On things that matter

Fernando de Ornelas

2007-01-09T15:18:00.000+01:00

I really should be writing something about all the things I've experienced lately, which are plenty. I will give some more details about the Copenhagen trip soon, but that will most likely be on my homepage. However, I found this post today, which I thought worthwhile to mention; it's a about the venezuelan man Fernando de Ornelas who plays football in Odd, a norwegian top league club.

The link is in a norwegian newspaper, so I'll give the basics in english here. de Ornelas is a Chrisitan and always give thanks to God when he scores. He has started a fellowship with some others in his town, Skien, and is preaching there. He says "when my football career is over I am going to become a pastor. Until then, I am learning."

Back in norway, Left something behind

2007-01-07T20:58:00.000+01:00

Alright, I am back from Copenhagen. It was a most interesting trip, great in every sense of the word. My travel mate Enoch has uploaded 5 30secs videos from the trip, as well as one 18 min, and one 60+ min video. They are all viewable: here-

2007

2006-12-28T21:54:00.000+01:00

In a few days we will enter into the new year of 2007. A year is neutral. What you do affect your experience of it. May you chose wisely and live. Make it a good year for you and those you have the opportunity to influence.

See you soon.

Psalm 71 for one =)

God is cleansing His church

2006-12-06T08:43:00.000+01:00

An old aquaintance of mine told me yesterday that he loves pornography. Not only did he tell me, but he shouted and proclaimed it in a way I have never heard before. I know some pretty hardcore people, one who had perverse pictures on their msn, while living with his girlfriend who hated it of course, as an example, but what this person said yesterday made those people look like innocent children.

This guy claimed years ago that he was a christian, but told me last night that he was not. The only thing that surprised me was that he waited so long before admitting it. The last years he has said and done some things so rotten I have only ever seen the like on tv; taking advantage sexually over a girl to name one.

But as I said, I've known for a long time that he was no christian. You see a lot of people like to call themselves christians, but does not know God at all. There is an old saying that goes like this:

Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore then going to a garage makes you a car.

You see, calling yourself a Christian does not make you one. Neither does believing in Jesus make you a Christian. Satan believes in Jesus, and is scared seneless by Him. Afterall, when Jesus comes back He will cast satan into the lake of fire known as Hell to be punished forever, along with all demons and those who die in their sins.

A true Christian is one who realises he is a sinner, and worthy of Hell, but then repents, believes in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and accepts His gift of righeousness. You see, we are all sinners and fall short of the grace of God. But while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us, He took our place and paid for our sins, so that the crimes, the sins of every man had been paid for. Then Jesus rose from the dead with the keys to death, victoriou. And now he desires for everyone to come to Him to be forgiven, born again in a new life for God, and when Jesus says the word, we will live with God forever.

A person who is born again has his whole nature changed; he receives Gods Spirit within himself, and desires to know the Lord Jesus more and more. That is how you tell if someone is truly a Christian or not. A Christian is someone who may very well make mistakes and fall, but his desire is still to please God and live for and with Him everyday.

This old aquaintance of mine did not want to live for God, he did not know Jesus. He wanted to live in his sins.

I asked him: When you called yourself a Christian, did you know Jesus? No, he didn't. Then he was never a Christian. If he had said that yes he did know Jesus before, then he would have admitted to beliving in Jesus, but are now running away from Him.

What I do find surprising though is their behaviour after they admitted to not being christians. I have never said a bad word to any of them, and considered them close friends. But after they said they are no christians, they have been very rude to me and another Christian, talking a lot of junk. I have a lot of non-christian friends. But none so rude as these two fellas.

Either way, Jesus said many people would fall into both categories. A friend of his actually had the same experience, and renounced Jesus some time ago. Again, I was surprised it didn't happen earlier. I regret your decisions old friends. But your case with God is your own. I hope you both will repent and give your lives to God before it is too late. But whatever you do is your choice. But as for myself, I know God, and I will serve Him forever.

Christian persecution in the united states.

2006-12-06T07:27:00.001+01:00

God tells us in 2 Timothy 3:12:
"Yea, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Unfortunately we don't see much of that today in the western world. And you are mistaken if you think it is a blessing from God. It is because so many christians are luke-warm. Everyone are of course responsible for their own lives, to grow and learn the truth themselves. But still the blame weighs heavily upon the shoulders of the so-called leaders in organizational churches who serve their own bellies more than they serve God.

The Florida residents Kent and Jo Hovind of Creation Science Evangelism are certainly on the right track, and have been wrongly accused of breaking the law, arrested and are awaiting sentence on January the 19th, 2007.

The case can be read here, and brother Hovinds blog can be read here.

Be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember your chains. Your Brother in Christ, Tommy André Strand from Sandnes, Norway.

Hush Money

2006-12-06T07:27:00.000+01:00

Hushmoney

Evolution banned in Kansas

2006-12-03T04:03:00.000+01:00

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55807

Copenhagen

2006-11-16T02:54:00.000+01:00

This new years eve I will be in Copenhagen, Denmark with Erik V, Levi (I hope you can make it bro) and a third brother whose name I havent been informed of yet.

So, what Erik said, if anyone is tired of wasting time on new years eve in boring old norway (or wherever you may be), feel free to join us! =)

Sleep is overrated

2006-11-13T05:31:00.000+01:00

You will never hear me asking you 'What are you doing up at this hour?' or 'Why are you awake now?'. I rather wish those asleep would hear me, and I would ask them 'Why are you sleeping?'

You can quote me on this

2006-11-05T03:04:00.000+01:00

Everyone hangs around waiting just in case someone or something shows them sense, purpose and meaning to everything.

Verse of the day

2006-05-18T22:48:00.000+02:00

1 John 3:16

Woman claim demons made her attack her kids

2006-05-14T18:41:00.000+02:00

A woman of 36 y.o. in Miami murdered her 9 month old baby and stabbed her 3 year old daughter, telling the police that demons made her do it, according to the following link http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/sfl-513baby,0,6393844.story?track=rss

Jim asked in a comment what I thought about it. Well, we know that demons do exist and most certainly this woman might be influenced/possessed by one or more. Jesus and his disciples while on earth, encountered several, and cast them out most times I assume. Likewise any christian ought to know what to do whenever they meet people who are influenced/possessed by evil spirits and demons. I have cast out a couple of demons and several evil spirits already, though I'm only 26 and live in "the west", where few people give them much thought. Of course, not all evil spirits should be cast out, like when the person is not willing to repent and come to the Lord. The following scripture explains why:

Luk 11:24-26 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest. And finding none, he says, I will return to my house from which I came out. And when he comes, he finds it swept and decorated. And he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in, they dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first."

Russia joins in

2006-04-17T05:58:00.000+02:00

... in accordance with biblical prophecy.

TV2 (Nettavisen.no) wrote today how Manouchehr Mottaki, irani Minister of Foreign Affairs, promises 50 million dollars in support to The Palestinian Authority (PA) Hamas-led government.

The USA and the EU have denied economic support to the palestinian government since Hamas came to power in march. Norway too, are considering of cutting short their economic support, (as they should). Russia, however, thinks it wrong to withold economic support and promises money.

Hamas has refused to accept demands from the western world to acknowledge Israels right to exist and stop violent actions.

Seeing Russia support Hamas was not a surprise, as they are one of the nations who is prophesied to wage war on Israel in the end of this age.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Announces

2006-04-14T19:59:00.000+02:00

According to the norwegian news-station TV2 (Nettavisen.no), the Irani President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said friday the 14th of april, while openinging a conferance, that "Israel is a rotten, dried-up tree which will be destroyed by a storm." ... "Allah is willing and with the power of Allah, we shall soon experience a world without the USA and sionism."

He repeated the words of Ayatollah Khomeini, founder of the irani islamic revolution, who maintains that Israel must be removed from the maps.

Just recently the same president also claimed that their country has uranium available, from which a-bombs are made.

Not only does he have a problem with Jews and Americans, it seems he is out for anyone who will not convert to islam. No wonder really, the islami religion demands it. Ahmadinejad said, "anyone who recognizes ISrael, will burn on the fires of the islamic countries rage."

Of course, the french president demanded apologies, but who is kidding who? The muslim world will never care what anyone else sais about them. And some people will claim that these are just the most fanatical muslims. Not so. It is the basis of islam and they will not stop at reason. Mark my words.

Physical exercise

2006-03-25T17:41:00.000+01:00

Hello again all.

I thought it about time to update Le Blog. I just come home from a soccer match, one of the last before season begins. So I'm tired, showered and with the dinner cooking I have a couple of minutes of spare time for just sitting down and type.

Now, to answer your question "Why do you play soccer? (aka football in the non-us world)" Well, for 1 reason only.

1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come."

There you have it, exercise profits little. Not much, not nothing, but little. I believe in keeping fit. And soccer is my choice on doing it cause it's simply loads of fun. Oh, we won 7-0 btw.

That being said, remember the last part of the verse; godliness is profitable to all things. Do you see that? Living for God has an incredible influence on everything a man sets forth to do. Whether it be schoolwork, socially with friends and people, sports or whatever, godliness will profit you. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." "These things" being what He mentions in previous verses, so go back and read from verse 24. We are to concern ourselves with God's kingdom 24/7, from here to heaven. As we do that, God will bless our hands and feet and mouth, yes everything that we do, so that we will excell more than we ever could with worldly efforts.

Some people though, who are not real christians, but merely "trying out this jesus thing" will try to take advantage of God to their own personal interests, will be disappointed.

James 4:3 "You ask and you recieve not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts."

Well, it's getting late and I have to text Kai to ask for a ride to Uy's tonight, so this blogs have come to its end. Later.

Yoda

2006-03-08T17:35:00.000+01:00

A star wars quiz I just took. Some of the questions were semi-hard to answer due to questions of how to interpret them, but anyway, this is the score I got. The quiz can be found here: http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=41759

You scored as Master Yoda. Yoda: The Master.

Master Yoda
92%

Count Dooku
75%

Mace Windu
58%

Qui-Gon Jinn
58%

Obi-Wan Kenobi
50%

Darth Maul
42%

Darth Sidious
25%

Anakin Skywalker
17%

Darth Vader
17%

Luke Skywalker
17%

Random Jedi
8%

Persona questions

2006-03-08T14:15:00.000+01:00

I stumbled upon this quiz-thing on this site less-than-nothing.blogspot.com and thought "why not". So here goes:

Time started: 1:20 PM

First Name: Tommy

Birthday: Feb. 16

Eye color: Blue

Shoe size: 8,5 I think in US size

Height: 174 cm

What are you wearing right now: Black Adidas sweat training pants

Righty or lefty: Righty, but pretty decent with left foot too

Do you have any pets at home? A 14 y.o. norwegian/russian elk dog and a 10 y.o. cat with 3 2 week old kittens

-----------------------------------------------------
Relationships
-----------------------------------------------------

Who are your closest friends: A couple.

Do you have a BF or GF? No.

What are five things you like to see most in a friend? God-hungry, honesty, faith, hope and love. Although the number one will pretty much settle everything else.

-----------------------------------------------------
Favorites...
-----------------------------------------------------

Favorite place to shop: Drdino.com Christianbook.com Livingwaters.com Kvadrat

Favorite kind of pants: Jeans and athletic pants. Soft and loose pants that breathe and hold warmth.

Color: Blue and white, gold and red, mmm anyone really

Number(s): 3, 7, 11

Animal: Big Cat family members

Drink: Living water, normal water, tea, coca-cola, hot chocolate

Sport(s): Soccer

Fast food: Burger and fries. No McD, it's just become sickening somehow

Month: Spring and summer

Juice: Orange

Breakfast: Milk or juice with some slices of bread with strawberry jam; egg and bacon will do too, but I don't make that often.

Favorite cartoon character(s): Nope.

------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever
------------------------------------------------------

Bungee jumped: Never will. Why anyone want to is beyond me. Doesn't see the fun in it at all. Jump down and bounce back up: "Weeeee, fun", not.

Made yourself throw-up: Of course not.

Eaten a hot dog: Unfortunately yes, but I don't like them anymore and I quit long ago.

Put your tongue on a frozen pole: No, I like my tounge.

Loved someone so much it made you cry? Just simply loved someone I started to cry? When and where? Thinking about them and what they mean? Yes, of course. God.

Broken a bone: Yes my left collarbone during soccer practice some 10 years ago. A team member appearantly said "what a wuz", then broke a bone himself a few minutes later.

Played truth or dare? Yes, very fun.

Been in a police car: Mmmmmmmm.... Yes, I think I hitched a ride once in Arendal, Norway.

Been on a plane? Several. Looking forward to thousands more.

Swam in the ocean: Yes. I hate it. The salt water is discustingly sticky.

Fallen asleep in school: Yes, makes a real good sleep.

Ran away?: No.

Broken someone's heart: Broken and broken. Hurt maybe...

Cried in school: Think so.

Fallen off your chair: I didn't fall of a chair, but the chair has fallen and I've been thrown off.

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call?: Why on earth should I do that. Of course not. I've got stuff to do. And when I don't I got beds to sleep in.

Saved e-mails?: I don't save them as such, but I don't delete them often.

Hurt someone on purpose: Yes. Everyone has. Not proud of it. Quit when I got saved of course. I might hurt someone to make them start thinking again if I have to =P

------------------------------------------------------
What is...
------------------------------------------------------

Your good luck charm: Ridiculous.

Best song you ever heard: "Before the throne of God above" I think.

Stupidest thing you have ever done: Everytime I didn't obey God and follow His advice.

What's your room like: Kind of organized, sometimes.

Last thing you said: I am in a constant conversation.

What is beside you? Bag of clothes.

Last thing you ate: Bread with cheese. I kind of wanna go into the living room and get some chips, but I won't, I think.

What kind of shampoo do you use?: Herbal Essences mostly.

Best thing that has happened to you this year: Lot of things.

Worst thing that happend to you this year: I don't have that many bad things happen to me.

------------------------------------------------------
Have you had...
------------------------------------------------------

Chicken pox: Yes.

Sore Throat: Yep.

Stitches: Yes.

Broken nose: No.

------------------------------------------------------
Do you...
------------------------------------------------------

Like picnics: Yea, sure.

Like school: Depends what I'm doing there.

------------------------------------------------------
If you were...
------------------------------------------------------

Stuck on an island, what people would you want with you?: I don't get stuck.

Stuck in a desert, what would you want to have with you?: Not there either.

------------------------------------------------------
Who recently...
------------------------------------------------------

Yelled at you: Nope.

Told you they loved you? My mom. God.

-------------------------------------------------------
Do you/are you
-------------------------------------------------------

Do you like filling these out: Kind of tiresome.

Do you wear glasses or contacts: Niet. I got some cool sun-glasses I wear when needed.

Do you like yourself: Who wouldn't? I love myself.

Do you get along with your family: Very well.

Stolen anything over $50: No. Not in cold hard currency.

-----------------------------------------------------
This or that...
-----------------------------------------------------

Skiing or Boarding: Snow-boarding.

Fall or winter: Whichever was more warm and summery.

Silver or Gold: Wisdom.

Diamonds or pearls: Whichever was more valuable.

Sunset or Sunrise: Sunrise.

Sprite or 7up?: Sprite.

Orange juice or apple juice: Orange.

Cats or dogs: Both.

Coffee or tea: Tea. Or ice-coffee is pretty good.

Phone or in person: Person of course.

Are you oldest, middle, youngest or a only child:? Oldest. And somewhere in between.

Indoor or outdoor: Depends.

--------------------------------------------------
Final questions...
--------------------------------------------------

What are you listening to right now?: Some cool guy named Brian.

What did you do yesterday: Much.

If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? More wisdom.

Are you a good driver? Very good. I scrathed the car ever so slightly today.

Are you a good Singer: Not particularly no.

What do you dream about: This and that.

End Time: 02:08 PM

Why be sad?

2006-02-27T04:15:00.000+01:00

I don't believe in sadness. That's right. I bet you have not heard someone say that to you ever before. But it's true. And when I'm talking about believing, I'm talking about hard core, rock hard bible kind of believing, which basically means this: I KNOW sadness is unneccessary and ridiculous and a hoax.

When God says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16- "Rejoice always", he surely means what He says. Be sure of it: God ALWAYS means what He says. Several times we can read in God's Word how we are to trust Him, always rejoice and let go of every burden.And since we know that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." according to Hebrews 13:8, we know that His Word never changes.

Ever since I gave my life to God and saw His will for me and the world, how CAN I abuse Him and NOT recieve His love? His love has completely set me free of any feeling of sadness, depression and hopelessness the world and the devil may try to throw at me. I simply gave all the bad stuff to God, and He gave me good stuff back =) I am sure some people find my words here offensive, and are outraged how I can claim this.. To you I can't say anything but I'm sorry, it's not my fault. If you have any complaints about my never-ending, never-ceasing, inside-out all-consuming joy and peace: take it to my heavenly Father. He is the One to blame =)

You see, most people won't accept a word like this, cause it costs them too much. It would mean that they:

1) Have to admit that all the pains and sorrows they feel have been unneccessary ever since they repented and gave their lives to God. Pride is such a stumbling block...

2) maybe is not really living in service for God. And they don't want to admit they aren't, and maybe they dont want to live for Him either - so comfortable in their own life - and so it is an easier price just to ignore God and deny His Word.

No one knows every secret of God's Word. But it's not like His secrets are hard to find, He uncovers them for all who takes time to be with Him. So when He reveals anything to you from His word, whenver you read something you didn't already know; accept it, and obey Him. We can only live for God in the degree we have let go of our own will.

No christian ever need to be sad or depressed or burdened. It's not a reason to come to God, it's just a bonus. That being said, a christian will experience more sadness and burdens then any non-christian, for the simple fact that he will feel God's pain over the lost and the hurting and the sin in the world. But that pain is not ours, it's Gods, and it's bearable only because it is His, and He carries us.

I cry more then most men, I am sure; but it has nothing to do with myself. I cry for the lost, the blind, the hurting, the evil-doers, the victim, the luke-warm disciple, and when I pray I feel I would have died from the pain had God not kept me super naturally alive. And still I have no pains of any kind in myself. That is Gods incredible love and mystery, and no one in the world can understand this but a child of God who has accepted that truth.

I have absolutely no interest in listening to worldly music. It is 99% about depressive love affairs and it will drag people down with it. I know so many people are sad and unhappy, but I know they don't have to be, and I hate it when they don't see it.

I don't believe in sadness. I belive in love. I belive in Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.

My cousin

2006-02-18T05:12:00.000+01:00

I have a lot of things on my mind right now, and I could and want to write about many of them. There is one thing though that I just have to say, and I can't find a right way to say it, so... here goes...

My cousin died some years ago. She was hit by a truck as she drove out of a gas station. She was very young, only 19 if I remember correctly. I think I was about 17. I am thinking about this because I found an old audio cassette this evening while me and my dad was building on my house. The cassette is a recording that my cousin and her mother made of some gospel songs. She has the most beautiful voice, and it was wonderful to listen to her again. She was a real christian, a disciple of Jesus, not just a pretender like most who claim to be christians today...

I kind of miss her. You may think that sounded bad, but if you know me, you'll know that those were actually very soft words. I didn't get to spend as much time with her here on earth as I wanted, but I have forever to do that later. I don't believe she was meant to go home just yet. But she did, and you know; I envy her. Any real christian will. The apostle Paul said the same thing. How wonderful it is to be home with God instead of living in this fallen creation. I am not sad at all that she went home, but I do miss her a little. There's a great difference. We do not mourn like the un-belivers who have no hope. Like Paul, I am longing to go home and be with the Lord, because it is so much better. None-the-less, I know I have so much to do here, and I want to work as much as I can for God. Even one soul is worth having heaven waiting. And meanwhile I will take any blessing God gives me on the way. This was how my cousin lived while on earth. And I pray God raises up more people like her in these end times.

In Love With You

2006-02-16T03:00:00.000+01:00

Well, this is the first recording I've made of any of my own songs. I used a trial version of MP3 Sound Recorder, so it is not of very good quality. The lenght of the song can't be more than 3 minutes either, so I had to shorten it somewhat. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. And if you didn't know, the song is about my love for God ;) Feel free to post comments, good or bad =) Thanks.

Edited:
Alright, I've tried to make this a streamable/downloadable song through direct link on this page, but I can't seem to make it happen right now... Have to work more on how to get that working. Uhm, but if you are interested, the song can be listened to and downloaded through Mixposure.com. Search for artist/band name: Tommy André Strand, and from my site there you can click the song, still called "In Love With You". =)

I think this may be a direct link to the song page. http://mixposure.com./song.php?songid=23690 You will see a green box on that page, press play and the song will play.

So, still, enjoy =)

A quick overview of my life

2006-02-16T01:11:00.000+01:00

On February the 12th I started blogging. As of right now, it is the 16th of February, and I feel the natural step in our relationship is for me to introduce myself, and tell you my story =) Understand though, that I will have to leave out a whole lot of details, as I see no way at all how I can share 26 adventurous years like this.

Feb 16, 1980 I was born in Norway; yes this means I turned 26 years old today; happy birthday me! =) I've alwyas lived in semi-small towns on the south/south-western parts of Norway; usually either in Lillesand or Moi. I was always fairly good in school, didn't have to stress too much to get above average grades, but I didn't strive to get best grades either. It is much more difficult to get the best grades in Norway compared to the US. On a scale from 1-6, 6 being best, I've usually had 4,5. In the US that would porbably qualify to get straight A's and more. My hobbies have always been soccer and computers. I have always been a fairly good soccer player, and though I enjoy most sports, I don't really excel in any of them. At the age of 14 I became the "Norwegian Champion in Gameboy, Nintendo and Super-Nintendo". Woophey. It's not really something I am too proud of. =P Wasted enough time on that stuff. Friends and animals has always been plenty at our house. Some of the coolest people in the world grew up in Lillesand, and though I haven't had contact with most of them for several years, I still consider them good old friends. Lol. I will probably share some stories from back then at a later time.

Anyways, back to the original topic. I always believed in God. I knew that the God of the Bible must exist, but I didn't know anything more then that. I read eagerly about different religions in search for answers. I will make a small correction at this point; I didn't grow up in the town of Lillesand, but on an island 10 minutes just outside of town, called Justøya. If you ever come to Norway, I strongly encourage you to visit it. It is very possible that is is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The island is known in Norway to be a vacation paradise, and many celebrities and rich people vacation there. Imagine me being one of the lucky few to live there =) I will try to post a picture of the Island, but in case I don't get it to work, I will tell you that the island is basically one big forest with some roads and a few houses here and there. I often took walks and bike rides in the forest and later on, I enjoyed driving my Honda MT5 around the different paths. Living in a quite place like this, you get plenty of time to think and ponder about life and things that matter. My heart cried to God for something real, something besides the vanity of a materialistic world. During my youth I had my share of problems, just like I know everyone has. Unfortunately it seems to be human nature to think that your own problems are so much bigger then anyone elses. During my age of 14-18 I experienced problems with losing some "key" friends, girls of course, my soccer skills declined (and that was an important part of my life at that time), and throw in a couple of other things, I was often sad and longed for something meaningful. Don't get me wrong, I still had a good life, good friends and much to be thankful for, I just wasn't satisfied. Then in the winter of 97/98, before I turned 18, I started drinking, and I did for about one year. I didn't drink that often, 1-2 weekends a month, and I had a very nice group of people to hang with, and especially one very good friend. But still behind everything, I was miserable, and at times I thought of taking my own life.

Then one night something happened. I think it was in december 1998 (or close), and I had just been at a party with the people I used to hang with when I felt my last and best real friend let me down. At that point I was tired of everything and I walked down to the harbour in Lillesand and sat down on a bench, some 10 feet from the sea. There was snow everywhere, and it was very cold. I looked at the ocean, and I decided to end my life. I arose and took a couple of steps toward the water. Now, I can't say that I would have gone through with it or not. I don't know. But suddenly something popped into my head. It was a sentence that I had read in the religion/christianity book at school that week I think. It was something like this: "the one who lowers his eyes before the Lord, don't have to do it before no man". Immediately I walked home, went to my room and took out my bible that I had gotten from school, and I read from the gospel of Matthew for 2 or more hours I think. All the time I read about Jesus, what he said and did. And I wept. I wept the whole time, like I had never done before. It was awesome what happened. I knew about God, and I knew about Jesus, but I didn't know. It was like God opened my eyes and I finally understood. I saw Gods grace and love towards me, what He did for me, what He sacrificed for me. I quit drinking. I read the bible as much as I could. I prayed. I loved God with my whole heart, and I wanted more from Him. Since I gave my life to God, and decided to live for Jesus, my whole life changed so immensly. It was like before I could only see black and white, now I could see colors =) I went from death to life! Where I used to have sadness, tears, guilt from all the bad things I had done, and did, I now had peace, joy and love. I knew God had forgiven me my rotten state of life because Jesus descended from Heaven, took on human form and lived perfectly where I could not. Then He died on the cross taking all my sins and sicknesses on himself. He who knew no sin payed my debt, because I couldn't. He loved me so much, and did it all for me, so I could give up my evil nature, repent and run to Him for forgiveness and a new life with God, as God's own son.

I ate from Gods word as much as I could. I longed for more and more of Him all the time. Shortly after this I was on vacation in my birht town, Moi, visiting my grandmother (who, btw, had been praying for me my entire life =) God bless grandparents). I went to a party with a couple of friends, and I met a christian girl there who I talked to, and she invited me to a meeting the next day at a pentecostal fellowship. I went there and met a bunch of great brothers and sisters, to whom I owe much. They felloshipped with me, and I especially want to thank Erlend and Leo for caring for me, and showing me much of the things of God. A lot of other brothers deserve credit too, but I won't name more. Back at Justøya, where I still lived, I didn't have a fellowship of christians like I saw here, so I quickly moved to Moi and my family moved after =) Finally we were back at the place my mother was from and where I had spent my life from age 0-7, before we moved to Justøya. Only a couple of months went by before my mother and father had returned to the Lord, and also my sister gave her life to Jesus.

Before, when I was unsaved, I listened alot to non-christian music, and R.E.M. and many other bands are to be given credit for helping me getting dragged down into depression. People may call me fanatic, but listening to depressing music will not make anyone happier. And even to this day I hate non-christian music. 90% of the music is about unhappy love, hate and filthy living, and it is certainly not worth a second more of my time. After having joined a christian fellowship, I quickly noticed that many of those who seemed to have been "christians" for long time, was those who were "the laziest". It is called becoming lukewarm, non-caring and adapting to the world. I prayed to God begging Him never to let me become like that. So I read His word, and decided to believe everything He said, no-matter if I understood it or not. Come on, if I don't understand something, do you think it is me or God who is wrong? It is me. I have come to experience that as time goes by, I do understand more and more of God, and why He said and did things like He did. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think God really knows what He's doing ;)

Reading the Bible, I quickly discovered the things God had promised to those who love Him. That we don't need to worry, have nothing of ourself to be sad about (God loves me, leads me and feeds me), everything I need God will supply, peace and joy in knowing He is always with me and when Jesus comes back for His children, I will be with Him forever. And you know what, I believed in these things when God said it, and so I have never been sad or depressed, felt hopeless or anything ever since. And I love it, and I love God. There is no way ever that I will turn back. I know who I am in God, and He teaches me more about His ways everyday.

Now, having said this, I also want to tell you, that I often DO feel heartbroken and sad and encumbered. But that is outside of myself. What breaks me, is feeling the pain that other people have, whether they are saved, or non-christians. When I lay my heart out before God, it is like He lets me feel some of His love for the lost and the hurting world, and if it wasn't for God, I think I'd have died from the pain. Why people won't see their filthiness and repent before God is beyond my understanding. But people have free will, and there is nothing I can do to change them, except pray and preach. And that I will keep doing until God wants to take me home. Strenghten my people and preach the gospel to those who are lost. That is God's call for my life. And it is my joy to serve Him, with Him, everyday, and then when He says the word, I will be with Him forever where He is.

It's february the 14th

2006-02-14T00:35:00.000+01:00

...and we all know what that means; it's Valentine's day. Actually it's just past midnight here, so it's only been the 14th here in europe for 30ish minutes. America will have to wait another 6.5 hours or more.

Anyway, what is the whole deal behind valentine's day? I know it is something about an italian merchant? Hm... Hold on a sec and I'll find out. Ah, here it is; let me just paste the whole story for you.

*******

St. Valentine's Story

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.

Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

*******

Wow, I did not know this. The spreading of Valentine's day - and many festivities - is said by many people to be pushed forward by commercialistic forces. Of course there will always be people looking to make a profit from whatever they can. Does this make Valentine's day in itself a bad thing? Well, things are what you make it. A day to show some love or care is not the worst thing I can think of.

But that being said, I have a question: What is love?

Simply liking (having feelings for) someone, loving someone, or lusting after someone are three very different things. Most teenage crushes are mistaken as love. I think lust is often disguised as love, and most often when people talk about love they simply mean lust. I don't really think most people know what true love really is. And with that I mean both the love between a man and a woman, and the love between a human and friends/family, animals etc.

I don't think anyone who does not know God, can fully understand real love.

God said a few things to describe love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love has patience, is kind; love is not envious; love is not vain, is not puffed up; does not behave indecently, does not pursue its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. Love quietly covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Wow. True love is 100% unselfish.

I see I have been working on this for 45 minutes now. Hm. I didn't mean to take that long, but I'm doing several things at once here =P ; downloading some e-sword progs, listening to music and playing guitar for those of you who was interested in what exactly =P

I often say that I want to live like Paul, that is, not married, so I can spend all my time living 100% for God. I've told God if He wants me to marry He will have to throw the girl at me, cause I don't have time looking =) And I don't even know of a girl passionate enough for the things of God =/ I hope there are some of them out there. But I certainly don't know any...

So Valentine's day... =) Makes me think of the good things about having a girl to love like that. There are few things as good as having someone to spoil and hold. So happy Valentine's day everyone. Treat your man or woman right. Be thankful if you have a good one =) Make sure they know they are loved.

The ultimate statistics

2006-02-13T18:28:00.000+01:00

I admit it, I like statistics. Though I know you can't measure everything, but to a certain degree, it is possible to break things down to numbers.

Some things are fun to play with it. I like the old 50/50 chance of happening. For example, not long ago I read about some comet having a certain percentage chance of hitting earth. I don't remember what the chance was, maybe 0.0005% or something. Of course this also means that the chance of the comet not hitting us is 99.9995%. However, if you want to be a funny-guy about it, you can look at it like this: A comet is coming this direction. What are the possible events that can happen? 1) It hits earth, or 2) It misses earth. 2 options. It can hit or miss. Meaning the chance of either options to occur is 1 of 2, a 50/50 chance. Looking at things this way is not a particularly accurate form of mathematics, but certainly a lot funnier then what you learn at school.

I saw this movie once and this guy was interested in a girl (yeah I know, that can be any movie, but hang on, I'm not done yet =P), but he was afraid to tell her. A friend of his told him to go for it and asked "What's the worst that can happen?", to which the guy answered: "I can die". I laughed so hard. I guess this is only funny if you can relate to the story. And I know I can. I guess I feel with Homer Simpson when he says: "It's funny, cause it's true".

That was for fun though, now I will get back to the topic. I present to you "The ultimate statistics: 10 out of 10 die". Yes you heard right, and it is true. God said it in Hebrews 9:27 in the Bible: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment". We are all a part of the ultimate statistics. It has been said that only two things are certain in life: taxes and death. This is not true, many people cheat on their taxes. Death however, can not be cheated. If you agree on this, the next step would be to go to this link right here.

The first blog

2006-02-12T20:05:00.000+01:00

Alright, today I got my first real blog up. Many posts will be coming I hope. See you all soon.