Is Missionalist a word?

Technically it is not a word but while I am trying to come up with a word for my occupation I realize that words that define my occupation as a Missionary or a Pastor are some what out dated or carry with it meaning that don’t properly define what I do. Missionary, as one sent out from one country to another to share the Gospel and make disciples, would be the correct word for my occupation but it carries with it the idea of colonialism and dominance which is quit negative in today’s society. I am licensed as a Pastor and work in a traditional roll as a Pastor in the since of leading a Church or in my case co-leading a Church plant but I am not really a shepherd as that word implies biblically. Perhaps a more biblical term for what I do would be an Apostle as one who is sent out. But often that word is left to the first twelve Apostles and doesn’t really fit in today’s list of occupations. I think a word that is more contemporary would be fitting so I came up with this word, Missionalist, one who is sent to take part in the Missio Dei.

I know, someone else came up with this word first, I just found this blog while googling the word.

Could this work as a word for an occupation?

What if…

What if Jesus was the center of everything we do? Not our history, not our doctrine, not our culture, not our church, not our denomination, just Jesus and His mission.

What if we focused on His mission? Reaching out to and building relationships with the marginal, the outcast, the lonely, the sick. What if we would love God and Love people?

What if our Sunday morning worship was a time to adore and stand at awe to our God and our weekdays was a time of loving, giving, forgiving, helping, healing, caring, sharing, building relationships with people?

What if we would read his Word as a story we are a part of and not a doctrine or a creed? How would we live, how would we act?

What would happen if we allowed Jesus to impact our lives so we could impact others?

What if…

Missional Roundtable in Sweden 1

Oh January 10th I co-hosted together with Fredrik Hellström and Mattias Neve a long awaited Missional Roundtable.

12 people from different parts of Sweden gathered in Stockholm at Betel Folkhögskola for  a conversation that for me was very inspirational and encouraging. I believe it sparked something, in all of us who attended. It brought some hope for the future of the community of faith in Sweden and inspiration for a missional thrust of the Church. If we came to any kind of conclusion it was that we need more of these conversations in Sweden that can encourage more missional lifestyles in our communities. Added: Check out blog  Mattias Neve’s blog for more information about our conversation.

I am looking forward to the next one!

Ed Stetzer & David Fitch – a missional conversation on Vimeo

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Missio Dei and the Missional Church

This is good -  from the book Transforming Mission, David Bosch p.390:

“In attempting to flesh out the missio Dei concept, the following could be said: In the new image mission is not primarliy an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. “It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfil in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church”. Mission is there by seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. There  is church because there is mission, not vise versa. To participate in mission is to participate in the movement of God’s love toward people, since God is a fountain of sending love.”

Much can be said but this is enough to meditate on! Think about it!!

The Prayer

The Prayer for the one redeemed or liberated from brokenness should always be;

“Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner”.

It reminds us who our Lord is and that we are in need of his mercy every day. Not of works lest we should boast but by grace through faith we are set free from the bondage of sin!

Reflection

The end of the year is a time to reflect on the year that has gone by.

I reflect on my life and my relationships to others and to God.

I reflect on our mission, the church I am called to and see God’s plan blooming like a flower planted in the spring being watered and nourished though the love and giftings of those called to this community. I see the beauty of Gods presence in others and prayers being answered as if God is pleased with our worship.

I reflect on the world and see much change happening before us like a storm moving in on a sunny day. I see crisis that is changing our direction and leading the world into a sense of hopelessness and fear but in such despair I see hope for hearts to be turned back to God.

Now I believe it is time for the church of God to move out of its comfort zone, a time to wake up and live like never before. To live the colorful life that God intended for us to live. To think of others first, give to those in need, to love, forgive, except, to show that life in simplicity is better then excess. To enjoy life to the fullest in the least. To reflect… Jesus.

It is time for the Missio Dei

Merry Christmas 2008

From our family…

The world is not bad it is just broken!

The world is not bad it is just broken!

This changes our thinking from the church as good (white), and world as bad (Black) and compromise as gray.

The Jesus way of thinking is Church as colorful, and the world as black and white or broken.

Look at it this way;

God created us in the garden colorful and whole;  body, soul and spirit.

Our body was healthy and naked.

Our Soul was innocent and transparent.

Our Spirit was in communion with God.

We became broken when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good (white) and evil (black).

Our body became sick and covered.

Our soul became corrupt and ashamed.

Our spirit became separated from God.

In a black and white world people are looking for meaning and purpose this is why we have many different religions but also war and greed, etc.

Jesus came to fix what was broken. John 3:16-17

Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is here He was referring to the relationship of God and man being restored as it was in the garden.

The death and resurrection of Jesus brought the final restoration or redemption for man to be complete and made whole; body, soul and spirit.

Our life is made complete in Christ!

Our identity is no longer in a broken black and white world but in Christ and the colorful world found only by his grace.

Grace makes us free not to live broken again but open to live life to the fullest.

The colorful world is not two dimensional but is a matrix and can only be understood by a relationship with Christ.

The black and white still exist in a colorful matrix. We still struggle with the attacks of the adversary just as Adam and Eve did in the garden tempting us to draw away from the Father.

The Holy Spirit was given to us to empower and lead us in this freedom we have in Christ.

When we see the world not as bad but broken we are able to Impact it with hope as Christ did.

This is the Missio Dei.

Blog Silence

I have been silent on this blog for quit some time now mostly because of the work I am doing in planting a church in Gothenburg Sweden. This fall we have had a lot of work around a building we have received for the church that lies in a strategic part of the city. The building was built in 1940 and was in need of renovation. Our mother church in Stockholm now owns the building and has initiated a renovation project that has transformed the building. We hope to continue to use it as a place of worship, fellowship, cafe’s, children ministries, training, basically a community center for a new suburb that is in the process of growing up all around it. This is a place that will serve our city in the missio Dei. You are welcome to join our facebook group New Life Göteborg to see pictures or information about our Chruch or visit www.newlifegoteborg.se

This coming year I hope to work more to see the Missional focus spread in Sweden. There are some plans in the making to see that happen and I hope to continue to blog more to encourage missional living in Sweden.

I hope this holiday season will remind us that it is all about Jesus!

Charismatic preachers and politicians

I have been accused of being irrational or emotional about my post Obama Biden / Osama bin Laden. This post was written more for fun and has put me on the top post list on WordPress and has broken my record on hits to my blog.

I have allowed most comments to that post to be posted for fair play. It is amazing to me the kind of comments I get from both parties.

I am voting for McCain! Not because I am a staunch Republican that only votes for ones party but because in the end I think he has more experience to bring to the table and can deal with the situation the world is in today.

Obama is a young charismatic speaker promising change, which is easy to do with the condition that the USA is in, but who is Obama? Should I vote for someone who is a good speaker and knows how to use rhetoric to stir up a crowd, making promises I don’t believe he can keep? Can he really make changes that can handle terrorists, Russia, world crisis when he for the first time this year visited Germany? I hope someone can come in and turn our economy around but is he the one that can do it.

In the end I believe that McCain can come in after Bush and make a difference maybe not the one I would like to see in the end but better then the one a young charismatic speaker stirring up the emotions of the crowd.

There is a danger of following Charismatic preachers and politicians being lead astray by words. The churches are filled with charismatic preachers that lead the sheep astray. In a world where people are hungry for truth and change it is easy to be follow someone down the wrong path.

I don’t want to mix religion and politics here so I will stop here. I won’t say that someday the world will follow the anti-Christ the same way.

But I will say this…

Be careful who you follow!

Obama Biden / Osama bin Laden

Will Obama and Biden get Osama bin Laden?

This is to much…

I am voting for McCain!

experience over speech!

Charismatic Chaos

When so many people were running to Florida to get the next new blessing from the next new prophet I only shook my head and said when will they learn. When will the church run to Jesus and do His mission. I haven’t called myself a charismatic for a long time. I still believe in the works and wonders that the Holy Spirit does through us but that should never be the focus. We need to be careful of those moments that puts us into a spiritual high. Those moments are amazing and special but they can also be superficial if our worship is not whole; body, soul and spirit. When our faith takes root and goes deeper it is not reliant on spiritual or emotional highs our worship comes from the deep parts of our being and our faith is secure in our hearts where we can meet God in silents as an individual. When the Holy Spirit is at work in us He causes us to look outside ourselves towards others to see the brokenness around us and stirs a passion in us to DO the will of the Father and the mission of the Son.

Let’s keep Jesus, his word and mission as our focus. When the Bible, the gifts, the Holy Spirit, the institutional Church, the apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist, music, buildings, etc. become our focus we will always miss the point and fall.

Follow Jesus!

God of this City

Green Sweden

Sweden holds key to going green