Time for a break

Tonight I'll travel to Switzerland to attend the DAWN European Network Conference in Wilderswil, near Interlaken. It will be a time to connect and explore together how to bless what God is doing in relation to saturation churchplanting an city reaching in Europe. I also hope for sun, snow and a good beer in the local pub.

Today Hans-Erik Friberg from Denmark and Nick Klinkenberg from New Zealand paid me a visit. Nice visionary folks. They want to connect with (young) leaders who have a vision to plant movements of churches in Europe. Check out their website.

Quote of the day: "No-one ever remarked on his death bed: I wish I'd spent more time in the office."

Yesterday's conversation with David (3) went like this...

David: "Mum, can we go and visit Jesus by car?"
Mum: "Well, Jesus is in heaven so we cannot go by car, but what you could do is ask Jesus to come into your heart. In that way He will always be with you."
David: "Yes, that's a good idea."
Mum: "You can ask Him when you go to bed."
David: "No, I want to ask Him now!"

Redesigned the Joel News homepage.

Discipleship

Mike Yaconelli doesn't believe in discipleship as communicated and practiced in most youth groups today. "The church has decided to hurry young people into short-term results instead of taking the time to help them become intimate with the long-term Jesus."

"Jesus’ program of discipleship was simple," says Yaconelli. "Hang out with the disciples; let them see you at your best and worst; spend lots of time alone; teach truths none of your disciples can grasp at the moment; avoid crowds; go slowly; spend hours in solitude; don’t worry about opposition; ignore criticism; and don’t expect immediate results."

Last Friday I heard that my father has cancer. This is a difficult and stressful time for my family. Today he has to be in hospital for an intake for surgery.

David Sörensen developed an excellent website for spiritual seekers in cyberspace: heavenisopen.com. At this moment only the Dutch version is ready. Another website he's working on is moreofgod.com. Check out the God Tour.

Polder model

Did prayer again beat the polls? The Christian Democrats won the elections with 44 seats (out of 150) and Labour, the predicted winner, made a big jump from 23 to 42 seats. This means Jan Peter Balkenende, leader of the Christian Democrats (insert), will have the initiative to form a new government. This will not be an easy job. The centre-right coalition of Christian Democrats and Liberal Conservatives didn't gain enough seats to form a majority government (of at least 75 seats), they would have to add a third party. A centre-left coalition of Christian Democrats and Labour would be possible, but there's a bigger gap to be bridged.

Holland's multi-party model probably still amazes the world. Over 20 parties ran for the elections and 9 made it into Parliament. Never in Dutch history one party reached a majority; always a coalition of 2, 3 and sometimes 4 parties had to be formed. They have to reach a compromise in order to form a workable government. This consensus-based type of government is called the 'polder model'. Welcome in Holland...

Dawn Ministries, one of our partner networks, launched a new website with a new logo.

Election Day

Today is the big day. I authorized Karolien to vote on my behalf on the Christian Democrats. Because we had a little quarrel this morning, she threatened to vote on the Socialists instead if I would not apologize. This threat wasn't too bad, because the Socialist Party has the best website and a creative, out-of-the-box communication strategy. Nevertheless family peace was quickly restored; now let's see how the nation will fare. :-)

The picture on the left shows the campaign of the Liberal Conservatives. The text on the roof of the building says: "Floating elector? Land here!" Great picture.

Today I updated the list of sources we use for Joel News International. It's great to see how much Kingdom stuff is going on. For instance this report: American Baptists seek 1 million baptisms by 2005. We're also looking for new editors for Joel News. Interested? Contact us.

This is a nice picture of LOTR part III. And some action of Gandalf and Aragorn.

Check out GeoURL, a location-to-URL reverse directory. This will allow you to find URLs by their proximity to a given location. Find your neighbor's blog, perhaps, or the web page of the restaurants near you.

Gerrit Zalm, the leader of the Liberal Conservatives, keeps a weblog. So he isn't that conservative. Also Thom de Graaf, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Wouter Bos, leader of the Labour Party, keep a weblog.

Neck-to-neck race

This evening I participated in the voter's test of Maurice de Hond, broadcasted by SBS6. This time Labour matched my convictions best, followed by the Liberal Conservatives. I can live with Labour, but not with the Liberal Conservatives. I'm beginning to distrust these voter's tests. Besides, the tests don't test the integrity of politicians, which is also an important issue.

This afternoon Labour announced that their candidate Prime Minister will be Job Cohen, the mayor of Amsterdam (insert). He is a good politician, but also the first mayor in the world to confirm homosexual marriage. It looks like the elections on Wednesday will be a neck-to-neck race between Labour and the Christian Democrats.

Went to see 'The Two Towers' this afternoon. A very intense movie with great scenery and special effects. Centrepiece of 'The Two Towers' is Helm's Deep, the ancient fortress of Rohan, where the first major battle of Middle-earth is waged. Saruman's army of 10,000 Uruk-hai are sent into battle with a single purpose, to destroy the world of men...

Blogging in Holland

Niels Boogaard published a Dutch bloggers map. It gives some indication of the popularity of blogging in Holland.

I spent the afternoon with Alex ten Cate who will join the editorial team of Joel News. We talked about God's guidance and provision, the format of the international edition, plans for the coming year and did some editorial work together.

Had a good talk with Eugène Poppe, who coordinates the National Day of Prayer. The topic was how to help prophets (or intercessors) and church leaders function as a team and how this could be modelled in several events.

Andrew designed a new header for my blog. The picture was taken in Malaysia. I also added a Google search option.

Election competition

The May elections in Holland were very tense, but the coming elections will also be crazy. Since a week Labour is steadily overtaking the Christian Democrats in the polls (they had 24 seats in the last elections and currently have 40 in the polls, while the Christian Democrats decreased from 43 seats to 41 in the polls). Labour's new man Wouter Bos (left) has the charm of the ideal son-in-law, is young (39) and (according to some) sexy, and doesn't wear a tie (except on this picture).

Bos said he doesn't want to become candidate prime-minister himself, but won't mention any other names either. All this is hyped up by the media. Suddenly we see a load of critical articles appear in the newspapers about the current prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende (right). With over 40% floating electors, the elections in Holland seem to be influenced disproportionally by the polls and the media. More then ever it's important that Christians pray and take their stand. The nation is still in crisis and needs godly leadership to move forward. Joel News NL published a special edition on the elections.

Plan to see The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers this weekend. BTW, Ronald told me there is some evidence that Frodo failed...

Talked with D. and Ronald van der Molen about launching a vision for 'Jesus groups' on the coming Soul Survivor event.

Big red cross

This big red cross is a look-alike of the one we used for the Mission congress. I found it on the website of Generazione Scelta (Chosen Generation), one of the emerging youth prayer movements in Italy. I plan to connect with them in March.

Emergent, "a generative friendship among missional Christians around the world", renewed its website.

At Akingdomspace John Wallis writes that in his view the professional staff model in Church doesn't work. "When all your income, identity and ego is tied up in professional ministry and there is nothing else for you to do to support yourself, then there may be a fear to change anything about the system, even when you know it doesn't work. The Church needs to change or large portions of it will die in the next few decades. But if we have created a system that so many depend on for sustenance, is there any hope of it happening?" Good question.

Inflatable Church

InnovationsUK presents the world's first Inflatable Church. Available for purchase or rent, this church can be set up on a vacant piece of land near you. "This fantastic air filled building is 47ft long by 25ft wide & 47ft high. The attention to detail is heavenly complete with plastic 'stained glass' windows, airbrush artwork which replicates the traditional church. Inside it has an inflatable organ, altar, pulpit, pews, candles and a gold cross. Even the doors are flanked by air-filled angels. The church can be built in three hours and dis-assembled in less than two." Is this kitchy idea another approach to 'bringing Church to the people instead of bringing people to the Church'? At least one good thing is that it saves money on building projects...

I'm currently talking by e-mail to a young Wiccan. She got involved in Wicca through her interest for healing stones, herbs and fairy tales. Wicca (paganism) is becoming more and more an identity cult for young women. Some of the issues we talk about are: Is Jesus 'compatable' with paganism? Is Wicca more environmental-friendly and responsible then Christianity? Why is Jesus more powerful than the powers Wicca draws from?

Together with Pieter Bos I worked on a prayer focus for Holland for 2003.

Too much coffee

"It’s like the world’s been drinking too much coffee," Pete Greig writes in the 24-7prayer E-bullit. "Everything seems jittery. Watching the news feels like a soap opera with too many story lines crammed into a single show. Bush and Blair are intent on disarming Iraq of weapons they can’t find while Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe do panto on the world stage. Osama is off somewhere hanging out Dr Evil and Elvis, terrorising the world in whispers. Meanwhile Russia can do whatever it likes to Chechnya, and North Korea is busy sending postcards of their various nuclear arms factories to world leaders who are far too busy looking for weapons of mass destruction near oil fields to read the post."

"Meanwhile a UFO cult led by a dodgy old French pop star is busy trying to clone their (fantastically balanced) followers whilst in the middle-east everyone continues to blow everyone else up – normally on buses. At such times it’s easy to resort to extremes – either becoming too intense or too blasé. As Christians we cannot avoid the issues just because they’re complicated, burying ourselves in the trivial pursuits of local church activity or obsessing about the latest Reality TV series as if that really was reality. Paul urges 'that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for… all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives.' (1 Tim. 2) Our prayers matter at times like these, and – believe it or not – world leaders desperately need such spiritual back up."

"In the midst of so many crises I’ve been wondering why so many wives of world leaders – from Nancy Reagan and Lady Di to Cherie Blair – seem to resort to astrology and New Age wacko stuff. My hunch is that they know the truth about their husbands and are terrorised by the notion that world peace lies in the hands of a man who can’t remember the name of the cat and farts in his sleep. They need to believe that a higher intelligence is pulling the strings of power than the one struggling with flat-pack furniture in the garage. Well, the good news for the president’s wives is that there actually is a higher power at work, promoting and demoting their husbands. The church of Jesus Christ has been appointed to exercise authority (rather than power) in prayer and in practice. We really have been raised up ‘for such a time as this’. Even when we are surrounded by trouble, Jesus says, “Take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16). We don’t need to rush around like Corporal Jones yelling ‘don’t panic!’ We need to pray."

Talked with Taco this morning about two questions:

1. What are the so called 'spiritual wells' in the Netherlands (places that God used in the past to bring renewal and reformation to the Church and/or the nation)? Recently we published in the Dutch edition of Joel News about Nijkerk and 'De Hezenberg'. Of course there are more places. Mail me anything you know of.

2. What is needed for a spiritual breakthrough in the Netherlands (big question, huh)? Love, friendship and unity might be a key. Forming a subversive counter-culture might be another key. What keys do you see?

Preparing for Parliament

On 22 January there will be new elections for Parliament. To find out which party fits my convictions best, I did the VoteGuide test, specially designed for floating electors like me. The test results show that I should vote for the SGP (Constitutional Reformed Party). Second and third best are Labour and the Christian Union. The current government coalition of Christian Democrats, Liberal Conservatives and Fortuynists are at the bottom end of the list. I think the Christian Democrats made a move to the right, without telling me. That's bad, now I have to reconsider my vote...

Here is our latest family picture.

This is typical Dutch river scenery in Winter. Due to the rainy weather the water level is rising. If the dikes break, I might just be able to keep my head above the water...

A call beyond your own life

Iggie Krug redesigned his blog and continued his series on 'traits of postmodern apostles'. The 7th trait is: "They have a call beyond their own lives. A call to lay everything down and to live and love as Jesus loves. Even to the point of death. In fact, they desire death. A spiritual death to self in order to bring more glory to the enchanted Kingdom. They willfully accept everyday the ideology that they must seek first the Kingdom of God. And they want nothing in return but a relationship with their King and to dance like children in the streets of the Kingdom."

EuroTrain developed an innovative young leader training (age 15-25). They call it "a completely unique experience, and an answer to the new paradigms needed to develop new generations of leaders." It comes close to a mentoring concept I've been thinking about.

Interested to buy a Dutch church building? Check out the Reliplan website.

Seven Years in Tibet

Watched 'Seven Years in Tibet' yesterday. I hadn't realized yet the link between this history and the Kalachakra for World Peace in Graz (I guess I'm a bit slow). Here's a picture of now 90-year old Henrich Harrer and the Dalai Lama, and some more here. Although I liked the movie, the Dalai Lama's image of peace is hard to reconcile with the plain idolatry of Tibetan buddhism. A few months ago Dutch researcher Helene Bos wrote an interesting paper on this, suggesting that the Garden of Eden could have been located in Tibet, which explains at least to some extent why the Himalaya's form a strong demonic power base.

Happy New Year!

When we returned from Enschede, we found a mysterious envelope with 250 euro in our mailbox. I love God's surprises!