Lennart Koskinen stated in a seminar of Dagen on the development of the Church in Sweden: “Ten years from now Christianity will be stronger then today”. This statement I endorse 100%! It is actually the only time that I have agreed with Bishop Lennart Koskinen from the Swedish Church (former State Church).
I do agree with him that there will be a stronger Church in Sweden ten years from now! But it won’t be the Church which he represents. As he made clear earlier he would not like to have “my-kind –of-people” around; people with a strong Biblical conviction and lifestyle. People he considers to be “fundamentalist” because they believe in the Bible as authority for their lives. In an earlier blog I wrote: “Christians – in name only! A call to radical Christ following – death to Christendom!”We will in the near future see the death of Christendom as we know it, yet we will see a rise of Bible believing Christians in the near future… How I know: I see the signs of the time as people turn again to God… and (you don’t need to be a prophet to recognize this) the state of the Church I Sweden cannot get much worse… so you don’t need to be a prophet to state that things will change! (See more statistics here).
So I do agree with Lennart on this and continue to not agree on most other things he addresses…(Honestly speaking I don’t think he minds me having these thoughts… He doesn’t even know about them and might not be interested in them anyway).
As we are bombarded with a tremendous amount of information from the US and from the media here at home about US presidential candidates McCain and Obama I wanted to pass on to you the full length speech from Obama on his perspective on faith-based initiatives during his potential presidency.
Relevant magazine had a “Questions and answer time with Obama” after his address. A couple of main issues are dealt with in the interview which I recommend you to read. (Some points in his address I have highlighted because they are of special interest to me as I observe our world from the perspective as a believer in Jesus Christ).
“You know, faith based groups like East Side Community Ministry carry a particular meaning for me. Because in a way, they’re what led me into public service. It was a Catholic group called The Campaign for Human Development that helped fund the work I did many years ago in Chicago to help lift up neighborhoods that were devastated by the closure of a local steel plant.
Now, I didn’t grow up in a particularly religious household. But my experience in Chicago showed me how faith and values could be an anchor in my life. And in time, I came to see my faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community; that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn’t be fulfilling God’s will unless I went out and did the Lord’s work.
There are millions of Americans who share a similar view of their faith, who feel they have an obligation to help others. And they’re making a difference in communities all across this country - through initiatives like Ready4Work, which is helping ensure that ex-offenders don’t return to a life of crime; or Catholic Charities, which is feeding the hungry and making sure we don’t have homeless veterans sleeping on the streets of Chicago; or the good work that’s being done by a coalition of religious groups to rebuild New Orleans.
You see, while these groups are often made up of folks who’ve come together around a common faith, they’re usually working to help people of all faiths or of no faith at all. And they’re particularly well-placed to offer help. As I’ve said many times, I believe that change comes not from the top-down, but from the bottom-up, and few are closer to the people than our churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques.
That’s why Washington needs to draw on them. The fact is, the challenges we face today - from saving our planet to ending poverty - are simply too big for government to solve alone. We need all hands on deck.
I’m not saying that faith-based groups are an alternative to government or secular nonprofits. And I’m not saying that they’re somehow better at lifting people up. What I’m saying is that we all have to work together - Christian and Jew, Hindu and Muslim; believer and non-believer alike - to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Now, I know there are some who bristle at the notion that faith has a place in the public square. But the fact is, leaders in both parties have recognized the value of a partnership between the White House and faith-based groups. President Clinton signed legislation that opened the door for faith-based groups to play a role in a number of areas, including helping people move from welfare to work. Al Gore proposed a partnership between Washington and faith-based groups to provide more support for the least of these. And President Bush came into office with a promise to “rally the armies of compassion,” establishing a new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
But what we saw instead was that the Office never fulfilled its promise. Support for social services to the poor and the needy have been consistently underfunded. Rather than promoting the cause of all faith-based organizations, former officials in the Office have described how it was used to promote partisan interests. As a result, the smaller congregations and community groups that were supposed to be empowered ended up getting short-changed.
Well, I still believe it’s a good idea to have a partnership between the White House and grassroots groups, both faith-based and secular. But it has to be a real partnership - not a photo-op. That’s what it will be when I’m President. I’ll establish a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The new name will reflect a new commitment. This Council will not just be another name on the White House organization chart - it will be a critical part of my administration.
Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea - so long as we follow a few basic principles.
1.First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion.
2.Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.
With these principles as a guide, my Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will strengthen faith-based groups by making sure they know the opportunities open to them to build on their good works. Too often, faith-based groups - especially smaller congregations and those that aren’t well connected - don’t know how to apply for federal dollars, or how to navigate a government website to see what grants are available, or how to comply with federal laws and regulations. We rely too much on conferences in Washington, instead of getting technical assistance to the people who need it on the ground. What this means is that what’s stopping many faith-based groups from helping struggling families is simply a lack of knowledge about how the system works.
Well, that will change when I’m President. I will empower the nonprofit religious and community groups that do understand how this process works to train the thousands of groups that don’t. We’ll “train the trainers” by giving larger faith-based partners like Catholic Charities and Lutheran Services and secular nonprofits like Public/Private Ventures the support they need to help other groups build and run effective programs. Every house of worship that wants to run an effective program and that’s willing to abide by our constitution - from the largest mega-churches and synagogues to the smallest store-front churches and mosques - can and will have access to the information and support they need to run that program.
This Council will also help target our efforts to meet key challenges like education. All across America, too many children simply can’t read or perform math at their grade-level, a problem that grows worse for low-income students during the summer months and afterschool hours. Nonprofits like Children’s Defense Fund are working to solve this problem. They hold summer and afterschool Freedom Schools in communities across this country, and many of their classes are held in churches.
There’s a lot of evidence that these kinds of partnerships work. Take Youth Education for Tomorrow, an innovative program that’s being run by churches, faith-based schools, and others in Philadelphia. To help narrow the summer learning gap, the YET program hires qualified teachers who help students with reading using proven learning techniques. They hold classes four days a week after school and during the summer. And they monitor progress closely. The results have been outstanding. Children who attended a YET center for at least six months improved nearly 2 years in reading ability. And the average high school student gained a full grade in reading level after just three months.
That’s the kind of real progress that can be made when we empower faith-based organizations. And that’s why as President, I’ll expand summer programs like this to serve one million students. This won’t just help our children learn, it will help keep them off the streets during the summer so they don’t turn to crime.
And my Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will also have a broader role - it will help set our national agenda. Because if we are going to do something about the injustice of millions of children living in extreme poverty, we need interfaith coalitions like the Let Justice Roll campaign standing up for the powerless. If we’re going to end genocide and stop the scourge of HIV/AIDS, we need people of faith on Capitol Hill talking about how these challenges don’t just represent a security crisis or a humanitarian crisis, but a moral crisis as well.
We know that faith and values can be a source of strength in our own lives. That’s what it’s been to me. And that’s what it is to so many Americans. But it can also be something more. It can be the foundation of a new project of American renewal. And that’s the kind of effort I intend to lead as President of the United States.”
Ok friends, let’s see how this is going to work in the future, one thing I do appreciate from Obama is his understanding of the need to get non-profit, religious organizations to work for the good (best) of the people. This is a rather hot potato here in Sweden. Although there is close corporation with the old and established denominations and former State Church, we are far removed from a perspective where other (younger) organizations and churches are welcomed to be a part helping to find answers in the areas of life where many are alienated / lost in our highly secularized society.
Hundreds of people have entered this blog the last couple of days trying to find more information about the “happiness document” (I realize so may of us are in search of happiness). I have written in my earlier blogs here and here about these issues and the general approach of the World Values Survey, which is interesting dealing with many different issues.
The fact that so many of us are curious about the latest trends in this regard shows the importance of happiness in our time and age. However, let us not be impressed by these stats too quickly, as I meet hundreds of Western young people every year I have observed their deep sense of alienation in life. One of the reasons I write this blog is to continue address some of the issues that we are facing in Sweden (and the West). For me and hundreds of these younger people whom I mentioned earlier, the encounter with Jesus Christ has brought the kind of happiness that cannot be obtained by outward things; an inward change brought that deep sense of happiness and belonging.
Back to the document which you can find here, it states: “Indeed, among the countries for which we have long-term data, 19 of the 26 countries show rising happiness levels. In several of these countries—India, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea—there are steeply rising trends.The other countries with rising trends are Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. Three countries (the U.S., Switzerland and Norway) show flat trends from the earliest to latest available survey.Only four countries (Austria, Belgium, the U.K. and West Germany) show downward trends. Almost five times as many countries show rising trends as downward trends.”
For more specific information about Sweden’s state of mind in regards to happiness read this.
I hope that this information will help you on your way to pursue happiness…
Sven-Gunnar Hultman and Erik Bryskhe tell us in Dagen about their continued efforts to get as many as possible pastors in the Union. What puzzles me about their article is the constant affiliation to having “rights”. I have tried to address the issues involved in two earlier blogs here and here. I want to encourage either one of them to write some responses to my blogs (feel free to write them in Swedish). I am looking forward to hearing from you and until then I remain of the opinion that being a Christian is to learn to lay down ones rights, while at the same time not being used as a doormat.
Among the last hundred people visiting my blog today were people from 24 different nations of our world (Sweden, Australia, Canada, United States, Denmark, Netherlands, Romania, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Finland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Nicaragua, Hungary, Chile, Mexico, India, Turkey, Switzerland, Singapore, Greece, Hong Kong and Bulgaria). Honestly speaking this was the broadest category of nations represented on one and the same day visiting my blog. The reason for that? I can only guess, but I am inclined to believe that it is related to an article in Science Daily called: “Despite Frustrations, Americans Are Pretty Darned Happy”
The article proudly stated “We’re number 16 … in world happiness. Feel the joy. The United States ranks ahead of more than 80 countries, but below 15 others in happiness levels, according to new World Values Survey data released in the July issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.”
I am happy that the Americans are happy to be among the top 16 nations in world happiness. Dr. Inglehart argues that improving economic conditions and rising political and social freedom can improve satisfaction within whole societies long term.
For example, the United States, though ranking relatively high in many factors that contribute to happiness, has room for improvement in such areas as social solidarity and universal health coverage, says Inglehart. “To some extent, well-designed social policy can help raise U.S. happiness levels even more,” he says. “Policies that help increase the society’s sense of solidarity and tolerance may also help.” But, as the article clearly declares: “Even so, researchers note that wealth is important for happiness. Not surprisingly, three of the world’s poorer countries with long histories of repressive government–Moldova, Armenia and Zimbabwe–are at the bottom of the happiness list.”
As we all know; studies and polls can be interpreted and angled in many different ways no matter “how scientifically” the different measuring tools and surveys might have been designed. An observation that I want to give has to do with one of the graphs drawn by the organization which conducted this enormous research.
The ones scoring highest on the happiness scale, have according to the researchers also scored high on greater economic growth, it ranks relatively high in gender equality, tolerance of ethnic and social diversity and has high levels of democratization and political freedom.
My personal observation and question:
When looking at the graph below we see that almost all of the highest ranking nations have a common history; they are historically protestant societies. Could it be that this fact has influenced and transformed the make up of the nations and its inhabitants to such degree that even now, after many years of secularization we still are reaping some of the positive and good fruit of this, (for many nations), once natural and fundamental ground for life, namely a personal faith in Jesus Christ?
Without a doubt we know that freedom, democracy, equality and tolerance have been advocated by these communities and believers… Economic growth has been a natural consequence as economic lift was experienced by people who had become believers throughout the history of the Church whether in their own or in the generations following them as they were taught to be good stewards of their abilities and possessions. Their lifestyle based on stewardship and accountability was changed with as result a greater economic responsibility and thus transformation.
Again… could this fact be the real reason behind our still positive outlook on life and expectancy even though we have in many different areas of life become secularized?
My friend and fellow church planter Douglas Molgaard put this song on one of his blogs some time ago… shortly after our church planting conference in April… The song had been a theme song throughout the conference and it was (is) an important reminder of the fact that our God truly is the God of the city.
A few weeks ago as we were worshipping God on a mountain in Gothenburg, Sweden, we looked out over the city and over the area where we are in the process of planting a New Life church, we sang this same song… While worshipping and declaring the truth of the fact that He is the God of the city through the accomplished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, faith and perspective entered our hearts and minds…
Enjoy this wonderful song and tune in as you worship the God of YOUR CITY!
Two months ago I wrote a blog as a reaction on the article in Dagen about the fact that pastors were encouraged to become part of a union to secure their rights and jobs. My first blog was semi-seriously written (check it out here). However after today’s articles in Dagen (here and here) I want to add my side of the story.
The problem I see is that most pastors are regarded as employees of the church that they serve. The reason for that is because most pastors are hired by churches in order to fulfill a particular job description, much as is done in the business world. The way we look at this “job” might or might not be in line with the Biblical perspective on what a pastor is meant to be / do. In such situations a pastor is more inclined to compromise with any unbiblical expectations of his employer otherwise he/she might loose their job.
I know of numerous pastors in both small and larger churches where there are issues in regards to the application of Biblical standards within the congregation. The churches in Sweden acknowledge the pastor mainly as a “hireling” who is supposed to yield to the decisions being made by the eldership and/or board.
It is not uncommon that the established laymen leadership (elders and board) has allowed certain unbiblical practices in the church among lay leaders, themselves and its members, thus setting up a potential division between the new appointed (hired) pastor(s) and the congregation. It is not unusual that congregations seek to recruit for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires (2 Tim.4:3). The fact is that most established churches don’t want any new pastor to rock the boat; they want peace and rest, maintaining what is going on in the church by strengthening the present and maybe making manageable changes to embrace the future!
“The hireling mentality” as I described above however, also exists among pastors.
This becomes clear to me when pastors look for promotion opportunities rather than to grow and develop on a long term basis with the church they are called to serve. Some actually are self-interested, showing greater concern for their compensation package and the earthly security it supposedly brings than ministering to the body of believers they are called to serve (Jn.10:12,13).
The practice of regarding pastors as employees has not been the norm through the church’s history. Historically, pastors have not been considered to be employees, but bond-servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, they are slaves of Christ, not slaves to an employer.
My family and I have during 15 years lived and ministered without a regular salary. A couple of years after we started New Life Church (where I presently still am serving as a pastor), we received for the first time a part-time salary which as time passed has been raised and is a full-time salary today. Our church has well taken care of us although I for one, have been opposed to raising my salary at times because I preferred to use the money to provide support for other workers so that we could form a team. I consider myself a bond-servant to Christ and not an employee first of all (although legally I am in that position within the context of the Swedish society). So, in essence I am saying that you as pastor have to make a decision whether you are a “hireling” or have been “called” as a pastor! If you cannot exercise the gifts God has given you, or cannot minister as a pastor you might have chosen the wrong place to minister. (By the way; did you take the employment because a job was offered when you needed it, or was it a CALL from God?!)
Let’s face it; some pastors need to get rid of their hireling mentality, but so do some churches!
I have friends in churches where they receive very little support and encouragement from the congregations they serve. They experience that they have minimal impact in the direction of the church’s ministry and often find themselves on the receiving end of hurtful criticisms. Others are inadequately compensated and feel little appreciation for the important work that they do on behalf of the church. Expressions of discouragement and unhappiness are not uncommon, and for some, ministry is no longer a sense of calling from God nor a source of joy and satisfaction in their life!
Do members understand the concept of being a people of God?
Much of how we relate to our pastors depends on how we as individual members understand our relationship to the life of the church and its ministries. Are we essentially religious consumers who see ourselves as being receivers of ministry, or do we understand ourselves to be part of the people of God who partner and who have a vital role in helping to fulfill the church’s collective ministry? Do we see our pastors as employees who are paid to serve to congregational customers or as spiritual leaders whose ministries of the Word of God and their leadership enables us to better fulfill our ministries of service and proclamation in the world?
Our answer to those questions makes all the difference in the world when it comes to determining our expectations of the pastoral ministry and those who are called to serve within it. Our pastors are neither self-made nor self-maintained.
They need to be supported, encouraged and affirmed. And when we neglect that important work, we pay a very heavy collective price. I’ve never known a church whose spirit, enthusiasm and commitment to ministry exceeded that of its leadership. I’ve never experienced a vibrant, flourishing congregation whose pastor wasn’t also receiving generous amounts of prayerful support and encouragement from its members!
Remember, it’s not simply a matter of getting the kind of leadership we deserve. It’s more a matter of receiving precisely the kind of leadership we choose to call forth and then support.
Fokus magazine has done a great and in-depth analysis of life quality in the different municipalities in Sweden which has been published and addressed in many media. 30 factors were taken into consideration among them we find the care of older citizens, the local tax level, the climate for entrepreneurship, the number of low educated citizens, alcohol related death causes, areas with environmental protection, the number of registered crimes, divorces, suicide attempts, number of teachers in the school classes, unemployment, culture and leisure activities, people’s financial assets etc etc. so far so good!
The sun always shines over Djursholm (part of Danderyd) the old expression says. It still is because in this third attempt to rank the different municipalities (290) in Sweden, Danderyd has taken the first place. It is the municipality that has the richest inhabitants, the students with the best grades and the most expensive houses. “We have earned this distinction municipal commissioner Gunnar Ooms says, There are many who have contributed to what the municipality is today and our greatest asset is the Danderyd population themselves. We have worked hard to make the service to its inhabitants both good and cost effective.
Oh yes, Danderyd knows how to take care of itself! With the focus on ITSELF!
Because it is here that we find the problem with the kind of life-quality analyses as done by Fokus magazine, they only focus on the well being of the own population in regards to possibilities, privileges, numbers and growth factors. Nothing in the research is relating to responsibilities! Suppose we would start ranking our different municipalities in regard to their ability to make an impact on the visible and invisible needs of our society and nation as a whole. Which municipality would then be considered to be the number one in the nation?
Self. That’s the word I was looking for:“self”.
I think the deepest value of the average Danderyd person is so wonderfully and un-thoughtfully expressed (exposed) by Lüüli Lundvall Klebe who is sitting outside her villa. She has received a special distinction from the Djursholm villa association for her beautiful garden and tells that she has to be really active to counter the hired hands that take care of the neighbor’s garden. She likes the fellowship (cohesion) in the municipality. “We who live here are of another kind, a class separate from others, which gives a good solidarity”.
As I quote her words, I have said it all… Danderyd is taking care of itself!
In the last seven (7) years Danderyd has received twelve (12!) refugees in their municipality to be compared to Södertälje welcoming thousands in theirs. (Did you notice that I wrote “received” by Danderyd and “welcomed” by Södertälje?). Danderyd as municipality is not active in regard to other issues which demand the attention, involvement and commitment of many other parts of the nation… Somehow Danderyd is in a deep slumber while it has drawn a Silver Curtain around itself to isolate itself from the rest of us, this picture brings back to memory how once upon a time Eastern Europe separated itself from the rest by an Iron Curtain.
Danderyd, when will you wake up? Bob Dylan’s song “When you gonna wake up?” might give some food for thought:
You got men who can’t hold their peace and woman who can’t control their tongues. The rich seduce the poor and the old are seduced by the young. - Do you ever wonder just what God requires? You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires.- You can’t take it with you and you know that it’s too worthless to be sold. They tell you, ‘Time is money’ as if your life was worth its weight in gold.
Chorus: When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up? When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Dagens Nyheter puts Li Changqing, a Chinese journalist, who went to prison for reporting on a health threat before Chinese authorities announced it, who had been awarded the 2008 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers behind bars. Papers from all over the world as well as in Sweden (here, here, here, here and here) took the opportunity to high-light this occasion and to use it to expose the censorship and suffering that many undergo in China because of their opinions and writings.
Ironically the same accusations against freedom of press which are made against the Chinese regime are practiced by so-called ambassadors of freedom, namely Dagens Nyheter. (The largest daily paper in Sweden which prouds itself to be one of the forerunners of freedom of Press!) DN puts Li Changqing behind invisible bars as they silence him and remove from his statement that which doesn’t fit them.
In the blog I wrote: “The rights of freedom of speech and press are practiced as long as we conform to that which is the norm, as long as we are politically correct, our voices will be heard through the spoken and written word. If we don’t conform we are silenced, ignored or attacked.”
He said: “In 1992, my life had also welcomed a great event when I, extremely weak and dark in my spiritual world, became a Christian due to the compassion of Jesus Christ. He restored my conscience, allowing me to walk in the light. He rectified the relationship between my world and my spirit and with an insight coming from above helped me traverse obstacle after bewildering obstacle for a more penetrating view of the world. Hence, I am convinced that only the truth can save us! Only with the truth can we surpass narrow partisan doctrines and break through ideological barriers”.
It is obvious that DN thinks this is not politically correct or not within their perception of what they want to endorse or allow their readers to read! Wow! That’s called outright censorship!
For the whole text in English of Li Changqing’s address click here.
Unfortunately I get only confirmed in my views on press and media in our nation. This shows again how we in a small country can be really small in mind! Let the Truth be heard on the streets!
