Marc's Messages 3.0

Orange under pressure

I feel quite a lot under pressure these weeks and struggle to find focus and motivation for the season ahead. Partly it's the unclarity of the transition we're in, which silently sucks away creative energy. Partly it's being structurally tied (and likely overburdened) into project coordination and admin tasks which don't make me tick. Partly it's my personal working style that is not the best expression of a healthy balance of family, work, friendship and relaxation. Partly it's personal discouragement of unmet expectations - or is it midlife crisis already, having reached the magical age of 40?

Anyway, a week ago I talked it through with my board, and they suggested I would more radically simplify my life and work towards a sabbatical period in 2008, which would also (hopefully) create 'vital space' for writing. I know a new season is coming, and I want to be able to receive and flow with what God has in store for us and for his Body in Europe and beyond. My prayer these weeks is for boldness to let go of things that limit instead of release. Or as Harold Eberle said yesterday, when we met with a group of Shift friends in Hilversum:

"We don't have a work-slave relationship with God in which we are being rewarded for our work. But God called us into sonship, to live out of our inheritance."

September wrap-up

Some highlights of the past ten days:

- Started weekly publication of a simplified version of Shiftzine, a short inspiration newsletter for (potential) innovators and reformers in the Netherlands.
- Joined the first 'Prinsjesdagontbijt' of the GIDS Network in Utrecht, a first get-together of church and ministry leaders with Christian and non-Christian professionals in the fields of government, business and society, for (of course) the benefit of the city.
- Had an interesting catch-up with Cris van Dusseldorp who pastors a church in Arnhem that is slowly developing into a multi-shaped 'network church' that incorporates both organic DNA and projects to serve the city.

The Lives of Others

Yesterday we watched the German movie 'Das Leben der Anderen' (The Lives of Others) in the Springhaver theatre in Utrecht. It describes in detail how the Stasi, the East German secret police, operated, how oppressing the communist dictatorial regime was and what it did to people, and how one Stasi officer went through an unexpected personal transformation. The Americans called 'Das Leben der Anderen' "the best foreign language movie", which is of course nice, but I would say Europe produces more excellent movies these days that could easily stand the competition with Hollywood if it were not for the marketing budget. Make sure you see this movie. I also watched Spielberg's 'Munich' on DVD this weekend, which is also an intriguing piece of work.

The peacefulness of Gooilust

This weekend we enjoyed the sunny Autumn weather on the premises of Gooilust estate and the Spanderswoud, east of 's-Graveland and west of Hilversum.

Wished we had discovered this area before, as it's quite vast, has a rich variety in vegetation and landscape, and is much more peaceful than the areas south-east of Utrecht. On Sundays you might get trampled in Rhijnauwen with half the city crashing in on the estate, but in Gooilust it's quiet with only a handful of visitors around.

Researching Europe

In this week's edition of Joel News International I focused on the question: how many people in Europe follow Jesus? Three different studies, using different definitions of 'committed Christian' and varying methodologies, came up with multiple indications: 1.1% (GEM), 3.5% (OW) and 4.2% (emRG). My colleague Andreas Wolf from Germany says he has most confidence in the higher percentage, and suggests that in God's Book of Life it might well be 10%. Wolfgang Simson disagrees with him and stresses that the issue is not about what people profess, but whether they really live surrendered lives and take their orders from Christ the King. He estimates the number of 'real Jesus followers' at just 0.1%. What is certainly clear though is that Europe is probably one of the most needy places in the world today.

The emRG wizards regularly come up with innovative new ways to apply research to missions and church planting. Paul Dzubinski from Spain developed a quite interesting approach to prioritize which area(s) in a region offer(s) the best opportunity for church planting. It recognizes the need to be led by the Spirit with intelligent leadership. Check out his post here and his Powerpoint explanation here. Yes, God even uses mathematicians. ;-)

Subject to parody

Dutch satirical website Goedgelovig.nl played a little parody on Joel News. In our Dutch edition we published a story of a lady who prayed for her dog who was incurably ill, and the dog got healed. Goedgelovig.nl picked it up and asked when the stories would start pouring in of the miraculous healing of rabbits, parrots and other domestic animals. And would Dutch healing evangelist Jan Zijlstra soon start a prayer campaign for animals? Quite funny. Interestingly, praying for sick animals seems to be a quite normal practice for many Christians. We have testimonies pouring in daily.

I've been following Goedgelovig.nl for some time now, and think they're quite on top of the ball with their satirical view on developments in the Christian subculture. A few weeks ago they started a photo cartoon series titled 'Knevel & Van den Brink', starring the two best-known Christian television journalists, ascribing them dry tongue-in-cheek and sometimes quite absurd quotes. In the one below Andries says: "Breaking news: Dr. James Kennedy passed away." And Tijs comments: "He died in an evangelism explosion." Then, because in their real show they also had five female side-kicks, one of them, a Musllim lady called Esmaa makes a very polically uncorrect remark: "That sounds familiar. I didn't know Christians also did that stuff."

A new breed of evangelists

Today Mattheus van der Steen of Touch, Reach and Impact the Nations (TRIN) paid me a visit. Mattheus is an exponent of what you could call 'a new breed of faith and charity evangelists' that is emerging from the Netherlands. TRIN started nearly two years ago and quickly developed into an international hub, based in Harderwijk, where young people can realize their God-given dreams related to reaching the world for Christ and bringing hope to the poor and oppressed.

Mattheus' philosophy on development is quite simple: anyone can join TRIN if they commit to relationship and values, and make their projects self-supporting. The key words are 'Spirit-led', 'empowerment' and 'decentral responsibility'. TRIN currently has 17 fulltimers and a budget of well over a million euro. The ministry is holding massive gospel & healing campaigns in Pakistan, supporting 1200 orphans in various countries in Africa and Latin America, throwing 'fire nights' to impact (mainly young) people in the Netherlands, setting up a 24-7 prayer center, and has advanced plans to launch 30 house churches.

Having said this, and appreciating Mattheus' faith to think big and jump in stormy rivers, I also have some concerns about the personality culture I see and the way some things are being handled. People with a persuasive personality tend to overlook the relational side of things and can by their activism easily burn people out. Charismatic evangelistic pioneers are good in kick-starting things, but pretty bad in getting organized and leading organisations. The future will tell how things will work out.