It’s called the Beqaa. The massive rift valley in the center of Lebanon separated from the coast by the Mount Lebanon range to the west and from Syria on the East by the Anti-Lebanon mountains. In this picture, Syria is straight ahead over the mountains in the background. The Beqaa forms the northeastern-most extension of the Great Rift Valley, which extends down the spine of East Africa.

While historically the bread-basket of the region, today it is a harbor and a crossroads for the drug trade, money laundering, and terrorists of many stripes …Hezbollah, Iranian jihadists, and Syrian infiltrators into Lebanon to name the more well-known. It figured prominently in one of the first Tom Clancy novels I ever read years ago as a hotbed of intrigue and espionage.

As I was driving through it with one of the Lebanese who serves and ministers with us in Beirut, he mentioned that he used to be in the Beqaa several times a week and he pointed out the places where groups of believers in Jesus met.

I continued to be amazed at how God establishes his presence and signs of his Kingdom’s reality even in the most inhospitable places on the planet.

Lebanon continues to teeter on the verge of war and chaos. One of the major destabilizing factors contributing to the present situation was the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February of 2005. His death further catalyzed the “cedar revolution” which resulted in the end of Syria’s overt influence in Lebanon.

We passed over the place where a bomb blew up Hariri’s car on a Beirut thoroughfare. The blast, equivalent to 1000 kgs of TNT, gouged a 30 foot hole in the pavement and the evidence of the magnitude can still be seen from the destruction of the surrounding buildings in the photos above.

While the UN investigates and the labyrinth that is Lebanese politics continues to swirl with intrigue, life in Beirut is characterized by fear and uncertainty. Such instability can make life hard, but it also means people grapple with the significant and the deeply personal much more readily than those whose lives are immune to such trauma.

Beirut is a contemporary example of what historians and missiologists have always known; that spiritual receptivity can be the silver lining of social/political upheaval. The search for God and ultimate meaning takes on a new urgency when all hell is breaking loose around us. What I have seen firsthand in places like this is that the good news of Jesus is profoundly transforming when communicated humbly and lived out authentically. Such sovereign intervention by God, mediated by those on the ground determined to follow Jesus, is the only hope for Lebanon.

This is one of the few remaining groves of the famous cedars of Lebanon. I had a unique chance to wander in this remote grove up in the mountains recently during time in the Middle East. These trees are remarkable …huge umbrellas with massive trunks, some which were alive during the time of Jesus.

Wood from these trees were used in ancient times by the Phoenicians to build their trade and military ships, as well as their houses and temples. The Egyptians used its resin for mummification, and its sawdust was found in the pharaoh’s tombs. Jewish priests were ordered by Moses to use the bark of the Lebanon Cedar in circumcision and treatment of leprosy. Kings of neighboring and distant countries asked for this wood to build their religious and civil constructs, the most famous of which are King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and David’s and Solomon’s Palaces. In addition it was used by the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians and Babylonians.

One gets a very different picture of the realities of life and ministry in the Middle East when on the ground in the region. Particularly stunning is the perspective on the state of Israel shared by many of those who are followers of Jesus and who live in the region. What I found is dismay at the uncritical, and what they perceive as naive, posture held by many North American Christians in their unequivocal support of the secular Jewish state.

The facts are that that almost all of those who name the name of Christ in the Middle East are also Arabs. The cannot understand the theological and/or geo-political justifications that American Christians—particularly some evangelicals—give to political Israel and Zionism. It makes no sense to them biblically, historically, or politically.

What is happening in this region is incredibly complex. And the only long-term solution is the present and future rule of the Prince of Peace and his Kingdom, which has no bias regarding family of birth, ethnic group, or possession of land.

(The pic above is of a major bridge destroyed by the Israelis in northern Lebanon during last summer’s war. I had the chance to see it up close and personal. Bombing it severed a major artery between Beirut and the western part of the country and inflicted great suffering on innocent segments of the population. Its destruction had little strategic or military value).

We have people serving and ministering in Beirut who, with their families, lived through the trauma of the war last year.

When visiting with them, all things trite and insignificant pale in light of their circumstances and gravity of the Middle East context. They minister in a crucible where there is indescribable pressure from every side: radical Sunni Muslims, militant Palestinians, Hezbollah and radical Shiites, Syria, “Christian” militias, pressure from the majority Marionite Catholics, and the ever present threat of Israeli incursions, bombings and retaliations in which innocent people are invariably hurt.

In this unbelievable cauldron of political, religious and social turmoil, they are following Jesus with perseverance and integrity. Their quiet, steady ministry in Lebanon and throughout the region is making a profound contribution to the Christian movement on the soil of the lands where it first originated. The honor is all mine to serve alongside them.

This is my view this evening of the Nile in the heart of Cairo.

It’s been a day packed meeting with folks here who are doing some thrilling things when it comes to representing Jesus both far and near. I’ve learned much. The diversity and magnitude of what God does to see His name renowned among the nations and the worship of his Son extended is astounding.

During my day, I’ve seen again that the missionary purpose of a gracious and ever-redeeming God can never be put into boxes or relegated to a limited number of human structures. His persistent pursuit of a wayward humanity is staggering to the imagination, not just that he would do it but that he would do it with such infinite creativity and accommodation to our limitations.

Deo Gloria!

It is so refreshing to see a ministry environment where the talking and philosophizing have stopped and the action is simply happening. That’s what I saw this past week with re:HOPE, a vibrant, healthy church plant in Glasgow.

Brian Ingraham (CRM staff in Glasgow) leads the team (above left) which gives leadership to this new expression of the body of Christ. Some in that group became followers of Jesus at re:Hope. It’s attracting students from the nearby university, many of whom have had little exposure to authentic, historic Christianity, only the caricatures of institutionalized religion that most of their peers have rejected out of hand.

re:HOPE is nothing fancy. In fact, I think its simplicity has contributed to its effectiveness in reaching people and changing lives: a bold commitment to study, proclaim, and live the Bible, loving relationships that create a safe place, prevailing prayer where the hand of God is moved, representing Jesus in the things of everyday life, sensitivity to hearing from God and responding to the Sprit’s leading, and a passionate love for God that is producing a holy boldness in some of these young Scots that would make their Reformer ancestors proud!

The building (upper right) re:HOPE leases is a defunct Church of Scotland facility that hasn’t had a church use it since the 50s. It’s kind of cool (it’s actually physically that way too) to see life return and this musty old limestone structure become a gathering place for all sorts of ministry possibilities. And it is particularly thrilling to see the sense of apostolic vision being imparted: new spin-offs being planned for Ireland, other parts of Scotland, and Scots being encouraged to follow Jesus in a variety of other Kingdom ventures.

Being an observer of what God is doing there was like watching a video of Ezekiel 37:

“This is what the Lord say, ‘O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, I will bring you back to the land of Israel …I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it says the Lord.”

Despite a host of logistical and financial challenges, we believe God has clearly been leading CRM to establish more of a presence in Great Britain. We believe it is a strategic crossroads for much of the world.

We’ve moved to base four teams of CRM missionaries there: NieuCommunities is in Glasgow; a CRM-International team is also in Scotland and focused on planting new churches; CRM-UK in London is growing and making a good contribution to the health and vibrancy of the British church; and InnerCHANGE (CRM’s order among the poor) is getting established in poor areas of London’s East End. I personally hope to hub a variety of CRM-CoNext functions out of London as well in the years to come.

Those of us in London—Brits, Americans and Aussies—all got together recently for an evening dinner which included those who serve on the CRM-UK Board. I’m grateful for this exceptionally gifted, capable cadre of leaders who are quietly and humbly working to be a blessing not only to the UK, but through it to the world.

This is Cottiers. It’s a bar/pub that has taken over a defunct Church of Scotland in Glasgow’s west end.

It is probably more of a happening place now then it was during its last days housing the remnants of a dying church. At least the drinks are good.

It is maddening!

Patty and I enjoyed dinner this evening with a couple who, since 2001, have pioneered an incredible church planting minsitry in the midlands of England. They started by using a cafe and as relationships were built, graduated those interested into their “church in the pub” down the street. Their work has attracted a menagerie of wounded, broken souls who would never darken the door of a typical church.

But now, their denomination has had enough of such unorthodox ministry. In a very political move, the traditionalists who oversee them have declared them “redundant” and said “Thanks, but your services are no longer needed.”

While such leadership abuse is tragic, it may be a blessing in disguise and finally help this wonderful couple eject from a broken system and allow them to transition into a ministry posture where they will be blessed and appreciated for their apostolic giftedness and passion.

I wish this was an isolated anomoly. But it’s not. The more I scratch the surface of British institutional religion, I keep coming across church leadership that is exquisitely educated, brilliantly intellectual, amazingly articulate, vision-less and bureaucratic.

So it is not surprising that when such people control the power, the money and the positions, the institutions they lead are dying, even if they don’t recognize it. It is also not surprising that God is not stymied by such leadership ineptitude and will accomplish his purposes in new, fresh kingdom expressions and structures that out of necessity must circumvent the establishment. It has always been that way throughout the history of the Christian movement. And it always will be. But it is still maddening!

Tamas and Zsofia Heiser are with Barnabas Csoport, CRM’s ministry in Hungary, and are moving toward the role of leading that team.

This comes after a church planting experience over the past decade where God used them to birth and give leadership to a healthy group of believers in Zalaegerszeg in the southern part of the country.

While a highly respected pastor and leader in his community, denomination and throughout the country, Tamas is making the move to Barnabas Csoport because he sees the acute need for leadership in the church that is and the church that needs to be in Hungary and beyond. His situation is also another vivid example of an apostolic leader that needs an apostolic structure to accomplish all that God intends for his life. Tamas’ sense of vision and calling has moved beyond the boundaries of one local context. A gifted musician, teacher and great mom, Zsofia plays an integral role in all that has transpired and how God will use them in the future. She fully shares this step into the turbulent world of the missionary.

While Tamas may not be as “frustrated” in the same sense as Eric (February 7, 2006 post in Apostolic Ecclesiology), he’s cut out of the same cloth. He, Zsofia, and their three children are in the process of selling their home and moving to Budapest. They are taking some bold, sacrificial steps to follow God’s leading in their lives, steps that God will bless and through which the Church and God’s kingdom purposes will be enriched throughout this region of the world.

I am in Serbia. My first time in the country. I’m here with several CRM staff who live and minister just northward in Hungary.

Stepping across the boarder into this ancient land I had flashbacks of living in Ukraine and time spent in Russia, Romania and other portions of the former Soviet bloc. The scars from the war after the breakup of Yugoslavia and the NATO bombing campaign are mostly erased in the physical landscape but not quite so in the social psyche.

Nominally Serbian Orthodox, the vast bulk of the population is oblivious to religion and secularized. The Protestant presence is a tiny minority. One Serbian leader commented that there were more believers in Timisoara, Romania than in the whole nation of Serbia. The large city in which we were had only five churches (across a broad theological spectrum) of an evangelical nature.

In light of these realities, the gathering pictured above was quite remarkable. It was a day-long celebration at the end of a nationwide 78 days of prayer and fasting that took place throughout the Protestant churches …equivalent to the same duration of the NATO bombing. Seven different worship teams and believers from throughout the country gathered for the day and we had the privilege of being guests at the gathering. What Serbian believers may lack in numbers, they make up for in passion.

The contribution of the CRM staff here, as in many places around the world, is to graciously encourage, coach, and mentor leadership for the church that is and for the church that needs to emerge. This effort in Serbia has been initiated by the CRM team in Hungary and they are doing are a good job of building relationships of trust upon which such ministry can be built.

Let me be clear.

In some of my observations of the spiritual landscape in urban London that have been posted the past several weeks …

1. I am lamenting the waste of real estate and resources. No one should interpret that as advocating that these be converted into church models like one would see in the U.S. or elsewhere. Nor am I suggesting that they return to the days of yesteryear and a Christendom hegemony that has long since passed. I’m lamenting the waste, the money and physical resources tied up by ecclesiastical bureaucracies that could be put to alternative missional use, creative and appropriate to the needs of this setting.

2. I fully realize that God is doing much in this context “under the radar.” He’s not limited and is patiently accomplishing his purposes in new and fresh expressions that are bypassing all the visible and institutional.

3. Simultaneously, I am impressed by some of what I see in some of the existing, historic structures such as I alluded to in the post regarding St. Mary’s. I am, by no means, writing off all that exists.

3. I am not ripping the church. I am critiquing forms that institutionalized Christianity has taken that are ineffective, irrelevant and counter-productive to people living out in their culture what the genuine “ecclesia”—the called out ones of Jesus—could be.

4. I heard one Anglican bishop state last year that approximately 40% of the British population could be reached effectively by existing churches and parishes of the Church of England if they were spiritually alive, healthy and vibrant. Even if that did happen (which is certainly an admirable focus of those so called but simultaneously a stretch considering that less that 1% of the British population attends the Church of England on any given Sunday), what happens to the other 60%?

5. The “blessing in disguise” of such institutional marginalization is that those serious about God’s missional call are figuring out how to get out there where the people and where the culture really are. Desperation is marvelous mid-wife for creativity and invention. The lack of such is one of the dilemmas of the American scene where few in the Christian sub-culture are really desperate. Complacency, comfort, personal peace and prosperity have carried the day.

6. Would that God would graciously allow Britain to experience a spiritual renaissance. With the incredible legacy this nation has and the remarkable contribution it has made to the worldwide Christian movement over the past 1,000 years, could it be that some of its greatest days could in fact lie ahead? God make it so.

Situated around one intersection in the heart of London lies the Royal Stock Exchange and Bank of England, historically and even today two of the most strategically and influential financial institutions in the world.

The inscription above the Royal Exchange is a direct quote from Psalm 24:1 – “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.”

Nice sentiment. But to believe such biblical reality has ever substantially influenced those who labor in such institutions historically or has any sway for those who enter under its gaze today is revisionism and wishful thinking. And because this bastion of capitalism has not been influenced in such a way, it has fostered such reactions as communism which in its truest sense was an attempt to correct the unbiblical injustices inherent in rampant capitalism.

I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like for a Karl Marx to have walked under this facade during the years he lived in London (1849 til his death in 1883). Could the overt hypocrisy of what he saw contributed in any way to his sweeping indictment of religion in his social and economic theory? One can only wonder.

Surrounded by a sea of “estate housing”—the British term for public housing that in most cases is shabby tenaments—is this island of a bygone era of establishment Christianity.

This Anglican church building and parish house sits squarely in the middle of London high rise flats teaming with immigrants from South Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. It is a population desperate for the presence of Jesus to be effectively conveyed in word and deed. Instead, what the poor see is a building that looks more like an impenetrable fortress. It appears to be a parish that muddles on with good intentions, barely ale to maintain its liturgically irrelevant rites that are a total disconnect with the neighborhood that engulfs it. The waste of this physical resource is heartbreaking.

Late at night, John Hayes, Tom Middleton and I sat on the wall that surrounds this building and asked God to give it to us or to someone who would take such a strategically place piece of real estate and seek to use it effectively for significant kingdom purposes. It would make a incredible ministry center with housing for missionaries and teams that could serve this area and others. The potential is enormous. Make it so Lord Jesus.

One of the shocking juxtapositions in Shoreditch is to see clubs teeming with people and overflowing with a pulsating search for significance all under the shadow of an institutional Christianity that has become a total disconnect. So much so, that the area is full of church buildings that have been converted to other uses.

Such irrelevance is not surprising considering the magnitude of the cultural difference between these archaic symbols of the Christianity of a bygone era and the realities of contemporary urban life under their very eaves. Here are three such examples within several blocks of each other. Two are restaurants. One apartment flats.

To see such resources go to waste when they could be bases for incredible ministry in this context is enough to make one scream if not cry. If our reaction is so visceral to such waste, I cannot imagine how God must weep at such a myopic lack of vision.

Shoreditch is one of the happening areas of London.

Adjacent to “the City” which is the financial heart of England, Shoreditch has been historically a gritty, semi-industrial area until the last decade when it has been transformed into a district teaming with clubs. Along with John Hayes (InnerCHANGE) and Tom Middleton (CRM-UK), I spent a muggy Saturday evening cruising this area. I was stunned by the crowds streaming into the clubs.

There were many nuances to what we experienced. Some streets and spots catered to the trendy, some to the artistic, some to affluent up-and-comers, some to the overtly nihilistic. But there were commonalities throughout: hoards of people in their 20s and 30s looking for action; the free flow of alcohol and other substances; and virtually everyone casting about in search of some form of meaningful relationships often sought in the illusion of a sexual encounter.

It was a living, moving human scene crying out for meaning. Beneath the superficiality of the clubbing culture lies a deep reservoir of social and psychological pain, an environment begging for people who can be sensitive, authentic and incarnational conduits of the transforming love of Jesus. Any takers?

Speaker’s Corner occupies the northeast corner of Hyde Park in the heart of London. It’s famous turf.

I’ve been there numerous times, but never on a humid Sunday summer afternoon with such a crushing crowd. As always there were knots of vigorous conversation and heated debate going on throughout the area. But what was so riveting and jaw dropping for me were the soap-box orators, some bellowing at the top of their voices messages of apocalyptic fire and brimstone.

I can’t begin to understand how anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus would not cringe at the vitriol that was being spewed out on that crowd by fiery preachers who I’m sure felt they were God’s agents in the mold of the Old Testament prophets. It was embarrassing. What I saw and heard was far from the Petrine admonition to “be ready to give an answer …with gentleness and respect.” (I Peter 3:15). Far from it.

I suspect in God’s providence, some of the truth that was spoken may have fallen on receptive ears. But I’m not sure it was worth the many more who were repulsed and disgusted by the ugly caricature of Christianity that was on such unfortunate display.

In a stunning Edwardian structure that has been meticulously restored, the Anglican congregation of St. Mary’s meets in central London.

It appears to be a vibrant, growing expression of the body of Christ. I am impressed by the diversity and the appeal of this church among younger urban professionals. There seems to be a healthy appreciation of the arts and a keen understanding of what life and ministry entails in such a secularized European setting.

St. Mary’s is an fascinating combination of the spiritual vibrancy akin to what we experience in California at New Song Church combined with an emphasis on ministry and giftedness that one would find in a healthy Vineyard, all wrapped up in an Anglican context with a sprinkling of English understatedness.

We look forward to hanging out here in the weeks ahead when we’re in the city.

I was out for a Sunday evening walk here in London, and had the opportunity to pass by and experience three separate churches that were meeting for Sunday evening gatherings. They were across the ecclesiological spectrum …Anglican, to Baptist, to Free Church.

And what I saw was stunning! The hilarious video, “Mr. Bean Goes to Church” is alive and well.

In one cavernous building, fifteen somber, stuffy peopled huddled in silence, while a out-of-tune electronic organ played music that would have made most mortuaries seem like amusement parks. I was dumbfounded why anyone, of any age, would be attracted to such a moribund remnant. It was pathetic, so much so, I couldn’t stand it and snuck out during one of the prayers. It was suffocating.

Such venues are certainly not unique to the UK.  That’s just where I am at the moment.  I’ve seen the same in countless settings all over the world in a mosaic of different cultures including my own.  The tragedy in this context is that these islands of lifeless Christianity are surrounded by a vibrant, pulsating city that is hungry for spiritual reality. What is equally sad is the resources, real estate and assets tied up by these dying religious institutions. I cannot begin to imagine how such waste and deadness must grieve the God whose name they claim.

Patty and I are in London and will be resident here through the end of June.
It is our first stab at living in the UK for several months a year. We’re doing it for several reasons, one of which is NOT the weather …the prevailing damp, gray, cold drizzle is a shock to the Southern California psyche.

However, we feel God’s led us to consider basing out of here because it will give us much greater flexibility for travel into Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. Secondly, CRM has a growing commitment and presence in the UK. We’re adding staff and momentum to the team in London, InnerCHANGE has planted a team in Hackney that will be growing and expanding as a training venue, and NieuCommunities has a team in Glasgow.

Lastly, as CRM CoNext continues to evolve and develop, we would like to base a small, nimble group (separate from CRM-US) in London to serve our CoNext partners worldwide. It’s a healthy move to give a little distance between that function and CRM in the US.

So here we are, diving into the British scene, attempting to adjust to more of an urban lifestyle, and quite aware that we are in a cross-cultural context. The UK is definitely a different culture separated from us Yanks by a common language. Add into that equation the incredible ethnic diversity that characterizes virtually every neighborhood. It all adds up to London being one of the most complex and fascinating megalopolises in all the world.

I had the honor this morning of speaking at a joint worship gathering of Rios Auga Viva and the Filadelphia, two churches in Caracas.

The worship prior to the message absolutely rocked! I have rarely if ever experienced anything this expressive in an Anglo context. African-Americans come close but even their genre is different.

The music that’s imported from North or from Europe/Australia, etc., and translated into Spanish doesn’t quite cut it. Even for someone who can’t speak Spanish, the distinction between words/music that are Venezuelan in origin and what’s from outside the culture is obvious. I’ve seen once again that when creativity is unleashed within a culture, it resonates with the soul in a manner that is hard to duplicate through that which is borrowed from without.

One of the amazing features of this CRM conference in Venezuela was the track that was designed for the women—mostly wives of the pastors and church planters—who attended.

According to most, it was the FIRST time they had ever been in any setting where time, attention, and focus was given specifically to them and their needs. They were used to being mere appendages. In this setting, they were ministered to as individuals and as people of worth for whom God also has a unique calling and plan. It was remarkable to see what emerged in just a few days when given such an opportunity.

After several weeks of pausing in putting up blog posts—mostly because of being sidelined from the vertigo attack—I’m back at it.

This week, I’m in Caracas, Venezuela for a CRM conference for over 120 pastors and other leaders from throughout the nation. This event marks several important milestones. It celebrates the transition of CRM Venezuela to national leadership. Leonel Portillo (pictured below right) has assumed this responsibility. The conference also moves our contribution to the Church in the Latin world to a new level.

The main presenters for this conference were from CRM’s CoNext partners in Australia, Ian and Verlie Hamilton. Particularly gratifying was the fact that all of this event and subsequent ministry was happening with little to no influence from Americans. Increasingly CRM in this part of the world is morphing into an apostolic movement of and for Venezuelans and others in the region.

I came across this stark, provocative reference in the latest issue of First Things.

Paul Johnson, author of Art: A New History had this to say in The New Criterion:

“Nor do I believe that art can flourish for long without a spiritual element.

I grieve over what happened to painting in the twentieth century, vitiated by a kind of barbarism not unlike the actions of government which cost the lives of scores of millions. When I visit galleries today, I long for the fifteenth century with its tender Madonnas and the outstretched arms of the infant Jesus on their knees, and even the paintings of the martyrs in woeful suffering have a purpose missing from the pointless images of violence now cast up, or the descent into depths deeper than any Hell of Hieronymus Bosch.

I recall attending the opening of Tate Modern. I found a room there empty except for a large video screen and three children, a girl of about ten and her younger brother and sister. They were sampling modern art—a video of a man masturbating. That this kind of episode was no accident I deduce from the latest obiter dicta of Charles Saatchi, said to exercise enormous power over our art: ‘I know I sound like some ghastly creep, but there is something enchanting about seeing children sitting around a Chapman brothers piece showing penises coming out of girls’ eyes, and drawing it neatly to take back to their teacher.”

While all modern art is certainly not of this ilk, these observations are all too accurate of a culture in the West that has increasingly lost its way and a milieu into which the Christian movement struggles to speak with living, relevant power.