Jeannette and I are happy to be (favorite) aunt and uncle to no less than nine nephews right now (seven who speak English, and two who prefer Danish). Jeannette has three more sisters who are pregnant and will give birth this year, and lo and behold....we just heard that one of them will have a GIRL! Wow...our first niece! Cool! We still don't know what the other two sisters will have, so we might have more nieces coming up/out:-)
Anyway, at the end of 2007 we will have 12 nephews and niece(s) - a football team including a substitute;-)
Torben
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
The birds leave the nest...
It's over. We have just finished yet another Discipleship Training School (DTS) here at Youth With A Mission (YWAM) Kyiv in Ukraine. We had the graduation tonight and it was a great time of honoring God for everything he has done in and through the students the past six months.
We have been extremely blessed with a wonderful group of students. Very different people. From countries as different as Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the United States. Students between the ages of 18 and 40. A wonderful group that came here to Kyiv with one purpose in mind: they really wanted to know God more! And God answered their prayer. They grew and changed. Some more than others. But that's life in discipleship training. It's a process for all of us. And we as leaders celebrate all growth whether it's a tiny little step or a gigantic one. All growth is positive.
We have focused a lot on Truth in this school. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free", Jesus said in John 8:31-32.
And that's the essence of growing as a disciple. Four steps are involved, but too many Christians stop at step 1. Step 1: knowledge of what Jesus has said and done, 2: OBEDIENCE to what Jesus said, 3. Know the TRUTH, and when you know the TRUTH, 4. The TRUTH will set you FREE! If you know and live by the Truth (and Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life) in any area in your life, you can live in freedom. If you follow a lie, you won't live in freedom.
It's been an honor for me to lead these precious students these past six months. I'm proud of them, and I'm looking forward to seeing the positive history they'll be making for God and his kingdom!
Torben "And now, with God's help, I shall become myself" /Søren Kierkegaard (Danish Christian philosopher) - this quote became our school quote. Growing with God as his disciple is not about becoming somebody else. It's about becoming more of who God has created you to be. It's about discovering all the gifts and talents God has put in you. It's about knowing how you, in a unique way, can make a difference in this world.
We have been extremely blessed with a wonderful group of students. Very different people. From countries as different as Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the United States. Students between the ages of 18 and 40. A wonderful group that came here to Kyiv with one purpose in mind: they really wanted to know God more! And God answered their prayer. They grew and changed. Some more than others. But that's life in discipleship training. It's a process for all of us. And we as leaders celebrate all growth whether it's a tiny little step or a gigantic one. All growth is positive.
We have focused a lot on Truth in this school. "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free", Jesus said in John 8:31-32.
And that's the essence of growing as a disciple. Four steps are involved, but too many Christians stop at step 1. Step 1: knowledge of what Jesus has said and done, 2: OBEDIENCE to what Jesus said, 3. Know the TRUTH, and when you know the TRUTH, 4. The TRUTH will set you FREE! If you know and live by the Truth (and Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life) in any area in your life, you can live in freedom. If you follow a lie, you won't live in freedom.
It's been an honor for me to lead these precious students these past six months. I'm proud of them, and I'm looking forward to seeing the positive history they'll be making for God and his kingdom!
Torben "And now, with God's help, I shall become myself" /Søren Kierkegaard (Danish Christian philosopher) - this quote became our school quote. Growing with God as his disciple is not about becoming somebody else. It's about becoming more of who God has created you to be. It's about discovering all the gifts and talents God has put in you. It's about knowing how you, in a unique way, can make a difference in this world.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Men...where are you?
Statistics say that somewhere in between 70 and 75% of all Christian missionaries worldwide are women. Wow...! Good job, women. Today is women's day, and it's truly incredible to look back at the past and see Christian women who have made a massive impact (Mother Teresa, Corrie ten Boom, etc.), but also to look at the present day and age and see how many wonderful, Christian women are changing this world for the Kingdom of God. I'm delighted to see how many women get God's heart for misisons, and choose to forget about social pressure (many female missionaries are single!) in order to serve God and the Body of Christ whole-heartedly.
Enough about the wonderful women. What about us men? Where are we in world missions? Where are the men who are gonna make a difference in the world?
∫We need men
Too few men respond to Christ's calling to GO and make DISCIPLES of all nations. And because of that we don't see as many changes as we could hope for.
The truth is we can't change the world unless men go. It's as simple as that. No matter whether you want to go and evangelize tribal groups in Africa or South America or you have a heart to change lack of justice-laws in Asia or whatever your heart's desire is, we can't do it (at least not good enough!), if no men go.
Many socities are very male-dominated. A woman's voice means practically nothing. That is in itself a huge issue, but it's also a fact that is only changing slowly. The reality is that if we want to reach for example the 1 billion Muslims in the world, we need men! We need men to talk to men. We need men to go and evangelize. We need men to go and model how to run a godly business. We need men to teach men to respect their women. We need men to show and model to young men how to be godly men, husbands and fathers. We need men to show politicians what it is to be a Spirit-led politician.
And where are all the men? Why are there so few men in the church in the first place? And more specifically: why are there so few men involved in missions?
I'm sure there are many reasons. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just gonna suggest a couple of possible reasons. You are free to agree or disagree all you want:-) (see previous blog about comments!)
I think one of the reasons we struggle as a worldwide Church to attract men is that we have de-clawed the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ! Way too often we encounter a Jesus-figure in contemporary, Western evangelical churches (and make no mistake: whatever we see in Western churches eventually spreads to churches in other parts of the world, for better or for worse) that is more of a woman than a man. It's as if we are so affected by the post-modern cry for equality (which in Western Europe means that it't to be point of being a crime to say that there are differences between men and women!) that we forget that men and women are created differently, and that we can't expect men to be very attracted to a female-looking (check out the majority of the Jesus-films...), kid-friendly Jesus.
Yep, Jesus was and is friend of all sinners, women and children included. But he was and is more than every child's best friend.
It's wonderful that we have all kinds of Scriptures in the Bible that show that God is everything in terms of both what is considered feminine and masculine. He is both caring, nurturing, creative, fighter, warrior, avenger, protector and provider. Praise God!
But we seem to forget to tell about God as a man. We seem to forget to tell men what is required from them as men. The responsibility to be the head of the woman. The head of the family. The one upon whom the Spiritual leadership of the marriage and the family rests. That's the way God has ordained things. It's non-debatable. But too many men only get the impression in church and in their homes that they're expected to be nice. Nice. Just nice. (I can find relevant Scriptures later on, if anybody is interested?)
A man should be nice. But a man is also a warrior. A man is called to protect and defend. A man is called to enter into Spiritual Warfare for his wife and children. A man is called to stand strong with God and in God. The calling on a man is big, exciting, difficult, but rewarding! I have learned more about practical, spiritual warfare in my 18 months of marriage than I did through many lectures on the topic. The calling on a man is very practical!
I also think that we struggle to attract men because of the way we often present the Gospel. The Gospel is a calling to come to Christ, turn to him for forgiveness, walk away from the past sin, take up your cross and follow him as a disciple the rest of eternity. That's the full Gospel. But too often we serve a Gospel Light-version to people that only talks about how happy and clappy and rich you'll be if you become a Christian. First of all it's terrible that we don't preach the Gospel that calls disciples to follow Christ and change the world for God's Kingdom (more about that in a later blog-entry). But second of all the Gospel Light-version is just not very appealing to many men.
Men want, due to the way God has created us, adventure, something to fight for and against. We want to take up our crosses, follow Christ, lead our family, make a difference. But we're also afraid. Too many men are not as secure in themselves as they try to look like. There are many hurt men out there. And many hurt Christian men as well. I'm glad that there is a growing focus on men in many churches today, but the need is still great. We need strong, godly, free men. We need men who are ready to take responsibility and change the world. Not just make a lot of money.
We need men who are strong, yet broken. Powerful, yet humble. Visionary, yet trusting God. Leaders, yet servants. Where are they?
Where are you?
The world needs you. The Church needs you. The families need you. God needs you to help change the world.
Men in missions - come and join us! It's worth it!:-) I have a big heart for young men to help them become the world-changers that they are truly called to be, and I hope and pray that many more men will join the global missions work!
Torben
Enough about the wonderful women. What about us men? Where are we in world missions? Where are the men who are gonna make a difference in the world?
∫We need men
Too few men respond to Christ's calling to GO and make DISCIPLES of all nations. And because of that we don't see as many changes as we could hope for.
The truth is we can't change the world unless men go. It's as simple as that. No matter whether you want to go and evangelize tribal groups in Africa or South America or you have a heart to change lack of justice-laws in Asia or whatever your heart's desire is, we can't do it (at least not good enough!), if no men go.
Many socities are very male-dominated. A woman's voice means practically nothing. That is in itself a huge issue, but it's also a fact that is only changing slowly. The reality is that if we want to reach for example the 1 billion Muslims in the world, we need men! We need men to talk to men. We need men to go and evangelize. We need men to go and model how to run a godly business. We need men to teach men to respect their women. We need men to show and model to young men how to be godly men, husbands and fathers. We need men to show politicians what it is to be a Spirit-led politician.
And where are all the men? Why are there so few men in the church in the first place? And more specifically: why are there so few men involved in missions?
I'm sure there are many reasons. For the sake of simplicity, I'm just gonna suggest a couple of possible reasons. You are free to agree or disagree all you want:-) (see previous blog about comments!)
I think one of the reasons we struggle as a worldwide Church to attract men is that we have de-clawed the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ! Way too often we encounter a Jesus-figure in contemporary, Western evangelical churches (and make no mistake: whatever we see in Western churches eventually spreads to churches in other parts of the world, for better or for worse) that is more of a woman than a man. It's as if we are so affected by the post-modern cry for equality (which in Western Europe means that it't to be point of being a crime to say that there are differences between men and women!) that we forget that men and women are created differently, and that we can't expect men to be very attracted to a female-looking (check out the majority of the Jesus-films...), kid-friendly Jesus.
Yep, Jesus was and is friend of all sinners, women and children included. But he was and is more than every child's best friend.
It's wonderful that we have all kinds of Scriptures in the Bible that show that God is everything in terms of both what is considered feminine and masculine. He is both caring, nurturing, creative, fighter, warrior, avenger, protector and provider. Praise God!
But we seem to forget to tell about God as a man. We seem to forget to tell men what is required from them as men. The responsibility to be the head of the woman. The head of the family. The one upon whom the Spiritual leadership of the marriage and the family rests. That's the way God has ordained things. It's non-debatable. But too many men only get the impression in church and in their homes that they're expected to be nice. Nice. Just nice. (I can find relevant Scriptures later on, if anybody is interested?)
A man should be nice. But a man is also a warrior. A man is called to protect and defend. A man is called to enter into Spiritual Warfare for his wife and children. A man is called to stand strong with God and in God. The calling on a man is big, exciting, difficult, but rewarding! I have learned more about practical, spiritual warfare in my 18 months of marriage than I did through many lectures on the topic. The calling on a man is very practical!
I also think that we struggle to attract men because of the way we often present the Gospel. The Gospel is a calling to come to Christ, turn to him for forgiveness, walk away from the past sin, take up your cross and follow him as a disciple the rest of eternity. That's the full Gospel. But too often we serve a Gospel Light-version to people that only talks about how happy and clappy and rich you'll be if you become a Christian. First of all it's terrible that we don't preach the Gospel that calls disciples to follow Christ and change the world for God's Kingdom (more about that in a later blog-entry). But second of all the Gospel Light-version is just not very appealing to many men.
Men want, due to the way God has created us, adventure, something to fight for and against. We want to take up our crosses, follow Christ, lead our family, make a difference. But we're also afraid. Too many men are not as secure in themselves as they try to look like. There are many hurt men out there. And many hurt Christian men as well. I'm glad that there is a growing focus on men in many churches today, but the need is still great. We need strong, godly, free men. We need men who are ready to take responsibility and change the world. Not just make a lot of money.
We need men who are strong, yet broken. Powerful, yet humble. Visionary, yet trusting God. Leaders, yet servants. Where are they?
Where are you?
The world needs you. The Church needs you. The families need you. God needs you to help change the world.
Men in missions - come and join us! It's worth it!:-) I have a big heart for young men to help them become the world-changers that they are truly called to be, and I hope and pray that many more men will join the global missions work!
Torben
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Comments are welcome!!:-)
Hey!
I know you're out there, dear readers. I hear from some of you that you read this blog and have thoughts about what I'm writing. Why not post a comment then? It would be interesting for me to hear thoughts/complaints/criticism/encouragements/whatever regarding this blog. I enjoy writing about the different thoughts I have, but I would like to be better. And as a citizen of a system that has taught me much about constructive criticism (Denmark), I would like to receive such so I can improve!
Thanks!
Torben
I know you're out there, dear readers. I hear from some of you that you read this blog and have thoughts about what I'm writing. Why not post a comment then? It would be interesting for me to hear thoughts/complaints/criticism/encouragements/whatever regarding this blog. I enjoy writing about the different thoughts I have, but I would like to be better. And as a citizen of a system that has taught me much about constructive criticism (Denmark), I would like to receive such so I can improve!
Thanks!
Torben
Friday, March 02, 2007
Thank you!
Hey! Kiev, Ukraine, March 2, 2007
Wow...what a time in the United States, Denmark and England. We’ve been so richly blessed these last 2,5 months. It’s been wonderful for Jeannette and I to be able to catch up with friends and family members. It’s been great to have so many opportunities to speak about the work we do here in Kiev, Ukraine in various churches in America and Denmark. It’s been wonderful to be able to eat familiar food (no food beat my mom’s food!), go to familiar places, drive in familiar cars, hang out with familiar people, watch familiar tv-shows and movies, relax in familiar couches – all in all it’s been a wonderful time!
We are happy that God gave us all these encouragements these past months. We just wrote down all the blessings that we could think of, and after three pages on the computer, we were still not done.
Our last visit on our trip (which included eight plane trips!) was to our old Youth With A Mission-base, Holmsted Manor, in beautiful countryside England. It was great to be there, meet familiar faces and a lot of new ones, and get a chance to teach on Discipleship in the Discipleship Training School (DTS) there. It was a wonderful, open and teachable group, and I very much enjoyed teaching, discussing and trying to help wherever I could.
God is good! Will be back with more (controversial/interesting/thought provoking) articles soon:-)
And a little piece of travel advice: don’t have your Swiss Army pocket knife in your pocket when you travel by plane....I just lost mine that way. I checked my pocket right before the security check, found my knife and just decided to hand it to the security check lady straight away. I guess there was no way they would allow me to bring a knife, when you can hardly bring a bottle of water on planes these days...;-)
Two small travel stories from the big world: When we arrived in London Heathrow, Europe’s largest airport, there were big, beautiful British Airways-colored banners wishing us welcome in all kinds of languages. I could understand 10-15 of them and could recognize that they all said “welcome”, but the Danish one said “Glæde Sig”, which makes absolutely no sense in Danish, and translated means something like “Forward To”. I did tell some personel in the airport about the mistake, while adding that it would probably only be 10 million people (Denmark and Norway) who would notice anyway:-)
And in Miami’s International Airport: There were hundreds of signs saying how many ounces of liquid you could bring on the connecting flights in America, but nowhere did it say how many ml. you could bring. I did mention that to a security worker that it might make life easier for them, if they wrote some signs saying the allowed measurements in milliliters, since they deal with tens of thousands of international passengers every day and since ounces is really only used in the US and a few like-minded countries. To my surprise, he looked as if I had told him something surprising:-)
God bless, Torben
Wow...what a time in the United States, Denmark and England. We’ve been so richly blessed these last 2,5 months. It’s been wonderful for Jeannette and I to be able to catch up with friends and family members. It’s been great to have so many opportunities to speak about the work we do here in Kiev, Ukraine in various churches in America and Denmark. It’s been wonderful to be able to eat familiar food (no food beat my mom’s food!), go to familiar places, drive in familiar cars, hang out with familiar people, watch familiar tv-shows and movies, relax in familiar couches – all in all it’s been a wonderful time!
We are happy that God gave us all these encouragements these past months. We just wrote down all the blessings that we could think of, and after three pages on the computer, we were still not done.
Our last visit on our trip (which included eight plane trips!) was to our old Youth With A Mission-base, Holmsted Manor, in beautiful countryside England. It was great to be there, meet familiar faces and a lot of new ones, and get a chance to teach on Discipleship in the Discipleship Training School (DTS) there. It was a wonderful, open and teachable group, and I very much enjoyed teaching, discussing and trying to help wherever I could.
God is good! Will be back with more (controversial/interesting/thought provoking) articles soon:-)
And a little piece of travel advice: don’t have your Swiss Army pocket knife in your pocket when you travel by plane....I just lost mine that way. I checked my pocket right before the security check, found my knife and just decided to hand it to the security check lady straight away. I guess there was no way they would allow me to bring a knife, when you can hardly bring a bottle of water on planes these days...;-)
Two small travel stories from the big world: When we arrived in London Heathrow, Europe’s largest airport, there were big, beautiful British Airways-colored banners wishing us welcome in all kinds of languages. I could understand 10-15 of them and could recognize that they all said “welcome”, but the Danish one said “Glæde Sig”, which makes absolutely no sense in Danish, and translated means something like “Forward To”. I did tell some personel in the airport about the mistake, while adding that it would probably only be 10 million people (Denmark and Norway) who would notice anyway:-)
And in Miami’s International Airport: There were hundreds of signs saying how many ounces of liquid you could bring on the connecting flights in America, but nowhere did it say how many ml. you could bring. I did mention that to a security worker that it might make life easier for them, if they wrote some signs saying the allowed measurements in milliliters, since they deal with tens of thousands of international passengers every day and since ounces is really only used in the US and a few like-minded countries. To my surprise, he looked as if I had told him something surprising:-)
God bless, Torben
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