January 19, 2011
Twenty-five of us crowded into the Dwaze Zaken arts cafe a few days ago, at the point where the River Amstel flowed out into the Zuider Zee. We were about to set out on a walk through the oldest parts of Amsterdam (formerly Amstelredam–dam on the Amstel) to trace the story of Europe from medieval […]
January 12, 2011
In England at least, the New Year has made a promising start. Last week I visited an annual gathering of British mission agencies engaged in (the rest of) Europe. Now that in itself is a good start. For Brits interested in the rest of Europe are not such a common breed, I have discovered over […]
January 3, 2011
The New Year is the time for making resolutions and setting goals. So, here’s my first resolution, which in turn will lead to goals for the coming year… and years to come. Sitting on my desk has been a business card of an elder of an evangelical church where I sometimes speak. He first wrote […]
December 20, 2010
Here in the northern hemisphere we are enduring the longest nights of the year as we approach Christmas Day. Politically and economically things are rather dark too. Can we, like the wise men, glimpse a star of hope? Our national leaders have been gathering to decide how best to bolster the Euro against the failure […]
December 13, 2010
What Europe needs right now is statesmen or -women, leaders with vision beyond national interest and who share a vision of Europe as a true community of peoples, with spiritual dimensions. Someone like, well, Jacques Delors. In the 1980‘s, the ‘European project’ threatened to run out of vision, energy and direction until Delors emerged to […]
December 7, 2010
Last week I visited Holland for the first time in my life–Holland in Michigan, USA, that is. Just a 30 minute drive from Grand Rapids and close to the shores of Lake Michigan, Holland is a city of 60,000 today, pioneered by 19th century Dutch immigrants from close to where I live in The Netherlands. […]
November 22, 2010
Last week in Budapest, 28 folk from across Europe gathered at our annual Hope for Europe Round Table to prepare for the HOPE•II Congress in that city, May 9-13 next year. We hope to gather a thousand leaders from across Europe for four days of relationship-building, inspiration, strategising and mutual encouragement. At the Round Table, […]
November 15, 2010
Christians need to champion a culture of hope in the midst of uncertainty, fear and financial crisis. This belief is motivating a Swiss futurologist to conduct a European survey by internet to discover not only their worries, cares and fears, but also their hopes. Late last year, Dr Andreas Walker of Basel launched a national […]
November 8, 2010
Last Friday. in Britain and in many of her former colonies, Guy Fawkes night was celebrated with fireworks and bonfires, recalling the abortive effort by Catholic ‘terrorists’ to blow up the British Parliament over four hundred years ago. The Australians wisely abandoned this annual event over thirty years ago but it is still mindlessly […]
November 1, 2010
Yesterday Reformation Day came and went, but few outside of conservative church circles would have spared a thought for the influence of Martin Luther, John Calvin and other reformers on Europe’s cultural and spiritual development. So let’s take a moment to reflect on the role of leadership in shaping our culture and society. The leadership […]
October 25, 2010
Four thousand delegates to the Lausanne III Congress in Cape Town this past week are returning home as you read this Weekly Word, having experienced eight intense and unforgettable days of challenge and encouragement. Big events like this always raise questions about whether or not the effort and expense was worth it all. That depends […]
October 18, 2010
Everyone’s heard of the American Dream, but who’s heard of the European Dream? Did we even know there was one? Ironically, it’s an American who writes about this–and who believes it is quietly eclipsing the American dream. Jeremy Rifkin’s book, The European Dream, is now six years old and has been both praised and criticised […]
