December 3, 2022
‘Holodomor’ is a term that only invaded my consciousness following the Russian military assault on Ukraine early this year. Last Saturday, the word was foremost in the minds of all Ukrainians who on the fourth Saturday each November commemorate the victims of the 1932–33 artificial famine that starved millions to death in Ukraine under Soviet […]
November 26, 2022
Today is day 276 of Vladimir Putin’s blundering, barbaric belligerence in Ukraine. So far he has been successful in: Quite a list! Not quite the successes Putin had in mind on February 24 this year however. Daily updates For most of these 276 days, our YWAM colleagues in Ukraine and in Slavic Ministries have sent […]
November 19, 2022
Few these days recognise the name of Charles Malik. Fewer know how much his work helped shape the post-war international order based on respect for human rights. Fewer still are aware how much his devout Christian faith guided this global stateman’s career as politician and diplomat, philosopher and theologian. Yet the name Charles Habib Malik […]
November 12, 2022
He was a soldier whose name derived from the Roman god of war, Mars. Yet for over sixteen centuries, his name has stood for mercy and compassion. Last night across Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, processions of children carrying lanterns commemorated this man of compassion, singing songs and expecting rewards of sweets as they […]
November 5, 2022
Today is graduation day in Birmingham for the masters students completing our European studies programme, alongside other electives. Can you picture yourself in a gown and mortar board in the not-too-distant future? Most of those graduating today are already involved in some kind of ministry or professional work. Of course, the mortar board and the letters […]
October 29, 2022
Religion is toxic. Spirituality is cool. How often have we heard people say: ‘I’m not religious but I am spiritual’? Perhaps we even express it ourselves. Theologians like Karl Barth (‘religion is an inherently faithless endeavour’) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (‘religionless Christianity’) also decried religion as a pale substitute for true spirituality. Abraham Kuyper therefore sounds […]
October 22, 2022
What makes a series of lectures – delivered by a Dutch clergyman late in the 19th century to an audience of a mere forty listeners in an American seminary – relevant to global readers in the 21st century? What did this man – with a ‘gift’ of alienating his most loyal supporters, branded as a […]
October 15, 2022
What a week! It started last Saturday with a huge bang and a ball of fire as part of the Kerch Bridge between Russia and Crimea blew up. A 70th birthday gift to President Putin from the Ukrainians? The Kremlin quickly circulated a story about a lorry blowing up, but closer inspection of video footage […]
October 8, 2022
Peter exhorts us always to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15). So how could I refuse when I was asked to share my hope at the opening session of the Hope for Europe congress in Sarajevo this week? To be honest, neither the setting of the congress […]
October 1, 2022
Brother Andrew – known in his home country by his real name, Anne van de Bijl – was always an outlier, going against the stream. When Russian tanks headed west towards Prague in 1968, he headed east with a car full of Bibles. When communist regimes collapsed and everyone was focused on Central and Eastern […]
September 24, 2022
Encrusted as it was under layers of tradition, pomp and ceremony, Queen Elizabeth’s personal faith was clearly the well-spring of her devotion and service. This Christian faith, evolving through various expressions over time, has been a fundamental feature of life in the British Isles for most of the past two millennia. So who brought the […]
September 17, 2022
As the equinox approaches, the days are getting shorter, darker and cooler here in the northern hemisphere. Summer vacations are over. The new academic and political years have begun. What then is on the calendar for the Schuman Centre? • The Marriage Course: This week Romkje and I hosted the first of seven evening sessions […]
