Beautiful Mountains In The Clouds

Time for more stunning photos of Norway. The first one was taken as we drove to the top of the mountains to a restaurant/cafe called The Eagle's Nest. It is literally perched atop a mountain overlooking an incredible valley at the edge of a fjord.  As we were driving through the mountains, climbing higher and higher and weaving 'round and 'round, I commented on how ancient everything looked. We started talking about the Vikings and my friend said, "Rebecca, you are a Viking Queen leading women across Norway to fight for their land." I really dug that :) 

The second photo is of us standing on the look-out walk around the restaurant. It was so high that it made me a bit dizzy looking straight down! It was a perfect vantage point for prayer, though, and I found myself praying for God's glory to settle over the land like the clouds around me.

The third photo is one view of the valley floor below where there were farm houses, barns and a church on green, green grass nestled between the mountains like a hidden jewel. Although it was really beautiful, I wondered how cold and remote it must feel in the middle of winter when the valley is filled with snow. There were only a couple of very narrow roads leading off to somewhere up the mountains and, of course, to the edge of the Sognefjord (Norway's longest, deepest fjord, by the way).

May God's Glory Arise In Norway!

Lovsongsskolen, Sandnes, Norway

In His Image School of Worship, Sandnes, NORWAY

Well, it's official! Norway has its first School of Worship in the Rogaland Area!  This is a 'sister' endeavor with The Worship Arts Conservatory, our online school, and we are so excited about the possibilities here! I tell you, the people here have an extraordinary hunger for God's Presence and it's goose-bumpy amazing when they start to worship. We have encountered priests in the State Church (Lutheran) who just want all of God they can get, and this from a people legendary for not even being saved most of the time. Isn't that wonderful? What an amazing God who woos our hearts with such patience!

In addition to the teaching last night, there will be teaching and practical workshops all day today and then a worship evening that is open to the public, as well. This is the foundation for the school which will meet every Sunday evening for a year.  It's off to a great start and there are 25-30 students signed up already.  Please pray for Finn Geir and Kjell who are leading the school, they are wonderful men of God.

This is a pic of the lovely folks who came out last night to find God in a wonderful, new way. Vivien was a champ, of course, and delivered an inspiring, beautiful message about our need to worship God's way, not our own.  Sorry it's a bit blurry but all I had was my Ipod Touch and the lighting was typically low. Norwegians either have candle-light or they just turn the lights down until that warm, fuzzy, warm glow just happens. I think it's a sweet defense against the rainy, cold night.

Vi vil opphøye deg,

Kong Jesus,

Hvert et kne skal bøye seg

for deg.

Vi vil opphøye deg,

Kong Jesus,

Ingen er som du,

Nei, ingen er som du.

Bedehus Rainbow

This is a photo of a beautiful rainbow over the local Bedehus in Bryne. A Bedehus is a place established for prayer and it has been said that every city that has a Bedehus has experienced a renewal of Christian life in recent years. You can read about Hans Nielsen Hauge and the prayer movement he began in Norway at this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Nielsen_Hauge

Last night we had a meeting at the Frikirke (FreeChurch) which is one step away from the State Church. It has the same form, theology and tradition as the State Church (Lutheran) but the state doesn't have any rule over them. They are free to appoint the pastor of their choice, for example. It was a meeting with the people who want to be a little freer in their worship and we expected a subdued crowd. It was really beautiful to see how many of the people stepped out to prophesy and speak of the visions the Lord gave them as we worshiped together. Many people saw visions of the Lord leading them, as His sheep, down the mountain to heal them and restore them. I posted the photo below to show what a beautiful sight the sheep on the mountainside is.

With a heritage like this it isn't any wonder that God is ready to pour out His Spirit on this land! There are many here with hungry hearts who long for a visitation of God! These are my people and my heart is wholly for them and with them. 

Jeg elsker Norge med hele mitt hjerte!

Attractional vs Incarnational Missions = All About Love

Being in Norway again has brought up so many thoughts about what 'missions' really is.  I have come to a very simple conclusion: It is loving people in Jesus' love and sharing His thoughts about them in the context of relationship.

Consider these words from a website I happened upon that addressed the issue of drawing people to Christ:

If Jesus were alive today and his mission was still to ‘seek out and save the lost’ what might he do?…

Would he hire a building, set up a sound system, develop a music team, drama team, and then do local letterbox drops advising people that they could come and be part of his church on Sunday? Frankly I don’t believe this approach to mission would rate a blip on his strategic radar. The so called ‘attractional’ mode of mission centres its focus on the church service and is dedicated to producing an event that pagans will want to come to. The theory goes that the more professional the service is, the funkier the music, the better the coffee, and so on” the more likely the punters will come, hence the term ‘attractional’. As such the success of mission in this mode is almost always measured by the number who attend on Sunday. While a small minority of larger churches do experience some success with this approach, the overwhelming majority of smaller churches attempting to be Hillsong [an Australian mega-church] clones continue to haemorrhage members every week because they cannot offer the same quality of music, preaching or other services that their mega-mall comrades down the road are able to provide...

I would argue that this ‘attractional mission’, while effective for a few, is actually a case of putting the cart before the horse. Deciding on a form of church and then trying to make it so that people want to come is mission in reverse....

By contrast the incarnational approach to mission is refreshingly simple. It requires us to live amongst the people in our communities, love them, share the good news of the kingdom both in action and in speech and then as people become followers of Christ to form up indigenous communities of faith that reflect the specific context. This requires no great resources or buildings, no slick marketing plans and no highly talented people. In incarnational mission the gatherings exist to support the believers as they move out in mission rather than being seen as the place to bring people to. While attractional churches will continue to dominate the landscape of the Christian world, I strongly believe that hope for the future lies increasingly with an incarnational approach to mission that takes both gospel and context seriously and sends Christians out as missionaries rather than calling pagans to come and attend church. 

http://www.backyardmissionary.com/2005/08/incarnational-v-attractional-mission.htm

Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.  James 1:19-21 (The Message)


Don't lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes and the eyes of the people. Proverbs 3:3-4 (The Message)

I am bursting with God's love for Norway and I have determined to choose 'love' in every situation!

Prophetic Prayers for Norway

This is an example of the 'prophetic' prayer cards I made for the Kvinner i Nettverk leadership retreat. I made seven different cards with photos I've taken in Norway, added the 'word' or dream God gave me concerning the nation, and asked the leaders to join me in birthing God's heart for them. I kept everything simple so someone could just tuck the card into their Bible and pray when they saw it.  Elin Fagerbakke, the leader of KiN is going to print 3,000 cards and give them to each of the women who attend the National Conference in October. I thought that was pretty awesome!

An Open Heaven Over Norway —The Key of David (Is. 22:22; Rev. 3:7)

God’s Heart for Norway: The Key of David is a picture of the authority we, as worshipers, have to declare God’s purposes over Norway. As we are led by the Holy Spirit to intercede and worship, we open doors to Revival & Blessing and lock doors against the enemy. May the Lord open heaven over Norway in these days and release His glory! Please join me in crying out for Revival over the beautiful land of Norway! Med kjærlighet fra Rebecca

Norwegian Adventures!

This is the ferry we took to begin our Adventure! 

We left mid-morning and drove along winding, one-laned roads that meandered 

through the Norwegian farms and took us to the Ferry Dock.

After we crossed the wee part of the sea to join the land,

we sat down by the shore and had a picnic.

Beautiful nectarines; lovely chicken sandwiches from Astrid;

Helga's hot chocolate w/ cream; lefse w/ lingonberry jam & sour cream;

Coffee and milk for some; Pepsi Max for others.

This was the view we had of the gathering of homes along the shore.

Really, everywhere one looks here there is a beautiful, perfect postcard scene.

As we headed for Helga's mountain apartment, we drove past many views like this one.

I can't remember the name of the valley but it was spectacular!

More to come......

Astrid og Helga, takk for deres vennlighet mot oss!

Astrid, you may correct my spelling and grammar now :)

A Beautiful Day!

This is a typical view on the way to Sirdal, Norway.

I love these little farms that are tucked away on wee islands

in the middle of the bluest of waters, below rugged mountains.

Norge er veldig vakkert!