to talk, which obviously is quite important in learning a language.
So yeah, I had a great week there, and can't wait to see more of what God is clearly doing in this nation.
The conference itself was pretty awesome. There were about 90 people there, pretty much all aged between 20 and 30, and from all over Finland. The 5 days consisted of worship, some really great teaching, great food and time getting to know each other. I was helping to facilitate our times of corporate worship (in a combination of Finnish and English), which was really great. It was amazing to see how people became so much more free in worship over the course of the 5 days, some of whom clearly weren't familiar with a more 'free-flow' approach to worship.
We had some wonderful teaching, on stuff like identity in Christ and living in the rest of faith. Over the five days God did so much in people's lives, especially inner healing. Many people shared stories at the end of the gathering of how God had brought healing to some area of their heart. God's really given me a love for Finnish people, so seeing what God was doing in these people's lives was really amazing.
Another highlight of the time for me was getting to meet and get to know a number of really cool people. I've found that Finns, once they open up to you, will be completely open, which makes it quite easy to connect on a deeper level with them. I also enjoyed to talking to people who didn't speak much English, forcing me to use my Finnish. It seems I've got to the point where I don't worry too much about making mistakes and just try to talk, which obviously is quite important in learning a language.
So yeah, I had a great week there, and can't wait to see more of what God is clearly doing in this nation.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Media and discernment
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.
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)