Brian McLaren: Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope
Andrew Perriman: Otherways
Very helpful and inspirational articles from Andrew Perriman
Sophie, the boys and I have been working with Serve The City Amsterdam for the past three days. Today will be the last day. Yesterday the boys were part of the basketball clinic; Sophie cooked all day and I shot video all day. Today is the last day: Serve The City is participating in a large festival with live music, lots of fun and free food and games. Sorry, I’ve been shooting video and that will appear on Youtube no doubt in the future. For right now, no media…
I came back from Holiday and dove straight into the Utrecht project. Tonight was an important night! We are just past the half-way point in the process and it now looks like the project is going to result not in on, but in two church plants!
Here’s what has happened so far:
As I have interacted the 35-or so participants in the process it became clear there were really two visions that were emerging: one group of people have a vision for a church of 30-somethings (well-educated, tomorrow’s leaders, our friends and neighbors); the other group wants to see a church community come into existence in a specific neighborhood with lots of Turks and Moroccans.
Tonight we divided the whole group into these subgroups for the first time. For the rest of our time together they will work on vision, target-audience and strategy. By the end pf June this should result in two church planting proposals that will then be brought to the denomination for consideration.
I am excited about this process. Is it fragile? Yes, it is: very fragile. But I see lots of good things; I see passion and commitment; I see wisdom growing and insight being sought. I think these two projects have a real chance of both becoming a reality!
Well, we are back from 10 days of holiday in England. After the week we spent together in Porlock on Exmoor as a family we all went to Exeter, where Sophie’s mom and sister live. From there we went to Crackington — the place on the northern Cornish coast where Sophie spent all her summers growing up. It is a tiny beach place, absolutely beautiful that never seems to change. The weather was amazing; the boys had a great time climbing rocks, building fortresses and fishing for crabs. I did some really wonderful photography and finally managed to empty my head of all my worries and fears. Here are some pictures.
We drove back to Holland on Thursday. The next project evening for the Utrecht project was that evening and I was really scared I would miss the boat again (as we did on the way to England due to traffic). So we left really early and I drove very fast (Exeter-Dover: departure 5:11 AM; arrival in Dover 9:34 AM!). We did not miss the ferry: in fact, we caught an earlier ferry (the 10 AM instead of the 12 AM).
We are on holiday in England right now. Sophie's mother turned 60 recently and the whole family has come from all over the world for a week of holiday and family time in this nice house on the edge between Somerset and Dorset. It's beautiful here. Our house overlooks the ocean. There is masses of space for the kids to run around.
Here is a picture of Sophie wither her mum, sisters Abigail and Martha and her grandmother.
I am doing a lot of photography which is fun and relaxing. You can see some of my images on my photo website. I am also doing quite a bit of thinking and praying. I have been working so hard in the recent months (it's hard to do the Utrecht church planting project, CA and my business all at the same time!). How can I find more of a balance in my life? This is one of my main questions. Another question I am thinking about a lot is 'what is next for Sophie and myself?' So far no deep answers, but lots of good rest, great conversations, lots of laughs, deep silence and beautiful scenery.
The three transitions I mentioned in my previous post can really mess with your faith. Sometimes it feels like the carpet is being pulled out from right underneath your feet. It’s not that you don’t believe anymore — but it can feel like they way you have always believed suddenly stops working altogether. It’s called an epistemological crisis and lots of people are having them these days: it’s one of the reasons I think Emergent is such a necessary movement: it helps Christians find new ways of believing and practicing here in the postmodern world.
One of the participants this weekend may have been going through an epistemological crisis this weekend. He asked me if I have gone through this (many times) and how I coped. Did I ever feel scared? (Yes). Did I ever wonder if my faith might survive? (Absolutely).
I thought about that and then gave my answer. As I later reflected on what I said in my answer I realized how true it was.
What I said was this: what I have come to realize is that I have had to learn to trust not in the fact that I have Him, but rather that He has me.
I’m thankful for that insight. Over and over in scripture I read that God watches over us and holds us and keeps us. Yet in the middle of these questions regarding faith we get so scared that we might loose Him. As if we have to hold on really tight. The truth is: this is His world, we are His children, nothing scares Him — and He holds on to us.
I have just come back from a brilliant weekend with young church planters and theologians and thinkers and artists — all Dutch folk interested in what we call Emergent.
Emergent is a movement that seeks to think about church, faith and practice in the world of the 21st century. As we discussed this weekend, we find ourselves in three interesting transitions.
In Holland more and more people are waking up to these realities. It was exciting to be together with like-minded people who are not afraid to ask questions, share frustrations, hopes and dreams. We met together in a lovely Catholic monastery where we prayed together, read scripture, looked at nature, shared personal questions, allowed nature to inspire us and talked theology. My personal highlight: a 3 hour discussion with 8-10 people of Andrew Perriman’s latest book Re:Mission. Here are some pictures.
pic 1: We are praying in the crypt of the monastery. The peace of wood in the middle is a peace of for reflection's sake - not an idol to pray too... Just thought I'd explain (before you draw the wrong conclusion).
pic 2: left: Rick Jansen from Villa Klarendal (a missional project in Arnhem; left, Johan Ter Beek of Oase (an Emergent Church in Soest)
pic 3: talking and praing together on a nature walk
pic4: Dave and Eef Hund, just a cool couple that I like a lot... Dave and Eef would like to start a new monastic centre - a vision I find very attractive!
Much thanks to the people who organized this (Dave and Eef, Martijn and Rosalie, Nico-Dirk van Loo and Rick Jansen. We plan to do more weekends like this, so if you want to join - let me know!
Serve The City is coming again! Serve The City Amsterdam asked me to video their projects. They did a promotional event on March 29th which was really fun: they brought a group of people together that ‘froze’ for three minutes in specific locations in Amsterdam. Here is a Youtube video that I made of the event.
I have so many videos on Youtube now – I should start my own channel…
Here are the some Serve The City dates. Why not pick one or more projects and participate? Sophie and I plan on participating in Amsterdam and Brussels. We would have participated in Rotterdam too, but we are out of town.
Rotterdam: May 1-4
Amsterdam: May 9-12
Brussels: June 27th – July 8th.
Hi - I have to share this with you. A British film maker has discovered a colony of amazing penguins: penguins who can fly. Here is a short but beautiful video. I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of creation!
Sorry I haven't posted for the last month. I thought April 1st was the perfect date to start again — and a perfect one for this story too!
Went outside the hotel with Darrin Jones, friend and church planter from Aix-en-Provence in France. Darrin has a new interest in photography. We just waled around, talking photography and taking photographs. I don’t have many friends that I can do that with (I don’t have many friends at all right now, really). There was something so satisfying in walking around with a friend and doing something you both enjoy.
I had a great conversation with Laina Graf today. Phil and Laina (pictured) are friends of ours. They have walked with us through the last year with all its struggles. Laina and I were talking about conflict and how to handle it. We talked for nearly 2 hours, I think. Towards the end she said something that hit me like a lightning bolt. It’s probably obvious to everyone else; but to me it was a major insight. Here’s what happened.
I was commenting to her how much I admired Phil’s ability to laugh with people even when he is in conflict with them. That’s when she said: “that’s because Phil understands that conflict is not the same as rejection.”
Like I said: probably obvious to everyone else. Just a really helpful (and very new) insight for me.
The topic of this conference is ‘becoming a movement’. Our speaker is Alan Hirsch, author of ‘The Forgotten Ways’ and co-author of ‘The Shaping of Things to Come’; two books I warmly recommend. Alan is on staff wth Christian Associates and part of our leadership team. It's great to interact with such an out-of-the-box thinker on a regular basis. Phil Graf and I are facilitating these sessions. The conference participants are doing a lot in small groups. Our hope is to help this movement with an impulse to movement-like growth.
So I am in Lisbon right now, and yes, I have just crossed over to the dark side: I have become an Apple-user! I now have an Apple laptop: a Macbook Pro.
I have held out for years, but I have finally caved in! I know, I am weak...
I needed a new laptop. My previous laptop (Dell) has served me fantastic, but it is now four years old and it is dying. I am a demanding user: I need to be able to edit video and photo-material. I seriously considered getting a new Dell (they make fine machines), but the real problem is not the machine, but the operation system. If you asked me why I switched I only have one word for you: Vista!
My new machine will take me a while to get used to, but it is screaming fast (2,6 Ghz, 4 Gb of Ram, 200 Gb 7200 HD and High-definition 17” screen).
I am in Lisbon for the annual CA leadership summit. Every year we gather for encouragement, training, relational connectedness and organisational development. It is a high point in my year: getting a healthy dose of sun-shine when winter in Northern Europe will still keep sun and warmer temperatures away for another to or three months; friends who understand exactly what you are going through because they are going through it too, and an ever-developing understanding of church planting are three things that make this leadership summit such a wonderful experience.
Unfortunately Sophie is not with me this year. Joshua, Judah and Joel have vacation -- and we could simply not find another solution. So, I am going, Sophie has our three boys, plus Bobby Dyck and Noah, a small infant we care for a couple of days a week. I have left a card for her for every day as well as some presents.
Someone who did come with me is Dave Hund. Dave and his wife Eef are getting to know CA. I invited Dave to come get to know us. It is one thing to understand the mission and vision and values of an organisation - but it is the community of people you either want to join or not. I think CA is an organisation just like any other: it has its problems and challenges, but what makes me want to stay part of CA is the community. I belong here: there are friends, comrades, brothers (and sisters!)-in arms.
Picture above: the hotel where we re staying. Nice, eh? The waves ome all the way around, creating some spectacular sights!
Today it is exactly one year ago since the leadership of Crossroads Rotterdam (XRR) announced to us they wanted to separate ways with us. It has been the year from hell (painful beyond belief) - but we have learned so much.
Matthijs and Lindsey Vlaardingebroek came and hung out with us for the day. We didn’t plan it that way; it just sort-of happened. Appropriate though; they are good friends, we understand each other. Interestingly enough they were also the ones who first sought us out after XRR had let us go.
Picture: Lindsey and Matthijs running through the dunes. This is a year ago. We all played hide-and-seek.
Just a quick note: tomorrow night is the first evening of the Utrecht church planting project! I am busy preparing. It is exciting, but I am also quite nervous!
Last Sunday I presented the plans in the Jacobikerk. That was an event in itself: a large formal church building (dating back to 1600!) filled with people (really full) with a broad ange-range - but many younger than 40! The sun was streaming through the windows, and the missional pastor who spoke, amde a nice connection to the church planting project. Than I was introduced and I talked for five minutes. Response was really positive.
I think this project is a God-project. There are so many reasons why this project should have died an early death already — and yet every time something happens to make it sail through and go to the next phase. It's not mem honestly: I just sit back and watch (usually in amazement).
Jesus uses the mustard-seed as an illustration for the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-19). I have been thinking about that a lot. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds — yet it becomes a large plant/tree. This project feels a little buit like that: it starts small and the question has already been asked a lot: is this viable? But almost every day in the last few weeks that I've started talking to a new person about the project, their response has been "Oh, I've heard about this already!" Everywhere I go I see little tiny roots, branches, shoots forming.
I am not sure how many people will come tomorrow night. Because of scheduling problems (one of the problems we had to deal with) we were late in communicating the time and place of our first meeting. Quite a few people have already said they can't make it — people I was hoping would come. But I also keep getting emails from people I have never heard of that they are coming.
I appreciate your prayers!
Recent Comments