21th March 2025

WHEN GOD HEALS

Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome
my unbelief!”

Mark 9:24NIV

Ivar Ruud, dean
One afternoon I was summoned to a family in which the husband was ill.

I had seen the man at several meetings. He had been in the choir, I had
noticed. I did not expect to meet the man in such a state that he now found
himself in. No one had told me anything about his problems.

As I entered the kitchen, where the family sat at the dinner table, I saw that
the man was drunk. I was very surprised at this because I thought the man
was an "ordinary Christian" who didn't have problems with "King
Alcohol". But the worst thing was not that had problems – because we
know that most of us have problems of different kind.

 

No, it was this that he was arrogant and unpleasant. He knew me well. I
was a little uncomfortable when he said, "here comes him, that Jesus-type
again. It is one thing to preach to the meetings, but it is quite another thing
when one comes in real life. I have pain in the stomach and if I do not get
help, I intend to hang myself. "

After he had poured one harangue unfair and ugly foul words out, he
considered me and said. "Do you believe that God can help me and make
me well? You are so strong in faith of God."

The man spoke with a drawl, and it was quite clear that he did not have a
belief that it might be possible to get help from any God. I tried to answer
him as best I could and told him that I probably would not have such a
strong faith, but in spite of this, so I had a feeling that God would help.

"Do you believe that God can help me?" He asked again.
"Yes, why shouldn't he be able to help you? Jesus said that he who shouts
to him in his distress, will get help, "I replied.

The man was amazed at the response and repeated the question:
"Do you really think that if I pray, God is answering me?" I nodded in
response.

"Do you really think that if I pray to God now, God is answering and helps
me? Continued the man.

I was suddenly so sure that God would answer and so assured that the man
would get the help that I replied, "If you pray, God will help you."
So when there was a short silence, the man suddenly fell to his knees at the
chair where he had sat and I knelt beside him, and so the man began to
pray.

"Dear God, now you must help me - you know." Then he said no more,
before he uttered a cry: "Now I feel you touch me, God - now I feel the
pain abates. You - you, now he is here. .God. He answers me - do you hear
that? "

The man had had a meeting with him, the Master, Jesus. It has not always
been common to experience something like this, which happened on this
day, At least this was my experience, when I prayd for anyone. In fact, I
doubted probably whether a cure would really take place. But I believe
that God lets us feel in a special way sometimes.

Here I had not asked, but it was God who had been ready with the answer
and had reminded the man to ask. This was not the work of man, but of
God.

It is in such situations that you feel that prayers are heard by God and that
the answers are no trick and technique that has been incurred but received.
Christ can and I think he would be happy, if he could more often be
allowed to come to us in our lives.

It is not essential to have a great faith, but it is right to ask for help to use
the faith we have. It is indeed a gift from God – and if the faith is small, so
God will fill us.
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
20th March 2025

 

What do we know about Heaven?

 

"My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told
you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?"
John 14:2NIV

 

We don't know much about Heaven. Occasionally books are published on
this subject, but in reality we don't know an awful lot about Heaven. The
Bible tells mostly about life here on earth, about how God works through
his people and about man's opportunities to choose right in this life with
regard to what happens after death.

 

The only thing we know for sure in this life is that death will occur. We
don't need to read up on this knowledge. And even if we push it away from
us, it is still always lurking. Consciously or unconsciously, man is always
looking for a solution to the question: What happens when I have to leave
here?

 

Even if we do not get knowledge of life after death in detail, the Bible still
tells us something - enough for us to put up with. We can have peace of
mind. But as with other promises in the Bible, it only works when we
believe the Word.

 

Scripture tells us about a world beyond the one we see every day. It is
referred to as heaven: "“ ‘Our Father in heaven," Matt.6:9NIV "to the
church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven ..." Heb.
12:23NIV "... but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”"
Luke 10:20

 

We don't get to know much about the heaven, but we sense that there is
something immeasurably large - too large to be explained, so that we truly
understand it. Not until we reach beyond the limitations of the earth will
we come to understand it.

 

“But now someone could say: “How do the dead rise? And what body do
they come with? You ignorant! What you sow will not live unless it first
dies... There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory is one in
the heavenly and another in the earthly... "" 1 Cor.15

 

The question then is what kind of body. It is answered positively. In the
eternal world there is one body, but it is different from what we know here.

 

Even if we do not have clarity about all the details, the New Testament still
gives some personal instructions regarding the future: ““Do not let your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s
house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am
going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am. ”John 14:1-3

 

In the coming world there are homes, we are told here. And Jesus goes
away to prepare dwellings for his followers. One day he will come for
them again.

 

"I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. "
Phil. 1:23-24NIV

 

For the believer, death is the same as breaking up and being with Christ. It
is much better than living here on earth.

 

When we have to be here longer, it is so that we can be a blessing to
others. There are still some who need us here, but if we want to be selfish
and complacent, it would be much better to pass away—to die.

"The Church Bell" Effie Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
19th March 2025

 

Jesus – an example or substitute
 

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes
also through a man.

1Cos.15:21NIV

After a meeting a man walked over to the speaker and said to him, dr.
M.Stearns. He said: I did not like your speech. I do not like the cross. I
think that instead of preaching about Christ's death on the cross, it would
have been much better to preach Christ as teacher and example.

 

Well, would you be willing to follow him if I preached Christ as an
example? Asked dr. Steanrs.

 

I had been willing, the man replied - I would have followed in his
footsteps.

 

Well, said dr. Stearns, - let us take the first step then.

 

"He who did no sin," Can you take this step.

 

The man was confused. - No, he said, - I do sin, I must admit.

 

Well, if this is the case, said dr. Stearns - then your first and greatest need
for Christ is not as an example, but as Savior.

This is every man's greatest need.
"Krigsropet"
E.Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
18th March 2025

 

ON RIGHT COURSE


"Do you prepare to meet your God " 
Amos 4:12NIV

This happened during World War II, when fishermen from Esbjerg were
out fishing. The sea was full of drifting mines and they had to go to work,
knowing that life was risky and hung by a thread.

 

Early one morning , the schooner, "dove" was hit by a mine while the
crew, which consisted of 10 men, held a morning meeting. The schooner
sank, but we managed to get the crew from the episode by climbing up on
a piece of driftwood, and it is told that the crew continued where they left
off with the morning services. When the first of them drowned and became
prey for the sea, the youngest, Verner began singing:

Ring, heavenly bells! Joy is today,
a soul came home from hunger and want.
The father made feast at leisure,
and wished the poor child welcome.

The song was a testimony from a young man who could safely face death
because he shortly before the mine episode had given Jesus his heart and
thus set the course for the heavenly beach.

 

When the ships that were in the same area as "dove" heard the firing, they
broke off their activities and rushed to sail on the scene, in order to, if
possible, to find survivors. They came too late to help Verner, who
drowned along with his friend; but the third was saved, and it is he who
told this. Through his testimony about this marvelous experience, there
were some individuals who decided to change their lives and take off
towards the heavenly beach and they could sing along to the same tune:

" By God's throne high singing angels
praise for harp playing,
and saved from the crowd, as ocean wave
hear eternal sound so gently."

How does it look from you reading this? Did you set sail for the heavenly
beach? Are you certain that you will live, even if you die? Are you ready
to say goodbye to this world? Death does not ask about time and age.
Verner was very young. No one has promised us that we will grow old.
Words of the Bible are unchangeable, also today:
"Do you prepare to meet your God " Amos 4, 12

There is only one way that can make you ready to meet God, which is to
accept Jesus as your personal Savior. He is the way and the truth and the
life; No one comes to the Father except through him.
John 14:6NIV

You can receive him as you read this, the word of God says: "Behold, now
it is a merciful moment, see, now is the day of salvation ! "
2 Cor. 6:2NIV

If the goal of your life's voyage is unknown, you have to change course
and allow the target to be the Heavenly beach. Simply ask Jesus to come
into your life and let him choose the way for you, then you will find
yourself a goal and you can show others the way too.
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
17th March 2025

The last carrying out

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave
the right to become children of God—”

John 1.12 NIV

 

It was a cold winter morning, and there had fallen some snow during the
night. A faithful servant of the Lord had got up early to read the word of
God and pray for the many tasks he had to face this new day.

While thus praying, he heard a quiet voice inside him. It said that he this
morning should remind the postman of God's saving love in Jesus Christ.

When he later heard letters and other things fall through the letterbox, he
quickly picked two treaties and hurried out into the cold snow to give to
the postman with a friendly: Good morning. Although it was half dark, you
could sense the postman's inquiring facial expression. This was quite
unexpected to the postman.

At noon a postal vehicle with packages came along and the first impulse of
this faithful servant was that the driver should also get a little greeting on
the road. But the driver said no thanks to receive the treaty, but he told him
that the postman who this very morning had received a treaty, had fallen at
the post office, and died of a heart attack. It was shocking and hard to
understand and believe. The postman was a man in the prime of life, and
now he was suddenly dead. But it was true, and God knew that this day
would be his last, and therefore he wanted to give him a chance to come to
Jesus and be saved.

This event tells us how essential it is to be obedient when God speaks. And
also when he speaks to us to be ready when the Lord calls to repentance
and salvation. Why hesitate the most crucial in life until the last minute? It
may be too late!

Dear friend, how do you feel about Jesus? Do you believe and do you
embrace him and see that it is true what the Bible says, Yet to all who did
receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God—”

John 1.12 NIV

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3.16 NIV

For when God today is calling you through this scripture, harden not your
hearts; thus: ”But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken
away.”
2. Cor. 3.16 NIV


You do not know how long you will live on earth. The postman had no
idea that this was his last day. And like this it goes with many people. They
think that they have plenty of time, but suddenly the death catches up with
them.

Do not let this day come to an end without making up with God, who
loves you so much that He let his own son die on the cross, even for you.

What is important is not first for you to be a better person, or to go to
church more, or to do good deeds. But instead you must come to Jesus as
you are. He will never walk away from you.
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
16th March 2025

SALVATION DAY.

"Behold, now is the merciful time, behold, now is the day of salvation!"
2 Cor. 6.2NIV

When we examine other religions, we find no similar words. They do not
exist in Hinduism. Hinduism says that you have to work long and hard,
and then you will be saved. Other religions say you must be reborn many
times and then you will find salvation. Buddhism states: kill your wishes
and when you have no needs and wishes left, then you will gain salvation.

All religions promise salvation in future. Christ says, NOW.

Some people, when they meet the calling, say they will think about it and
then decide tomorrow. Perhaps they will never have a new opportunity.

NOW is the time!
E. Campbell translated

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
15th March 2025

 

A CURIOUS MACHINE

 

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he
created them; male and female he created them.”

Gen. 1: 27NIV

 

If man had to create and develop our bodie, and put it together technically
like a machine, then we would have blessed it.

A heart beats 70 times per minute, ie 100,000 times a day, and almost 2
billion in 50 years, and that without having to be repaired. This machine
weighs 300 grams.

2 million sweat pores in the skin look to our body temperature is kept
stable at 37 degrees. The nerves are three times faster than a high speed
train. The approximately 5 liters of blood that we have within us contains
25 trillion red blood cells and 34 billion white blood cells.

This we believe is a matter of course and marvel not, as we are not our
own work and therefore did not create ourselves. We are in fact God's
creation!

Therefore, a man can succeed and become the unimaginably great: a child
of God, friend of God, God's employee.

And a man can fail and become a monster. Of all creatures, we are the only
ones who can be the opposite of what we are created to be. A fox remains a
fox. It can not be a villainous and an evil fox.

Man is a creature which, on the one hand, is similar to the animals and
plants. So we can fade and die, rot and return to the earth, but if we look at
the other side, we are created in God's image, so we look like him and live
forever with him.

A machine! Yes, consisting of 66 % water - 10.5% Fat - 16.8% egg white
mass - 1.1 % carbohydrate - 5.6 % ash. If the value of this were deemed so
the material would cost about 2 pounds. But God loves us and has blown
his breath of life in us.

Who can understand it? And for that we should not be monsters, God sent
him to us that Pilate brought tortured and sentenced forward with the
words: "Here is the man." It's in him we see what God had in mind with
us. It is also alone with him, Jesus, we become what God created us to be.
" Kirkeklokken" E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
14th March 2025

JOIN THE GREAT BANQUET, YOU ARE INVITED TOO

(Jesus) "he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe
the good news!”"

Markus 1.15 NIV

Sv. Rehling sings: "O God, it's so great that you want your work done by
human small children."

We are primarily put here to invite people to The Great Banquet.
E. C translated

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
13th March 2025

 

WILL JESUS COME SOON?

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to
be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 14:3NIV

 

When is Jesus coming? This question countless believers have asked
through the ages. And this is definitely not an insignificant issue. It is a
characteristic of the faith to expect. The question is not: Will Jesus come?
But: when will he come?

 

Come soon, Lord Jesus! Is the final words of the Bible. Yet he is not here -
but he will come and recover everything. When? Soon!

 

Even Paul was waiting for him to come in his own time: "We who are
alive and remain to the coming of the Lord," Paul writes somewhere. But
Jesus didn't come in his time. Many other anticipated with joy; but they
had to realize that the time had not yet come.

In 1953 at a trade show in Nyborg in Denmark, I heard Anne Larssen
Bjørner say that she expected that Jesus would come again before that year
had finished. That is more then 40 years ago.

In the years 1666 many Christians in Europe anticipated, that the Lord
would soon come. The long Thirty Years War had hit Europe, and many
believed that this was the time. He had to come soon now!

 

We must be careful not to blame those who expected without getting their
heart's desires fulfilled. They spoke as they thought. Only those who truly
believe in Jesus, can expect his coming. And although they misjudged the
time, they will not be put to shame.

Peter talks about some scoffers who say: What happens to the promises of
his coming? For from the time when the fathers fell asleep, everything has
been about the same as at the creation of the world.

Peter says that this account is incorrect. God destroyed an entire world by
the flood, and in the same way also the current world will be cleansed, but
next time it will be by fire. No, the evidence of the mockers does not hold.

The Word was made flesh - Jesus came! When? When the times reached
their fulfillment, the Scripture tells.

When he comes the second time, it will also be when the times reach their
fulfillment. This is when everything is ready. The Father alone knows the
hour, not even his son in his human shape knew the exact time.

The only thing we have to take bearing of are the signs in time, and those
Jesus reminds us to heed. The prophetic word also say something about
this. It is clear that Jesus is coming soon!
Kirketårnet E.Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
12th March 2025

 

DO NOT MOCK GOD

”Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
Gal. 6:7NIV


My father, who comes from the sandhill areas of the North Sea, once told
me that he one evening was out walking when thunder and lightning
flashed in the sky. This night he saw some men who were sitting in the
local pub drinking.

Suddenly one of the men took his glass and went outside. When he came
out, he raised his glass towards the sky and said, "Cheers God!" and in that
moment he was hit and killed by a lightning.
Helge Bækby, "signs of the times" Effie Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11th March 2025

 

ISRAEL

In 1996 it was 3,000 years ago King David chose Jerusalem as the capital.

Undoubtedly, there have been numerous changes in Israel since then, as
well as is the case now. But we think that right now God will show up as
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who stands firm on his word. The
country is his, and Jerusalem is "the city of the Great King" as it says in
the Bible in Psalm 48.3.

 

Our task as Christians is to pray and comfort, support and help what the
Lord leads us with His Spirit. The entire book of Zechariah speaks loud
and clear about God's plans for Israel. Therefore, we should read the
prophecies before we pray, so that we can pray according to God's will.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon the Middle East, and that the hard
hearts may melt and be cleansed and get a new spirit.
(Ez 36.26-29)

It is certain that it moves mountains in the world of spirits. A short while
ago, 15,000 Jews together to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and asked for
forgiveness for their own and their country's sins!
Anne Lise Madsen
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
10th March 2025

 

The calling to work in the vineyard

 

”“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Luke 10:2NIV

 

About one of his song the writer, Hjalmar Hansen, stated this:
I was heading to a corps in Opland (Norway) where I was to be in charge
of the meeting, to be held Whit Sunday. On the train Whit Saturday I got
this song from God.

The officer and his wife were both excellent singers. They rehearsed the
song and sang songs at the morning meeting 1st Whit Monday.

 

As the meeting was nearing completion, a female soldier came forward
and asked to pray for her. She told me that for several years she had felt
that she should have joined the Sunday school work; but she had left it
alone, because she was afraid to be tied down. This song, which had just
been sung, however, had had a great influence on her, so she came forward
to offer herself for the Sunday school work.

Was it a coincidence that I had written this song just before going to visit
this corps, or was it God, who made it this way, so that the song was
written just at this time? Well, it was probably God who controls all things,
who organized this.
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
9th March 2025

 

THE WORD PLANTED

“...the word planted in you,...”
James 1.21 NIV

It is about hearing God's word so that the word is planted in the heart. In
the heart the word tree be should be allowed to stand and bear fruit for
God. To let the word get mastery over the mind and thoughts so that they
can be guided by the Word, that is what we call conversion.

 

Try now whether you today can let God's word be allowed to attach its
roots inside you - take it out on a daily basis - and when you get out there
and meet the many small and big problems and to decide on one or the
other, then let the implanted word guide you to do the right thing.

He who truly plants the Word in the heart, will bear beautiful fruit, it will
not fail - that is, it is not he himself who bears these fruits, but it is the
implanted word that does it. Then all self-praise is excluded, and there
remains only one eulogy of the living word of God, who creates what it
mentions.
Einar Fledelius , priest - E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8th March 2025

DUST ON THE GLASSES

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no
attention to the plank in your own eye?”

Math. 7:3NIV

Mrs. Olsen had a capable home help named Anna. It almost never
happened that Mrs Olsen put on her spectacles on her nose to examin how
Anna performed her work. But once she took the glasses, put them on the
nose and hurried into the room.

"You must have forgotten to remove the dust today," said Mrs. Olsen,
"Look at all the dust by the piano."

"Sorry," said Anna, "but doesn't my lady have dust on her spectacles?"

Mrs. Olsen took off her glasses. Yes, Anna was right. A fine layer of dust
was visible on the lenses. When she had polished the glasses, everything
was fine and clean, "This is a lesson I want to remember forever," said
Mrs. Olsen.
---
We often think that there are quite a few things wrong with the others, but
in reality it is ourselves we should examin. It is us who have dust on the
glasses.
Kirkeklokkerne. Effie Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
7th March 2025

THE SMALL COPPER COINS OF THE WIDOW

He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this
poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

Luke 21, 2-3 NIV

A wealthy woman was asked for a donation to a charity.
"I'd like that," she replied, "but you must be satisfied with the coins of the widow." " That's too
much, "was the reply, "We cannot accept this."

"Too much?" The woman said. "You must have misunderstood me. In recet months I have given
so much to charity that this time you must be happy with the coins of the widow."

"My dear lady," said the man who collected money, "it's too much. The widow that you refer to
gave everything she owned as a gift to God. But I think it's too much if you wanted to give
everything you owned." In the end, the woman gave a good donation; but after that day she
never compared her presents with the coins of the widow.
"Kirkeklokken'' E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
6th March 2025

HYMNS

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs
from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Col.3:16NIV

What you want your children to be rooted in and live by spiritually, you
must sing into their minds. And you should start early. A singing mother at
the cradle gives a child soul the right tone. What we elderly think is worth
living and dying for, we must sing into the minds of our children.

I have for several years had a hymn book lying on my bedside day and
night. I have had great joy in this and I 'd love to let this go on to others.

I recall from my years as a child that when my older siblings came home
to visit on Sunday afternoons, it was very natural that we had to sing. Then
Mortan Eskesens' Hymn and songbook was taken off the shelf, and we
sang of full hearts, despite the fact that none of us were particularly good
at singing.

There is a specific place that the hymnbook always should be, and that is
at the sickbed. A hymn may be read and it has happened for many souls
that a single verse or just a line of a hymn encourages greatly.

“Et Ord med på Vejen.” E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
5th March 2025

WORDS ABOUT THE CROSS

“It is finished.”
John 19.30 NIV


Christianity without the cross is like a car without an engine: you can
easily familiarize yourself with it and be happy; but it doesn't lead you
anywhere.

When the chief priests, the Council, the waiters, the Roman governor and
the soldiers on Good Friday had finally finished their work and had made
Jesus hang on the cross, it was not their work, but His “work”, which was
"finished"

After Kr Friis: "Pigge og nagler." E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
4th March 2025

SEED

"“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden."
Matt.5:14NIV

It has been told about the Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland, that on his
many tours and travels he always brought a bag of flower seeds with him.

If he passed a small bare piece of land where nothing grew, he took a
handful of his seed and planted it on the spot so that he the next time he
passed that place could see a spot with beautiful flowers instead of a bar
spot.

It is also our duty as Christians to sow seed, where we are going. We have
been made part of God's word and it ought to move us so much that we
want to carry it on to other people as well. And it is urgent ...

“Et Ord med på Vejen”. E. Campbell translated

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3th March 2025

 

GET YOURSELF THE BREAD OF LIFE

I am the bread of life.
John 6,48 NIV

Many people almost never read God's Word, the Bible. So they have no
comfort and no help. Why is that? Because the word from Jesus and the
word about Jesus was not "Bread of Life" for them. They do not live in an
atmosphere where God's Word is the daily food that we need.

One hymn says, “God, let us live by your word as daily bread on earth."
Many of us do remember how it was in their childhood back home.
Thinking back on it with pleasure. But what is the situation in our home
today? Is God's Word the daily bread that leads Jesus near to us?
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
2nd March 2025

Look, the Lamb of God
 

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1,29 NIV

Martin Luther.
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” God says:
"I know that your sins are too heavy for you to carry. Behold, therefore I
will put them on my lamb and remove them from you. Believe this! When
you do this, then you are free from sin.

The Sin has just two places, it can be: Either it is with you and are on your
own neck, or it is in Christ, the Lamb of God. If it is with you, then you
are lost; but when it is in Christ, then you are free from it and are saved.

Now choose what you want! Under the law, it ought to be such that the sin
is on you. But by grace, the sin has been thrown on Christ, the Lamb of
God.
E. Campbell translated

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1st March 2025

 

GOD'S CRYING EYE

“how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Matt. 23.37

In his book, "The wonder that wakes us all" Roger Larsson tells about a
trip to Israel. Here we include the text sequence where he visits a church:

This quiet Sabbath morning in Jerusalem I had gone into the small chapel,
Dominus Flevit ("The Lord wept") or as it is often referred to: "The church
of the weeping God." It has the shape of a tear drop, and it's as if it fell
down right there on the Mount of Olives, the place where Jesus wept over
Jerusalem. Hailed by the crowd, he had come from Bethphage to
Jerusalem, “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it
and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring
you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

Luke 19,41-42

 

Depictions of tears has been found in this place. As Franciscan
archaeologists in the mid-20th century carried out excavations before the
church was built, they discovered the remains of a mosaic floor from a
very old church that probably had been built as early as the 6th century.
The pattern of the mosaic floor were also tears, and from these came forth
arrows showing the direction of the tears: towards Jerusalem.

Here I sat in complete silence and looked toward the altar window that was
in front of me. It envisioned the view of Jerusalem, Temple Square with
famous buildings, with towers and domes, and I looked over the many
houses in the town, built in the characteristic white limestone.

But there was something more, a perspective that turned inward, against
the heart of the weeping God. The entire window testified about it. The
artist had managed to portray this very clear.

I saw the tears, the big drops spread all over the altar window. And I saw
the thorns that had not yet been tied to a crown of thorns. They lay there in
a heap. Already there Jesus had experienced the pain, the sorrow of the
people.

He saw the city and wept.

Outside the altar window people passed by, one after the other. They threw
a quick glance in and then continued their route. They seemed to have the
same longing, namely to be allowed to see Jesus, see the holy God,
meeting the Holy Spirit.

 

All of a sudden I saw it - the picture from my year of the child, which I
colored in the Sunday School, the picture I had seen so vividly in front of
me: the hen that gathers her chicks under her large protective wings. Here
on the Mount of Olives and inside the chapel, which was shaped like a big
drop, this picture in front of the altar. It was made of shiny mosaic. And I
thought of the words of Jesus : “how often I have longed to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you
were not willing.” 
Matt. 23:37NIV

But the image doesn't merely express a wistful complaint. It also expresses
a calling tone. "Come here to me," says the Lord, "Come in here, where it
is safe to be. Do not only throw a quick casual glance in here and then
hasten on.

 

Come!

Keep looking up at me.

Look and live.

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

Evangeline Booth, salvation army, testimony, personal testimony

26.1.2014

Evangeline Booth

26th January 2014


WHO WAS IT THAT KISSED ME?
“Dear friends, let us love one another,... " 1.John 4.7

See video of Evangeline Booth

Biography Evangeline Booth:


Evangeline Booth stood outside a court building and watched various prisoners that came out of there. A moment ago she had heard someone in there shouting, squalling and swearing, and now she saw a feisty looking woman being led out of the courtroom accompanied by six police officers. Two went in front of her and two others behind her, while two held in her arms. The woman struggled to get free. The clothes she had on was torn and full of holes, her hair was woolly and bristly, and her filthy face was clotted with blood. What could she do for her?

Evangeline knew there was no time to preach to her. It would be a crime against her to give her money, and to sing for her would be useless. In a minutte this woman would be far away. Powered by a sudden impulse Evangeline ran onto this dirty, cursing and ugly smelling woman and kissed her.

The woman slipped her hands loose and searched with a wild expression the field with her eyes." Who was it that kissed me?" She shouted. "Who kissed me? Nobody had done that since her mother died."

She raised her torn apron to her face and burst into heartbreaking tears, and as a mild lamb she followed the officers into the wagon, which drove her to jail.

Some days after this incident Mrs Booth went on a prison visit to see the woman. Her face was now clean, and she now looked quite handsome. She looked at the stranger and asked, "Do you know who kissed me?"

Then she told Mrs Booth her life story. "When I was a baby my father died, and when I was 7 years old my mother also died. She died in a dark backyard in a poor neighborhood. When she was dying she called to me, took my small face between her hands and kissed it and said: "My poor little girl! O God, be merciful to my little girl and take good care of her!"

From that day until now, no one has kissed my face until the other day."
Then she asked again: "Do you know who it was that kissed me?"

Evangeline Booth replied: "It was me."

She told this lost woman of God and how he loved her so much that he was willing to die for us on the cross, where he wore all our offenses. He was wounded and disabled, so that he could save everybody from their sins.
This was something completely new. The woman had never imagined that Jesus loves so much. She opened her heart to Jesus, and before she got out of prison, she had also learned many other prisoners to love Jesus.

All this happened because Evangeline Booth kissed her. Fantastic, and what a beautiful and good deed! Evangeline Booth was the daughter of the man who founded the Salvation Army, William Booth.

Let us show our fellow human beings our love and learn the many unhappy and broken people that God truly is a God who saves sinners.

E. Campbell translated

 

25th January 2014
 

THE WAY - ALSO INTO THE THIRD MILLENIUM
"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believs in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16


The way is a messiah-description, which is used throughout the Bible, from Abraham to Moses, from the Psalms of David to all the prophets. The Patriarchs and the Prophets spurred the Israeli people to follow the path and not deviate from the way. When Jesus came as the living Messiah, he said: "I am the WAY! "Therefore followers of Jesus in the New Testament did not name their faith Christianity, but the Way. There are many passages in the book of Acts, where the Christian faith is called, "The Way" and "the way of God."

Jesus is the Way, and not the roadside. There is good reason to warn against the 2000 hysteria and their deviation from the Way. The world needs the Gospel of Jesus, not the many oddities, tall tales or Christian laws.

An example of the essence of the gospel is the Apostolic Creed and John.3.16.

The creed reads: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

And John 3:16 reads:
"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believs in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus and the apostles also warned against false prophets, the false Messiah, the Antichrist, and other aberration in the last days. The so-called Christians waves from the U.S. Also knock on our doors in the Nordic region with all sorts of weird stuffs

What is from God puts Jesus in the center and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God come in the flesh, while all that is false deny Jesus.

The great danger, where "chosen" Christians are being misled, Jesus and the Apostles connect with the Jews and their reception of the false Messiah. Jesus said,
"I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him." (John 5.43 )

The false Messiah, which the Bible calls "the Antichrist" will sit in the temple of God.

The believers must follow the Way, preach the Gospel and show Jesus' love and friendship to all.

In the Hebrews, Jews believing in Jesus were in danger of going back to animal sacrifices in the temple and reject Jesus' sacrificial death as the only foundation of salvation. They had already been warned not to tread on the Son of God and hold the blood of the covenant unholy, and again crucify the Son of God ( Heb. 10.26-29 and 6,4-6).

Animal sacrifices in the Old Covenant could not take away sins (Hebrews 10, 4)
 

Only when we stick to the Way, Jesus, we avoid falling into the ditch in those last days.

Aril Edvardsen, "Troens bevis".

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

 

24th January 2014


SAME RELIGION AS THE OLD BY BLOOD
The then known persons representing materialism and atheism, Professor KW, Mr HB, Mrs KD and several others had announced with a large anti- biblical lecture at Viktoria Hall in Stockholm March 19 - .

After the lecture, the word was given freely to the audience.

The hall was crowded to bursting point, most of them godless people. Then Professor W. Rose to the pulpit, and people clapped eagerly to honor him. He confirmed once again that there was not a single evidence that Jesus ever existed. The only thing people relied on, in terms of the historical Jesus was something that Josephus had written down, but this turned out to be a forged supplementary document, and therefore there was no longer any evidence that Jesus ever existed.

Then the word was given free to all. An elderly man stood up. He father wore the distinctive red jacket of the Salvation Army. The moderator watched him scornfully as did quite a few others of the audience, who shouted that they had not come to a Christian revival meeting, and therefore it was best that the old fellow kept silent. But he demanded to speak since they had advertised it, or did they fear their counterpart? So they let him speak. With clear and powerful voice, he said:
"It seems to be a matter of great concern and distress with these professors and this science. How does the professor know that Jesus didn't exist?"

The professor said mockingly: "Well, how do you know that he lived?" And even more condescending the audience chimed: "Well, how do you know? "

But then the old man thundered : "Should I not know that Christ is? Should I not understand?"

"We demand proof! Give us proof!" Someone shouted from the audience and from the podium.
" Yeah, I will give you proof" he replied with a resounding voice." I am a proof myself that our precious Savior lives. Some years ago I was the most shabby drunkard in Stockholm. I drank and used every penny I could get my hands on on booze, and when i became drunk I ended up in the detention at the police station. From there I was sent to the judge, and since I was unable to pay the fines, so I had to back to prison. But hardly I was outside again until over and over I repeated this miserable cycle, from the pub, to the court and imprisoned and so on back to the pub. I signed up for every possible and impossible temperance society and took a sacred pledge after another, but the problems just got worse. I sank deeper and deeper into a bottomless misery.

“But then one day in my deepest despair I met the Lord Jesus Christ, and he liftet me with his pierced hand out of the muck and purified me with his blood. And since that day I have been saved and preserved in the faith, and I have been a hard workin, valued and useful citizen since then. Should I not know better than anyone that Christ exists? "

There was a complete silence in the hall, and everyone seemed to be moved by this personal testimony. After a long pause Mr D. B. Was given the word, but it was not easy for him to maintain his usual arrogant attitude when it came to spiritual matters. He noted:

" Ladies and gentlemen, if I had to think about religion – obviously that will hardly happen - but nevertheless if it was occur for me to think of such a thing, I would want to have the same religion as the old man by the blood!"

It was obvious that the testimony had also hit him.


" ...and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." Exodus 12.13 or as it says in a Swedish Bible: "And the blood shall be a sign unto you to salvation!"

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

23th January 2014


NOT OUTSIDE BUT INSIDE !
They stood on a street corner and discussed. One was a man of faith, and the other was active in politics. The latter was convinced that the party he represented would be of greater benefit to people and society than all Christianity and belief in God.

The politician came with one argument after another and became more and more eager in his view of things: "You do not change the social conditions in this world by going around and preaching about a possible eternal salvation! It is here and now that we need changes and improvements that can stem corruption and rottenness, and that can create equality and justice for all - and make it possible for everyone to live a decent life ... "

As soon as he had said this a very dirty and tattered homeless man past by. The politician, who by now was really worked up, observed the man and said, "Take for instance that man. Society has failed! Our political program can save men like him: We will provide new clothes for such people!"


Then the man of faith answered: "The Gospel works the other way round. It gives new people to such clothes!"
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
2 Cor. 5.17 NIV

"Tro & Fakta" No. 6/ 1997.
E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

22th January 2014


THE BIBLE - THE HOLY SCRIPTURE
That's the name of it - and it's contents!
The Bible is a divine book. The words are full of spirit - God-breathed!

Paul:

"All Scripture is God-breathed"
2 Tim. 3.16
I believe everything that is in the law, and what is written in the prophet.( Acts.24,14)

Peter:

"For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
( 2.Pet. 1.21)
Prophets have pondered and searched when they prophesied what the Spirit of Christ showed them. (1.Pet. 1.10 - 12).

People have written down what they got from God. How far does human thoughts go in this? Find the answer in the parable that the Bible itself set between the Word and Jesus! Joh. 1.1 and 1.Joh. 1.1 etc.

As surely as Jesus was true man, yet without sin, the Bible is true human, yet without fault!

Jesus was God and man in one body - the Bible is divine and human in one volume!

Just as Jesus was different from us - the Bible is different from all other books. The true humanity of Jesus was, among other things, that he was born by a woman, the son of man. He may have resembled his mother immensely. He was tired and hungry and tempted, but God was his model, "Father, if it is your will ... ?"

The true human of the Bible is among other things-, It bears the mark of the period and of the writers who have written. However, always guided by the will of God : "
For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets"
2 Pet. 1.21

"The Bible through the ages" V. Munch.
Effie Campbell translated

 

 

 

 

21th January 2014


HOW DO WE FIND GOD?
"...no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Joh. 3.3 NIV

There are many who do not know what it is to be born again, nor what rebirth truly means in the life of a human being.

Being born again is more than merely to accept Christ in your consciousness and your mind. Even if you live a "decent" and a morally irreproachable life where you live and behave the very best you can on your own, then it is not and will never be enough for wether you make the so-called "small sins" or large, you are still a sinner on the road of perdition.
"... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
Romans 3:23 NIV

When a child is born, the proud parents announce this great news far and wide. This newborn child starts a life in a world that is totally new to it. When a sinner is born of God's Holy Spirit - reborn - we also bring the happy news to others. The newborn “child of God” also enters a world that is new to it - a new life. The heart and the mind is totally changed, he or she has been given new wishes, a new setting and meaning of life, new interests and new thoughts.

Imagine, a life of victory over sin, and peace instead of strife and temptations! What a marvelous life!

Perhaps you ask, "How can I experience this new birth? "You must turn away from sin and come to God with the intention fully to give him your life. Simply pray the Lord to forgive you and save you.

When you are born again, then you will know it. The condemnation has gone.

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

20th January 2014
 

SAFE IN THE ARMS OF JESUS
"And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them."
Mark 10.16

Fanny Crosby was born in New York ( 1820-1915). Just six weeks old she lost her sight and was blind for the rest of her life. 12 years old she went on a blind school, where she stayed for the following 23 years, first as a student and later as a teacher.

Fanny Crosby wrote more than 2,000 songs. The impact Lina Sandell had on the Nordic region Fanny Crosby had for the English-speaking countries.

The song "Safe in the arms of Jesus" was written 30 april 1868. Fanny tells that on this particular day one well-known music artist, W.H. Doane wisited her.

He brought along with him a new melody, which was missing a text. When he played the song for her, she said : "This tune says: Safe in the arms of Jesus."

After a while Fanny went for herself to be alone and in silence. She then remembered an incident that she had been told two days before. On a street in New York, which swarmed with people there was a mother with her child and they came into this great human multitude. In this congestion the child lost his mother and the child began to sob fiercely and was completely inconsolable right to the point when it again lay in his mother's arms.

There in the arms of the mother it was safe and sound – here the weeping seized. This one small everyday incident became a picture for Fanny Crosby of how human beings can only be safe in one place, in the arms of Jesus!

Twenty minutes later, Fanny handed the music artist lyrics to this song, "Safe inn the arms of Jesus." Doane wrote it immediately, and the original text has never been changed since then.

You can hear the song on the following link .

"Safe in the arms of Jesus."

E.Campbell

 

 

 

19th January 2014

ARE YOU IN TROUBLE
If you are in trouble, then hook you on this promise from God: "For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."
Isaiah. 41.13

E.C.

 

 

 

 

18th January 2014


MY GOD DIED
" Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
Joh. 15.13 NIV

That was what my God did for me at Calvary. There he paid for my sins, so I do not have to pay with death, which means being separated from God forever, lost.

Throughout history, there are many who have been appointed as God, but where is the God who died for you, he, who, when the wolf and the bear came, fought to the death? No, they were only hired workers.

My God died - but he lives! On Easter morning, he was raised from the dead, the tomb is now empty, the living, who were to keep watch over him, were like dead. Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords - he lives!

This is what we will testify just as clearly and simply as Paul, when he testified for both young and old,
"that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

Acts 26.23 NIV

We must never evade the blood because "
and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

Heb. 9.22 NIV

How it is difficult to understand why there are so many who decline the offer that Jesus gave to each of us, which was completed when he broke the power of death on Easter morning and rose from the dead. Will you accept His gift, a brand new life, even a life of abundance?

E. Campbell

 

 

 

17th January 2014
 

WHERE IS THE LAMB?
Genesis 22.7
Everything was ready for the sacrifice, but
"where is the lamb?" Isaac Asks his father, Abraham. We have good reason to pass the same question on to many people today.

Nations have their gods, Islam has its prophets, Israel has its laws and worship of God, but where is the lamb?

And all the nominal Christians in the West, they often have everything in order. They are baptized, and sometimes they come to worship and communion, they have a God, a God up in heaven - but where is the lamb?

They have no lamb. They have never had a moment, not one moment when the Lamb of God, the slaughtered Lamb became their lives, their salvation and peace - all of their Christianity.

That is why they are lost in everything else. For only in the Lamb there is salvation. Only in the blood of the Lamb there is atonement and access to God. And in heaven with God himself all is about the Lamb. The song up there is "the song of the Lamb ," the bride is "the Lamb's bride" and the wedding is the "marriage of the Lamb."
Revelation . 15.3 and 19.7

You expensive soul - is the "Lamb of God" your only access to heaven. Otherwise you'll never get there.

The Lamb that was slain, is Jesus Christ. Jesus said:

"I am THE WAY ... No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14,6
Believe in him and let him guide you.

E. Campbell 

 

 

 

 

16th January 2014

 

NOW JUST A WORD FOR JESUS
The chorus of one of Fanny Crosby hymns reads:

Now just a word for Jesus,
’Twill help us on our way!
One little word for Jesus,
Oh speak, or sing, or pray!


Yes, it is as true as it is said. If we say a word about Jesus, then it may be for the salvation of someone, often perhaps without our knowledge about it.

So it was with the English speaker Spurgeon. He was to have a sermon in the Crystal Castle in London for a large crowd. Before he had to go live on the podium, he would like to know how his voice sounded in this huge hall. The day before the sermon he went into the hall and stepped up to the podium and said loud and clear the following words: " credible is the word and worthy of all acceptance For Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

1 Tim. 1.15 NIV

Spurgeon uttered these words two times and then turned back home. He was convinced that the audience would hear him .

Then 25years later. One of Spurgeons employees were then asked to come on a visit to an old laborer, who was dying.

" Are you prepared to die," the preacher said.

" Yes, the Lord be praised," replied the patient happy, and so he began to tell how he had been converted, and his face was beaming with joy.

"I was a skilled laborer occupied with laying lead roofs. Many years ago I worked under the dome at the Crystal Castle. Back then I was not a believer. I lived my life without God and without hope. I thought I was alone in the building, but then I heard a voice loud and clear that I almost thought came from heaven, saying:
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”


These words convinced me that I was a sinner and that God is merciful. I learned to trust in faith in Jesus, and from this day I have only built all my hope of salvation on him."

E. Campbell

 

 

 

15th January 2014
 

THE CHALICE
An old story from Scotland tells of an old man sitting at the altar of worship and felt unworthy to participate. He sat there and felt miserable and in such sad state of mind, that he dared not participate in the remembrance of the Lord's death on the cross.

During the aisle he saw a very young girl burst into tears. She then passedd the chalice without drinking from it. Suddenly, all his fears vanished, and he whispered clearly to the girl: "Drink from the chalice, my friend! It is for sinners!"


"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

Joh. 6,54 NIV

E. Campbell

 

 

 

14th January 2014
 

THREE WORDS FOR THOUGHT
Some years ago I sat in a bus that drove through London's city streets. During the trip, I noticed a man who swept the streets. He had a big sign on his back. The sign read: Without God - no hope.

In the north of Scotland I became aware of an embroidered image on wall in an ordinary living room, which read: "prepare to meet your God."
Back home I found the same word in the Bible in Amos 4.12.

Once I saw the following sentence in a Danish teacher's Bible: This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you away from this book.
Effie Campbell

 

 

 

13th January 2014
 

ENDURANCE
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
(Hebrews 10.35 to 36 NIV)

Impatience, discouragement and unbelief can hit people so hard that they resign and let their hands fall down because they have prayed and labored for the Lord so long, and it turns out to be fruitless. They are tempted to give up.

When we feel like this we must cling to the word of God, which helps us and says, "So do not throw away your confidence" There is a real danger of throwing away confidence, and thereby lose what God has promised to those who believe.

Yes, we need endurance to do God's will. Jesus says in Luke 21.19: "Stand firm, and you will win life.” Bible calls endurance for a commandment.

Thus we read in Revelation 3.10:
"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial”

Daniels prayer.
Daniel had to wait 21 days before the answer came, but from day one, after he gave his heart to seek Gods wisdom and humble himself before God, his words were heard (Daniel 10:12). But he had to struggle in prayer against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”( Eph. 6:12) , but the "prince of the Persian kingdom" resisted 21 days, but then came "Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me" (Daniel 10:13). Not until all obstacles had gone God granted his prayer - there had to be a struggle in prayer first.

Jeremiah's prayer.
Jeremiah had to wait for 10 days before the answer came, when people begged him to ask the Lord to show them which way ought to go and what to do.

Abraham's prayer.
Abraham had to wait many years for the promised son, Isaac. "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations...Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
(Rom. 4.18 to 21 )

God's answer to perseverance in prayer also in our days.
A female missionary had a brother who was not saved, and it troubled her deeply. However, he was an alcoholic. One day she read in
2.Mos.10.26:
"Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind."


“Not a hoof is to be left behind." She repeated this and got such faith in this word that she thanked and praised God for this promise. 

The letters that was sent to her the following months only told how sad his brother's condition was, and in the last letter the message was that now his condition had deteriorated significantly.

However, the missionary didn't let this throw her off balance, and still she praised God for the promise she had in his word. Then one day there came a letter with great news. The brother had been saved, and all his craving for alcohol was gone.


"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
(Galatians 6:9)

 

 

 

12th January 2014

INVITATION FOR A WEDDING

A pastor's wife once told me this story:

There was an old man who dreamed that he died.
The angels came and carried him up and carried him thus into heaven. Jesus himself received him, and many people who had gone home before him flocked to him and welcomed him.

The old man suddenly remembered one person that he did not see anywhere. " Where was George ?" He asked.

Then Jesus eyes was filled with tears. "No one has invited him ," the Savior said.

"Oh, please give me permission to go down to earth a short moment, so that I can invite George! " the old man said.

The moment he woke up. He ran immediately to the hot-tempered and irascible blacksmith, to whome almost nobody dared to talk.
"I greet you from Jesus and invite you into heaven, " said the old man.

At first the blacksmith became angry, but guess what , it ended up that he received the invitation and began to walk on the Heaven Way.

You cannot say that you are not invited to Jesus. But today he sends you once again a new greeting: "Come to the wedding banquet”

(Matt. 22.4)

You are invited to an eternal celebration and salvation . Do you know how often the word "come" is repeated in the Bible? An avid man found out that the word "come" occurs 479 times!

Einar Lyngar . E. Campbell trans .

 

 

 

11th January 2014


Verily JESUS COMES
Matt. 24.32-33
Have you ever experienced a winter that never came to an end? It felt like spring would never come.

Perhaps this is why Jesus chose to use exactly this picture to assure us that he is indeed coming.


"“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.”
Matt. 24.32-33

Early in March, while we still wear coats buttoned up to the neck, and while we still have to go on ice and snow that we see a tree with bulging green buds, and we feel a little warmer because knots clubs tells us that spring is imminent.
Jesus knows this feeling. He longed for spring. And he promises that he will come back for us, just as unerringly sure as spring follows winter.

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

10th January 2014

PROVE IT

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Mat. 7, 24

A painter, who traveled around Switzerland was stopped one day by some inspectors who demanded to see his passport. "I didn't bring it with me," he said, "but my name is Doré." "Prove it," said the inspectors. They knew this famous artist name, but were not sure that it was him.

Doré took a piece of paper and drew a sketch of some peasants who were nearby. This he did so outstandingly well that the inspectors had to admit: "It's OK. You are Doré."

The world does not care about our oral testimony. We need to show that we are Christians by our lives and our actions.

E. Campbell translated

 

 

9th January 2014

Almost persuaded now to believe;
Almost persuaded Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On Thee I’ll call.

 

Almost persuaded, come, come today;
Almost persuaded, turn not away;
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are lingering near
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wanderer, come!

 

Almost persuaded, harvest is past!
Almost persuaded, doom comes at last!
Almost cannot avail;
Almost is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
Almost, but lost!


P. P. Bliss.
Press here to here the song

 

 

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Acts. 26, 28

 

 

 

Bliss wrote both lyrics and tunes to some of our songs. He was born in 1838 in North Pensylvania in a godly home.

His interest in music was awakened already at the age of 10. About this the story tells: One day as he strolled along the way he heard music that he had never heard before. He stopped - a door was ajar and he went inside. Soon he was standing by a door that opened into a sitting room where a woman was playing on a black wooden box with black and white " buttons " (piano ) . When she was finished he shouted enthusiastically : " Play more, please play more! "

After working a few years of farming bet he solely turned on the music and started at a school where he could train in music.

14 years old, he came to personal faith. He now lived in Chicago and was a Sunday School teacher there. Here, his musical talents benefitted him particularly well because he wrote songs that the children understood and could sing. When Moody became acquainted with this young music virtuoso he urged and supported him to accompany him on his meeting tour around the country.

However, his working day was short because he died in 1876 in a railroad-accident with his wife, just two years after being hired.

Bliss was often captivated by a particular word or a particular phrase, which he heard in a sermon. The serious song, "Almost persuaded" Bliss composed after hearing a sermon about being an almost Christian, almost on the way to Heaven - and yet not to be with.

Has this song spoke to you?

You can hear the song by pushing this link

F. Campbell translated


 

 

 

8th January 2014

DO YOU TURN DOWN?
A gang leader in the United States were arrested some time ago. He was very hard of hearing, so he had to go with a hearing aid. Every time he was wheeled into the courtroom and his case was treated, he muffled the sound of his hearing so that he heard nothing of what was said.

No one could understand that he was so calm and that nothing seemed to touch him of what he argued. Then came the last day on which his case was to come on. This was the day in which he was to be sentenced. As he approached the courtroom, he turned down the volume so that he could not hear. Then the sentence was passed. He was condemned to death in the electric chair, but he heard nothing of what was said, so he was quite unaffected by the circumstances.

When the day came that he was to be executed, the guards came after him. He was quite calm. He did not know where they were going. But when they arrived and he noticed the electric chair, he was quite beside himself. He yelled and screamed like mad, because now it occurred to him how stupid he had been, because he would not listen and therefore had turned down the hearing aid.

God calls on us in many ways, and he uses every opportunity, because he loves us with an everlasting love. God can call you through another person, a hymn, a treaty or any other Christian literature. If in your heart you feel a warm alluring force and you have a desire to be good and pure, then it is God who is calling you. If you, while you 're having fun with others, feel that everything is empty and worthless and you are overwhelmed by a longing to be free of sin, which only inhibits and binds, then it is God who calls.

Al longing for the good comes from God. He would like to get in touch with us. But quite often we are like this abowe man. We turn down and do not want to hear. So he will have to send hardships, sickness, sorrow through a close family member's death, so that close relationships are interrupted.
Do not turn away from him, do not screw down. He only wants the very best for you. He wants to fill your life as a Christian. And soon he comes back, and takes you back home with him, because you are the heir to his Kingdom. (Jak. 2.5)
E. Campbell

 

 

 

7th January 2014
 

I WAS NOT DIVORCED - BUT SAVED!
After being married for 15 years - we had at that time a 14 year old son - I was misled by the evil tricks and wanted a divorce from my husband. The final papers had been handed in, and I already had plans for a new marriage. But inside me everything was in turmoil and in total chaos. Then something happened, something that was nothing short of a revolution: I received Christ!

Laila Heimli tells: "3 days before this revolution in my life, two believing women met in the city. One of them was my mother in law. She told the other that I and my husband, Kari, had split up and that there was no longer any hope for our marriage. But the other answered, "Yes! For God there is nothing impossible. Let us immediately pray for Laila and Kari!"

So they went together in prayer for us, and the burden was heavy on them while they stood there in Bergen city center.

Three days later I was invited to a meeting at a congregation. Such a thing as attending a Christian meeting was totally new for me, and I was very much in doubt. Anyway - after a conversation in confidence, it ended up that I agreed to go. At that time I did not understand that it was God's Spirit that worked in me.

At this time there was a bible verse that spoke to me. The reason was that our 14 year old son went to the pastor while we were separated, and one day he came home with a New Testament. On the front page there was a greeting and a reference to a scripture. I was curious and came up with this scripture in Rome. 13.8: "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another" NIV

These words both intrigued me and tormented me and made me feel that my situation was even more messy.

When I was at the meeting and heard the song and testimony this evening, I was so moved that I just could not hold my tears back. A servant of the Lord came gently towards me and asked: "Are you unhappy, my dear friend?" - "Yes," I stammered out through my tears. - "Do you want us to pray for you tonight?" - "Yes, please!"

That evening, I gave Jesus my heart. I did not understand much of what happened, but a miracle happened, a salvation miracle! This is the truth. Oh, how unbelievable and wonderful to be allowed to fall on your knees and become small and receive the Savior's forgiving grace!

As soon as I got the chance, I told my mother what had happened. My new life gave me the courage and desire to share what I had experienced. Kari was very surprised. He was equally unknown about Christian life, just as I had been! Yet, despite the fact that he was not able to follow me on the road of faith right away, we both got through this a new perception of life and of each other. We cut off the connections we had with previous relations and started a completely new life. All honor and thanks belongs to my Lord and my God!

I got to start all over again - both as a wife and mother, in a brand new home, and now we are building on faithfulness and show each other confidence. And you who are reading this testimony, let me tell you that my husband has now chosen the Heaven Way. I 've been prayed and waiting for this for 17 years, and all the believers have also prayed! To God belongs the glory. In October 1997 we held 40th wedding anniversary. Thank God !

Our family was blessed with a precious daughter, exactly a year after I was saved. As a gift from God, she came to us. Today, 1998, our daughter is also the mother of our two grandchildren, and for all this we thank and praise Jesus, our precious Savior.

Yes, conciliation and reconciliation and a new start that is the will and ways of God! However, in cases where this is no longer possible, then the Word of God is at any rate unwavering - also for you:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:”
2 Cor. 5.17 – 18 NIV
(also reconciliation ministry, both to God and the Father and between us humans.)
TF - magazine
E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

6th January 2014
 

THE RIGHT CHOICE

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matth. 7,13-14 NIV


Every day we are faced with choices, whether we are to choose this or that. When we are out doing our shopping the question is often: what would be the bestt to buy now, the cheapest or the slightly more expensive and better?

But there are also times when we are faced with choices of far greater importance, which may have serious consequences if we do not choose the right way. God has given us the choice whether to go the broad way that leads to hell, or the narrow road that leads to heaven. There is "no middle ground", as is so often asserted. Here it is either – or.


"But how can I know what is right?" Many do say. "There are so many religions and many different Christian churches. How do I know which of these has the right teachings?"

Jesus said to Pilate, "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

John. 18.37

Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" V. 38
He stood actually opposite to him who said "I am the way and the truth and the life" ( John 14:6 ), but Pilate "Wanting to satisfy the crowd" (Mark 15.15), and therefore he gave up Jesus to the crowd to be crucified.

And while he( Pilate) “sat on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him and let say," Stay out of this righteous man . For I have the night had many bad dreams because of him . "
Matt. 27.19 NIV

God had warned him, and several times he(Pilate) had said to the crowd that he found no fault in Jesus, but nevertheless this prefect chose wrong. He was more afraid of going against the people than to go against the will of God.


Everyone can find God, just by searching him with all your heart. This is stated in Jer. 29.13 and in Matt. 7.7 Jesus says to us: "seek and you will find;"

So there is no excuse to choose wrong. Therefore, walk the narrow road that leads to heaven.

E. Campbell translated

 

 

 

 

5th January 2014

THE WORLD'S MOST MIGHTY POWER – PRAYERS
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

Luke 18.1

This is the parable that Jesus himself told us that we always have to be persistent in prayer, and not faint. Luke 18.1

Some years ago there was a couple in Sweden, who had a half-grown son. One day he had an errand to a neighboring town. It was winter, and when the boy had left his parents he fastened his skies firmly and left. The hours passed by, and the mother became increasingly worried because her son did not return. She opened the door again and again to see whether she could see anything outside. But no. The evening came, still nothing and now everything was dark. The boy had not yet come back. The following morning the father went out to search for his son along with the village men. The search was done very thoroughly and they searched everywhere, but in vain. The boy was not found.

It is always tragic to lose a child, but it gets many times worse when you do not know what kind of death, you child had had.

One day the husband says to his wife: "I am desperate to know what has happened to our son and what kind of death he has had. Therefore, every morning when you pray your morning prayer, you must ask God to show us the death that our son has been given. I will do exactly the same. Like this the same prayer will come to God's throne twice a day. This may take time, but you must not lose faith.

The years passed. In fact there were 7 years without anything happened. God had not given them what they had asked for. One day the husband says to his wife: "From now, we will also carry this prayer to God in our evening prayers. Then the same prayer will come to God's throne 4 times a day. We must endure in prayer, like the widow, then God's answers will come, this Jesus has promised us."


So they prayd faithfully the same prayer each morning and each evening. How many years went by like this, that I cannot remember, but one day God answered our prayer. The weather was so good that the husband had dragged the boat out of the boat shed.

He was to go out on a lake near here to fish. This was in the spring, the sun shone on the blank and calm lake. All of a sudden the father becomes aware of something on the bottom. He then throws the fishing net down and pulls it up. He finds out that it is a human skeleton. He threw the net down several times to get it all up and noticed that there was a fragment of a sock on one leg. On the verge of this sock he read very clearly the sewn initials of their son. His wife always used to sew the name on the socks. 'Then it was all quite clear for the father. The son had wanted to take a shortcut to the neighboring town and had gone off gliding over the lake.

The ice had not been thick enough and had given in, and the son had drowned. All these years he had been there and had long ago dissolved, but part of the socks with the initials, God had left intact to the parent that had been so persistent in prayer to know what death, their son had got. The father folded his hands and thanked God for hearing them. Yes, verily, God is in full great, and he hears all prayers. Do not be discouraged, but be persistent. Then you will get God's answers.

Effie Campbell

 

 

 

4th January 2014

 

The story of the song: "There is might in the small folde hands"

Press this link to hear the song

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Matth. 7,7-8   NIV

 

We let the author Trygve Bjerkheim even tell how this song came to be.
Some years ago I sat in Forbundsshallen in Oslo one Sunday morning and heard a young missionary speech. One phrase he used, I wrote down. " The strongest superpower in the world at all times is the front with small folded hands."


The small decorated card with this phrase was in my French New Testament, and so it was that I was constantly reminded of these words by seeing them again and again. I wanted to write a song about that phrase, and thus it worked continuasly in my mind.


2 - 3 years later - or maybe 4, I woke up one night and came to think of the words of " the strongest Superpower " - the folded hands. When the phrase, “ There is might in the small folded hands."

There was a verse, a chorus and one more verse. I was almost finished with the song before I turned on the light and wrote them down. These verses were then printed as a small poem in the yearbook of the Mission-Union in 1955: " Deeper Down". They fit in well with the cover photo - a little chinese girl standing with her head bowed and holding her hands together in prayer.

 

When this book came to Dronningborg College in Grimstad early in 1956 teacher Haugen discovered this little poem, and he soon after that got a tune that matche the poem. This tune made the song widely known. But the song has 3 verses. A little later a retired officer from the Salvation Army, Colonel Linderud, turne up at the office in Mollergata 19.

 

Han sagde, at han var blevet så glad for digtet og havde skrevet en melodi til dette og spurgte så, om han kunne få lov til at bruge teksten til denne melodi.

Det fik han naturligvis lov til; men så tilføjede han: ”Min kone og jeg ville ønske, at du digtede et vers mere, hvor du medtog forældrene, der beder for deres børn.” Jeg lovede at forsøge. Da han var draget videre, nedskrev jeg et nyt vers: ”Du som be'r for dit barn, dine kære-.


He said that he had become very fond of the poem and that he had written a tune for this. Then he asked if he would be allowed to use the poem-text of this song. Naturally, he was allowed, but then he added: " My wife and I wish you wrote one more verse in where you included the parents who pray for their children." I promised to try. When he had gone on, I wrote a new verse: "You who pray for your child, your loved ones...”

Colonel Linderud came by again a few days later and then got this new verse. That was the last time that I saw this strange man. Shortly after that, he was with his wife and visited some old friends in Egersund.

Before he was supposed to leave the house for a meeting at the parish hall later this evening, he sat down and relaxed a little in a deep armchair. Suddenly his head fell backwards, and he passed away. After the funeral a large memorial service was held, and the song was sung with his melody.

E.Campbell translated

 

 

 

3rd January 2014

AN ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY OF A YOUNG STUDENT
"You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived" (persuade) Jer. 20.7 NIV

A young student in the USA was on his way home from the university. Along the way he entered a hotel. The host turned towards him and said:"Sorry, but we only have one room left, and it is located right next to a sick room. A young man is dying in there and there is only a thin wall between thoes two. I do not know if you like it?"

"Well, that doesn't bother me," the student replied. But when he went to sleep, it was impossible for him to fall asleep. The groaning of the sick and the nurse's footsteps back and forth could be heard very clearly.

He could not fall asleep. A strange uneasiness fell over him that made him ashamed. He was known as a free-thinker much to the dismay and sorrow for his parents. His father was a priest and had been looking immensely forward to the day that his son would become a priest. He still remembered his father's deep sorrow and his mother's tearful prayers when he last time he was home on vacation told them that he did not believe that there existed an afterlife.

The unrest plagued him, but he could not let go of the thought that on the other side of the wall, there was someone who was soon going to die - and what, if there should be something after death? What had Ellison thought if he had seen him in his present state of anxiety? Ellison was one of his friends at college. It was particularly his views and convictions that had caused him to be a freethinker. Well, what would he think? - "It is foolish. I have nothing to be afraid of," he said to himself.

On the other side of the wall the plaintive sounds of the sick had now become weaker and weaker. Eventually total silence. But this young student still could not fall asleep. The night seemed to be endless. Finally, it was morning. When the student came down he asked the host how things were with the sick.

"He's dead, poor thing. The doctor had actually said that he would not survive the night,"was the reply from the host.
" Do they know who he was? " the student asked. - "Well, it was a student from the High School in Providence, he got sick on his journey," said the host. It gave a jolt to him, because he went at the same school. "What was his name?" - "Ellison," the host replied, "did you know him?"

This young man was as stunned. It was his friend, the friend who had brought him to deny. Many hours had to pass before the student could stand to move on again. All the way home was this repeating sound inside his heart:"dead - and how? - Lost, lost!" His whole conviction and thought of existence was now totally overturned. He came home to his parents, completely changed - heartbroken, challenged, in anxiety and depressed by guilt. His old man had a gratifying task the following days to tell him about God's promises until his son found peace in believing in Jesus. This son was later to become one of the previous century's greatest missionaries: "The apostle, Burma". His name was Adoniram Judson.

"You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived" (persuaded) Jer. 20.7 NIV
E. Campbell

 

 

2nd January 2014

THE ENTRANCE OF TEMPTATIONS

It was very interesting to read of the Age of Chivalry in world history. Back then many of these men made great fortunes, and for that money they built themselves castles. Times were troubled, and therefore they had to think of defending themselves and as good as possible. Many of these knights therefore built castles on an islet or small island in a small lake. They used a drawbridge to connect the castle with the mainland. In this way they could keep the enemies at a distance, because when the enemy approached the castle they only had to raise the bridge, thus preventing the enemy free passage. Like this he could be standing there on land without having to worry. - He also made the walls very thick. But perhaps the most important thin was the windows. Those he made very small. Therefore, it was very difficult for the enemy on land to hit these small windows with their arrows.

Have you ever thought that the human body is just like such a castle? The windows of the castle are the eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Our enemy is Satan, and he always aims to send his arrows through the window openings to damage and destroy our soul. And he has succeeded with this many times.

Through the eyes TV and video images enter, which in large part deal with adultery, murder and brutality. This is corrupt and rotten food for the soul. Rarely it is far from thought to action. What people see, they also often do in their daily lives. "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1.13 to 15)

Or this to let his eyes linger on someone else's spouse. I think there are many people who can talk about this, even King David, who was tempted by Bathsheba, Uriah 's wife. Like this David despised the word of God and did what displeased God with many unpredictable and far-reaching sorrows as a result of this ( 2 Sam. 11 and 12). So Satan succeeded in shooting his destructive arrows through David's eyes, and he fell.
 

Job was more cautious.
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her. For that would have been wicked, a sin to be judged. It is a fire that burns to Destruction; it would have uprooted my harvest."

(Job 31.1 . 9-12) . NIV

Through the mourth, Satan sends his deadly arrows in the form of intoxicating drinks. A secular saying goes, " When the beer comes in, reason goes out." And it is correct. People can be drunk to do things they would never dream of doing if they had been sober. But God also has something to say about these substances that deplete the body and destroys creation.

"Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple." ( 1 Cor. 3.16 to 17 ) NIV

Through the nose young people do sniff, and it can be fatal. It paralyzes the respiration and can cause sudden cardiac arrest. It is sad to see young people lie in bed without being able to eat or do anything that young people who may be cared for as diaper children due sniffing. Yes, indeed, Satan has luck.

The last window, we mention here is the ears. We must not listen to bad advices and temptations from our fellowmen. Similarly, there are also music which is both harmful and destructive.

There is help to get if we repent, yes, we have full redemption, God showed us His love in Jesus. His blood cleanses from all sin. We are purer than snow (Psalm 51.9 ). Sin will be lowered into the deepest sea (Micah 7.19 ) and Corrie ten Boom used to say : " A sign with the words " Fishing prohibited "hanging over there. So these sins will never again return and accuse us someday. The sins will not come to God's thoughts again.
Yes, you must understand, for he says of King David, who was a murderer that took someone else's wife, that he was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13.22 ). So great is God's forgiveness. You get a new beginning, a new life, the old has gone (2 Cor. 5.17 ). Does not that sound great ? But then you must also come to him, repent and ask for forgiveness.
Effie Campbell

 

 

1st January 2014

BIBLE VERSE IN OUR MODERN AGE?
Isn't it oldfashioned to learn Bible verses by heart today? However, many parents and teachers have told how Bible verses have been a blessing to their children.
In Copenhagen I taught a children's ring with appx. 20 children. One day a girl came to me and told me about the importance that a Bible verse had for her. " At my school I often recite the verse from John. 6.37: Jesus said
" ... All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away."

She had seen the value in the fact that she could always come to Jesus.

We have seen that children have attended only a few times in the children ring, but that they had learned a bible verse back then that later bore fruit. People whom we met later in life, still remembered the Bible verses they learned as children in the ring.

Kresten says: "I could cite many examples, but I will restrict my self to mention only one example. One day I was at a car dealer. There was a "Hells Angel type” in black leather clothes and with a long ponytail. He looked at me a few times, and then he said:
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke. 19.10 NIV

I smiled at him, but he noticed on my face, how amazed I was.
"Yes," he said, " I've met you once before. You spoke to a family worship, and you taught all in the church this verse." - I was pleased to hear that and I knew that I had not only taught them the Bible verse, but I also carefully had explained to them the context so that the verse could strengthen them, when the audience later in life were in need of the Word of God. "
A mother says the following: "Last summer we were at a family camp. The children taught the kids a memory verse from the Bible. Lea was just 4 years. The 4 days we were there, Leah did not say a word, but when we got home, she said :
“because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Hebr. 13.5 NIV

How I was happy, touched and grateful because she had remembered the word of God.
I would recommend anyone who has contact with children in their work, to teach the children memory verses, for it is God's truth. Teach them even a few memory verses a year, so that they stick in their memory.
"Focus on the child ."
E. Campbell translated