Frequent Visitors

Eventhough most of the readers of this blog are lost individuals who come and go quickly, i have noticed that there are some regulars here. There is one person from Arizona, and a few people visit regularly from Amsterdam and Arnhem. Most others are friends and family, which is normal for weblogs.

I am not bothered with anonymity and commentless posts, but i like people and therefore would ask you, the visitor, to introduce yourself in this topic. In order to help you accomplish this inhuman task, I pose questions:

1. Who are you?
2. Where do you come from?
3. What sucks about this log?

...I suppose nobody will answer, but what the hell, right?

So please identify yourselves.

Islamic NGO

I just came across an article about Islamic Charity Foundations on the loose in the Balkan. Surely the Balkan is one of the most troubled areas in the world, esspecially when it comes to religious and national conflicts. This however is a very dodgy story on how blacklisted organisations still manage to produce funds for terrorism. Please Read On...

Nobody move....or talk!

This Monday Dutch Parliament held a planned session to discuss the working program of the European Commission. After the Dutch voted "no" to the referendum in July, government swore to enhance public debate and so to try and figure out what the hell the Dutch citizens DO want and make them feel involved.

Well, the session went on as planned, but only four Parliamentarians actually showed up, thereby failing to represent their constituency. For me, as for the four that did show up, this was disappointing. It seems these days national politics are about ignoring Europe as much as possible, and try to get the best deals out of it. In fact this discussed me.

What Religion?

Buddhism 79% Islam 75% Hinduism 67% atheism 63% agnosticism 63% Satanism 58% Paganism 58% Judaism 46% Christianity 29% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

As you can see I am 79% Buddhist. I learned this via a quiz posted on a very interesting blog i found today called Mumin Al-Bayda, as it was co-nominated best new blog on A Fist Full of Euros by Non Tibi Spiro.

I am happy to be read, at all times...still pretty busy though with my Internship at EUROCLIO

Anglican Answer to Fundamentalist Rome

Now, I normally don't like to interfere in Religious Business, since it only leades to more division, hate and misunderstanding. However, unlike the Papel Election last year, today the Church of England looks Progressive. Ugandan-born Dr. John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu was inaugurated today as the 97th Archbishop of York. There was a very colorful and perhaps ground-breaking ceremony - with African Dansing! - at York's ancient Minster in Northern England. With beating Drums and a proper African Rhythem he hopes to bring change. He is the first African to hold the position.

His Inauguration speech has some very remarkable Quotes:

WHO IS JESUS AND WHAT DOES HE MEAN FOR THOSE WHO PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM? That, for me, is the critical question of our time.

Victor Hugo said that, “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world: and that is, an idea whose time has come”. Corporate-discipleship: fraternal-belonging was Jesus’ big idea, and plan for the renewal of society; a catalyst and engine for building God’s Kingdom .

His idea, which has lasted over the centuries, was simply this: a mixed community of sinners called to be saints, a divine society where the risen Christ in the midst of it is grace and truth, and the Holy Spirit is at work within it. An inclusive and generous friendship, where each person is affirmed as of infinite worth, dignity and influence. A community of love, overflowing in gratitude and wholehearted surrender, because it participates in the life of God.

This corporate-discipleship, we call the Church, worships God and infects the world with righteousness.

That is what Archbishop Michael Ramsey was getting at in his Missions in the Universities of Cambridge, Dublin and Oxford in 1960. He was speaking of the stupendous missionary century that saw the wonderful spread of Christian faith in Africa and Asia, by missionaries from these islands, and compared it to the spiritual decay in England. He longed for the day in England when the Church would learn the faith afresh from Christians of Africa and Asia.

He ended his address by saying, “ I should love to think of a black Archbishop of York [applause] holding a mission here, and telling a future generation of the scandal and the glory of the Church”.

The vast majority of Western Christians are church-members, pew-fillers, hymn-singers, sermon-tasters, Bible-readers, even born-again believers or Spirit-filled Charismatics – and we have got some those here this morning - but aren’t true disciples of Jesus Christ.

If we were willing to learn the meaning of real discipleship and actually to become disciples, the Church in the West would be transformed, and the resultant impact on society would be staggering.”

This is no idle claim. It happened in the first century when a tiny handful of timid disciples began, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the greatest spiritual revolution the world has ever known. Even the mighty Roman Empire yielded, within three centuries, to the power of the Good News of God in Christ.

Che Guevara once said, “If our revolution isn’t aimed at changing people then I’m not interested.” The trouble with virtually all forms of revolution and modernising strategies is that they change everything – except the human heart.

And until that is changed corporately, nothing is significantly different in the long run.

Created humanity, in need of salvation, must realise that the culture and institutions they create are also in need of redemption, not simply of modernising.

There is nothing more needed by humanity today than the recovery of a sense of ‘beyond-ness’ in the whole of life to revive the spring of wonder and adoration.

Christians, go and find friends who are Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, agnostics, atheists – not for the purpose of converting them to your beliefs, but for friendship, understanding, listening, hearing.

Christians, our priority for making disciples is amongst the 72% who in the last census said they were Christians. That’s where our task lies!

Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, agnostics, atheists, go and find friends amongst Christians, not for the purpose of converting them to your beliefs, but for friendship, understanding, listening, hearing.

God is working in the world today quite beyond the limits of our budgets, structures and expectation. His gospel, lived out in corporate-discipleship, has the power to transform our individual and corporate lives, our families, our communities and our nations. It has the power to break beyond our timidity and insufficiency.

Now, surely he is not the first to deliver peace, love and understanding sermons to Christian, but considering his origins, his view against the War in Iraq, President Bush he can make more impact than your average white guy.

What struck me most is that he wants to talk about the scandal and glory of the church, and so should he. Go Sentamu!

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