Seeking God

"God yes, church no." This is what most non-Christians tend to say. Or: "I want to experience God, but I don't want to be part of them" (read: the Christians). An added problem is that many Christians can't explain in normal (non-religious) language what they believe.

Realizing this, the Evangelical Broadcasting Company in Holland decided to do something they had never done before: ask a well-known non-Christian TV host (in this case Catherine Keyl, the Dutch Oprah) to make a series of six programs on 'seeking God in the Christians'. A search for authenticity which would force Christians to come out of their cosy subculture and open up their lives and explain in normal language who Jesus is and why living as a Christian is as real and relevant as could be. The series was broadcasted around Christmas and drew a lot of response. I think it's fair to say it was one of the best programs on Christianity aired on national television.

The Twins

Yesterday Karolien and I went to the new CineStar theatre in Enschede to see 'The Twins', a Dutch-German movie about twin girls Lotte and Anna who are forcefully separated at a young age, and desperately try to find each other. The fact that Anna is raised in nazi-Germany and marries an SS officer, and Lotte is raised in Holland an marries a Jewish man who is taken to Auschwitz, adds to the drama and misunderstanding between the two girls. Fifty years later they unexpectedly meet again in a bath in Luxemburg. Great movie, but make sure you bring a handkerchief.

We're enjoying a quiet Christmas holiday in Enschede. The rain is coming down with buckets. Maybe I should have followed the example of Markus, Oriah and other 24-7 folks: go snowboarding. :-)

Merry Christmas!

This picture I made for Christmas 2002: a Dutch tulip with a candle inside. May the Light of Christ shine in the heart of our nation.

Prefer a white Christmas in Prague? Andrew gave his blog the ultimate Christmas look.
Want to care for the poor? Ronald hands out Christmas boxes in his neighborhood.
Missing your computer at Christmas? Visit Reinhold and mourn (or pray) together.
Glad you finished your financial administration before Christmas? Kerstin too.

Updated the webpages of the Dutch prayer movement and the company prayer groups (81 now and still growing). Added a category index and a printer-friendly version of the address lists.

Oh 'Little Turkey'...

Oh 'Little Turkey'... near-heaven on earth (except for the turkey itself of course).
Great dishes, great fellowship, great bill. :-)

Tonight I'll meet up with the Oosterkamp guys for a Christmas dinner in 'The Little Turkey' in Rhenen.

Fifteen years ago I led a Christian holiday camp with a group of rebellious teenagers. One of them was Eelco Fortuyn, then 15, who yesterday launched FairFood, an initiative to bring justice to the 800 million people in this world who are undernourished. Everyday 25,000 people die of hunger, while there is enough food for all. According to Eelco the problem is for 75% created and maintained by the policy of Western governments and companies. He challenged the political parties in a creative and pragmatic way to put the right of sufficient nutrition and the fight against hunger on the top of their priority lists.

Unreached paper groups

Ministering to the unreached paper groups in my office... tough work, but making some progress. I guess that even if I would manage to clean my desk before Christmas, new piles will quickly emerge in the New Year. Why do paperwork and red tape cling to us like a magnet, keeping us from the real important things? I'm getting more and more convinced that bureaucracy is an invention from hell.

How about this thought for Christmas: in the middle of a population registration procedure our Saviour was born. And He came to deliver us from ALL evil...

Glühwein in Vienna

I had a good time in Vienna, meeting with the EPL team. We prayed and talked about the (near) future of this network of national prayer leaders in Europe. A small core team consisting of Ueli Haldemann (Switzerland), Ian Cole (UK) and Warren Carter (Austria) will work on a clear vision and implementation plan that should be ready in March.

On Saturday we went up to the icy Leopoldsberg to pray over the city. Thanks to the glühwein we survived the trip. We also paid a visit to the famous Christkindlmarkt. It's clear that the Austrians love kitchy Christmas stuff and chocolate, loads of chocolate.

On Monday I met up with Harry Dünser of Jam for Friends and with Claud & Gerhard Donauer and a dozen of other young prayer leaders and intercessors from Vienna and Graz. It was a great afternoon and evening. Young Christians in Austria tend to feel intimidated and it was a joy to encourage them with fresh stories of Gods work in Europe and to help them grow in prophetic prayer.

Cupboard provision

This is a great story of God's provision: Susanna Rychiger of the Swiss 24-7 base was in serious need of money, having spent all she had for the Kingdom. When she came home from a trip, she found in her newly rented apartment 14,000 Swiss Francs ($ 9,000) in a cupboard - no clue how the money got there. After a short time, there was another heap of money in this cupboard - another 14.000 Swiss Francs. Life with God is never boring. :-)

The One Thing, the Other Thing and the Whole Thing

Some ponderings from Chris Alford and Andrew Jones:

Chris: "Many of us postmoderns are simply replacing old boxes for new ones. Some are choosing the house church box, the liturgical box, the art box, the cyber box, and whatever other box we can think of. I'm tired of boxes. Do we have to single out a postmodern box? I don't think so. If you ask me there is ample room for various methods, and models in the pomo world. That is the beauty of where we are. It doesn't matter if you meet in a house, building, or cathedral. What matters is that we recognize the we are the breathing church, not the place where we meet."

Andrew: "Modern people focus on the One Thing, postmodern people focus on the Other Thing (the abused thing, neglected thing, etc.). Those in the emerging culture are focusing on the Whole Thing - that is, the composite of all the layers of the Things as they appear at one time. This affects the way we see church, even house church. Moderns see house church as the new One Thing, or Best Thing. Postmoderns see House Church as The Other Thing, preciously squashed by Institutional Church, but now allowed to emerge. They focus on the differences. Emerging thinking (whatever it is called) sees house church as one of the many LAYERS of church expression, but it also sees the other layers of large celebration, festival, coffee shop discussions, club nights, pilgrimage, etc. It sees the blend. And it does not ask 'what is the best church expression' but rather 'which layer of church expression do we bring to the front or send to the back'."

The Younger Evangelicals

Ronald van der Molen quotes from John Webber's book 'The Younger Evangelicals':

“It is interesting that for the most part younger evangelicals are committed to start-up churches. Many existing churches, most perhaps, still function in the modern established pattern and are fearful to take the kind of risks it takes to become a post-Constantinian church. This may explain why so many of the younger evangelicals are church planters. They feel the investment of time it takes to change an existing institutional church is hardly worth it. Like the fundamentalists of the early part of the twentieth century, they have turned toward new soil, especially in the inner cities and among the poor. Here, among people who have no tradition to uphold and no denominational battles to fight, the younger evangelicals find open minds and hearts to the fresh winds of the gospel."

"A major problem of the market-driven church is that it is so immersed with the culture that it has become enmeshed with it. The younger evangelicals, on the other hand, are recovering the church as counterculture. The church, this view argues, should not seek to integrate itself with culture or to baptize culture. Instead, the church should see itself as a mission to culture. The church as the instrument of God is called to carry out God's mission in culture, calling people to come under the reign of God through Jesus Christ."

Tomorrow until Tuesday I will be in Vienna, Austria, for the leadership team meeting of the European Prayer Link. Pray that we will clearly hear from God for ourselves, our team and the prayer movement in Europe.

On Monday afternoon and evening I will meet up with young prayer leaders to share hearts and pray for the emerging generation in Austria. This is part of the follow-up of Connect Europe, the young prayer leaders gathering in Herrnhut.

He can walk!

Peter can walk! He doesn't walk on the water yet, but the carpet is a good starter. :-) A week ago the 16-month old came into our bedroom saying 'bye daddy'. Sooo cute.

David is slowly turning from a little heathen into an angel. Yesterday while watching a man who was somewhere in the sky (no idea what he saw), he remarked: "Hey mum, there is a man in the sky. I think he is paying a visit to God to see if He is doing all right."

Brrrr, it's below zero! Because the heating in the kindergarten right under my office broke down, they moved all the kids upstairs. Nice, but a bit loud, so we moved the planned Transformations team retreat day to the house of prayer in Utrecht. We had a good time of sharing, prayer, more sharing, more prayer, and an evening meal at La Place. Really enjoyed it.

Pete Greig just mailed me that John Thatcher, one of the new 24-7 folks, died of a heart attack. This is sad, he was only 44. Just days before his death he shared with a number of people about a vivid dream he'd recieved in which he was in God's palace... Pete wrote: "I just know that John would be saying to us 'Go for it guys!'. In fact he probably is right now! His death is a stark reminder that life is just a breath and that nothing matters more than knowing God and making him known."

Jesus and Santa Claus

December is a difficult month. How do you explain to a 3-year old the difference between Jesus and Santa Claus? When I listened to Händel's Messiah this morning David remarked: "These people sing very high and very low for Jesus." Clever guy. Later when I came to get him after his afternoon sleep, he was sitting in bed singing with a high voice. I asked: "Are you singing for Jesus?" He replied: "No, I'm singing for Santa Claus." Little heathen.

Met at Schiphol airport with my friend Carl Brettle from Wales. We had an extensive brainstorm (or perhaps a better word is Spiritstorm) about a prayer saturation strategy for Europe. How about one prayer triplet for every 1000 inhabitants? Brian Mills would love it...

Today the Dutch Santa Claus celebrates his 1722th birthday. At school my son David of three made a bishop's miter and a white beard. All the Dutch Santa Claus relics can be orderded at Hollandbymail.com. They also have the great butter-filled waffles that I always bring to our international team meetings.

Are you a traditional, pragmatic or younger evangelical? Jordon Cooper put up a chart that shows the differences, at least from a North-American perspective.

Now at IKEA: Bømb

Bomb alert in Holland. The main Dutch press agency ANP and all IKEA shops have been closed and are currently being investigated by the Explosives Clearance Unit.

The Dutch Evangelical Alliance took the initiative for a follow-up meeting on Hope 21, the European cluster conference held earlier this year in Budapest. One of the attendees remarked that there were not many young leaders present. I told him that the few young leaders present found the conference so uninspiring that they went to the local pub to connect there. This triggered an interesting discussion on a possible conference format for the Dutch version of Hope 21. Let's see where this will go. Overall the EA is doing a good job in focusing and structuring the process.

Prophetic prayer in Flanders

Just returned from a meeting with Paul, one of the young people I'm mentoring.

BTW, the trip to Flanders went well. I taught on prophetic prayer out of Ez. 37 (with practical application), on spiritual wells and prayer altars. And yes, the food was good too, though not as excessive as in 'Asterix in Belgium'. :-)