A couple of years ago I went on a trip to Greece and Turkey with my parents – it was an amazing time! One of the things I loved most was visiting places that I have read about in Scripture – the island of Lindos where Paul is believed to have moored on one his journeys to Jerusalem, John’s exile to the island of Patmos where he received the vision of Revelation, and also here, at Ephesus. 

Two thousand years ago this city was dynamic and cosmopolitan and vibrant. It prospered as the capital and largest city of what was then, Asia Minor. Today, the remnants and ruins only whisper of this past. Scarlet poppies amongst the stone.

But this amazing thing happened at this place, among the broken marble and rubble. It was the realisation that I was at the actual setting of a city where millennia before, conflicting world-views were passionately fought out, where the power of God clashed with magic and witchcraft and cult worship, where the earliest New Testament apostles and evangelists travelled to and ministered. Being there, at a place so significant biblically, held so much meaning for me in a way I didn’t expect.

In the New Testament account, this really full on situation happened there.

In Greek mythology, Artemis was  the goddess of the wild and the hunt, as well as wild animals, fertility, and some say, the moon. She was also the principal deity of ancient Ephesus, where she was worshipped at a Temple (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).

It was in this context that Paul and his helpers evangelised. It says in the Bible about this, that “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” here, and the way that “the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power” (Acts 19:11;20).

This man called Demetrius became threatened by what was happening. Demetrius was a silversmith and he made shrines of the goddess Artemis for the people of Ephesus and for tourists and pilgrims. This was good business. And Paul’s message about the one true Lord, Jesus Christ, threatened this, so he decided to make trouble. He called a meeting together of those similarly employed, and this is what he said to them,

“Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province. Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!” Acts 19:25-27

This meeting set the craftsmen off in a frenzy. They ran out onto the streets yelling “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” and very soon, the city was in a riot. It’s quite interesting because Acts describes the way that a lot of the people who joined the riot “did not even know why they were there” (v 32). The crowd  stampeded the city theatre  seizing two of Paul’s travelling companions along the way. Paul himself wanted to appear before the crowd in the theatre, but was prevented by the disciples who would not let him go in. Officials of the province, also friends of Paul, begged him not to go in as well. In the end, the uproar was quieted by a town clerk who effectively exonerated Paul and his companions and dismissed the crowd.

The photos above are of this actual theatre. The place of the riot, almost two thousand years ago.

If you are interested in seeing more of the Greek Islands and Turkey – the Parthenon in Athens, the islands of Mykonos, Rhodes and Crete, Patmos, where John received the Revelation, and the exquisite Santorini – please click here to see a slideshow. 

* This article is based on one I wrote about visiting Ephesus at the time.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It was a beautiful autumn day in London yesterday, and I spent the morning at the Borough Market. I love weekend markets, especially this one! Here are some photos of the food and displays I came across – barrels of olives, stacks of cheese, and baskets of bread; mushrooms, sun-blushed tomatoes and artichokes; berries, brownies and Turkish delight!

I love the shapes of the mushrooms, and the different colours of the tomatoes at the beginning – even yellow and orange – I’ve never seen that before. My favourite though were the displays of cheeses, the pyramids of soft cheeses and blue Stichelton. The photos are quite close-up here, so I might have to post one or two later to show how high the pyramids of cheese went, the displays were great!

If you love different kinds of food like me, I hope you enjoy these, and I’d love to know if you have any favourites Have a lovely weekend!

I love hearing stories about people having out of the ordinary encounters with God. It really inspires my faith. I heard a story like this yesterday, and wanted to share a little of it here.

I interviewed a pastor, Michelle Warren, who as a very young Christian went on a Mission trip to Sao Paulo in Brazil. She was excited to see the power of the Holy Spirit.

During the trip, Michelle became ill with a fever. She was so weak during one of the meetings that she collapsed. Back in her hotel room, she was praying. As she did, the presence of God entered the room, and the place was flooded with the most brilliant, radiant light. As she tried to describe this light yesterday, she found it hard to find the words. She said it was beyond natural light. More brilliant, more white, supernatural is the best way to describe it, she said. And it filled up the whole room, every corner. Michelle knew she was in the presence of God.

As she stared into this radiant light, God spoke to her audibly, the only time He has spoken to her in this way.

He said to her that He wanted her to go and minister that night, in the balcony area of the church where the meetings were being held.

Being feverish and weak, Michelle began to question God.

‘But I can barely stand, Lord,’ she said. ‘Let alone minister.’

As she said this, the presence of God retreated, the light eventually dissipating.

Feeling convicted about “arguing with God” as she described it, she knew what she had to do. Michelle described the way she literally crawled to the elevator that night as she was so weak.

At the church, the worship was alive and God’s presence very tangible. Michelle was so weak, but by faith she stood up to take part. As she did, the Holy Spirit came upon her and she was healed instantly. All the symptoms that had weakened her body, left.

That in itself is so awesome to me. But there is more to the story

Feeling strong again, Michelle went to the balcony of the church as God had said. There were around two hundred people there. As she stood there, various doubts came into her mind: these people did not seem as hungry for God as those downstairs, and had she really heard from God anyway, she was young as a Christian after all, she thought, and she didn’t even speak Portuguese to pray with these people.

As she turned to leave, she described one of the most profound experiences she has had with God. As her eyes swept across the crowd, it’s as if God opened her spiritual eyes to see these people in the way that He Himself did.

There was no longer a crowd of two hundred, but two hundred individuals.

Instead of faces, and expressions, she saw their hearts and their hurts.

‘I love these people,’ she felt Jesus say to her heart, she was overcome by His compassion. ‘Pray for these people.’

And she did.

Twelve hours later the people were still there in that balcony. She heard from a senior pastor at a prayer meeting the following morning how the congregation there had been glued to their seats as the Holy Spirit moved powerfully, healing people, and ministering to people.

I was so in awe of God as I heard this story! And so inspired by Michelle’s faith, and the way that she did what God asked no matter how ill she felt, and no matter the doubts that set in along the way.

God had a big purpose, and He sought her to be His servant to those people He so dearly loved that evening, a servant through which His Holy Spirit would minister. Amazing! The things God can do through a willing heart, a heart that is sensitive to His prompting!

And His compassion. I think that is what got to me most as I heard this story. The way Jesus knows us of each by name, the very hairs of our head numbered by Him Matt.10:30, and that His heart is heavy with our burdens and pain. The heart of Jesus, “acquainted with grief” Is.53:3, the One Who has “borne our pains and carried our sorrows” Is.53:4. I love these people, He said to Michelle that day. And it’s as if He is saying the same thing to each of us today. I love you. My heart is “gracious and full of compassion” and “tender mercies” towards you Ps.145:8;9. I love you. “Come boldly to the throne of grace” Heb.4:16.

Trick-or-treating began on my street last night, with a group of little ones dressed up as ghosts and witches and vampires, their Mums with them. I thought about how excited the children must have been getting all dressed up like that, and going around with their friends getting loads of sweets. I remember when I was a kid how I used to love it, and would never have dreamt of giving anything deeper a second thought.

To be honest, had I not experienced the occult in the way that I did later in my life, I still may not have thought any more deeply about Halloween now. I still may have seen it as just a bit of harmless fun.

Last year I wrote a post all about this. Is Halloween just a bit of a fun, or is there a good reason why we as Christians should think twice before getting into the spirit of it? Some of you will have read that post last year, and some of what I say today is a repeat of that, so you’ll be familiar

My road to coming into relationship with God came as a result of being involved in the occult when I was in my late teens. After coming out of this background, God showed me His thoughts about occult practices which are throughout the Bible, in particular that these practices are “abomination” to Him Deut. 18:12. This is a strong word, and it means that God hates, loathes, detests and is repulsed by these practices. He really is not neutral about it.

Not only did that help me to realise what spiritually dangerous territory I had been treading through my past involvement, but it also became relevant for me regarding things like checking my horoscope in the paper, watching certain programmes on TV, and also, my thoughts on Halloween.

My understanding is that Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. It was believed that on this night the divide between the human world and supernatural world was at its weakest and that it was possible for the spirits of the dead to return and bring harm to the living. One way that these harmful “tricks” could be avoided by these spirits was by leaving out “treats” in the form of food and drink.

This evening was also an opportunity for people to commune with the spirits to foretell the future. It is believed that the devil himself was also called upon to tell people about their future.

The Bible clearly tells us that God does not want us to practice such things as fortune-telling and divination, so I question then whether it’s a good idea to join in with Halloween when part of its history is understood to have involved these.

For me, I see that Halloween is marked by beliefs and activities that go against God’s Word and offend Him a lot. Because I want to please Him, my decision is to part ways with the event. I love the way The Message puts this verse where God says to us, “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself. I’ll be a Father to you; you’ll be sons and daughters to me” 2 Cor. 6:17-18. And where Paul says,”… dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God” 2 Cor. 7:1.

The other reason I have chosen not to go along with Halloween is definitely a result of my past experiences of the occult. It affected me in ways I didn’t expect like developing extreme levels of fear in my life at the time that I had not lived with before. I know that as harmless as it may seem, the supernatural realm is real. Not everyone may be affected by the occult as I was, and getting involved with Halloween for most people, may never lead to anything deeper in a spiritual sense. For me though, all it took was an intrigue in the things of the occult set up years earlier by the smallest exposures. For somebody, this may be found in Halloween or in the practices associated with it.

What communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? 2 Cor.6:15.

I’ve started reading about the life of a Carmelite monk called Brother Lawrence who entered the monastery in Paris in 1640 at the age of twenty-six, dedicating His life to loving and serving God.

Several years earlier, when he was eighteen, Brother Lawrence (then, Nicholas Herman) had this experience with God which opened his eyes to the reality of Him, and “a love for God that never after ceased to burn.”*

In the deep of winter, Herman looked at a barren tree, stripped of leaves and fruit, waiting silently and patiently for the sure hope of summer abundance. Gazing at the tree, Herman grasped for the first time the extravagance of God’s grace and the unfailing sovereignty of divine providence. Like the tree, he himself was seemingly dead, but God had life waiting for him, and the turn of seasons would bring fullness. At that moment, he said, that leafless tree “first flashed in upon my soul the fact of God,” and a love for God that never after ceased to burn.*

I thought this was beautiful, the realisation of God, and His extravagance towards us, from a barren tree in the winter. Seeing for the first time that it is God Who brings summer from winter, flourishing from barrenness, life from death. That evidence of His grace and His providence is all around us, if only we would have the eyes to see.

And he saw himself in that tree, “seemingly dead.” How often can we feel this way too? Laid bare, and brittle. Questioning how fruitful we are for Him. Facing times that are desolate. But what a beautiful picture of hope this story gives. That with God, there is the promise of changing seasons and newness ahead. That if we will wait for Him, “silently and patiently” and confident in His grace and “unfailing sovereignty,” we have the “sure hope of summer abundance” before us.

*Reference: ‘Brother Lawrence’ on Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence. The book I’m reading is called ‘Practicing God’s Presence: Brother Lawrence for today’s reader’ by Robert Elmer (2005, NavPress, Colorado Springs).

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Autumn seems to be so short lived in London, and I’ve been keen to capture a little of it, of the reds and yellows, before the perennial grey of winter. So I went for a walk over the weekend and took these photos. They’re mostly of leaves. I love the colours of the leaves, how definite they are. That’s one thing that’s so beautiful about England, the real contrast of the seasons, and autumn would have to be my favourite One thing that might make a difference if you view the slideshow is to change the setting of the speed so that it errs more on the slow side, otherwise it goes pretty fast! I hope you enjoy the photos … 

He changes the times and the seasons ~ Daniel 2:21

It’s seamless, this turning.

Walking by the river a few days ago, I stopped by the bridge to watch as leaves fell from a tree just ahead. It was the loveliest thing, softly falling. Like the rain. Like a shower of yellow.

Autumn.

It happened so quietly; the deepening of the days, the blushing of the leaves.

Unnoticed was summer’s surrender.

And then I think of God, and of the seasons that change as I walk with Him, mostly unnoticed except with hindsight.

Seasons of barrenness and rest. Of promise, of flourishing. Seasons of harvest.

And I think of His purposes for this season, for such a time as this. For surely these days will yield too, into memories.

Help me Lord to redeem the time that You have given.

For You have said to learn from the signs of the “fig tree and all the trees” Luke 21:29, for “the Kingdom of God is near” Matt.4:17.

Prose and photo by Birgit Whelan © Copyright 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A month ago Michael and I spent a few days in Prague. I’ve been really looking forward to putting together some photos of our time there, and just this week I’ve been able to.

The photos basically follow our time in this beautiful city. Scenes from the castle on the hill, the Old Town with its spires and maze of cobblestone streets, the Vltava and its bridges; there is famous Czech beer and also a lunch of goulash and dumplings. I love taking photos of things that catch my eye as we’re walking as well, so there are lots of these too; street art, detail from buildings, flowers at the market.

I hope you enjoy the photos and it gives a good impression of our time. I’d love to know if you have any favourites . Lots of blessings to you.

The conference was wonderful on Saturday. Thank you so much to those who prayed and sent encouraging emails, God really answered your prayers!

The setting itself was just beautiful, a church on the sea! On the coast, just north of London. I love stained glass windows, and high above the altar in this church was a window of Jesus robed in white, and light streaming from Him, as angels worshipped Him in glory.

I smiled at the way this picture of Jesus, radiant in His light, seemed to confirm the message that God had given me.

At the time in my life when I called out to Him for the first time, He revealed Himself to me, and gave me a particular picture in my mind’s eye, with the word that He was going to take me ‘step by step from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.’

It was this point about coming into, and living in God’s light, that I felt He wanted me to focus on. To think about those things that we may be hiding from God. Those things that cause us to avoid Him or turn away from Him out of guilt, shame or disobedience.The way that intimacy with God comes as we come boldly before His throne of grace Heb. 4:16, allowing His light in on the shadows of sin and regret in our hearts.

I spoke about Adam and Eve. How in the beginning they enjoyed full intimacy with God, naked before Him, both physically and in their hearts, and were not ashamed Gen. 2:25. But after they sinned, their reaction was to hide away. Under the trees. Away from God’s presence (Gen. 3:8-10).

Then I felt like God showed me Jesus as the contrast to Adam and Eve.

Jesus, the last Adam 1 Cor. 15: 45. Where the first Adam sinned, the last Adam was without sin. Jesus’ intimacy with the Father was never broken by sin, and where Adam hid away from God, Jesus went to a high place, Mount Tabor I’ve read, to seek God and to be with Him (Matt. 17:1-9).

Where Adam hid under the trees in darkness, Jesus stood openly on the mountain – transfigured by God’s light. I so love the way this is described in the different gospels! Listen to Mark’s account of it – ‘His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them’ Mark 9:3. I really like the way he describes it

I felt as if God showed me this connection between intimacy with Him, and being in His light.

Moses, a friend of God the Bible says Ex.33:11, goes up Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights to be in God’s presence. And when he comes back down, His face shone with such radiance that the Israelites could not look upon him without him covering his face with a veil (Ex. 34:28-35).

Intimacy with the Father, and being soaked in His light.

And then I felt the Lord had given me particular words for particular women in the group. Specific burdens these women had been carrying. Areas of brokenness, sin, pain and regret. It truly was the most awesome, humbling, joyful thing to be able to pray with these precious women afterwards who came forward in response. I am in awe of our God. He had such a purpose for that day, and it just overwhelmed me to see His Spirit at work as He revealed His immense love and compassion for these precious ladies, and the hope that He wanted to give us all. He is just so incredible.

So what a beautiful experience it was. Thank you once again for praying, as I said at the start, God answered!

I also wanted to flag up that very soon I’m going to be posting photos and thoughts about our trip to Prague last month. It’s really been so busy recently, with God opening wonderful opportunities to serve, and lots of other fun things, so it’s meant that I’ve had to put one or two things on hold until now . It was a wonderful time in Prague, and I’m so excited to be posting the photos soon .