Journey to Jerusalem

I've waited eagerly for the arrival of the books I ordered for Lent this year. From the reviews, "Journey to Jerusalem", by David Winter, seemed to me to be a good choice, but I couldn't be sure, so I called the bookshop "Manna House" in Perth, since we have a girl in our church with contacts there. Derek, the manager, recommended the book.

When I look quickly through the book, I am happy with the choice, and look forward to begin the journey together with Bergen International Church from Ash Wednesday - which is on the 6th of February this year.

I will use the Sunday texts as a resource for my preaching, and one of the cell groups will take up the discussion questions during the week.

I had intended to introduce the book in church today, but I've been at home with fever since Thursday afternoon. Luckily Lillian-Rose suggested to me that they could take care of the worship service for me, so I could relax. It's a great congregation!

Cell based church

In our church - Bergen International Church - we've always had a vision to be a cell based church, but we've struggled with it. How can the cells become more than just another activity?
To all who are interested in the issue of cell church, I can recommend an Anglican website: http://www.anglicancelluk.org/

On Sunday we will do yet another attempt to promote the cells, and hopefully manage to get so many newcomers that one of the existing cells can become two - at least.

A couple of years ago we decided to increase the frequency of our worship services from bimonthly to every Sunday. Being a small church with an average of fifty attendants, is this too much? Would it be better to return to a rythm of fewer worship services and focus more on the cells as the basic meeting place?

Happy New Year?

The New Year has seen a lot of violence and despair in some countries, especially Pakistan and Kenya. We cry with those who feel desperate and hopeless in this situation, and pray that God will restore piece and freedom to the people everywhere. It seems fitting to me to quote one of the songs we sang in Bergen International Church on Christmas Day – Days of Elijah, by Robin Mark:

These are the days of Elijah,
declaring the word of the Lord.
And these are the days of Your servant Moses,
righteousness being restored.
And though these are days of great trial,
of famine and darkness and sword,
still we are a voice in the desert crying
‘prepare ye the way of the Lord’

Behold He comes riding on the clouds,
shining like the sun at the trumpet call,
lift your voice, it’s the year of jubilee,
out of Zion’s hill salvation comes!

These are the days of Ezekiel,
The dry bones becoming as flesh;
And these are the days of Your servant David,
Rebuilding the temple of praise.
These are the days of the harvest,
The fields are as white in the world,
And we are the labourers in the vineyard,
Declaring the word of the Lord.

We also know that the Lord has a better future for the world, and we have an important part to play in this future. The Lord comes, and we are called to declare this to the world, no matter what happens around us. May the year 2008 be a year when we declare the word of the Lord everywhere.

Modern prophets?

Last week we saw Al Gore and Rajenda Pachauri receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.
In some ways they remind me of the prophets we find in the Bible – perhaps with the slight difference that the prophets in the Bible didn’t get thousands of dollars for their performances…
Al Gore has been in the news for many years because he has been preaching a very serious message. He’s been preaching judgment over humanity if we don’t change our lifestyle. Isn’t it time for evangelical Christians to start listening to his message?

Prepare the way
You could say that Al Gore has prepared the way for a change in lifestyle.
John the Baptist too talked about preparing the way. Other than that, there are probably not so many more similarities between him and Al Gore.

John prepared the way for the Lord. He was the forerunner of the Messiah, foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 40 is one of those prophecies. The immediate horizon of that prophecy is the political situation in the Middle East at the time, with the people of Israel in captivity in Babylon, present-day Iraq. Isaiah proclaimed freedom from the captivity in Babylon. Jesus proclaimed freedom from the captivity of sin.

The Babylonian captivity of the earth
One could say that the earth is in a Babylonian captivity of a lifestyle that causes destruction in the form of climate change. I still believe that it is the primary purpose of the church to proclaim the gospel of salvation from sin as we wait for the Lord to return. But Evangelical Christians, like me, have a tendency to think that things like the earth and climate change don’t really matter, since Jesus is coming back and everything will disappear anyway. When Jesus one day returns, I want him to be proud to see that his people have been among the first to take care of the world he created. In the same way that we want to be free from the captivity and slavery of sin, we must free the earth from the captivity of a destructive lifestyle.

What Gore and Pachauri tell us is not all together new.
More than thirty years ago, in 1974, Billy Graham took the initiative to gather 2700 Evangelical Christian leaders from across the world in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland. The focus of the conference was world evangelisation. At the conference they agreed on the Lausanne Covenant, which still serves as a basis for many Evangelical organisations today. Article 6 ends like this: “Those of us who live in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief and evangelism.” What is new in the message from Gore and Pachauri is the emphasis on climate change. It is a message we have heard clearer and clearer the last few years. Some of us – including me – have been hesitant to the reality of the warnings. Perhaps it’s time we start to listen and act. Choosing a simpler lifestyle is one way each of us can start acting.

Mission-shaped church

Yesterday I talked with one of the Chinese new believers who are ready for baptism. Every time I do that I am amazed how the Spirit works.  This guy had been influenced by an English-teacher who had shared his faith with him before he left China.  Here in Norway he had met Chinese Christians who had invited him into a warm fellowship.  Through the worship and Bible teaching his faith has been growing until he was ready to make a commitment.  

This is how church is supposed to be, isn't it? A movement of people who live out their faith in love and who share their faith with the people
they meet. 
This is how the church has been growing since the very beginning.  
And the only way the church can continue to be alive, is to be mission-shaped.

The year of the Lord's favour!

Four Sundays before Christmas the new Church year begins. In Norwegian churches on Sunday 2 December the gospel reading takes us to the town of Nazareth, the home town of Jesus. In the Synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus stood up to read from the Scriptures. He opened the scroll on the text in Isaiah 61 and read:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke 4:18-19)

This is the time to announce that YOU have the favour of the Lord. Did you know that?
Now is the time for you to be set free from all your chains.
Ask him, the King of kings, to do it for you now.

Minority? Absolutely not!

I must admit that after the vote in the Church of Norway General Synod (Kirkemøtet) last week, I felt rather discouraged. I now belong to the minority in my church who believe that what the Bible says about homosexuality is valid for us today as well. I have lost much of my motivation for continuing to be a minister in the Church of Norway, and I have once again reviewed all the arguments for and against staying in this church.

Gradually I have felt my strength returning. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. Amen!
And when I serve in Bergen International Church, I realise that I am absolutely not in a minority. For the liberal part of the Church of Norway is merely a tiny part of the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ. It is also the least vibrant part of the worldwide church. It is a part of the church that will wither away. It is only by staying in touch with the part of the body of Christ that is really alive that we will survive as a church. It is particularly in Africa, Asia and South America we find the vibrant part of the church today. We need you, brothers and sisters, to breathe life into this ailing old Norwegian church!