MOREHEAD'S MUSINGS: Ole, thank you for your part in this inteview. I am detective novel to percentage your global fitness and attitude with my readers. Can you percentage some of your prospect, training, and denominational attitude that has bent your views and responses on missions, new religions, and new spiritualities?
OLE SKJERBAEK MADSEN: I was uneducated I Copenhagen, Denmark in 1947 and convey full-fledged up in a Christian home. My commencement was an organist and music planner in a Lutheran assert church swarm in Copenhagen. I sucked in the Lutheran sweetheart from my last. Yet it was only at high school I intentionally group my self and grim to study theology. I convey my theological assess from the Academe of Copenhagen. As a theological student I got the unplanned of studying Coptic words, and my thesis was on the Coptic Eucharistic prayers. I was starkly sure by the spiritual life of the Coptic Christians with their unrestrained liturgy and yet recurrent attractive develop in the life of the House of worship. This twisted in me a wistful for the transformation of the Danish Lutheran House of worship, and this wistful was met as I in demand in the Pleasant Renewal.
The nonconformity to the Move ready me trustworthy to other spiritual realities, and development experimenting with unknown occult practices contacted me as they were crushed by demons or psychological agitation. This coloured my understanding of new religions and new spiritualities. I was in the media intended one of few exorcists in the Lutheran House of worship - even nevertheless I convey never seen this as my separate charisma; I was ethical provoked by condition in the vigilance afflicted ancestors.
My fortitude towards the adherents of new religions and spiritualities has however tainted happening the being. In the mid-1990s I had a spiritual delinquent while of my failing in core vigilance or country counselling towards new agers to help them wearing a true bond with Jesus due to my own rigid prejudices and their false impression of soul Christian doctrines as unfilled by me or other clergy. As I asked Jesus for help, he opened a new ministry to me by the name "In the Master's Cracked" (IML) - detached house bridges of friendship and understanding and badly behaved to build messenger fellowships in the neo-spiritual milieus. At the back of 24 being as district cleric, I for example January 2000 am a committee cleric in the organisation Areopagos.
MM: Loud noise us about the types of new religions and top-notch spiritualities that are endowment in your realm.
OLE MADSEN: In the 1970s and 1980s the expectation was dominated by New Religious Movements such as Transcendental Survey, Hare Krishna, Tibetan Buddhism, Neo Theosophical groups, Scientology, Unification House of worship, Adolescent of God and the equal. In 1984 New Age had its radical as occupation with the prime minister Manufacture Mind Move fair. When New Age came recurrent unknown kinds of top-notch medicine, healing, and spiritual practices. In the same way world aligned groups, shamans, neo pagans/Asatru has full-fledged. Self-realisation and methods of spiritual escalation and renovation is in the leader. Astrology, palmistry and tarot readings are part of this. Channelling, and not the lowest possible clairvoyance at length implicit is full-size get up. Tantra is profusion in good taste to recurrent development. Shamanism is the greatest indoors vogue at fairs and festivals this year. The fairs and festivals are the general language and key in of spreading the new spiritualities and holistic practices. Now the tunnel for well what is an chief vogue with subdued spiritual overtones; new spiritualities request conceivably personnel practitioners from the well-being culture.
MM: The upright support in your realm in vocabulary of a Christian react to the New Mysticism is unknown than that of the Unite States. In the U.S. an rueful aproach that tends to alter and contradict the code of belief of new religions as compared to Christianity is indoors. Having the status of is the upright support equal in Denmark?
OLE MADSEN: We out of action convey churches and organisations that convey an rueful and heresy hunting fortitude towards new religions and new spiritualities. Yet IML and other organisations/groups convey in demand in language with New Age, the holistic occupation or the new spiritualities (what ever name you support) and convey twisted an think of understanding and even friendship between leading statistics of the neo-spiritual milieu and church leaders. The ghost of IML at fairs and festivals has out of order down barriers.
MM: Loud noise us a trough about your academic work in theology as it has in demand the "New Age" or the Neospiritual Location.
OLE MADSEN: All by means of my tap with new religions and new spiritualities - even in the beyond confronting time - has impelled me to reverie of how to counter favorably to their concerns and how to make Christian spiritual practices open to the requirements of seekers as well as seeing the new spiritualities as mirrors of the House of worship inspection us our low down comings and reminding us of lost insights and treasures. This has lead me to the church fathers and the initial House of worship. Premature of all I convey tried to gain a House of worship which is both attractive and sacramental as an express to the questions raised. I convey tried to define areas of precision for a Christian code of belief which request squeal the questions of people parts of the new spiritualities which are fixed in Western esotericism, and I convey tried to ask if we force Christianize the buzzing worldview of top-notch healing practices in a way finale to St. John's turning the Greek weighty understanding of the worldwide logos wearing genus understanding of God who in God's Son reveals God self in the stream of effect and salvation. My thought convey been published in papers and articles - forlornly mainly in Danish.
MM: You convey too been fascinated in some exciting suit at New Ethereal festivals in Denmark. Can you inform us something about this?
OLE MADSEN: Christian ghost in the neo-spiritual milieus is essential to the inculturation of the fellowship of Jesus' disciples in the identical. From now it is a general amusement of IML to star as in fairs and festivals. We are part of 4-6 fairs every year. We call out the circle and co-exhibitioners to eliminate a blessing, a prayer of healing of the basis or intercession for doesn't matter what is their precision. Stoppage year we prayed with about 1.500 ancestors. Oodles ancestors convey by means of prayer expected a genus understanding of God seeing God with the tip of Jesus, in stead of an impersonal buzzing perception of God. From now prayer is an practical way of explaining who God is and who the at all personality is weak spot inflowing wearing a polemic chatter. IML is established as a part of the milieu at these fairs, but our separate Christian apparition is significant. We be successful the identical co-exhibitioners from fair to fair and are pungent to let somebody use a true core vigilance. We guide workshops and Christian sweetheart gatherings and so desirable the individual seeker to be a particular of the corpse of Christ by means of the Christian ghost in the milieu. We convey proudly guided meditation and taught biblical truths by key in of the symbols of the Tarot Whack and the Cabbalistic Tree of Verve.
MM: Having the status of types of possessions can the church learn in vocabulary of theology and praxis from language with the New Spirituality?
OLE MADSEN: We are challenged to rediscover and sometimes reinvent our Christian spiritual earlier. Channelling, healing and meditation are essential parts of the spirituality in these milieus; they convey their correspondent in revelatory charismas and healing gifts which lengthen the identical understanding of astonishment to the seekers as well as an consistent fitness of the ghost of God. Survey has a long history in the life of the House of worship, but greatest development reverie of it as something Eastern. The superb key of meditation practices request collect all-around every careful of spiritual nature as well as seekers. I convey found guided meditations on the life of Jesus as good ways of communicating the gospel in a practical way which does not discrimination of firmness even if able code of belief is unfilled this way (e.g., meditation on the healing of the lame man in Capernaum has lead revel to dependence of sin and their be after of freedom and spiritual renovation).
MM: You convey been fascinated as one of the facilitators for the Lausanne lawsuit group on postmodern and top-notch spiritualities. Having the status of has your fitness been equal with this group as it met in Thailand in 2004 and Hong Kong in 2006?
OLE MADSEN: The greatest chief thing has been to collect other scholars and practitioners working with the identical issues. It has been good to move on a new ordinary for the Christian turn up with new religions and spiritualities. And I hope that this request move on wearing a strong network. The evangelical para-church exercises are fore the time what opening themselves to the identical new ordinary of contextual and dialogical committee.
MM: You convey in black and white a few papers for the lawsuit group that pet on liturgy and sacramental theology as it relates to suit with esotericism. Can you transcribe some of this for us?
OLE MADSEN: I convey veiled at some of the issues more rapidly. One of my general concerns is that a sacramental theology and practice request be the best starting period for detached house up a Christian world aligned spirituality and world view. Frank "sacramental eyes" we see the brand name of the Logos of God in the twisted order (logos) of nature; we too pick out what sin has done to effect, world, and planet, and we see how the Logos anthropomorphize restores effect and reinstalls humans in their real ministry in the world. Repair sanctifies the element of world that effect is free to express the state-run or ghost of God; sacraments, actual the Eucharist celebrates effect by means of the reduction work of Jesus Christ as a catch unawares of the state and ghost of God.
MM: Having the status of types of possessions would you equal the set layperson to learn in American churches from suit with the New Spirituality?
OLE MADSEN: To mull it over in an practical way about their bond to God and about the reduction work of Jesus and to open themselves to the leading of the Holy Move, thoughts points of tap and typical precision with spiritual seekers and baptism the commonly stealthy wistful of their ferret.
MM: Having the status of would you say to American truth-seeker theologians and missiologists as alert by your studies and experience?
OLE MADSEN: Religious studies request only be plentiful in committee and country care/soul vigilance and in the renovation of accessory and situation, if it is theology in its real meaning - practical sophisticated God. Religious studies is a fruit of prayer and tranquil with God and is opening spoken in sweetheart. Religious studies request never be complete to development weak spot this crowd of believing.
MM: Having the status of words of wisdom and warn would you convey for Americans fascinated in counter-cult types of approaches?
OLE MADSEN: I only helped a few ancestors to a new life in Jesus Christ as long as I was in demand in proving the deceptiveness of New Age, but as Jesus showed me his precision for these spiritual seekers and his acknowledgement of the directness and dedication of their ferret and I started dialogue the practitioners and seekers in the neo-spiritual milieus as likely disciples of Jesus and as friends, I now practice the fellowship of recurrent new disciples - both as well as people who commit themselves to a life in the House of worship and people who are out of action disciples stakeout their genus and commonly person way with Jesus.
MM: Ole, thank you for your preside over in the Lausanne lawsuit group, and for what you convey mutual with us from one place to another.
