In a BBC article today, Mark Mardell writes:

The voices I hear on the streets [in Europe]…
mourn the fact that there is no leader with a map, a compass and a purpose, who can offer some hope that there is a way out of the swamp…
It chills me a little. ‘No more heroes any more’ I think to myself.
The shadow of the 30s, bullies in big boots with simplistic solutions, hangs heavily over Europe’s economic woes. History surely isn’t about to repeat itself?
Yet in nearly all our countries there is a vacancy for someone who understands people’s pain even if he or she cannot make it go away, and for someone who appears to have a clear plan that has a chance of working.
As far as I am concerned, those in need of equine support or with a love of uniforms need not apply.

Please pray for this continent!

Hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas-tide and a super start to the new year!
Report on Pre-Christmas: The “Festival of Light” went wonderfully! We had about 50 people in the Garden House (former kindergarten building) as we explained the Jewish festival of Chanukka and its connection to Jesus’ claim to be “the Light of the world”. Some deeply personal conversations with several “not-yet” believers resulted. Please pray that God’s Spirit will use the love and friendship these folk sensed together with the content of the message and questions discussed to move them closer to Jesus!
Three days later, we traveled to the western part of Germany to celebrate Christmas with Daniel’s parents (Erich and Doris) and family and to speak at the home church of his mother in the Westerwald (”Western-forest”).
It was a wonderful time: these are the folk who sent a team of professional tradesmen from the congregation to lay paving stones for the back area patio here in Haus Nazareth. They are warm, transparent people who have a deep desire to do things for God’s Kingdom.
I preached on the three sermons of the Apostle Paul in Acts 13-17… focusing in particular on the reason why Paul gave so much background information to the non-Jewish audiences to whom he spoke.
This is an important topic for people working in a post-Christian environment like Berlin, with only 1.5% church attendance. The simple reason is: the story of Jesus and His life and sacrifice for us is only truly understandable if you have what the film industry calls the “backstory” of the reality of cosmic evil, creation, the fall of the human race into enmity with God and the divine initiative He took to reclaim and redeem His lost creation.

Clark visiting with some of the tradesmen and their wives after the service

More good news: Our boxes from the U.S. arrived today! Since my back is also doing quite a bit better, we were able to get them up the front stairs into the building!

November 9th is a fateful day in German history: on November 9th, 1918, following the conclusion of the “Great War”, the ill-fated Weimar Republic was born; on November 9th, 1923, Adolf Hitler tried to carry out his putsch in Munich - in spite of its failure, it ominously catapulted him to national prominence; on November 9th, 1938, the Nazi SA and SS stormtroopers ransacked and destroyed Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues in a violent pogrom - the prelude to the Nazi’s “final solution” that would end the lives of 6,000,000 Jewish people in the gas chambers of the death camps and the execution trenches on the military front. Finally, on November 9th, 1989, the Berlin wall fell and the East-German communist regime ended up on the trash pile of history.
Last Saturday evening, there was a commemoration of the tragic events of 1938 here at Haus Nazareth. It was part of a memorial march that began at the site where the local synagogue had been and ended in a service at the Baptist church.

Memorial service on the steps of Haus Nazareth

From the steps of the Haus, a saxophone player wailed out a “Kletzmer” melody mourning the loss of the Jewish villages in Eastern Europe and a speaker reviewed briefly the life and death of one of the former residents, a blind Jewish poet.
Appropriately, talking about the Shoah is serious business here in Germany. Nothing touching the subject is taken lightly. I remember a discussion by a panel of “experts” following the showing of the American mini-series “Holocaust” on German T.V. in the late 1970s. On the final evening, the group was discussing, “How can we prevent something like this ever happening again?” One of them, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, is the most influential literary critic in post-war Germany and himself Jewish. After several minutes of discussion, he slammed his hand on the table and said: “I’ll tell you how you can prevent this every happening again! You Christians need to take your religion more seriously. If Christians had taken their religion seriously, the Holocaust would never have happened!” Amen.

In the past weeks we’ve been thrashing through the thicket of selling our home in Boise (to cover a home equity credit we took out to pay back loans given to purchase “Haus Nazareth”). This means we’ve been packing our household for our major move to Berlin.

In the midst of all of the turmoil, it’s surprising how often a children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, has come to mind.

We used to read this little gem to Seanne and Charissa. The subtitle of the book is “How Toys become Real” and it has been a parable for us of what God actually wants to accomplish through each difficult circumstance and why He sometimes leads His children on rough and painful paths.

The key passage of the story relates how the little Velveteen Rabbit finally gathers enough courage to ask the old Skin Horse something that has been on its mind for quite a while:

“What is real?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because when you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

The Apostle Paul articulated it clearly:

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” (Romans 8:28-29)

God’s final purpose for us who know Christ is to “conform” (mold/form) us so that we become more like Him. Pain and pressure are not accidents in the life of the believer. God wants to bring us through them and use the pressure to mold and shape our character.

Over the past couple of years, God has been speaking to me more and more directly on the subject of forgiveness.
Up until now, I have not felt ready to speak publicly about my own journey and discoveries; but I was invited to speak at the Boise Church of Christ last Sunday and as I thought about what I should speak on, my heart was moved to finally begin talking about this topic.
The sermon was both audio- and videotaped and is on the website of the church if you’d like to join me and hear a bit more about my journey. In particular, I try to make clear from the Scripture what “forgiveness” is and isn’t and the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation (restoration of a relationship).
Here’s the link to the church’s sermon page if you’re interested. (Please pardon the music in the background; it was not intentional and is due to a technical glitch in the recording system. I did not speak the entire time with music repeating itself in the background!

In this post-Easter week, I’ve been reflecting on what the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth about the relationship of Jesus rising from the grave and our own day-to-day lives as His people:

“He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.” 2 Corinthians 13:4

The House Nazareth project has, of course, occupied our thoughts, prayers and almost every waking moment for the past year. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.
Yet, as Paul reminded the early believers, our weakness is not the end of the story. God’s power is what brings life out of death and service out of weakness.
Please continue to pray for us as we seek to discover new partners for the outreach in Berlin. Remodeling must begin on the ground floor right away for the property management office to move in this summer. This is crucial for the entire business plan to succeed: the rent from the ground floor offices will carry the main weight of the mortgage and upkeep payments for the entire project.
Email us if you would like a copy of the DVD explaining the project for friends or an updated overview of the financials and business plan. You can write us at info[at]philosophia[dot]org.

As we continue with Paul’s second reflection on change in society (starting from a discussion on Amazing Grace, the film about William Wilberforce and the Clapham Society), it’s appropriate to wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As few others have ever been graced to see, Patrick fathered spiritual change which ultimately turned the entire nation of Ireland on a course toward the Light. May God give us many Patricks in the next generation!

In the USA all that happens is that the political compass spins back and forth between two political parties, but each of these, when in power, just do what the other did… no basic changes! Red States, Blue States, so what…? What is the real difference? Scripture seems to put the issues deeper, pointing at something “inside” all of the States!

We’ve had 20 yrs on abortion, on marriage, etc. etc. … and we are still swimming, maybe even increasingly so, upstream and against the current.

What might turn this around? Might it actually take a nuclear bomb to really make things serious - like in 24 (the TV serial)?

I’m not for defeatism, nor subjective pessimism; but romanticism and optimism have not been very helpful either. I think a hard core realism is called for. Scripture, and the Puritans like John Owen, suggest that our single greatest weakness is giving in to self-deceptions rather than facing hard objective “truths”. None of us like to face the “truth” about almost anything.

“Triangulation” is a navigational technique based upon the use of fixed points and a known distance to determine the exact position of a ship in relation to the shore. The operative words are: fixed points and known distance.

As the leadership team of “Philosophia” met on Sunday afternoon for prayer and planning, we decided to pray and fast on Good Friday this week to remember the Lord’s death and specifically call upon Him to open the path for the purchase of “House Nazareth” in Berlin. To pray for this project on Good Friday is consistent with His will that many hear the Gospel and come to Christ.

A key question then came up: “Why is prayer and fasting so important? Doesn’t God know everything already? Isn’t it kind of like pestering Him?” The answer, as I see it, is that these disciplines are like spiritual “fixed points” that we can use for “spiritual triangulation” to determine the exact position our own heart is in and reorient it toward God. Prayer and fasting are for OUR sake; definitely NOT God’s. We in no way change His love and concern for us by prayer and fasting; what changes is our receptivity to His leading and direction and our openness for His miracles.

Would you please join with us in fasting and prayer on this coming Good Friday? (Drinking liquid or juice is OK!) It would be a great encouragement if we can pray together that God will provide the remaining funds needed and that “House Nazareth” will become a lighthouse for the Gospel in Berlin.

Whew!

The past week and a half has been wild. I left on Wednesday, March 22 for a ministry time with our friends at the First Baptist Church in Elmhurst, Illinois; returned to Boise on Monday, March 27; washed clothes on Tuesday; flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday and have been meeting with folk here to talk about “House Nazareth” ever since. The flight from Chicago to Boise was through Seattle (I know…) and actually took longer than a direct flight to Frankfurt would have.

As we come closer to the deadline for the down payment (April 25), it’s frankly hard for me not to feel a tinge of panic. Why is it that my heart finds it so difficult to trust God in the twilight? Call it the “children of Israel at the Red Sea before the waters parted” syndrome: in spite of all that God had already done for them, they still had trouble resting in His love and care.

I think that - at least for me - it is linked to the fact that, as a true “son of Adam” (daughters of Eve have the same challenge), there is a deep, fundamental flaw in my spiritual make-up (the old Bible word for it is the “flesh”). It’s like a spiritual “arrhythmia” that can knock my heart out of rhythm with God. Like most physical arrhythmia, it isn’t constantly present; it manifests itself mostly in times of stress – when the Enemy whispers “God doesn’t REALLY mean everything for your best! You need to look out for yourself!”

Lord, forgive me for being so tuned-in to Satan’s whispers. Help me to “tune my heart to sing thy praise” (as the old hymn says).

Here’s the current status of the “House Nazareth” finances: $605,000 in donations and longer-term interest-free loans; $400,000 to go by April 25th… [did I say that already?] (-:
Please pray: a) that our hearts will be tuned to the Lord and not the Enemy’s whispers; b) that God’s Spirit will speak to those whom the Lord wants to step forward and give sacrificially to see a new beach-head established for the Light in Berlin. (Many have already given beyond their human capacity; God must touch other hearts.) Thanks for being there!

As we move relentlessly closer to the deadline for the down payment on “House Nazareth” (April 25th), I’m sometimes tempted to panic: “Lord, you led us out on this limb; you answered our prayers and did two miracles - you moved the hearts of the sisters and the Catholic officials to sell this property to Philosophia and you brought in gifts and short-term loans for the security deposit by the deadline of December 21. We did due diligence and acted as responsibly as we knew how to your leading. So many friends have sacrificially prayed and given. Please do not let this vision fail!”

Recently God reminded me that this is always the pattern of His working: When He led the people of Israel out of Egypt he “said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hairoth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zaphon.” (Exodus 14:1-2 NIV) In other words, He led them into a military trap! The Israelites were completely exposed: the sea on one side and an open flank on the desert; perfect for the shock troops of Pharaoh in their chariots (the most technically advanced military force of the time).

Moses, as a prince of Egypt, had been trained in the palace corps and surely recognized the danger of the maneuver. But God said to do it anyway. Why does God arrange things like this for his people? He made the reason clear in his orders to Moses: “I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” (V. 4) In other words, it is so that it will be transparently clear to the entire world that this was not the achievement of Moses or the Israelites, but rather the work of God alone.

That is breathtaking! It’s like all the Chinese kung-fu movies where the Master makes a strategic move that appears to everyone to be absurd and sure to lead to defeat, only to have it be revealed that it was really an expression of the most profound understanding and wisdom and wins the battle.

But why does God want all the glory for himself? Isn’t that kind of like us preening ourselves so others will flatter us and build us up? Actually, this is different: God wants all the glory for himself not because his weak ego needs our praise but because we need to praise Him for our sakes! For us humans, living in constant praise of God is like the water a fish swims in. Take a trout out of the water and it soon expires. God sets up object lessons of faith - like the Exodus - to remind us that this is the case and lead us back into the ocean of praise that we are designed to live in. (We forget so quickly where our true happiness lies!)

SO… (as Rabbit said to Winnie the Pooh) “here we ALL are”. Out on the end of a limb. Only God can get the glory. It’s right, but still not a very comfortable place to be perched! But I guess that’s just the way it should be; the children of Israel didn’t feel very secure until they were finally across the Red Sea.

The Scriptures make it clear that when we’re between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, it is honoring to God and good for us when we seek him in what the old saints used to call “earnest prayer”. In keeping with this, we’ve set up a 24 hour prayer chain for the “House Nazareth” project.

It would be a great encouragement if many folk joined with us. For information, please email Mary Ellen Stewart at: