#andwerehoff Stockholm-Hunnebostrand-Strömstad-Fredrikstad
These have been quieter and more reflective days in Sweden. Precious time in God's beautiful Word and world. We stayed outside of Stockholm in Boo, and felt as if we were on top of the world. The sun set late, and twilight lasted forever. It was the perfect place to work on my talks for Danish Oase which begins on Saturday. My talks run from Sunday night through Friday. Please pray for me. As Joe Johnson was leading us in a guided prayer time today, I felt relief as Jesus was making it clear to me that he has something to communicate to his people in Denmark,and that they were not "my" talks. #true
Stockholm is fancy. My beautiful gals fit right in!
Sweden's Riksdag is the center of government, right next to the palace, right next to Stockholm's Cathedral.
Stockholm Storkyrkan (large church) is the diocese's cathedral. Olaus Petri brought the reformation to Sweden here, and used to be interred under the pulpit that was installed during his time. He had studied theology in Wittenberg, and became inebriated with the gospel under the teaching of Luther et al.
We enjoyed the Vasa Museum http://www.vasamuseet.se/ and nearby Skansen (folk museum +++).
The next day we drove from Stockholm in the east to Hunnebostrand on the west coast, north of Gothenberg. My fried, Andreas Hernquist is the lead priest in the parish in and around Hunnebostrad. We had a delightful time with him, his wife Maria, and son Alexander. We stayed in the Prästgård (parsonage) which we found out was influential in the founding of Swedish Oase. When charismatic renewal began in the Swedish church, people gathered here in tents. The parsonage was surrounded by tents, and they had a shower and laundry installed in the cellar with a separate entrance so all the guests could stay. Now, Hunnebostrand is popular with many summer guests. The worship attendance at the parish church is much larger in the summer. The history of renewal is evident in both the Hunnebostrand and Bovallstrand churches.
I preached in Hunnebostrand (below) at 9:30am. The organist was excellent, and Andreas (extremely gifted musically) added trumpet. The congregation was very responsive. The summer guests included
Lars-Göran and Elisabeth Lönnermark. The Rt Rev. Lönnermark is the bishop emeritus of Skara. His wife was the translator of David Watson (Charismatic Anglican from St Michael le Belfrey in York) into Swedish. If you want to know more about him: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars-G%C3%B6ran_L%C3%B6nnermark
I loved the sacristy, a wonderful place to sit and pray and prepare in Hunnebostrand.
Andreas is a faithful priest and cares deeply for the Scriptures and the people of God under his charge.
While I went to preach at the 11am Högmässa at Bovallstrand, Joy and the kids went back to the parsonage and hiked above the house. They found some cool places!
Bovallstrand Kyrka
Sunday afternoon we drove an hour north to see our beloved friends, the Kvalvaags near Strömstad, Sweden. These were quiet days filled with food, fun, and friends. We ate, and hiked, and ate, and laughed, and ate, and napped, and ate. We had lots of fika. I think fika is one of my favorite things in Sweden. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fika_(Sweden)
This morning we made it to Fredrikstad, Norway for our first of three Oase gatherings. It has been fun seeing Papa Joe, and sitting in his popular seminar.
I loved watching this older lady worshipping tonight.
Paul Anderson was the main speaker tonight. He spoke about the three elements of renewal in the church: living under the authority of the Word, surrendering to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and desiring the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Challenge and encouragement! Before I came I thought about how nice it would be to attend a Holy Spirit conference again. I didn't expect a wave of gratitude for the infuence of meetings like this in my life, than grief, for the loss of our own conference in the US. Would the Lord begin a work like this again in the US? Please, Lord!
We are staying just 3 miles from Hans Nielsen Hauge's farm in Fredrikstad. I'll have to say more about Hauge later.
Picture taken tonight around 10pm.
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