Category: Church
Jesus was not a Christian!
It may seem an obvious statement for anyone who, like me, have studied the scriptures at any depth. Jesus was a Jew and most Christians would readily admit this fact. But as obvious as it may be we still tend to think of Jesus as a Christian, because, lets face it what else would he…
We need to cuddle more!
We all know we need closeness, connection and human touch, here are ten reasons why we should intentionally introduce embracing, hugging and cuddling as a practice in our lives. After you read this post of why, think about how you will implement the art of long embraces and cuddles in your daily life and community.…
Why authentic Christianity must fail
A depressing title I know, but please bear with me and hear me out. After four years in a church plant where we desperately are trying to model and live out an authentic Christianity at the same time as we are trying to build a church community, I have come to realise that authentic christianity…
Jesus is my brother
It may seem like an obvious thing to say, if god is our father then Jesus is our brother. There are some people (in the past myself included) who may have a problem thinking of themselves on the same level as Jesus. It seems disrespectful towards the son of god and almost blasphemous. Jesus himself…
Authentic friendships is my church
If life is the religion what are we then to make of church? The English word for church comes from the greek kurios which is best translated as the Lord’s or those that belong to the Lord. In the context of this then maybe the simplest way to express this is that the cosmos, all of…
Humankind is my family
“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asks in Mark 3.33. It is a poignant question, one worthy to ponder as we face this turbulent life. It seems to me that while the biblical narrative in some cases puts an emphasis on family, it also deconstructs the very idea of family. Archbishop Desmond Tutu…
Being alive is my daily spiritual practice
What is a spiritual practice, or a spiritual discipline? Most people I know would place a spiritual practice within the confines of what you do on a Sunday in church or possibly in your daily prayer session at home. A subset of my friends would also extend it to their activities in feeding the hungry…
Life is my religion
It is a grand statement: Life is my religion! But what does it mean? Let’s start with the end, religion, what is religion? The word religion comes from latin and means to re/connect (ligare is the same root word that gives us the english word ligament). What is it we need to re/connect? Naturally this…
The omniamourous god.
As soon as you say the words: god is love, some people make a face and sigh. The notion is that when you speak about god as love and when you talk about grace, it is a sign that you have gone soft. Implying that you have compromised the “high standards” of Christian living and…
Sex at dawn …
I have just finished reading Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan. It may be the first time in a long while that I read a book that so persuasively and thouroughly deconstructs one of the often unspoken meta-narratives of our contemporary culture, namely the hetero-normative monogamy centred narrative of human sexuality. I also realize that this…
Love is where the rubber meets the road …
I recently received the following IM from one of my soldiers in the corps. I can’t or don’t want to continue as a Soldier … I feel that I want to fall in love, love and feel loved back. Therefore I wan’t to become an adherent. Personally this is one of the most heartbreaking messages…
Who is queer?
I am not underprivileged, marginalised or persecuted in any ways. I am a Caucasian, heterosexual male with a DipHE in Theology and Mission. I am employed as a full time minister, doing what I love to do: to teach theology; to build and nurture relationships; to be a sign towards a mystery I may never…
The centrality of sexuality
Why is this such a big deal? Why does it matter? It should be a non issue! This is what both right wing and left wing, conservatives and liberals are saying all over the place. In churches people are taught that their sexuality, while important, is not essential. Sexuality does not define you, or who…
LGBTQ part 6 – Double standards
The church in general and the SA in particular (at least for the moment) in the aftermath of the Eyewitness News program “Cold Facts” – followed closely in FSAOF blog) is under constant attack from the public where the Church is called to account for the prevailing double standards and selective biblical adherence. There are…
LGBTQ part 2 – Hermeneutics
LGBTQ Part – 2 “ We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.“ These are the opening words of the Salvation Army’s eleven doctrines. And it is here that one must begin each theological discussion.…
LGBTQ part 1 – Introduction
Part 1 – Introduction From the Swedish – HBTQ: Homosexual. Bisexual, Transgender, Queer movement in Sweden 2012 It was an ordinary day (as if there are ordinary days for those who follow the Spirit’s leading), and the Holy Spirit tells Philip that he must go down to the desert road. There Philip is instructed to stay…
LGBTQ – Prelogos
I have written an extensive blog series (12 posts) on my Swedish blog about LGBTQ issues within the church in general and the Salvation Army in Sweden in particular. I was undecided whether or not I should post it in english as well, but when Sven Jungholm asked last week if he could translate and post…
Death by halfling
SSG Malmö is now running both adult classes and an extensive junior program. Last night we kicked of this seasons first Abrazare training with a little Spada on top. We did lots of flow drills and ended up with some ground work and sparring with the long sword. Today we opened up SSG “Mobbsäker” with…
Insurrection
Insurrection: To Believe Is Human, To Doubt Is Divine by Peter Rollins My rating: 5 of 5 stars If you have been following Peter Rollins four a while you will find nothing new in this latest release, it is simply all those messages, thoughts, parables and stories woven together in a beautiful but very disruptive…
Will the real sodomite please stand up.
We are talking about homosexuality, grace, church at the corps right now. It is astounding to note how much bad theology and how sloppy exegesis we have let become the foundation of our stance on the issue of homosexuality. It is scary to realise that we have let a handful obscure (hard to translate with…
Confrontation or Conversation
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…
Loosing my religion
I used to love the song: “loosing my religion”, I don’t know the words, I guess I never really heard the lyrics apart from the actual title. I like the idea though, I like the idea of loosing or giving up my religious views in search of what is real, what makes sense and what…
Done with Jesus …
We have just finished a three week deep study of Jesus (The historical Jesus, Jesus’ personality, Jesus’ message). It has been a profound experience as we have been allowed to re-examine and question some of the foundations of our beliefs, only to find a Jesus that can still surprise and unsettle us, no matter how…
God and the art of building snowmen
photo © 2008 Lauren Manning | more info (via: Wylio) I am rolling the snow ball in the thickest layer of powder snow, it should be growing and becoming a large round body for our snowman. I have no idea why it’s not growing, I mutter mostly to my self. Ask God, Angelina shouts, I…
Language and Spirituality
One could imagine with a title like that, that this was going to be a real serious post… But alas it is not! Hanna has always wondered how she would do if we where to go as missionaries to Croatia seeing that she doesn’t speak ‘church‘ in Croatian as it turns out we are both…
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