Upphör…

Från och med nu flyttar jag min blogg Tro och teologi till en annan, riktigare adress:

http://troochteologi.wordpress.com

Don Fransisco

När jag nu är i farten med att tipsa om Keith Green och bra kristen musik från Jesusrörelsen, så kommer jag att tänka på Don Fransisco, samtida med Keith men nu levande. Det är något av ”samma ande” i hans musik, texterna är ofta bibelberättelser, och jag har ofta förstummats över skönheten i Guds kärlek och nåd och härlighet som blivit tydlig genom dessa sånger.

Han kallar sin organisation Rocky Mountain Ministries: ”Our goal is to put God’s Word to music, and to send it around the world.” Och skickar ut det gör de – sångerna är tillgängliga på MP3 för fri nedladdning. Rekommenderas.

http://www.rockymountainministries.org/membersite.html

Trumpet of Salvation to Israel

På tal om Keith Green nedan har jag också haft förmånen att lära känna en lärjunge till Keith Green, Jacob Damkani, en messiansk-judisk troende som bodde i Keith Greens kollektiv och inspirerades under ett halvår-år.

Nu förestår Jacob ett evangelisationsarbete i Israel, Trumpet of Salvation to Israel, och jag brukar översätta hans material för den svenska stödföreningen – det finns en bok med berättelsen om en ”vanlig” judes väg till tro på sin Messias Jesus (man får också lära sig en hel del om den kristna trons judiska rötter), en CD-skiva med lovsånger parallellt på hebreiska och svenska, en DVD-film om evangelisationsarbetet i Israel och ett nyhetsbrev med förkunnelse och senaste nytt från från evangelisationen i Israel. Materialet finns på Trumpets sida (självbiografin och det övriga) och man kan få det gratis hemskickat till sig här i Sverige, enklast genom att kontakta den svenska stödföreningen på trumpsal@telia.com.

Keith Green

Tänkte lägga in lite länktips till något som var en stor inspiration för mig under de första åren som troende i tonåren… ja faktiskt den allra främsta förebilden: Keith Green, radikal kristen musiker och förkunnare som var en del av 70-talets Jesusrörelse i USA. Efter att han och hans fru Melody, båda judiska ungdomar i Kalifornien, upptäckte frälsningen i Jesus gick de ut 100% på denna väg och kallade människor till helöverlåtelse åt Gud genom sin musik, de öppnade sitt hem för hemlösa och narkomaner vilket till slut blev en kristen kommunitet, Last Days Ministries, med mer än hundra lärjungar i flera hus. Han berörde miljontals människor innan han tragiskt rycktes bort 1982 i en flygkrasch, endast 28 år gammal.

Här är en länk till några av hans sånger:
http://www.lastdaysministries.org/keith/music.html

Här finns ett antal artiklar – utmanande, omskakande, inspirerande – från LDM om olika ämnen i det kristna livet:
http://www.lastdaysministries.org/articles/articleindex.html

Church humor etc

Här är lite docs med lite roligheter jag fått på email genom åren…
DOC: Church humor

DOC: Humor in English

DOC: Humor på svenska

Avigsidan

En hel del språkliga roligheter hittar man på Avigsidan. Här är länkar till de sidor jag tyckte var bäst:

English Pearls:
http://www.avigsidan.com/avigsidan/avigt004.html

Svenska grodor:
http://www.avigsidan.com/avigsidan/avigt005.html

Betraktelse: Friendship

Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people
before meeting the right one so that
when we finally meet the right person,
we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

When the door of happiness closes,
another opens, but often times we look
so long at the closed door that we don’t
see the one which has been opened for us.

The best kind of friend is the kind you
can sit on a porch and swing with,
never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best
conversation you’ve ever had.

It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve
got until we lose it, but it’s also true
that we don’t know what we’ve been
missing until it arrives.

Don’t go for looks; they can deceive.
Don’t go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile because
it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow
to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others’ shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily
have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that
comes along their way.

When you were born, you were crying and
everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
you’re the one who is smiling and
everyone around you is crying.

Story: Good Gifts

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer’s showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man’s name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, ”With all your money you give me a Bible?” and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father’s important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.

With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, ”And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly father which is in heaven, give to those who ask Him?”

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer’s name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words…PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

Story: A Father’s Love Letter

My Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you…Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up…Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways…Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered…Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image…Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being…Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring…Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived…Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation…Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book…Psalm 39:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live…Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made…Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother’s womb…Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born…Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me…John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love…1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you simply because you are my child and I am your father…1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could…Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father…Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand…James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs…Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope…Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love…Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore…Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing…Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you…Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession…Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul…Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvellous things…Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me…Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart…Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires…Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine…Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager…2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles…2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are broken-hearted, I am close to you…Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart…Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes and will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth…Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus…John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed….John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being…Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you…Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins…2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled…2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you…1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love…Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me…1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again…Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen…Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father…Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is… Will you be my child?…John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you…Luke 15:11-32

Story: The Choice

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church’s pastor once again slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit, and gave a very brief introduction of his childhood friend. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit to speak.

”A father, his son, and a friend of the son were sailing off the Pacific Coast,” he began, ”when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean.”

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.

He continued, ”Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life…to which boy he would throw the other end of the line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw the line to his son’s friend. By the time he pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered.”

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straighter in the pew, waiting for the next words to come out of the old man’s mouth.

”The father,” he continued, ”knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an Eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us.”

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the church.

Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side. ”That was a nice story,” politely started one of the boys, ”but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

”Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, ”It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that THAT story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me. You see…I was the son’s friend.”