Building Bridges.....

When I think of shepherds I imagine shepherds just like the ones that I read about in the Bible. I can imagine other things like nice dogs, shepherd's pie but when I close my eyes, I see those men in front of me with their rod and their packed lunch. What do you think of when you hear the word shepherd? Shepherds were watching over their flocks, day and night. Same kind of routine, leading their sheep, keeping them safe, watching over them, continuing to count. Run after a sheep that has got lost. I read somewere that Shepherds were not treated with all the dignity and respect many other professions had. In fact, it was above the lowest common denominator in the ancient world. Some said about shepherds, "you hope your daughter wouldn't marry one". If something got missing, people used to say: Check with the shepherds they might "have" it. To be a shepherd was, lonely, cold at night, not well paid and dirty. One cold and lonely night in the

Christmas, Advent! We are in that season now. Many of us are not aware of what Christmas or Advent really means. Christmas is the biggest celebration all over the world. It's the longest as well. Christmas is celebrated for one month, if you want to celebrate it properly but for some, like our international pastor it is a celebration for around 3 months! He starts singing Christmas hymns and "thinks" Christmas in September. Christmas is a very special time of the year. It doesn't matter how you celebrate it , you can't really miss that it is Christmas. You see that out on the streets, in newspapers and magazines, on TV and you hear it on radio, Christmas is everywhere! I as a Christian believer of course know that Jesus is the reason for the season , but if you disagree or do not know that, I would like to tell you that: There is a purpose of Christmas, not the purpose of "shop till you drop", or do "Santa or Frosty the snowman" re

I love plants. In the past I use to have several of Bonsai and that later turned out to a big interest in Orchids. When I had the most i had over 60 orchids. I love plants and flowers and thats why I really love parables connected with just plants. I read this nice story the other day and wanted to share it with you THE FERN AND THE BAMBOO One day I decided to quit…I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality. I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. “God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?” ... His answer surprised me. “Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?” “Yes”, I replied. “When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the fern grew more vibrant a

We have seen the financial crises hit hard in Greece, Spain and Portugal. People are losing their jobs. They even have to leave their houses and flats. I saw on the news the other day that a woman in Spain could not stand the shame of losing her job and flat, she then leapt to her brutal death from the fifth floor. Horrible. I get to talk to people around me here in Sweden. People are losing jobs here as well. I hear people talking about hard times. It feels strange though, because at the same time I hear that people are travelling abroad like never before during the most expensive times of the year. I see people shopping like never before in the big and fancy shopping centres. I bet the Christmas shopping will hit another record this year and I then wonder whether we do indeed have a financial crises in Sweden. In hard times it's even more important to pray. To pray for one another, to pray for our leaders, for our governments. To be there for one another, help each

President Obama won the election in the USA. He is not my president, it's not my country but his politics affects us in Europe and in the rest of the world. When Obama first became president, he wanted change. America was a divided country but after 4 years with Obama it's even more divided, not only in rich and poor, but also in races. It feels like it's even more difficult these days for Democrats and Republicans to work together in the senate. Work together, something they really have to in order to fix the economic situation in the US. Obama has not yet done anything with the nuclear weapon development in Iran, the situation is not very bright in Afghanistan, Guantanamo is still there, it was an "Arabian spring" but that turned out to be an "Arabian fall" with even civil war in Syria which he is not at all interested in fixing. I sense Russia, China and even Latin America are happy to see Obama reelected. I read in the newspaper that C

Change, a word we often hear. What is change? Do we really have to change? I saw a poster on a wall that said: If you do as you always have done, you will get what you always have! Very true. We all have to change. It's hard to change, very hard. But if it does not feel hard it's not a real change. Many people are terrified for a change. They are so happy the way they have it. Some are happy with things around them, even if they know it's not the way they really would like things to be, but they feel secure, they feel comfortable. I heard a sermon the other day, the pastor was talking about changes. Why is it so hard? Why do we need to reject changes?? It is hard, very hard. If I could interrupt that sermon I would have said out loud! Include people in the process of change! Value people, see them, involve them. Let's make the change together. It's still hard but when we walk together as one, we are able...

Leadership summit 2012 Enjoy!  We had a great time as always!!

In Helsingborg, a town in the south part of Sweden, Jesus was about to get banned! A local politician wanted to ban Christian celebration during the annual Christmas fare. At this place, an old outdoor theatre and museum that hold nice fares, is every year having a "live" crib. The man who wanted to ban Jesus, said that the fare should be without politics and religious influences. The church of Sweden and many other Christian organisations confronted this man and after one week of total silence, the man now regrets his policy and the fare can keep its crib. Great news, but I wonder: Why on earth did he put so much effort in something like this when Christmas is all about Jesus? That's why we in the first place celebrate it. Second: There are other things to put all your strength in. In Sweden we have 16.000 homeless people that despite a law that says that every person in Sweden should have a home. Put your effort in dealing with that kind problem instead..

A couple of years ago the Church of Sweden, was separated from the state. The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden, a Lutheran church The Church adopted, at the time that it was still a state church, an administrative structure largely modelled after the state. Direct elections are held to the Church Assembly. The electoral system is the same as used in the Swedish parliament. To vote in the Church general elections, you must be a member of the Church of Sweden, at minimum 16 years of age, and nationally registered as living in Sweden. The groups that take part in the elections are called nominating groups. Also political parties take part in the elections. The church of Sweden suffers. Many people are leaving the church and together with that many immigrants who have other beliefs system , the number of members decreases. Media and the church itself talk about a country that becomes more and more secularised. The media never talks about other ch

The different parables of Jesus are all very interesting to read and to reflect on but Jesus himself told the disciples that the key parable is The parable of the sower. Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” (Mark 4:3-8) The Disciples were not sure why Jesus spoke in parables and asked him questions about them. Jesus then told the disciples boldly: ”Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? This parable of the sower is

I just by chance saw on the Internet that the American comedian Penn Jillette wrote a book with the title " GOD NO!" Basically he says in the book that all Christians are wrong, there is no God, by the way he says, I don't have any answers. The British comedian Ricky Gervai said on American TV that he thanks God for making him an Atheist! Here is more Famous American Actor Keanue Reeves says: " My stance as an Atheist has not change" Even more Famous America Actress Jodie Foster says: "How can you ask me if I believe in God when there is absolutely no evidence" I could go on and on with many other celebrities that openly and boldly declares their non beliefs in God. Hollywood is notorious for being hostile to Christians and I wonder why!? do you? The point is not that all these celebrities are open hostile to Christ, I wonder when will we hear the same from them when it comes to Islam? But there are people in Hollywood and in th

I read a cute story the other day... One of the best pianists in the country were just to start his big nice lunch concert at the main concert hall. People were moving around trying to find their seats. A woman brought her five year old son to the concert and when she found her seats she told her son to sit down and wait while she just very quickly talked to some friends. Just a minute later everyone could hear from the scene the shivering tones of "twinkle twinkle Little star". The five year old boy had left his seat, walked up to the grand piano and now he sat there playing. The mother was of cause very embarrassed and a bit angry at the boy but just as she was going up to get him, the great pianist sat down on the stool beside the boy, whisper in his ear and then he also started to play. The boy continued to play the melody and the maestro played some chords and the harmony part. The audience was spellbound! When you think you are on deep waters,when nothing re

100%, 75%, 50%? In some churches they hire a Pastor full time, in many other just 50%. It depends on how big or small the Churches are or it can be cultural differences. It can be enough with just 50% if the congregation has a great team, if not , well it aint enough... At one gathering Pastors and missionaries got the question "how many work full time for God"? Just a hand full raised their hands. Hopefully the Pastors were thinking about their employment, not their work. We all need and should work full time for God. So after that question I would like to see all hands in the air. Jesus gave us one specific task and that was " Go and make disciples!" We are all Gods workers. We are all missionaries and we are all leaders. All of us in one way or the other influence people. Lets do that in the right direction for the right reason... Let all go out there in to the mission field! Let them see Gods love...

Fear not, that's written many times in the Bible. 365 times to be exact. one "fear not" for every day during a year. We should not fear, God is with us. If God is with us, who can be against us. Very encouraging to hear. But then in Matthiew 10:28 Jesus says: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" What! God is telling us so many times that Fear not and then suddenly! Well no man or "being" can destroy or kill both your body and soul, only one can do that, GOD. God is able! God has the power both to impart life and to take it away, either temporarily or forever. He can resurrect those whom men have killed. He can also kill in a way no man can. What Jesus says is that we should live our lives in total obedience to God . If men kill us, it will be only temporary. If God kills us, it will be forever.

Summer in church! How about your church? do they run slower or shut down during summer? Many churches in Sweden run very slow during summer and some even shut down. "People in general travels or do other things during the summer month." Yes it is true and I can see that in our church as well, but to shut down!? Many churches stay open but shut down some parts of their activities, in general their children or youth gatherings. One youth pastor said: "well we will close down because people travels a lot and do other things." That might be true but it ain't everyone who can afford to travel, it ain't all who are capable to do other things, and God never takes vacation! One congregation in Stockholm does the opposite, they do even more things for the youth during summer and they really reach out this way to the community! In London 4 churches raise around 70.000 pounds every year to a big annual family park mission, and by doing this they reach p

Impress that's what we very often like to do, impress people. Very often you can hear people telling stories how smart they are, how much money they have, what kind of car, house boat etc they have. Where they went for a holiday. It cost keeping up appearance's! We try to impress people with what kind of job we have, how much we have to do at our work place or free time. What we ourselves have been denied, we want to achieve through our children., So we keep on running around trying to impress people on how smart our kids are, what they do on their free time, how tall they are, where they attend school etc. We try so hard to impress people that we in many cases don't like, not even know enough. Some people are so poor that the only thing they have is money! Many of us tries to impress God on how much good deeds we do, having a great portfolio. Impress Him by how often we attend church, how much we are involved and how hard we work on missions.

Our son Linus will very soon go to London and the Olympic games for a mission trip with YWAM. Many teenagers from all over the world will be going to do missions. This is Linus first real mission trip and it will be a great experience for a 18 years old guy. Please remember him in your prayers. We are praying for safety, guidance and that the mission will have a great Impact on him and that YWAM will have a great Impact on the games.. Many souls can be saved during the games and lets pray that it will be a peaceful event and that the sports and the relationships are the things we will remember God Bless you

I saw that the famous business man Mr Percy Barnevik, known as the CEO at a company named ABB wrote a book with the title "I want to change the world" My first feeling was "Who asked him to change the world"? Why and in to what? The book is filled with names of well known business men, typical men stuff , power and money. Macho things... If you want establish something you have to ask yourself some questions, "Why you want to do it?", " how are you going to do it"? Change the world! after being accused of sexual harassment's in London a month ago, changing the world is perhaps not on the top of Mr Barneviks agenda today. Tolstoy said : Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself Albert Einstein said: “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Its very true. I cant change you, you have to do that yourself. No matter ho

We all need our "own time and space" Some need a lot, some just little. I heard from some friends that a "man shed" is something that every man should have. A nice place to withdraw and spend time all alone. For many women spending time in the bathroom is "own time" , "quality time" Our son is 18 years old and pretty often he asks us to go out, take a walk by the sea just be out for some time so that he can have "own" time all by him self. He has his own room and can be there all alone but still, need to be "all alone" A time alone, solitude is very important. In Jesus life we can see that he did that rather often. Before Jesus chose the 12 disciples, Before he fed the 5000, In the wilderness in solitude with his father for 40 days. Solitude, a time with God.. Solitude is not about things you do , its about the things you don't do. What do you do when you are in solitude? Don't do things that

When we think about rest and relaxation we very often think about laying down resting. It is great to do as in the Spanish proverb: "How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards.!!" It is great having lazy days, and summer really helps us to slow down, but! Resting and to relax does not only mean doing nothing or little. God desires rest for us because it does not come naturally to us. To rest, we have to trust that God will take care of things for us. We have to trust that, if we take a day off, the world will not stop turning on its axis. Involve God in everything we do. Trust in him.... Like in 1 kings 19: 3-9 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay do

Five different churches in Nigera was under attack. Several of people are dead and wounded. It is not the first time and sad to say not the last one. It is the ismalists who are responsible and it seams like the goverment cant stop this from happening. In Mark 13:13 we read : You will be hated continuously by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved." Jesus knew and he paid the ultimate prise himself. We are happy to live in a part of the world where we can worship God without beeing afraid but we grieve and pray for those affected, not only in Nigeria but throughout the world where Christians are persecuted.

For many years politicians and the schools in Sweden has been against that speech days should be held in churches. Strange I think and many parents all over Sweden want the speech days back in the churches, as we grown ups remember them to be. OK says the Education Administration but if it is a speech day in a church, the pastor or the priest would not be allowed to bless the children or talk about God. Some congregations now don't want to buy in to this and the pastors don't want to play marionettes, which I really understand. I wrote an email to all the different political party's who are in charge here in Sweden and I got an answer back from two of them. The answers were not as I wanted them to be and to be honest I don't get what they are writing. I asked two specific questions *Do you think it is OK to have a speech day in a church? *Why can the schools set the agenda for the pastors in a church and force them what to say and what to do in their

I took the bus the other day to a meeting down town, a 30 minutes long ride. It is not very often I take the bus and it was very interesting to observe people. Ive seen it many times before but on the bus it was so obvious that people cant let go of their mobile phones. The surf on them all the time. Back and forth, up and down. Just like when you were a small kid and had a loose tooth and could not stop fiddle on it.. One girl did not look up a single time during the whole buss trip. She even surfed on the phone while stepping out of the bus ... People are afraid of missing out on something. They want to be on line all the time. They want to stay connected. People in general overestimate Tomorrow, and underestimate Today! (John Maxwell) They don't value today, to be in the present. They are always somewhere else. Not here and now. We don't take advantage of the moment. because what we do today will have a great impact on tomorrow. Let us lift up our eyes

April 1 Sunday and yes today it was "April fools day" but hey no one tried to pull my leg! We had a nice service. Our Canadian friend Linda spoke at our international gathering. April 8 This Easter Sunday we had a combined service. Nice message, nice fellowship April 13 Today I went to the youth gathering without my son who was a bit under the weather today. I went because I wanted to introduce the gathering to a young girl from Hong Kong who really would like to hook up with teens in our city.. April 15 Our International Pastor Terry Hoggard spoke at our service today. Continue with " get a grip and get going". Today the Filipino fellowship joined us. They did some nice worship music. April 16 Monday and Pastor Terry and I did two radio programs. Living hope... You better tune in!! Later on Pastor Terry took our son out for a nice Italian dinner. Our son Linus just recently had his 18th birthday. Thank you so much Pastor Terry...... April

CS Lewis the great author said that : “I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God. ” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil . You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse a liar!! Very true and that's the same thing with Paul the disciple. Many people are telling me that its 2012 now! How can people still believe in a God!? It is true that we are in the year 2012 now, it is true that we discovered so many more things, but people weren't stupid back then. They knew the truth, they had eyes to see with, ears to hear with. They knew how a dead person looked like,

When I was a kid, I wanted to become a a vet. Some other kids wanted to be: firefighters, police officers, Pilots etc. I do remember some who wanted to be famous singers or hockey players, but we all had dreams. So does kids and teens have today. The difference is that today "famous" is what they want to be. Just famous. It doesn't matter how. Famous! That's why we see all these reality shows on TV. From no one, to famous in just a few days. No matter how, no matter what. Famous is the goal. God loves you just as you are. If you are famous or not. But God has nothing against that you will become famous. In Genesis 12 we read: "The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." He made Abraham great. He made Abraham famous. The difference is that God did it i

To be a leader is to be a follower. True leadership is servant hood. And to become a good follower you must carefully select your mentors. No one can choose these for you. These people will be the leaders who will shape your character and teach you how to be a good leader yourself. As a leader or as a follower I truly believe that you have to be Patient Loyal Honest Willing Good communication and a know how to connect are other areas that they both have to be good at. When two dancers on a dance floor move together as one, the roles they play are well known for them. They feel comfortable together and they trust each other. They know who is leading and who is following. It takes two to dance and it looks strange if they should be up on the dance floor all by themselves. That's why, when God wants to lead you, you better know how to follow. To trust in God and to show him that you are willing to go were he tells you to go, to do the things he wants you to do

Its been Easter and all over the world people has been celebrating that HE is risen. Even though Europe is pretty secularised it's not with our life at risk that we are attending church services or talking to people about Christ, but in some parts of the world that's exactly what it is! It's dangerous to be a Christian. In Nigeria one Church was attacked during Easter, the same in Kenya. In China its forbidden to celebrate Christian holidays and that's the same in many Muslim countries. I felt so happy and so excited to see this nice picture in the news last Monday, were a lot of Christians, mainly women in Lahore Pakistan, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lots of people, lots of candles and lots of Hope. Lets pray for them...

In John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life" He does not say I am a way, or I am a sort of way, or I am one of many different ways. No Jesus says I am THE way Jesus in the ONLY way. "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well" (John 14:7) Do you know Jesus?

March 4 Sunday and as usual the first Sunday of the month we are always together in the main hall at church, celebrating communion. Today's message was about money. As the pastor said: You can't serve two masters, God and mammon!! March 9 Friday and Fridays is Youth gathering at church. I drove my son there and at the same time prepared a bit for Saturday. 3 Americans from the Covenant players will be sleeping in our church.. March 10 Saturday and the youth has yet another nice gathering. I met the covenant players and helped them to find themselves around. Mattresses, pillows, keys, cards, information, etc lots to do but fun... March 11 Sunday and the covenant players did our whole service this morning. Wonderful plays and lots of laughter. Great time of fellowship.... March 18 Sunday and today we had a combined service with our Filipino group that had their one year celebration. Nice worship music and nice preaching by our international pastor, followed

Today I had a small chat with a colleague. We talked about problems in our city. It is important to recognise that we have problems, what the problems are and be humble and open about them. What is not so good though is that media and politicians focus on the problems and not on the solutions. I remember when my son had a big concert with his chamber orchestra, the principal for the music school said that : It is amazing to see all this young boys and girls performing as they are, spending so much time practising their instruments day by day, not running around committing crimes". "where is the press now?" Yes that's a good question. No focus on the good things The bible tells us " as you sow , you ripe". I would say were your focus are you are heading yourself! You are not what you think you are, you are what you think.... Change focus....

Do you believe in miracles? That's a question I got the other day from a colleague. Yes I do believe in miracles. I in a way had the experience once . I know many are waiting for a miracle to happen. It can be a lot of things: Get that job you so desperately want, get well from a sickness, get that call from a family member you been loosing track of, many many things. God hears you, God works all the time, God helps you but he does that in HIS time. I believe in miracles, I want miracles to happen, but miracles require one thing! It requires you to be in a so to say desperate state. When God do miracles to us we are in great need. I love miracles do doubt about it, but I do prefer to live with blessings. Do be blessed all the time. To understand what He does to me. It is great to have a miracle recovering from a severe sickness, but it is a blessing to live day by day with good health.. I once heard a preacher said: It’s always better to avoid problems, whi

And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men (Mark 1:17) Jesus walked by the seashore and called for Peter. Come follow me. And Peter did. The bible says, He left everything behind and followed Jesus. Peter did what Jesus told him to do, even though Peter didn't really at that time knew Jesus. Peter didn't asked :why? For how long? Why me? Well let me asked my wife first! He just did it, just as in the "Nike commercial" "Just do it" To follow Jesus is like steeping out on very thin ice and when you done that, realise that its solid rock... When Jesus calls us, when he asks us to follow him or to do certain things, he is doing that because he know that we can make it. He know what we are capable of. He would never ask us to do things he know we cant handle. Its like if you ask your child to do things that you know they cant. You would never do that. Still we hesitate to follow Jesus, when he is calling us, ev

At the west harbour in Malmö, very close to the water, among all the big stones that are used as a seawall, a fig tree is growing. Figs are not a natural part of the Swedish fauna. I guess that someone, sitting there on a very nice day dropped or threw away a fig and it spread. The wind and the winters are hard for a fig tree here in Sweden, and the soil is not the best there among those stones. Still the fig tree is there, fighting. I checked it yesterday and it's still there. Clinging I'm not sure it will survive another winter, but now we are in spring so I guess the tree does not care. We also need to hang on to something when life gets though. We need to know who to trust, who to rely on. That's Jesus. We have to realise that Jesus is all that we really need. We don't need more money, another car, bigger house, a new cell phone. We need Jesus. Like the fig tree clinging to those big stones, we need to cling on to Jesus. Hes all we need..

February 5 : Sunday and as usual, the first Sunday of the month we had a combined service at Church celebrating communion. After the service we went downstairs to have a combined fellowship time with the Filipino group. Enjoying 4 birthdays. I went after a while to be a part of a Chinese baptism service in our church and after that I just sneaked in to the Vietnamese service. Amazing ha!!? February 10 : Drove my son to church. The whole weekend it was a big youth camp with lots of fun. February 11 : We had a Men and Boys fellowship at church. Not many showed up but it was the first time so.. Many teens in church today. The youth camp is going on. in the late evening our Pastor and I drove to church to pick up my son who is a bit "under the weather" In the main hall there was a great youth concert. Wonderful songs and many of them in English! Great. February 12: Sunday and our International pastor continued to speak on "get a grip and get going" g

Today I saw a documentary program on Swedish TV about an elderly woman named Elise who helps prostitutes in Stockholm Sweden. She is there on the streets every Friday evening with tea, coffee, sandwiches etc and with prayers.Shes been there for 15 years now. Almost all prostitutes want her to pray for them and sometimes these women comes to church. Elise is energetic, caring, full of love and forgiving, but also strait forward, critical and sometimes angry. She has passion. With her straitforwardness she tells the women that they should not be there on the streets, they have to repent, stop doing what they are doing. In her own childhood she was sexually abused for many years. She had hate towards men but then one day that hate turned it to forgiveness. She found Jesus... It's amazing to see her helping this vulnerable women. She is a true hero in my eyes!

Two Iranians who converted from Islam to Christianity was stabbed by masked men in Norway last week. The attackers shouted "kuffar" - an Arabic term of abuse against unbelievers - under the assault. Many people who convert in to Christianity risk their lives all over the globe, but when it creeps up this close to that of Norway or even in Sweden, it feels unreal .. People are persecuted and murdered, yet do they gratefully accept Jesus in their hearts and make him their Lord What hinders you? What do you forsake? I have many Iranian friends who converted and who are active Christians, pray for them, for protection and help. God will never leave them. He is with them always just as he is with you.

I attended a Chinese baptism service last week. Nine Chinese exchange students recieved Christ and decided to get baptised in the holy spirit. I had a short talk with them just before the baptism and they were a bit nervous but so happy. They all had wonderful testimonies and thanks to Pastor Sam Chan, (who baptised them) and his translation in to English I could follow the service. Testimonies were they all lived with a fear of being Christians, in a Communist country. Testimonies about Drugs and bad home conditions. Soon they will go home again to China. We now have nine new ambassadors for Christ, so please pray for them. Pray for guidance, for wisdom and protection. May God use them to touch people. Amen!

Never has so many people as today seeking the meaning of life, and never has the way to do so been so easy accessed as it is today. We see a new generation asking questions , searching and hoping. Searching in new channels. My friends, that's why we as a church has to be out there, to meet the needs of all these people. We have to be were they are. In able to reach all this people we need to use all our strength and all our resources. We can't just have one strategy to reach people. There is a Swedish proverb that says: talk to the farmer so the farmer understand" I see a church as a toolbox. I don't know if you are a handy man or handy woman but I'm sure you seen a tool box before. In that toolbox you have different tools for different tasks. You can't use a saw to hammer in a nail, you cant use a screwdriver to cut a plank. You need different tools It is still one toolbox though. I can't reach the people you might reach. We have t

January 1 New years day. Today we had a combined service in the main hall at Church. Not so many people showed up today. Perhaps tired after the late evening yesterday! Some new "internationals" showed up though. Love international fellowships and churches!! January 8 Sunday and our international Pastor Terry spoke at our gathering this morning. He wrapped up the Christmas theme and started a new theme for the new year "Get a grip and get going" Nice service and nice fellowship! Great lunch by the sea after Church and got a wonderful present!!! January 9 Monday. Did 3 radio programs with our pastor today. Great music, great message! January 9 Late in the evening I got an email from a brother in need. He is struggling with leukaemia. In his email he is telling me that he is getting SO much better. The white blood cells are almost back to normal. Praise the Lord! January 11 Today I got a call from a British man. He is friend of the man with l

I was listening to a a sermon by Pastor John Ortberg Ortberg was saying that: We all magnify something. An alcoholic magnifies the bottle, a workaholic magnifies success, a hypochondriac magnifies their health or their illness, catastrophes magnify worry and problems and obstacles and what might go wrong. Some people magnify money, some people magnify sex, some people magnify approval, and some people magnify security. We all magnify something. Yes that's true, we all magnifies something. People who says they don't believe in something, they don't magnify something are either lying or they are delusional! What we believe in, what we magnifies defines us who we are. What we are aiming for, we are getting. Revalue your focus, start magnify God.. You wont be disappointed.

December 3: Today we drove out to some great friends for a lovely traditional Swedish Christmas dinner. Together with our Pastor and his wife. Great time. December 4: Today we had a combined service, but not in our usually place. We had it in the basement. Our Swedish head pastor spoke in English and he did a good job. Communion and nice worship music! After a wonderful lunch at a Chinese restaurant we were back in church for a nice Christmas concert... December 4: Recorded two radio programs today. One regular and one with a nice Christmas message! December 11: Sunday and our dear Canadian friend Linda spoke at our international gathering. She spoke on the importance of prayer. Nice fellowship... December 18: Today I lead a bible study on Advent. Interesting discussions and a wonderful fellowship. Thanks Gunilla for coffee and Christmas buns. Lovely video message from Pastor Terry.. December 19: My wife and I went home to a English brother in need. H