Peter’s Thoughts

 All people have a redemption to claim
Long ago Jesus died a redemptive death on a cross
Everyone is free, however, to choose to accept THE CROSS
Though the death and resurrection of Jesus was the redemptive work
His cross still stands as a loud voice shouting out the victory over the eternal death
Everywhere is this cross a symbol, not for the death of Christ, but for his resurrection
In times like these when everything holy about God is questioned and compromised
All of us must remind ourselves of that cross, not its shape, its material, but of its meaning.

I don not claim to be a man of words; hence the poor poetry above.

It is for me very hard to understand how people, that claim to live in forgiveness, cannot accept anything that comes from Livets Ord.  As Livets Ord, finally, raises a cross, then it’s all wrong and bad.  Some claim that it is raised due to pride!!!  How lost these people must be.

It is my prayer that these people will be able to open their eyes, ears, and hearts to see the truth.
To see beyond the possible hurts they might have and accept the work of the Lord that is going on at Livets Ord.

Yes, I do have the right NOT to read Aletheia and all its garbage.  But I do have compassion to reach out to my brothers and sisters and help them understand the truth.
I also think that Aletheia has a few good things to say and can be used for something good.  It will take some work but it’s worth it.

Aletheia, Pro Christo et Veritate

I remember back in the day when Livets Ord built the new church building.  The critics where many and the criticism enormous.  One of the things they were critisized for was the lack of a cross.  There was no cross in the building that would indicate that Livets Ord was a church.  Just a few days ago they had a cross put up from the floor of the building through the roof of the building.
Now, 25 years later, one could think that the critics would be happy.  And some of them are.  But if you read http://aletheia.se/2008/06/08/ulf-ekman-i-dagen/ you can wittness how some Chrisitian brothers and sisters have some rather tremendous problems with this cross.

The discussion is so silly that one might think that……I am not sure what to think.

Let us always be glad for the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ which took place on that cross.�

UPDATE!!! yet one more entry on Aletheia  regarding this cross http://aletheia.se/2008/07/03/14-meter-stolthet-eller-verkligt-kors/#comment-95118
I wonder what Jesus is thinking about this discussion.  He must be devestated.  Or, what do you think Jesus feels right now regarding this discussion?

http://tammyholm.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-spy-with-my-little-eye.html

http://www.ministriestoday.com/news/archives/062408.html

The above link is to a well established Christian Magazine.  The Pew forum which this article mentions is a very reliable source.  We are not talking about Wikipedia and “So and so said…”  This is real stuff.
Add to this that the american church has been without positive growth the last decade, Barna and Pew forum and other sources.
Islam, Mormonism, Wicken, and other religions are growing while Christianity is walking backwards!

My only comment  WWJD – What Would Jesus Do?
WAYD – What Are You Doing?  Oh, that is right, God is the one doing the work, right?  Sorry, but you and I are those who need to make diciples!

Brother, Malin, Milton, Milly,

Thank you so much for giving me a few months to look forward to your visit.  Thank you for staying as long as you did.  Thank you for being YOU and sharing YOU with us!
We love you and will miss you so much!  I wish you the very best in everything. May all things work out to the best for you love the Lord!

Robert and family, hope to see you soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mother (super blogger) and dad, hope to see you soooooon tooooo!!!

I better keep this list to the immediate of the immediate family

I belong to a Church. I belong to the Church of the living God. Some refer to it as a Universal Church. The Universal Church exists of many local churches and all the beleivers in the world.
I am sad because of how this church functions, how this church is filled with politics, selfishness, doctrines, dogmas, and so much else.
We live our lives based on principles or points. Five points to a better life with God, or How to give your way to financial freedom.
Churches are growing like never before, local churches. But there is still no positive growth in the Universal Church. More people are leaving the church than what is being added.
How does the principles of increase work with the sinking number of Christians? What do we need to sow in order to receive more souls into the kingdom of God? Wait a minute, Jesus already did sow something. Did He not die on the cross to enable anyone and everyone to receive salvation? I am pretty sure He did!
But how can anyone and everyone turn to the Lord unless they hear the word/Gospel?
They cannot hear unless someone tells them. Are we telling? I think we are telling, but–What are we telling?

Jesus said that we need to seek his kingdom and his righteousness first and then everything else would be ok, no need to worry about the principles of success. Why? Because, if we love God with our entire being and we seek him in everything and appreciete his work in everything, then we can love our neighbour like we ought to love him or her. And the people we love we are willing to tell about the kingdom that we so diligently are seeking. When I fell in love with Tammy I told others about her. The people I told first were the ones that I loved the most, my family, my mom and dad. Was it the same for you? Do you share your treasures with the people you love? So, if we love God with our entire being then He will impart from his life into our lives. And as we are filled with him, then we will start to love like him. If we love like him, then we will start to have compassion and passion like him. The Christian life is thus about sharing and loving and not about achieving. Jesus calls us to work hard with everything we are doing. Hence, being Christian is in a sense about achieving but not about achieving for myself but for God!

So do we love God? “This I have against you, that you have lost your first love……..” Wow, God actually has something against us? He really wants our love.
There was a time where I started to understand more about loving God and the First Love. I came to realize that I did not have that love. I prayed and asked God to give it to me. After a year of seeking God and asking for the First Love, He gave it to me. Wow, that truly changed my life. If you do not feel like you LOVE God with the first love. Then ask Him to teach you about it, ask Him to reveal it to you. It is a challenge. But I love you too much not to let you know that there is more to being a Christian than just to have peace, there is a love to God that will drive and compell you. There is a love to God that functions like a force inside you.

What am I trying to say?
I am grieved over what I see in the body of Christ. I am afraid that we are not, in the church, in general, not pleaseing God. We are not doing what he asked us to do. The Bible teaches us to love not with words but with actions. It is easy to say something during the church service, but do we live it? Have you said that you LOVE your neighbour? How does that show in your life? GOD asks of us to act out our love for the people next to us in the same way as we act out the love to ourselves. Do we even have the attitude of loving others? Do we even seek his kingdom.

The statistics state that less than  4% in Sweden attends church. In the USA the numbers are higher. But guess what, in one generatin, the numbers will be the same here in the USA. Is it all about numbers……….
No it is not. It is not about making the church grow. Some say that Jesus saved the most important to last (great commission, being the most important). I am not so sure about that. He said that the greatest commandement was to love our neighbours and love God with our entire being. That is what it is all about.

My dream is that the church (you and I) will see God as He really is. Pastor Ulf Ekman just recently said that we get to know him by praying. This is so true. we also get to know Him by reading about him, talking about him, seeking him and his nature in his creation. But we must keep the focus on him. We are not called to do this in order to make the end times to come sooner. No, we are called to seek him because he loves us and created us in his likeness to be able to commune with him.

There was a time where my love to Tammy was very emotional. My heart literally jumped when I saw her. It is not like that today. When I see my wife today it surely connects with me. But the love, respect, and connectedness I have for Tammy today has developed to a different level. I love her with my entire being. I clean the house because I love her. I fill her car with gas because I love her. I scrape the ice off her car because I love her. I listen to her because I love her. I would do anything for her… It has been said that when men come home from work, they just want to sit down in peace and quite. This while their wife wants to talk and talk and talk. So….what happens, some people fight over this. But if there is love, than I choose to put my own desires and needs away and I listen to the one that I love.

My relationship to the Lord has also developed. And I totally love his precense.  There was a time that I was very emotional about Him.  My love was based on feelings and knowledge.  Today, I do not always feel God.  I do not have to feel God in order to love Him.  I can look out through my window and see his creation and love Him for it.  I can look at my family and love God for it.  My entire being is grasping for more of Him, I see Him reflected in the creation, in people, in events, and I hope people can see Him and his nature through me and my actions.

This blogg was written a long time ago.  I did not want to publish it at the time since it might be a little “pushy.”   I wrote this while studying the Church as a whole.  It is rather obvious that the church is in a sick state.  That does not mean that your relationship with God is bad, it means that the church as a whole as too much garbage going on.  NEWSFLASH!!! read Paul’s words and you will see that the church has always had junk…..NEWSFLASH!!!! read the entire Bible and you will see that people have had junk going on since the very beginning.  So is that an excuse???  No, that is just history.  God has enabled us to live according to his heart, Jesus did it all for us and God’s enormous grace has given us the Holy Spirit.  What else do we need???

Ok, so an old blogg written in  a time where I saw a sick church with many failing preachers and pastors etc.  What do you think about the church today?  Expand your thinking to see beyond your local church.  Please let me know.  Also, what do you think can be done to change things.  If you think things are not the way they are supposed to be, then we ought to change, right?

 Again,  I love you and miss you!

As a was looking for jobs back in April I found a positionthat looked great as a network enineer. The company was also great.
They contacted me for an interview and yesterdaywas the interview.
My first feeling aboutthe “guy” was kinda not good. He wasnot very politeand we just didnot connect, from myside of the table.

Thefirst thing hesaid as the interview started was “The guy we are looking for isnotyou!” (paraphrased). The rest of the interview was short, aboutthe minutes.

Thisyoung ITDirector said things that would normally make a person sad. But Iwas relieved whenI left. I donot thinkI wouldlike to work for him!!Sad as it itbecause the job soundedreally good.

Oh well, there are morejobs outthere. Go get themtiger.

This post was written on mylaptop.as you can see myspacebar does not work so well.Normally I correctthe problembutthis time Ithought that I should write thingsas theyreally are.However, I am surprisedof howgood thespacebar worked today.

See you later
I am anxiouslywaiting tostartmy more spiritually and socially challenging blog.Kepp checkingback forupdates.

My first memory of this man was during a summer bibleschool in 1990 (I think).  He was one of the leaders of the school and left a great impression on me.  The impression was this: “SHUT UP!!!”
He was gathering the many teens to announce the soccer scores in Pilsbo.  As he stood there noone listened to him.  Everyone was rude and acted like, well like teens.  I have liked and loved that man eversince.

A few years later we ended up being neighbours in Uppsala. He was an awesome painter and I was a teenager growing up. 
We had many moments together that have built a great relationship and so many beatiful memories.
He was and is a man of God.  As he has helped me to grow and develop, I have watched him grow and develop.  What an awesome man he is.
And that is what he is, a man!  He is a transperant person.  Never did I see him show a side of himself that was not true.  Was he perfect, meaning without mistakes?  No. not at all!  But he was perfect in the fact that he learned from his mistakes, a humble man willing to change.

Well, I can go on and on about this man.  And I will.  Why. because I liked the 80s and the 90s.  I needed good and strong leaders around me to help me walk on the narrow path of Christianity.  And  guess what, I am  a believer in grace!  By grace am I saved, not by works, not by staying away from sin.  But the salvation I received made me want to stay away and by the awesome work of God’s grace did I have the ability to stay away from sin.  It gave me the ability to abide to rules of the school I attended.  Was the 80s and 90s terrible.  No I think it was great. 

Janne, and many with you, I am very thankful for your friendship, the great example you were and are, the many times we spent together and the wonderful memories that has given, your wisdom, your patience, and så vidare.  You Rock Man!
To me you have always been a great leader.  Thank you for your comments on jonathan.ekman.nu.  I wish we could help all our friends that are hurting.  I hurt for them.  And if you are out there and I ever hurt you, I am sorry!

Love you All!!!

PS. LJ, vredens druvor och fridens liljor, var är din blogg???

As I was driving towards Denver on I 70 in Kansans…
All of the sudden the sky was wide open and rain poured down like I have never seen it before, kind of.

I stopped for a minute and then kept driving.  It cleared up and the sun blessed me with some beatiful sights.  You know how it can look with fresh rain in the air, clouds hanging low, and the sun coming through the clouds in some places.  IT was awesome.  Then, bang bang bang hail was shooting down faster, harder, and bigger than I have ever seen in my life.  I had to pull over since I could not see anything because of the hail.  Man I got scared!  I have friends who got their cars filled with large holes in hail storms.  Hail can go through the roof of your car! I was scared! Turned the raido to a local station. They said that there was a tornado going east on I 70 and it was right at the location where  I was pulled over!  As fast as the storm hit it was over.  I called my wife and parents and told them to pray.  I felt very helpless.  The storm stopped right after those phonecalls.  And I could not find one little dent on our rental moving truck or on the car I was towing. 
I would say that God had protected me!

Excited I am as my brother Johan with family will be visiting us soon!!!

I wish you all the very best!

I experienced something the other day. It got me thinking of  a Christian Analogy. Often we live life without knowing what is available to us. We might be content with only knowing Swedish. Because why should I know Spanish if I never come across someone that only speaks Spanish?

Well, we often hear about the poor lady living with almost nothing. She was poor, sick, and lonely. Her house was fairly empty, all she had was something hanging on the wall.  Turns out that the thing hanging on the wall was a document entitling this lady to a large inheritance.  That is how it is to live life without knowing the riches we have in God.

My version of this story goes like this….
It was Thrusday morning, we are leaving Tulsa to move to Salt Lake City.  I was driving a moving truck rented from Budget.  The truck was a GMC , diesel, and towing a dolly with a Dodge Neon.  I had previously asked the rental firm if the truck was goverend (limited) to drive at higher speeds.  They told me that I would be fine driving about 70Mph.
As we enter Higway 75 Northbound from Tulsa I find to my devastation that the truck will not go any faster than 53 Mph.  That is more than 15Mph less than promised!!!  On a 1300 mile long trip those 15 miles per hour will mean a difference of hours.
Anyways, I accept the terms and become rather content with the speed I am driving.  I notice a few odd things such as, the RPM is way too high, the oil PSI is maxed!!!  This indicates to me that something is wrong.
I keep driving, five hours later (at this time I had lost about two hours of drive time) I am being passed by an other GMC truck from Budget, that truck was doing  70.  Now I get a little upset.  Here I am content with 53Mph, content with not being able to go any faster. I had a need of going faster but I did not know that I could.

Well, I tried to call budget to find out if they knew anything that could be done, but no.
I stopped for lunch and did some research. I found a button on the dash which has the function of downshifting the truck from forth gear to third gear, or from Drive to 3rd. This function came in very handy while driving in the mountains.
The result of my research was that I could depress the button which hindered me from driving in forth gear. Now I could drive 70Mph!!! Also, I got a wonderful tool for downshifting to third gear while driving in the steep hills. What a blessing. 

How often do we accept the situations we are in when we would benefit so much from changing things.  So as a Christian Analogy, how much better would our lives be if we fully understood who we are in Christ and what tools we have been entrusted and how to use them?  If we understood how to live as Christians, or Christ followers…..
More about that later!!!

We are in Salt Lake now, love it here.
Miss you! Love you!