If Luther were with us he would smile, as blogging is the postmodern equivalent of posting radical gospel stuff on a public church door. Reformation Day is a good day to visit Wittenblog.

The Evangelical Alliance started a prayer coalition that gathered this morning in the woods of Driebergen. Unfortunately I was quite tired (worked too hard and didn't get enough sleep). Some exciting news though: Maaike told me that Soul Survivor folks will attend the esoteric fair with two stands: one on divine healing and one for spiritual readings (we call this prophecy). I like that, young Christians, prophesying destiny over spiritual seekers, and healing suffering people in the name of Jesus. Up to now Christians would only go to esoteric fairs to pray against it and to hand out leaflets explaining why it's all wrong. Now they are engaging the culture and offering a better alternative. The tide is changing.

Talked with Peter Kos, a Baptist pastor in Utrecht and secretary of the Dutch Evangelical Alliance, about developing unity and city-wide partnership of churches. He has his office in a catholic monastery, shares a church building with the Reformed folks, and partners in social work with an explicitly charismatic church. I guess there's hope for Holland... :-)

This is a nice feature to support your prayer for people.

Rob and Mannie will travel to Mexico tomorrow to attend a worship conference of Ana Mendez' ministry. How about this picture they use of the five-fold ministry (yes, they include women :-).

"While it is not a sin for a church to employ a pastor, I do think it may not be the best investment of kingdom resources." Who is this braveheart that dares to question the funding of a centralized religious institution? Neil Cole, a pastor himself, in an article about the only two ministries/roles that the Church (according to biblical precedent) should support financially: apostles and widows who pray day and night. Check it out...

German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke’s healing and evangelism campaigns keep on drawing tens of thousands of people. At a recent campaign in Kisumi, Kenya, a councillor said: “Reverend Bonnke, when you were here in 1988 half of Kisumu was saved. The churches today are populated with your converts from that time.” Bonnke retorted: “We have come back for the other half!” His wit brought laughter but what he said he meant. The Gospel is a city saver, and a nation saver.

Because of yesterday's storm and because David is ill, we're still at my parent's place in Enschede.

Enjoying the last days of Autumn. Yesterday night's storm already stripped most of the trees of the their Autumn colours.

In today's Dutch edition of Joel News evangelist Leen van Slooten reports of increasing openness for the Gospel since the '10 days for Holland' prayer initiative. He also accounts of the power of the Holy Spirit in healing and deliverance during recent prayer evangelism outreaches.

Read a good advice on funding: "If we support a movement, let's put resources into the source of the river rather than at the end where it divides." I interpret this as: support the visionaries and let them decide where to put the money.

Watched Ronald van der Molen on Dutch television, lying in bed (fully dressed, so don't worry) and talking with television babe Beertje van Beers. In his weblog he writes: "I'm not sure if I want you to see this... Argghhh! who cares about my reputation; we're supposed to be salt and light, right?! Laugh, cry, be mad, like me, or not, I don't care anymore. At least I did something crazy for Jesus." And crazy it was, to see Ronald talk about Jesus and house churches, sandwiched in between a follower of Baghwan (a Hindu guru), an erotic art exhibition and a skating lesson for girls. Oh yes, he also brought a present for the babe: a Transformations video. :-)

According to Thom Rainer (dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Seminary) "the most common reason people leave church is that it's too similar to their everyday lives. They are searching for a spiritual community, radically different from their workaday environment, that demands a higher commitment." Read on...

A visitor to an Australian outback cattle station was intrigued by the seemingly endless miles of farming country with no sign of any fences. He asked a local farmer how he kept track of his cattle. The farmer replied, "Oh that's no problem. Out here we dig wells instead of building fences."... Out here we dig wells instead of building fences... The implication I hope, is obvious. There is no need to fence cattle in when they are highly motivated to stay within range of their source of life. Read on...

Some good and bad news...

... good: we have our car back and Karolien quickly found her way to the accelerator. ;-)
... good: Rob loves working with Joel Ministries so much that he wants to stay. :-)
... bad: Victor didn't get his one-year Religious Affairs visa for Russia and has to move his family back to the States. :-(

This kind of discouragement is something many missionaries to Russia are facing right now. The Russian Government considers them a danger for state security, and sticks to a systematic policy of discouragement and intimidation. In the case of Victor his wife and children got a visa and are in Irkutsk, while he was denied access to the country. For two months he has been trying to get his visa, but without success. Pray for them as they move back to the States and seek God's guidance for the time ahead.

Yesterday I was in a meeting with the leadership team of Transformations.nl (the national platform for prayer and transformation I'm part of) and we will continue on Friday. The main topic is: what is our vision and mandate for the coming years, what practical steps should we take and how can we build a solid team? Any input?

Took Victor to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It has been years since I've been there, so it was a good opportunity to take in a shot of Dutch culture and history. I especially liked the paintings of the historic sea battles with England and Spain, and the romantic Dutch landscapes.

Plan to meet up with Victor Barousse this weekend. We met in July 1999 when I was teaching a week on prayer in his church, the 'Irkutsk Prayer Center - World Harvest Church' in Siberia. His vision: "I believe that through the Principle of 12, along with servant leadership, God will ignite a movement that will reach all of Eastern Siberia with the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

This afternoon the Dutch government fell. We sent out an extra prayer focus.

National trouble. Today Prince Claus was buried in Delft (the city where William of Orange was killed in 1584). In the meanwhile our new government, formed as a result of the elections in May, has serious internal frictions because two ministers of the controversial Lijst Pim Fortuyn are not on speaking terms anymore. The party is utterly divided and might cause the government to fall. If our prime minister is clever his pulls out the plug himself, so he will keep the initiative for a better future.

His website gives the impression of an American undertaker, but he has good things to say. Check out Robert Fitts's 'forty trends back to simplicity' - rethinking the nature and function of Church. His book can be downloaded for free.

Nice quote, taken from Humandroppings: God has asked us to be "In the world and not of it." However, many Christians act as though they are "Of the world, but not in it."

Our friend Rubens is becoming a real preacher. Recently he held a campaign with 10,000 people in Rondonopolis, Brazil. Two years ago he happened to meet his lovely wife Steffi from Germany through Joel News.

It's now five weeks since our car broke down. The rainy season is beginning. The latest news is that we found a garage that can repare it for 500-600 euro. A bit expensive, but still cheaper than buying another car.

A typical office day. After eight hours I'm still wondering what exactly I have been doing. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, like...
... explained to Arend why the American banking system is not safe
... changed a few addresses on the Joel News server
... forwarded an article on the spiritual background of the Kalchakra ceremony in Graz to several key leaders in Europe
... answered several e-mails
... ordered a review video of the Smithton Outpouring
... gave input for the upcoming European DAWN conference in Switzerland
... worked on my planning for the coming months

Today's wisdom comes from Proverbs 14:

"To do right honours God; to sin is to despise him."
"An empty stable stays clean - but there is no income from an empty stable."
"The backslider gets bored with himself; the godly man's life is exciting."
"Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going."
"Reference for God gives a man deep strength; his children have a place of refuge and security."
"A wise man controls his temper. He knows that anger causes mistakes."
"Anyone who oppresses the poor is insulting God who made them. To help the poor is to honour God."

It was interesting to honestly evaluate myself in just these seven area's. I found myself (to some extent) screwing up in five and doing quite well in two...

On Sunday evening Prince Claus of the Netherlands (our Queen's husband) died.

A few years ago he caused a little revolution when in a speech opening a show of African fashion, he ceremoniously wriggled free of his Windsor knot, yanked off his navy blue necktie and tossed it rather inelegantly at the feet of his wife, Queen Beatrix. "A snake around my neck,'' the 73-year-old prince snarled to a standing ovation.
Reporting the story that evening, one TV anchorman peeled off his tie. In solidarity, so did the sportscaster who gave the soccer scores. A week later, Claus was a folk hero, and an open collar has never been more in vogue. The phenomenon even has a name: 'Claustrophilia', which celebrates the late prince for denouncing ties.

"I also suffer from Claus's tie phobia, so I'm shouting for joy at the prince's call for a ban on neckties,'' Wouter van Winden, a businessman in the central city of Delft, was quoted as saying in De Volkskrant newspaper. "No piece of clothing combines so little function with so much potential to show bad taste,'' he said. "For me, a necktie is like a dog leash - both symbolize a limit on freedom. Why else does Nelson Mandela never wear one?''
Amen, said Claus, who proclaimed the South African president "the best-dressed man I know'' during the fashion show at the royal palace in Amsterdam. His fashion statement was humorously dubbed 'the Declaration of Amsterdam'.

So far the story. I just don't understand that at this man's funeral on Tuesday next week the dresscode will be a black tie... How about a 'casual Tuesday'?

Interested in keeping the tie dress code off your body? Then check out the No Tie Zone, part of the Stupid Dresscodes Webring. They're looking for some real necktie horror stories.

Today I'm working on Joel Ministries' annual report for 2001-2002. It's encouraging to see how much has happened over the last year. If you like you can also read through the archives of this weblog. Just scroll down the right column.

As promised a little report on Malaga. I guess you won’t believe me if I tell you we spent hours praying on the beach and in the local bars. :-)

The roundtable with base leaders and partners of 24-7prayer.com was quite good. I was impressed with the quality of leadership and the various input. The purpose was threefold: friendship, feedback and focus.

As you may know 24-7 prayer is an ‘experiment’ that ran a bit out of hand. Three years ago, after a visit to Herrnhut, Pete Greig started sharing his vision to mobilise the emerging generation to pray for a ‘turning of the tide in youth culture’. He put up a website that, within months, received up to a million hits. In over 40 nations Christians joined in and opened prayer rooms, catalysing unity and outreach in their cities.

Although it’s tempting to start as many prayer rooms as possible, 24-7 tries to resist this and invests first of all in a good support structure for the movement. A good website, good materials, good coaching of the prayer rooms and the national 24-7 bases. The 24-7 folks like to describe themselves as ‘amateurs’, but in reality they do a better job than most of the prayer movements I know of.

24-7 is a grassroots movement, boldly proclaiming that prayer is not for the experts but for ordinary people - Christians from different church backgrounds and even non-Christians can join in. And God can use the prayers of these ‘weak’ people to change the world. The testimonies from the prayer rooms are pretty encouraging. It was interesting to hear that the Salvation Army is one of the denominations most actively involved in 24-7 prayer. They even appointed coordinators in the UK and Australia, that were present in Malaga.

Like Alpha 24-7 prayer is potentially a concept that every church can work with. A good reason for Kingsway to work on the publication of four books on 24-7: ‘How to do 24-7’, ‘The 24-7 vision’ (a visual book with a lot of artwork from the prayer rooms), ’24-7: the story’ (Pete Greig’s story dealing with the ministry philosphy) and ‘Ideas for the prayer room’.

During the roundtable everyone was involved in several smaller working groups. I joined the ‘vision and values committee’ that came up with a (really :-) great vision, mission statement, methods and core values for the 24-7 movement. The different national bases and the international team did their homework well and set a number of realistic goals for the coming year. In another setting we discussed the prayer dynamics of 24-7 and the relation to other prayer movements.

Like Zinzendorf and the Moravians, 24-7 is not just about prayer. Rather it’s a missionary and church planting movement that promotes a holistic lifestyle of prayer. It was good to meet people that are involved in subversive ministries like the boiler rooms, Fusion, Sk8, the Jesus Freaks and Clubbers Temple.

Finally: we agreed that 24-7 and Connect Europe (the network of young prayer leaders formed last month) should stay connected and partner where possible. We’re clearly in the same flow of the Spirit, work with the same set of values and were both ‘born’ in a little town in the eastern part of Germany…

I'm back in town and will report on Malaga today, but first have to get rid of the bugbear virus that hit me yesterday.