Marc's Messages

Mission activation course

A team of Caleb Project Europe converted my office into a little studio and interviewed me for a video production that will be used in the CoMission Course. This multi-format mission activation course is used by many churches and ministries throughout the UK, including 24-7prayer. The questions were quite broad, from "What is your assessment of the state of the Church in Europe today?" to "Do you think it's possible for the Gospel to once again make a significant impact in the European context, and what do you believe is needed for this to happen?"

Finland pictures

I created a photo album with some pictures of my Connect Europe trip to Finland.

Meeting with Eva Sarsa

At the airport we met Eva Sarsa, who leads a house church network in Finland and also coordinates 24-7prayer. We had a good talk about raising up younger leaders and avoiding burn-out.

Baptism Finnish-style

The group left just before dinner, and we spent the rest of the evening talking around the campfire. Niina wanted to get baptized and thought that would be a good opportunity for me to 'finnishize' and get in the cold lake. But hey, why suffer if there's also a yacuzzi-type bath tub in the forest. So we ended up doing a baptism Finnish-style.

Prophetic processing

Today we took time to hear from everyone how they are processing their paradigm shift, and gave specific prophetic input. We also touched on how to get rid of a religious mindset, and form house groups and ministry teams.

During a creative intermezzo Jan Inge from Norway taught me how to make dogs, elephants and rabbits from balloons. He's an artist who uses his balloons to point people to Jesus.

Every sauna for Christ

I still haven't figured out how nearly burning yourself, and then jumping naked in an icy cold lake could ever be healthy, but it surely was interesting to observe. Topi told me that 100,000 Finns (out of 5 million) have the habit of swimming 2-3 times a week throughout the year. Not in a nice, warm swimming pool, but in a lake outdoors. In winter they just cut a hole in the ice and get in, or roll naked through the snow. It's their way to fight the depression of totally dark winters I guess. Perhaps the best way to do church planting in Finland is to reach every sauna for Christ.

Shifting paradigms

Niina arranged a typical Finnish place for the weekend: a cabin on the lakeside with a sauna and a fireplace. I enjoy being outdoors, although Niina said the Finnish wouldn't call this countryside yet because there's still electricity and warm water. But hey, there is no internet connection, so it's quite an underdeveloped area for me.

The group consists of 14 emerging leaders from different church backgrounds, with challenging names like Heli, Mikko, Perttu, Teemu, Topi, Kari and Pekka. And they're all very quiet and contemplative. Deep waters, silent grounds, as the Dutch expression goes. Compared to the Finns I'm without doubt a super emotional person. I wonder how come they are so quiet. Is it the Jante Law, the climate or the sauna? Probably a combination of all three.

Today we took the group through a challenging paradigm shift from organized religion to the Body as Jesus intended it. I'm convinced that the fastest way to renew the church is to model something radically alive and out-of-the-box. Over lunch Matti, who is a part-time pastor in the lutheran church, compared the church system to a prison. I told him he was the first pastor I met that claimed such a radical thing, and that I would gratefully use that picture in my teaching. So what church renewal does is give prisoners better food, a more comfortable mattress and a small television to watch the news. But it's still a prison.

During prayer time several prophetic pictures were shared. One was about balloons with name and ministry tags that went up into the sky, and the wind of God's Spirit took them in different directions. Another was about a fast-flowing river that would take people to a different place. In order to flow with God, we have to let go of control.

Hanging in Helsinki

According to Lonely Planet "Helsinki retains a small-town feel: there are no high-rise buildings and the market square is still surrounded by 19th-century architecture. Its green parks and waterways, fresh sea winds with seagulls flying over the busy market square, and many open-air cafes make it a perfect summer destination."

We spent most of the day in a restaurant eating salmon, drinking hot chocolate and preparing for the weekend. We decided not to make a 'program', but flow as a team. This is not for control freaks and competitive people - it requires trust in God to lead the meeting His way, and trust in each other to input and facilitate in a way that creates synergy.

We also talked about apostolic ways of developing leadership, podcasting, connecting young media and arts professionals, reaching wiccans, and the unescapable Jante Law - the Scandinavian mindset of unworthyness, the belief that God can do anything except through you, which creates a standard of mediocrity. But the Kingdom of God always breaks out of the ordinary, and pioneers new territory. Therefore to follow Jesus also requires a conversion from the prevalent values of culture, and intentionally live-out a Kingdom counter-culture.

Hitting the security gates

Somehow I always activate the security gates at the airport. Because I usually empty my pockets, surrender my handy, and take out my coat, I assumed it would be the anointing or my fillings (he he). This time the oversensitive thing went off again and the security guard went through the routine body check procedure. Took him a long time. I had to undo my belt, take off my shoes, and hand over my bank cards. Finally he came to the conclusion that it was probably some metal in my shoes.

No smooth start. Heidi missed her connecting flight in Amsterdam and will arrive tomorrow. And why does the label on my luggage say that I'm on a trip to HEL?

On my way to Finland

Tonight I'm heading for Helsinki, Finland, where Niina organised a weekend for emerging leaders about 'church as Jesus intended it', which will touch on reformation issues and God's calling on this generation.

The vacuum cleaner

Dutch Metro columnist Luuk Koelman compares the upcoming referendum on the European constitution with a new vacuum cleaner the government tries to sell, but no-one really asked for. The power of packing an opinion in humor.

The practice of apostolic teams

How do five-fold ministry teams, or apostolic teams, function in practice? Yesterday I interacted about this topic with Erling Thu from Bergen, Norway, who started such a team twenty years ago, and has some valuable experience to glean from. He's now part of a local-regional team in the Bergen area, and an international team called Ministries Without Borders. This is what I picked up from our conversation:

1. The team members have mature equipping ministries (based on Eph. 4) and covenanted with each other to serve an expanding network of churches, and several regions. They are friends in the first place, and acknowledge, serve and protect each other. They choose to be real, open and faithful.

2. They meet at least every 1-2 months to pray together and receive direction from God, and act based on that. In-between they stay in active connection and communication. An example of how it might work in practice: if they receive prophetic direction to start an organic church network in a specific region, then likely first the prophet and/or apostle will go in. The former to pray into the area, discern God's purposes and make initial connections. The latter to establish and lay foundations by relationship and teaching. After that the evangelist might come in to equip the believers to reach their friends and neighbours, or the pastor might come over to equip in grace, inner healing and deliverance. However God leads and whatever is needed to establish and mature a local-regional Body of believers.

3. According to Erling not all prophets and apostles are 'foundational' (Eph. 2). Foundational ministries carry a revelation of Christ and how his Body functions in a healthy way. They have a 'zeal for the house of the Lord', a 'governmental-doctrinal' insight. Other, more 'regular' prophets might do sings and wonders, give predictions or prophesy over individuals. This is not necessarily foundational. Nor are church planters necessarily apostles, or apostles necessarily church planters.

4. The members of the apostolic team intentionally multiply their ministry in others - one-on-one, through focused training sessions, and by forming other five-fold ministry teams in the regions where they work.

5. The biggest challenge, says Erling, is good communication. Don't assume that people have the same understanding or revelation as you do because they 'talk the same talk'. Rather, take time to teach and discuss the Word of God, to rubb off the theology and values in people. Also it's important to really take time to process together what God is saying and decide on the best way forward. Don't move too quickly, but take time to shape and share.

Welcome to Lego Church

From Charis' blog: A Lego Church of more than 75,000 pieces, seating 1,372 people. It took 1,5 years to plan and build it. I have to say it's impressive. Big advantage over 'normal' institutionalised churches: this one is easy to deconstruct. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Jasper back from New York

Had an extensive cappucino with Jasper, who blogged about his experiences at Tim Keller's Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York for several months. Now he is back in Amsterdam and his weblog disappeared for some reason, so if you search in Google for 'Jasper in New York', you end up with novelist James Wolcott's cat. But anyway, we had a really interesting talk about the paradigm shift God is taking quite a number of people through these days.

Jasper went to Redeemer to experience the best available (most alive) version of an institutionalized reformed church with the idea to start something similar in Amsterdam. But he returned with the realisation that this kind of church would never make his heart beat much faster. In the midst of a leadership development program, he experienced a foundational discontentment with church-as-we-know it. The way forward is organic, low-key, friendship-based, incarnational, Spirit-led, dynamic teamwork.

Suffering for the Lord

Reinhold decided we'll have our next DAWN Europe team meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, of all places. He probably thought it would be good for us to stretch our apostolic muscles. So now we have to suffer for the Lord in a five-star hotel in the Caribian. The apostle Paul would turn around in his grave... But as this is also an international associates meeting, it's a good opportunity to meet people from all over the world who are engaged in strategic church planting initiatives. At least that should still our conscience, right? ;-)

Largest prayer meeting ever

Fascinating television from Christian World News about the Global Day of Prayer, held on Pentecost 15 May 2005. All over the world the Spirit is moving... over 200 million Christians in 140 nations joined in what was coined the largest prayer meeting ever. In the Netherlands we held a prayer and praise gathering with 30,000 people on the grounds of Opwekking festival. Just a pity the Americans managed to squeeze in some commercials...

Emerging covens (2)

A follow-up on my earlier posting on emerging covens: Heidi told me that last weekend several witches showed up on a prophetic conference where she was teaching. She decided to prophesy God's destiny for their lives. One of the girls was delivered on the spot and decided to follow Jesus. Who's next? A nice warming up for Finland, where we will hang out next weekend. I guess it's easier to deliver wiccans than lutherans, but we'll see...

Freedom from Churchianity

Thanks to Andrew Black for pointing me to an excellent article by Chip Brogden titled 'Churchianity Today'. Brogden strongly makes a case that the Lord's invisible, universal, spiritual Church (the Ecclesia) and the churches of Organised Religion and Institutional Christianity are totally separate things. The Ecclesia is the Lord's. The church of OR is a human institution created by people for the purposes of people.

He digs into issues like the true cost of church membership, the gospel according to Organized Religion, fellowship apart from Organized Religion, the issue of financial support, the issue of leadership support, the issue of doctrinal support, the renunciation of denominationalism, institutional house churches, and the way out of Babylon (anti-Christ mindsets and systems). This article has too many good quotes to summarize it here, so I advise you to read the whole thing, it explains exactly why I have no intention to return to the OR-version of church.

Andrew wonders if Brogden's perspective renders the discussion about 'reformation' irrelevant. In a way, yes. If you separate the Ecclesia from OR, then we have freedom to move wherever Jesus leads us. But because the majority of Christians and non-Christians alike see the Ecclesia and OR as one and the same thing, there still is a need to model alternative versions of community and missions that are true to how Christ intended his Body to function.

Moving from OR to Christ-centered freedom takes a huge paradigm shift. Which is in fact what we're talking about: a re-forming of our thinking, based on a revelation of Christ. As long as OR is not seriously challenged with dangerously radical movements of living stones, we will only see people leave OR without organic support-structures to live differently.

Is the Swing leaving DAWN?

Oh no, Kerstin Hack, the creative-prophetic conscience of the DAWN Europe team, is leaving us. She will be focusing on her publishing house Down-to-Earth and the Together for Berlin city reaching initiative. She wrote an e-mail saying:

"I loved and enjoyed the time with you and the process of working together and I will miss the fun, the hearty discussions (shall we pray or plan or both, in which order) ... and simply 'You'. Yikes. This makes me cry. Thanks for all the hugs, advice, pats on the shoulder (even if it took weeks for the pain to heal afterwards... after all, I am a woman)."

We will miss Kerstin for sure. After all women are the best 'organic' church planters, and a team with just men is simply boring. BTW, I'm currently reviewing a commentary on Roland Allen's classic book 'Missionary Methods. St. Paul's or Ours?' that Kerstin will publish under the title 'Planting churches like Paul. Or trying it with our methods.' It will appear in German, but will likely also find its way to international distributors.

The one blogger who tracked back

Andrew is continuing with his Bible translation for bloggers. Luke 17:11-18 reads:

And it came to pass, as they were reloading the Jerusalem home page, that in his RSS reader he noticed the suspicious URLs of Samaria.com and Galilee.com. And as he opened a certain website, there met him ten bloggers with viruses in their hard drive and they messaged him, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go and show your template html unto the Programmers. And it came to pass, as they went, their viruses were erased. And one of them, when he saw that his html was restored, pinged back, with a bold trackback glorifying God; and he uploaded a huge blog post of appreciation: and he was not logged in as a member. And Jesus answering said, Did not the ten bloggers get cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found that pinged a trackback to God, except this non-cookied non-logged non-member? And he said unto him, Boot up, load up and blog on: your faith has made your code whole.

If the Bible was blogged

"I know the Bible was not blogged. The publishing technologies were different back then. But what if it was? What technologies would be used? What kind of blogs would the authors create for their unique messages?" A humorous posting by Andrew Jones.

Hands off, Peter Wagner!

My last posting on the apostolic symposium brought some good and spicy feedback from friends and fellow-bloggers. I will try to tackle the hot issues and clarify my position in several postings. First I want to address the use of terminology. Why do I use the terms 'Kingdom', 'apostle' and 'reformation' if these are also used by so-called 'New Apostolic Reformation' exponents like C. Peter Wagner who are propagating quite thwarted views and practices?

Reformation
I already explained the term 'reformation'. I see no reason not to use this word because it is widely understood in the Church as meaning 'foundational change', and carries a historical precedent. I believe the church, especially in the western world, needs a new reformation. The times are as urgent as the time of Wycliffe and Luther, Jesus is entiteld to a pure Bride, and the world around us should have a fair chance to be reconciled to God.

This is a prophetic statement because it is based on a (in-part) revelation or understanding of Christ and how He intended his Body to function. It's also an apostolic statement because the church in the western world has become quite dysfunctional and ineffective in truely discipling people and nations. So we do need a foundational change. The real question is: in what specific areas does the church have to change and how does God want to bring this change about?

Kingdom
The term 'Kingdom' is coloured by Kingdom Now theology, of which both C. Peter Wagner and Anderson Williams are proponents, although they hold different views on the apostolic ministry. I believe there are valuable and biblical elements in the Kingdom Now perspective, because the Church is called to preach and demonstrate the Kingdom, but the movement tends to go overboard and become gnostic and exclusivistic (more about this in another posting).

Fact is that the Kingdom of God is central in Jesus' ministry. Jesus never talked about church, but he talked a whole lot about the Kingdom (and he demonstrated it in healing and deliverance). So an understanding of the Kingdom of God and the basic principles and values (read the sermon on the mount) are key if we want to follow Christ.

Apostle
Apostle means 'being sent' into the nations to proclaim the Kingdom of God. It's generally understood as being a foundational ministry in the sense of breaking open new ground and putting Christ-centered (not prophet- and apostle-centered) foundations in place for churches and movements. I'd stick to that definition, no matter what Peter Wagner says. His statement that apostles are generally the senior pastors of megachurches is thwarted. I understand the rationale behind it, but it's a very unhelpful definition. I might believe it when I see senior pastors pioneer churches in North Korea and the Islamic world and die as a martyr.

Some people asked me if it wouldn't be better not to use the A-word, because it is so abused already. But I hate to let go of truely biblical words and concepts because pretentious believers 'polluted' these terms by using them in a less helpful way. C. Peter may have written a lot of books, I honestly don't think he can claim a right on the true definition and practice of apostles.

In general words have different connotations to different people in different contexts. As I see it, the only thing we can do to prevent unwishul interpretations is to be very clear in our definitions and practices. The term 'Christian' is also coloured by Churchianity, and the term 'Church' has pagan roots.

It would be fair to state that many people who call themselves apostles are not. If we define apostles as a kind of 'super pastors' in the church hierarchy, a new charismatic pope who holds the ultimate revelation, we miss the whole point of reformation. So to cut it short: because the A-word is authentically biblical, I believe it should be re-discovered and re-explored rather then censored. More about this in a next posting.

Investment schemes (2)

A follow-up on my earlier posting on investment schemes: Netwerk (Dutch television) just reported that the Allarts were arrested by the FIOD (fiscal police) last week and interrogated for three days. Their lawyer stated that this was "totally unexpected". Which is, to say it mildly, a bit naive.

BTW, several weeks ago I watched the video with the original presentation of this investment scheme in the Berea church. For a business presentation it was incredibly amateuristic. The footage also clearly proves that the acquisition for this investment scheme took place on the premises of Berea. Therefore the official statement the church published about KFS (the investment scheme) and Berea not being linked in any way, is simply not true.

Changing life on the planet

"The main call of the apostolic ministry is to change life on the planet," says Anderson. "This may sound very presumpteous and ambitious, but I believe this is what the Church is called for."

Today he introduced a holistic perspective on reformation and leadership, not just applying it to church, but also to politics, education, and the financial system. Their church in Trinidad set up a school system based on small groups to train children in the apostolic, with the vision that they will excell in leadership and the application of Kingdom values in society. When the government heard about it, they asked the church to train all the teachers on the island. Anderson: "Our experience has been that when the right Kingdom principles fall in place, God runs ahead of us."

Although I don't agree with everything Anderson introduced (personally I believe two dangers in the 'apostolic reformation' movement are exclusivism and gnosticism), it was good to be stretched and review the basic concepts of reformation and the apostolic ministry. Still it's a nuisance that he didn't properly answer the question I brought up several times: "Could you please describe a specific case in which you applied Kingdom principles and how this worked out in practice, so we gain insight in the process of how 'heavenly design' is being implemented." Often there's a lot of talk about concepts, while what we need is sound application.

Laying new foundations

How to lay new foundations? Wolfgang suggested four key building blocks:

- obedience to God's principles;
- learning how to pull in the harvest;
- the supernatural has to become natural;
- learning how to build apostolically.

In his view many churches suffer from the lack of apostolic ministry. "Evangelists preach a non-apostolic conversion: what can Jesus mean for me instead of what can I mean for Jesus. We have to acknowledge that prophets and apostles are foundational ministries. Evangelists, pastors and teachers are not. Therefore many churches led by the latter are often not able to multiply themselves and keep the harvest."

Heavenly design or IKEA?

What is the apostolic ministry about? Literally it means 'being sent' with the authority of Christ to bring the message of the Kingdom. According to Anderson, and I agree with that, apostles are 'master builders' in the sense that they pioneer and establish movements based on a revelation of Christ and His purposes in the earth. It's about heavenly design (not IKEA) and building on Kingdom principles instead of human insight. There's a supernatural wisdom involved in the apostolic ministry.

A few more quotes:

- Spiritual authority is not based on anointing, but on what we build based on our understanding of Christ and his Kingdom. Interrogate your own understanding: is your view of church based on tradition or on the ministry of Christ? Are your values determined by the (European) culture, or by the Kingdom of God?

- The apostolic ministry creates a context for divine purpose to flow. It brings the church back to her original calling/destiny, so that she can transform the world and her systems according to God's will. Religious church systems and the Kingdom of God are incompatible. The former is about pleasing men and creating emotions to satisfy felt religious needs, the latter about pleasing God and obedience.

- Church renewal is a deception. If your church is in fact a religious system, you have to get out of the system and the system has to get out of you. We all need conversion, deliverance and renewal of the mind to discern the will of God (Rom. 12,1-2).

- We are called to receive revelation and obey, not to follow examples and models. When God told Noah to build a boat, he launched out into the unknown instead of asking: "Lord, are there already working models of this?" And John the Baptist didn't say: "My message must be correct because other ministries are prophesying and saying the same." Our position and validation is in Christ, not in external approval or disproval.

Reformation re-invented

Relating to my earlier posting on the terminology reformation and revolution, Wolfgang suggested the terms re-foundation (a refounding of church and society on Christ), re-invention (a rediscovery and implementation of God's original blueprint, a kind of DNA treatment) or re-incarnation (living Christ and his Kingdom instead of playing church). "With reformation," he said, "the old system still pulls on people and ultimately compromises the effort." Personally I don't think re-incarnation is very helpful either, unless you work with esoteric people.

Anderson has no problem with the term reformation, provided it is defined not in the churchy sense of the word, but holistically as "a biblical concept that involves benchmarking existing processes for human development against the standards for human existence as revealed in the Word of God. Necessary structural changes are then enacted in order to produce the manifestation of God’s vision for all dimensions of human life." (Look here for a more elaborate outworking.)

The Caribian Simson

Have you ever wondered what the Caribian version of Wolfgang Simson looks like? The guy on the left is Anderson Williams, and on his way from the USA to Serbia and Congo he also touched down in Switzerland. He leads the Elijah Centre in Trinidad, described as a global unbordered kingdom community. Like that term. It's associated with Congress WBN, where they invented even more interesting terms like spiritual ecosystems. I always thought apostles were into the simple message of the Kingdom, but apparently the Trinidarian version includes creative innovation. ;-)

Our friend Anderson - "hey man, feel the vibe" - was even more in a demolishing mode than Mr. Housechurch Simson. Overgeneralising, he called the church the "most dysfunctional, sectarian and archaic institution the world has ever seen," even "a maffia structure". But he also offered helpful building blocks for what you could call an apostolic or reformation paradigm, which I believe is much needed in the church.

Apostolic symposium

Wolf Simson invited me for an interactive symposium with Anderson Williams from Trinidad about 'the future of the apostolic reformation'. So tomorrow and Saturday I'll be hanging in the Zürich area. Then back home for a two day personal retreat over Pentecost.

David's birthday party

Happy birthday to David who turned 6 today. In the afternoon we threw a party for him in the forest with some of his friends from school. Dad prepared a puzzle track with several assignments like building a tipi from branches. (click on the picture to enlarge)

A nation impacted

Guess who descended from the Skype heaven today? My Brazilian friend Rubens. Long time no see, since he moved from Germany to the States to launch Rubens Cunha Evangelistic Ministries.

I met Rubens in Amsterdam in 1997, when he was part of a group of intercessors from Brazil who came at their own expense to passionately pray for Europe and encourage the believers here. One year later Karolien and joined a trip to Brazil and hung out with him and his family in Goiania. Then somehow (I still haven't figured out how this works) he met his wife Stephanie through Joel News and they married. For a year or so they ran campaigns all over Latin America, then lived in Germany for some time (everyone needs a desert time, right?) before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the American Bible Belt. From there they run evangelistic healing campaigns in different nations.

While for most Europeans 'old time crusades' are history, for Rubens it is the most apostolic thing to do. "Because Jesus did it. Because the apostles did it. Because it works." That settles the issue. I must say the reports, like this one from El Salvador, are impressing. God is on the move, and many people find Jesus and are being healed. Rubens told me that on his next campaign in India he will train younger evangelists during the action in 'faith dynamics' and organisational skills. So if you long to be trained in this area, contact him. He's a great guy to hang out with.

Small victory

Gained a small victory today by passing my driver's license theory exam. Apparently at the CBR they also use Windows, because question 45 caused an 'invalid action error', closing down the exam software. First I thought: "Oh no, now we have to reboot and do the whole creepy thing again," but happily the memory didn't let us down.

Jesus DNA and forms of church

Fellow blogger Andrew Black commented on my posting about 'reformation or revolution?' and asked: "What is your historical perspective on church practices and traditions which were lifted from pagan culture? Are you really going for just some more reform, or is it time to start again from Acts 2?"

That's a topic in itself. In terms of DNA I firmly believe we have to stick to the person and ministry of Jesus and the dynamic of the early church in Acts. Based on this I would say a healthy church or community of Jesus-followers is marked by three things:

1. The presence of Christ visible in love, joy, answered prayers, the gifts and guidance of the Spirit and the signs of the Kingdom.
2. Love, relational commitment and generous sharing among the believers.
3. Firm commitment to our common mission to disciple the nations.

When it comes to the FORMS of church/community I'd suggest we have a lot of freedom of expression. But I would also ask two questions:

1. Does this form really express the Jesus DNA, does it breathe the values of the Kingdom of God?
2. Is this form effective in helping us focus on Jesus and accomplishing the mission he sent us on?

Now looking at some of Andrew's issues:

1. Liturgy and rituals: there's nothing wrong with liturgy and rituals as such, they can help us experience a dimension of Christ. I've been in some very inspiring liturgic celebrations. On the other hand, if liturgy become a one-size-fits-all box, a legastic, traditionalistic structure that limits the Spirit of God, we better get rid of it as soon as possible. I think it would be fair to say that most liturgy in today's churches is limiting rather then releasing.

2. The distinction between (ordained, salaried) clergy and laity. I would say this is fundamentally unbiblical. But this doesn't mean that we shouldn't release certain ministries financially as God leads. But I think the priority would have to be apostolic/missionary, not pastoral. Ministries who serve the wider Body, not just one local expression of church.

3. Church buildings. I think's it's unbiblical and a waste of money that every congregation has it's own building. But it would be great to have several multi-functional facilities on a city level that all Christian communities could use for training, celebrations and the like.

Looking forward to your comments.

Liberation Day 05-05-05

It's 05-05-05. Ascension and Liberation Day at the same time. The start of 10 days of prayer and fasting for the Netherlands, and a worldwide prayer campaign as well. With a group of intercessors and leaders from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany I went up to the Three Nations Point at the Vaalserberg, also the highest point of the Netherlands, to worship, celebrate communion and pray prophetically for our nations.

On the two hour trip to Vaals and back I had an extensive talk with Peter and Annemarie Helms, who founded the international Go School in Kelowna, Canada. It's a holistic and organic training for emerging leaders.

Evaluating Soul Survivor

Met up for breakfast with the board of Soul Survivor and Mike Pilavachi to evaluate this year's festival. There were loads of encouraging testimonies of young people finding Christ, being changed by his presence and discovering their destiny and calling. Pictures say more than words, so click on these images to taste the experience of the past five days. One of the main issues for the coming years is leadership development.

The vision is Jesus

This morning I read Pete Greig's prayer/poem/prophecy 'The Vision' again. This is the heartbeat of an emerging generation of Jesus followers all over the world.

So this guy comes up to me and says, "What's the vision? What's the big idea?" I open my mouth and words come out like this...

The vision?
The vision is JESUS:
obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people.
You see bones?
I see an army.

And they are FREE from materialism -
they laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn't even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix,
the way the West was won.

They are mobile like the wind,
they belong to the nations,
they need no passport.
People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free,
yet they are slaves
of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.
It makes children laugh and adults angry.
It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.
It scorns the good and strains for the best.
It is dangerously pure.

Light flickers
from every secret motive,
every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps,
their Satan games.

This is an army
that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day
its soldiers choose to loose that they might one day win the great "Well done" of faithful sons and daughters.

Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.

They don't need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards
and hear the crowds chanting again and again:
"COME ON!"

And this is the sound of the underground,
the whisper of history in the making,
foundations shaking,
revolutionaries dreaming once again.
Mystery is scheming in whispers,
conspiracy is breathing...
This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed -
young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts
"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Sacrifice fuels the fire
of victory in their upward eyes.
Winners.
Martyrs.
Who can stop them? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them?

And the generation prays
like a dying man with groans beyond talking,
with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and great barrow loads of laughter!

Waiting.
Watching:
24 - 7 - 365.

Whatever it takes they will give:
Breaking the rules,
shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide,
laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs,
laughing at labels,
fasting essentials.
The advertisers cannot mold them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless
to shake their resolve
at late night parties
before the cockerel cries.

They are incredibly cool,
dangerously attractive inside.
On the outside? They hardly care!
They wear clothes like costumes: to communicate and celebrate,
but never to hide.

Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their very lives, swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell:
a throne for an electric chair.

With blood and sweat and many tears,
with sleepless nights and fruitless days,
they pray as if it all depends on God
and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS.
(He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings.
They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.

Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don't you hear them coming?

Herald the weirdos!
Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten
with fire in their eyes!
They walk tall and trees applaud,
skyscrapers bow,
mountains are dwarfed
by these children of another dimension.

Their prayers summon the Hound of Heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.

And this vision will be.
It will come to pass;
it will come easily;
it will come soon.

How do I know?
Because this is the longing of creation itself,
the groaning of the Spirit,
the very dream of God.

My tomorrow is His today.
My distant hope is His 3-D.
And my feeble,
whispered,
faithless prayer
invokes a thunderous,
resounding,
bone-shaking
great "Amen!"
from countless angels,
from hero's of the faith,
from Christ himself.

And He is the original dreamer,
the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.

The theatre of the Lord

Just watched Frisia Broadcasting's April 10 documentary on the Free Baptist Church in Drachten. It's the fastest growing church in the Netherlands, and with around 1800 people, 16 employees, and 3 services every Sunday also one of the largest. The church is known for it's clear-cut 'orthodox' preaching of the gospel and dynamic program. But, as the leaders openly state: "This church has become a theatre company and is run as such."

BTW, the Evangelical Broadcasting Company (EO) is currently producing a docusoap about the Purpose-Driven Willow Redeemer Church of the Netherlands.

Reformation or revolution?

Fellow blogger Andrew Black commented on my posting about reformation: "Is 'reformation' the appropriate word? 'Reformation' implies taking the structure, traditions, theology etc. of the existing church and repairing and improving them to get them closer to where they should be. You talk of a return to a Christ centred church. You talk of getting rid of the idolatry of institutions. This is not reformation - this is revolution!"

Let's have a look at the root meaning of the words 'reformation' and 'revolution':

Main Entry: re·form
from Latin reformare
1 a : to put or change into an improved form or condition b : to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses
2 : to put an end to (an evil) by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action
3 : to induce or cause to abandon evil ways

Main Entry: rev·o·lu·tion
from Late Latin revolution-, revolutio, from Latin revolvere to revolve
2 a : a sudden, radical, or complete change b : a fundamental change in political organization; especially : the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed c : activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d : a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm e : a changeover in use or preference especially in technology

We're talking about fundamental changes, a paradigm shift, an uprooting and replanting. Not a cosmetic renewal or improvement of what's already there. So from that point of view, just by looking at the root meaning of these words I agree with you. We're actually up to REVOLUTION rather then REFORMATION.

But I'm also a historian, and from a historical perspective the word 'reformation' hits home better than 'revolution'. Reformation is associated with THE reformation and implies that you keep what's good and throw away what's bad. It's a recognition that what Christ started is foundationally good, though it got distorted along the way.

Revolution is associated (at least in Europe) primarily with the bloody French and Russian revolutions, which was a rebellion against any authority (the king as well as God). I know the American revolution is a different story, but we're based in Europe.

Perhaps, as we plan to connect in Prague, we should look more to the Velvet revolution (or the recent Orange revolution in Ukraine), which was a bloodless fundamental political change. Or the revolution in the airline industry - I like the pay-off a low-budget airline carried: "We change the rules of flying." What we envision is a change of rules, from corrupted church politics as we know it to the rules set by Jesus.

Mobility problems

Our new Connect Europe core team is experiencing mobility problems. Maaike snapped her ankle ligaments last week, ending up in a wheel chair. Heidi, who's involved in a prayer action in Berlin, mailed me that she also had to go to hospital this weekend with torn damaged ligaments in her ankle. Looks like our team mobility is under attack.

Churchplanting Sicilian style

I also liked this story from satirical newspaper Lark News: a new megachurch in Palermo, Sicily, presents church as a big family in which you 'pay tribute to the Big Don'. They use violins in worship and appointed ushers in a pinstripe suit and dark sunglasses. The pastor preaches on 'how to be a wiseguy'. "God did a favor for you a long time ago," pastor Bendeto says. "It's time to return that favor. The books are open for you right now. If you don't come forward, who knows? You might have trouble this week. Crazy things happen. Come show your respect to the Big Don."

As the church gains control over more neighborhoods, Bendeto's ambitions are growing. He recently planted a church in Newark, N.J., with the help of financial backers in Sicily. He hopes one day to have churches up and down the East Coast of America.

Also funny: new Vatican 'priest on wheels' initiative.

40 Days of Purpose fanatics

A new breed of Purpose-Driven Life fanatics is traveling from city to city to attend 40 Days of Purpose programs, temporarily swelling the sizes of local churches and overwhelming parks and neighborhoods, reports satirical newspaper Lark News. The roving group of 10,000 people is made up of Baby Boomers seeking new life direction, young college students opting out of traditional career channels, and street vendors making a buck off it all.

Self-described 'purps' and 'PDL-heads' (pronounced 'puddleheads') say they enjoy the process of finding their purpose so much that it has become their ultimate goal. "I'm on my 400th day of purpose and I still feel invigorated," says Wendy Sotter, 44, a 'proud purp' from Omaha. "My purpose in life is to find my purpose. It's like a constant high."

24-7 launches Transit training

We discussed it at last year's roundtable in Barcelona... now it's launched: 24-7prayer's Transit training for "a new breed of leader, who values humble, creative, relational expressions of ministry." It involves experiential learning on three distinct levels: living room (personal mentoring focused on character development and discipleship), boiler room (becoming part of a missional community that ministers to the poor and lost) and class room (interaction with teachers and practitioners). This links in to three dimensions of spirituality: authentic, relational and missional. I like the holistic approach of Transit, it links in to my earlier posting on training emerging leaders and my friend Taco's training document.

Soul Survivor festival

A bright sunny day. I'm hanging at the Soul Survivor festival with over 3,000 young folks on fire for Jesus. Met several interesting people, but missed the presentation of a video production on the five-fold ministry to which I contributed (as a prophet, but don't tell anybody ;-)