June 27, 2011
As we climbed the red-carpeted steps to enter the Parliamentary Palace in Bucharest, Romania, I had no inkling of the shocking realities I would learn about inside. Along with other delegates to a symposium on the freedom of conscience and faith, I passed through the security check to enter a cavernous lobby with marble pllars, […]
June 20, 2011
Europe could potentially show the world the way forward on one of the most pressing questions of our time: How do we live with differences, especially when these ideas are religious or ideological? That is the view of well-known speaker and author, Os Guinness who told his audience at the inaugural State of Europe Forum […]
June 13, 2011
One of the goals of HOPE.II was to bring together world-class speakers to to stimulate dialogue on issues facing us as Europeans today. We also wanted to include any in this dialogue who were not able to be with us in Budapest. This weekend we have launched a new website, www.hopetalks.eu, to make the plenary […]
June 6, 2011
Three old ladies formed the total congregation for Carl-Erik Sahlberg’s first service when he returned from missionary service in Tanzania in 1989 to pastor an inner city church in Stockholm. Today that church is the third most visited in Sweden, after the cathedrals of Uppsala and Stockholm. For offering a sanctuary of hope in the heart […]
May 30, 2011
History through the ages was usually written by the victors. Which means the full story often went untold. History through the ages was also written largely by men. Which means again the full story has gone largely untold. Church history, in particular, has been an overwhelmingly male affair. Which means it is high time to […]
May 23, 2011
Five Europe-based ministries were honoured at HOPE•II for bringing the hope of the gospel into needy corners of the continent. Towards the close of the last plenary session in the Budapest Congress Centre, Beat Rink, chairman of the evening, invited five presenters to the stage to announce the Hope Award recipients. Beat explained that the […]
May 16, 2011
Against a background of crisis and scandal embroiling European institutions, some 500 leaders returned home from the HOPE•II congress in Budapest a few days ago, buoyed with fresh perspectives of hope for Europe. Globally-respected speakers including Os Guinness, Vishal Mangalwadi and Philip Jenkins addressed plenary sessions at the Budapest Congress Centre on the first two […]
May 9, 2011
Today is Europe’s birthday! And she’s only 61 years young. At least, that’s according to the decision of EU leaders meeting in Milan in 1985, when they decided to recognise this day as the birth of the movement that has led to the current EU. However, this birthday remains one of Europe’s best kept secrets. […]
May 2, 2011
The past few weeks in our office have been very intense with final preparations for the HOPE•II congress starting next Monday. Weekly Word has been hedged out by printer’s and other deadlines. However, those registered for the congress have for the past three weeks been receiving a Daily Hope meditation, written by Dr Thomas Schirrmacher […]
April 11, 2011
As we approach Easter, one of the greatest musical works ever composed will be performed by countless choirs and orchestras to sold-out audiences in churches and concert halls across Europe. For the performance of Johan Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion is one of the highlights of the European social calendar. In Holland, for example, leading […]
April 4, 2011
It’s kind of like a spiritual chaos theory. You burn a Koran in Florida and a violent storm erupts in Afghanistan, Pakistan or other Muslim lands. Or you publish a cartoon in Denmark, make a film in Holland or deliver a speech in Regensburg… Last week’s burning of the Koran in America was not the […]
March 28, 2011
One of my father’s books I brought back from New Zealand recently was a well-read and tattered volume he inherited fom his own father. I remember as a kid seeing the title in the family bookcase but doubt if I connected the name with the Wesleyan Chapel where I first went to kindergarten, as seen […]
