Kings and Castles and UFO’s

Posted on April 30, 2013 by opendooreurope

The Slovakian Parliament Building

Yesterday we all met at the Slovakian Parliament building. There are 2 Members of Parliament that are born again, and another 8 who are Christians, but perhaps unsure about the whole “born again” thing. We met with 1 of the born again MPs, Boris. He seemed very discouraged and hopeless. I think he feels very alone. Boris started a prayer meeting with the other Christian MPs, and he said that usually only 4 show up. He said that the meeting lasts about 30 minutes. The meeting starts by Boris reading a Bible verse about righteousness, they meditate on it for about 5 minutes, then they pray about it together.

Whenever there is an important vote, Boris calls a prayer breakfast for his supporters who are believers, and they pray together about the issue. However, we were told later that he’s not very organized about getting the word out, so the prayer breakfasts are only about 10 people. In reality, Boris has many more supporters who would come and pray if they knew about the prayer breakfast. So we prayed for Boris and for the Slovakian Parliament. It was powerful. At one point I felt very strongly the urge to kneel as I prayed. When I opened my eyes, everyone around me was also on their knees, including Boris and his translator.

After lunch we took a trip out to Devin Castle. At the foot of the castle was a monument to the victims of Communist terror. This was where the iron curtain separated east from west, at the Danube River. From that spot in Slovakia, you could see Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria. There more than 400 people were killed trying to escape Communism. A few members of the team said that they couldn’t pray there because it felt so heavy. So before praying we decided to do a prophetic act and worship. So we marched through the gateway of the memorial singing a worship song. Then we went to the riverside and poured wine and salt into the water (another prophetic act). Then we sang more worship songs. The songs started out weak, but became strong. Then someone noticed that a couple of snakes swam across the water and the frogs began singing louder.

Bullet-riddled monument to the victims of Communist terror

Then we climbed up to the castle. Up there we heard a strange buzzing noise. I laughed and said that it was a UFO. Well it was unidentified and it was a flying object. It was a photographic drone, which after the place of so many Communist murders gave me the creeps. There was a big team up there, taking pictures with equally sophisticated equipment.

It was a good day, with wonderful prayers and lots of hugs goodbye. Today we travel to Vienna. A couple of teammates are going by riverboat in order to pray and worship on the river. God is good!

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

Posted on April 29, 2013 by opendooreurope

Yesterday I went to Pastor Ivan’s church in the kindergarten. Some of the newer team members were surprised and a bit dismayed to hear that I was going to a different church than the team. But the head of OCE (Operation Capitals of Europe – oceprayer.com) was not dismayed. I have joined the team often enough that he knows I don’t go off on my own without a very good reason. I had already told him about the visit Wednesday to Pastor Ivan’s church and praying for the pastor, so I think he wasn’t surprised to hear that I wanted to return to encourage the pastor some more.

It encouraged Pastor Ivan very much to see me there, and he asked me to speak briefly to the church about my ministry. One surprise was the musical talent in that little church. I don’t often hear music that good in much bigger churches. I suggested to Zuzana that they should cut a CD. Books and CD’s make good fundraisers, and I believe that this little church is going to grow. They will need to be ready for growth.

Zuzana told me that my visit encouraged the whole church. Afterwards we caught up with the rest of the team for lunch and then we went to the castle. At the castle we broke up into prayer teams for various concerns: business, families & children, art & culture, Israel, and an intercessory team that remained in the castle and prayed for all the prayer teams.

I chose Israel, so we took a walk to the site of the biggest synagogue in Bratislava. It had been right beside the largest cathedral—St. Marten’s also known as the Dome of St. Marten. There was only one other synagogue right beside a cathedral in all of Europe, the one by Notre Dame. The Communists tore down the synagogue to build a bridge, but also to send a message about religion.

It was a very good time of prayer, and the anointing was so strong that at one point a blind man’s guide dog led him right into the middle of our prayer circle. At another point a man with a German Shepherd walked past us. The dog barked and barked, but interestingly, he was muzzled in a wire muzzle. Since one of the Slovaks was praying at the time, I didn’t want to interrupt to point this out, but I think it is significant—prophetically showing that the Nazi spirit would never again threaten the Slovakian Jews.

One woman prophesied over me, saying that I have been called to be a blessing to the Slovakian believers, and to the unbelievers as well. I confirmed that my calling is to support the Body of Christ here in Slovakia and throughout Europe, and through them to reach the lost. So it was very cool to be confirmed by this prophetic word. And I have a Slovakian word for how it made me feel: FEE-ha! I don’t know how it’s spelled, but that’s it phonetically. It means WOW! It’s my new favorite foreign word.

Afterward we joined the team of intercessors that had prayed for all the teams. They went to Slavin, the World War II monument and cemetery, atop the other hill in Bratislava. There we found 5 young skaters (for those over 30, that’s skateboarders). One woman (not one of our group) had just finished hollering at the skaters, telling them that it was disrespectful to be skating in a cemetery. Instead of leaving, they simply sat and waited for her to leave, and that is how we found them.

Upon arriving there, I felt an almost overwhelming desire to dance. Someone pointed out the woman and said that dancing in a cemetery would probably offend her, too. But, since others also felt moved to dance, we decided that the thing to do was to dance in a quiet and subdued way. As we worshiped and prayed, we danced mostly with our hands and swaying, but the desire to dance became stronger and stronger for all of us, until it broke out in a joyous dance. I think it is perfectly acceptable to dance in a Nazi cemetery. Dance is a sign of victory, and the Kingdom of God is indeed victorious over the Nazi spirit. Hallelujah!

When we finished, we turned our attention to the skaters, who had remained just a few feet from our group. They had seen and heard all of our worship and prayers. One man, who I call Dancing Joe, approached them and began to tell them about Jesus. One woman told me that he has such a funny, friendly style that it completely disarms people, and they love to listen to Dancing Joe. The skaters laughed together with him, and although they just shrugged when he asked if he could pray for them, DJ took their shrugs to mean OK, so he prayed for them. And we left with them all smiling and waving goodbye to us. The crabby woman had left, so they began to skate again.

One member of the team had brought a shofar with him, and he was stopped by an American Jew, who asked what our group was doing. So he told the man about finding his Messiah, Yeshua (he’s a Messianic Jew).

It was a lovely day! I feel such hope for Slovakia. God is good!

Sweet Slovakia

Posted on April 28, 2013 by opendooreurope

Greetings from Bratislava!

I apologize, I wrote this 3 days ago, but in the absence of internet service, I forgot to post it. So this is a double-post.

The first thing you notice about Bratislava is that it doesn’t seem to have the eternally crumbling infrastructure of the rest of the formerly Communist world. The downtown area is sunny by day and well-lit at night. The sidewalks and pedestrian area are nicely paved and not terribly crowded, although there are plenty of restaurants, shops, and cafes. And the Slovaks themselves are light-hearted and open, which is probably the most surprising thing of all. Communism left many people as scarred as their lands.

So how did the Slovaks survive Communism to flourish so nicely? I think we heard a clue in the Slovakian National Anthem. Anushka translated and explained the lyrics, which in part tell the story of a woman digging a well. She dug deeper and deeper, and deeper still. Then she looked into the well, thinking that she should drown herself in the well. But she decides not to do that. These are strange lyrics for a national anthem, but in it you can see the unhappy scars of Communism that tempted the woman (Slovakia) to kill herself. Somehow she finds the resilience to survive.

The Slovaks, like the woman, bear the scars of Communism, but have turned their attention from the dim past to the bright future. Slovakia does indeed have a bright future. The economy here is the best of all the formerly Communist world. Of course, economic crisis is global, and Slovakia is not immune, but the youth are not fleeing Slovakia like they are from many other East European countries. In fact, we have met young people here who have come to Slovakia looking for a better life, instead of going to the west.

Our first evening here was at a local church that meets in a movie theater. It was a youth prayer group meeting, but like none I had ever been to before. Youth from all over the city, from various churches, came to the meeting, which had over 100 people. There was worship in music and dance, there was teaching, and there was prayer, both corporate and in small groups. In fact, when it was time for small group prayer, the leaders asked the people over 30 to pray over the youth. That means that most of our team sought young people to pray for. I found 2 university students, sweet, smiling girls, and prayed for them. They were very encouraged by my prayer, and thanked me for praying for them.

Later I heard that the churches all over the city regularly cooperate and meet together. It gave me such hope. Unity! I would love to see unity like this in Milan—or even in America. The Bratislavan churches do not compete with each other. They recognize that the different expressions of faith and worship are simply a matter of the individual character of each church family. People are not regarded with suspicion if they go to a meeting at another church. I would guess that there is probably less church-hopping, as a result. Because giving people the freedom to visit and learn from other believers conversely will instill in them a feeling of familial pride in their own home church. Plus the home church benefits from the sharing of prophetic insight and instruction. It’s really how the Body of Christ was intended to function.

Young people are the most precious resource that Slovakia has because young people have not yet lost their idealism or their positive outlook. When a country loses its youth, it loses something really valuable. It loses its future.

If you want to see the most flourishing of all post-Communism, you should come to Slovakia. There is a sweetness here that will make you want to come back. I know I do! God is good!

Kebap Shop Breakfast

Greetings once again from Bratislava!

I woke up early this morning, and left the hostel in search of coffee. I was surprised to see on the streets that there were a lot of drunken people, mostly young people, at 6:30 in the morning. A few were staggering, but mostly I could tell that they were drunk by the volume of their voices. I’m not sure if there is something about having lots of alcohol in the bloodstream that renders a person incapable of hearing as well as normal or if it’s just a matter of having spent all night with thundering music. The drunken people on the streets all seemed to know the places where they could find food, which was mostly kebap/falafel shops. The first place I stopped didn’t have coffee. The counter person acted like it was strange to want coffee at such an hour of the morning.

The next place I stopped had coffee and seating indoors, so I sat down to drink my coffee. A young man entered soon after me and asked for his kebap in English. While he was waiting to pay, I asked him where he was from. He said, “Ireland,” with some pride in his voice. He paid and sat down with me. He told me about his night, which had been spent with friends drinking in bars. I asked his name, which was Sean. He ate only half of his kebap, declaring that his eyes had been bigger than his stomach (something my dad had often said). I asked him what time the bars close, and he said they close at 6. He said that he was the “last man standing,” and that if the bar hadn’t closed, he would be happy to continue drinking because “I’m Irish,” (again said with pride).

Sean works in Bratislava, but travels often between here, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. Because he talked so much, I got the feeling that Sean is lonely here. Perhaps loneliness is something that he is trying to escape with alcohol. He looked at my cross and said, “You’ll probably feel better than me in the morning.” Then he stood up and walked out.

I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to share Jesus with him, but I don’t know how much his boozy brain would be able to really understand or accept. Anyway, I prayed for him. He is probably my son’s age, and already very much an alcoholic. It was a sad way to start a Sunday.

Nevertheless, I am looking forward to a very good Sunday because today I am going to kindergarten. Actually, it is a church that meets in a kindergarten. The church also runs the kindergarten. Zuzana is a girl I met on our first night in Bratislava. We met at that prayer group in the movie theater church. Zuzana took me to her church, just to show it to me because it was close to where we were meeting, and it was interesting because of the kindergarten meeting there. To her surprise and mine, the pastor was there—Pastor Ivan. Immediately I felt a very strong urging by the Holy Spirit to pray for him. It was a prayer very much led by the Holy Spirit, and it encouraged Pastor Ivan very much.

So when we talked about going to church last night, although I like Anushka’s church very much, I don’t feel like I’ve made quite the same connection as I did at Pastor Ivan’s kindergarten church. Since it is close to Anushka’s church, and since Zuzana was sitting next to me, I asked if it would be OK if I go to her church instead. Nobody had a problem with that, and Zuzana was very pleased to hear that I wanted to visit her church.

Most of all, I want to encourage Pastor Ivan, who has had some problems lately. Sometimes the simple act of showing up can be very encouraging. I think he will be very encouraged to see me again this morning in church. And encouraging him will also encourage me. In God’s work, everybody is encouraged and blessed. I love working for the Lord! He really is the best Boss ever! I often tell people that my Boss is like a Father to me. God is good!

Blessed in Budapest

Posted on April 27, 2013 by opendooreurope

Yesterday was our second and last day in Budapest. In the morning we met in the Jewish Ghetto and did a prayer walk with Esther from Jews for Jesus. Although the Jews of Budapest were only confined to the ghetto for a month, it was such a difficult time, being winter, that there was no heat and little or nothing to eat. Many people died during that month, and Esther’s grandmother was one of them.

But then she took us to the Carl Lutz memorial. Carl Lutz was a Swiss man who saved thousands of Jewish children during the war, and Esther’s mother was of them. It makes the Holocaust so much more tragic and real when you meet someone so personally impacted by the war.

Carl Lutz memorial

After lunch we walked out to the middle of the Crown Bridge. Just last year they had added a couple of obelisks and crown statues to the bridge. Obelisks are ancient Egyptian symbols, which have to do with the worship of the sun. Nevertheless, obelisks are found in many churches, especially in Europe. Obelisks are also a common architectural theme in Freemasonry. The Masons claim to be a Christian organization and point to their good work in building the Shriners Childrens Hospitals, and riding around in funny little cars in parades wearing fezes, but even a casual glance at the rites reveals the satanic roots of Freemasonry. The Hungarian crown has a crooked cross on top, which I think is revealing, too. So we prayed there in the middle of the bridge, looking across the Danube at the Parliament building that we had visited the day before.

Crown statue on the Crown Bridge

One more destination was the castle and church atop the highest hill in Budapest. From that vantage point high on the ramparts, we prayed for Budapest and proclaimed her future and her people for Jesus. Those of us from other countries then prayed for the Hungarians who had come to pray with us, blessings them.

Castle ramparts high above the city of Budapest

Finally we returned to the Scottish Mission Church to worship God and have a final evening of prayer together. It was a really sweet time together, and when the Hungarians surrounded us to pray for us, the Holy Spirit fell upon all of us and we laughed in the sweet joy of the Lord. So we ended our time together worshiping, praying, blessing, and laughing. It was wonderful! God is good!

And today was a travel day back to Bratislava followed by relaxing, each in their own way (taking a run, shopping, sleeping, writing a blog post—guess who!).

Restroom sign at the Scottish Mission Church

Building a New Foundation

Posted on April 27, 2013 by opendooreurope

Greetings from Budapest!

We arrived yesterday just after noon by train from Bratislava. The difference in atmosphere between these 2 cities is like night and day. Bratislava’s sweetness is nowhere to be found in Budapest, which is a hardened city. One teammate said that she felt a Nazi-like spirit here. This was confirmed when the local pastor told us that Hungary had made laws against the Jews 3 times.

Nevertheless there is a thriving Jewish community, which we will be visiting today. I had been to the Jewish Cultural Center in Budapest 2 years ago during my Faith Trip (see my book, Look, Listen, Love). Today we are going to the Jewish Museum, which is near the JCC. Since Budapest was the starting point for my Faith Trip 2 years ago, all this feels very much like a reunion—and even more so because it was also here in Budapest that I met the head of Operation Capitals of Europe (oceprayer.com), and 2 of our teammates. I met 2 other teammates in Kalisz, Poland at the Feast of Tabernacles. None of these 4 had ever come on another prayer trip. All of this helps lighten the heavy Budapest spirit, and perhaps that was what God had in mind.

Scottish Mission Church in Budapest

Yesterday afternoon after worshiping and praying together, we had an appointment in the Parliament building with an MP. He talked to us about some of the history of Hungary, and answered our questions. Then we had a time of prayer with him and for him. Afterwards he showed us around the building, and into one of the parliamentary chambers. We only had a brief time there, so instead of prayers, we made brief declarations about godly decision-making in that place.

The Parliament building is enormous because when it was built Hungary was much larger. The MP told us that Hungary had once had 66 counties, and now it only has 16. Slovakia was once part of Hungary. The symbol for Hungary once was a 2-headed eagle, which speaks of division—and indeed, division came.

Hungarian Crown in Parliament

Budapest is currently building a new subway line near the Parliament building. Because of the work underground, the streets all around the Parliament building are dug up, exposing as it were the building’s foundation. Interesting that we should visit it just at the time that its foundation is exposed. So we made declarations and proclamations that all evil laws and corruption be pulled-up by the roots and replaced by seeds of righteousness.

We heard one of the local believers tell about a prayer initiative that God had given him called Seven Towers. They have set 7 places, 1 in each district of Budapest, as prayer towers. Each week there is a 24 hour prayer vigil in one of the towers. We recognized this as an important work in restoring Budapest to the Kingdom of God.

Weeping Willow Memorial to Holocaust Victims

So the Hungarian government will be rebuilt on a foundation of righteousness and restored to the Kingdom of God. And we will see the oppressive spirits and Nazi-like influence scatter and vanish as Jesus takes His rightful throne as Lord and King of Hungary here in Budapest. God is good!

The Poster Child for Communism

Posted on April 25, 2013 by opendooreurope

The missionaries I came to meet with, Ted and Carol, picked me up at Budapest airport and drove me to their home about an hour and a half away. They live in a former mining town in Hungary. Their town’s people were the “poster children” for Communism because the workers were miners. Miners have big muscles, so they were celebrated in pictures and sculpture shirtlessly embodying the Communist ideal. The Communist dictators treated them very well because they were the poster children. So the town’s infrastructure was far better than most of the rest of Hungary.

This is the pretty town square viewed from T & C’s window

When Communism collapsed, there was joy all over Hungary—except for this town. They had lost their celebrity status and all the perks that come with it: the finest housing, cars, the best food, good schools for their children, etc. For them freedom meant learning how to scrape their resources together, working at whatever jobs they could find when the mine closed. Many in this town are nostalgic about the “good old days of Communism.”

Having arrived Saturday night, I had missed the gypsy Bible study (see Six Hours Late). But I did get to hear Ted preach. Over breakfast this morning I had mentioned the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-6) in conversation about how God is moving among the Italian Catholics (see Touching the Hem of His Garment). Ted said, “Guess what scripture I’m preaching about!” Yup! John 5:1-6. His sermon was really good, teaching me something new that I had never considered before.

Jesus had approached the paralytic and no one else. Why? Perhaps because everyone else had someone there to help them into the waters when they rippled. Ted said that it was strange that this man was alone. Jesus asked him a strange question, one I had always wondered about: “Do you want to be healed?” Of course He knew the answer, but it gave the man the opportunity to reveal something about his own character. He complained that there was no one to help him into the water. And even when he had been healed, he “blamed” Jesus because He had told the man to carry his bed home—in other words, to work on the Sabbath. And after he saw Jesus again, he ran to the authorities and told them that it was Jesus. Not one word of gratitude for his miraculous and life-changing healing. This guy had some definite character issues, which is something I had never really thought about before.

After church we walked around town a bit, returned home, and prayed together. Ted and Carol mostly work with gypsies, doing CHE, Community Health Evangelism. The CHE concept is great. It involves health, but not only the health of the body, but of the whole person: body, soul (mental/emotional), and spirit. I love the holistic approach, and it is so desperately needed in the gypsy communities of Europe. The gypsies are the most receptive of all Europeans when it comes to the Gospel message. They grab it with both hands. So we prayed together for them, for their family, and for their ministry.

And I pray daily for the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers for this mission field. The harvest is ripe, but the workers are few. If you are interested in missions in Europe, whether with gypsies or not, check out GoMissions.

God is good! Working with God is great! He’s the best Boss ever, and the retirement plan is out of this world!

Six Hours Late

Posted on April 24, 2013 by opendooreurope

What kind of business people are frequently late?

What kind of business people never let you know that they’re running late?

What kind of business people are absolutely unforgiving if you’re late?

What kind of business people never apologize for being late?

What kind of business people claim that they are “on time” if they are under 6 hours late?

Airlines, that’s who! I’m not sure why we put up with it, but we do. Honestly, their behavior is outrageous.

Today I am at Milan Malpensa Airport. I was here on time for my flight, but the plane is 6 hours late. No apology, no explanation, besides “technical problem” was given. I was lucky enough to find one of the 3 plugs in this part of the airport. Thus the ability to write a bit as I wait.

I have to say that I am glad not to be stuck on the plane for 6 hours. A friend was on her plane for 5 ½ hours before the start of a transatlantic flight. So add 7 or 8 hours to that 5 ½. The airline can maintain a good “on time” record if they manage to take off within 6 hours of their scheduled time. Being stuck in the airport is far better than being stuck on the plane for all that time.

Of course it’s always wise to travel with something to read, but 6 hours in an uncomfortable airline waiting room chair is still too much. I feel especially sorry for one of my companions. She’s a young mother with a 2 year old. She told me that they had left the house at 5:00 this morning, and now our flight (originally scheduled for 12:50) is scheduled for 7:00 this evening. Her little boy is cute, and a very happy child, but how do you keep a 2 year old entertained for 6 hours in an airport? I don’t envy her at all! Every once in a while I see him dash past me with her in pursuit. She had asked the airline to put her on a flight to somewhere near Budapest, but they refused because it would mean putting her with another airline.

If you can see a pink Z next to this notice, you might know which airline I was flying!

I had missionaries who were coming to meet me at the airport in Budapest from about an hour away. They were going to take me to a gypsy Bible study group, but I will have to miss that. I checked into the possibility of being compensated in some way for missing the meeting. But that’s not happening. I guess I’m glad it’s not actually costing me money to miss the meeting. But I imagine that some of these people might lose money over being late.

You can pass the time playing silly games with your friends.

Anyway, that’s enough griping for now. No matter how incompetent or inconsiderate the airline is, God is always good. Maybe I’ll go see if that young mother could use a hand keeping the boy entertained.

The young mother and her little boy take a rest.

—The Next Day—

I found the young mother with tears in her eyes. She said that she had a terrible headache, so I offered to go get her some aspirin. However, the airport newsstand that sells all sorts of other travel aids doesn’t sell aspirin. They told me that I would have to exit security and go to the airport pharmacy. By this point, it was too close to our 7PM takeoff time to do that, so I got her a bottle of water instead.

She refused the water, but told me that she managed to find someone with aspirin. And she pointed to the signboard for our gate, which now had takeoff time at 7:50. She was planning on taking a train to her town about 2 hours away. She wouldn’t get home until about midnight now. I wanted to talk with my missionary friends to see if there was any way that we could help her, but the really odd thing is that she vanished into the crowd. I never saw her again. I looked for her on the bus on the plane, at baggage claim, but she was just not there. I have no idea what happened to her.

Some people might be discouraged by not having been able to help the young mother, and I felt that way at first. But there are some people who are very closed and unwilling to accept help. I suspect that is the case with her. She told me that she is Hungarian, but her son and his father are Italian. She said that she is a believer.

But although she may believe, she doesn’t appear to have a personal relationship with Jesus. She didn’t refer to the boy’s father as her husband. Also, I think she’s probably not Hungarian, but Romanian. Many Romanians from Transylvania (Hungarian-speaking Romania) claim to be Hungarian because of the extreme prejudice of the Italians against Romanians. Northern Romania is about 2 hours by train from Budapest. I also got the sense that she was running away. Perhaps the boy’s father is abusive. Who knows. One possible explanation for her disappearance could be the father discovering where she was and blocking her from taking his son out of Italy. And being abused could be a reason for refusing help—abuse victims don’t feel worthy of help. That tends to keep the cycle repeating on them.

Whatever the reason, she disappeared, and I never saw her again. Nevertheless, I feel a peace about her. I did what I could for her, but there is only so much that some people will accept before the burden of kindness becomes more than they can bear. I think you call that a guilty conscience. I prayed for her, and will continue to pray for her. She didn’t allow me to do much of anything for her, but God can do what I can’t—and more. God is good!

Encouragement from Above

Posted on April 18, 2013 by opendooreurope

A Facebook Friend, A Powerful Testimony, A New Brother in Christ

Recently, I have suffered some very hard blows. These attacks really hit me where I live, and were difficult to take because they came from dear, trusted friends. And they caused one of my closest friends to suffer, which is even harder to take than my own suffering. Initially, I saw only the people involved. I reacted as I usually do, with my Texas-style bluntness—speaking the truth without tact. But after prayer, I began to discern the enemy who had used these friends against my friend and me. Can those relationships be restored?

That was my question to God Tuesday morning. Immediately, I got several encouraging messages through e-mail and on Facebook. These friends and their messages so encouraged me that I began to believe that these relationships can, indeed, be restored.

One person who encouraged me greatly is Angelica, a missionary who lives very close to Milan. I was so moved by her kind words that I felt an immediate and deep desire to meet her in person. She was very enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting me, too. So I started making plans to go visit Angelica immediately.

No sooner did I make that decision, than I heard from another friend, Casey, who lives in a small city in Tuscany. Casey invited me to come hear Tony Anthony speak at a church in Modena that evening. Since Angelica’s town is halfway to Modena, and since Casey told me that we had accommodations for the night, I said yes.

Tony’s testimony is powerful and very moving, and I encourage you to follow that link to his website. On the train to Modena, Casey met an African man from Ivory Coast. She talked to him about Jesus, and invited him to come hear Tony speak, too. And he did. He asked Jesus into his heart! That’s what it’s all about: sharing the Gospel!

Between trains, I’d only had a moment to hug and greet Angelica on Tuesday, but Casey and I returned to Angelica’s home for a proper visit yesterday. We had that immediate intimacy—a meeting of the hearts—that only comes from sisterhood in Christ. We laughed, we cried, we prayed, we praised God. We had a marvelous visit. Now that I know how close she is, I can go visit her whenever I’m home in Milan.

Anyway, God used all of these things to encourage me after the difficulties and disappointments of recent events. But more than encourage me, God has strengthened me to believe that the relationships can and will be restored—if I can let Him speak more tactfully through me. Please pray for me to speak the truth in love, but also with delicacy and tact that can mend bruised relationships. God is good!

Generous Grace

Posted on April 13, 2013 by opendooreurope

As I thought more about the massive furor over the issue of grace (or what some people are calling hyper-grace), I began to wonder why some people are so resistant to the idea. Of course control is a major issue, which I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Dis-graceful Conduct. But as I thought about it more, I began to wonder why some people—good people, godly people, including friends of mine—were so rabidly and viciously coming out against the idea of the full grace of God. I asked myself why they couldn’t accept God’s generosity.

That’s when it dawned on me: they have trouble accepting God’s generosity because true generosity is so very rare these days. They don’t trust generosity in their fellow humans because it rarely comes without a price-tag of some sort. So along comes God into their lives, and His generosity is so immense that they simply cannot bring themselves to believe it.

Think about it: God offers us eternal life with Him in Heaven, a place that is so wonderful and beautiful that it defies description (1 Corinthians 2:9). And all we have to do is to repent and believe.

But the sweet by-and-by is not all that we get. We also get real and practical help throughout our life here on earth (Matthew 7:7-8). And all we have to do is to ask, believing.

But that’s not all we get. Every day as we live in the continual outpouring of God’s love, we become more and more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). And all we have to do is follow Him, believing.

And that’s not all we get. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts for ministering to our fellow humans so that we can live together in harmony as the Body of Christ here on earth (1 Corinthians 12 & 13). And all we have to do is follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, believing.

But that’s still not all we get. Someday—and it’s going to be soon!—Jesus will come rapture away His church to escape the Tribulation and instead enjoy a 7 year wedding feast: ours to Jesus! (Matthew 25:1-13 & Revelation 21). And all we have to do is keep doing the work He has given us to do, believing.

So it’s not all a control issue. Plus, I think that it’s not only a matter of looking for the hidden price-tag on God’s Generous Grace. As I dug a little deeper, I realized that some people have trouble accepting even a compliment from a friend. Compliments don’t often come with a price-tag, so why would people have trouble accepting compliments? Because they don’t feel like they deserve it. Likewise, they have trouble with the full generosity of God’s Grace because they know that they don’t deserve it. Of course they don’t! None of us do! The definition of grace is unmerited favor. When we are born-again, we are given what we don’t deserve because Jesus took the punishment that He didn’t deserve. And all in the name of Love.

Grace is powerful. It can transform lives by the power of love. His love for us transforms us from strangers into daughters and sons of the Most High God. And our love for Him transforms us into victorious overcomers as we live to please our Generous God.

Grace is generous—mind-blowingly generous. Man’s generosity comes with a price-tag. God’s generosity also comes with a price-tag: come and die. But then He promises that if we lose our life for Him, we gain it (Matthew 10:39; John 12:25), so that in the end, the cost of enjoying God’s generosity has been paid for us, and all we have to do is live it out, believing. Trust God! Why? Because God is good!

Dis-Graceful Conduct

Posted on April 12, 2013 by opendooreurope

I have heard and read so much against the so-called hyper-grace movement lately that I feel like I must speak up. People have stopped preaching the Gospel so that they can preach against the preachers who preach about Grace. Now who do you think is really behind that? If you want a clue, let me say it again: People have stopped preaching the Gospel so that they can preach against the preachers who preach about Grace.

And here’s what they say about them: that they are teaching people that there is no need for repentance. I have never heard any of the grace preachers saying anything of the sort. It’s ridiculous! Joseph Prince is the main preacher accused of preaching hyper-grace. I have never heard Joseph Prince preach that sin is OK with God.

But what I have heard is his accusers mixing law in with the message of grace. Why would they do that? Because they don’t really understand the power of grace. They use the law as a means of controlling new believers until they know how to behave. If Joseph Prince and the other grace preachers are guilty of anything, it’s trusting the Holy Spirit too much. That’s right, they leave the picky little transitional tweaks up to the Holy Spirit. Girls, new believers, that haven’t figured out yet that they need to dress more modestly, and men who still cuss. Rather than wag his finger at them, he preaches the message of grace.

The message of grace is the message of how much God loves us, and it’s that love that changes us from the inside out. We came to Christ based on love. It is an ever-deepening knowledge of that love that gives us the power to change. Not a change based on external pressure, but change born of our own reciprocal love for a God who loves us much more than we can ever understand. It is our love for God that makes us want to live our lives in such a way that we please Him and bring glory to His Name.

Anybody who claims to be born again, but continues in sin is not really born again (1 John 1:6 & 2:15). The litmus test for this is fruit. What kind of fruit does their life bear? If they are continuing in sin, that will be obvious to all sooner or later. If someone is determined to continue in their sin, no amount of preaching or “discipling” by controlling their behavior will work in the end.

But when someone really grasps “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18), there really is only one response: to live to please Him. They don’t have to constantly check themselves for hidden sins and doctrinal error because they willingly lay aside their flesh and begin to live in the Spirit and to walk in the power of that same grace that saved them. That’s why it’s important to preach the Gospel of Grace, and to keep emphasizing the love of God. Judgment is surely and swiftly coming. But while the fear of Judgment might get some people in the door, it is the love that saves them, and love that helps them to truly walk in the “newness of life,” (Romans 6:4).

Believing that you must control new believers is flesh and it is unbelief. Grace is available not only to save, but to empower the new life. Let go and let God.

Walking By Faith in Europe

Monthly Archives: April 2013