If the media player doesn’t come up….don’t know what to tell you.  I’m not sure how long my relationship with wordpress will stay in tact.

David Kinnaman is back with a new book called “You Lost Me.”  Like “UnChristian”, this book explores why young people are abandoning the institutional church.  In this interview he mentions some of his recent finding. He raises a few issues on NPR:

*Church not offering  a deep response to the complexities of today’s world.

*Those churches that  deal strongly with complexity, didn’t show  a strong committment.  Those that are very committed don’t offer complex answers.

*An example of the complex questions:  “A girl in a youth group asking should I sell my eggs to be able to afford college tuition?”

*Youth don’t feel the freedom to ask the questions that they really have for fear of condemnation.

*Reverse-mentoring.  Young people can enliven congregations and yet they are very open to mentoring and older people in their lives. 

A few comments:

I liked his comment about the churches that can handle complex answers showing less fervor than those that cannot.  This is a real phenomenon.  The churches that take the most clear stand on issues (for instance fundamentalist churches) are often the least likely to dialogue about those issues.

The ones that  are open to dialogue, tend to be more liberal and open—but have lower demands on the people attending.  So the churches and the people tend to be less dynamic and committment among parishoners is lower.  It’s a sociological phenomenon.  So how to deal with that trap?

If you just respond to today’s youth with inflexible dogma, they tune out.  But if you are excessively open, there is little that demands a committment. It doesn’t just water down Christianity, it makes it pointless. 

I think the key word for the church to internalize here is dualism.  When churches and Christians are dualistic, it means they divide everything into good and evil–with everything in the world (secular) being totally wrong and awful.  Fundamentalist churches are especially prone toward dualism–as are many Pentecostal churches.  The whole world is evil and everything in it is evil.  Only once you are in the protective bubble of the sect (church) will you find music and art and people that are okay.

This is not what the Bible teaches, but many churches take this posture.  Christianity teaches that what God made was “good,” and that as the result of the fall, things are not as they should be.  Because of sin and fallennes, they have been robbed of their full glory.  They are not what they could be (and will be).  So the world is beautiful as are all of God’s creation–they are just not in the state they were intended to be in. 

It’s a bit like an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  There’s no doubt that the Gulf of Mexico and all the sea creatures there are beautiful.  But an oil spill taints that.  It doesn’t suddenly make the whole ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico ugly or bad or not beautiful.  But it does taint it, and only true purification can ever restore it to its full glory.  But even that oil stained pelican, or fish, or coral reef retains its stamp of beauty. 

What the younger generation really rejects is dualism:  “Because there was a gulf spill in the Gulf of Mexico, everything is bad!  All the fish are bad!  All the coral reefs are bad!  It was always bad and it’s still bad.”  This is how a lot of Christians have defined the world.  As if nothing has any merit whatsoever unless it is found in the church and was produced by the church (like Christian rock music). 

Of course, the oil spill taints everything–including the churches.  So it wouldn’t take long being in a church or hanging out in the Christian music industry and finding out that—lo and behold–things are not so pure there either!  It doesn’t seem honest to young people to say “there’s all good and all bad, and we’re the all good.” 

A non-dualistic view does appeal to young people.  It’s not that there is no “right and wrong”, but it is that your view of right and wrong comes from a point of:

1) Deep humility:  We are aware that at any given moment, we too could (and are) tainted by the oil spill of fallenness and imprefection.

2) Love for Creation:  An acknowledgement that the world God created is beautiful–even the parts that are not in the church or necessarily Christian.  Instead of always talking from the point of judgment and condemnation, one is engaging the world trying to find that hidden value in things that might not apparently be from God. 

I think a non-Dualistic Christianity mourns the fall, but continually seeks after beauty.

A Dualistic Christianity forgets we are all tainted by the fall, and is obsessed with deciphering right from wrong.

So why are young people not asking their real questions?

Why are the churches not able to handle the complex questions?

Because many of them are locked into that dualistic paradigm, and the kids know it–even if they can’t name it as such.  They sense it.  There’s no process and no humility.  “It’s my way or the highway.” 

Confident Christianity is unabashedly Christian—tied to a historic person, processed through 2 thousand years of deep Christian thought, and represented by a book like no other.  But Confident Christianity should not need to constantly be in a posture of defensiveness and hyper-panic. 

Today’s kids are plugged into the whole world via internet and exposed to multiple cultures and worldviews constantly.  Overall, I think this is a very good thing, not just for them–but for Christianity as a whole.  But it is amidst the bombardment of the senses that there is something within them that longs for the quiet transcendent.  The church can be that place, if it doesn’t completely devalue the world they live in.

Special thanks to Jen in Indy and her 1 1/2 year old husband Randolph for forwarding this NPR story. 

On my trip to Italy last weekend, I stayed in a cheap little inn half way between Venice and Treviso.  It was only $3 dollars for a round-trip bus ticket to Venice:  one of the most famous cities in the world.  The bus trip took about 18 minutes going, and only 15 coming back.

I’ve never been to Venice, and it’s always been pretty low on my list.  Tuscany, Rome, the Italian Rivera, the Italian Alps and the Lake District always interested me more.  A lot of people have negative things to say about Venice.  In fact, all my life, I’ve always heard people say bad things about Venice.  ”It’s smelly,” “It’s crowded,” “It’s sinking into the ocean.”  So I’ve never been that interested in it like I have been other places.  But with a trip to Venice only costing $3, I had to check it out.

Venice is a series of 117 islands immediately off the coast of Northeastern Italy.  It is a flat, marshy area (much of Italy is mountainous or hilly), with canals.  The Venice that people think of, are actually two or three islands where about 60,000 people live in these crowded homes separated by the famous canals.  This “old town” Venice is what you see in photos and postcards.

The bus took me across the causeway (a flat bridge that takes about 2 minutes to cross) and then dropped me off at the bus station.  It is here that all cars and trains arrive and stop.  There are no streets for cars in Venice.  You walk by foot or take a gondola or water taxi.

So how was it?  FABULOUS!  I loved it.  It’s an absolute must-see if you are in that part of Italy.  For starters, it was winter time.  When I set off at 10AM, it was about 38 degrees.  Unlike July or August, Venice was not crowded with tons of people.  Neither was it hot or muggy.  Neither did anything smell bad.

As you leave the bus area, you quickly enter into the maze of old streets.  It is an absolute maze and it’s easy to get lost.  I walked across the two main islands back and forth over the course of 4 hours.  About 3 1/2 hours into it, I finally did get lost.  Just as with a maze, you go down one path and find it’s a dead end.  Go down another way, and end up where you started.  It was fun.

The canal water looked clean.  The buildings were absolutely gorgeous–pictures don’t do them justice.  Throughout the city are lots of  Catholic churches–all of them very ornate and beautiful.  The main Piazza of San Marco was just like it is in the movies.  Since it was winter, often I was walking through these maze-like streets alone.  Then every once in a while, there would be a crowd of fellow tourists.  This is probably the perfect time of year to visit the city.  My guess is that most of the people I know that have gone went in the middle of peak season.

The colors of the houses were so vibrant.  I’ll bet the city was refurbished at some point in the past 20 years, because like so much in Italy–it all looked very good and well kept up.  No trash anywhere.  All that Euro money does wonders for the infrastructure.  Although overall, the Italian government (especially under Berlosconi) has been terrible about taking care of their many beautiful places.

Some say that Venice is really just a day trip.  Yes, that’s probably right.  Although there are lots of cute little hotels and inns scattered throughout which would probably be fun to stay at if you wanted to take your time and look very closely at the architecture and the churches.  If you need to get from one side of the maze (city) to the other, water taxis are the way to go.  I didn’t use one, but it was fascinating to see how it really is the only way to get from point A to point B in a hurry.

Anyway, I didn’t realize I’d get to see Venice this year–at least not this month.  But I had a whole 6 hours to kill before meeting up with the gang in Treviso and spending it Venice was absolutely wonderful.  Here are so me of my famous, lousy pictures for you to lament.  Is it possible that this place can still look beautiful despite my bad photography?

Check it out!

A view of Venice from the airplane as it lands.

The waterways

A big "highway"

Love all the colors of buildings in Italy

Look at my photographers eye!! See how I made the picture better?

We are looking for an architect to help out with a missions trip in Lebanon. The architect is needed to examine the remodeling of the campsite in Lebanon. The dates are Feb 17-28 and the cost is $2400. Contact us if you know of anyone that would be interested.

This weekend, I flew to Venice, Italy for the dedication service of our newest church in Europe:  the Treviso Church of God.  Treviso is a small city just outside of Venice.  Venice, of course, is a series of islands with canals that is world famous.  Treviso is on the mainland of Italy.

The Treviso Church of God, now joins the Arco Church of God (Italian Alps), and the Chelyabinsk-Lenin District Church as our newest congregations.

A group of about 7 people from the Rome Church of God (our only Church of God in Italy until 2010) drove up to visit the Arco church and attend the Treviso dedication.  We were also joined by Sue Haberly of Cottage Grove, Oregon Church of God and three other West Coast ladies.  Some members of other local churches attended, and all in all, there were 50 of us at this celebration.  Many of the people attending come from Latin America as well as Italy.

Pastor Daniele Santonocito of the Rome Church of God gave the dedication message and did a wonderful job.

We are very excited about this new church and are thankful for all the hard work Pastor Niccola Lovaglio is doing in Northern Italy.

Our churches in Italy need support.  These first months and years of this new congregation will be key.  Please contact us if you would like to hear more about how you can help the Italian Church of God as it expands.

I will post some photos of Venice coming soon.

Treviso and Rome Chogers play the music.

The Treviso Church of God meets in an Athletic Club.

Pastor Daniele Santonocito of Rome gives the Inaugural Message

A good quote:

“Not only do you not know what will happen, you don’t even know what can happen … Radical emergence occurs all the time, Turing machine to the Web to Google, Facebook and the Arab Spring. Taken together this suggests something I’m falling in love with: Live the well discovered life. Here you do not know, as you live your life forward, as Kierkegard said, even what new opportunities will open before you affording unexpected virtues you can perfect.”

-Stuart Kauffman

Please watch this video.

This is a personal story that I shared with my Dad in an email today.

This past July, we had a 2 day hiatus in San Francisco before we headed to the Northern California Family Camp and to visit our supporting church in San Francisco.

I spent some of my childhood in San Francisco and was anxious to show them the places where I grew up, learned how to play American sports, and learned some life lessons as well.

Aside from the usual tourist stops, I took Marco to Neil Cummings Elementary School where I attended– as well as to the homes we used to live in.  He found my elementary school very interesting because I took him to see the playground where I was bullied. I had told him that story earlier in the year.

There was a tough boy named Greg who I tripped by accident on the playground.  It was an accident, but Greg responded by pushing me, starting a fight, and pushing me down off the playground as a large crowd gathered to watch.  I was humiliated.

I got my revenge a couple of years later when Greg and I were put into the same class.  There was a tree on the playground where I started the “I Hate Greg Club.”  The IHGC met during recess in the tree and we were all assigned titles like “President,” “Secretary,” and “Vice President.”  I was the “Senator” (even though I was the founder, I preferred the title Senator).  When our teacher found out about the IHGC, she was furious at all of us and yelled at me.  The IHGC was immediately disbanded.

In the end, Greg and I ended up becoming friends.  It turned out he was just a hurting boy who was lonely.  Even as kids we could tell his mother was a mess.  His parents were divorced and his father grew marijuana in the backyard (Hey, who doesn’t in San Francisco?  You think the gardens are for flowers?).
I shared this story with Marco earlier in the year because last year he had a bully problem all year.  I told Marco the story of IHGC to demonstrate how out of my pain and frustration I became a bully too.  The point I was making is that sometimes when we are in pain, we find painful ways of acting out.  That’s what bullies do and that’s what we can do as well; even as grown ups.
As always, Marco really internalized that story.

Last year, his bully would not let up from September to June.  He seemed to be very jealous of Marco.  But Marco never hit back and he never lashed out.  Instead, when he would get the opportunity to select a reading buddy and he would choose the bully.  In many ways, he tried to befriend the bully.

Eventually Marco’s friends finally got tired of the bully and by Spring, they started their own little gang against the bully.  But Marco wouldn’t join.  He risked his friendship with his friends to keep reaching out to the bully.

“To be a Christian is to take chances,” he said to me as we drove home from school one day.

By the end of the year, he had made friends with the bully.  He had won the bully over with kindness.  When summer vacation came around, Marco read a note that the bully had written to him.

It said:  “To Marco.  You are the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Marco’s self-restraint paid off.  That’s character.  The hardest thing to come by in life.

The Jesuits have a saying:  “Show me the boy at 7 and I’ll show you the man.”

So that is why I took him to see the tree at Neil Cummings Elementary School in Marin County, California on his summer vacation.

Sometimes the sins of the father are not passed on to the son, and I’m grateful for that.

Marco at the tree where the I Hate Greg Club was formed.

This video is worth watching.  It’s a recent 60 minute piece on Mt. Athos–the holiest site in Eastern Orthodoxy.  Eastern Orthodoxy is a huge part of the European religious conscious.  For those of us living over here and working in Eastern Europe and Greece, it’s a very important worldview to understand.  And it is so fundamentally different from Evangelical Christianity that it makes for quite the culture clash.  There is a brief commercial before the segment begins.

If you want to see Part II–it is here.

It’s that time of the year again folks!  The 4th (or is it 5th?..I really can’t remember, but I’ve been doing this for a while m-kay?) Annual Book of the Year Awards.

Already, the celebrities are lining up on the red carpet as the limousines keep pulling up.  Look over there!  It’s Joyce DeWitt of “Three’s Company” Fame?  I believe I see “Linda Lavin!”  There, behind the E reporter, look it’s Rex Reed.  My goodness, all the big names are here.  What is this? The premier of Joanni Loves Chachi?

Alright, it was easily my worst reading year in 20 years, surpassing last year which was my previous worst.  The purchase of an i-phone was a huge distraction to my reading this year.  I listened to Doves and Terence Trent D’Arby way more than I read this year.  On the positive side, I discovered apps with sermons which kept me busy on trains, planes and automobiles.  But 2012 has got to be better than this.  I have a list of books to for this next year and quite a few novels that are classics, so it has got to be better than this year.

Despite the bad year, the Top 10 books this year are not so bad.  In fact, some of them are marvelous.  So let’s begin the countdown as soon as Fred Grandy of “Love Boat” fame takes his seat.

10. The Shining by Stephen King (416 pages).  This was my first Stephen King novel ever.  It was actually my first horror novel ever and I was expecting to be very scared.  I wasn’t, which was disappointing.  By the end of it I was ready to lock myself up in a mountain resort and kill someone.

9. The Tenth Parallel by Eliza Griswold (336 pages).  A woman takes a multi-country journey to countries where there are fault lines between Christians and Muslims.  Her travels take her to Sudan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other locations.  It should have been called:  “Passport to Muslims and Christians Killing Each Other.”

8. The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston (368 pages).  In the late 1970′s and early 1980′s, a creepy serial killer murdered young couples in the hills of Florence.  These brutal slayings inspired the creation of the fictional cannibal, Hannibal Lector most famously found in “The Silence of the Lambs.”    The book is not just about an unsolved case, but about Tuscan culture and the ridiculousness of the Italian judicial system.

7. The Primal Wound:  Understanding the Adopted Child by Nancy Verrier(231 pages).  Fascinating but painful look at the effects of infant abandonment and adoption.  It takes a look at what happens before and after the adoption.  Be careful with this one.

6. Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa (288 pages):  Another novel.  People are disappearing near a mine in the Peruvian Andes and a couple of civil police from Lima are sent to investigate.  Leaving their modern society behind, they enter into the (non-Western) world of the Quechua Indigenous people of the Andes with their mysticism, ritualistic, and spiritual world.  It’s a clash of cultures between the Westernized city detectives and the world of the mountain people.

5. Legacy Churches by Stephen Gray and Franklin Dumond (115 pages).  A book about why churches enter into steep decline and what it takes to re-invent themselves.  It’s a must read for probably 90% of all pastors out there right now.  A great introduction into the dynamics that lead to churches hitting a plateau and decline and what can be done about it.

4. In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000 Year History of American Indians by Jack Page (480 pages).  A wonderful overview of the history of Native Americans which summarizes a lot of history into a very readable and compact form (obviously, 480 pages for 20,000 years but, hey, he’s a good writer).  It breaks down simplistic view of the Native Americans, brings out the fullness of the diversity of the various tribes, and is full of fascinating facts like the fact that many tribes prophesied the arrival of the white man.  Also they were not primarily hunter and gatherers, but agriculturalists and city dwellers.  And the horse riding, Sioux of the plains we all love in “Dances with Wolves” were an aberration—a post white-man reinvention of themselves that moved them West and onto horses.  Really nicely done history.

3. Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden (256 pages).  The story of the hunt for Colombian Narco-traffic kingpin Pablo Escobar.  Don Pablo ushered in the age of the highly globalized, drug cartel that took over Medellin, and then Colombia. Pablo is an evil, but intriguing character and the way the cartel emerged from the slums to become more powerful temporarily than the government is fascinating.

2. A Land So Strange:  The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca by Andres Resendez (314 pages).  In 5th grade, I fell in love with the story of Spanish Conquistadors encountering the Americans in the 1500′s.  All the stories are riveting but none more so than the story of Cabeza de Vaca (Head of a Cow).  Hoping to perhaps become the governor of newly discovered Florida, Cabeza de Vaca and 600 Spaniards set off to conquer land and find gold in an area they thought was close to Mexico City.  Instead, they were hit by a hurricane near modern day Tampa Bay, shipwrecked, lost in the swamps, and starving.  This was only the beginning of a journey into hell as they were captured by Indian tribes (some that don’t even exist anymore), passed around as slaves, survived another large raft voyage, and trekked from Tampa all the way to Mexico City suffering the entire time.  They saw mystical things and went to places no Westerner had ever seen.  In the end, they ended up having spiritual powers themselves.  I won’t ruin the ending but Cabeza de Vaca’s journey was simply astonishing.  One day in the life of Cowhead is more dramatic than our entire lives. This guy is my patron saint.  I’d love to visit his tomb in Spain in the coming years.

1. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Surival, Resiliance, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand  (pages 398).  The true story of Luis Zamperini whose quest to become an Olympic champion was interrupted by World War II.  Much like Cabeza de Vaca, Zamperini’s journey is simply astounding.  It’s hard to decide between the two books, but Laura Hillenbrand’s writing has such a remarkably wonderful flow to it that it reads more like a novel than like history.  I read this while on vacation in Costa Rica and just could not put it down.  While Cabeza De Vaca’s story doesn’t inspire (just astounds), this one adds the redemption piece that makes it a remarkable life lesson.  It was a gift from Rod Stafford of Fairfax Community Church in Washington, DC.  What a great one it was.  The best book I read all year!

Honorable Mentions: It’s a doctoral dissertation but it’s now published; Rod Stafford’s “Free to Lead: The Decision-Making Ethos of Healthy Growing Churches” is a very good read about a completely under-written about subject: the fine line between unhealthy hierarchical leadership and overly de-centralized leadership as it relates to congregational decision-making.  Rod’s Collaborative Hierarchy model would get a lot of churches out of the bogged down bureaucratic process that can keep them from healthy change.

Biggest Disappointments: Serpico and King of the Gypsies by Peter Maas.  Well, they were both made into films!  True, one of them starred Eric Roberts and Judd Hirsch, not such a great sign–true ‘dat, but still, I thought these books would be a gripping insight into New York police life and American gypsy life.  They were really very underwhelming.  Perhaps at the time (the 1970′s) this was a pretty gripping sociological read.  But I just wasn’t feeling it.

Well, there you have it.  The show is over and Ricky Gervais did not make one bad joke.  What a memorable night.  Congratulations to Laura Hillenbrand for winning the big award.

Next year, more novels I think.  I could use the escapism, but I always find myself gravitating toward non-fiction.  The world is so interesting and these books made that very clear again this year.  See you next December at the 4th or 5th or 6th annual Book Awards unless the Mayan Apocalypse kills us all in 2012.

Peace out!

It’s become an annual tradition at the diary.  Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors.”  For whatever reason, it’s not embedding this year.  Things are getting harder to embed.  Can we please get a full-time tech guy at 3W?  Oh well, Merry Christmas and here’s Dolly with the annual song.

Josh in Wales Visiting Castles!!!

At Three Worlds, we like to introduce the church to young, promising emerging leaders from North America, Europe and the Middle East.  We do this in a variety of ways (through internships, mission-trips, 3w seminars) so that the church can follow and keep an eye on our most talented young people committed to ministry.  Darren and Amy Adwalpalker (3W Seminar London), and Gina Shaner (3W Summer intern 2011) have been our first 3W Emerging Leaders.  This December, we brought our next emerging leader, Josh Weiger over to Europe to help us co-lead 3W Seminars in Liverpool (Birkenhead) and in Paris.  The subject was “Developing a Youth Ministry.”  Josh is the youth pastor at Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.  Here is our interview with Josh:

3W: Josh, tell us about yourself?

My wife Audrey and I currently live in Anderson, Indiana and have been serving at Park Place Church of God for the last 4 years as associate Pastor with Youth.  We’ve loved our time of serving at Park Place and find our lives to be whole as we live, work, play, and serve all in the same community.  For fun I really enjoy playing Ultimate Frisbee and riding my mnt and road bikes.  I love spending time outside doing pretty much anything as long as the weather isn’t too cold.

3W:  Tell us about your cross-cultural experiences.

Being globally minded is something that my wife and I do very intentionally as we know God’s love is global and that our decisions really do have an impact on all of our neighbors.

At Anderson University I was first exposed to traveling abroad to the Dominican Republic through the Tri-S program.  Since then my love for travel and the global community has taken me to Romania, Hungry, Uganda, Rwanda, London, and now Liverpool, Paris, and Berlin.

I spent 3 months in Uganda right after I graduated from AU doing an internship with some missionary friends in the region.

3W: What do you think the church needs to understand about today’s youth?

Oh where do I begin…  I guess the first thing is that today’s youth have the world at their fingertips.  The amount of information/ the amount of real life these students are exposed to would be overwhelming even for adults who’ve already experienced so much. For the young minds of our students this much information can be overwhelming to say the least. So many of our students experience great anxiety and fall into all kind of dangerous habits, not knowing how to handle the real life circumstances with which they must deal.

I guess another thing that the church must understand is that students are extremely skeptical of you.  The get an unhealthy dose of those who claim to be Christ followers but that aren’t really the hands and feet of Christ. Students have seen the unhealthy church and don’t want to have a part.  Instead students of today’s culture want their life to count for something.  They are looking for something real, something to provide hope in a culture so overrun with fear and hopelessness.

3W: What has surprised you most about working with young people?

I’m always surprised by how much my time and the time of the youth mentors who invest in our students means to the students.  Whether it’s taking a few minutes to write a handwritten note or just taking a few moments to listen about their life.  Intentionally investing in students always bolsters fruit in the lives of the student and the mentor.  That’s why we go deep rather than wide, long term rather than short term.

3W: In Europe, you were exposed to a very extreme post-Christendom environment in Liverpool and in Paris.  What were your impressions of the situation in Birkenhead-Liverpool?

The physical surroundings in Birkenhead are a clear example of the spiritual condition in the neighborhood.  Many of the churches in the close proximity are either closed down, run down, or not seeing the use they once did.

It’s not just the churches though… the houses in the area are all row houses.  The physical space that these families share is a clear picture of the emotional proximity with which most people in this society bear their intimate details on facebook, twitter, or just interacting with one another.

3W: How do you think the religious situation for young people differs for Northern European Youth as opposed to in Indiana?

The immediate difference that I see is the plethora of cultural backgrounds in the European context.  Many of the students in my community don’t get a chance to travel outside the state, let alone get exposed to multiple languages, cultures, and religions every day.

3W:  Our 3W Seminar the you co-lead in Liverpool and Paris was about “Structuring a Youth Program.”  What part of the seminar do you think was most important for churches to grasp?

Be Present and Engage!  As it says in the Message:  1 Cor. 7:17

“And don’t be wishing you were someplace else with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and Obey and Love and believe right there.

3W: Do you have any particular impressions about Three Worlds and its effort to reach out to youth and emerging leaders in Europe/Middle East?

I believe wholeheartedly in the research and observations the Three Worlds team has done and how that has influenced the ministry practices that have resulted.  I’ve experienced “the Three Worlds” in my ministry setting, but have not had the language with which to process what I’ve experienced.  This trip has been insightful to me and affected the way in which I think about the ministry with which I’m involved. It will greatly influence the lives of those with whom we invest in the future.

3W:  You did some sightseeing, what were some of your favorite sights or experiences of the trip?

The Liverpool Cathedral’s “Great Space” truly is a most incredible space that you must see if you are anywhere in that proximity.  Just breathtaking! In Paris just about anywhere that Patrick takes you is an awesome place.

I won’t soon forget my experience at the Arc de Triumph as I was up top when a political group swarmed together.  They quickly collaborated, strung up a large banner and by that point I knew I better get off of that roof.  So I hurried down the steps only to see a sea of political pamphlets raining down from the sky.  Immediately the police closed the Arc and went to the roof and detained the people on the roof.  It was a close call, but good ole’ intuition paid off.

While we were in Liverpool we got a chance to go just 30 miles south to Wales… and what can I say except CASTLES!!!!!

3W:  We thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to help to lead a 3W Seminar and for putting up with the hectic travel schedule.  You are amazing at what you do and we love you!

Today we look at Chapter 3 and 4 in our continuing discussion of Philip Jenkins book, “The Next Christendom.”

Chapter 3 begins by pointing out the truth that Christian missionary work was often related to imperial/colonial expansion.  Spain, Portugal, and Britain didn’t just take Christianity, but they took their governments, customs, and laws with them–often claiming land along the way.  A famous quote from Kenyan Jomo Kenyatta sums it up:  “When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land.  They said ‘Let us pray.’  We closed our eyes.  When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

So it is no accident that in the minds of many Westerners and non-Westerners alike, Christian mission equals colonialism.  “Christianity is a Western Religion.”  But the story is not quite so simple.  Despite the imperialism, genuine Christianity did gain a foothold in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Asia and local movements rose up that were true expressions of the faith–not just imposed upon the people by Westerners.  Local (indigenous) African expressions of Christianity that became movements showed up as early as the 17th century.  By the 1950′s, there were quite a few of these movements (certainly not all orthodox) led by African prophets totally disconnected from Western denominations.  These churches are called African Independent Churches (AIC’s).  Independent denominations could be found by the 1880′s and of course today, there are many large denominations that are completely African.

Chapter 4:  This chapter deals with the denominational (and Roman Catholic) presence in the non-Western world and how institutional Christianity has been challenged by these new movements.

In 2001, according to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the present net increase of Christians in Africa was 8.4 million a year (23,000 a day).  A large number of Africans still belong to institutional, Western churches like the RCC or the Anglicans.

In Latin America, growth has occurred most quickly amongst the Pentecostals and Evangelicals.  They tend to be more committed to actual church attendance as well. Pentecostal Christianity usually grows fastest amongst the poor. The response is some places of the Catholic Church has been the emergence of charismatic Catholic Groups like El Shaddai in the Philippines.  China, Vietnam, and Indonesia have all seen explosive growth of Pentecostal and charismatic groups.  Much of this Christian growth is happening in urban centers with large populations of migrants.  Women are often the pillars of non-Western churches.

Jenkins sums up nicely how Christianity is not viewed as spiritual hocus-pocus as it often is in the skeptical West:

“Southern Religion (non-Western Christianity) is not other worlds in the sense of escapist, since faith is expected to lead to real and observable results in this world.  The believer’s life in this world is transformed through conversion, and the change echoes through every aspect of lives, from ethics of work and thrift to family and gender relations. (p.77 first edition).

Patrick’s Comments:

One of the things we would like to do here at Three Worlds is begin turning the page on the impression of Christianity as an imperialist religion:  Particularly here in Europe and even in the Middle East.  The truth is that the most dynamic, fastest growing churches in Europe are probably non-Western and do not trace their roots back to European Christendom.

This is a pretty big shock to the average person in Paris, London or Berlin.  The impression is that Christianity must be Western and must be dying.

Even the choice of name “Three Worlds” was intentional as it gives us the opportunity to point out that there is not only one world of Christianity (the Western institutional one).

The logo begs the questions: “What is Three Worlds” and “What ARE the the Three Worlds?”

Most Europeans, Westerners, even Middle Easterners only know one of these worlds:  the traditional world of institutional Christianity which seems to be on the decline.  Jenkins entire book is about the explosion of the third world of Christianity: non-Western (southern) Christianity.

This 4th chapter is particularly pertinent to 3W because we are trying to act as a bridge between the Three Worlds and also as a link between institutional Christianity and the new forms of post-Christendom and non-Western Christianity that are forming around institutional Christianity.  The reality is that not everything about institutional Christianity is bad or dying.  It wasn’t even at the height of the colonial enterprise.  At the same time, however, non-Western Christianity must be allowed to emerge and challenge.  But a final “however” is that there is such a thing as heresy, Christian cults, and unaccountable Christian movements and churches that do not act in a Biblical way.  There is a role for any group or organization willing to be flexible regarding the emergence of new expressions of Christianity, but still committed to orthodox, Christian truth.  Three Worlds aims to do just that.

Previous Discussion 2 here

Previous Discussion 1 here

We are all celebrating here at Three Worlds about the Oldhams receiving 100% of their support!  This means that soon the Oldhams will be on a plane to Egypt and will officially be over here working for our Three World objectives.  Ken and Keli worked very hard to raise their funds.  Over the past few months, Ken has been traveling tirelessly sharing about their passion of the Egypt and talking about the 3W vision.

The other side of the story is YOU!  The churches and individuals who have made this happen (and make Three Worlds happen!). There were churches making room in their budgets despite the budgets being fixed, there were commitments made on faith, there were individuals sacrificing during a recession, there were churches that are already supporting 3W personnel and added one more family because they believe in what we are doing and in the Oldhams, and lots of others that have made pledges.

As I was sharing recently, the fundraising process is boot-camp.  It is a giant leap of faith.  You don’t have a job, insurance, and you have to spend your time on the road never knowing if the long 8 hour drive will lead to a new partner or a rejection.  Your support plateaus at some point (maybe 10%), and all the while you long to just get on the field to do your work.  Even Jamie and I still have to do this even though we are Regional Coordinators.  So we are all utterly dependent on your generosity.  It is humbling, it is challenging, and I think ultimately, if you are the right person for the job, it is refining.

All of us over here in Europe and the M.E. are very excited to have the Oldhams here.  Please pray for their transition, especially for the children. Our team is prepared to love on them and give them a whole lot of support.  The kids are going to have lots of “3W Aunties and Uncles” looking after them.  And we have plans in the works to expand the level of care and love that we can give our 3W kids.

Last night as we waited to get the final results (the push over 100%), it felt like waiting for electoral votes on election night.  When word came through at about 11PM Berlin time we celebrated. The Oldhams are still not done fundraising however, as our goals it reach 110% which is very important because there has to be a protection against shortfalls and also schooling expenses for the kids.  So there’s still room to continue giving, but there is enough to get them on their way.

Of course, this is only the beginning of the adventure–one that will have many twists and turns.  Our hope is that 3W’s system will be the shock absorbers that will enable the Oldhams and the next generation of leaders to handle the challenges that come along with greater support and ease.  Thank you for coming along for the ride.

The Vatican is getting tired of Catholic churches starting to resemble multi-purpose facilities–devoid of the beauty and grandeur of classic Cathedrals.  So they are clamping down.

From the article in the Vatican insider:

“A team has been set up, to put a stop to garage style churches, boldly shaped structures that risk denaturing modern places for Catholic worship. … Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Benedict XVI, consider this work as “very urgent”. The reality is staring everyone in the eyes: in recent decades, churches have been substituted by buildings that resemble multi purpose halls.”

The ceiling of a small Roman Catholic Church in Perugia, Italy reveals the emphasis put on beautiful sanctuaries in the Roman Catholic tradition.

This highlights an interesting tension that is occurring not just within the Roman Catholic church, but within the Protestant Church as well.

While Protestant churches usually do not have the grandeur of Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, many of our churches are realizing that the church is not meant to be an institution or a building.  We put a lot of time, work, and energy into sustaining the ministries in the building (as we should), but it has become increasingly clear to many Protestant traditions that the church has to live outside of its walls.  We have to engage the community, and be a presence in the world outside.  Churches that become insular and inwardly-focused, not only do not grow, but are not that effective at sharing Christianity.  Worse they can ghettoize themselves from society.

This is increasingly a well-understood concept in Protestant Christianity.

In the Roman Catholic church however, there has been a longer tradition of priests and nuns doing much of the work outside of the church, and the lay people going to mass in ornate Cathedrals.  There has been a bigger disconnect between the outside world and the world within the Cathedral.  This has given Evangelical Christianity–particularly Pentecostal Christianity a huge boost in traditionally Catholic parts of the World like Latin America.  Roman Catholic churches, in places like the Philippines, Brazil, and El Salvador are finding that they need to act a little more Protestant–even Pentecostal (or at least Charismatic) to keep up with competing churches.  Lay people are being used, sermons in mass are more down-to-earth, and yes, the buildings are more for community use than to simply glorify God through architecture.

Is the Roman Catholic Church’s attempt to clamp down on ugly buildings an example of once again missing the bigger trends?  That in today’s world, people are not longing for a glorious institution or building to support, but rather to a support a relevant movement and cause that has a concrete impact on their communities?  Perhaps, perhaps not.

Here in Europe, we walk into gorgeous Cathedrals just about every week.  A few days ago, I was in a beautiful Orthodox Cathedral in downtown Beirut.  A few days before that, in a beautiful one in Greece.  Before that, in a number of beautiful churches in France and Spain–most recently, my favorite of all-time Sacre Coeur.

There is something wonderful about these Cathedrals that goes beyond the magnificent architecture and craftsmanship.  There is a sense of timelessness in these Cathedrals–a blocking out of the superficial world outside.  There may be a Subway Sandwich shop across the street from Notre Dame, but once you walk into that Cathedral, it all points to one thing: the story of Christ’s work on the cross–the churches themselves in the shape of a cross.

Building multi-million dollar Cathedrals is not a great option in today’s age for a variety of reasons:  the extravagance, the global recession, our new anti-institutional age, the scandals of the church, the need for the church to be accessible etc.  But I wonder in what ways our own churches and faith-worshipping communities can build structures or programs that point toward transcendence?  That point toward the work of the Cross.  That point toward a sense of timelessness that blocks out the artificiality of so much of the world.

This week, Josh Weiger (Youth Pastor at Park Place Church of God) and I are leading 3W Seminars on “Developing a Youth Program” in Liverpool, England (Birkenhead) and Paris, France.  My guess is that of all the seminars we offer at 3W, this one will probably be the most requested.  Attracting youth to church is never easy.  By it’s very nature, church is a place of absorbing norms, keeping traditions, and practicing spiritual self-control.  That pretty much describes the opposite of what we all want to do as teenagers.  Being a teenager is about experimentation, breaking rules, and living in the moment.  Not such a great match eh?

At the same time, churches need youth and young families to survive.  They cannot allow themselves to age and ignore the younger generations.  They must continually attract and integrate them–absorbing some changes and resisting others.  It’s a tough balance.

When a church decides to focus on young people (and I’m glad that so many are in the European/Middle East region because that is what 3W is all about), it is embarking on an uncertain adventure.  There are no guarantees that many young people will join the church.  Even if they do, there are no guarantees that they will stay with the church or keep their lives straight and narrow.  It is a risk.  But we shouldn’t do it to build up our churches or just for our own survival.  But rather we should do it because young people need God and need an opportunity to find him.

Jesus said “let the children come to me,” which always makes us say ‘awww.’  Had Jesus said, “let the modern teenagers come to me,” we might not have been so charmed.  Teenagers can be irreverent, self-absorbed, and very inconsistent.  They sound a lot like the Disciples, actually, who were all of those things plus young to boot (possibly teenagers during Jesus’ ministry).

Of course the concept of “teenagers” is a new post-World War II phenomenon.  Through most of human history, by the age of 12 or 13, you were expected to work and contribute to the family and clan.  The delaying of adulthood made possible by the modern world creates people that on some levels are mature enough to think like adults and even procreate like adults, but yet keeps their lives unstructured enough that the age becomes one of experimentation and constant identity-seeking.

As I shared at the seminar in Liverpool, when I was a teenager going to church, was I a good kid?  Or was I a bad kid?  I was both and neither.  I loved church but my spiritual maturity was virtually zero.  Trying to be the same person in church as I was outside seemed near impossible.  I loved participating in church, but sometimes it was with motivations to please God, other times it was for my own ego boost.  That’s what we are dealing with when we work with young people.  Things are not so neat and simple.  That’s why the pay-offs are often not immediate.

Nevertheless, a positive church experience in our youth can have a dramatic impact on us for the rest of our lives.  Church was the one place as a teenager that I felt truly safe.  I would not have been able to articulate that.  I certainly could not have affirmed my pastor and youth pastor to say something like:  ”Gee, I’m experiencing a lot of discomfort and insecurity in 8th grade, but by golly, I feel like a valued human being when I attend Wednesday Night youth group.”  Yet the words of affirmation and encouragement I received in church had a lifelong impact on me.

In the church, we often pretend that so much is measurable.  It should be obvious if our church is healthy, or growing, or if we are producing good disciples.  But the reality seems to me to be much more complicated.  I’ve been in large mission-fields with lots of churches that are utterly dysfunctional.  I’ve been in small churches that have more unity than churches 100 times their size.  One would think that by the time Jesus arrived in the Garden of Gethsemene,the Disciples should have been at a pretty good point–well trained, consistent, on the road to greatness.  But when Jesus needed them most, they fall asleep and run.  Total failures? Was the whole discipleship project a complete failure? No.  The road had a lot more twists and turns to come, but Christ’s investment in them was worth the while for all of us.

The Economist reports that the situation for youth employment in Europe is a disaster and getting worse:

For the periphery, it is frightening to think that conditions may actually grow worse. Jobless rates in Greece and Spain are already at eye-watering levels. Among young people, those under 25, rates of joblessness across the whole of southern Europe are startling. In Greece, 45% of young people were unemployed as of August, which is the last month for which data are available. In Spain, the rate is 49%, up sharply from a year ago. In Italy, youth unemployment is 29%; in Portugal, it is 30%. Even in France, 24% of young people are without employment.  Within a few months, southern Europe may be home to more young people without jobs than with them.

For a lot of the youth of today in Europe, life is not turning out as they thought it would.  The things that they thought would be there–affordable education, work, and a higher standard of living–are turning out to not be dependable.  As much as young people often come off as jaded to the world and indifferent to spiritual things, the fact is that their spirit is being broken on many levels.

*Many come from broken-families and have had multiple step families.

*Many are living with a large amount of debt.

*Many have image and self-esteem issues.

*Many come from abusive homes.

*Virtually all of them live in societies where authentic community is completely absent.

After the Pope’s recent visit to Spain, 8,000 youth committed their lives to the priesthood and to becoming nuns.  This, in one of the least religious societies in the world, where the Catholic church is in extreme decline, and amidst terrible sexual scandals plaguing the Catholic church.  So what did the Pope do?  He challenged them.  He gave them an opportunity to go down a different path.

We don’t know how big the pay-off will be?

There are no guarantees.

But all of our churches must ask ourselves the question:  ”Are we challenging our youth and offering them a different path?’

We had a great 3W Seminar here in Liverpool (Birkenhead). Josh Weiger knocked it out of the park today talking about “How to Structure a Youth Ministry.” People were quoting him and all the great things he said. I’ve really enjoyed partnering up with this talented young, emerging Church of God leader. He is so sharp and has connected so well with the folks up here in Northern England. We both feel like we are with family here. What a lovely group of people.

It has been such a great time with Pastor John, Linda, and the rest of the congregation here.

Tomorrow is church, followed by a trip to Wales. Apparently Josh has wanted to go to Wales, so Zach and Audrey (awesome young people in their own right) are going to drive us to Wales–which is not very far away.  Maybe 45 minutes.  We’re so blessed to have young people like this in the Church of God.  If this is the future, we’re in good hands.

The Best Band Ever. Period.

I’m in Liverpool with Josh Wieger, just 9 hours away from our 3W Seminar.  We had a great day seeing Birkenhead with Zach and Audrey who are working up here, and a great afternoon meeting with Pastor John and Linda.

This city honors the Beatles.  We walked passed the cavern club where they played here before they were famous.  We flew into John Lennon International Airport.  Their stamp is all over their city.  (What? Nothing for Gerry and the Pacemakers?  Frankie Goes to Hollywood?”).

There is literally a Beatles cover band playing music outside of our hotel room in downtown Liverpool.  It’s loud, but I love it since I love the Beatles–my all-time favorite.  So, you are asking…what is my favorite Beatles song of all time?  Are you crazy?  I can’t give you just one.  I must give you 5….with commentary.

FAVORITE BEATLE?  Absolutely Paul.  They say you can tell a person’s personality type by their favorite Beatle.  I’m a Paul guy. So it’s interesting that songs 1-3 feature John Lennon so heavily.  Overall, in my top 20 or 50 Beatles songs, the majority would be Paul songs.

FAVORITE BEATLE BOOK:  ”Shout” is great, but “The Love You Make” is the best one I’ve ever read.

And I might add, “The Complete Beatles” is still the best documentary about them.

Uhm….thanks for asking.

We’re back!  Did you miss me?  I missed myself.

These little breaks from the Diary that I have started to take after 9 to 10 years of doing this are a good idea.  I think it was 2002 that the diary was started.  That’s a long time to be writing once every 3 days on average.  Most blogs don’t last nearly that long.  But over the years it has been a great way to communicate.  Nevertheless, from time to time, I need a little break.  In the future I’d like to have a guest blogger (diary writer) take over when I’m on diary vacation.  Perhaps we will try that in 2012.  That would be cool.

Well, here’s what is coming up in December.

*Josh Wieger of Park Place Church of God in Anderson, IN will be joining me tomorrow as we head to Liverpool, England for our 3W Seminar on “Developing a Youth Ministry.”

*The following weekend I will be back in Paris doing 3W Seminar II in Paris also on “Developing a Youth Ministry.”  Josh will be joining me as well and preaching on Sunday in the beautiful church there.

*We will continue our discussion of Philip Jenkins’ book, “The Next Christendom.”

*I will share about our recent trip to visit the CHOG’s in Lebanon.

*I will continue to write stupid things with occasional references to 80′s pop music (some things don’t change).

*It’s time for my annual Top 10 Books of the Year Awards.  It’s a spectacular star-studded gala.

*And we get to take a little 6 day winter vacation after Christmas again over Marco’s school holiday.  Once again we will go to Austria.  We will try to unplug completely.  No work.  Just Monopoly, UNO, and things that don’t cause stress.

Throughout this past month that we have been offline here at the diary, I have continued to write at Bookface and Tweezer. So be sure to check us out!

Facebook: Three Worlds

Twitter: 3WCHOG

So thanks for giving me some time to catch my breath.  You all are cooler than Bootsy Colllins playing a bass solo in Reykjavik, Iceland during a snow storm.

“Stay Thirsty My Friends.”

This coming April 5th through April 19th, Three Worlds will be introducing its first ever Care-a-Van experience.  Care-a-Van is an opportunity for North American Christians to join us on the road in Europe as we visit a few small churches located throughout Europe that could use encouragement.  Throughout Europe we have many Church of God congregations that are isolated and struggle in an environment hostile or indifferent to Christianity.  It is difficult to stay encouraged.  Consequently, the Care-a-Van will give North Americans the opportunity to connect to these churches and encourage them through prayer and fellowship.

The Care-a-Van (a group of cars driving from church to church led by the Nachtigalls and Aaron and Nicole Varner) will set out from Munich, Germany and make their way through the Alps to visit congregations in Southern Germany, our newest church in Arco, Italy, as well as to join in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Rome Church of God.  Along the way our visitors will be educated on the challenge of ministry and mission in the European context and given ideas for how churches in North American can enhance their global connections.  The trip will be educational, strategic, encouraging, and will include some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. It will be a great introduction to Three Worlds.

We highly recommend this trip for mission pastors as well as lay-leaders and pastors who are interested in learning about the Three Worlds vision and connecting with churches in Europe and the Middle East.

Cost: Approximately $2,000 + Airfare to Munich, Germany.  Contact us for further details.

As I have started to do in this last year, I am going to take a break from the diary for a while.  We’ll be back in early December when we do our next 3W Seminar in Liverpool, followed by a 2nd one in Paris. Park Place Youth Pastor Josh Wieger will be co-leading those two seminars as they are about youth ministry.  We will also continue the next part of our Next Christendom discussion in the Three Worlds diary.

We are on Facebook at:   Three Worlds

and

Twitter at:  3WCHOG

Thank you to the Church of God in Greece for allowing me to visit and share about Three Worlds this past Sunday.  Thank you also to St. Andrew’s International Church in Athens for allowing me to share as well.

Today we look at Chapter 2 of Philip Jenkins’ book: “Disciples of All Nations.”

It is often said that “history is written by the winners.”  That tends to be true.  Those in power are often able to define what “historically happened.”  And so Jenkins writes Chapter 2 to remind the Western (and Non-Western reader) that Christianity is not a Western religion.  That strong, vibrant expressions of the Christian faith existed before Christianity became associated with Europe and the United States.

Even non-Westerners (and certainly American and Europeans) tend to think of Christianity as being Western.  But long before that, Christianity was strong in places that today we call Syria, Iraq, and Ethiopia.  While Constantine is remembered as starting the mingling of Christianity and the State (Christendom), Jenkins points out that the same thing occurred in Armenia and Ethiopia at the same time.

The same holds true for the Coptic Christians of Egypt who have a long ancient history as do the Thomist Christians of Western coastal India. “I would argue at the time of the Magna Carta or the Crusades, if we imagine a typical Christian, we should still be thinking not of a French Artisan, but of a Syrian Peasant, or Mesapotamian town dweller, an Asian, not a European.”

The the 1500′s arrived and the first period of globalization led to countries like Spain, Portugal, and England propagating the faith to every corner of the world.  By the 1950′s, “the United States was supplying two-thirds of the 43,000 Protestant missionaries active around the world.

For Protestant Christianity, the center of the faith was very much in the West.  Only 1% of Protestants were non-Western in 1800, but by 1900 it was 10%.  Since then, of course, we have seen exponential growth as we discussed in discussion 1.

******COMMENTS

It’s true that Christianity has primarily been viewed as Western for the past few centuries because it has primarily been propagated by European and North American nation-states.  This coincided with a rise in economic power beginning in 1500.  Asian, the Middle Eastern, and Latin American empires and civilizations were not able to compete with the fast economic growth.  The combination of nation-states advancing Christianity and the rise of Protestantism (sola scriptura) expanded the rate at which Christianity could be shared.

But another reason why Christianity is often viewed as Western is because Armenian, Nestorian, Ethiopian, and other Eastern forms of Christianity often had big theological differences between the orthodoxy of the West.  For instance, some of these groups were monophysites: They did not believe Jesus was fully human and fully divine but rather had one nature while Nestorians believed that the human and the divine were fully separate.  Because orthodoxy came to be defined by the churches of Western Europe, Eastern Europe and today’s Turkey–anything beyond that is forgotten as having been a part of Christian expansion.

So Christianity became “Western” as did the definition of Christian orthodoxy.  One of the challenges that the current wave of non-Western growth is presenting is that often the theology growing in Latin America, Africa, and Asia is not entirely orthodox either.

This raises some questions:

Is there such a things as orthodoxy?

Did Nestorian Christianity and the other earlier versions of the faith get a bad deal?

Or were they genuine expressions of the faith?

If African Christianity or Asian Christianity now goes in a different unorthodox direction, is that okay?

Is “orthodoxy” just a Western product?

Some scholars and people are suggesting that the answer is “yes.”  That if we look at the historical church councils, we see that there were close votes and political campaigns in deciding what would become “orthodox” thought.  Consequently, it is not entirely fair that the West got to define Christian Trinitarian orthodoxy.  So if this (Western) Christian Trinitarian orthodoxy is dismantled by the Next Christendom (Non-Western Christianity), this is not such a bad thing.

I actually disagree with that position.  I do believe there is a concrete Christian orthodoxy we can appeal to–and that God revealed that through historical moments and human beings–just as he did the scripture.  So I trust the early Christians and the Councils that they set up.  I do not, for instance, believe that the Prosperity Gospel is orthodox Christianity, nor do I believe that post-modern Christianity that emphasizes Jesus as a nice guy and underplays the role of Christ’s atonement is orthodox.

Does that mean that Christian orthodoxy is Western?  Not really.  These councils occurred in the Near East, not in London or Boston.  Furthermore, it is more an issue in my mind of apostolic authority and the authority of the Early church than geography.

The best thing about Chapter 2 is that it gets Western Christians out of the mentality that Christianity went directly from the Apostles to Europe and America.  Many denominations and Western traditions act as if this is the case.  Nothing mattered but the Apostles, Martin Luther, and their denominations history.  Chapter 2 corrects that and is consequently very important.

When were you really born according to global population history?  Check out this fascinating chart and put in your birthdate.

This week I am in Paris working on the creation of what we are calling the 3W Roundtable.  We are entering an era of new fiscal challenges, new legal challenges in the area of transparency for non-profits, and an era in which we need to re-examine the effectiveness of the flow of money from North America to mission-fields around the world.  We need to make sure that our investments are well-thought out, strategic, and do no foster unhealthy dependencies.

In an effort to make sure that we at Three Worlds examine these issues and always operate with high levels of transparency, we are creating the 3W Roundtable which offers an extra layer of transparency for us Regional Coordinators, our 3W crew, and our partners on the field.

The goal of the 3W Roundtable is to create an extra layer of accountability and transparency.

It will:

*Provide a higher level of transparency.

*Serve as advisors and and offer an objective viewpoint.

*Provide an added layer of personal accountability for Jamie and Patrick.

*Strategize and create synergy.

*Help 3W become a portal that churches, districts, and other organizations can tap into for healthy global ministry.

Creating healthy churches and mission-fields is not something that happens automatically.  And churches and Christian organizations can easily fall into the trap of basing decisions on individual, subjective interpretations.  In this region, we are wanting to make sure that our decisions foster health and longevity.  It means making sure that we have equal relationships (not balanced too far toward North America nor too far toward the field), that we share a common missiology, that we share a common vision for the field, and that we share a commitment to health and financial transparency.  If those things are not in place, good intentions can lead to disaster.  We want our partners to know exactly what is going on in the field and over the coming years, we will be increasing the ways that people can be in touch with our region.

Today we begin taking an in-depth look at Philip Jenkins book, The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity.  This is the book Jamie and I selected as our book of the year for our 3W Staff.  Three Worlds is about helping the church navigate the Three Worlds of Christianity at the dawn of the 21st Century:  1) the Traditional 2) the Post-Christendom and 3) the non-Western.  This book deals with the world that is growing the fastest—Non-Western Christianity.  Consequently, it’s highly relevant to us at Three Worlds and highly relevant to all of you too as you shall see.  As I’ve said previously, I think it is the most important book about Christianity that has come out in the past 10 years.  It should be required reading for anyone in ministry (or for anyone studying history, international relations, religion or political science).

I’ll be taking the book piece by piece, highlighting important sections, offering commentary and raising questions.  Feel free to write to us here if you have any questions or comments that you would like to add.

SOME BACKGROUND

Philip Jenkins is a a professor of history and religious studies at Penn State.  He has written a large number of books and really excels at covering a lot of ground in a very clear and concise way.  He is a perfect popular academic writer.

This particular book deals with the growth of Non-Western Christianity also called “Southern Christianity” by Jenkins or “World Christianity.”  This is the Christianity that is growing rapidly in Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Asia  including China.  Places that were once thought of as pagan or non-Christian, like Africa, are now predominantly Christian.  Furthermore, while Christianity in the West is in steep decline, it is growing and taking on a local, non-Western flavor in much of the world.

People still think of Christianity as a Western (American) religion.  But the reality is that Christianity has been increasing for quite a long time.  Independent African churches (not tied to Western denominations and Western Christianity) have been growing since the 1930′s and really began a fast growth curve in the 1950′s.  But it wasn’t until the late 1990′s (if then) that even academics took notice of this growth.  Only around 2005 or so, did articles about the 100 million + Christians in China start making it into regular news outlets.  Jenkins book was the first to really take non-Western Christianity public.  Excerpts from his book were highlighted in a cover story article in the Atlantic magazine (formerly the Atlantic Monthly) in 2002.  That put the subject “out there” so-to-speak.

Behind the scenes, scholars like Andrew Walls at Edinburgh and Lamin Sanneh at Yale had already written and discussed non-Western Christianity at length.  Sanneh was a professor of mine and a great inspiration to Philip Jenkins.  Mark Noll, Jehu Hanciles, Paul Freston and other scholars who are now writing books about this subject.  Sanneh, however, can’t write for a mass audience the way Jenkins can.  And that’s why “The Next Christendom” has become the book on this subject for now.

LOOKING AT CHAPTER ONE (pages 1-3)

Jenkins writes:  ”We are currently living through one of the transforming moments in the history of religion worldwide.  Over the past five centuries or so, the story of Christianity has been inextricably bound up with that of Europe and European-derived civilizations overseas, above all in North America…Over the past century however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward to Africa, Asia and Latin America.”

If we want to visualize a “typical” contemporary Christian, we should think of a woman living in a village in Nigeria, or in a Brazilian favela…

Many of the fastest growing countries in the world are either predominantly Christian or else have very sizable Christian minorities.  Even if Christians just maintain their present chare of the populatin in countries like Nigeria and Kenya, Mexico and Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, there are soon going to be several hundred million more Christians from those nations alone.

Some 2 billion Christians are alive today, about one-third of the planetary total…..by 2050 only about one-fifth of the world’s 3 billion Christians will be non-Hispanic Whites.  Soon the phrase “a White Christian” may sound like a curious oxymoron, as mildly surpirsing as a Swedish Buddhist.”

****PATRICK’S COMMENTS

He’s a good writer isn’t he?  The beginning of the book sets the stage and challenges the current conceptions of who Christians are, what they look like, and where they live.  It’s amazing that all of this has gone so unnoticed for so long.  To this day, we frequently meet Christians actively involved in missions who assume that Christianity is primarily Western and that there are very few Christians in places like Africa.

There can be several reasons for this–perhaps you can add more.  One is just ignorance about life outside of our own country or environment.  It’s easy to latch on to an image and have that be your permanent reality.  ”Most missionaries are white,” “Africans primarily live in tribes and in small villages where they have never been exposed to Christianity,” “everyone in Latin America is Catholic” etc.  I remember my father used to include slides of Nairobi, Kenya’s skyline in his presentations just because most people hearing his presentations had no idea that Africa had cities and even tall modern looking buildings.  This was in the 1970′s and 1980′s.

But there’s also the fact that Christianity has been so defined by American Christian media, American denominations, and American preachers.  As the Christian nation with the most money and p.r. possibilities, “what does a Christian look like” very much gets defined by North America–particularly the U.S.A.

Another reason is probably that Evangelical (mission) efforts have often come with very little analysis on the ground.  Decisions are made and fast-tracked and as the reality on the ground changed–missionary efforts did not.  The Evangelism push if often almost manic as opposed to being strategic.  A numbers-obssessed approach hasn’t helped matters. It created the paradox that this extreme Evangelism efforts yielded results and then went unnoticed.  That would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that some of this new Christianity is filled with errant thought–which will be talked about later.

Then there’s the secular press, which prior to 9/11 never really took religious stories seriously.  Religious stories are common place now and the rise of the New Atheists brings even more attention to the positive and negative role played by religion.  But all of this was largely absent prior to 9/11.  The change has been dramatic. A shift this dramatic could easily go unnoticed in the secular press.

Same with universities which often remained completely oblivious to major religious shifts happening in the world.

So the ground has shifted as far as Christianity is concerned and people are just beginning to notice.  But this change has effects both positive and negative–and we’ll continue to look at that as we make our way through the book.

A new church in Italy has just been formed.  This is the 2nd new church in Northern Italy in the last 18 months.  Like our new church in Arco, the Treviso church is in Northern Italy.  On a map, it is just a bit north of beautiful Venice.  For now, the Lovaglio family continue to lead both churches.  The Arco church meets on Sunday morning and the new Treviso church meets at 6:30pm and is starting with about 30 people.  This is really great.

Three Worlds is already committed to offering strategic support to efforts in Italy.  We look forward to meeting with the people of Treviso in the coming months to begin working together.

In the coming weeks at Three Worlds, we are going to be taking a close look at Philip Jenkins book, “The Next Christendom: the Coming of Global Christianity.”  It is our 3W staff book for this year and I think it is one of the most important books of the last 10 years–not just in regard to Christianity, but period.  Christianity’s explosive growth will have massive geo-political implications.

If you are interested in following the discussion on a deeper level than just reading the summary and analysis on the diary, order the book at amazon.com.

Such a perfect day

feed animals in the zoo”

-Lou Reed

Last Friday, we went on a family outing to the zoo.  It was Marco’s fall break from school, and we tried to do some fun things throughout the week.  People love the Berlin zoo.  Everyone says it is so good.  We love zoos, so we were wondering what the hype was about.  The zoo is right in the middle of the city, so it’s not really a scenic area like in Sydney or San Diego.  What could make the zoo so special?

Well, I’m still not sure, but we loved it.  I don’t know if we were just lucky, or if it is the way the simple zoo is designed.  The animals were EXTREMELY active.  Instead of Lions that just sleep or bears hidden off behind some rock, the animals were always visible and always moving around.  It was a stark contrast to most zoo experiences.

For instance:  the Elephants were fed just a few feet from us.  It was amazing watching them eat up close and using their trunks in such a flexible fashion.

The Mountain goat display was a large rock hill that you could walk around.  The goats (one pictured above) climbed the steep sides–and the proximity made us see how skilled the goats are at climbing. It was a stunning thing to behold.  And then a number of the rams actually started locking horns over and over.  They were only a few feet away from from us.  We actually were able to look down on one of the fights–about 8 feet below us, the Rams locked horns with amazing power.

The monkeys were all very visible and doing amusing things.  Same with the Apes.  One hit another ape for no reason and then went on his merry way.  We could have watched the monkeys for ages–especially since there were so many of them.  Between all of them, they were always doing amazing things.

Then there were the Lions and Tigers.  They were walking back and forth and would stare right at you from 5 feet away.  It was actually quite terrifying.  I had a Tiger look me right in the eye and was really freaky.  Once again, the proximity made it come to life.

Unfortunately, sometimes the views were a bit too good.  When we got to the Organgutangs, (I have no idea how to spell that…I didn’t know that)……they put on quite a show.  Unfortunately there were lots of innocent children around including ours, because they put on a show of a sexual nature that was so risque, it was like something out of 1920′s Wiemer Republic Berlin.  It was way too close and personal if you know what I mean.  There are images in my head now that will never go away.  A whole group of kids and parents were traumatized by the absolutely saucy display put on by these shameless simians.  And yes, I have filed a lawsuit agains said offending monkeys.

“You’re going to reap, just what you sow.”–Lou Reed

So other than the shocking display of vulgarity put on by the orange apes, the rest of the zoo was really great.

Marco is still struggling at his new school, which is a concern.  We intentionally pulled our schedule way back in October to make sure we are spending enough time as a family and helping create a sense of stability.  I spent 5 weeks without leaving Germany which is a new record. In fact, I’ve spent more time at home this past month than in about 4 years.  It’s been great.  It was much needed for all of us.  It all comes to an end this Saturday when things pick up again and get pretty crazy until just before Christmas.  But overall, now that we are in year 2 of Three Worlds, we are going to try and schedule things more and more lightly as we go if at all possible.

One thing we promised Marco is that he would not have to make more than one trip out of the country this semester.  We will be going to Lebanon over Thanksgiving and Marco will need to join us for that.  Overall, he’s doing great and enjoying Germany.  School, not so much.

While at home, we have been drawing up a lot more of our expectations for Three Worlds in a document that is getting quite lengthy. We have been preparing four our establishment of a 3W Roundtable which I will talk about more later.  And focusing a lot on preparations for the upcoming trips.  Up next is Paris, then London, then Athens (first visit to the CHOG there), Lebanon, Liverpool, and Paris again for a follow-up 3W  Seminar with guest star Josh Wieger.

I will also be discussing Philip Jenkins book: The Next Christendom on this diary in the upcoming weeks.  It is the book that we assigned to our 3W Team at our recent staff meeting.  I think it’s the most important Christian book of the last 10 years.  So we’ll go through that chapter by chapter.

PS–you think that zoo photo is bad above, you should see the rest.  I need to hire a full-time photographer.

So thanks for all your support.  ”You just keep me hanging on.”

I’m scheduled to visit Greece in a few weeks.  My guess is that this trip could coincide with a total meltdown in Greece.  If not, we will be dodging the inevitable bullet.  Things are going to get a whole lot more chaotic in Europe (and thus the rest of the world), before they get better. This is a pretty great summary of the situation as it stands.  Europe needs between 2 trillion and 6 trillion Euros to avoid some kind of major disaster.  That kind of money is just too much to pull out of thin air.  Who knows what awaits us. 

Interesting article on the growth of Evangelicalism in Britain.  Interestingly, the article goes beyond immigrant Christianity. Money quote:

“Evangelical Christianity might be heavily African-influenced but it’s also spreading among the natives as well. Yesterday I attended an Evangelical service for a friend’s baby’s naming ceremony (not a baptism, as we papists call it – this group don’t believe in infant baptisms).

The happy clappy thing is not my scene – I’d need at least four Stellas before I could get up and dance in a church without dying of a cringe-related stroke – but it’s easy to see why Evangelical Christianity is rapidly spreading in the UK. The median age of this church was about 20; in most Catholic parishes in London you’re considered an energetic young go-getter if you’re under 75; the Evangelicals have many working-class members, while very, very few

The Evangelicals also aggressively court people of other faiths, including Muslims – while the Catholics would rather meet other religious leaders at (preferably tax-payer funded) interfaith meetings where they can spout platitudes about faith communities, as if religious identity is fixed, not a choice.

And in three decades of living in London I have also never seen so many people of different racial backgrounds united in a feeling of brotherhood – Londoners generally tolerate each other, and muddle on, but whether it’s the NHS surgery or the Notting Hill Carnival, the theme is begrudging tolerance, not affection. A small church can do far more for race relations than all the state-subsidised quangos and anti-racism campaigners in Christendom.

Many Catholic and Anglican churches are packed on Sunday mornings with young parents trying to get their kids into the best schools, and it shows – the air is thick with hypocrisy. In contrast the Evangelicals, whether anyone likes it or not, believe, and it shows. Doubt and scepticism are fine things but a religious community that does not believe in its own message will wither and die, and be replaced by others. I’m not remotely surprised Evangelical Christianity is on the march in England.”