Marc's Messages

New family pictures

I posted some new pictures in our family photo album. Enjoy it!

UK needs to get sorted

Andrew wrote a post titled 'The UK needs to get sorted!' featuring some serious prophetic words related to the UK, and thought it would be a nice idea to 'outsource' prophetic discernment to me, which of course is a mixed blessing. Anyway, I used the opportunity to post some thoughts on how to handle prophetic words, and linked some of the content to the extreme weather conditions around Connect Europe meetings. This time there was heavy snowfall in the west of Germany.

My comments (more comments welcome):

Outsourcing prophetic discernment to me? This is a mixed blessing, Andrew. ;-)

But I could say a few things. First of all: like most people I get my daily share of so-called prophecies by e-mail, and I delete more than 90 percent because it's wishful thinking, vague spiritualistic talk or self-promotion. BUT, we cannot afford to throw away the baby with the bathwater under London Bridge. Cynicism doesn't help and can even harden our hearts for the real stuff. So let's be principally open and exercise discernment.

Secondly, when God seems to be saying similar things around the same time to mature prophetic people, independent from each other, then I would at least read it carefully and pray into it, because apparently He's asking for our attention.

You asked whether the prophetic impressions about the UK match with what we discerned at the Connect Europe gathering in Berlin. Only to some extent I would say. On the day you posted this (28 Nov) God reminded me in my prayer time about several specific parts from Handel's 'Messiah' (a German composer who lived in England): "He will come like a refiner's fire", "Who can stand when He appeareth?" and "And He shall purify the sons of Levi". It seems to me that there surely is a purification process going on, as a preparation for a deeper move of God.

Not sure if this is limited to the UK, as I experience it more as a Europe-wide thing. In the reformational transition from 'church as we know it' to 'church as a grassroots movement'; from false mediation structures to Christ in the centre, etc. God is asking for more radical obedience (holiness = being set apart for God and his purposes) than what we're perhaps accustomed to. The criterium is not a 'good program' or 'good initiative', but whether we really heard from God. There are godly seasons of catalysation, and it's important not to miss these. I sense we are in such a season.

Waters and rivers play a role in the spiritual realm related to cities and nations: yes.

It's interesting at least that everytime we had a Europe-wide gathering of prophets and those who work towards reformation and new expressions of the Body, we encountered extreme weather circumstances. The floodings in Prague and Dresden that you refer to happened at the time of our first Connect meeting in that area, in Herrnhut (birthplace of the Moravian prayer, missions and community movement led by Zinzendorf.

Last Summer when we met in Prague to press into the spiritual inheritance of Jan Hus, there were heavy floodings around Lake Constance, the place where Hus was killed. The intercessors praying there a few months earlier were led by God to take careful note of the water level in the lake. After they prayed about the killing of the early reformer, it was exactly 3,33 meters and God spoke: "Watch this season, as I'm in control of the water levels in Europe".

Last weekend we had another Connect meeting, this time in Germany in which we also looked into the 'organic church fathers' from this nation, and there has been extreme snowfall in the area of Munster, the city where the Anabaptists were killed.

So although I don't know specifically about the UK, and tend to be cautious with some of the impressions on this website, I would certainly pray into these words (ask God to show you what you need to know) and be alert to move with God in whatever way He is leading us.

Evaluation and planning

Today we evaluated our time together, revisited some topics, and I shared some plans we pencilled in for the next season. Andi led us in a free-style meditation time. The rest of the day I hang out with Chris and Marja from Romania, Niina and Gabi, and Nuno and Itaguarra from Portugal.



Download what_is_connect_europe.ppt

Luther: the man who spoke out

Last night some celebrated Ben's birthday, while others watched the night movie 'Luther' in one of the seminar rooms. This intriguing movie shows the boldness of a man who spoke out against idolatry in the church, but couldn't prevent his reformation to turn into a massive bloodshed, killing over a 100,000 peasants. The sober lesson: what started in the Spirit, can end up in the flesh, especially when it gets messed up with politics.

Join the potato conspiracy!

When Heidi and I brainstormed about the Berlin gathering last September, we came up with an unconventional theme, linking the German soil to Kingdom DNA and multiplication: 'The potato conspiracy'. So we asked everyone to bring a potato from his/her own country and do something creative with it (a story, poem, song, prophetic act, or any other form of art, serious or funny) that we could learn from.



Tonight we broke up in small groups to share our stories, and it was hilarious. Kersti from Norway made a stamp in the form of a heart, and because Ben, our youngest participant turned 15 this weekend, we initiated him in the Order of the Jolly Good Potato. I also gave a short presentation on the basics of organic gardening, or what organic church planters can learn from the potato.

Download the_potato_conspiracy_light.ppt

Reading Scripture in public

Heard many excellent stories today. Andy from England shared about his plans to start a movement of young people reading Scripture in public places. Just imagine three people coming together in places like the McDonald's, a local pub, the library at school, the park, the metro, etc, to read the Bible together, discuss the implication for their life, and pray for each other. After all, it's the most normal thing to do, and it can inspire non-Christians to also grab a Bible and join in.

It links in to a Scripture God gave us for this gathering - Matthew 22, in which Jesus compares the Kingdom to a king who threw a party for his friends. But no-one was interested to come, they were all too busy minding their own things. Then the king told his servants to go into the streets and invite everyone who wanted to come to the party. Many Christians are so busy with their internal church activities, that they don't notice that the King already sent his servants into the streets to find the poor and needy. We're in a season of grace for the unchurched and unreligious to be invited to the King's table.

Prayer wrestling for Europe

Today we prayed extensively for the nations in Europe represented at this gathering. In four different corners we prayed first for the participants from the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Portugal. Each nation had a big flip-over paper on which we could write or draw prophetic impressions and encouragements. In the afternoon we prayed for Germany, the largest contingent, and in the evening for Norway, Finland, Hungary and Romania. A creative time of 'body ministry', of which Nuno from Portugal made some pictures. And Andy from England taught us how to 'prayer wrestle'.

Early Christmas dinner

In the evening we went out to a cosy restaurant with fireplace for an early Christmas dinner. The portions were too small for me, but we had a great time.

Is there hope for the church?

Today I held a presentation on the state of the church in Europe, starting with a mildly ironic description of our current effectiveness, then explaining why the church needs a reformation, and finally introducing several emerging, quite out-of-the-box expressions of church and ministry. Everyone contributed to this time of storytelling, and I was encouraged by the fact that most of us are actively pursuing new ways, like house church, monastic communities, Postmodern/EPIC conversations, café/pub church, houses of prayer and boilerrooms, mobile/nomadic companies of friends, virtual communities, liquid varieties of church, kids church, youth church, marriage transformation groups, active leisure and spiritual formation groups, indigenous church, and tribal outreach among new agers and neopagans.

Over lunch I joined a conversation on the abuse of tithing in local churches, and godly financial priorities. In the afternoon there were workshops on coaching, organic church and storytelling.

Download church_is_bigger_than_you_think_light.ppt

International worship team

Matt Redman and Jason Upton couldn't make it to the meeting, so we compiled an 'organic' worship band, a Norwegian-German-Portuguese partnership, with Renni (vocals & guitar), Anne-Maria (violin), Martin (piano), Nuno (guitar), Jeff (drum) and Helena (dance). Ronald from the Netherlands brought a song that he wrote several years ago, but never performed. God told him that he had to save this song until he would join an international meeting of younger leaders, then the time would be right to sing it. Special. (Click on the link below for the text.)

Download we_will_stand_accords.doc

The Connect story

At the start of a weekend like this we always take time for personal introductions and to tell the Connect story. Of the 38 participants 26 haven't been involved in a Connect gathering before, so we intentionally give people an overview of the journey so far, with an open invitation to join in and shape the process. Below the pictures of the previous Europe-wide meetings in Herrnhut (2002), Geneva (2004) and Prague (2005).

The youth guesthouse

We stay in the youth guesthouse of the Berlin City Mission, a centrally located colourful glass and concrete building with spacey rooms, a foyer where you can hang out and excellent food. The meeting hall is so big that we divided it in two areas: one for presentation and discussion, and another for prayer and artistic expressions.

What makes Berlin tick?

To gain a better understanding of God's purposes with cities, and how Christians can make a difference, Kerstin Hack guided us on an afternoon excursion through Berlin. Kerstin is a creative out-of-the-box thinker and one of the initiators of the city-wide prayer initiative for Berlin. She told some cool stories of how praying Christians influenced the course of events in the city. Around the May 1 demonstrations this year, she courageously positioned herself with a small prayer team in between hundreds of anarchists on the one side and hundreds of neonazis on the other. A head-on violent collision was miraculously prevented.



During the excursion it started snowing again, and it was soooooo cold that I escaped the group halfway to get a glühwein on the Christmas market.

Dinner in the Fernsehturm

Andreas and Christine took us for dinner up to the Fernsehturm (television tower) at Alexanderplatz, an architectural and political symbol of the former GDR. The funny thing is that the 368 meter high building, erected in 1969, had a 'design error' that made the commies a bit uncomfortable: on bright days the sun would display a cross on the ball of the tower, a sign of hope pointing to a better future.

These days you can take the elevator up to a restaurant with an astounding view over the city. The floor of the restaurant moves slowly, so you get to see the whole city several times before you finish your plate.

How to lead 'organically'?

Had a relaxed preparation day with the team. We decided to not work with a fixed program or central agenda, but let Jesus lead us organically throughout the weekend. For some the word organic means lack of organisation and direction. For me it means two things:

a. Recognizing that Jesus builds His church. Therefore being sensitive to what God's Spirit is saying and doing and intentionally allowing/expecting Him to lead us corporately, which in practice means an open interaction between those who facilitate and provide direction and the group. It is not a matter of being un-organized (it honours God to organize things well), but of flexibility in structures, and holding them lightly, so God can shape things the way He wants.

b. Being aware that people are in different stages in their spiritual journey and that therefore you cannot assume that 'one size fits all'; it's a matter of recognizing this, giving space to diversity, and a more coaching style of leadership.

Tim Elmore calls this style of leadership that marks today's emerging generation that of the poet-gardener. The poet discerns purpose and the gardener develops people. The key values are connection and growth. A gardener things organically: he is aware of the seasons of God, that different crops might need different kinds of soil and attention to grow.

Connect meets in Berlin

Tonight I fly to Berlin for our second Connect Europe gathering this year. We will meet up with 37 reformation-wired emerging leaders from 10 nations, looking forward to hear from God together, share stories and build friendship around His purposes for Europe. If you have time, say a prayer for the preparation team, for inspiration, protection and good health.

Selling the dove

Today I published the first illustrated edition of Joel News. Earlier this year Henny Netjes sent me some prophetic illustrations related to what she calls 'selling the dove', the abuse of the Holy Spirit for financial gain. Henny also started an 'illustrated weblog' with pictures and drawings, expressing God's beauty and offering some unexpected perspectives.

Reformation of Islam?

Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali (originally from Somalia) is convinced there will be a reformation of islam, "that can only take place in a context of freedom of speech, when people can publicly say they don't take the Koran literally, without being decapitated on the spot.” Wishful thinking or reality? Fact is that while fundamentalism is on the increase, there are also clear signs of democratic change in the Arab world. Dutch broadcasting company VPRO came with a series of fascinating documentaries about women in leadership in countries like Morocco and Saoudi-Arabia.

But there's also an underground and fastly growing movement of Jesus followers in- and outside islam. In countries like Iraq and Iran, and some countries in North-Africa evangelical churches and house churches are growing at an unprecedented rate. It wouldn't surprise me when a 'reformation of islam' would actually be catalysed by the prayers of the saints and an organic grassroots movement of muslims who found Isa.

Saint Nicholas' horse

I took the boys to the Dutch kids' movie 'Saint Nicholas' horse'. It's about a 6-year old Chinese girl that moves to the Netherlands and hears at school about Saint Nicholas who is a very nice chap that brings presents. She decides to ask him for a horse. A very charming movie that won the Golden Calf, the Dutch version of the Oscar, for best scenario.

Existential questions

Have been struggling with some discouragement, personal priorities and existential questions this week related to the European networks I'm involved in (DAWN and Connect). The good thing about a crisis is that it can help to divide between what is from God and from men, and refocus on what is really important. I might share a bit more about this later, at the moment I'm still processing.

Yesterday I met with the prophetic team of the house of prayer in Utrecht (we meet every two months to perceive what God is saying and doing) and this was like a stream of fresh water. It's so good to be in God's presence and receive corporate insight in what is on God's agenda.

Global Day of Prayer

Met up with Bennie Mostert, Dawie Spangenberg and Etienne Pieck from South Africa who are currently doing a Global Day of Prayer promotion tour through Europe. I met these brothers earlier this year in Paris, and really appreciate their vision and passion to mobilise the whole world to pray without ceasing. They brought their new DVD (which will be distributed through Joel News) and even a coffee table book with touching pictures of how Christians throughout Africa have been praying over the past five years. Theo Aerts and Johan Verhoef were also around. Theo will go to South Africa for a 4.5 month sabattical.

Post- and Younger Evangelicals

Matthijs joined forces with his brother Steven and the guys kicked off a discussion on post-evangelicalism (part 2 here). Modern evangelicals create standard procedures, while post-evangelicals create a dependency on God, says Matthijs. Modern evangelical thinking is focused on the development of competence (especially in communication and management), post-evangelical thinking is focused on character development (especially in discipline and servanthood).

These postings are in Dutch, but in the Anglosaxon world this discussion has already been going on for some time. Check out Dave Tomlinson's book 'The Post-Evangelical' and Robert Webber's 'The Younger Evangelicals'. Also interesting is this discussion on Ship of Fools about whether there is a distinct post-evangelical movement.

Sunny Autumn day (3)

Wow, another sunny Autumn day. This time we walked the grounds of Vollenhoven estate between De Bilt and Zeist.

Saint Nicholas back in town

Saint Nicholas is back in town, and we took the kids to greet him and his black pete's when they arrived by 'steamship' (actually a touristic boat). David waited with open hands in the hope to collect some pepper nuts. Very cute. Back home the boys put as many shoes in front of the door as they could find. After all, the more shoes the more presents and sweets, right? Just before sleeping David whispered to Karolien: "Mum, I know it's actually you who brings the presents, but would you please put something in every shoe for the sake of Peter?" How caring...

The hidden church

The church meets when it eats. Over lunch I hang out with Steve & Marilyn Hill and their group of young disciple makers. Cool to hear that what they all have in common is that they meet regularly with not-yet-Christians. This is the hidden church. Or as Steve says on his website: "Your job is not to find a Christian community which meets your needs. Your job is to create community for those who do not have it!"

Utrecht as a harvest field

Today we remember St. Martin, the Roman officer who shared his mantle with a beggar, and who became the patron saint of Utrecht. In a restaurant overlooking the city we met with pastors and ministry leaders for our fourth vision day. This time we focused on Utrecht as a harvest field: what are the strategic challenges, and how can we reach our city more effectively? It was an inspiring day with excellent contributions. If you're interested in mine, click here. For all others check out the website.

Blogging less, living more

Also from TSK: "My name is Andrew and I am a blogaholic. Hours seem like minutes to me, when I am online. My kids say that their dad is always on the computer... which is not exactly true...  but I don't like the sound of that and I don't want their memory of me to have a screen in front of it."

Are you also a blogaholic? Join the blogaholics self-help group. I guess blogaholics talking about their addiction online is the same as alcoholics discussing their problem in the pub with a pint in their hands. ;-)

Apathy in the church

Andrew Jones looks back on his trip to America and comments that it was "disheartening to see the general loss of vision that has plagued the American church. Many groups and ministries have given up on the Great Commission and have turned instead to beefing themselves up to prevent further loss of resources."

Eric St.Clair reacted:
"I think it could be stated more correctly that the mainstream churches in America never lost their vision, they are just reaping the consequences of a vision that is off base."

"It saddens me to see a country whose churches talk about Christ and not to him. Who worship buildings and numbers. Where is the passion for Christ. I left a large community of apathy that was considered by many to be the cutting edge of the postmodern front, to join a small ragtag community that is so on fire for God and desires nothing but to worship and serve him. I will take the six over the thousands any day. The world will only change when I decide that I am going to pursue Christ. I can't sit back and say Andrew will get them, or my pastor will get them. That is the apathy that has crept into the church. The American church has excepted and embraced a mediocre relationship with Christ. So if you are looking for a spark of vision, look to how Christ-like you are and take it from there."

Praying for you

Met up in La Place for a cappucino with Jasper van der Kolk, who asked my two cents on his involvement in Amsterdam, and Evert-Jan Ouweneel who prepared some input for Friday.

In the evening Karolien and I were invited by Jon, one of our intercessors, to eat out in a nice restaurant. Jon is special character: a retired school teacher of nearly 80, vital and disarming, always positive about people, with a keen eye on what God is doing. He challenged me with his passion for muslims. Every day he prays four things for 'his missionaries': an undivided heart for God, a Spirit of discernment, wisdom, and humility. What a blessing to know people who are more concerned about our character and dependency on God than our activities.

Utrecht city meetings

Prepared my contribution for our city-wide leaders meeting this week. The topic is 'the harvest on our doorstep', reaching our own city. Basically I will introduce the DAWN approach. I also worked a bit on the website and added the reports and pictures of our last meeting in June on the relationship of the church with the Jewish people.

Flow and God's work in nations

Caught up with Pieter Bos today. He's a friend in the Dutch prayer movement and author of 'The Nations Called', an insightful book on the identity and redemption of nations. We talked about why some teams and meetings have 'flow' and others not, and identified five possible reasons:

1. there is unity in purpose and relationships;
2. holiness (being set apart for God's purposes);
3. everyone is allowed to operate in his/her strength/anointing, rather than tasked with assignments or activities that don't fit;
4. there's an expectation for God to intervene and do what only He can do;
5. and a radical commitment to the message/assignment from God.

A quote from Pieter I'm still chewing on: "When we experience the flow of the Holy Spirit and witness breakthrough, we tend to relax, but God might call us even deeper. Not because He is so demanding, but because of the enormity of what is at stake."

We also talked about this question: is there still a reformation calling on the nations of the (historic) reformation? Pieter sticks to the position that God's calling on nations is not related to their history, therefore out of their unique identity every nation can be used by God to contribute significantly to a new reformation in Europe. Sounds like good news for Portugal, Bosnia, Lithuania and Belgium. Just not sure what role Vatican City would play in the next reformation... ;-)

Sunny Autumn day (2)

I slept a lot this weekend. Was it the intensity of the past week, or the change to winter time and shorter days? The weather is still exceptional for the time of the year, so we went for a walk on the grounds of Sterkenburg castle near Driebergen. Low sun through brown and yellow leaves, wedlands with reed and willows. In the evening Karolien and I watched Theo van Gogh's last movie '06/05'.

Facing the real issues

When 12 years ago a well-known revival evangelist in the Netherlands was exposed for having visited prostitutes for most of his ministry career, something interesting happened: the Evangelical establishment (leaders of churches and ministries, including the Christian media) decided to 'outphase' the guy, but keep it silent and not communicate about it at all to the wider Body. I never understood this approach. I'm still waiting for the first open interview with this evangelist and those responsible for this 'strategy of silence'.

This year a well-known charismatic pastor was exposed for setting up an illegal investment scheme, that ultimately took down his whole denomination. This time several stories appeared in the Christian media (although the charismatic magazines were remarkably silent, afraid to touch this sensitive issue in their own circles). In such a situation the people directly involved have two choices: they either deny or acknowledge their mistakes. Sometimes it takes a few years to be able to look back and say "I was wrong, please forgive me." But I believe that for the Body to be healed and function well, it's highly critical to honestly face the issues at hand, ask real questions, and expect real answers. This takes courage. Staying silent and taking a one-sided accusing role are two sides of the same dysfunctional coin.

For this week's edition of Joel News Netherlands I talked to Gerard de Groot, former team leader of the Beréa movement. What are the lessons he learnt? Only in Dutch, but comments are welcome.

Drivers license update

Several people asked me whether I already have my drivers license. The anser is no, I didn't pass the final exam today. Although I didn't crash into other cars or ignored red traffic lights, I still have to improve on looking a bit further ahead and anticipating more timely on other traffic.

Over the past two and a half years I've taken over a 100 lessons, and it feels a bit like a thorn in my flesh. Of course I also had some back luck with my instructors. The first one was a very negative and un-encouraging guy and we parted ways after the 8th lesson. The second one had (what I learned later) a drinking problem and ended up in prison. One day he simply didn't show up anymore. The third one is a lady, and she has been tough on me in the good sense of the word. Today I will look into the mirror and speak courage to myself: "I know you can do it, just show it!"

The free Christians from Dordt

Today Marcel and Karin van der Waard, the 'Free Christians' from Dordrecht, paid me a visit. We talked about the typical tensions Jesus-followers experience when they move freely in their city, more or less ignoring existing church boundaries, because they see only ONE Body of Christ, while many Christians still think in terms of allegiance to an organized church and pastors want you to be 'under cover'. Check out Marcel's weblog, where he regularly posts interesting articles on organic church.

Exploring neo-paganism

My DAWN colleague Andreas went to Basel to explore ministry among the neo-pagans. Don't know what happened there as he now uses esoteric vocabulary to express himself, and even sent me a link to a new DAWN network: the Denver Area Wiccan Network, an active, growing community who sponsors 'group rituals' and works together to change our world. Wonder what the next step is for my German friend... Saturation Coven Planting?

Spiritual revival tourism

Enterprising missionaries fed up with giving free sightseeing tours to short-term missions groups are starting tour guide companies and charging for their services, changing the way missionaries raise money. This story from satirical newspaper Lark News is fake, but I actually think it's a great idea.

When I was in Herrnhut I asked a friend of mine who is regularly guiding day visitors on a sightseeing tour through town whether he wasn't getting tired of those Americans doing the spiritual tourism thing. He said: "Yes, at first it was good to improve my English, but I've already passed the point that I like doing it. Of course there are some exceptions, people who really want to dig into the Moravian spirituality, but most of them just want the scratch overview." I suggested him to start a simple business out of it, offering revival tour packages. Americans are used to pay too much for things anyway, and it would help fight unemployment in the community.

Also funny:
Man's ministry flourishes after he dubs himself an apostle

Dream stealing and fascism

I'm working on a follow-up edition of Joel News on financial integrity in the church. I know of cases of financial abuse in Europe and America, but how is this in other continents? Over the past few weeks I received e-mails from friends and observers in Australia and Latin America who assessed the situation in their continent.

From Australia:
"I just attended a conference where Graham Cooke spoke to 500 pastors about the inevitability of a new reformation. He was affirming that God is shaking churches and ministries. He challenged pastors who had been 'dream thieves' to stop stealing people's dreams and truly release them. The only control that should be in place in ministry is self-control. We need to take a good look at how we are doing church - the old way of doing things needs to die for the 'organic' church to emerge. In the 'corporatized' church with the CEO at the top there is often no accountability. Who is the Senior Pastor accountable to? In reality he is above the congregation or the board. The case in many Pentecostal churches these days is that you can build church without the Holy Spirit. There are sexual scandals in the Catholic church down here, and money embezzlement in the AOG. There is manipulation of congregations into giving to building programs or tithing. Some of the biggest churches in Australia have been caught out with this. The temptation of success, power, and prestige. I am reminded of the Scripture saying that the judgment begins with the house of God, and we are scarcely saved."

From Latin America:
"What has been a burden in my heart is that something very weird is happening in our days. We are watching a revival of the church like it was never seen before. Millions are coming to Christ, signs and wonders are happening everywhere, but on the other hand, we also are seeing corruption in the church like never before! You probably won't read that very often because the church 'likes' to mask or ignore this kind of problem. However I have been working with national leaders of many many nations and honestly, I am worn out… actually almost burnt out! I have witnessed acts of corruption and political maneuvers that would be a shame even in the corporate world… I have worked with thousands of pastors worldwide and I can tell you that only a few were really God-fearing, people-loving and men of integrity… Here in Brazil for example, the way pastors manipulate their church members to vote for a certain candidate are classical examples of manipulation of masses as seen in Nazism and Fascism! Oh, and everybody here knows that most commonly the 'candidate of the church' is the one that offered that church more benefit: a piece of property, or construction materials for a new building, or even job positions in the government. I am really tired of the 'what-is-in-it-for-me-?' type of mentality in the church leadership… Many Christian leaders are building their kingdom instead of God's Kingdom. It seems they started right, but at some point the temptations for power (human, political), prestige and wealth have taken them out of the right(eous) path! It's like good and bad fruit coming from the same tree… Something must happen! Something must come up and bring the church back to the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The Gospel that transforms lives and saves souls…"