August 9, 2004
IF A CAMEL IS A HORSE DESIGNED BY A COMMITTEE, then what’s the nature of the ‘beast’-or rather, the ‘European’ Constitution-proposed by a specially-appointed convention, wrangled over by political leaders from 25 EU member states, amended a thousand times (literally) after submissions from countless political and non-political bodies, personally targeted by the pope urging the […]
August 2, 2004
THE MEN WERE DRESSED LIKE BILBO BAGGINS, THE HOBBIT. Knee-britches, silver-buckle shoes and jackets lined with silver buttons. The women sported bodices beautifully latticed with ornate silver chains, brooches and buckles. Like actors awaiting the next take of ‘Lord of the Rings’, they strolled casually through the town centre and along the harbourfront, with its […]
July 26, 2004
YOU’RE A TEXAN MARRIED TO A BRAZILIAN. Your twin’s wife is French. Your younger brother married a Swede. Imagine the interesting discussions at family gatherings these days! Commission reports related to 9/11, Iraq and the war on terrorism are coming thick and fast on both sides of the Atlantic, determining who lied or didn’t lie […]
July 19, 2004
I HAVE A PROBLEM. Romkje and I are trying to take a couple of quiet weeks before a busy season of travel and conferences ahead hits us. My problem is that quiet reading and meditation stirs up all sorts of subjects I want to write about in w e e k l y w o […]
July 12, 2004
JOHN CLARK (1933-2004) WAS ONE OF THOSE QUIET, UNASSUMING, GENTLE PEOPLE whose impact on others can easily be underestimated. Yet at a thanksgiving service held in his memory last week on the YWAM base in Harpenden, north of London, John’s qualities were eulogised by friends and family from several countries in both hemispheres. I was […]
July 5, 2004
BIG IDEAS ARE OUT, SO WE’RE TOLD. Post-modern society is diverse and fragmented, and can’t be reduced to any one organising concept, like capitalism or socialism. Pragmatism reigns. If it works, it’s good. Single issue politics is popular. That we saw in the recent Europarliament elections. But where will this all lead? How sustainable is […]
June 28, 2004
HERE’S A QUICK TEST: think of a spiritual leader. OK, ready? What occupation does he or she have? Did you think of a pastor, theologian, mission leader, evangelist, church planter or clergyman? Or did you also think of an apostle, prophet or teacher who may be discipling our nations through rock music (Bono?), politics (Paul […]
June 21, 2004
OVER THE NEXT MONTHS, the sixtieth anniversaries of the liberation of Paris (August 25th) and of Brussels (September 4th) will be celebrated, along with commemorations of liberations and battles (Arnhem, September; the Bulge, December/January) up through France, Belgium and Holland, eventually culminating in the fall of Berlin and V-Day in Europe next May. Leon Uris […]
June 14, 2004
THE D-DAY LANDINGS COMMEMORATED LAST WEEK have often been used to illustrate lessons for the church’s task in the world today. Years ago at Heidebeek I first heard theologian Dr Gordon Fee drawing a parallel between the Normandy events and the global advance of God’s Kingdom. Dr Fee explained that it had been the success […]
June 7, 2004
ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE missionary careers of the Middle Ages was ended by a brutal act of violence exactly 1250 years this week. On June 5, 754, in the Friesian town of Dokkum, close to Holland’s northern coast, a mob attacked and massacred an English Benedictine monk called Wynfrith and his fifty-plus travelling companions. […]
May 31, 2004
A BRONZE CHARIOT PULLED BY FOUR PRANCING STEEDS and held aloft by the six-pillared Brandenburg Gate guarded the most famous dividing line in the world: the Berlin Wall. Facing towards the eastern sector, the chariot watched over this heavily-guarded checkpoint, one of a handful allowing traffic between East and West Berlin. Then came that November […]
May 24, 2004
For decades, Hoxha was a name associated with the dictator who ruled a hermetically-sealed communist Albania. Actually it is quite a common Albanian name. Last week I was in correspondence with a young Albanian named Sokol Hoxha. Sokol became a believer soon after the country opened up early last decade. He is now the leader […]
