Power 

Power changes people.

Best friends become strangers, servants become tyrants.

Power always changes people, usually for worse.

They say, if you want to find out a person’s character, give him power.

Sooner or later the people with power just lose their objectivity

and become victims of their own ambitions.

They don’t have power, but “power” has them.

Pilate had reached this point in his thinking.

Meeting with Jesus shook up his world.

When Jesus answered him nothing,

he understood that he was a mere mortal again.

He could not exercise his power over the King of Kings.

”Don’t you know that I have power?”

sounded like a jumpy exclamation of a child who has just been

caught at the cookie jar.

Jesus finally  said,

“You would have no power unless it was given to you from above.”

We hear no more comments from Pilate after that.

Victim Mentality

A victim mentality is based on the original accusation of Satan,

that God is not fair.

For a person who has believed that lie,

others are always getting something,

doing something and going somewhere without telling them.

It’s a sad paranoia, that has stolen a person’s motivation and

ability to grow in healthy relationships.

People with a victim mentality will always find an excuse to avoid

responsibilities, ”How can I commit myself to a ministry, when

I haven’t, myself, received my own portion in life?”

Everything is someone else’s fault, never theirs.

Despite of all our life-experience and memories we all have been

given a new life, that is not based on somebody trying to compensate

our pain .Jesus voluntarily became the ultimate victim in order for

us to experience the love of God in it’s fullness.

With the new life, we have a new view on everything.

For some it means freedom from their own goodness,

for others it’s freedom from the myth called “fairness in life.”

Beyond control

As the citizen control is rapidly increasing on all levels,

the secrets of our hearts become more valuable.

Soon it might be the only secure investment,

beyond inflation and taxation.

Some call it privacy, others call it a holy place.

No one knows what is in your heart.

The thought detectors are not yet working at the airports.

Therefore, "Guard your heart with all diligence."

Reality

In  the midst of all the absurd religious activities

and commercialized spirituality

we are looking for the genuine work of God.

The NIV translation says it well in Col 2:17,

“These are a shadow of the things that were to come;

the reality, however, is found in Christ.”

In other words, the world will continue being

 filled with spiritual distraction

and politicized religious influence, 

but it will not change the influence of Christ

in heaven. He will be forever the “lamb that was slain.”

Our mind is the greatest instrument for God’s life in time.

We should not waste it in lies, fantasies,

expectations and disappointments.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him and 

dine with him, and he with me.”

 Rev.3:20

General Truth

We should be daily concerned of the bigger picture in life.

Things connect and relate to one another, just as people do.

General truths are also important.

If you are staring only at the details of the truth,

 you are in danger of legalism.

Pharisees concentrated on the letter of the law and ended up

ignoring the whole counsel of God.

They strained a gnat , but swallowed a camel.

Others, maybe much less educated people,

saw their contradiction and were not so attracted

by their company.

The bigger picture would not exist without the details

and details would not make any sense
 without the bigger picture.

.

Is it fun?

Sometimes the distance between so called fun and

genuine joy is astronomical. The worldly fun just doesn’t

work in the church. It’s too possessive and too disturbing.

There are different categories of entertainment.

There’s the expensive kind,  that is usually very boring

but extremely visible, demanding, noisy and artificial.

Then there is the low life fun, that appeals to people’s

animal like character, well-organized temptations of the flesh.

Then there is the laughter and other emotional satisfaction

 that comes from God.

It will not cost you anything but fellowship with God.

This cannot be reproduced by money nor by show-business

professionalism. It’s not happening in secrecy, but it seems

to be hidden from most of the world.

God wants us to come to his presence with joy and singing.

In His presence there is “fullness of joy

 and pleasures  for evermore”.

Ps.16:11

"It's not for you to know..."

Acts 1:7

So many things don’t depend on us.

And, if they did, we wouldn’t really know what to do with them.

Have you ever listened to a politician who has to be in opposition,

but likes the politics of his opponent too much.

How about a defense lawyer who knows that his client is guilty,

but still has to go through the rhetoric of defending him.

The concept of democracy brings a lot of absurd dilemmas.

Orwell’s “All people are equal, some are more equal than others”

describes well the hypocrisy that man faces,

when he is trying to play the role of God .

We should humble ourselves and admit that most of the things,

that relate to life and it’s management, we just cannot do.

And, nevertheless, life goes on victoriously.

Prayer makes a difference.

How do we pray for other people’s salvation? Do we just

repeat their name to God continually until God finally

gives in and draws them. After all, it’s impossible for man to be

saved unless God draws them. Prayer seems to be strongly

connected with the preaching of the Gospel.

How will they believe unless they hear?

I believe that prayer moves God, it moves the people whom

we pray for and it moves us.

Blessed are those people who have somebody praying for them.

They are near the Kingdom of God. God shows them things

supernaturally which they would not see without somebody

praying. God sends people with the message to them, because

of our prayers.

Remember Elisha praying for his servant. As an answer to

Elisha’s prayers, God opened his eyes and he saw the angelic

host with chariots of fire in 2. Kings 6

Often the only reason why a person who has heard the Gospel will

not accept it, is the supernatural spiritual blindness that hinders

them from seeing. Because it is a supernatural blindness it can

be removed by God alone. We are not reminding God about

someone but in prayer we are representing God’s authority over

this darkness. We become a tool in God’s hand.

Eph.1:18 , Rm.10:1, Acts 26:18, I Tim 2:1-6, John 6:44

Blinded

They say, that in history man is often blinded by

the immediate past.

It blinds us because we are in it.

Taking distance for the sake of objectivity

 is not always easy.

In order to see things clearly you sometimes

 just cannot go far enough.

Details of life blind us.

Our emotions blind us.

The mirrors around us distract us

from the more valuable goals in life.

It’s not that our eyes are too weak to see far enough,

they are just too full.

I see

Some see plastic bags, others see art.

Some see problems, others see opportunities.

Some see dangers, others see adventures.

Some see failures, others see victories.

Seeing comes from believing,

 believing doesn’t come from seeing.

Faith helps us to see the invisible.

It makes it possible for us to see into eternity.

An atheist is not someone who doesn’t see.

He is someone who has chosen to close his eyes.

“Here we have no continuing city."

 Hebrews 13:14

God’s people, from Adam and Eve to Abraham, Moses,

Jesus and His disciples, have always been strangers,

refugees and displaced in this world.

Jesus found no place in the Inn.

Missions is a people movement caused by God.

When the early church started being settled in Jerusalem,

God allowed a persecution to move them out to the ends

of the earth.

Pilgrim mentality is not a failure. It’s our strength.

“For those who say such things declare plainly

 that they seek a homeland…

They desire a better, that is , heavenly country.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,

for He has prepared a city for them.”

 Hebrews 11:14-16

Almost True

When something is almost true, it’s not true at all.

The same way, when something is potentially true,

it’s not true at all, yet.

All these “almost saved” boyfriends and girlfriends

who are later shockingly unmasked as unbelievers  

(now husbands and wives) testify that this “almost”

 realm is the most successful area for deception.

Half-truths, sincere intentions and superficial smiles

are dangerous. It’s man’s own goodness that

keeps the mankind almost saved,

 but totally away from the kingdom of God.

Psalm 51:6

The foot needs the hand, the eye needs the ear.

Let people minister to you.

If you haven't understood that" the eye cannot say 

to the hand, I have no need of you", you will hold on to your

independent position.

When you don't need anything from anybody, you are in a 

dangerous place.

You are not just becoming an island, but you are drifting

further away into self-righteous, self-sufficient loneliness,

where no one has any problems, because nobody is there.

Let people minister to you. They have something that you

can never have without them.

Isaiah 55:9

Isn’t it amazing how one thought can destroy the rest of the day?

Thoughts are powerful.

They attack us unexpected and spread their roots into our

unprepared minds, asking for no audience nor permission.

The greatest defense against dangerous thoughts are

healthy, truthful thoughts. They can save the rest of the day.

Lord, give us those thoughts, that are, as the heavens, higher

than the earth. Otherwise this noisy dust will again ruin

the beautiful day.

Good Job

Aren’t you happy, that you don’t have to rule the world.

Poor politicians, by talking and more talking they are trying

to fix the unfixable and change the unchangeable.

God chose to save the world, not by talking, but by dying.

He did a good job. Just wait and see.

Balance, Balance

Balance comes from constant checking and adjusting.

In matters of faith it requires humility and accountability.

Truth is always balanced, 

even when it is shocking and

surprising.

Extremism grows in isolation. It feeds on sensations and

considers the balanced truth boring.

 It’s colored with proud exclusiveness.

In the end times it’s a challenge to find your balance

between faith rest and the urgency of the hour.

Sometimes a compromise is mistaken to mean balance.

Sometimes passivity  and laziness are covered by

so called normal Christianity.

Balance comes when we are 

rightly related to the Body of Christ.

When our daily life looses it’s balance,

 we still stand strong

with the Spirit witnessing together with our spirit:

“ For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,

but my kindness shall not depart from you , nor shall my

covenant of peace be removed.”

 Isaiah 54:10

 No Walls, No Ceiling

The level of "receiving one another just

as Christ also received you" (Romans 15:7)

is an indicator of God's power in the local church.

You cannot do it from a distance,

you have to speak with the person next to you.

We are different. Yes, some are more different than others.

Legalism fits well in for engineering  mentality and 

doesn't matter too much to an economist as long

 as the numbers keep growing.

It leaves no air to breath for creative minds

 and forces them out from

well-programmed churches  

giving them an "understandable"

excuse not to come back.

Living vision will not survive without creative,

 unorthodox ideas.

Playing it safe is no guarantee that the generations

to come will stay in the church

and appreciate it's unchangeable order.

Things are bad, but so good.

II Cor.4:8-9

"We are hard pressed on every side,

 yet not crushed; 

we are perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not forsaken;

struck down, but dot destroyed..."

Don't we love Biblical optimism.

Feeding problems by avoiding them

It’s a lie to think that we can avoid problems

by avoiding responsibilities.

Problems have a tendency to grow and to become

more complex and more difficult to solve.

Closing our eyes, ears and doors seem to make

the problems invisible to us, but not us to the problems.

Problems also seem to become more demanding

and less humble as they grow, just like people.

Babies are much easier to handle than teenagers.

Even time had to slow down.

When God answers our prayers, nothing is impossible.

Mountains can be moved, evil things can turn to blessings.

Even time has to obey, when God commands it to stop.

One of the greatest enemies of prayer is distraction.

King Hezekiah had a good solution for it in Isaiah 38:2

He turned his face toward a wall and prayed to the Lord.

God heard his prayer and gave him fifteen more years to live.

I'm sure, after that, 

 the king was always eager to go back to the wall

and pray again.

It's doable.

“were rom, sir?”

“I’m from Finland.”

“wer Fenla, not hear…”

“Have you ever heard of Nokia?”

“Yes, yes, ofcost, is Fenla in Nokia?”

The taxi driver pulls out a beaten Nokia phone

from his pocket. He’s been talking Nokia for many years .

He ‘s so happy we finally connected.

I go back to my hotel in Doha, more convinced than ever,

that Finns can reach the whole world with the Gospel.

Blaming uglyfies 

Blaming others makes people look ugly.

 Justified or not, it always

makes a person look cheap.

Jesus never accused people.

 Even when they went to the ultimate,

nailing him to the cross, 

he asked the Father to forgive them.

If you are unhappy, disappointed and angry at yourself,

 don’t blame others.

 It will just add ugliness to your unhappiness,

 disappointment and anger.

There’s a Persian proverb that says,

 ”If you don’t like the picture in the

mirror, don’t break the mirror…”

Friends

We need friends, when the universe intimates with it’s vastness,

when small foxes ruin our gardens and we are afraid of height,

when grasshopper has become a burden.

Friends who listen, friends who talk, friends who just cannot be

consumed away.

We cannot afford to lose even one. Every loss of a friend is like

an end of the world, it’s a tragic end of a whole civilization.

Friends carry us. They stop us. Friends think about us.

We can lose many things, but we cannot afford to lose friends.

If we do, we'll always miss them and they'll always miss us.

Taboo

How could you write a book about hell

without offending people?

You cannot.

How could you speak about hell 

without being accused for

fear-mongering and discrimination?

You cannot.

How could you stop hell from existing by not liking it?

You cannot.

No wonder, that hell is the most avoided

cardinal doctrine in churches today.

“than to enjoy the passing pleasures”

  Hebrews 11:25

It’s clear , we cannot do both,

lay up for ourselves treasures on earth and lay up for ourselves

treasures in heaven.

Still believers are busy packing their luggage for eternity with

a lot of stuff that will not pass the worm test.

The earthly treasures don’t just look and smell good, they

also continue to keep us busy. You need all your time to

get them, to guard them, to keep them.

It’s clear, we cannot have both.