Christian life
Books that changed my life
Read more: Books that changed my lifeThe catalyst that changes the direction of a persons life can be very differnt depending on who you are, for me it often starts with a thought and from having the thought I would seek out books to learn more and the books would help me to shape or resahpe my reality. This series is…
I’m the man in black!
Read more: I’m the man in black!People ask me why I bother with the church. Why I bother coming back to christianity at all after all that has happened. I think the truth is, first of all, that I never left. My faith has (although shaken at times) always been an integral part of who I am and why I have…
Will the real Sodomite(s) please stand up!
Read more: Will the real Sodomite(s) please stand up!Sodomy and sodomite are two sad words in the english language. The words have been used in the past to describe Homosexual men and their actions. Of course the word actually means “a person from Sodom” and the verb should mean “doing what the people in Sodom did.” So what did the people of Sodom…
Today I am angry
Read more: Today I am angryI am angry at the person who picked up a gun and murdered all those people in Orlando, I am angry at all the people who thinks that any kind of violence is justified in any situation. I am angry at the Christians who think that anything could justify these horrific actions. It doesn’t matter…
Relationship as a spiritual discipline
Read more: Relationship as a spiritual disciplineThere are many that would balk at the notion of spiritual discipline as discipline in itself has almost become a bad word in todays society. We talk about disciplining our children as a bad thing (especially in the Scandinavian countries) as we equate discipline with violence or physical force. Other will embrace the idea of…
The refugee crisis is more important than LGBTQi rights, sexuality, tantra and spiritual nonsense
Read more: The refugee crisis is more important than LGBTQi rights, sexuality, tantra and spiritual nonsenseI have had this expressed to me, maybe not in those exact words but the sentiment is there. Why focus on LGBTQi rights and human sexuality when there is poverty, war and other atrocities going on in the world? Coming out of the closet and breaking up with shame Coming out of the closet, owning…
Earth, birth, blood and sexuality
Read more: Earth, birth, blood and sexualityIt is that time of year when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Or at least that is the excuse we have to go all nuts with lights, chocolate, food and presents. In many ways Christmas has become the holiday of commercialism … which in one way is fitting as money is earth energy. But…
Freedom
Read more: FreedomFor freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 (NRSV) It is a pertinent question, why did god give us freedom? Why where we burdened with choice? Hindsight being 20/20 it seems that it was a mistake to allow the human race…
Staying open…
Read more: Staying open…For most people it is hard to open the heart. To just allow love to flow freely in and out. It is hard because we are so guarded, I think especially here in Scandinavia. A friend of mine argued yesterday that it has something to do with the cold and the light. We crawl deep…
Greater things….
Read more: Greater things….It is interesting when we read the Christian scriptures we are told in the gospel of John that Jesus tells the disciples that they will do greater things than him. Our reaction is immediate, how could anyone ever do greater things than Jesus, the son of god? Instantly forgetting that we to are the sons…
Cover that up now please!
Read more: Cover that up now please!I am reading on facebook that 400 church leaders, Pastors and Deacons are resigning of the resent Ashley Madison reveal (article here). People are outraged and indignant. I am confused. Why does it surprise us when we have wrapped up sexuality in so many layers of taboo and shame? Does it really surprise us that leaders…
The mind is not infallible
Read more: The mind is not infallibleWe live in a society that has for centuries prioritised the mind. We have listened to Descartes who said Cogito Ergo Sum, I think therefore I am and so we believe that we are the sum of our thoughts rather than the sum of our being. God gave us the mind to protect the heart,…
I am the truth
Read more: I am the truthIn the Christian world we continuously repeat the mantra: Jesus is the answer, Jesus is the truth! Vi repate it over and over again and it most often seems to mean that outside the person of Jesus there is no truth. We seem to believe that Jesus statement means that everything else is untrue, lies.…
Seeing the divine in all things is not heretical
Read more: Seeing the divine in all things is not hereticalLook around you, what do you see? Are you not surrounded by grace? By walking talking miracles gifted with the gift of life and love? How is it that within the Christian church, it has become heretical to see and to point out the divine outside of the confines of our little community, outside of…
As you love yourself
Read more: As you love yourselfWhen the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,…
Conspiracy theory
Read more: Conspiracy theoryI posted a short update to Facebook a few days ago that was accused of being to new agey. Why? Because instead of thanking god for what is happening in my life right now I said: isn’t it great when the universe conspires to give you your deepest desire. Have I started worshipping the universe?…
Why authentic Christianity must fail
Read more: Why authentic Christianity must failA 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…
Humankind is my family
Read more: 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…
Love is my rule!
Read more: Love is my rule!It may seem to some the most logical place to start: God is love! This it is what I was taught as I took my first stumbling steps as a Christian. I was also taught that the bible is a love letter from god. This, however, struck me as a bit odd given the strangeness…
Oh My Ego!
Read more: Oh My Ego!I am sittning at the Salvation Army leadership conference in Örebro, listening to Tommy Hellsten talking about finding your true self and how the ego must be crucified, taken apart, gotten rid of. I think of Eddie Izzard that stated last night during his “Force Majeure” show that he had an overgrown ego, he tells…
Truth, Grace & Justice
Read more: Truth, Grace & JusticeThe trinity of love consists, according to Christian Schwartz book “The 3 colors of love”, of truth grace and justice. The scriptures rarely mention truth or grace without mentioning justice, but what if any is the relationship between the three? Grace is the word most often associated with love, when someone is graceful we understand…
The omniamourous god.
Read more: 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 as a sacrament.
Read more: Sex as a sacrament.There was this praise song on my favorite worship album, it always bugged me. “Take me, I am yours”, the woman sang with such throaty passion that it sounded almost sexual, indecent. I mentioned it once to a friend who told me, it’s just your perverted mind that hears it like that. I never broach…
How I became a queer theologian a desert journey
Read more: How I became a queer theologian a desert journeyLast week my friend Samuel decided to reblog one of my posts on LGBTQ and the church. Promptly someone questioned if I really had written the piece as I had taught a very different gospel at said persons confirmation camp. I had to reply that I have been (am still) on a long theological pilgrimage.…
LGBTQ part 9 – The Salvation Army
Read more: LGBTQ part 9 – The Salvation ArmyThe problem persists in the Salvation Army, of today. In which way can we include LGBTQ persons in our fellowship without creating groupings; an A team and a B team? How can the Corps offer (church) membership in the Salvation Army in a positive manner that allows LGBTQ persons to feel valued, appreciated and loved…
LGBTQ part 7 – Pastoral care
Read more: LGBTQ part 7 – Pastoral careThe LGBTQ issue has always created friction between the way we understand and interpret the Bible’s view of holiness and how we as pastors are to preserve order, caring for and counselling LGBTQ people. The greatest dichotomy is perhaps between whether we are called to “liberate” LGBTQ people or to have a conversation with LGBTQ…
LGBTQ part 5 – Jesus
Read more: LGBTQ part 5 – JesusAfter a review of the scriptures that have traditionally been used to describe and condemn homosexual acts, it’s deemed important to consider Jesus’ awkward silence on the issue. It is not unimportant to note that Jesus did not speak out on this issue. Jesus is the head of the Church and the individual disciples’ headmaster.…
LGBTQ – Prelogos
Read more: LGBTQ – PrelogosI 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…
Christian Pirates
Read more: Christian PiratesFrom Wikipedia: Piracy is a war-like act committed by non-state actors (private parties not affiliated with any government) against other parties at sea. The term applies especially to acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea. People who engage in these acts are called pirates. What could this possibly have to do with Christianity? Christianity…
Bonsai Christians
Read more: Bonsai ChristiansI was in the middle of conversation at Street Church during the Malmö festival that the thought struck me. The word just popped into my head and fit so nicely on the tongue. Bonsai Christians. For those of you who are confused, Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing a plant in a tray (Bon…
Your grace is new every morning …
Read more: Your grace is new every morning …Walking down the street with Angelina, we are talking about life. I say to her: Did you know that creativity is a gift from God. Angelina smiles and replies: Cool, that means I get new gifts from God every day….
What was stolen.
Read more: What was stolen.It is Saturday night, I am standing at the camp fire talking to some men about how it came to be that I went to Bootcamp. I tell the story of how I came by the book (“Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul” (John Eldredge)) quite by accident and how God…
Follow my reading …
Read more: Follow my reading …As a Salvation Army Officer, pastor, public speaker, thinker, theologian and human being, I read a lot. And as I do I find some really cool quotes and interesting thoughts. I have decided to keep publishing these quotes and uplifting/provocative thoughts in a separate forum so that those who do not lie to read wordy…
A return to romance
Read more: A return to romanceChivalry was born in the romances, Gawain and the green Knight, Le Mort D’Artur and the other romances are filled with this over the top rose tinted chivalry. It was a response to the cold scientific light of the renaissance but also a remembrance of a time, that while it had it’s own flaws, when…
In preparation of our orders – Army life
Read more: In preparation of our orders – Army lifeSo having spent nearly two years being told that we are going to be told where to go, we are now given a consultation where we have to reply to our appointment. It is a scary thing to be responsable for such a big decision especially after you have been lulled into the false security…
Changed to bring change.
Read more: Changed to bring change.Found this clip on Brian Mclarens blog, listen enjoy and be changed!
Remember
Read more: RememberI lost my keys, again, I need to be writing an essay, I need to go to the library, and I must hurry to get my kids, and I cannot find my keys. Frantically I look through the flat, no luck…. Hang on a minute, what good is it to be a friend of an…
This can't be it …
Read more: This can't be it …I am tired, sad and hungry …. there must be more to it than this. The Bible promises more, my memory is filled with glories past, so why is there not anything here and now to quench my thirst? Here is my journal entry from today: Talking about God like he is not in the…
The things we take for granted
Read more: The things we take for grantedI was woken up in the middle of the night by our phone ringing of the hook. It was 5 AM and all the lights in the living room where blinking, then all went dead and we where without electricity. We woke up in the morning and the flat was cold and dark. I couldn’t…
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