July 31, 2006
A MONTH AFTER RETURNING FROM ROME, I AM STILL PROCESSING THE THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE ‘FOCOLARE TRAIL’. Travelling for ten days in a bus from Trent to Rome with fellow passengers from a wide church background-Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Baptist, Pentecostal and free church-produced lively dialogues. For me this was no mere academic exercise. […]
July 24, 2006
SUDDENLY, AS IF SOMEONE BLEW A WHISTLE, SAID THE MINISTER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, THE STREETS OF ROME WERE FILLED WITH PEOPLE EACH EVENING FANNING OUT TO FEED THE POOR. No, the Scotsman was not describing the work of his fellow Protestants in the Eternal City. Rather he was expressing his respect for the practical […]
July 17, 2006
FROM OUR POSITION IN THE VIP SECTION WE COULD LOOK OUT OVER THE THOUSANDS THRONGING ST PETER’S SQUARE EAGERLY AWAITING THE POPE-MOBILE’S ARRIVAL. Flags from various nations waved in the hot morning air, including many red-and-white Polish banners. A jazz band struck up popular tunes in front of the crowd-control barriers at the bottom of […]
July 10, 2006
LIFE CAN RESUME AGAIN. THE WORLD CUP IS OVER AND HOPEFULLY THE WEEKLY WORD MAILING HAS BEEN RESTORED TO NORMAL. But before I continue my musings on my ‘pilgrimage to Rome’, let me tell you about a dramatic apology by a young Briton for deeds committed by his Elizabethan ancestor – as reported by the […]
June 26, 2006
WE LIVE IN AMAZING TIMES. IN A THOUSAND YEARS, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN SUCH OPENNESS BETWEEN THE MAIN STREAMS OF CHRISTENDOM. The western churches, bitterly divided for almost half that millennium, have never been so conciliatory as today. Evangelical historian Mark Noll poses the question in the title of a recent book, Is the Reformation […]
June 19, 2006
JUMP IN THE CAR AND HEAD FOR GERMANY! That’s the message I heard this morning from Sokol Hoxha, base leader at Schloss Hurlach in Bavaria. I was writing this Weekly Word on a totally different subject when a Skype call came in on my laptop, and Sokol’s familiar voice came through my headphones. Two weeks […]
June 12, 2006
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE A WORLD CUP TO PROMOTE A GLOBAL PRAYER REVIVAL OF SORTS! The current World Cup finals in Germany are prompting millions around the world to pray-albeit for unabashed nationalistic glory! After their team scored three times in the last eight minutes of today’s game, snatching a late victory from the Japanese, many […]
June 5, 2006
TENT CITY HAS SPRUNG UP AROUND SCHLOSS HURLACH THIS PAST WEEKEND TO ACCOMMODATE HUNDREDS OF YOUTH FROM AROUND THE WORLD preparing for the World Cup outreach in Germany starting this week. From South Africa, Egypt, Brazil, America and numerous other countries, teams have arrived in a cold and wet Bavaria for four days of training […]
May 29, 2006
FEW PLACES REVEAL THE MANY LAYERS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY LIKE THE DANUBE WATERFRONT OF BUDAPEST. This week Romkje and I, along with other evangelical leaders, visited the Hungarian capital for a cluster of meetings relating to the spreading networks and partnerships across the continent. Budapest, one of our favourite cities, is split by the Danube […]
May 22, 2006
AMONG THE PILE OF MAIL AND MAGAZINES AWAITING US ON OUR RETURN FROM DOWN UNDER, ONE HEADLINE IN PARTICULAR CAUGHT MY ATTENTION. Readers of Elsevier, a leading Dutch secular weekly magazine not known for its piety. were admonished to “Read the Bible! About the great importance of the Holy Scriptures”. I quickly turned to the […]
May 15, 2006
SIXTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES ARE RARE EVENTS WORTH CELEBRATING. The main reason for our down-under sojourn has been the commemoration of my parents’ marriage on May 10th, 1946, just months after my father returned to New Zealand from military service in the Middle East and Italy during World War Two. The celebration, held in Auckland last […]
May 8, 2006
IN EUROPE MAY THE EIGHTH IS STILL IN ITS DYING MOMENTS AS DAWN BREAKS IN NEW ZEALAND; THE FLAG OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, BLUE WITH A CIRCLE OF YELLOW STARS, IS HOISTED OVER THE AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE-TO MARK EUROPE DAY, MAY THE NINTH. On our last week of a Pacific furlough, we are intrigued by […]
