Marc's Messages

Discovering new shores

For some time already I sense it's time to move on, to leave old things behind and pioneer new territory. A prophetic friend just send me this word through skype: "This is a major transition season for you and God will increasingly make you uncomfortable in what you have been in. I sense God is shaking you out of where you are geographically and there will be a new emphasis." Interesting.

Earlier today I printed some material related to the 400-year celebration of the discovery of Australia by the Dutch navigators, pushing for new territory. As I write this I watch the 'Red Details' calendar in front of me that Kerstin gave me for my birthday. January shows a lighthouse with a quotation by French author Andre Gide:

One does not discover new continents without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

And this can be quite scary...

The Motorcycle Diaries

Tonight we watched 'The Motorcycle Diaries', a road movie about young Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, before he became a revolutionary. In his last year of medicine, in 1952, he embarked on a motorcycle trip with his buddy Alberto Granado through the heart of South America. This journey, and the injustice he encountered, opened him up to the things to come later, although it's hard to imagine from this movie that he would later side with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The breathtaking music by Gustavo Santaolalla is a perfect match for the monumental landscapes of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

Jonah from Spain already blogged about the most moving scene, when Ernesto swims across the Amazon to spend his birthday with the lepers, so I will just refer to his blog.

How to make networks visible?

I'm looking for a tool that would help make networks (like Connect and DAWN) visible, so you can see who is connected to whom (a bit like Friendster) on a map of Europe (kind of digital GPS system) and including people's areas of ministry and expertise. Paul Dzubinsky, an emRG researcher from Barcelona, mailed me a link to Touchgraph, an interactive page mapper, based on Google's search technology. You can give in someone's URL, and get a picture of his/her social hyperlink network. It's not yet what I'm looking for, but it's a good starter. I generated maps of Marc's Messages (left) and Joel News (right).

Vast polder landscape

One of the great things about Holland is the vast polder landscape on bright winter days. This morning we went for a ride to Loosdrecht and Tienhoven, north of Utrecht.

Just God's presence

Today I met up in Venlo and Steijl with the prophetic team of the houses of prayer. We get together every two months for a full day to listen to God corporately and share what we sense He is saying about the Netherlands. The four main themes are: living out of God's presence (the sabbath principle); reformation of church and society; reconciliation between the Netherlands, it's former colonies and Israel; and praying into Brussels (centre of the European Union).

Johan Doornenbal told us what is happening with young people in Leeuwarden. For years already they get together every week to 'just worship Jesus' and 'declare his victory'. God's presence is so tangible, that it draws all kinds of people to the meeting, who leave changed. The young people also pray on the streets, where dozens of folks find Christ. Could it be that the next move of God is a street revival that is marked by an inescable experience of 'just' his presence?

The seven-day weekend

Sometimes you read a book that makes you jump up and down on almost every page, because it's provocative, insightful and inspiring. 'The Seven-Day Weekend. Changing the way work works' by Brazilian entrepreneur Ricardo Semler is one of those books. If you ever wondered whether it's possible to run a company of 3,000 workers organically, and apply organic principles to business, government and organisations, then this is a must-read. Talking about reformation in the workplace - Semler did it and is still doing it after more than 25 years. "But," he says, "there's only one minor issue - you have to give up control."

House church & finances

Maintaining churchianity costs big money. Most of that goes into buildings, equipment and pastors' salaries. The good thing about house church is that it's very cost-effective and you can invest substantial amounts in ministry among the poor and pioneer missions. Like a house church network in the States that releases one million dollar a year (yes, you read that right: ONE MILLION), and not by selling pixels. More here.

Babylon in Utrecht

The AD reports about plans to erect a 262 meter high apartment and office building in Leidsche Rijn, called 'Belle van Zuijlen', which would give Utrecht the dubious reputation of having the highest building in the Netherlands (2.5 times the Dom tower). It is inspired by the concept of the 'vertical city', aka Babylon I would say, because many of these projects symbolize the connection (fertilisation) between heaven and earth. Not something to be proud of, really. And big, prestigious buildings are an open invitation to Al-Qaeda.

Where are the Navigators?

Met up with Joost van Heusden who leads the Navigators Student Union in Utrecht and prepares a national training conference for students called 'Momentum', to discuss to what extent he envisions an organic church planting movement among students. He told me that at this moment students are not being trained in discipling others and starting small groups that can reproduce. This truly amazed me as I thought this was the Navigators' core ministry, but apparently times have changed and the wheel has to be reinvented.

How everything is Linked

Andrew Jones, aka Tallskinnykiwi, named Albert-Laszlo Barabasi's book 'Linked: The New Science of Networks. How everything is connected to everything else and what it means for science, business and everyday life' his most enjoyable book of the year 2005. Not sure if I agree with him, because in December I started reading a book that I enjoy even more, and about which I will blog as soon as I finish it. But 'Linked' is certainly a great book for everyone who wants to understand network dynamics, whether it is the internet, social networks or biological networks.

According to Barabasi they all work according to the same laws, as if God created it. Well, probably He did, and the whole rediscovery of 'living and working organically' is just that - a rediscovery of what is already embedded in creation. When reading 'Linked' it becomes immediately clear why conventional church doesn't work, and the immense potential of organic church networks. Barabasi could be right with his claim that networks will be the central science of the 21st century. Certainly those who understand the underlying principles of networks will have a strategic advantage over those who think institutionalized.

Check out Andreas.com or DougSimpson.com for an outline of the book.