Voddie and Stuart visiting Gothenburg!

Here are a few photos from our summer conference guests, Voddie Baucham and Stuart Brogden.  Go see Voddie's sermons here:   http://gibk.se/sample-page/predikningar/?preacher=18

And while I'm at it, this is a perfect chance to point out some of the historical theological points of interest from our neck of the woods:
1. Let's start with this statue, in memory of some of the first baptist "believer's baptisms" that took part against the law in Vallersvik (see below for more details).  Imagine those first Baptists, voluntarily jumping in a VERY cold sea (late September) to be baptized, ready to count the cost....

2.  Here is the site where those newly baptized went, that same day in 1848, to recieve teaching, have their first communion, and make F.O. Nilsson a deacon.  Borekulla stugan was used for a long time as the place of the first Baptist church services. 

The sea and beach are just to the right...

Daniel as tour guide...

 And now some photos from GIBK's summer conference with Voddie Baucham.  GIBK, the little church plant that would grow similarly with F.O. Nilsson in the solidly biblical Swedish Baptist church that existed back in the 1800's.

Lots of discussion...

Stuart, the expert bookseller. 

Voddie's spanish came in useful in Sweden too!

A portion of the group at the conference. 

Historical Details:
1. http://www.pietisten.org/xxvi/1/nilsson.html "...The following year, Nilsson invited the Danish Baptist pastor A.P. Förster to his native province of Halland, where Förster baptized Nilsson’s wife, two of his brothers, and two other men in the sea at Vallersvik on September 21, 1848. Förster quietly returned to Denmark, leaving the six Swedes to organize their country’s first Baptist congregation. Nilsson would soon make a trip to Hamburg to be formally ordained as a Baptist minister. By the spring of 1849, the little Swedish Baptist church had 35 members. The following year, Nilsson encountered the aforementioned mob and subsequently was tried and sentenced to banishment for spreading false dogma. In 1851, he applied directly to the king for mercy, but King Oscar I would not lift the sentence. Nilsson went to Copenhagen in exile. Given his numerous international connections, it is perhaps not surprising that Nilsson’s banishment received international press attention, much of it brimming with criticism of the Swedish government."

2  http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Olaus_Nilsson."Den 21 september 1848 döptes Nilssons hustru, hans två bröder och ett par andra personer av den danske baptistpredikanten A.P. Förster vid Vallersvik i Frillesås (i nuvarande Kungsbacka kommun). Samma kväll bildades Sveriges baptistförsamling i Borekulla-stugan i Landa socken strax norr om Frillesås samhälle (en slags Borekulla-stugan-replika finns i området och tillhörVallersvik-anläggningen)." 

3. http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_baptistf%C3%B6rsamling  "På nyårsaftonen samma år döpte Nilsson ytterligare fyra män i Göta älvs mynning (vid Käringberget). Under vintern ökade skaran av döpta. I mars 1849 skrev Nilsson, i ett brev till pastor Ira R. Steward i New York: ”Vi är nu 28, märk 28 troende och döpta i Sverige".

To the lake with Frida and Micaiah visiting!

Lydia, Micaiah, and Markus really enjoyed their summer trip to the lake. 

...sweet to see them holding hands here. 

There is something special about cousins...

 Come on, let's play!

 And another cousin on the way!

Sunsets in Bergsjön

Summertime is beautiful here...including the sunsets.  

But another beauty of nature is captured by my brother in law, Jonas Norén. Go check it out: http://jonasaxelnoren.blogspot.se/

Systematic Theology part 9

Do we really trust and obey God's word?  Here is some more from Chapter 4 of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology.

"...To disbelieve or disobey ANY word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey GOD himself."

"Throughout the history of the church, the greatest preachers have been those who have recognized that they have no authority in themselves and have seen their task as being to explain the words of Scripture and apply them clearly to the lives of their hearers."

"Essentially, they stood in the pulpit, pointed to the biblical text, and said in effect to the congregation, "this is what this verse means.  Do you see that meaning here as well?  Then you must believe it and obey it with all your heart, for God himself, your Creator and your Lord, is saying this to you today!"

Truthfulness of Scripture:

Titus 1:2 speaks of "God who never lies," and thus we can trust his whole word.

2 Samuel 7:28, David says to God, "You are God, and your words are true..."

Therefore all the words in Scripture are completely true and without error in any part.

AND, God's words are the ultimate standard of truth...

Jesus prays in John 17, "Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth."  Jesus doesn't use the word, "your word is true", but rather that God's word is TRUTH itself.  The Bible is the final standard of Truth.

God, who knew past, present and future, can therefore know and write the Bible in such a way that no "fact" that appears in the future can contradict scripture.   But, we might have to re-examine Scripture to see if it really teaches what we though it taught.

Written scripture is our final authority.  It is important to look at the context of what the writers were writing in the Bible, but to never put words in their mouths that they didn"t actually say.

Good questions from Wayne Grudem:
1.  Who would try to make people want to disbelieve something in Scripture???
2.  Is there anything in the Bible that you do not want to believe? Or Obey?
3.  Do you think that trusting and obeying everything that Scripture affirms will ever lead you into sin or away from God's blessing in your life?

Next time...the Inerrancy of Scripture.

Vackert Bergsjön

Har kommer några bilder från våran kyrkans Gudstjänst ut på Bergsjön sjön.

Ullared..the "super walmart" of Sweden....

Walmart is just one of those things that Americans take for granted.  To have a store (even if you might not like Walmart for various reasons) that you can buy almost everything you need, is actually quite a luxury.

In Sweden, you have to really search and go to a bunch of different stores to get what you need...but then there is the country's one exception, called Gekås, Ullared.    This is really the one and only superwalmart of Sweden.

Good thing it is an hour from our house....the bi-yearly visits are enough!




And just for anyone, who is planning to come this way, here is their blog with little daily updates of what new stuff is coming to the store.  http://www.gekas.se/blogg

They don't post their prices, but most of the time they are the best in the country (in general).  My sister in law Maria is the professional about knowing and comparing Gekås prices.