Marc's Messages

Evaluating church in 2006

"One New Year's Eve I asked my pastor a very straight forward question: 'How many adults came to faith in Christ at our church this year?' The pastor, a very diplomatic man, said, 'I am not sure. I'll have to get back to you on that.' But he and I knew the answer. It was zero. I added it up. That year our church conducted 104 regularly scheduled worship services, 7 special services, some 250 adult classes, 600 committee meetings and 1,000 small-group meetings and ran through a $750,000 budget to produce exactly zero new adult followers of Jesus Christ. We gathered. We worshiped. We loved each other. But we produced no crop. Our church was a contraption worthy of Rube Goldberg: lots of sound, motion, fury to produce a tiny amount of fruit."

Steve Hill quotes 'Why Men Hate Going to Church' by David Murrow, page 164, and adds his 2 cents: "What is interesting is the demand for results when a church gives several hundred dollars to a mission project in the second or third worlds. The unspoken reality is no results, no more money (and that is perhaps as it should be!). Yet that same group will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on themselves without any results and think nothing of it!"

Holland's post-secular future

Bob Bakke pointed me to this article by Dutch media commentator Joshua Livestro in 'The Weekly Standard', assessing the development of Christianity and Islam in the Netherlands. It's an interesting read. He even quotes Kees Westhuis and Henk Vink of the Dutch house church movement. Livestro also has an interesting article evaluating the gay marriage practice in Holland.

The future of God

God is back. This week Intermediair, the magazine for highly educated professionals, runs a special edition on 'Who is God. Getting to know him'. And trendwatcher Adjiedj Bakas published a well-received book titled 'The future of God (and the music he likes)' in which he describes European reli-trends. In fact, he recently bashed the liberal political parties for excluding religion from their campaigns, because the undercurrent in society is religious, and ignoring that will cost you seats in Parliament.

This was also the topic for a brainstorm with our group of young media professionals today. How can we get a Kingdom message across in such a way that it creates momentum for societal change?

Be the change!

Last Summer at Freakstock, Bob Beltz (insert), who looks a bit like Steven Spielberg and works for Walden Media (producer of the Narnia movie), showed us the trailer of 'Amazing Grace', the upcoming movie on William Wilberforce, the Christian reformer who fought against all odds for the abolishment of slavery. The trailer is now also on YouTube, and the movie will be released on 23 February.

But it's not just a movie, there will also be a campaign titled 'Amazing Change', fighting for the abolishment of modern-day global slave trade. Be the change! Like Niina remarked recently in a Skype conversation: "We need to EMBODY the spiritual things we want to see happen. We need to carry, incarnate, materialize them in creative ways in us... so we live wherever in a different spirit, and smuggle the fire into places carrying it WITHIN us." Merry Xmas.

Cannonball baptism

Found this funny video on YouTube. Reminds me of my own baptism. I also jumped in, but this one is more spectacular for sure. And how about baptizing people by bungee-jumping from a bridge?

Member registration system

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN) is developing a new, national 'member registration system' that costs 5.2 million euro. Makes you wonder why a church that looses 100,000 members every year wants to invest in something that will render itself useless in a few years. According to Paul in 1 Cor. 3 it's even idolatrous (replacing Christ with man-made systems) to enlist membership denominationally. There's only one form of membership in the Body: you're either in Christ or you're not, and that settles it. If there is an overarching registration system at all, it's being kept in Heaven, not down here.

Come, Holy Spirit

Any idea what links the Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal-Charismatic streams of church? Below the three logo's of (from left to right) the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the national portal site Catholic Holland, and a Pentecostal course on miracles.

Tumbling down the pyramid

Jim Rutz, author of Megashift, also wrote a column on the fall of Ted Haggard. "We can blame Ted for not seeking help. But there is a much greater blame in this case, and it must be aimed at the pastor-centered church system that does not and cannot provide ongoing help and correction. The fall of Ted Haggard can be a huge blessing if it opens our eyes to the flaws of the pyramid model. By eliminating the Holy Man-of-the-Cloth system, we can draw the entire church into a participatory family. Then holiness and accountability will be everyone's job, and we'll have 100 percent of the church doing the work instead of dumping everything onto the shoulders of one pastor-hero-father-king standing on a wobbly pedestal."

Carrying your dad's dumbbell

How are Ted Haggard's kids coping with their dad's mistake and the fact that everyone at school knows about it? Andrew can relate to that personally, and shares: "We were scum. We felt guilty for what our dad did with those boys but we [or at least I] also felt guilty for destabilizing a Christian institution that had suddenly shifted into emergency gear and the ministry of damage control. We left without incident and no one waved goodbye. We vanished, just like they wanted it. It was our dad who committed the shameful act but we all bathed in that shame. No one wanted a part of it, or us. No one wanted to be contaminated. We were the fallout family." Full post here, comments closed.

When leaders implode

The Evangelical church in America has a new affair. Ted Haggard, a well known megachurch pastor who presided the National Association of Evangelicals, had to step down from his positions because he admitted having bought drugs and being involved in a relationship with a male prostitute. Today New Life Church released his official apology, and YouTube has most of the video material. It's a sad story, even more for his wife and five kids. Christianity Today published an article by Gordon MacDonald titled 'When Leaders Implode', addressing what Christians should learn from this affair.

What always puzzles me with issues like this is that there's often no public communication from the church involved. Although they released Haggard's apology (what else can you do when it's national news?), there's no mention at all on the New Life Church homepage - they simply changed the name of the pastor on their website, and life goes on. What does that tell us about the measure of openness in this church?

Related posts that also address this unspoken 'strategy of silence': History of the charismatic movement and Facing the real issues.

Reformation Day 2006

It's Reformation Day, and I was moved by this special report from Belarus, where in the midst of oppression, the believers take hold of God's call to reformation today. The battle for justice continues in Europe's last dictatorial regime. New Life Church, one of the actors for a new reformation in the country, was ordered by a court to sell its building of 1400 square metres to the state for one percent of its value - the price of a one-room apartment - in a further attempt to stifle church activities. Around 100 Christians entered their fourth week of hunger strike, supported in their protest by believers of all denominations. They realise that religious liberty in their country is at stake. Updates at New Life Church and The Big Orange.

In search of a miracle

Novapres sent me a review copy of Gerry Velema's book 'Behind the Scenes. Another story about the EO television program In Search of a Miracle'. Recently Evangelical broadcasting company EO produced a reality series in which they took seven chronically ill people on a journey around the world to visit seven prayer healers. Their search for a miracle, including all the emotions that surfaced, were filmed and broadcasted nationally. None of the participants got healed. Perhaps God wasn't too eager with all these cameras around, pressing in to record a miracle.

Velema was invited to join the journey as a pastoral worker and write a book about it, but was hindered in her work and asked to leave halfway. In her book Velema questions a number of decisions made by the producers, for instance to put the final editing in the hands of a secular lesbian film maker who also produced an earlier documentary on a healing pilgrimage to Nigeria. Velema said most of the biblical understanding of divine healing was kept out of the program, and it turned into an emotion- and viewers' statistics-driven series that could have been broadcasted by any company. I believe that's a fair statement, to which I already commented in-part here. As a reality series it was probably quite successful, but it didn't help the cause of Christ, nor people in search for healing.

A better attempt to make an inspiring reality series was 'A Better Neighborhood' by Eric Velu Productions, in which seven young people who just graduated in different fields of study competed to develop projects to improve a disadvantaged neighborhood in Rotterdam. The series aimed to give people more compassion for the poor areas in their city, and the message was clear: you can do something about it. Of course the series also showed the enormous gap between seven naive students and real life in a neighborhood like this, the prejudice people have against 'churchy projects' and camera teams descending on their turf, and the apparent inability of Christians to approach problems strategically and holistically (all projects were on a tactical level). Still this series was a much better learning experience in which the participants quickly grew in their role.

Sometime ago Mark de Boer suggested on his weblog to have a Christian version of Peking Express, a series in which couples hitchhike long distance (the last trip was from Thailand to Nepal) while living on a shoestring. "How about a Luke 10 reality series?" Mark suggested. "Christians travelling and bringing the Kingdom, while cameras capture what's happening." I replied that I'm quite hesitant, as cameras tend to distort, manipulate and hype up. Perhaps a light version in which the teams keep a raw daily video journal and vlog it themselves, so it doesn't intrude too much with the mission, might work.

Hey, perhaps the main point is this: should we want to make reality programs on stuff that we're not yet doing in real-life. Why play with the Kingdom, try to make a good movie out of it to boost our own image, instead of living it unseen and uncaptured. After all most miracles happen out of sight, far from the mainstream entertainment circus, and I suspect God has a good reason for that.

Becoming a Reformed Muslim

Just read an intriguing report in the Dutch Daily on a still small, but growing trend: young people from the (orthodox) Reformed churches who decide to become Muslims. There are four things that attract them in Islam that they don't find in their local Reformed church: simple faith practice, radicality, a rational theology (a reaction against experiential Evangelical elements that have been introduced in some orthodox churches), and being able to work on your own salvation (a reaction against the perceived insecurity of predestination theology). The article also gives some handles "how to keep young Reformed people out of the mosque." Who could have imagined ten years ago that some of the most conservative church-goers would be willing to give up their pulpit and psalm book for a prayer mat?

Madonna crucified

Just returned from an evening with the SHIFT team and a good glass of wine at Evert Jan and Aniko's cosy little house in downtown Utrecht. Don't know why we talked about the crucifixion of Madonna, but as she's in the Netherlands with her 'Confessions' tour, it's in the news. What's also in the news is the Christian protest against Madonna stripped to an elevated mirrored cross, singing her 1986 ballad 'Live To Tell'. Christians don't like Madonna acting like Jesus, so they sing 'May Jesus be lifted high' in front of the Amsterdam Arena, prayer walk the stadium several times, and urge Madonna fans to 'get saved'. Right.

I'm afraid I'm no longer in the Christian camp here. I don't understand all that fuzz about an artistic expression that you may like or dislike. I don't like Madonna's performances, it's not my style, but I'm much more annoyed by Christian reactionism in whatever form. When did Jesus ever organize a protest campaign against certain artistic expressions in the Roman Empire, when did He jump on the barricades and hand out leaflets? He wasn't concerned about these things at all. He just lived the Kingdom. If we jump on the barricades, let it be for social justice, not for self-righteousness or religious sentimentalism.

God is with the poor

Heidi, who's blogging again, mailed me another interview with Bono in Christianity Today. A few quotes:

"I just go where the life is, you know? Where I feel the Holy Spirit. If it's in the back of a Roman Catholic cathedral, in the quietness and the incense, which suggest the mystery of God, of God's presence, or in the bright lights of the revival tent, I just go where I find life. I don't see denomination. I generally think religion gets in the way of God."

"Those who read Scripture and don't come away with God's preferential concern for the poor are just blind. There should be civil disobedience on this. You read about the apostles being persecuted because they were out there taking on the powers that be. Jesus said, 'I came to bring a sword.' In fact, it's a load of sissies running around with their 'bless me' clubs. And there's a war going on between good and evil. And millions of children and millions of lives are being lost to greed, to bureaucracy, and to a church that's been asleep. And it sends me out of my mind with anger."

And a quote about Bono: "I think Bono is very culturally aware of who he's trying to reach. I don't think he's saying these things to make the evangelical church realize he's a Christian. He's willing to sacrifice the understanding of evangelical Christians in order to take God into a broader context. Can you tell me a role model that's bringing God into culture better?"

Western Bible translation

Just received a press release from the Holland-based 'Western Bible Foundation' about the release of a new edition of the Bible in which all the texts that deal with money and poverty are literally cut out. Finally we have a Bible that really matches the lifestyle of 21st century western Christianity. The invisible initiators of The Western Bible is an organisation called TimeToTurn, a youth movement for social justice and responsible consumption.

Talking about social justice and quoting the right Scriptures, check out this interview with Bono in Christianity Today. "I appreciate the absurdity of being a rock star and quoting the Scriptures," Bono joked. "But Isaiah 58:7-8 is absolutely the prophetic utterance of this moment in time. What it suggests is that if we do God's business [bringing justice to the poor], God will be more in ours."

The right kind of men

It's already years ago that I read some books by A.W. Tozer. It's amazing how relevant this fiery preacher still is, as the western church is still suffering from a self-inflicted Laodicea complex. A quote from chapter 7 of 'This World: Playground or Battleground?':

"The most critical need of the church at this moment is men - the right kind of men, bold men. The talk is that we need revival, that we need a new baptism of the Holy Spirit - and God knows we must have both - but God will not revive mice. He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Spirit. We languish for free men, who are not forced to do things by the squeeze of circumstances. Their only compulsion will come from within - or from above. This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. The free man has nothing to protect, no ambition to pursue and no enemy to fear. He is made of the stuff of which martyrs are made. He will have God on his side because he is careful to stay on God's side."

Beware of 666

This morning my radio alarm clock woke me up with the ANP report that "Christians worldwide are praying against the devil, because today, 6 June 2006, 666 will execute his plans to spread evil." How silly and reactionary we can get... We're giving this fallen angel way too much credit, and bringing these kind of activities into the media is always counter-productive for our credibility and effectiveness. If I were the devil I would have rescheduled the project to 5 June without telling the Christians. No doubt some of his followers will use this symbolic day to perform their rituals, but this doesn't concern me as much as believers pulling their shofars everytime the devil is making some noise. Btw, the official term for the 666 hype is hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia and according to Technorati over 130,000 blog posts are mentioning it.

Son of Man

Jesus is black and lives in the townships of Capetown. British director Mark Dornford-May won a Golden Bear for his out-of-the-churchy-box interpretation of the Christian message titled 'Son of Man', released over Easter this year. Another black Jesus we find in 'Color of the Cross', launched several weeks ago, very symbolically, at the centennial celebrations of the Azusa Street Revival. By the end of this year we will see another alternative Gospel movie titled 'Nativity' with 15-year old Maori actress Keisha Castle-Hughes as the virgin Mary. Talking about incarnation.

Apostolic the Russian way

The Russians have always amazed me. When I visited this vast nation for the first time in the Summer of 1999 (Moscow, Togliatti and Irkutsk), and then again in November of that year, and February the year after, I met some incredibly dedicated workers, who wouldn't mind travelling long distances on snowy roads in incomfortable Ladas and unheated trains to bring Jesus to people. Years of economic hardship, bureaucratic pressure, discrimination, stalking by the secret police, and (in the communist times) persecution made them extremely resourceful.

I was reminded of this when Yevgeny, a blogger from Murmansk, mailed me. He works in arctic Russia (see some stories by late Eric Olson here), where on 14 May it was still snowing. His passion is to raise up and equip servant leaders in Russia, the Barents sea region and Arctic Europe.

Steve, an apostolic guy who regularly travels to Russia, mailed me an interesting anecdote this week, that illustrates the Russian perseverance in unlikely circumstances:

"When we went to Central Asia I asked how the gospel had first come to them. They replied that it had come courtesy of 'Apostle' Stalin. The phrase startled me and I asked them what they meant. They said that Stalin had sent out the first missionaries. He had arrested Christians around Moscow and sent them to Central Asia. About one third died on the journey. Another third died once they arrived since there were absolutely no provisions made for them. The remaining third survived and shared their faith with those around them. Did they suffer? Yes! Did Stalin have the last word? No! Jesus had the last word!"

God is hot, church is not

God is hot, reports (secular) news show Editie NL, especially among young people. They feature 'youth churches', father Roderick's podcasting shows, religious fashion lines, and the annual EO Youth Day. An interesting item, though I would make two side-notes:

1. God may be hot, and there certainly is an increased interest in spirituality, but part of the God-trend is hype. It's often more about personal religious identity or taste than about radically following Jesus. I would love to see a bit more danger here, especially on the EO Youth Day.

2. God may be hot, but the church (or our concept of church) is still a limitation. The youth churches are already on the decline because it's mainly a come-to program for churched youth, not a place where non-Christians show up, and if they show up, they're not very interested to 'move on' to 'real church'. Church should become a go-to movement, but I assume this is too radical for most (youth) churches.

Good Friday 2006

I AM. A deeply touching interpretation of Good Friday by young artist Sarah Brown. See her own notes here.

So you wannabee a missionary?

Portuguese blogger Nuno Barreto wrote an interesting series of articles on missions. He says: "I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly of foreign missionaries to Portugal, and it's time to speak out. This is for everyone that wants to know how it feels to have missionaries sent to him." I summarized his advice for wannabee missionaries:

1. Skip Bible school; instead learn how to plant churches in real-life.
2. Engage with the culture, but dare to be authentically foreign; don't imitate the locals.
3. Count the cost and learn the language.
4. Get a job that helps you meet lots of people, and join a club.
5. Forget about targets and 5-year plans; get a (family) life.
6. Resist the temptation of forming a holy bubble with other missionaries.
7. Beware of support with strings attached; stay financially free to be able to move with God.
8. When you plant a church, don't stay on as a pastor; your best gift to the church is to move on.

Why men shouldn't be ordained

Some stuff travels a long way through the blogosphere. B-W of the Transforming Seminarian weblog wrote an entry for the International Women's Day gridblog, listing the top-10 reasons why men shouldn't be ordained. An amusing post that was copied by Serena Snape, passed on to Maggi Dawn, included by Rogier Bos, and alas... quoted by me. All 10 reasons make sense if you ask me, but I liked number 8 especially:

"Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be 'unnatural' for them to do other forms of work."

I told you before: men are not created for 'sissy' things like church meetings. ;-)

Unveiling Islam

I'm at home with flu, and used the opportunity to dig into a new book (just published in Dutch by Gideon), titled 'Unveiling Islam: An insider's look at Muslim life and beliefs'. The Authors, Ergun Mehmet and Emir Fethi Caner, are two brothers from Turkish descent, who were raised as Muslims, but later found Christ and are now teaching theology at Christian seminaries. The purpose of this book is two-fold: to educate Christians about Islam, so they can be more effective witnesses, and to unveil the roots and practice of this religion.

Since 9-11 many people, even Christians, have pointed out that there's a difference between so-called Muslim fundamentalists who are militant, and the average Muslim believer who is peaceful. The Caner brothers point out that Islam is in its roots (by nature and in practice) militant and oppressive, that it's based on revelations that are demonic in nature, that Allah is not the same god as Jahweh, that in every country with sharia law Christians (and Jews) are being persecuted, that the Quran explicity calls to war with unbelievers, and that the ultimate aim of Islam is to conquer the world and bring everyone under Allah's rulership.

I'm glad they name things the way they are and don't buy into the political correctness so prevalent these days. The fact that at this very moment a Christian in Afghanistan (insert) faces a death senctence for just being a Christian in a Muslim country shows the real nature of Islam. It's a religion without any concept of self-criticism, tolerance, love and grace. An excellent book that every Christian should read, so we can engage the conversation with Muslims in an intelligent way.

Let's talk about sex

"At Granger Community Church, we’re going to talk about sex for five weeks. We’re calling it 'Pure Sex' - we’ll ask questions and begin to unravel the myths and confusion about it. You’ll experience dramatic presentations, dynamic multimedias and the music of Switchfoot, All-American Rejects, Pussy Cat Dolls and John Legend. And, that, my friends, is just the beginning. The messages are compelling, easy to understand and actually leave you inspired and wanting more. At a church? Well, I guess you'll just have to see it to believe it."

Always refreshing to see a church tackle relevant topics of life. Also see my earlier posting 'More sex, please!'. With thanks to Gert Jan for the lead. 

You speaky tongues?

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest protestant church in the United States, took the decision to only send out new missionaries that don't speak in tongues. They noticed that more and more candidate missionaries admitted they are speaking in tongues and regularly receive 'revelation' from God. But the IMB is afraid that using this 'personal prayer language' might cause 'division and confusion' on the mission field. The IMB currently employs 5122 missionaries.

Three things puzzle me in this report:

1. On the IMB website sending churches are encouraged to pray for their missionaries, and missionaries who don't speak any foreign languague receive training. Seems to me that skipping tongues then is quite counterproductive...

2. IMB president Jerry Rankin speaks in tongues himself, and commented on the board decision: "I speak in tongues for already 30 years, so I suppose this decision is not about me." So the boss speaks in tongues, but the newbies are being selected to not do what the boss is doing...

3. Allen McWhite, one of the Commission board members that voted against the banning of tongues, said that speaking in tongues never caused real problems on the mission field. So it seems a highly political decision...

Maybe the IMB could introduce tongue piercings for every new missionary. It limits speaking in tongues (or at least the clarity of it), and would make the IMB more trendy nevertheless. Just wondering: if the baptists are not allowed to be charismatic, are the charismatics still allowed to baptise? And should I launch a special version of my weblog in tongues?

Prophetic or pathetic?

Often when I'm working on articles for Joel News, I find prophetic friends in my network raising the exact same issue. This time it's Carl Brettle from Wales, who just started blogging. He speaks out on prophetic conferences that are more focused on the latest revelation from 'big names', then on hearing God's voice for yourself and doing what He says.

"About a year ago I made a determined move to stand back from promoting and encouraging conferences, which I felt were in some way contributing to distracting people from living out a life which helps them connect with the lost," says Carl. "Believe me it's not been the easiest decision to work out. Some 'friends' distanced themselves from me, I haven't heard from most people since, my fall into oblivion really demonstrated to me that people aren't important in this part of God's field. What was important was the next big revelation, the new terminology and of course the latest book or tape series." More here.

Lounging in church

I mentioned it earlier on my blog: more and more church buildings are turned into pubs and restaurants. Stefan pointed me to this new churchy restaurant in Bielefeld, Germany, called 'Happiness and Soulfulness'. They did an excellent job in redesigning the building into a place where you love to lounge with your friends (click on the gallery for pictures). Interesting that non-believers seem to realize more than Christians that church could/should be a place of food, friendship and fascination with a creative God.

Why men hate going to church (2)

Rudolf Roos commented on my earlier posting that "the whole man-issue might very much be wired to the clergy-laity problem and the meeting-based way we do church." He linked to this article by Neil Carter who says:

These are the ingredients for the church where men are men. A man has a need to act with freedom and determination. He must function where he is in order to satisfy his need to do something other than just sitting and listening. He also must serve an overarching purpose which gives meaning to his day-to-day existence. He will search for significance in his life until he finds something that lifts him out of himself. The church he seeks does something of eternal significance.

In the process, he will find a brotherhood to which he may belong and from which he may draw his identity. He needs men who know him well, who will fight with him, and who can be his comrades along the journey he is on. And finally, through various and often unexpected means, the Church of Jesus Christ will be a place where the sacrificial dying of Jesus can manifest itself for the sake of His Bride. When a man has found Her, he will suffer the loss of everything for Her just as Christ did in the beginning. Man, this is what you want.

I personally have found only one place where Christian men are free to be men in the body of Christ. I found a (very loose) network of churches planted by men who know that no one should stand in the way of the functioning of the brothers (and sisters) in each fellowship. These men make it their job to produce churches that do not require their presence for daily functioning.

Why men hate going to church

Two years ago in Norway I posted a contribution on 'the gospel for men', or why we should make the church more 'man-sensitive'. Now Martin Winter mailed me a link to this article by David Murrow at pastors.com. Murrow states that "Christianity's primary delivery system, the local church, is perfectly designed to reach women and older folks. That's why our pews are filled with them. But this church system fails to stir men's hearts, so men (especially masculine ones) stay away." And: "Men and young adults are drawn to risk, challenge, and daring. While our official mission is one of adventure, the actual mission of most congregations is making people feel comfortable and safe." He gives seven principles for creating man-friendly churches.

Also check out the website churchformen.com with some crazy statistics on male church attendance. This site claims that of the world’s great religions, only Christianity has a consistent, nagging shortage of male practitioners. "Jesus had no trouble captivating men. Fishermen dropped nets full of fish to follow Him, but today’s church can’t convince men to drop their TV remote controls for a couple of hours a week." Another spicy article, 'Mild at Heart', appeared in Ministries Today.

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."

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

Count without borders

Watched a documentary on Zinzendorf titled 'Count without borders'. What impressed me afresh was his radical unconventionality. It was a revolutionary thing in his time to intentionally educate women, and to treat men and women, young and old, slaves and noblemen equally as members of Christ's household.

What also struck me is that when a key decision had to be made, they consulted Christ by ballot, so no man (not even Zinzendorf) could assert a position over others. So when the issue arose of who should lead the growing Moravian church, they took a ballot, and guess what... it turned out to be Christ himself, so they 'appointed' Him as the official head of the Unitas Fratrum.

The smallest church is mobile

Several months ago German ministry ProChrist launched a campaign in which 70 Smarts cross the nation as 'the smallest church in the world'. They bring Jesus to the people and give them a free ride when they need it. The director of the Berlin City Mission declared: "For the sake of the gospel the church has to be mobile." Amen to that, and really cool those Smarts.

Investment schemes (4)

The Dutch Daily reports that the Berea movement fell apart, as a result of the Allart schandal. Quite sad, as it likely could have been prevented if the leaders of Berea had stepped down back in March instead of defending the situation (see episodes 1, 2 and 3). They all had 'butter on their heads' as the Dutch expression goes.

Taizé founder killed

Trouw reports that frère Roger, the 90 year old founder of the ecumenical Taizé community in France, has been stabbed to death during one of the services. Taizé is the most populair prayer retreat centre among young people in Europe, drawing 800,000 visitors annually.

Pope hands out indulgences

Last Monday the Vatican announced that pope Benedict XVI will hand out indulgences to young people who attend the upcoming World Youth Days in Cologne, Germany. Not sure if the media picked this up, because the Vatican sends out press releases in Latin and Italian. The first is a dead languague, the second the language of the maffia, so that explains it. But the fact that a German pope on his first public appearance outside the Vatican, decides to hand out indulgences in what is also the homeland of the reformation, is quite incredible.

The deal is simple: you show you're a good Catholic by showing up on the WYD, and the church will grant you less time in purgatory. Who does the pope think he is - JESUS? ;-) Anyway, I told you this pope will bring us back to the reformation times. Germany is on God's agenda and a new reformation will start here that will once again shake the Roman empire.

The modern Screwtape Letters

Wayne Jacobsen, in his book entitled 'The Naked Church', has an interesting critique of the Boomer-driven church-growth ministry model. Using the writing genre of CS Lewis and the Screwtape Letters, he describes our growth-driven churches from the perspective of one of Satan’s henchmen….

"Trying to keep it small hasn't worked - let's make it big!"

All the other devils gasped, thinking that old Screwtape had finally bolted his sanity.

"Make it big? What do you think we've been working so hard to prevent?"

"Hear me out, colleagues: We can kill it with its own success. What would happen if the church suddenly became acceptable?"

"Lot's of people would go to it, you idiot."

"But what would all those people do to it?" Screwtape replied with a smirk, then, sat back as he watched their minds churn.

One-by-one the others began to see the brilliance of his scheme.

Full posting here.

Jesus bored in church

I saw this picture in Reinhold's study: Jesus got so bored with those typical church services that we throw for Him every Sunday morning, that He fell asleep... (click on the picture to enlarge)

Investment schemes (3)

Potdorie.nl reports that Rob Allart and the leadership team of Berea Amsterdam stepped down from their position, and that the M12 vision will be dismantled. I haven't been able to verify this, but it would surely be a good step out of the crisis.

One of the big questions is: did the people who invested in this scheme get their money back? No, says the financial advisor of one of the KFS victims, who told me that the South Africans even tried to bribe him to let go of the case. His client didn't receive his money back.

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.

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.

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.

Karol Wojtyla's last trip

Breaking news tonight - the death of pope John Paul II. Jeff Fountain, YWAM's director for Europe, wrote a tribute to Karol Wojtyla and calls him 'one of history's giants'. Of course there are good things to say about JP2, as compared to other popes he was very dynamic, he catalysed the erosion of communism in Poland, and asked forgiveness for the historic sins of the Catholic church.

But there's also another side: the not really helpful conservatism of the pope in many areas (family planning for instance), his interreligious activities that opened the door to syncretism, and the fact that he was the most visible exponent of a religious, hierarchical, political, obsolete and unbiblical church system that keeps many 'believers' up to this day in bondage.

It's good that Jeff also calls to prayer: "Catholics the world over will be praying for the election of the new pope, aware that the outcome could carry great consequences. Surely, in the light of John Paul II's impact on world affairs, that is a matter of prayer for all believers." Amen to that.

The cross of Christ

Nothing is sacred for American commercialism. The latest alternative for Easter rabbits and eggs is a mass-produced chocolate cross that's being sold in 5,000 stores nationwide.

As an antidote it's good to read Jeff Fountain's weekly word about 'the simplest of symbols', with a great anecdote about Lithuania's Hill of Crosses.

Investment schemes

Netwerk (Dutch television) ran an item yesterday about Rob Allart, one of the leading charismatic pastors in the Netherlands, who together with his son set up a business that supports a South African investment scheme.

He invited rich Christians in his church network to invest substantial amounts (actually millions) in this 'business opportunity'. The Dutch National Bank that in behalf of the government keeps an eye on these kind of practices now fined the Allarts with 5.5 million euro for illegal banking activities. This will likely lead to the bankruptcy of the company and the investors won't see their money back. This week Visie will come with a more elaborate article on the issue.

For some people this may be shocking, but reality is that these practices are quite common among visible charismatic leaders. Over the past years I've heard stories from well-known pastors and ministry leaders that were involved in ponzi schemes, suitcases with black dollars, and other stuff. And in all cases they weren't the masterminds - they were just being naive, bound to money and lacked clear discernment. Charismatic leaders who preach a welfare gospel, step outside their area of competence, keep key responsibilities within the family, and are not being questioned by their followers or corrected by their peers, inevitably bring this kind of deception with them.

It also raises an important question: can a pastor who's leading other Christians in these kind of practices keep his position in the pastorate? I'm afraid most charismatic pastors would say: "of course, why not?"

More sex, please

If you're unsure what to preach next Sunday, consider something from Song of Solomon. Christianity Today reports that churchgoers want more sermons on sexual issues than pastors think they do. The eight top sexual issues are: pornography addiction, sexually active never-married adults, adultery, sexually active teenagers, sexual dissatisfaction, unwed pregnancy, sexually active previously married adults, and sexual abuse. Other relevant topics are abortion for unwed mothers and homosexuality.

According to the research, most pastors preach about sex once a year. But thinking back to the ten years we were part of organised church, I don't remember one sermon on this subject. Maybe I missed it, but likely the topic was too sensitive and pushed into the 'family domain'.

Recent research in the Netherlands shows that 75% of Christian youth have sex before marriage, and 50% of the adults. Of course this doesn't happen in your church, and certainly your own teenagers aren't involved in this. Sleep on. So yes, it's a topic to open up. Even more important than preaching is creating an open atmosphere where these issues can be discussed in an inspiring, non-judgemental way.

Earlier postings on this subject:
Less frequent but better sex
Sex, for God's sake

The new Moszkowicz

It's probably derived from Donald Trump's The Apprentice - Dutch reality tv series The new Moszkowicz, where top lawyer Bram Moszkowicz selects a potential successor out of a group of ten young wannabees. Every week they face a new challenge, from court sessions and digging into judicial cases to personal presentations and handling the media.

When watching a few episodes I had missed, I realised that one of the reasons I like this program is that the young candidates are taken seriously, receive a quality experience and are being challenged to excell.



I wondered how this would look like in a church setting. Could we give young people a series of serious challenges and high quality coaching, so that new leaders will emerge? It bugs me that there's so much potential, and it's not being released, nor trained properly.

Reality is that most pastors and teams of elders don't dare to give a let's say 24-year old a serious assignment. In most churches you have to wait unil you're over 40 and then they expect you to 'find your own way', too often leading to trouble or lack of quality. How about master classes and leadership trainee programs? Why leave this to big companies, while the Dutch branch of the biggest enterprise in the world is suffering from lack of visionary leadership?

Blogathon for tsunami victims

Ever heard of a blogathon? Darren Rowse is blogging every 15 minutes for 24 hours in one row to raise money for South-East Asia. Yes, that's 100 postings, so let's hope he won't develop rsi.

Wolf Fernandez is blogging from Indonesia, where he met up with Hengky, a young church planter I met in DAWN several years ago. After he survived the tsunami in Aceh he is redefining his life.