The heart of a father

“My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:1‬

Category Archives: Encouragement


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The Secret of the Western Wall

By Doug Hershey

“No site in Jerusalem affected me more than the western wall.”

– Edward Wilmot Blyden (1866, African American Author; – From West Africa to Palestine; 245)

The Western Wall, sometimes called “The Wailing Wall”, is known throughout the world as a Jewish place of prayer. Jews have been praying here for centuries, still weeping over the destruction of the Temple or reciting ancient prayers, looking for the Messiah. Many will write their prayers on paper and stuff them in the cracks of the wall to keep their prayers continually before God. Continue reading →


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The Story of Life

By Eric Boerhout

“Whoever wants to save his life should lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake should win it.” Matt 16:25

Each of us has its own unique life story. It begins completely beyond our own control and will. The start is written by other people’s actions and motives. Hopefully, your life begins with a loving dad and mom. Hopefully you were born in a loving home in a safe country full of opportunities. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Your life may have started in an environment of struggle, strife and broken relationships. Maybe it was not so loving in your home, or your country was not so safe to live in. We all have a very different beginning to our life stories, depending on the circumstances that made their mark on it.

But no matter how the start has been, everyone eventually comes to a point where the pen becomes more and more your own. The moment when you yourself decide how the story will continue. Then it is your own thoughts, motives and actions that decide how the story should proceed. For me, this point came when I was 12 years old. I was born and raised in a loving family who gave me everything I needed. But, as many may recognize in themselves, I sought to take control of life to move in a different direction. I thought that if I could do what I wanted, freedom and happiness would be the result – my life was filled with drugs, parties and alcohol. Already at the age of 18 I became a father and had to be responsible for the consequences of my actions. I had taken control of my life story and what was written down was now a mess.

I had taken control of my life story and what was written down was now a mess.

I think we all get to that point in our lives when we have to look back and think about the history we have written. Of course, there are many things we couldn’t control – things that rushed right into our lives and caused a huge impact. Other people’s actions, illnesses and disasters that left large ink stains on the page. But we all have a choice how to react and respond in the middle of the storms. And then pick up the pen again and continue writing where the waves of life placed us.

And then pick up the pen again and continue writing where the waves of life placed us.

When I looked at the mess I left behind, I realized that I would not be able to arrange this on my own. This is where God came into my story. He turned out to be a loving father, a friend and savior who did not get angry when he looked at my past. He was neither shocked nor overwhelmed by the mess I put up with. Instead, He took me by the hand and asked me if we could continue to write the story together.

No matter what your life looks like today – or what you have written so far – you can choose to leave control of your life to God and continue to write the story with Him. The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God wants to bless your life.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV

Prayer requests:

– That the congregation in Sweden should hand over control to God and let Him lead.

– That many who do not believe should turn to God and find Him in the midst of the storms.

Eric Boerhout, Sverigebönen 24-7


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Speak to the Storm

Listen to ‘Speak To The Storm’, with a spoken word from Charlotte Gambill. Her message embodies the theme of the live album recorded at LIFE Church UK. We pray this will strengthen and encourage you! Continue reading →


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God’s Kingdom Family of Diversity

By Ron McGatlin

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Families are beginning to be drawn to come together and be brought back into God’s true order as the basic model for all governance and production in the kingdom of God.

Adversity and lack of wellbeing are negative factors that are being used as a trigger toward changing the hearts of many people. The stress, loneliness, sadness, and confusion of disorder turns the hearts of people to seek God’s order in life. The experience of love relationships is necessary for abundant, peaceful, and meaningful life. Continue reading →


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Why You Should Have That Difficult Conversation

By Jared C. Wilson

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” — Matthew 18:15

It’s impossible to get through mature adult life without navigating personal oversights and offenses. No normal person enjoys conflict, and every normal person wishes they could avoid it. And many of us do our best to do so. But mature Christians in particular don’t have an option, biblically speaking, to live honestly and sincerely in the world.

Those of us who don’t enjoy conflict come up with a bevy of rationalizations to avoid the difficult conversation we know deep down we ought to have. Maybe we’ll make it worse. We might hurt someone’s feelings. Continue reading →


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And after all…

Was reflecting my first 10 years in my new homeland Sweden. Besides the fact that the language is still a bit of a struggle for me and the culture in many ways can be quite a struggle or better said a confrontation, it has been some amazing and challenging years.

Coming from a nation of communication, meeting and greeting, I had to except that other nations have other habits and qualities. Digging in the dirt of what confronted me, I found some amazing qualities of the people of this nation. Qualities that I began to like to the level of adapting and excepting. I love the people in many ways that learn to deal with seasons of extreme cold, darkness and lack of the fruits of the field. I understand the still strong effort to prepare the wood in spring and summer in order to be warm in the winter. Continue reading →


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Every Now and Then

For the past days a wonderful, refreshing, pure sound is filling our house as I “bumped into it” unexpected and surprisingly.
To be honest, you need it “every now and then”, the fresh new inspiration by the frequency of sounds that are charged by presence, longing, beauty and purity…. mainly when the familiar (beautiful but still familiar) songs don’t do and are in need of new and fresh inspiration.

And so, CityAlight, a wonderful group of young worshippers from Australia popped up and challenged us to get their 3 CD’s, the digital version of course. It started with this beautiful song:

And yes, every word touched us, encouraged us and even challenged us as they loud, very loud (my wife’s reaction on destined sounds on destined moments) filled our living room and started to lift us up, back to the needed level of faith, truth and expectation of a God that is ALWAYS for us in whatever battle we find ourself.

Well, its not going to be a long post but just a meaningful grateful THANK YOU to this wonderful fellowship of people.

Search for yourself, listen to the songs, to the “Story behind” the songs, expressing such a beauty in longing for HIM!

http://www.cityalight.com

Their statement:
The sound of a church singing has preceded almost every great revival in church history. The church is God’s witness and representative on earth. Is there any wonder that a tremendous power comes about when the representative voice of God in the earth is singing.

We desire to get out of the way so the truth upon which all our songs are built can properly shine. We pray that the lyrics and melodies of these songs would fix eyes and hearts and minds on Jesus. We pray that our songs might join the many thousands of songs written through history to encourage the church, and when they have played their role, to make way for the next ones. And we rejoice that one day the only name left standing will be the name of Jesus, as it should be.

Yours together in Jesus’ service,
The CityAlight Team

Thank you guys, we love you and looking forward to “see” your “sound of Heaven” touching the Earth!


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PLAIN SPEECH, PLAIN POWER, PLAIN MESSENGERS

“We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.”

Dallas Willard

The world has made an idol of reason, polishing it with perpetual questioning. This has got into the church. However attractive the vulnerability in which it is packaged, doubt is not a virtue in Christian leadership. Faith comes by hearing, chewing and feasting on the word of God and without faith it’s impossible to please God! Whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).

I am both haunted by and pulled to answer with my very life a question that Jesus once posed:

“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1)

Uncertainty has become odiously trendy in our grey, postmodern, western culture of intellectual idolatry. Thomas did not get a medal from Jesus for his honesty and stubbornness, neither does he appear in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame. Yes, we all have seasons of wrestling with truth. Notwithstanding healthy occasion for vulnerability, this is our moment to peel away from the public platform and earnestly seek the face of God.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t endorse woolly talk. He is never political. Apostolic love in the New Testament was never co-dependent, but backboned, brazen and bloody self-sacrifice on behalf of lost people on their way to hell without repentance and faith.

I believe that church leadership in the west needs to throw out all trendy, political, uncertainty and demonstrate plain faith and godly authority! We are not called to be doubting, intellectual analysts heavy on opinion, but simple messengers, who fear God and not man. I’m not that interested in your opinion Mr. church leader, I want to hear the word of God on the matter! In this next season, I believe that favour and anointing is going to come on men and women without guile and with plain speech. Love is pure. The shepherd-less flocks of the world don’t need to be pandered to but saved by and led through and out of darkness by a revered company of incandescent men and women who know their God and hold aloft the light of His word, come what may.

Extract from ‘Firebrand – Devotions from a Life of Burning’ by Dominic Muir


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Sweden, A Fatherless Nation, but…

A great and true post was put on facebook by a dear friend and brother in Christ today! I read it and my reaction is below, fully confirming the warning but adding some hopefully actions we can make in order to turn the tide!

Sverige! Sverige! Sverige!
Det är tid att vända om.
Sista tiden har ett flertal profeter talat allvarliga ord till vårt land. De har talat om att Sverige är under dom. Gud kommer att dömma vårt land om vi inte vänder om från den ogudaktiga väg vi nu går. Men om vi vänder om och ångrar det onda vi gör finns det hopp. Det är allvarliga ord som taltats till Sverige om att Sverige kommer drabbas av olycka men du ska veta att Gud inte gör detta för att han hatar oss utan det är för att han älskar oss och vill upprätta relationen med honom igen. Men om det ska behövas olycka för att vi ska börja söka Gud och hans vilja igen så är det inte mot hans principer att ge oss det. Det är högst bibliskt att han fostrar dem han älskar. Läs om hur han handskade med sitt eget folk.
Ha detta i åtanke om när Gud dömmer vårt land. Börja inte anklaga Gud utan börja ångra det onda vi gör så är han nådefull och ångrar det han tänkt göra.
SVERIGE VÄND OM.
Börja ropa till honom. Sök hans ansikte. Sök hans vilja. VÄND OM.
Continue reading →


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A Prayer for Restoration

Psalm 51
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. 2Sm 12:1
A Psalm for the month of October.
A Cry for a New Start!
On behalf of the City! On behalf of the Nation!
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Picture by Derek Bruff
1 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithful love;
according to Your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.
2 Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against You — You alone — I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight.
So You are right when You pass sentence;
You are blameless when You judge.

Continue reading →


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INTERCESSORS, YOU ARE BEING CALLED BACK TO THE FRONTLINES!

By CHRISTY JOHNSTON

I felt to release this word over the intercessors today. All week long I have had a burning in my spirit for you as the Holy Spirit has been awakening my own desire to increase in my intercession, but also to call forth the intercessors that have become weary on the battlefield. I keep hearing this decree like a mighty thunderous shout that is resounding from heaven, “Intercessors, you are being called back to the frontlines.” I released this word at our church on Sunday and as I did, I saw a vision of intercessors in chains. I saw that minor distractions had been sent their way in an effort to engage them in insignificant battles. These distractions and trivial battles had led them to engage in the wrong fight relentlessly until they were exhausted. I saw them fall to the ground in a worn-out heap and I heard their unified sorrow as they cried, “we give up, we can’t keep fighting like this.” I then saw the enemy move in stealthily and chained their hands and feet and covered their mouths, he had planned to restrict their movement all along so they would be no longer free to engage in the real battle at hand. I then heard the Fathers roaring decree, “BREAK THE CHAINS in the Name of JESUS!” I saw angels of fire released from heaven at that moment and they flew at the speed of light, they came like blazing torches and they aided the intercessors by breaking their chains and helping them to stand with strength. In Cindy Jacobs book, ‘Possessing the gates of the enemy’, she writes, ‘in a time of war, it is the generals who make the battle plans.’ I believe the enemy has been targeting the intercessors in this hour in an attempt to disorientate, disunite and disengage them from the battle in order to prevent them from making strategic battle plans for the army of God. Continue reading →


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THE COMING BARN REVIVAL

By Brian Francis Hume

AN UNPRECEDENTED HARVEST is coming. This has been prophesied for years, even decades. Many have seen this. I’m going to refrain from throwing out numbers. But I do want to affirm the deep longing of the Father’s heart: An inkling of the coming harvest is indeed upon us now!And it is going to start in barns. Indeed, humble dwellings. It will be a revival unto the harvest.

In ancient biblical times, barns were used to store the harvest. In pre-Roman times, barns were storehouses that were underground in caves, cisterns, or holes that were covered to ensure protection from the elements. The goal was to shelter the harvested goods from inclement weather and other dangers could cause damage. Continue reading →


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Having a Message…

As I wrote the header (some years ago) it was the result of a question I ask myself every now and then: “What is really my message? What is it that I really want to communicate?”

Todd Hanson did you get my message

The first obvious question that follows of course is: Do I have a message? Well I have to be honest: No not really! 

Please stay with me as I try to answer myself by searching the honesty of my agenda! I love to talk, to connect, to relate, to walk and I have learned that that is always the biggest challenge in meeting people. Continue reading →


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The Value of Having a Teachable Spirit

By Steve Porter

Mighty warriors who desire to go deeper are teachable. As we study the life of Abraham, we can plainly see why he was so blessed. More than anything else, he valued instruction and a willingness to keep the commandments of God. Such a desire is much more than just a willingness to listen. We become teachable when our desire to receive wisdom is greater than our desire for comfort.

blogteachable

“Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” (Billy Graham)

There is a quality of spirit deep within the heart that desires a much deeper Christian life. This quality is worth more than great riches, the rarest jewel, or even the greatest talent. It is the quality of a teachable spirit.

Valuing Instruction

“Are we diligently seeking God’s best in our lives, refusing to compromise our integrity and character?“

Mighty warriors who desire to go deeper are teachable. As we study the life of Abraham, we can plainly see why he was so blessed. More than anything else, he valued instruction and a willingness to keep the commandments of God. Such a desire is much more than just a willingness to listen. We become teachable when our desire to receive wisdom is greater than our desire for comfort. Continue reading →


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Elections, Information, Leadership and the Fight for Truth

Eph. 4:14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.

I have been pondering on this for a while this morning if I really wanted to put it up but…. let’s go for it!

I have a huge concern about the way we want to influence the people and specifically the Christians of our nation through our articles in the newspapers and the way we use the platform of our congregations.

When we give (respected) people like Stefan Swärd a platform in our newspaper so he creates authority in his writing while in the meantime in an ugly way he openly attacks his brothers like Continue reading →


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What God are we talking about…

This is what I do often, rereading my blogs like 3 or 4 year ago, just to check my insights at that moment and the developments today!
Februari 2015, I posted this blog and reviewing the time past since, I can honestly say that so much has happened (even) for the better. 3 years on and the hunger is more visible than ever and… the way the Body of Christ is connecting and reacting is amazing and encouraging!

First posted Februari 25, 2015

“I, Yahweh, have called You for a righteous purpose, and I will hold You by Your hand. I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house. I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols. The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭6-9‬ HCSB) Continue reading →


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Gideon, the Story of Today

Its the story of Gideon in Judges 6 and on, that made me pounder on the situation of our nation and the Christians that are in it!

So, what was the situation of Gideon and why was he acting as he was.

The nation
1 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to Midian seven years, 2 and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the Qedemites came and attacked them. 4 They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox or donkey. 5 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts.
They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to waste it. 6 So Israel became poverty-stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the Lord. Continue reading →


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Can These Bridges Hold the Weight of My Glory?

A Word by Bill Yount

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Angels Are Descending to Inspect Spiritual Bridges Throughout the Body of Christ

As Angels were Inspecting ‘Spiritual ‘ Bridges throughout the body of Christ, the Father was asking a question… “Can these bridges hold the weight of My glory?”

Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “bridge” as: a structure spanning and providing passage over an “obstacle” as a waterway.

Have you been feeling like there are obstacles in your road of getting to where God wants you to be? Continue reading →


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Transformed Relationships

By Apostle Paul

Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another, and never play the role of an actor wearing a mask. Despise evil and embrace everything that is good and virtuous.

Be devoted to tenderly loving your fellow believers as members of one family. Continue reading →


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Light The Fire

Although neglected by the News doesn’t mean that nothing is happening!

What a sad conclusion as we all see that the only true reality for the generation arising is the way it is digitally shown. The presence of news in our Social Media circles create reality and moves the people. In a way of course it makes us deeply depended and with it it became a manipulative instrument in the hands of cruel agendas.
No matter what we do to match up with the absence through posting the good news (which we have to keep doing), there is no way we can override the excessive noise that is being produced and echoed! Continue reading →