Marc's Messages

Communion kids' style

Today I told my kids the story of the Last Supper. To make it more concrete, I suggested to have communion together. David said: "That's a good idea, Dad, let's do it in Peter's room." Peter, who always prefers sweets over normal food, suggested: "How about using cookies instead of bread?" I agreed, and got raisin biscuits and fruit syrup.

I handed David the buiscuits and asked: "Do you remember what Jesus said when he took the bread?" David: "Yes, he took the bread and broke it [breaking the cookies] and said 'this is my body, eat it'. I explained the meaning of Jesus' sacrifice for us, then gave the cup with fruit syrup to Peter, asking: "Do you remember what Jesus said when He took the cup?" Peter: "Yes, He said 'this is fruit syrup, and you can drink it all.'"

Also see the earlier episode titled 'Following Jesus kids' style'.

A new church for Europe

Had a good weekend. Saturday night dinner in Harderwijk with Roger Mitchell, Pieter & Helene Bos and Henriet Ferguson, assessing Dutch-British relations. They are working on some reconciliation issues, to help both nations grow in their God-given calling.

On Sunday morning I gave a seminar at the SoulNet weekend in Oldebroek titled 'A new church for Europe', envisioning one million new organic churches by 2020, touching all spheres of life. There was a good response by the young leaders, and I pray some of them will multipy 30-, 60- or 100-fold.



Unfortunately my notebook broke down. Let's hope it can be fixed before I go to South Africa, I would feel really disabled without. It's incredible how much my notebook has become an extension of my brain and flow of work.

What a pity...

... that Adam and Eve were no Chinese. They would have eaten the snake instead of the apple, and all history would have developed so differently.
(from Reinhold's blog, and Stefan Lingott comments)

Humor in the muslim world

The publication of a few Muh*ad cartoons by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten caused a disproportiate reaction among fundamentalist muslims. Touch Muh*ad and you run the risk of having your property destroyed and a price being put on your head. Although it's never right to intentionally hurt people, I find the politically correct appeasement policy expressed by some leading political and religious leaders more startling than any of those cartoons. By principle I believe that the freedom of press and speech is more important than any religion's sacred cows, including Christianity's.

Greenhousing in Cologne

I spent a few days in Cologne to check out Neil Cole's Greenhouse seminar for organic church planters. In two days he outlined biblical missional principles for reproduction that one can apply in any cultural context. So a lot was about DNA, sowing, reaping and gardening, though the classroom-style of teaching was less organic. Most of Neil's teaching is also availabe in his book 'Organic Church. Growing Faith Where Life Happens'.

Around 80 percent of the participants were American missionaries to Europe, which made it an interesting cross-cultural experience. ;-) It was good to catch up with Connect friends Jeff, Andi, Gabi and Petr, and with Rick and Bogdan from Poland.

The edge of reason

"I truly believe that happiness is possible even when you're thirty three and have a bottom the size of two bowling balls." Renée Zellweger in 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason', a British-style romantic movie with a high dose of irony, and a playful reference to the succesful BBC series 'Pride and Prejudice', with -again- Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. It was so funny that we watched it twice and didn't hit the bed before one o'clock.

Playing church on your PC

What a blast, this Megachurch PC game developed by e-church's Tim Bednar. Imagine if you could create the church you wanted, any way you wanted. In this game you pastor a simulated church and create your own Christian empire. Hire and fire staff and deal with idiots, naive volunteers, and denominational egos. Attract fickle unchurched people with Bingo, revival meetings or fasting - it is all up to you!

Choose a denomination (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, plus many more obscure factions and a brand new emergent plug-in). Implement the latest ministry fad. With network play enabled, you can steal members from other churches and earn points just like you saved them yourself. The possibilities are endless! Denominations and Bible colleges use this game to prepare potential church planters and associate pastors. It is better than an internship!

A field guide to Evangelicals

Satirical e-zine Lark News published 'A field guide to evangelicals and their habitat'. Just read chaper 1 titled 'What evangelicals believe, plus a master list of who is going to hell'. Quote:

"The evangelical fixation on hell may bother you, but from a sociological point of view, believing in hell is thought to be less violent-inducing then believing in heaven. Members of some religions go on suicide runs, thinking they will earn a vaunted position in heaven, including dozens of 'extra virgins'. In contrast, evangelicals don't want anyone to die until they have received Jesus."



To be extra clear, the book charts out who will go to hell: the Clintons, all Catholics, the Dalai Lama, all divorce lawyers, Michael Moore, the whole staff of the New York Times, and SpongeBob SquarePants. And this is only a fragment of the list. Other chapters include 'Evangelical mating habits: the shocking truth', 'Planning your field trip to an evangelical church' and 'Decorating like an evangelical'. You can also do the EQ test, to determine how evangelical you are.