Had I known that this was going to be such a dissenting issue I might have stayed away, I say might because I do not know that in the end I could have stayed silent on such an important issue as Gods grace and love. Our corps (which is still in it’s infancy as a…

It is strange and almost humorous to watch Christer Sturmark argue against religious beliefs trying to sell the secular society as the only viable future of the world. In todays article in expressen Sturmark attacks  religous beliefs with what can only be likened to a religious frenzy as he explains that humanistic values are the…

Being a full time missionary and a certified Linux proffessional I cannot help but watch how similar these two areas of my life are. The passion and sacrificial nature of the followers and the resistance of the world Both communities … …Are run by a mish mash of volonteers and large companies (denominations). …Have highly…

The king of rock, they say lived The king of lizards is surely dead, The King of Kings bled. -Audio Adrenaline, I am not the king We are watching the first season of Rome and while it is vile in that it very graphicaly portrays the sexual perversion and the pgan worship of the time,…

A growing group in our society are the spiritual vagabonds, restless souls wandering from fellowship to fellowship and never settling down. Either on the constant lookout for the perfect church or treating organized Christianity like a smorgasboard where you pick and choose the bits you like and move on to the next dish. This begs…

Lats week as I was being interviewed by the vice principal of the Swedish officers school she asked me a question that ground me to a mental halt, – What is the Salvation Army, she asked? I started to think, then I started describing the army, the way I think it should be, not nessesarily…

This friday the Riga 1 youthgroup was transformed, having had between five and eight people showing up suddenly this Friday we had 24 people. What a fantastic night, worship rocked, tho we managed to break two guitars and play dreadfully out of key. Still everyone was having a good time and Gods word was shared!

Everytime I teach on Love, Joy and or passion I run into the same thing, someone comes up and tells me that, while it is true that love is joy and passion, love is also self control and you could surely use some. Many times I just take that as just criticism and get really…

One of my pet peeves is that the church seldom produces quality promotion material wich sends the message that our message is not really that important, not so with this fantastic video It really sends the message of the army, sends the underlying message that this is important/professional and it spells out, WE CARE! and…

Kicking of the “Riga 1” youthgroup for the fall yesterday and what a start we had. We had six new people there and three of them where not girls, wich as you know is a minor miracle here in Latvia. The Friday night group has been dubbed “One Way” so therefore our first message was…

This is a follow up to this post on the gay pride parade in Riga. So everyone is talking about it, will there be a gay pride parade in Riga 2006? I am apalled at the stance the Christian churches in Latvia are taking to this. The Christian protesters are spreading hatred at town hall…

To be a Christian means to be Christlike. And since there is only one Christ there can only be one way to be a Christian…. while we are still very unlike our Lord and saviour the differences will be many but as we close in on holiness, as we get closer to him. As we…

Being a missionary is tricky buissness, the constant tention between infiltrating the national culture and promoting Kingdom culture. Knowing where to draw the line is difficult and sometimes downright impossible. Whenever I am out preaching I am constantly reminded of the fact that I don’t fit in. Wherever I go I am told, It is…

10:35 pm last night my second daughter Anja Trinity Olterman was born. This morning I went home to pick Up Angelina our oldest to take her to see her brand new sister. Though cautious at first Angelina seems to have accepted our newest family member, however whatever we do for the little one Angelina demands…

At coffe today our chief of administration loudly announced that he had seen the [[da vinci code]] yesterday and that it was an excellent movie. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about, no one in their right minds would actually believe in that stuff, he continued. The problem is too many people do.…

At the swedish discussion forum soldiership has been in the air for a couple of days and my good friend Mackan said something that made me rethink soldiership. He said, You are not a soldier for you, soldiership is about others. You are a soldier so that others kan have a tobacco and alcohol free…

I was working as a warden at Kirsebergs anstalten (A high security prison in Malmö) one of our charges told me this. You can choose your friends and you can choose to have contact with your family or not, but good neighbors are a gift from God. And I have to agree, that is after…

Debates are raging all the time, especially in Christian circles. Being a mellow guy I usually try to stay out of the hot air (NOT!) I always end up in the middle of the fray, I can’t help it I get so upset when I see people advocating sin and quoting Bible verses to support…

The evangelist goes on and on, urging people to come to Christ, coaxing them and finally it seems bribing them, with promises of peace, love and joy. But does Jesus really offer peace here and now? All to often I hear the “Happy now, Holy in heaven” Gospel proclaimed. Yet I don’t know anyone whos…

In Veggie tales – King george and the ducky, king George asks Cedrik his favorite general, How goes the war? This simple little question echoes to me through time and space. How goes the war indeed? We as soldiers of God need to ask ourselves that question every day. We need to evaluate, reassess and…

Last night after two hours of hardcore rollerblade hockey I sat in the car with Ron. I was appologizing for having to rush of right at the end to get home to my familly, it had taken longer than I expected, I wish I could have stayed end gotten to know the guys a bit.…

I have long pondered the question of church culture, while an evangelist in Sweden I was astounded how the Christians in church could stomach the message of the cross and the fantastic news of resurection and salvation without showing any emotion. I was told that it is just not within Swedish culture to give an…

I was reading this article over at Journal of aggressive Christianity A few interesting things came out of it. John Cleary writes of the Worship wars that the church is going through At the moment the Church is going through what may be described as the Worship Wars, a battle between contemporary and traditional forms…

A bit after the whole whooplah of easter I find myself more and more wondering about the origins of this strange festival. It doesn’t take a scholar to realize that the easter bunny and the egg are alien to Christian symbology and that many of the traditions surrounding easter are not only maintained by capitalistic…

I long for full freedom in the church, freedom for everyone to worship in the way they want to, in a style that fits them. Unfortunately we (and by we I mean most churches, in most denominations) are very uniform in our worship and uniformity I find completely inhibits freedom. It is hard to be…

The year is 1998 I am standing in front of the town hall in a little town not far from murmansk. In front of me a young man is standing restless eager to join his friends. I am pleading with him to understand that Jesus truly died for his sin and that this is not…