Our Story …

We saw little of such Movement in our church. It was a healthy community where people were learning and growing and they really liked our church, but things were stagnant and safe.  We had what we call, “Complacent Christians”. Even our best efforts to be the ‘attractional’ church didn’t seem to work in today’s society. We saw and met many people who were skeptical, profoundly convinced atheists or post-Christian (‘been there - done that’). Some people had deep moral objections to coming to church due to its past or perceived injustices done by the traditional church. This is the reality of today and most Christians are totally unprepared. I know we were.

When we first came to Sweden, we were met by people who knew why they didn’t believe in God and had good questions about our faith for which we had few answers.  Kathy and I could share how we became Christians but not the why behind it. We seemed to assume many things, but living in the Information Age, it just didn’t work anymore. We needed more than assumptions if people were going to seriously listen to us and be interested in the message of Jesus.  But if Truth exists, then it must be God’s Truth and we have now found many answers to the tough questions. This journey and research has helped us to be more confident in our faith both in a personal God, but also in Jesus Christ.

What's the Problem?

Now, Apologetics (using reason and evidence to answer objections to Christianity) is important, but it isn’t the Good News. Apologetics helps to clear out obstacles, so that people can see Jesus clearly. We must also trust and pray that God’s Spirit is at work to open people’s eyes to His Truth. This is not something we can make happen, but we can make a reasonable defence of the Christian faith just like the Early Church did when they lived in a Pre-Christian society that generally did not believe. We are now living in a Post-Christian society that also generally does not believe and this requires more understanding and effort to overcome general prejudices against faith that didn’t exist just few decades ago.  It seems few churches, and fewer believers, are prepared for this Paradigm shift that has already occurred.  

Most Christians we know have given up on engaging in spiritual conversations with non-believers and rarely even invite non-believers to church.  Some Christians have been convinced by the culture that Truth does not exist and everyone finds their “own truth”. So, how can I, or anyone, then say that this is The Way?  If we as Christians are not actively moving against the tide of our culture, we will be swept along with it as it will take some strenuous swimming to overcome.   Unfortunately in our feel good / instantaneous culture, this kind of hard work is not valued nor promoted, but it is essential in maturing in our faith.  

So, what is “The Way Forward?”

We created, “The Way Forward” as a way for the body of Christ to actively and practically become the Disciples that Jesus called us to be. This means investing time in learning, growing and doing what we are commanded to. How do we make this paradigm shift? It begins in a relational community through DISCipleship Groups and building a firm foundation as a follower of Jesus Christ.