Implementing the Master plan

Last week-end in Vårberg (my small community in Stockholm) I had a wonderful opportunity to Serve. We of Elim Church of Skärholmen had the opportunity to serve the community of Vårberg by washing windows at the mall, weeding the flowerbeds and cleaning up around the children’s playground. (check out the pictures by my links called “Working in Vårberg”)

Recently Skärholmen and Vårberg in particular have been getting bad publicity! The newspapers have been writing articles about how...difficult this area of Stockholm is. They say it is not safe and that there is a lot of violence here. Even the people of Vårberg have run their community down by talking bad about it and standing by and watching as things go the wrong way.

Now I must admit that there are surely nicer places to live than Vårberg. Stockholm is a big city and as all big cities there are some areas that are nicer than others. But, hey, Vårberg is a very unique area that offers opportunities that cannot be equaled just anywhere. I am talking about the multicultural aspect about Vårberg that is fascinating. Now, I am not saying that this multicultural aspect was planned and that politicians all decided that Vårberg would be created as a multicultural community that would offer possibilities to all. But, whether it was planned or not it does exist now and we need to make the most of it.

So, last weekend we had the opportunity to serve our community. What a privilege to have an opportunity to serve. I live in Vårberg and this is my community by choice. I don’t want to sit around and watch it go down. I want to be a part of its growth and development. This desire within me is not unique to me. Jesus speaks about serving others in all that we do and say. Over and over again in the Scriptures I read verses about serving others. Jesus himself did not come to serve Him self but he came to love and serve others. He laid the foundation of all that I do when He said, “love your neighbor as yourself”. Very few people in this world hate themselves. Most people go to the opposite extreme and in their actions they show that they love themselves a little too much. Jesus came to earth to give him self to others in all that He did. His ultimate act of giving to others was His sacrificial offering of Himself in our place when He died for the sins of all mankind.

Jesus laid the foundation. This foundation rests upon the principle of each of us giving ourselves and loving others. This foundation is cemented in the loving our neighbors just as we love ourselves. Now God looks to us to continue to build on the foundation that He laid. We don’t die for the sins of the world, Jesus did that as only He could do, and He also arose from the dead as a sign that all has been made right and now we can have a relationship with the living God. So our job is to build on this foundation of love by serving others and in doing so we become a light in a dark world.

In a town meeting recently I heard an elderly person complain about lights in the center of Vårberg that are not working as they should. They said that there needs to be better lighting so that we have a safer place to live. By serving others in Vårberg we bring light to a dark place. Yes, we need better lighting in the city center, but even more important we need more people that want to serve the community of Vårberg and be light that shines upon it.

Islands

This Spring I have been visiting islands. That’s right islands! I have been to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Åland. The islands I am talking about are not those places where Scandinavians go for fun in the sun like the Canaries and Malta etc. These are places in the Nordic countries in the middle of oceans where people live work and survive. They are beautiful places and very fun to discover. No, they are not places to go to get a sun tan. But hey, I was born and raised in Florida so I have seen and enjoyed the sun most of my life. These Islands have so much culture, beauty and personality. They are really amazing places and I have also met some wonderful people on these Islands that have both blessed me and encouraged me.

The job that I have as a regional director with Greater Europe Mission means that I travel and look for opportunities to work together with Christians nationals in the Nordic Baltic countries. We in Greater Europe Mission are seeking ways that we can see witnessing fellowships of Christians within reach of every person in Europe. It is because of my work that I have had the opportunities to visit the island of Iceland and the Islands of the Faroes. I think in the future we will be able to work with Christian nationals on these two Islands. As for Åland, well that was just a nice place for my wife and I to take a weekend off and visit.

In my links I have given you some pictures to look at concerning each of these Islands. Check them out on the right hand side of my blog site under links.

But one thing more I want to add in this blog is that as I travel around and meet people in different parts of the world I am more and more convinced that... “No man is an Island”, We live in different places in this world and do different things but in the end we are dependent upon each other and connected to each other. The Bible tells an interesting story about this. In Genesis chapter 4 we read that Adam and Eve (the first people created) had two sons, Cain and Abel. One day they offered sacrifices to God and Abel’s sacrifice, we read, was accepted but Cain’s was not. We are never really told why. We understand from the text that they both must have understood what they were doing and both must have understood what the Lord required from them. God doesn’t let Cain just walk away. The Lord reaches out to Cain and tells him what he must do to have a relationship with God but Cain is just not interested in doing it God’s way. Cain is so upset that he not only doesn’t want to do things God’s way but he is gets mad at his brother because his brother does want to do things like God requires.

Cain’s anger turns to murder. He takes his brother Abel for a walk out in the fields and kills him. Cain thought that he could get away with it but God hold’s him accountable and He asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain tries to walk away from his responsibility and answers God with, “Am I my brothers keeper?” In other words Cain is answering God by saying Abel is not my responsibility!

The writer of Genesis is telling us very clearly that we are responsible for our actions and for each other. No man is an island. We are all living here on planet earth and in ways that are hard to understand we are all connected to each other. If we are to survive on planet earth we must help each other and take care of each other. We are our brother’s keeper whether our brother lives in Africa, Greenland or where ever. What happens in one country effects another. We think the world is getting smaller but it has always been small and we are all connected. We are not little islands out in the Atlantic Ocean that can live and die on our own. In some strange and mysterious way we are all connected. We are our brother’s keeper.

Check out my pictures.