Faith arise!

Int. Holocaust remembrance day

Holocaust remembrance day will be commemorated all over Europe 27th January as part of pan-European campaign called learnfromhistory.eu that informs about holocaust and carries a mantle of speaking new life into the tree that we all come from but that has been cut off of our culture in many ways. The remembrance day is declared by both EU and UN. In today's Europe anti-Semitism is present just as many other forms of racism and we are in need of learning from the history.

Founding director of European coalition for Israel Tomas Sandell is conserned about a new extreme right-wing political group in European parliament called Identity, tradition and sovereignty. Especially alarming is the fact that the party is mixing search for "Christian" identity with racism like anti-Semitism. Maybe this is something one could pray into as a modern way to act against anti-Semitism.

but A LOT MORE forgiveness...

There is a lot of pain, but a lot more healing
There is a lot of hate, but a lot more loving
There is a lot of sin, but a lot more forgiveness
There is a lot of darkness, but a lot more light

There is an enemy that seeks to kill what it cant control
It twists and turns
Making mountains out of mere hills
but I will call on the Lord who is worthy of praise

I run to him and I am saved
by outrageous grace
thru my Jesus I can stand
song by Godfrey Birtill

We are not called to stand apart but to bring healing, truth and forgivess to broken world thru Jesus.I dont want to deny darkness and live in a bubble among my own people but look into darkness since we are called to darkness with our light. Some days it feels it might cost me everything...but he reminds me that there is "A LOT MORE forgiveness and A LOT MORE light" than anything that the enemy might come up with. Isnt that quite something?

Forgiveness on the cross is concrete. On the cross you see no good agendas, no ethical programs or peace talks but you see someone already paying the price. It is forgiveness not based on us being humane or idealistic, trying our best or being reasonable. Someone is paying the price.

A journalist commented that the West potrayed Saddam's execution as "redemptive violence". There is redemptive violence indeed, but ...the one dying is not Saddam.

Incarnation

Our faith has at its heart incarnation and a gospel which centered on three facts as to what happened to Christ's BODY in this world. If this is the emphasis God puts on INCARNATION of his love, how much more should we incarnate (give it our hands and feet) our faith both on personal and on society level?

The next wave of globalization

The World Bank published a new report called "Global economic prospects 2007: The next wave of globalization". According to the report the globalization could spur faster growth in average incomes in the next 25 years than during 1980-2005, with developing countries playing the central role. This, without careful management could cause growing income inequality and severe environmantal risks like exceleration of global warming and extinction of fisheries. Good news of future prospects of reduction of world poverty doesn't apply one region though: the progress in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to remain slow.

Spiritually thinking, it is interesting that the last decades we have seen in revivals all over the developing world the fullfillment of the word "He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty." I don't expect this to change. What I am really looking forward to is God to raise up people to speak in his name about the environmental issues that our irresponsible behavior has caused. According to the WB report the annual emissions of greenhouse gases will increase some 50% by 2030 without widespread policy changes. Everyone can think how green our winters here in north would then be...

And if you hadn't yet realized that Christmas is an educational high season for climate change campainging you can watch this interesting video. The idea of making our pagan traditions serve environmental education is a bit interesting, but from media perspective I like the films though.

 

The core

 

Sometimes I wonder about my life that has taken me to many people: new agers, politicians, native people, muslims, humanists, soldiers, biker gangs and CEOs, artists and nomads. I embrace diversity, cause I see something of the Creator in everything. I long to see the Spirit manifested in everyone in particular way. My question is: How can I build bridges with different people seeking their way to their Redeemer. In the end only two questions seem important to all of us: WHO is Jesus & what is MEANS to know Him?

   

Father, where are you?

One of the most dynamic Kingdom stories I've heard this autumn is to be read here (in Finnish unfortunately!). Friend of mine Mari from Turku had a propting of the Spirit to go and sit in front of the Finnish parliament building on the day when the parliament had an election on the law about fertility treatment of gay couples and single moms. She carried a sign saying: "Father, where are you?" Reading her story it is easy to see that her being there was a divine appointment. Many people reacted to her presence by starting to share about their relationship to their own father, about the role of the father in Finnish family and society. Her message even touched a few members of parliament, who had commented the message inside the building, and the next day Mari was invited to have coffee with some representatives of the Christian Democratic party.   

Commitment to speak good

Last weekend I attended a gathering of the leaders of national prayer initiatives in Finland. I have been involved in the core team for a feew years. The main struggle during these years have been to define a shared vision for this connection. The people involved are strong leaders and have their own visions about what the connection is all about, and this doesn't really help to build unity and friendship. My natural perspective into it has been just to get to know and bulid relationships. But that is me. Guess I'm not really a prayer leader but more of a connecter anyway.

God gave us a new beginning this weekend with a shared realisation that the gathering can serve as a link between different kinds of prayer movements that are specialized in different areas.

There was also a commitment made to speak good about other movements and leaders. As leaders we need each other, both encouragement and correction but critical atmosphere kills our ability to help each other these ways.

During our prayer time someone got a vision that I found helpful. It was about Finnish people among nations. Many people see that Finns have a special characteristic of understanding honesty and righteousness among nations. This turns easily into bitterness and focusing into other people's faults. Yet our calling is to bless other people with this gift, take our cross and bear each other's iniquities.   

This way we don't only stop binding each other with our critical attitude but enable each other to benefit from the our weaknesses when they can be honestly confronted and one can start to change. In the end, isn't Jesus following community a community that is constantly transformed.

A good job for faith

A friend mailed me a link of a Tearfund interview of Jim Wallis, an American  social  prophet and the founder Sojourners magazine. He talks among other things about the role of prophets in politics and maintaining integrity in politics, how to bring justice to the poor, about good and evil in people, the war in Iraq.

I find it interesting how he challenges us to reach BEYOND like Jesus always challenged people (you will not worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth). He also encourages us to demonstrate a better way in politics, environmental issues, on justice, not just to protest against things (in Finnish case most often with ignorance).

He says: "The two hungers in the world today are for spirituality and social justice. The connection between the two is the one the world is waiting for. Spirituality without justice in an affluent society can turn into consumerism and narcissism. But the fight for justice without spirituality can lead to dispair, bitterness, anger and burn-out. "

And: "God hasn't given up on his world and neither should we!"

"When I read the Bible, God doesn't call us to charity. God calls us to justice. The Bible doesn't talk about poor people; it talks about poverty and the causes of poverty. The word oppression was a Biblical word. This is a Biblical word- hardness of heart, structures, policies, the way things are arranged." "...sometimes you just can't keep pulling bodies out of the river; you've got to send somebody upstream to seewhat or who is throwing them in." 

Day of demonstrations

Yesterday I witnessed something that was quite unusual in Finland until last May Day. It was a weekend busy with demonstrations in Helsinki before ASEM (Asia-Europe meeting) gathers to interegional summit today. Demonstrators demanded human rights for Asia, and reminded that different kind of Europe is possible, especially for immigrants. I was happy to find out that this was the first time in the ten-year history of Asem that the representatives of several NGOs were welcomed to bring their greetings to politicians. 

A group called Sm*sh Asem had called together a "demonstration" that was planned to be violent. So being there anyway I went to do some prayer walking among the people gathered in the square of the museum of modern arts in the centre. It was definately worth going since I have never seen so many journalists, photographers and policemen in my life! Before the people most of whom we curious watchers noticed, we were surrounded by some 200 hundred police who were equipped with shields and helmets. The street was also blocked with four busses as the police announced that the demonstration was cancelled because the police hadn't found agreement with the organizers of the event.

The incident was the main news both yesterday and today and raised many questions in media: Why was the crowd surrounded before no one committed a crime? Was the police overreacting going against some 100 young anarchists with many hundred officers?  Did the police's strict behaviour and surrounding the people entice the already emotional young people to attack?

Actually it seemed that several journalists were siding with the anarchists saying that they didn't see any violense, no stones thrown at police. And asking why more than hundred young people were detained since there were only less than hundred anarchists present. Some curious outsiders were blocked into the area for hours since the police didn't let anyone leave. Somehow I managed to get out of the site after the first hour just to realize that all of the centre was closed by the police who were calmly redirecting the traffic (I still hadn't seen any violence). 

I have my own questions: Is there something wrong with the news if some young anarchists make the main topic of the news with simple aggressive behaviour while several thousand serious demonstrators with a message hardly get noticed? Aren't there other believers who feel called to intervene by being present and praying at these kinds of incidents? Has the universal threat of terrorism somehow confused us so that we can't find ways other than force to handle some dosens of bitter youngsters, or do we really have to do this to prove to manage the EU presidency?

None of us lives for himself: Order of the mustard seed

Studying to understand a bit more of covenant and community, the most powerful example I've come into, is a true story of the fellowship of the young count Zinzendorf and his four friends in the 19th century Germany, the Order of the Mustard Seed. These aristocratic students formed a secret order of spiritual knighthood in order to be loyal to Christ no matter where life would lead them. When these young men matured, their focus became the integrity in positions of responsibility. These men committed
to be real to Christ
to be kind to all people   to send the gospel to the world

Faith of these men turned out to be a mustard seed indeed starting invisibly small but growing to become a great tree. Later years, some people who joined this order were kings, bishops and one of them worked to abolish slavery in his position in America. The secret order was revealed only in 1737 when an officer of a German army died in Amsterdam. These men demonstrated Christ through their lives. Today in the Western world we have hardly any good example of a vow or a covenant kept for a life time, let alone one shared with other people. No wonder we have hardly no communities through which Christ is demonstrated to the nations either.

24-7 prayer movement has written a new response to our need to commit to serve the Lord through our lives like Zinzendorf's fellowship did. Today's OMS is an loosely organised community of groups taking vow as an response to Jesus' call to live life authentic, relational and missional. The book "Vision and the Vow" reflects the meaning of the rules of live in today's society.

The original rules  of the Order are well worth reading (wonder how Christianity AND society would look like if all believers had followed these):   
"Everyone should work to further the Kingdom of God within the context of their own profession."
"We want to give THE WORLD the best of everything we have to offer."

Many of the rules are aimed at creating an atmosphere where we as Jesus-following community would got each other's back instead of stabbing it:
"We will support good WHEREVER it is found and never work against it."
"If any of has a personal opponent who is also a servant of God, and their work is going well, a member of the order will support what their opponent is doing. This way even the things that our enemies do for God will prosper, and great blessing will come from our actions."
"Where anyone has a good intention or has made a promising start, we will support them whole-heartedly. This will be so even when their plans are not yet fully worked out, so that out of it our common Lord may be glorified."

And finally:
"Even if we never see wonders... we are planting THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN INTO THE NATIONS and will look for the FRUIT which grows from it."