Yesterday my laptop broke down, with some files I was working on. Quite frustrating. I prayed over the thing, even anointed it, but no sign of life. Dirk-Jan, our technical guy, told me I will have to buy a new one.

Just found Andrew's blogger's prayer. Completely overlooked it, but like it.

The Blogger’s Prayer 1.0
by Andrew Jones

Our Father
who lives above and beyond the dimension of the internet

Give us this day a life worth blogging,
The access to words and images that express our journey with passion and integrity,
And a secure connection to publish your daily mercies.

Your Kingdom come into new spaces today,
As we make known your mysteries,
Posting by posting,
Blog by blog.

Give this day,
The same ability to those less privileged,
Whose lives speak louder than ours,
Whose sacrifice is greater,
Whose stories will last longer.

Forgive us our sins,
For blog-rolling strangers and pretending they are friends,
For counting unique visitors but not noticing unique people,
For delighting in the thousands of hits but ignoring the one who returns,
For luring viewers but sending them away empty handed,
For updating daily but repenting weekly.

As we forgive those who trespass on our sites to appropriate our thoughts without reference,
Our images without approval,
Our ideas without linking back to us.

Lead us not into the temptation to sell out our congregation,
To see people as links and not as lives,
To make our blogs look better than our actual story.

But deliver us from the evil of pimping ourselves instead of pointing to you,
From turning our guests into consumers of someone else’s products,
From infatuation over the toys of technology,
From idolatry over techology
From fame before our time is right.

For Yours is the power to guide the destinies behind the web logs,
To bring hurt people into the sanctuaries of our sites,
To give us the stickiness to follow you, no matter who is watching or reading.

Yours is the glory that makes people second look our sites and our lives,

Yours is the wow-factor,
The heavy ambience,
The shining glory,
For ever and ever,

Amen

Back home and well. Still joyful about the week in Prague. Tomorrow we'll have a one-day retreat for national prayer leaders in Utrecht.

Went to bed at three in the morning. Had to give some input for an article on prayer for Visie, the main Christian magazine in Holland. The only time to do it was between 12 pm and 2 am. After that Sürü, a guy from Switzerland, showed up and told me God had led him to buy a retreat property close to Luzern. He felt it should be dedicated as a prophetic-apostolic training centre. Does this sound familiar? It seems to me we’re entering a birthing season of these kind of places all over Europe. I plan to go there this Summer to check it out.

Some quotes of today’s seminar:
- “Modernists believe in objectivity, postmodernists in intersubjectivity.”
- “Give people questions instead of answers.”
- “We need continual hubs of innovation in our nation.”

Brian MacLaren and Parush Parushev took us through seven theories of atonement. The conclusion: “You can be saved by one theory, and discipled by another.” The point is of course that salvation does not just happen at one point in time, but is also a process. Parush suggested to not present an atonement-centered gospel, but a Christ-centered gospel. Jesus’ concept of the Kingdom of God is multi-faceted with the intention to reconcile all things to God.

Sat down with Reinhold to make a development plan for the Dawn European Network, a little model that helps us measure progress.

In the evening it was party time. We celebrated Derek and Amy’s wedding in a quite extra-ordinary way. The Giant Peach underwent a complete metamorphose. Every room in the house, including the garden, was used to give creative expression to the wedding theme. A multi-media show in the living room, paper butterflies on the stairs, pages from a bible on the washing line, candles in the garden, a bridal suite in Andrew and Debbie’s sleeping room, etc. Debbie said she liked it and had no intention to change it. Well, except maybe the cucumbers and strawberries on the window panes…

Today the conference ‘the practice of ministry in the post… world’ started on the premises of the International Baptist Theological Seminary. It’s experimental in the sense that it brings together both artistic and intellectual people, the creators and the thinkers. Input was given by Parush Parushev, Brian MacLaren, Nik Nedelchev, Mark Pierson and others.

Brian started off killing a holy cow: “Not only the packaging of the gospel is a problem, also the message itself is, because it has become so distorted by modernity and Greek thinking.” Mark Pierson explained that many people are on a spiritual journey, but find no answers in the Church. So he gave everyone in his church permission to break out of the system, take a time out, move to other fellowships, and basically do anything God would tell them to do.

At lunchtime I met up with Tomas Dittrich, one of the leaders in the Czech prayer movement. We talked about Target Europe and identifying key people in the nation to bring the prayer movement to a higher level.

In the afternoon there were three seminar tracks to choose from. I went to the ‘context’ or theology-philosophy track. We talked about the need for a holistic Church, that is rooted in history, but also continually in the flow of the Spirit. Nice quote: “In a pluralistic society the credibility of a religion is based on the value it brings to its non-adherents.” It’s not about dogmatic truth (what you know and preach), but about incarnated truth (what you live in a way that’s relevant to other people).

The ‘A Kingdom Space Roundtable’ with Wolfgang Fernandez of Dawn Ministries and some 50 others was held in a brewery which is also an underground restaurant. The Czech portions of meat and beer were generous as usual. I talked with Nik Nedelchev from Bulgaria, who also happens to be the president of the European Evangelical Alliance, about his vision for Europe. This was quite sobering: “I tell pastors it’s time to retire. If the church doesn’t radically change its ways in the next five years or so, she will become completely irrelevant. All over Europe young people are leaving the church. This potential has to be released in new forms of ministry – not where the church buildings are, but where the people are.”

During the evening everyone told a little story of what’s happing in his/her life. Great to hear the diversity. One guy dresses up like an angel and prays over people in a warehouse. Another is a massage therapist, prays over people and they get healed. A lady from Sheffield paints her hair based on what God speaks to her; at the moment it’s pink to express her inner joy. A couple from Switzerland throws parties for non-Christians; they build friendship, and minister to the needs to people. We ended with a time of underground prayer and worship. Great freedom in the Spirit. Love it.

Got quite a lot of response on my article on spiritual leadership (Jethro’s pyramid and God’s Spirit). It even wrecked a church, according to a pastor that mailed me. But of course healthy churches can’t be wrecked by any article, no matter how controversial it may be. When I shared this with Paul Jackson, a pastor from Vancouver, Washington State, he said: “The leaders of that church could have used the article as a character test.” The point is of course that the person who turns on the light always get the blame…

In the afternoon I took a walk through the old town. Ran into a homeless guy and shared a meal with him. Tried to find the Hussite museum, but didn’t find it. No wonder they called the Hussites the ‘hidden seed’.

In the evening we went to the go-kart racing track. I don’t have my driving license yet, but this was a surely nice warming-up. Karolien would have loved it – driving like mad, and no hidden police cameras. :-)

It was a hot day! Talked with Brian about a European media network to help catalyze prayer and churchplanting. Andrew Jones shared about some exciting developments in Prague and the Czech Republic. We talked extensively about churchplanting opportunities and Spain and France.

At this moment I’m in the ‘Giant Peach’, Andrew & Debbie’s house, enjoying the fellowship with people from the States, France, Germany and England. It was good to connect with Kerstin Hack from Berlin. Check out her weblogs berlinrocks and kerstinpur.

Just found out that Andrew features my face on his blogspot. It seems he took the picture in Malaysia when we met for the GCR.

I don’t want to make you jealous, but Prague is even more beautiful than the picture I posted last Friday. Yesterday evening we took a walk through the old town and the panorama was gorgeous. Prague is a city with charm and creativity. And the beer (pivo) is excellent. Even better than Grolsch, although it’s hard to admit that. :-)

In the morning we watched the quarter final between South Korea and Spain. Underdog South Korea won on penalties. According to Brian Mills because of the intercessors. But I think it is because they have a Dutch coach.

In the afternoon we talked about churchplanting developments in Europe. Steve Steele from Dawn Ministries shared some amazing things about receptivity for the gospel among muslims and hindus. “We have to be ready for the impossible to become possible,” he said. Another nice quote: “The best evangelists and apostles haven’t become Christians yet.” Think about that…

The Evangelical Alliance arranged a meeting for prayer leaders. It was encouring so hear so many good reports. At the end Pieter Bos said: "There are more prayer-related words buzzing around than one can find in the best dictionary. God is always way ahead of us."

Tonight I will fly to Prague, Czech Republic, for the strategy meeting of the DAWN European Network (over the weekend). From Monday to Thursday I plan to attend Inspiration Bohemia, a series of events for those interested in ministry among the global emerging culture.

Had a pancake lunch with leaders from Utrecht on the Amelisweerd estate. The topic was a hot one: spiritual warfare.

At the end I raised the issue of idols and demonically inspired statues in the city: should we only pray about them or also pull them down like Gideon did? Interestingly the guy who was the most outspoken proponent of spiritual warfare was hesitant ("we have to be sensitive, these statues have a public function and many people consider them a piece of art") and suggested to only pray and celebrate Holy Communion, while the reformed pastor said "if God tells you to do so, don't hesitate to do it." This is what I call an unexpected form of cross-fertilisation. ;-)

Then we talked about the 'Srebrenica mentality' among Dutch believers: we want to be part of the war, but only if we don't have to suffer. Mind you, the former Dutch government fell on this issue...

Visie (Vision), the main Christian magazine in Holland, published an interview with me and added a tasty headline: "I'm afraid of this column in Visie." I made this remark because normally only 'big names' are interviewed for this column. The fact that they included me might mean that I'm now part of the evangelical establishment, a quite horrifying thought...

This morning I was in a prayer meeting with people who have a burden to start a prophetic-apostolic centre, a kind of birthing and connecting place for new things God wants to do in the Netherlands and Europe.

Published two articles on spiritual leadership and 'covering' in the Dutch edition of Joel News. One of them is the story I mentioned earlier about 'Jetro's pyramid'. The other is an excellent article by Bram Flippo, a Dutch prophet and management trainer. A hot issue that will certainly generate a lot of response.

Catching up with my administration under (for Holland) tropical temperatures. The good news is that we received some substantial donations this month, which will carry us over the Summer. I better get a big icecream now...

Around lunchtime I took David to the Railway Museum in Utrecht, which was big fun. Last week in the Eiffel we went to the largest digitally contolled model railway in Europe, so apart from tractors he's now also sold out to trains.

Halfway the afternoon Olaf and Margriet Milders arrived on the scene. Olaf works as marketing manager for Integrity Music and has plans to develop a European worship network.

Our holiday in Germany was good. A bit rainy, but we enjoyed each other, which was probably the most important thing anyway. A positive thing about the rain was that I read Malcom Gladwell's 'The Tipping Point', which gave me a lot of food for thinking. It's an excellent book about 'how little things can make a big difference', an examination of social epidemics. In case you're interested in my mindmap of this book, drop me an e-mail.

Just came back from a retreat with the Dutch Transformations team to pray and talk about the follow-up of '10 days for Holland'. The Lord gave us a some good insight and direction. We enjoyed a walk in the grounds of the 'De Hught' estate in Rhenen and ended up in an excellent Chinese restaurant. You know, that's where real transformation begins. Good food is one of the keys to revival (apart from fasting ;-).

Tomorrow we will drive to the Eiffel, an area in Germany, for a one-week family holiday. I'm sure Karolien prayed that the holiday cabins won't have a telephone connection, so big chance I won't be able to e-mail or blog till next week.

Today I had to wrap up many little things before we go on holiday. Arend did some research into online donation systems. Tonight Jeroen and Corien will visit us (fire!). Long time no see.

VARA television, a secular broadcasting company in Holland, is working on a documentary on churchplanting. They want to follow a churchplanter and his project through the initial stages for the period of a year. I gave them some input.

Had a good conversation with Johan Vink on several developments in the Netherlands and Europe. He liked Mike Bishop's 'three P's of churchplanting': Prayer, Parables and Parties.

I'v been surfing the internet a bit and ended up at Jan Peter Balkenende's website. For the non-Dutchies: he will be our next prime minister. The foreign politician he respects most is Vaclav Havel (interestingly I gave the same answer in a personal interview for Visie, the main Christian magazine in Holland, last week).

On the question "who is Christ for you?" Jan Peter responds: "Christ is Someone you can go to with any question, Someone who gives rest and stability in your life. The Christian faith is a foundation that influences your whole life." We should pray for this guy. God put him in a position of influence and he could use some back-up.

This weekend is was sunny and warm, so good weather to try out our little van.