Marc's Messages

The WikipediA project

WikipediA, the multilingual open-content encyclopedia, a project started in 2001, already contains more than 230,000 articles. Based on the copyleft principle anyone can join the project, work on the information and improve it, thus creating a huge knowledge-database. This is the real power of the internet. And because people have (shared) ownership over their entries (or areas of competence), the information is updated very fast.

A nice feature is the anniversaries section. Related projects are the Wiktionary, WikiBooks, WikiQuote and WikiSource.

Did you hear The Call?

Tonight Maaike and her The Call dream team paid us a visit. The Call is a youth prayer movement now running in 60 cities in the Netherlands. But their vision is a bit bigger: to see a 'Lighthouse' emerge in all 1200 highschools. For such a vision you surely need a big God. We talked about how they could go about it - the 'spiritual dna', developing a support and leadership structure, multiplication.

Training young leaders

Every two months I write a tasty article for SoulNet, an e-zine that goes to thousand youth leaders in the Netherlands. The last one was titled 'Where is the Joshua Generation?' and challenged young people to take initiative in church(planting) and to explore radical new ways. For the April edition I wrote a contribution on training young leaders, in which I call for a reformation in content, form and context in how we raise up young leaders for tomorrow's (or today's) church. No doubt I'm giving the editor-in-chief another sleepless night. ;-)

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Royal funeral in Delft

Today is the royal funeral of Princess Juliana (who according to the protocol will become Queen again as soon as she is buried - interesting). But it's a big happening, many people are watching the ceremony in Delft on television. Thanks to streaming video I can get some work done in the office, while reporter Maartje van Weegen keeps me informed on what's happening. Where would we be without the internet...

Dutch national broadcasting company NOS also compiled three picture galleries and OneWay published the liturgy.

The return of Dutch Traveller

Ronald van der Molen dropped me an e-mail: "Pssshhht... you want a scope? After a full blogless year I decided to start blogging again. There are some stories that I simply have to share." Welcome back in the blogosphere, Dutch Traveller!

Finding Korean Nemo

What is it that employees of a serious internet consultancy firm do when they get bored on a Friday afternoon? Well, apparently they need an outlet for their creativity. Why you should never put your picture on the internet.

SharpReader

Since four weeks I'm using SharpReader, a free RSS Aggregator for Windows. This software helps me to keep track of dozens of weblogs, without having to visit them. The interface is very similar to Outlook and is fast and easy-to-use. Not all blogs have an RSS, ATOM or XML feed - in my bloglist (right column) the weblogs with an asterisk (*) don't have the feed, all the others do.

The Americanized Bible Version

Jimmy Doyle of Liquid Thinking compiled some Scriptures for today's Christians from the 'Americanized Bible Version':

Romans 3:9-21
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There are no Fully Devoted Followers™ of christ, not even one; there is no one who is Purpose Driven™, no one who asks, 'What Would Jesus Do?™'. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who follows the Irrefutable Laws of Leadership™, not even one."

Mark 1:10-13
As Jesus was Emerging™ out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a Dove Award™. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert for 40 Days of Purpose™, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him and gave him little chocolate candies in 40 Days of Purpose™ wrappers.

How news travels on the internet

How does news travel on the internet? Stephen Vandyke created a diagram of news flows on the internet, illustrating democratization in media, including convergence and interactions among (a small number of) traditional sources and (an exploding number of) non-traditional sources.

The Media Center, the American Press Institute, published an interesting research titled 'We Media: How audiences are shaping the future of news and information'. It's about the emerge of 'participative journalism' on the internet, especially through blogging. Good reading!

A few more links on participative journalism at Kole's Queeste and De InternetJournalist.

Churchianity humor

It's grace if you can laugh about yourself and 'churchianity'. And sometimes the worst things are most funny. Humor helps to put things into perspective.

The boxing cartoon below is from H.E.R.B., a website that promotes the separation of church and state by making jokes on Bush and conservative Christians in America. I also found a quote there from Mark Twain: "If Christ were here, there is one thing he would not be - a Christian." Painfully funny because there's some painful truth in it.

SheepComics is one of my favorites. These cartoons on 'churchianity' are made by a Christian who loves the church enough to speak the truth in (quite prophetic) humor. There are many 'sheep' in cyberspace who, like the cartoonist, want to follow Jesus but don't want to carry all the traditional and institutional baggage that almost all church systems want them to carry. Look at this one on 'first fruits', this one on 'friends and family', this one on 'visible women', or this one on 'responsive bleating'. BAAA!

Another funny website related to sheep is the 4Kidz section of Objective Christian Ministries. The whole website is a great parody on a mainstream Baptist church (sorry Baptists, laugh about yourself, and if you want more, read Tallskinnykiwi's posting on 'The Art of Not Getting Embarrassed at a Baptist Church').

Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian, is a parody on (some might call it mocking) Evangelicals in America, including Bush goodies, bumper stickers and What Would Jenna Drink mugs.

Passion of Christ Blog

The Passion of Christ Blog is going strong, drawing more visitors than Joel News or Marc's Messages. But that's the hype I guess. We try to publish daily, which also keeps the buzz going.

Apart from the usual Evangelical activism, it's interesting to see the spin-off of this 'Passion' movie. Jesus is being talked about, also in the secular media. And it's not just the reports of people getting heart attacks while watching the movie or couples who fight each other in the cinema. Also a good number of serious articles and background stories are being published.

And there's more to it. The Passion sells in Arab nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Yasser Arafat saw the movie in a private viewing, and made a public statement about it. In France, a nation that's often resisting religious things, the movie will be launched at the end of this month, because they found a distributor - a Muslim. Don't try to understand this.

Equally interesting is the fact that, because of the Passion's success, Hollywood is rethinking films of faith. Walt Disney and the makers of 'Lord of the Rings' are preparing a big C.S. Lewis project. Gibson himself plans his next movie on a quite prophetic theme: idolatry versus true worship of God. It's about the revolt of the Maccabees, who purified the temple in Jerusalem in 200 BC.

Getting the right spirit

Every fortnight the Connect Europe team connects by e-mail to share life's challenges and struggles. This week Heidi Plympton from the UK wrote about the emerging generation: "We need to raise in the spirit of Elisha: to break the plough (1 Kings 19) and pour water on the hands of Elijah (2 Kings 3). To become radical with a servant heart.

"Elisha had poured water on the hands of Elijah for ten years and this made him great in the eyes of the Lord. I noticed that Paul wrote early in his ministry: "I am the least of all the apostles." Five years later he is "the least of all the saints" and by the end of his ministry he says "I feel I am the chief of all sinners." Paul got smaller as he grew with God and he understood his spirit was the most important thing in the Kingdom. I was reading about Daniel and the lions, but what struck me the most was this: "in whom was found an excellent spirit." I feel we need to really discover this servant spirit or we are in danger of being like Rehoboam who split Israel because of lack of serving.

"But we also need to see a generation rise who will break the plough. When Elisha was on the farm and Elijah came to him to throw his cloak on Elisha, he still had to break the plough. He was heir on the farm but he saw destiny leaving and just had to make a statement by breaking the plough. "I am not coming back here to this field, I am not going to test the water and see if it works out, but I am breaking the plough and am running after destiny." So this generation needs to know it is called, even if there is no recognition or people consider you crazy, you have to follow where God is leading. If this generation can get a right spirit, it qualifies them for every miracle..."

Will TV advertising save the church?

There's a new kind of preaching on television. But this time the preachers are seeking their own salvation. Faced with little growth, or in some cases decades of declining membership, America's mainline denominations are set to pour hope and millions of dollars into TV advertising. A technique once regarded as distasteful self-promotion has become an accepted necessity to save aging buildings, costly pension plans, and the increasingly rare work of missionaries. An article by G. Jeffrey MacDonald in The Christian Science Monitor.

In a United Church of Christ spot that aired two weeks ago, two muscle-bound bouncers stand in front of a church where they decide who is 'worthy' to enter. Then the tag line: "No matter who you are, no matter where you are on life's journey, you are welcome at a United Church of Christ congregation."

Fish, Rietveld and Miffy

It's a stormy day. I took David to the Central Museum in Utrecht, where they have an exhibition on fish as art, and the museum is also home to Rietveld (the cubist guy) and Miffy (Nijntje).

Two great-grandmothers died

It's in the news that former Dutch Queen Juliana died at the age of 94. She was in office from 1948 until 1980, and represents the post-war era of rebuilding the nation and major social changes. She tried to be as openminded and non-assuming as possible and insisted that people called her 'Madam' instead of 'Your Majesty'. That's pretty progressive for a queen.

This week Karolien's grandmother also died. She was of the same age as Juliana, a no-nonsense lady as well. The funeral will be on Monday.

Resisting Calvin's little voice

I'm back in Utrecht. Of course next week some people will ask me what came out of my retreat. But I didn't set goals, I resisted Calvin's little voice telling me to use my time in a productive way. I didn't think about Joel Ministries or next week's appointments. I read a book, contemplated on it, went out for a walk, observed the little birds in the garden, went into an open field to get soaked and smell the rain, did a nap, watched a movie, cooked food, and listened to music. And this is soooo good! For me the essence of a retreat is to be alone and get more in tune with the rhythm of God. In the Dutch Calvinistic mindset this is a sin, I know, but sometimes you have to break the rules to set a difference pace of life.

Exploring the contemplative life

Today I read through some postings at Karen Neudorf's OneHouse, a weblog on the contemplative life. One of her postings is on community and solitude, in which she quotes Henri Nouwen who says that true community is deeply related to solitude. Another posting quotes from Nouwen's 'Lenten Reflections on the Prodigal Son':

"Discipline is the human effort to create the space in which God can be generous and give you what you need. When you are fearful, worried, or anxious, you want to control your life and to hold onto the reins. You want to do it your own way, whether it's like the younger son or the older son. The practice of discipline is to let the Father touch you, let the Father forgive you, let the Father receive you. And for that you need to be available; you have to be home. You have to have an address if you want to be addressed. You have to be at home in order to receive a guest or to receive God. So disciplines are ways of creating a space, a home within, in which God can come into your life to forgive you, to heal you, and to bring you many gifts.

"The first discipline is listening. The word listening in Latin is audire. And if you listen with great attention the words are ob audire. That is the word for 'obedience'. The word obedience means listening. If you are not listening, you are deaf. The Latin word for deaf is surdus, and if you're actually deaf, you're ab surdus. The 'absurd' life is a life in which you're not listening. An obedient life is a life in which you are listening."

Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air. So I took my bicycle out for a ride in the forest. At a quiet place I found a beech tree on the bench of a small river, overlooking the meadowlands. This is my favorite landscape to dream away. The Spring sun on my face. The smell of plowed earth. The sound of early birds. Come, Spring, come.

Return of the prodigal son

This week I'm on a prayer retreat at my parents' place in Twente. They are sunbathing in Turkey and visiting ruins, while I'm reading Henri Nouwen's book 'The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming'. Nouwen, a late Dutch Catholic priest who gave up a scholarship career at Harvard to live in a community of mentally disabled people, describes his encounter with Rembrandt's painting 'The Return of the Prodigal Son'. It's a deep reflection on homecoming, affirmation, reconcilation and forgiveness, based on Jesus' story in Luke 15, which is the heart of the gospel.

Nouwen broke up the story in three parts: the younger son, the older son and the father. So I'm taking three days to reflect on each of the characters. I know there are deeper issues of sonship and fatherhood that God will touch on. He says: "You are my dearest son in whom I delight. I love you unconditionally, there's no need to 'proof' yourself. Everything I have is yours. Come home and celebrate." And there is a place, in the centre of my being, where the Father wants to dwell. It touches on identity, growing up, spontaneity, freedom, joy, rootedness, healing, trust, intimacy, 'first love'. And the key question is not how I must find / get to know / love God, but how I can let myself be found / known / loved by Him. Based on Jesus' ministry of reconciliation we can 'claim' our sonship and take hold of fatherhood.

Brother Bear

Today David told me that his classmate Sanne broke up the relationship. She told him: "I don't like you anymore, so I don't want to marry you." David replied, confidently: "But I still like you and still want to marry you. And when we're grown up, I want to move to Africa with you and live on a volcano."

His brother Peter is in love with Bear right now. "Yes," he said, "and I'm going to marry Bear."

Hoop21 congress

Paid a half-day visit to the Hoop21 congress, a Dutch version of 'Hope for Europe'. The basic idea is to get Evangelicals organised in different networks to shape the future of the Netherlands together. Although I like the vision, for a variety of reasons the outworking was less exciting than hoped for (limited representation and 'God factor'). Of course like most congresses it was OK for networking, but will our country really notice this weak sound from the Evangelical subculture?

Anyway, I was asked to give an introduction for the 'prayer network', basically an assessment of the prayer movement. Robbertjan Perk did a good job in moderating. I also peeked in the 'leadership network' and the '21st century church network' to get some idea of what was being processed there.

Peter Kos gave me a ride back home, which gave us an opportunity to talk a bit more in-depth. He is an emerging leader who just became chairman of the Evangelical Alliance and wants the Evangelical movement to gain a stronger profile.

What a trend we have in Jesus

Is the pop culture looking for religion or entertainment? "Jesus Christ Superstar, indeed. Pop culture’s reigning 'It' guy is not some prefab pop star or some scruffy-haired actor with a million-dollar smile. Rather, it’s none other than Jesus Christ." An article by Adam Graham of The Detroit News.

Passion preview in Ede

Today I joined a preview of 'The Passion of the Christ' for Christian leaders in the Cinemec in Ede. An invitation-only preview like this has some advantages: no commercials, no break halfway the crucifixion, no popcorn.

Of course everyone was deeply moved. It's an intensely dramatic and violent movie, and at the same time a great artistic expression of the heart of the gospel: Jesus Christ who gave his life to reconcile us with God. Personally I liked it more than the 'softer' Jesus movies I've seen. Well-known phrases from the prophets suddenly became vividly real... "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed." (Isaiah 53,5)

The scenes that touched me most were Jesus crushing the snake's head, Peter denying Jesus, Mary running to Jesus when he falls face down, the crucifixion itself and the tear out of Heaven that caused the earthquake.

Having seen the movie, I wonder why so much 'political' discussion has been going on about it. More than other Jesus movies 'The Passion' closely follows the gospel accounts. There's no trace of antisemitism (or the gospels would have to be antisemitic) and it's clear that the underlying forces that came against Jesus were demons of religion, intimidation and death (in fact Satan himself), working largely through the religious establishment of his time.

So I'm not really bothered... well, maybe about the eagerness of Evangelicals to 'use' the movie for evangelism. I don't think 'The Passion' needs that. In terms of artistic quality it's much better than the Evangelical movies produced so far, and God's Spirit will convince people. There's no reason to 'jump' on it and claim it.

Perhaps an appropriate, low-key way to reach out would be to start 'Passion meals' or 'Passion groups' for people who have seen the movie (or want to see it as a group) and wish to process it with others. If they want to discover more about Jesus, Alpha could be a next step. But after that it gets a bit complicated. The radical sacrificial lifestyle of Jesus as expressed in the movie is way beyond where most Evangelical churches are heading.

May God use 'The Passion' to help us refocus on the cross and it's radical meaning. If we look at the cross, there is no room for trivial things like petty programs and divisions, or lookalike nails on a cord.

First clown church launched

Just received this picture of last Saturday's house church meeting. It's amazing what a little prophetic prayer can do to people. Two sizes, two generations... what is God up to in 2004?

The heart of the church

At our city leaders meeting this morning Peter Kos mentioned that the Dom church celebates its 750th anniversary. Because of this the city council decided to temporarily rebuild the nave of the cathedral. This is quite interesting, because the nave was destroyed by a tornado in 1674, separating the tower from the church (see insert and this picture).

I believe this tornado (an uncommon phenomenon in the Netherlands) was God's judgment on the Church as a result of the religious wars between protestants and catholics. This bloodshed turned the heart of the church (literally) into ruins, and these ruins were not removed from the city centre for nearly 150 years (!), as a visible prophetic sign of what had happened.

Several years ago I wrote two articles about this key event in Dutch history: one about the wells of the Church and one about intercession and spiritual counter-attacks. There is a battle going on around the heart of the Church, and the key issue is: will the church leaders reconcile and restore true worship to the Lord?

The Lord spoke to us through Isaiah 58,12: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." May it be so.

Big, bigger, biggest

My son David (4) is discovering the superlative degrees. When I explained to him that a movie screen is as big as our living room wall, he said: "No daddy, it's a hundredthousand times bigger!" When grandma observed that Peter (2) can walk the stairs very well on his own, David said: "Yes, Peter can even take ten stairs in one step!"

And when Karolien made a remark about the temperature outside, David said: "Mum, I can handle the cold, because I'm very strong. I'm even stronger than God!" Karolien said: "Are you sure about that? I think God is stronger than all people together." David, after a pause: "OK, then I'm as strong as a giant, like Goliath!" Karolien: "But you know how that story ended..." David: "Then I'm a giant, but not Goliath." I suggested it might be more practical to just stay David, who has a big God behind him...

I updated our family photo album with some fresh pictures of the last two months.

Church as Jesus intended it

A busy day. I gave three workshops on EO's Routeplanner 04, a day for young people who want to find God's direction in their life. One of my workshops was on 'Church as Jesus intended it', which I think was an eye-opener for most of them. Life versus religion. Most young people know instinctively that something is wrong with religion and yearn for the real thing.

In the evening Chinese food with a number of house church facilitators at Henk & Evelien's place in Heemstede. I really enjoy these meetings. Sharing life and praying for each other. Church is so simple.

Copper wedding day

Really, it's already 12.5 years ago, on a sunny day in September, that Karolien and I looked to each other and said: YES! Let's continue our journey together! In the Netherlands we call 12.5 years a 'copper wedding'. It's not silver or gold yet, but it's a start.

To celebrate it we took our kids to The National Museum 'From Musical Clock to Street Organ', located in a medieval church in the old centre of Utrecht. They have an impressive collection there, and also a special 'pling-plong room' where kids can make music themselves. Afterwards we had lunch in La Place.

The Barna oracle speaks

A new study of the Barna Research Group shows that in 2004 (compared to 1994) more adults in America are reading their Bible, participate in small religious groups and pray, but church-related involvement has remained flat. According to Barna "the church-oriented endeavors showed no movement. This may be an early warning sign that we are entering a new era of spiritual experience - one that is more tribal or individualized than congregational in nature." For keen observers this is not really a revelation, but it's nice to see that good old George is backing us up with some sound statistics.

Passion of Christ

Hearing the buzz and riding the wave... Today we launched PassionofChrist.NL, a website about Mel Gibson's movie 'The Passion of the Christ' that will be released in the Netherlands on April 1. But perhaps more interesting is The Passion of Christ Blog, a bilingual weblog with news, reviews and comments on Christ, the movie and his passion.

The weekend

Counting the blessings of last weekend: on Friday evening a good meal and fellowship with Ton Kasteleijn and friends at the local pancake restaurant, on Saturday Karolien's birthday (no party, but a nice family walk in the dunes near Soest), and on Sunday wining, dining and sharing with Pieter & Carla's group of friends (they don't call it house church) in Rijsenhout.