This year we can celebrate the 50th year of the Brunstad Conference Center! This is a special day for the church internationally, but first and foremost it is a testimony to the men of faith who were led by the Spirit of faith to do God’s work in our time! Most people probably know the story behind Brunstad, but put briefly, it was Pinehas Nilsen who saw an advertisement in Aftenposten that there was a small farm for sale in the municipality of Stokke, near Tønsberg. He immediately contacted Aksel J. Smith who went out to look at the place on a dark winter day. In those days the distance was great, and it was difficult to make headway in the winter snow. As it turned out, the owner was an old school friend of Aksel J. Smith’s, and they soon struck up a friendly conversation. Aksel J. Smith was a man of faith, and God gave him grace to see the possibilities of this beautiful place that was so nicely situated. It had a beach as well as mountainous terrain. As a result he contacted Elias Aslaksen and Sigurd Bratlie in a spirit of enthusiasm of which they also became apprehended. These three shepherds and leaders stood together, firmly united in the same mind and in the same opinion: They were going to do everything they could in order to buy Nedre Brunstad Gård (Lower Brunstad Farm)! And, with God on their side, that is what happened. Nedre Brunstad Gård became the property of the church in 1956. This was the beginning of a new time for the church. The possibilities that this purchase opened up also increased the tempo of the mission work in Europe. The brothers traveled around and preached the gospel and the word of the cross, and they could boldly say: Come and see! It really works! They could boldly invite people to Brunstad from far and near. The Brunstad Conference Center has undergone a constant improvement for the better during these past fifty years. This has been a blessing for all our friends in Norway as well as in other countries. The meeting hall has already been enlarged twice, and the facilities have been adapted to current standards. We have entered into the work of others in the earthly as well as in the spiritual realm. The preaching of the death of Christ as the only way to the life of Christ has been born of a powerful Spirit of faith, with the result that there has been a sharp sword over all egotism as well as seeking one’s own and personal honor. God could not have given such solid growth without this preaching from the podium at Brunstad. In 1 Corinthians 3:7 we see how Paul viewed the matter: “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” In other words, all glory belongs to God when we see how Brunstad has grown during these past fifty years. It is not difficult to acknowledge that we have entered into other people’s work and have received grace to build further on the foundation that wise master builders have laid who have gone before us. V. 10. Let all of us take heed how we build further with our lives so that others who come after us can enter into a work that God can bless with continued growth and development! When we look back, it is with great thankfulness to God for our brothers, shepherds, and leaders who have gone before us. Johan O. Smith was faithful in the hidden and was able to bring a gospel that was hidden to the wise and prudent of his days. 1 Cor. 2:1-8. As a result he was mocked and despised, and he remained all alone during the first years. The gospel has now spread, and the work continues in more than sixty countries, firmly planted in the doctrine of victory over sin through the power of the cross, which Smith passed on to the next generation. This guarantees safety and God’s blessing precisely because the word of the cross continues to be preached with power and is still foolishness to those who are perishing. 1 Cor. 1:17-18. Thus the church is preserved under a cover of reproach, even though people admire the earthly results they can see with their eyes. Brother Johan O. Smith was succeeded by brothers such as Elias Aslaksen, Sigurd Bratlie, Aksel J. Smith, and others. They continued the work almost unnoticed under great reproach and with only a few friends. Nevertheless, they faithfully worked with God’s Word and were a blessing for more and more people. It is God who adds to the church those who are willing to be saved, also in our days. And He finds them regardless of where in the world they live! We have really experienced this! God makes sure to keep those far away who want something else, and who seek their own. This is a great blessing for the church, which is the body of Christ! Our sincere desire and prayer to God is that we, and those whom God has given us in this important work, can walk in our fathers’ steps, to the glory of God. Among other things this means that we need to work in the same Spirit of faith in which Jesus spoke when He said to His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . . .” The entire doctrine according to godliness needs to be preached. Our fathers have implanted that in us— and then we will enter into the blessing that they have left behind. As we build further, we have to build with the same precious materials and preach the same sound doctrine according to the same zealous godliness, without drifting away from it. Then God will also continue to give the increase, and Jesus can then be with us each single day. If we drift away from the sound doctrine, the church will end up as a religious assembly, organized according to human understanding, filled with people who seek their own, and without Spirit and power to be salt and a light in this world! Matt. 5:13-20. Our forerunners were prophets in their time; that is why we can face the future with confidence and can make our dear late Brother Aksel J. Smith’s words ours with which he concluded his article “The Church and Brunstad” in Skjulte Skatter 30 years ago with the following words: “The meeting hall will be built as simply as possible, without any luxury. All those from among the friends who realize the importance of God’s work, and the value of the mission center that Brunstad has become, will now rejoice in being along with their earthly goods with which God has blessed them. God gives so we can pass it on. He does not forget anything and rewards richly. However, He loves and blesses only cheerful givers.” This is how it was, and this is how it is! This is also how it shall be in the future through the unselfish work of faithful servants of God when it concerns Brunstad, the local churches around the world, as well as in each person’s home and in his personal life! May God give grace to all the friends—the small and the great, young and old, married and single— to be wholeheartedly along in the Spirit of faith when it concerns their time, strength, money, and not the least when it comes to prayer and care when we now, in our time, shall make Jesus’ words to His disciples the motto for our work in these days: Making disciples of all the nations and teaching them to observe all of Jesus’ words!Kåre J. Smith

By Aksel J. Smith It is a great comfort and joy that the church is God’s work, and that this work will have been completed when Jesus returns and will be to the eternal praise of the glory of His grace. We read of only two great mysteries in the Bible, which are Christ manifested in the flesh, and the church. These two mysteries belong together in a glory that is hidden from most people. The glory of the tabernacle was covered by a simple goatskin. It was hidden under a cover of reproach. The valuable work that goes on in the church is therefore hidden from most people, but for the elect it is an exceedingly great joy to be counted worthy to be part of this glorious and eternal building in progress. These people consider money as nothing when compared to spiritual and eternal values. Today the church has grown from just a few people who met in a living room. These few loved each other with a sincere brotherly love and had great joy in coming together for the purpose of edifying each other. However, the rooms became too small, and the meeting hall in Horten became too small, just as the conference center in Nesbyen in Hallingdal became too small. During all this time God has led the church in an amazing way. God gave us Brunstad, and at the same time He gathered the elect from many countries and added them to the church. God has always used those friends whom He counted worthy and to whom He gave permission to be along in the spiritual as well as the earthly building process. As we see the day approaching, we are exhorted to come together even more and to encourage each other to love and good works. From now on the time will be short, so now God wants to finish His work quickly by means of His instruments. God has always seen to it that the means have been there at the right time, and everything that has been built at Brunstad up to this point is paid for. God is not in debt to anyone; therefore no one becomes poorer by being along in God’s work in any way they possibly can. At the beginning of 1977 meeting halls will be excluded from the county’s building by­laws. This comes just at the right time as far as we are concerned, so we need to see this as God’s leading. No one can close when He opens. The brothers are working with drawings and are engaged in much more preparatory work, and we can reckon with receiving permission to dig in early autumn of this year. We are not building this new meeting hall because of vanity or a desire for greatness, but to make room for young and old from many countries. Until now people have had to sit for an hour or more before the meeting in order to get a seat. The meeting hall will be built as simply as possible, without any luxury. All those from among the friends who realize the importance of God’s work, and the value of the mission center that Brunstad has become, will now rejoice in being along with their earthly goods with which God has blessed them. God gives so we can pass it on. He does not forget anything and rewards richly. However, He loves and blesses only cheerful givers.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36. Watch! It is worthwhile to consider what Jesus must have meant by saying, “Watch!” Which degree of watchfulness was He thinking about? We have experienced revival, and we are still experiencing revival. The church has been a revival to holiness from the beginning. We are awakened to remain watchful. Are we awake? Are we watching? In Revelation 16:15 we read, “Blessed is he who watches.” We must go to the Scriptures in order to become acquainted with the right standard, also when it concerns the watchfulness that Jesus intended. Our own understanding of what it means to be watchful can be miles away from what God’s Word means by being watchful. “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thess. 5:6. Sleep as others do! Who are these “others”? It is rewarding to do some soul-searching on this point. “Awake to righteousness, and do not sin . . . .” 1 Cor. 15:34. You cannot say that you are watching when you are careless and sloppy in your Christian life, when you don’t take the matter of sinning seriously, for example, when you don’t keep your tongue bridled, nor your path clean. “Awake, you who sleep . . . and Christ will give you light.” Eph. 5:14. Everything else will lose its attraction when Christ gives us light in life’s many situations. Christ gives us light in life’s various situations when we are sober and watchful. Then humility is a light for us when we are exposed to the others’ unreasonableness. Then goodness is a light for us when we meet up with the evil of our fellow man. Then purity is a light for us in the midst of an impure, unchaste, and evil world. Those who are asleep do not see this light in life’s trials, even though they did see the light shine under the preaching of God’s Word at meetings and at conferences. Sleep causes the light to vanish when it concerns fighting and overcoming. The Hebrews were very zealous in “the former days,” after they had been enlightened. Heb. 10:32. However, this was no longer the case with them. They had become dull of hearing, and the light did not shine clearly for them in the hour of trial. Therefore they received the exhortation in verse 38 not to draw back in the hour of trial, but rather to watch. In his second epistle the apostle Peter wrote that it was precisely for the purpose of awakening the saints’ pure minds that he had written to them—to awaken them by constant reminders. All of us need such reminders in our days as well. In one of his letters (#142), Johan O. Smith wrote: “In order to get light we must be looking for it. Some light goes unnoticed.” In other words, these are rays of light that pass a person by and are not helpful to him because he is not sufficiently awake. They are opportunities that could have resulted in progress and growth, a growth that failed to materialize because of a lack of watchfulness. May God give grace that we do not sing “There sweeps revival to holiness over the land” (NS #136) with sleepy eyes and distracted minds. The destroyer performs his work of breaking down wherever sleep and a lack of watchfulness enter in. Everything that pertains to life and godliness—to a revival to holiness—has been given to us by the knowledge of Him who called us by His glory and virtue. 2 Pet. 1:3. Therefore we do not need to wait for revival. We can live it today. Neither do we need to wait for growth and progress that we can experience today. The church is a revival unto discipleship. The church is a revival unto sanctification. The church is revival! It is revival today. Not a revival that occurred at some time in the past.Arild Tombre