Where have all the ‘great ones’ gone?

Hjørdis was not my ‘aunt’ in terms of being a relative. All the same, the children who attended the nursery-class at the Sunday school in Stavanger in the late 1950s called her ‘aunt Hjørdis’. I don't know how many years she had been doing the ministry, but I believe it must have been for the major part of her life. For me she was always an ‘old’, but very important person. 

Because my parents went to the ‘Battle-School’ to be trained for officership, I was only four years old when we moved from the city. However, I know ‘aunt Hjørdis’ remembered me, prayed for me and every time I came back for furlough, she talked to me - and I was one of many who received her care. I felt seen, loved and affirmed even when I was an adult and had become an officer myself. I don't think she ever thought that she was one of the ‘great ones’ in God’s Kingdom, but when I read what Jesus said, I believe she was:

Then Jesus said to them,
“Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me;
and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”
Luke 9:48

The memory of her was triggered by General Peddle’s: ‘Call to Raise and Nurture Every Generation’, which is the first point of the charge to take responsibility (1). Praise God, we still find people who are ready to be engaged and prepared to take responsibility for children’s ministry. The challenge is that they are 'red-listed' because they belong to the endangered species – particularly when we speak about a long-term ‘aunt Hjørdis-commitment’.

It is not so hard to get people to engage in a one-time event. However, in an ‘instant’ society where the benefit of having a multitude of options to choose from is considered the highest value worth striving for – we still need people who are willing to say “I am ready to welcome and invest in children!”

‘Manna’ for today:

‘Welcome Jesus, welcome!’

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(1) A Call to Raise and Nurture Every Generation: We must accept responsibility for children, young adults and emerging leaders – equipping, growing, empowering and discipling our present and future Salvation Army.

I am my Father’s favourite!

How can that be when he has so many children?

Actually my Father is the ‘Father of all’. That is how Paul concludes his list of aspects that unites us in one Spirit (1). When Paul comes with this statement, I am convinced that he is not limiting ‘all’ to ‘all believers’, I believe he includes every individual human being on this earth. In the same letter he writes about the unity of the Spirit, he has already stated that the Father of our Lord Jesus is also:

“the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.”
Epf 3:15

I have met many people, also believers, who struggle with the image of God as the ‘perfect Father’. Very often this discomfort derives from bad experience caused by a distant or abusive earthly father who was far from perfect. God the Father sets the standard for what a good father is – and even a good earthly father would never be able to give more than a brief glimpse of what the ‘perfect Father’ is like. Because the ‘perfect Father’ has the capacity to embrace all children. Further:

“…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

So when a person has received Jesus Christ into his life, he has become a child of God, and as such he is also God’s favourite. It will never happen that the ‘Perfect Father’ will favour one child over another, because he knows that to favour one would disturb the unity of the Spirit, and that is exactly what God wants to see in his children. He wants us to sing with David:

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

…and move forward as One Army, with One Message and One Mission.

‘Manna’ for today:

I love to share my Father with all!

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(1) ….keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Ephesians 4:3-6

Knowing that God's kingdom is different - a step on the journey

NORSK
The laws of God’s kingdom are completely different to the laws of this world. Take for example the world's growing demand for energy. To avoid destroying ourselves, the necessity to find renewable energy sources that do not influence the Earth’s ecosystem becomes increasingly urgent.

In the kingdom of God all energy sources are renewable, and if we use them they will produce new and constructive energy. Love gives energy, and the more I love – the more love is generated.

“Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” the disciples asked Jesus. I do not know what answer they were expecting, but I do not think anyone had foreseen what happened:

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 18:1-4

 'You Got to Be a Baby' was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar to accompany my own singing. The song came to Norway with the Jesus Revolution. Although the song was biblical, it was perceived as a protest against the established church-hierarchy, in the same way Jesus was perceived in his time. In combination with the 'One Way - button' on our jackets, we sang it both indoors during the ‘Gospel-nights’ and out on the street when we evangelised.

It was true 45 years ago, and praise God how effective it was! It is just as applicable today as it was when the disciples learned it on their journey up to Jerusalem 2000 years ago – a child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore, a church without children will never be a real church.

‘Manna’ for today:

God, help me to keep the confidence and enthusiasm of a child!

I am born of God!

NORSK
This is a strong statement, but there is biblical evidence for the claim. I sometimes wonder why many believers seem to find it easier to confess “I am created in God's image”, than to say “I am born of God”.

In the prologue of John's Gospel, it is often the 12th verse many believers learn by heart:

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

I use this verse very often, and a couple of days back I used it as the biblical foundation for praying the ‘prayer for salvation’. When I prayed this prayer, I became a child of God, and John concludes that they who do that are:

children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:13

Being a child of God implies that I am born of God. It pushes the limit of what can be grasped by my human reason, and it is possible that is the reason why some believers find the claim threatening. It's okay to confess that: “I believe”, “I am a Christian” - even that “I am a child of God”, but many are struggling to say “I am born again” or “I am born of God”- at least in Norway. Therefore Norwegians have created the odd term “personal Christian” to distinguish him from a nominal Christian who does not confess a faith, but has a membership in a church.

I have already written – John is crystal clear: A child of God is born of God. However, it is still I who decide if I will define myself as a child of God - and the condition is unchanged: I become his child through receiving him and believe. More about the journey to the place of birth tomorrow.

‘Manna’ for today:

I am born of God!

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