February 25, 2013
As my train rumbles through the snowy countryside of Moravia in the Czech Republic, my thoughts go back over a problem vexing youth leaders from across Europe this past weekend in Bratislava. Research presented at the Pentecostal European Forum of Youth Ministries (PEFY) revealed that the youth ministries represented were losing four out of every […]
February 18, 2013
The days are getting longer here in the northern hemisphere. The birds are chirping again, mornings and evenings. Lent has arrived. For many, that means a 40-day season of voluntary sacrifice and self-discipline. But for millions, especially in southern Europe, there’s nothing voluntary about their season of austere living which began several carnivals ago and […]
February 11, 2013
The Brits may be having doubts about their membership of the European Union, but for the Balts there’s certainly no question about wanting to be part of this ‘community of peoples’. After attending a YWAM leaders’ gathering last week in Riga, Latvia, I flew north to Tallinn, Estonia, to be part of a political consultation […]
February 4, 2013
As Valentine’s Day approaches, and National Marriage Week begins in several European nations, storms swirl around marriage and divorce issues across the continent. Britain’s MP’s voted this week in favour of the Same Sex Couples Bill by 400 to 175. Despite almost half his MPs voting against gay marriage, Prime Minister David Cameron declared he […]
January 28, 2013
David Cameron’s speech last week threw a whopping big stone in the pond, sending ripples through all the European capitals. It triggered a fresh debate about Britain’s place in the EU, well as about the whole future of the EU. So, whaddawethink? Europe will now become a major discussion point for many Brits like never […]
January 21, 2013
The Algerian hostage drama has given David Cameron a few extra days to think about his speech on Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Sometime this week he is expected to send a strong signal that unless things changed in the way the EU was being run the UK ‘would drift towards the exit’. The […]
January 14, 2013
‘Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear’ was the ominous graffitti greeting sprayed on a wall in Athens and quoted by Jim Memory of Redcliffe College in Gloucester, at the European Missions Consultation I wrote about last week. Jim was presenting British mission leaders with a sober picture of four major challenges which Europe faced, […]
January 7, 2013
Best wishes, folks, for the new year. Seems like we’ll need them. Because frankly the prospects are not so good – for this year, and for the foreseeable future. And it’s time we faced some issues squarely. That's not an optimistic start. But we are not called to be optimists. We are called to be […]
December 24, 2012
Stars, in case you haven’t noticed, are really ‘in’ right now. Usually we talk of stars coming ‘out’ but at Christmas they are really ‘in’–as street decorations, atop Christmas trees, in shop windows and on Christmas cards. Especially those cards with the Wise Men following the star to Bethlehem, stopping over the stable where Jesus […]
December 17, 2012
Last Wednesday evening–12.12.12–John Calvin’s cathedral in Geneva was filled with worshippers longing for fresh renewal and revival. The cathedral gathering was the culmination of five days of prayer and inspiration, including a two-day ‘school of restoration and reformation’. Jean-Claude Chabloz, pastoral worker at the Swiss parliament, opened the evening explaining the significance of 12 December […]
December 10, 2012
Today Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, is in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the European Union, along with his colleagues Jose Manuel Barroso (EU Commission President) and Martin Schulz (President of the European Parliament). Last Wednesday morning in Brussels, Van Rompuy talked openly about his Christian faith […]
December 3, 2012
In my opinion, the best cure for grumbling about our present financial crisis is to spend a few days in the two-thirds world. After a week in Dakar, Senegal, I was confronted this weekend with the enormous inequality of wealth on our planet, walking past shop windows in central London. For Christmas is almost here. […]
