welcome to the mosque

so a week ago I attended some prayergatheringkindofathing.
it was held in a place where there is a mosque right next door.

at the last hours of the meeting the fire alarm went on.
in the whole big building.
the people said that it sometimes goes on cause the kids play in the mosque.

so I thought that if its from the mosque it has to be that the muslims
are out of the mosque wich would mean they are outside the mosque
and also right outside the place we were staying.

so I went out to explore a bit and yes- the yard was filled with muslims.
I started to talk with one of them, had an interesting talk about
the fact how I dont see myself as anything (lutheran, orthodox whatever)
and how God cant be put in to a box.
well, it was rather cold and I asked if I could some day come to the mosque
to continue the talks. and it was ok.

so me and milka went there on saturday.
I was kind of hoping I could meet some women and children there,
but we ended up in a room with three muslim men
who wanted to talk about our faiths.
and no problem, I actually enjoyed it,
havent done it after london. though I really wont slip in to a any kind of debate.

and in the end they said that there are some finnish converts, women,
and we were very excited to meet her!
so we are going there again next sunday to meet with the ladies.

God is so faithful, I dont know what will come from this,
but Ive prayed that Id get the chance to hang out in some mosques
and get to know the people there.
come on Jesus!

kingdom university

I got a text message from my friend the other day,
she sent me message (with a twinkle in her eye, you know :))
that she has started studies in a new university.
her lectures for the day were learning obedience and patience.
she asked me to join the courses.

I thought about it, and the courses I could do.
getting rid of fear of men for example,
but texted her back that I need to talk with the principle still.

well, it seemed that its enough to sigh a little
enthuasiastic pray towards the university,
and they approve that. no application needed.

so there I was, in the trainstation and had
some challenging moments as I realized it was Jesus
inviting me to keep my gaze on him and trust that he can provide.

and the next day I started new lectures.
of humility.
and you know, its so much harder to be humble towards
the things you hear you mum point out.
(hard enough from friends and other people, but your own mum :))
but well, we were talking about my coming visit to a mosque here in finland
(oh yeah, I havent told you about that yet)
and she said some things and I tried to stand up
and ended up feeling really bad and we prayed and everything was ok,
but then Jesus still preached me about some issues conserning my attitude
and spirit in which I was going to the mosque.
so it was refreshing to notice again, that humbling yourself and prayer- they really do work.

now we are in the middle of studies conserning the fruit of the spirit.
in our flat we wake up in the morning and pray and ask Jesus to produce
fruit in our lives. ask him, how we could live out love and joy etc out in our coming day.

welcome to the new age

In finland as well as all over the world I guess
people are really interested in spirtual things.
and many times other sources seem to be more
spiritual than what we christians live out.

so this weekend there was this exhibition in espoo,
where a bunch of new agers came together
to explore different kind of psychics, tarot cards,
just you name it-everything.

milka, tytti and me went there as well.
we know this pastor in finland who does
some interfaith dialogues stuff and he knows
a lady who has become a believer from those
new age backrounds. the lady still goes
to the exhibition, offering free prayer for people.

so we went there to pray for people and to explore
the spiritual athmosphere, to get a new experience
and to see if Jesus wants to do something.

and Im quite sure he wants.
it would be kind of cool to see
us christians reaching out to these
people who yearn for spirituality.

we talked with some people and prayed for some.
the athmospehere was confusing,
but Im up for some confusion.
Its good to learn to discern and live
with different kinds of things happening
and going on around me.

love is a real good reason to learn

I had a nice weekend.
different.

friday me and milka took our opportunity
to help someone out. a young boy who was a bit lost.
ended up waiting for one hour outside for his ex girlfriend to come and pick him up.

saturday I met many new and lovely friends as a bunch
of girls came together to talk about the coming 247finnish gathering.
also went to listen to arabvision songcontests.

sunday met niina, which was really nice and
took couple of steps back to ask one lady if I could help her.
I tried, but it didnt quite work out.
but at least I tried.
I turned when I felt I should and asked.

Ive been pondering about this holy living.
what is it to live a holy life?

the message says:
as obedient children let yourselves be pulled in to a way of life
shaped by Gods life, life energetic and blazing with holiness.

we were talking with tytti one day, how often people
misunderstand that serene things are holy,
you know, no laughing in church and stuff.
that not doing something makes one holy,
IM NOT drinking alcohol, Im way holy.

one of the words that really blesses me in that message translation
is the word energetic. the idea of being active.
and connecting holiness with activity.

and then comes the question; what is activity?
is mere doing the same as being active?
we talked about this with milka, about how
it can be that someone is "active in church"
without really being there, you know?

doing rises from being,
and being active is not just doing.
challenge indeed!