The provoking cross

In China the authorities tear down crosses from churches and imprisons pastors who protest. In the Middle East Christians are persecuted just because they are Christians. Recently a Catholic priest was stabbed to death in France.

When now a number of Swedish Lutheran priests wish to show solidarity with persecuted Christians by openly bearing a cross in their necklace, they are criticized for being provocative,  not the least to muslims.

During World War II the Danish King, Christian X, bore a Star of David on his chest out of solidarity with his Danish Jewish subjects and co-citizens. He did so while Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany. Provoking? Most certainly for the Nazis. But today we find it a heroic action. 

After the attack on the gay club in Orlando, people put rainbows on their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Provoking for a secularist? Obviously not! But the cross provokes! Obviously! Or is it just the secularized society that just wants to get rid of what it does not accept itself?

Terrorists are not only provoked by crosses. They are provoked by anything they find immoral as promiscuity, drunkenness, Hollywood, MTV, american and russian bombs, all in a huge, crazy mix, which they connect to christian countries and the cross.

Now I don't wear a cross, but do seriously think about getting one. But it will not serve as a symbol against someone or something, except possibly the sin in my own life. That is the reason why Christians wear crosses, they show that they belong to someone who was crucified for their sake.

In Rembrandt's famous painting of the crucifixion, he himself is depicted while he is raising up the cross and the crucified Christ. He has understood what had nailed Jesus to the cross, namely Rembrandt's own sin, which now would be redeemed. The cross is therefore the message of God's everlasting love. To wear it is a show of thankfulness. Provoking?

Getting ready for Word of Life International's Congress

I have just come back from India.  Now my focus is on Word of Life International's Congress in Georgia that starts on Tuesday. We are now fully booked! Really looking forward!

It is great to come together as the great Word of Life family! The churches across the many nations we are working in, are represented by their pastors and senior leaders that come together for four days in the beautiful Caucasus mountains. I pray 2 Cor 1:21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us. God wants to establish, strengthen us and anoint us for what we are to enter into.

It is important that the entire leadership in a movement as widespread as ours, come together,  not only regionally, but internationally. All can then be there to update one another, seek the Lord together in order to find a common way forward. Word of Life looks both similar and different as you see it in the different cultures. Important then for all of us to connect with the bigger picture. Working and standing together, gives great impact.

There are a lot of activities now as we prepare for the Congress. Logistics - pastors fly in from Europe, Asia, Africa and USA. Last minute work with lodging, transports etc etc is going on.

You will be hearing more from our Congress! I believe our best days are ahead!

Passing through the Middle East

UOn the road again and just arrived to Dubai for a night then tomorrow off for India.

It is special to fly over the MidEast in this very volatile time. Iran is just across the water. Saudi Arabia and Jemen is very close. In Jemen there is a war being fought right now. In Syria the major players of the world and the region are getting more and more involved in a war, that first of all is a proxy war. This war has many of the ingredients that could make it escalate into something that some warn of and call the next potential world war. Radical islam of its worst kind and the real politik of the the big power players clash and they get more and more entangled in something they might not be able to get out of. The latest news is that Turkey and Saudi Arabia both plan to put boots on the ground in Syria. Tension is rising and the risk that "a shot of Sarajevo" will bring this to an even larger conflict.

In the midst of this millions of people suffer, not the least the Christians, that suffer nothing less than a genocide. They need our support, both here in the region and also as they come to our nations as refugees. Muslims too suffer of radical islam and many start to reevaluate their beliefs. To both these groups we can give hope. It is our responsibility and also a great opportunity to do good to many people in need. The Middle East is going through tremors and big changes are coming. Let us be ready for that!

Now time for a few hours of sleep and then off to India.

The Macedonian call and the Good Samaritan

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us. In this vision Paul hears words spoken by a person who represents an unreached a people and region. He is calling for help. Paul and his team immediately responds and got to see a fantastic door opening up for the gospel in Philippi. Paul this way became the right man, with the right people, at the right place in the right time. This step was a stroke of God’s genius and a new field was now reached. The question is; is there such a Macedonian call for help to us Christians today?

The ministry of Jesus was about saving and restoring man, not only spiritually, but on all levels. His parable about the Good Samaritan challenges, since the two persons that ignored the robbed and manhandled victim, were both priests. Maybe they prioritised the spiritual? The Samaritan though, took care of the victim’s needs, which were medical care, lodging and food. Was this a substitute for preaching the gospel? No, it was just another way of preaching the gospel. It was God’s mercy and love in practice.

The news is now characterized almost entirely by the war in the Middle East and the flows of refugees that as a result of it, go through Europe, to where both Muslims and Christians seek refuge. The sheer magnitude has taken Europe by surprise and as spring approaches and the war shows sign of intensifying, we can probably expect a new wave of refugees. There are enormous needs; material, social and spiritual. And you and I can be the answer to these needs. We need to continue to make efforts in the refugee camps in Iraq and Jordan, in Athens and at other points where the fleeing migrant pass through after a life threating voyage over the sea to find safety, as well as relieving and helping them as they arrive to Sweden.

Is this the Macedonian call to us Christians today? And is the mission’s field coming to us? Not counting the challenges, let us open our hearts for the affected. Then God’s light will shine for us as well as for them.

Off to Shanghai

I am on my way to Shanghai. While still in bed this morning, I got an alert from the air company that my flight was cancelled. They promised that they were working to rebook me on another flight. I should just wait for info as it would come.

I don't like passive waiting, especially since I understand that the air company is not as eager as I am to have me there in time. They also try to avoid costs. I have learnt to take all the steps I can. That radically raises the chance to get you where you need to go in reasonable time.

Part of my allergy to passive waiting is probably my years of living and traveling in the Soviet Union/Russia. Delays were very common and it was impossible to get any usable information. They would announce in the loudspeakers systems that the plane is delayed and that there will be new information in two hours. When time was up a new announcement came, "New information in two hours".

No one has ever described the apathetic mood that besets the traveller stranded in a soviet airport as the Polish author Ryszard Kapuscinski in his book Imperium. A recommended read by many accounts, if you ask me.

Since we are not trapped in a failing soviet system, we could with some very good help from staff at the missions department rebook. I now instead got a ticket via Dubai, and not Copenhagen. The flight was scheduled three hours earlier than the original flight. Packing, showering and getting dressed in record time and off to the airport. Something I am really happy for is that I live 25 minutes from Sweden's biggest airport. It makes traveling a lot smoother,

Now in Dubai for some hours at early night and then on to Shanghai for some busy days.

Secular Vietnam growing hungry for God

I am homeward bound via Bangkok. An intense week in Hanoi is completed and I am very happy and satisfied. It was really great to see our Vietnamese friends again! They must be among the friendliest peoples on earth. One should not confuse that with weakness, though. Behind the kind surface is a strength that surprises. The French and the Americans learnt that lesson 40-50 years ago.

Vietnam is still ruled by the Communist party. The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, of course inspired by Lenin’s at the Red Square in Moscow, is still one of the main attractions in Hanoi. Behind that official allegiance to socialist ideals, capitalism is moving in like a freight train. On that train are all the modern commodities you can imagine. Even if the hordes of scooters still dominate the streets, this is quickly changing and the number of cars is growing. Brand fashion, high end electronics and luxury cars, even though they are not as prevalent as for example in China, they all tell the story of a definite departure from a Soviet style commando economy.

This leap can only take place with a greater openness to the world. Pressed by China, Vietnam looks for alliances with APEC nations as USA, Japan Australia. There are signs that the governments earlier harsh attitude toward churches is changing. Unlike Europe that becomes more and more secularised, Vietnam goes the opposite direction. Even if there is a majority of nominal Buddhist and a Christian minority of about 10 %, Vietnam is largely secular. Maybe up to 70-80 % are considered nonreligious, an effect of long atheist communist rule. From being a very secular nation, it now turns more and more to religion. There is a growing spiritual hunger. This means that there is a window of opportunity here, as a nation of 90 million opens up for the gospel.

Having witnessed a tremendous multiplication effect already and where Word of Life is now present in over 40 provinces with pioneer churches, which are led by our former bible school students, I am convinced that we have great days ahead. I know that the already more than 1000 students, who are strategically placed across the country, will make a huge difference. The seeds sown across the land will grow and multiply. Word of Life is ready to engage in the harvest.

It was great to place the board meeting of Word of Life International in Hanoi this time. We represent many hundreds of churches that are united in vision. Part of that vision is to expand into the missions’ fields. These will be ready to support the work of our Vietnamese friends and together we can establish, multiply and expand the work in Vietnam and beyond. Our best days are ahead!

Париж, теракт джихадистов, расизм и антисемитизм

Мир в очередной раз потрясли теракты. События 13 ноября в Париже показывают нам истинный внутренний мир исламских боевиков. Они готовы убивать и умереть за одну больную, «святую» идею. Та же самая болезнь является причиной большого потока беженцев, которые каждый день испытывают такие же ужасы на своей родине.

Подобные террористические действия  станут станут подарком для

экстремистов правого крыла, которые имеют свои подтверждения. Скоро беженцы будут обвинены в причастии тех терактов, от которых они бежали из собственной страны. Иногда это простирается на всех подряд. Иногда люди высказывают свое отвращение в связи с казнями христиан и езидов, а потом публикуют такие посты как: «Не приносите этих идиотов сюда». Люди просто потеряли способность отличать преступника от жертвы.

Да, есть проблема в Европе с радикальными исламскими силами, которые, очевидно, преуспевают в том, чтобы привлечь много молодежи. Будет необходимо больше ресурсов, чтобы отслеживать это.

Умение не отрицать террористические угрозы, столь же важны, как умение не обвинять людей из Ближнего Востока, которые спасаются от тех же боевиков. Они не террористы, они — жертвы террора. Они более потрясены этими террорами, чем мы.

Если мы хотим быть маяком цивилизации (который мы часто проявляем только в словах), то должны быть цивилизованными и показать великодушное отношение к нуждающимся беженцам. Это вовсе не означает, что мы не можем быть бдительными к возникающим задачам.

Самое причудливое в этом кошмаре то, что во всем снова обвиняют евреев. Теперь палестинские активисты поднимут версию, что евреи виновны в терактах. Тоже самое случилось во время теракта в «Шарли Эбдо», где непосредственно нападения были сделаны против евреев. Все же, есть интересная связь с Израилем.

В 1894 в антисемитском заговоре и через судебную ошибку, французско —  еврейский чиновник Дреифус был ложно осужден за шпионаж и измену. Он был приговорен к пожизненному заключению и послан в позорный лагерь для военнопленных, «Остров дьявола» во Французской Гвиане (он известен многим из книги Папилон).

Во время суда толпа кричала: «Смерть Евреям». Венгерский журналист Теодор Херзл, который был свидетелем происходящего, понял, что если такое случилось в Европе, где евреи более интегрированы в обществе, то они не будут в безопасности нигде. Именно в это время зародилось видение безопасной родины, которая в свою очередь дала начало рождению государства Израиль.

К дополнению этой истории, стоит отметить, что Дреифусь, которого приговорили к тюрьме по ложным обвинениям, был освобожден в 1906 году. Антисемитские группы рассмотрели это, как доказательство еврейского заговора и попытались убить Дреифуса.

Таким образом, антисемиты могли обвинить «еврея», во-первых, в шпионаже и предательстве, а потом в том, что были частью еврейского заговора для его освобождения.

И сейчас палестинские группы обвиняют Израиль в ужасах Парижа, которые скорее всего совершили исламские террористы.  Это сильно повреждает их авторитет! Или повредил бы, если, кто-либо заметил это!