Germany's holiday food favorites

Often, we are asked what is different about Christmas in Germany. I came across an article that will acquaint you with some German Christmas foods. Below is simply an extract Invited to a German Christmas dinner and don’t know what to expect? Forget about your Turkey with cranberry sauce, say good bye to mince pies and Christmas pudding and embrace these Teutonic holiday specialties.

Germany has a rich and varied culinary Christmas tradition, as well as a huge selection of festive foods making coming up with a definitive list a tricky task. But here, plucked from typical German Christmas fare, are the essential tastes you are likely to encounter.

Grünkohl – kale Held in high regard across the country, kale is likely to accompany whatever slab of Christmas meat is put on the table. The kale gets minced and then cooked in stock with cream, spices and random meat or sausages for a few days. Even though it might sound odd, a whole culture has formed around these healthy greens across the country. You’ll find that everyone has their own secret spice mix to make their kale stew a specialty. Just ask any Oma and she'll swear that the process of reheating the kale gives it its characteristic flavor and texture.

Knacker – bangers Those who have turned their nose up at Grünkohl might find this dish more appealing. In some parts of Germany the traditional Christmas Eve victuals are very basic sausages and potato salad. This all-time German favorite can be enjoyed with a variety of sausages such as Wiener, Bockwurst, or Knacker, which is a smoked, raw sausage, which is a bit like like raw bangers.

Karpfen – carp If your hosts dish up a big fish it is very likely to be carp. Don’t be reserved when it comes to this downmarket fish. While carp is viewed unfavorably in America, its firm, low-fat meat is valued in Germany. The flavor is usually mild, but some people insist that the farm raised variety can have a “muddy” taste. However, carp can often be reminiscent of tasty catfish too.

Gänsebraten – roast goose You can’t live without roasted poultry on Christmas? Well Germans like their holiday bird too. Traditionally eaten with dumplings, red cabbage and the aforementioned kale stew, roast goose might even be the most popular holiday dish in Germany. One benefit is that you avoid the dreaded “dry-turkey” since goose stays juicy simply because it’s higher in fat.

Lebkuchen – German gingerbread Don’t fear if you now think of the rock hard Lebkuchen Herzen (gingerbread hearts) inscribed with icing you didn’t think were actually edible when visiting the Oktoberfest this year. No, this traditional spicy-sweet gingerbread cake is somewhat soft and comes in every shape and taste your heart desires. It is also known as Pfefferkuchen (pepper cake) or Honigkuchen (honey cake), depending on the used ingredients.

Spekulatius This is a spicy Christmas cookie. The biscuit is very thin, crunchy, slightly browned and has some image or figure stamped on the front before baking, while the back. Imagine some kind of slimmed down, spiced up version of shortcake.

Stollen – fruit cake This stodgy fruit cake might look familiar when served up. The heavy, dense, yeasty dough may appear to be solid enough to build a house out of it, but is actually quite low in sugar. Stollen contain all sorts of Christmas goodness such as marzipan, almonds, dried fruit, butter and, last not least a thick sugar coating. Even though small Stollen are available these days, the traditional weight used to be a whopping two kilogrammes!

Marzipankartoffeln – marzipan potatoes You might have noticed already that the German sweet tooth loves marzipan, but Marzipan Kartoffeln are the real deal. They're just what their name suggests. Potato shaped lumps of marzipan dusted with coco and some cinnamon for that freshly harvested spud look. Those sugary little things can only be found in the shops during the holiday season and might pick you up after a boozy and lardy evening. If that doesn’t work, start from the top of our list again and see if another cup of Glühwein does the trick...

Germany's Protestant Church in Decline

Last week, the Protestant State Church of Germany, die evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), released its statistics from 2007. Overall, the church lost about 1.5% of its membership. However, there are some bigger stories behind the summary statement. First, the number of resignations from the State Church rose by 7.7% in comparison to 2006. In total, there were 131,000 people to turn in their membership. Second, particularly in the former East Germany the dropout rate was very high. The state of Thurigia saw a increase in dropouts from the Lutheran church of roughly 76%. Obviously, other areas of Germany saw some growth of the church - particularly to the south and west.

And what many Americans don't realize is the financial structure of a "State Church". In an agreement between the church and the state, the German government collects a "church tax" from the church members to the amount of 7% of the paycheck which is in turn given to the "state church". In other words, the government helps you pay your tithes. (Not of of your tithes, but it's a good start.) One can opt out of paying the church tax by resigning his/her membership in the state church.

Of course, being a member of a state church has its advantages for the average person. The church provides religious education in the public schools, they perform the weddings and funerals of its members, and offer basic pastoral care to its members. There is a certain social status or cultural identity that comes with being a church member, too. However, an increasing number of Germans have never really understood the Gospel and, subsequently, have no true appreciation for a state church. And then, a very small number of folks have opted for non-State churches like us evangelicals (e.g., Baptists, Pentecostals, and charismatics).

Germany has traditionally two state churches - the Roman Catholic Church and the EKD, both of which receives money from the government based on this church tax.

Russian Patriach Passes Away

This piece of news is available through many news outlets, but may not get the prime time coverage in the West. Alexei II is to the Russian Orthodox church what the Pope is to Catholicism. As you can see below, he has had an interesting impact on Russian society. And it will be interesting to see who his successor will be.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II, who presided over a vast post-Soviet revival of faith but was accused of making the church a force for nationalism, died Friday at age 79, the church headquarters said.

The Moscow Patriarchate said he died at his residence outside Moscow, but did not give a cause of death. Alexy had long suffered from a heart ailment.

Alexy became leader of the church in 1990, as the officially atheist Soviet Union was loosening its restrictions on religion. After the Soviet Union collapsed the following year, the church's popularity surged. Church domes that had been stripped of their gold under the Soviets were regilded, churches that had been converted into warehouses or left to rot in neglect were painstakingly restored and hours-long Masses on major religious holidays were broadcast live on national television.

By the time of Alexy's death, the church's flock was estimated to include about two-thirds of Russia's 142 million people, making it the world's largest Orthodox church.

But Alexy often complained that Russia's new religious freedom put the church under severe pressure and he bitterly resented what he said were attempts by other Christian churches to poach adherents among people who he said should have belonged to the Orthodox church.

Alexy successfully lobbied for the 1997 passage of a religion law that places restrictions on the activities of religions other than Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. Under his leadership, the church also vehemently opposed schismatic Orthodox churches in neighboring Ukraine, claiming the Ukrainian church should remain under Moscow's control.

He was born Alexei Mikhailovich Rüdiger on Feb. 23, 1929 in Tallinn, Estonia. The son of a priest, Alexy often accompanied his parents on pilgrimages to churches and monasteries, and he helped his father minister to prisoners in Nazi concentration camps in Estonia. It was during those visits that Alexy decided to pursue a religious life.

Under Soviet rule, this was not an easy choice. Lenin and Stalin suppressed religion and thousands of churches were destroyed or converted to other uses, such as museums devoted to atheism or, in some cases, stables. Many priests and parishioners were persecuted for their beliefs.

The persecution eased somewhat during World War II, when Stalin discovered that the church could be used as a propaganda tool in the fight against the Nazis. But the Soviet authorities never fully loosened their grip, penetrating the church at the highest levels.

Alexy was ordained in 1950, progressed through the Orthodox hierarchy, and was consecrated Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia in 1961.

Three Questions for a Frantic Family

I've written many times before, the best time for me to read is while in transit. During my flight to/from Bulgaria, I was able to read the latest from one of my favorite authors - Patrick Lencioni, a consultant par excellence. This time, he has applied his analytic questions for businesses for everyday family life. Below is a summary of his book, taken from his own website.

The Three Big Questions: Family Scoreboard Explanations

1. What makes your family unique?
The answer to this question should be two or three sentences that describe how your family is different from any other family in the world. If you don’t know what differentiates your family from others, you won’t have a basis for making decisions, and you’ll try to be all things to all people.

2. What is your top priority—rallying cry—right now?
Rallying Cry: The rallying cry is a single, agreed-upon top priority for your family over the next two to six months. Without a top priority, everything becomes important and you end up reacting to whatever issues seem urgent that day.

Defining Objectives: Defining objectives are the basic categories of things you’ll have to do to achieve your rallying cry. Without identifying those categories, you’ll be left with nothing but a general statement—and no context for getting it done.

Standard Objectives: Standard objectives are simply those regular, perennial responsibilities that a family must pay attention to in order to keep its head above water. By acknowledging these ongoing responsibilities, families will avoid being distracted from what really matters.

3. How do you talk about and use the answers to these questions?
The most important thing a family has to do to keep its context alive is discuss it in regular meetings. If you answer the first two questions but don’t use those answers in daily, weekly and monthly decision-making, it will yield limited benefits. It can also be helpful to “score” your progress as demonstrated with the green, yellow, and red color key.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Getting Home for Thanksgiving in Germany

Remember the old comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. That's a little bit of what my last trip to Moscow and back was like.

The Trip to Moscow
It began with a beep on my mobile phone during church. Since we were attending a district conference, it was pretty easy for me to step out and listen to my voice mail in which an agent from the airlines indicated that my flight from Stuttgart to Holland was canceled and the trip to Moscow was also questionable due to an oncoming snow storm. Fortunately, I was able to take an earlier flight via Paris to Moscow; but I had to leave church immediately in order to catch the train to the airport. (And at least the train ride was without incident).

Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport is one of Europe's largest airports, but has no train shuttle between the terminals (or halls). Imagine going from Atlanta's (Hartfield's) atrium to terminal E without the automated train. Ironically, in order to go from Terminal D to Terminal E, I had to walk over the local train station (for trains going into the city). However, the police had cordoned off the connecting corredors. The only way around the blockade was to go out on the street and walk around it.

Once on the plane, we waited at the gate for 1.5 hours until they asked us to deboard. Apparently one passenger was not allowed on the plane and they had to find his/her luggage. It was 4:30 am before I arrived at the school in Moscow.

The Trip Back to Germany
My flight was at 9:15. Even though we left the school at 6:15 am, it took us 2.5 hours to get to the airport. Long story made short, a new driver thought he knew how to beat the traffic -- we didn't. Missed my original flight to Paris (and the connection to Stuttgart) and had to buy a replacement ticket. After all, I had to get home for Thanksgiving. The rest of the trip, however, went without incident.

Thanksgiving at ETS-Kniebis
Our family was invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with the faculty and staff of the European Theological Seminary in Kniebis (bei Freudenstadt), Germany. It was a great meal and time together with some American colleagues. However, by the time a picture was taken, our kids were outside playing in the snow (which was about 18 inches deep at the school, located on top of a mountain in the Black Forrest).

More News from Moscow

This week, I (Tom) have been in Moscow minding shop. The main purpose of the trip was to join the faculty in a meeting with the national overseer from Russia. We have a good, solid residential program, but very few people can take advantage of what ETSM has to offer. So today's discussion was about expanding our extension ministries throughout the country. It was a good, first conversation. The follow up meeting will be in a couple of weeks.

After the meetings, Ilya and I chilled out at a local mall and enjoyed a Sbarro's pizza. And tomorrow, I'm on my way back to Germany.

News From Moscow

One of these days, I'll figure out how to post the newsletters from our school in html format and blooger doesn't try to mess up. Until then, I simply post a link.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102332063257.html

This monthly newsletter from the seminary in Moscow highlights two students and the experiences they had during their recent week of "missionary activity".

News from Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

This week, I (Tom) am currently in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. As many of our prayer partners know, I was recently appointed president of our bible school here in Bulgaria. Since this is a transition period, I decided to put the school through a SWOT analysis – meeting with the staff to learn the schools strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

As it turns out, all evangelical theological institutions are facing the same daunting challenge of serving a post-revival church and economically and demographically changing society. Simply stated, many talented young adults are leaving the country to find work in other countries and the number of those who are preparing themselves for ministry has dwindled. In comparison to the other schools, we’re actually doing pretty well. But we too must develop new strategies to meet the changing needs of our church here.

Tomorrow, I will be meeting in Sofia with the leaders of various Bulgarian evangelical bible schools. And then on Friday, I'll be meeting with several of our Bulgarian church leaders.

German National Assembly

During the last week of October, our family attended the German national assembly in Kirchheim. As is always the case with such meetings, there are good services and seminars. But the really interesting stuff takes place in the hallways and at the dinner tables. This year was no different.

The main guest speaker this year was Dr. Fred Garmon from People for Care and Learning. Fred and I go back many years. He was youth pastor at North Cleveland while I was at Lee. Years later we reconnected at Regent University where both of us did our doctoral work. In fact, we did several projects together or in connection with his church. We even graduated together in 2003.

Fred did a great job teaching/preaching on different aspects of leadership. And it looks like he'll be back with us Europe a couple of time next year. It was really great to spend time with Fred and learn how the Lord has used him in his new ministry. (Go check out there site, some really cool stuff going on!

The Simple Church

One of the great things about being on the road is the opportunity to do some reading while in transit. During our recent trip to Cleveland (TN), I saw a book at Pathway Bookstore that caught my attention. The Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.

To be honest, most of the writing was done by Geiger and Rainer was his mentor in a research project. Although they do a well grounded statistical study, Simple Church is an extremely readable and sensible book about church growth.

Geiger and Rainer found a statistical relationship between growing churches and the simplicity of a church's process of discipleship. Below is a brief outline of the book. In the second half of the book, one chapter is dedicated to each of the four points.

---

A simple church is designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The leadership and the church are clear about the process (clarity) and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each area of the church (alignment). The church abandons everything that is not in the process (focus).

• Clarity – the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people.
• Movement – the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment. (It is how someone is handed off from one level of commitment to a greater level of commitment.
• Alignment – the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process. Without alignment, the church can be a multitude of sub ministries. In this case, each ministry has its own leaders who are only passionate about their specific ministry. They rarely identify with the entire church but are deeply committed to their own philosophy of ministry. As a result, everyone is competing for the same space, resources, volunteers, and time on the calendar.
• Focus – commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. That often means saying “no.” Focus does not make church leaders popular.

• 
  

Pastor Moves to ETSM, Introducing Gennady Zagrebin

ETSM welcomes Gennady and Ina Zagrebin as new dormitory parents and student dean. During the tulmultous early 90's that faced Russian after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gennady's personal life was collasping. After experiencing the disillusionment of drugs and alcohol and disasterous family life, Gennady gave his life to Christ in 1993. Within a few years, the changes that God had brought into Gennady's life were enormous.

In 1996, Gennady married Ina and the Lord has blessed them with three children. In 2000, Gennady planted and pastored two thriving churches in Tsimlyansk and Volgadonsk (near Rostov-am-Don, 800 miles south of Moscow).

In addition to serving the seminary, Gennady has a desire to plant churches in the Moscow area. Ina is a lawyer and has begun to work at the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, a Christian based law firm that specializes in helping churches and ministries caught in legal battles.

Family and Marriage Seminar in Moscow

In September, we held an intensive seminar on Family and Marriage for our residential program. Although the course was mandatory for all students, it was a trial run of a new track that ETSM will offer this December. In December, we will begin offering a special track (a professional sequence) in Family and Marital Ministry in our Moscow Extension . we have already had final exams and graduation exercises, that doesn't mean that the spring semester is over. We have had a couple of intensive "block" courses. The goal of the course is to equip students/pastors to

1. Formulate the Biblical foundations of marriage\family
2. Know contemporary theoretical approaches to analysis of family issues
3. Analyze marital dynamics skillfully using methods of research (PREPARE\ENRICH) and counseling techniques that are in line with the Bible
4. Receive experience of counseling of families at the mid-professional level (to know how to begin, continue and end a counseling session)
5. At mid-professional level do premarital, marital, second-marriage, post divorce\divorce counseling
6. Organize Marriage and Family Ministry in a church (formulate goals and aims, direction and methods of reaching the goals)
7. Be able to conduct theoretical and practical sessions with couples in church and society: training, meetings, evenings, services, etc.

ETSM: Students Go On Missionary Tour

This report was originally written by our provost in Moscow, Ilya Okhotnikov. Please keep our students in your prayers.

The Seminary in Moscow started this weekend (as of October 10, 2008) a Missionary Week: it is when students are sent in 2s and 3s to different churches of Church of God in Russia and Ukraine to:

1. teach and preach in the churches \ or learn from pastors in the field;
2. get to know the family of Church of God in Eurasia;
3. witness about Jesus and why and what did the Seminary do in their lives, they become the living letters of Christ and the Seminary.

Students will be back in 7-10 days, and we will hear many good things about their missionary travels and ministry in remote places of Russia and Ukraine.

Your prayers are needed for the students and those souls they will minister to!

Claudia's Visit with the Department of Homeland Security

We've been quite busy the last couple of days. When we traveled to the States in July, the officials at the border suggested that Claudia should apply for a Travel Document to ensure her green card status. Furthermore, we learned that this is a different document than the form for missionaries (or their spouses) who do not want their time abroad to be counted against them for naturalization purposes.) It seems that the Department of Homeland Security have revamped several laws regarding immigration during the past couple of years. (Which isn't too surprising when one remembers the immigration issues with the 911 perpetrators.)

We began the paperwork for the travel document during our stay in the States. However, the USCIS indicated that Claudia would have to submit her biometrics while in the United States. However, the appointment that was given to us was after we returned to the States. After delaying the appointment once, we were informed that Claudia had to submit her biometrics at the Atlanta application support center.

Thanks to years of collecting Delta miles, Claudia and I were able to fly to the States for less than $17. But it was a bit frustrating that the American Embassy / Consulates in Germany were not authorized to take her picture and fingerprints.

After 30 minutes of the 8:00 AM appointment, the rest of the weekend we spent in Cleveland, TN. After taking care a couple of business matters for the schools in Moscow and Bulgaria, we pretty much sequestered ourselves to my parents retirment home in Cleveland

Axiom

While traveling in the Ukraine, I was able to read Bill Hybel's Axiom which, as the subtitle suggests, is filled with leadership proverbs. This is a collection of 76 pieces of advice grouped into four categories. What follows below is a few highlights in each of the four sections

Vision and strategy

• Language matters - The best leaders wrestle with words until they are able to communicate their big ideasx in a way that captures the imagination, catalyzes action, and lifts spirits. They coin creeds and fashion slogans and create rallying cries, all because they understand taht language matters.
  
• Make the big ask - Leadership is about asking. After casting bold visions, leaders ask people to help make them become reality.
  
• Vision leaks - You or I could deliver a mind-blowing, God-honoring, pulse-quickening vision that leaves everyone revved up to go change the world, but by Tuesday many people have forgotten they were even in church the previous weekend.
  
• Six-by-six execution - Focus on six challenges/tasks that you want to accomplish in the next six weeks.
  

Teamwork and communication

• The Three C-s - What are the criteria for hiring staff: character, competence and chemistry - in that order.
  
• Never say someone's "no" for them - In other words, don't presume people don't want to be a part of your team or support your vision. Ask them anyway, make them say yes/no.
  
• Pay attention to greetings and goodbyes - Make it a habit to do a personal, enthusiastic, genuine, warm, highly relation, look-you-in-the-eye greeting to every single person sitting around the table before I even think about starting the meeting.
  
• Disagree without drawing blood - Effective leaders do not fear passion. They welcome it. But from time to time passionate discussions digress into personal attacks, and real people get really hurt. In my view, leaders must head that off before it happens.
  

Activity and assessment

• Is it sustainable? - At some point along the way, leaders must ask themselves how many hills they realitically can ask their congregations to climb in a given time frame.
  
• Develop a mole system - My direct reports need to know that I have other sources than the ones sitting right in front of me week in and week out.
  
• Facts are your friends - Some pastors whose churches are dying don't want to know the objective racts of their situation because they are genuinely afraid the raw information will be more than their hearts could bear.
  
• Are we still having fun? - In leadership terms, we carry a responsibility to lead in such a way that those we lead are as freed up as possible to do their jobs from a place of life and peace.
  

Personal integrity

• Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't for hire - Don't look for one person to be the cure all mentor. Instead glean from many individuals, including many whom you may never meet personally or only for a limited amount of time.
  
• Always take the high road - Bless what you can bless. Thank everyone you can thank. Cheer on what is appropriate to cheer on. And be done with it. Don't leave by drawing blood.
  
• Read all you can - Leaders have a responsibility before God to constantly get better, and one of the most reliable ways to do so is to read.
  
• Lead something - The more varied the environments in which you exercise your leadership gift, the stronger that gift will become. Lead in your church, in your community, in various contexts. What you learn in one context may come in handy in other contexts.
  
• Finish well
  

Need Some Small Change?

During my recent trip to Ukraine, there were several oddities that caught my attention. We flew into Odessa which has only a small airport with one coffee shop and one kiosk. Upon arrival, bought a bottle of water at the kiosk. The total amount was only a few kopecks shy of an even hyrvnia number. After looking in vain for small change (literally for less than 0.5 cents in USD), the attendant broke open a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum and gave me two sticks as return change. After I realized that she was hoping that I'd be satisfied with the transaction, I simply smiled and thought I probably got more out of the deal.

New Students in Moscow

ETSM begen its 11th year of operation with a new class with nine students in its residential program. The New students come from different places of Russia: Siberian republic of Tyva, southern town of Volgodonsk in Rostov region, another southern town of Cherkessk in the Russian Northern Caucasian region, and from Moscow region. Among new students we have two new couples. Couples proved to be the most efficient ministers and most stable and dedicated graduates.

Altogether we have 25 students and spouses studying in the residential program in Moscow. Additionally, we have many more students enrolled in our extensions in Ukraine and other parts of Russia (including a "Moscow extension".

European/Eurasian Leadership Conference in Ukraine

During the week of September 9-12, I attended the Eastern European / Eurasian Leadership Conference and the Ukrainian Church of God National Assembly, both of which were held held in Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine.

Invited to the Leadership Conference were the overseers and educational leaders of our denominations from most of the countries in the the Church of God is represented - from Germany to Russia.

The Ukrainian National Assembly was also a celebration of its 15th anniversary in the Church of God. The Ukrainian church now has 85 congregations with a membership nearing 10,000. Among the various guest speakers were two of my bosses - Dieter Knospe (Germany) and Douglas Leroy (USA).

Following the conference, we then toured southeastern Ukraine visiting the towns of Donetsk, Mariople and Slavyansk. Our last stop was in Kiev before returning home.

What were my impressions from the trip?

• First of the all, the Ukrainians know how to do music and create a great worship atmosphere.
  
• Second, they did a great job is working out the logistics. They almost put the always organized Germans to shame.
  
• But I couldn't help but to compare building standards with those in Germany - or should I say, I was looking for the comparisons between the two countries.
  
• Fourth, boy am I ever thankful for the good roads we have in the States and Germany. The contour rich roads gave our van/mini-bus a broken rear spring - thus making for a bumpy, slanted ride for hundreds of miles.
• Catching a stomach virus (or digesting foreign food) does not go well with bumpy roads.
  

Passing of a Soldier

Today I received the sad news that Jack Nkandu (pictured left) had passed on to his heavenly reward. He was diagnosed with cancer just one week prior to the General Assembly (in other words, just six weeks ago). I requested prayer for him in an earlier blog.

Jack was one of our students at the EBS in Rudersberg during the late 90's. He was always a mature and deeply spiritual voice in the crowd of young, enthusiastic schoolmates.

Peter Thomas (second from left), who serves as the Field Director for Africa, worked side by side with Jack for many, many years. Below is his tribute to a brother in the Lord.

Dear Friends,

With great sadness in our hearts we want to inform you that our dear friend, brother and colleague Jack Nkandu went to be with the Lord last night at 23:20hrs. While we feel this great loss we are at the same time comforted to know that he has gone to the One to whom he belonged and whom he served with all his heart and life.

Jack has served in his country Zambia in different positions. His time as pastor was marked by a special compassion for widows and orphans. He served the church in Africa as Regional CE-Coordinator for Central Africa and was appointed at this last General Assembly as Regional Superintendent in the same region.

Jack will be remembered for his passion for God, his deep love for his wife and family and for his great love and dedication for God’s Kingdom and His church. His burden for the lost and for the advancement of God’s kingdom was clearly evident to all who knew him. Personally I was blessed many times when I heard him minister and teach under the anointing of God’s Spirit, which was extraordinary. He will remain in our hearts as a true brother, friend and servant of the most high God.

At the time of death his wife, Gift was with him. She informed us that his transition from this life into eternity was very peaceful and without pain. At the moment she is preparing for her return flight back home.

Please remember Jack’s family, his wife Gift and his three sons, Timothy, Isaac & Joshua in your prayers.

May the Lord bless all of you

Peter & Deborah Thomas

Leadership is Everyone's Business - Leadership is Staying in Love

One of the good things about vacation is the chance to finally read a good book. In my case, it gave me a chance to finish off what I started reading several months ago. Below is my summary notes of the final chapter of Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner.

Leadership is about relationships, about credibility, and about what you do.

You are the most important leader in your organization.
If you’re a manager in an organization, to your direct to reports you are the most important leader in your organization. You are more likely than any other leader to influence their desire to stay or leave, the trajectory of their careers, their ethical behavior, their ability to perform at their best, their drive to wow customers, their satisfaction with their jobs, and their motivation to share the organization’s vision and values.

If you’re a parent, teacher, coach or community leader, you are the person that’s setting the leadership example for young people. Not hip-hop artists, movie stars, or professional athletes.

The leaders who have the most influence on the people are those who are the closest to them. You have to challenge the myth that leadership is about position and power.

There is no escape: Leadership is everyone’s business. No matter what your position is, you have to take responsibility for the quality of leadership your constituents get. And because you are the most important leader to those closest to you, the only choice you really have is whether or not to be the best leader you can be.

Leadership is learned
The age old question: “Are leaders born or made?” Our answer: “Yes, of course!” All leaders are born – who wasn’t. What we do with what we have before we die is up to us.

It’s just pure myth that only a lucky few can ever understand the intricacies of leadership. Leadership is not a gene, and it’s not a secret code that can’t be deciphered by ordinary people. The truth is that leadership is an observable set of skills and ability that are useful whether one is in the executive suite or on the front line.

It’s not the absence of leadership potential that inhibits the development of more leaders, its’ the persistence of the myth that leadership can’t be learned. This haunting myuth is a far more powerful deterrent to leadership development than is the nature of the person or the basics of the leadership process.

Leaders make a difference
Leadership is applicable to all facets of life. If you are to become a better leader, you must first believe that leadership applies to you and that you can be a positive force in the world.

People working with leaders who demonstrate the Five Practices (KP) are significantly more satisfied with the actions and strategies of their leaders; they feel more committed, excited, and energized, influential, and powerful; and they are more productive. In other words, the more you engage in the practices of exemplary leaders, the more likely it is that you’ll have a positive influence on others in the organization.

First lead yourself
Leadership development is self-development. The instrument of leadership is the self, and mastery of the art of leadership comes from mastery of the self.

The quest for leadership is first an inner quest to discover who you are. Through self-development comes the confidence needed to lead. Self-confidence is really awareness of and faith in your own power.

Learning to lead is about discovering what you care about and value. As you begin this quest toward leadership, you must wrestle with some difficult questions:

• How certain am I of my own conviction about the vision and values?
• What gives me the courage to continue in the face of uncertainty and adversity?
• How will I handle disappointments, mistakes, and setbacks?
• What are my strengths and weaknesses?
• What do I need to do to improve my abilities to move the organization forward?
• How solid is my relationship with my constituents?
• How can I keep myself motivated and encouraged?
• What keeps me from giving up?
• Am I the right one to be leading at this very moment? Why?
• How much do I understand about what is going on in the organization and the world in which it operates?
• How prepared am I to handle the complex problems that now confront my organization?
• What are my beliefs about how people ought to conduct the affairs of our organization?
• Where do I think the organization ought to be headed over the next ten years?

Open yourself to a more global view. The leader is usually the first to encounter the world outside the boundaries of the organization. The more you know about the world, the easier it is to approach it with assurance. Thus, you need to learn as much as possible about the forces – political, economic, social, moral, or artistic – that affect the organization.

To be a leader, you must be interpersonally competent, and you must be able to develop the trust and respect of others.

Moral leadership calls us to higher purposes
Leadership practices per se are amoral. But leaders are moral or immoral. There’s an ethical dimension to leadership that neither leaders nor constituents should take lightly.

All exemplary leaders have wrestle with their souls. Such personal searching is essential in the development of leaders. You must resolve those dissonant internal chords. Extensive knowledge of the history and the outside world increases your awareness of competing value systems, of the many principles by which individuals, organizations, and states can choose to function. You can’t lead others until you’ve first led yourself through a struggle with opposing values.

When you clarify the principle that will govern your life and the ends that you will seek, you give purpose to your daily decisions. A leader with integrity has one self, at home and at work, with family and with colleagues. Leaders without integrity are putting on an act.

Leaders take people to places they’ve never been before. But there are not freeways to the future, no paved highways to unknown, unexplored destinations. One begins with the inner territory. We continue to discover that the most critical knowledge for all of us – and for leaders especially – turns out to be self-knowledge.

Humility is the antidote to hubris
Remember: You can do all of these leadership practices perfectly and still get fired. Moreover, any leadership practice can become destructive. Virtures can become vices.

The biggest problem, however, is hubris. In many all too subtle ways, it’s easy to be seduced by power and importance. All evil leaders have been infected with the disease of hubris, becoming bloated with an exaggerated sense of self and pursuing their own sinister ends.

Humility is the only way to resolve the conflicts and contradictions of leadership. You can avoid excess pride only if you recognize that you’re human and need the help of others. “Listen to what your colleagues have to say. They know more than you do.” Humility. It comes up time and again. Exemplary leaders know that “you can’t do it alone.” and they act accordingly. With self-effacing humor and generous and sincere credit to others, humble leaders get higher and higher levels of performance.

Leadership is in the moment
Leadership opportunities are presented to everyone. What makes the difference between being a leader or not is how you respond in the moment. Approach every interaction and every situation as an opportunity to lead.

Each day provides countless chances to make a difference. There are many moments each day when you can choose to lead, and many moments each day when you can choose to make a difference.

The secret to success in life
Followers look for leaders who demonstrate an enthusiastic and genuine belief in the capacity of others, who strengthen people’s will, who supply the means to achieve, and who express optimism for the future.

• remain passionate despite obstacles and setbacks
• with a positive, confident, can-do approach to life and business

Leaders must keep hope alive, even in the most difficult of times. Without hope there can be no courage. This is the time and place for optimism, imagination, and enthusiasm. Leaders must summon their will if they are to mobilize the personal and organization resources to triumph against the odds.

• Hope is essential to achieving the highest levels of performance.
• Hope enables people to transcend the difficulties of today and envision the potentialities of tomorrow.
• Hope enable people to bounce back even after being stressed, stretched, and depressed. Hope enables people to find the will and the way to unleash greatness.

And yet, hope is not all. There’s still one more less to be learned and it is the secret of success in life.

The secret of success is to stay in love. Of all the things that sustain a leader over time, love is the most lasting. It’s hard to imagine leaders getting up day after day, putting in the long hours and hard work it takes to get extraordinary things done, without having their hearts in it. The best kept secret of successful leaders is love: staying in love with leading, with the people who do the work, with what their organizations produce, and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services.

Leadership is not an affair of the head. Leadership is an affair of the heart.

New Beginning in Moscow

Our Provost in Moscow, Ilya Okhotnikov, has a new post on his blog. You can click here for his blog. But for your convenience here is his post regarding the beginning of the school year in Moscow.

September 1 is a National Holiday in Russia. September 1 is the Day of Knowledge. All level students\puples go to school on September 1. Kindergarden and preschool kids start it all on September 1. First graders (like Daniella this year) start schooling on Sep. 1. All the other students of school age go to school on Sep. 1. Even University students - all start Universies on Sep. 1. National wide. 11 time zones. Sepetember 1 - all the children on 1/6 of land go to school. National Day of Knowledge.

This 2008 year Eurasian Seminary is not an exception: we also start training of ministers for His work and ministry in Moscow. More than 20 extension program and more than 25 residential program students and their family members begin their training this September 1. New students of the 1st year come from different places of Russia: Siberian republic of Tyva, southern town of Volgodonsk in Rostov region, another southern town of Cherkessk in the Russian Northern Caucasian region, and from Moscow region. Among new students we have two new couples. Couples proved to be the most efficient ministers and most stable and dedicated graduates. ETSM totally for its short 10-th year history trained and equipped 10 couples. 9 of them are in the ministry!

Having the License "to do education" allowes the Seminary to have good standing with the authorities and the government in Russia, in Moscow, in our local city district and county's administration. Thank you once again for keeping the Seminary in your prayers and remebering our needs of official recognition of trhe education and for that long awaited license. Thank you very much!

As for our family: we enter into a new stage of our family life. This new stage for a family begins when 1st child goes to school. It is the time of anxiety and expectation for the child to do the best. Daniella is not the first born. Polina is our first daughter, she is 14. Polinais a very special daughte r of ours. She is in special care hospital as of Aug. 7, 2006. Daniella is the first child in our family who goes to school.We are excited about this new stage in Daniella's life and wish and pray for the best. Your prayers for us as a family and for the Seminary are very much appreciated.

August Newsletter is Online

Our latest newsletter is now online and can be downloaded by clicking on the following link. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print the newsletter.

http://www.cog-europe.de/rosson/August_2008.pdf

Stopover in Houston

En route to Tennessee from San Antonio, we spent a couple of days in Houston. Rob and Jeanne were our neighbors in Charlottesville. In fact, Jeanne was the church administrative secretary at Covenant Church we I (Tom) was on staff in Virginia.

Many times, Claudia and Jeanne swapped kids and babysitting responsibilities in the past. And they spent a couple of days with us in Germany last year, too. But this was our first time to be with their kids since we moved to Germany in 2003.

Rob and Jeanne have a big heart for missions. And when they relocated to Houston, they wanted to find a church that shared their burden for missions. They started going to Grace Church of Humble which shortly began a missions program. Before long, Jeanne became the secretary for the missions pastor, Mike Acosta. And although he was out that weekend for a missions trip to Mexico, he made the time to meet us on the evening of his return (and the night before our departure). And one other highlight was an afternoon at Kemah on the Galveston Bay.

More reflections on our time in San Antonio

Our time in San Antonio was extremely pack with activities. Well, more so for Tom and for the rest of the family. Here are a few more highlights of the week in San Antonio.

• On Monday, Tom was one of six panelist to respond to Dr. Paul Conn's paper presented at the forum sponsored by the COG Division of Education. Other panelists included Dr. Cheryl Johns (COGTS), Dr. Harold Bare (our pastor from Charlottesville), Dr. Darrell Rice (an overseer from the Chicago area), and a couple of others. My response was, probably, the most off-the-wall of any of them. And that can be good or bad ... depends on perception.
• On Tuesday, I had dinner with a group of Indiana pastors (thanks, Randy, for picking up the tab!).
• On Wednesday, I had a breakfast meeting with the European Education Committee -- meeting was short, breakfast was great. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be. In the meantime, we decided to have another Edcuation Consultation similar to the one we held in 2007 in Kniebis.
• On Thursday, I was previleged to have breakfast with some of the brightest minds of the Church of God from all over the world. Among the group was two members of the Council of 18 representing Latin America, several Bible school presidents and educators, and regional leaders from around the world. (See picture)
• And of course, we had time for dinner with family and relatives (but those pictures have yet to be downloaded).
  

Reflections on San Antonio

Most of my blogging colleagues have already written their reflections on the recent General
Assembly held last week in San Antonio. Unfortunately for me, I've been on the road and have had only limited internet access. (But Claudia and the kids are happy that I'm more accessible.) In a quick round up, here are my thoughts

• As usual, San Antonio was a great place to visit. This year, our kids enjoyed SeaWorld while I was voting forever for the Council of Eighteen.
• Speaking of the Executive Council, I (Tom) had 14 votes in the first round. (Somebody had to be desperate in finding names/numbers at the end of the list. )
• Although all five members of the Executive Committee were eligible for reelection, three new faces were elected (Mark Williams, David Griffis, and Wallace Sibly) and three members were bumped off (Dennis McGuire, Orville Hagan, Paul L. Walker). Such a rotation without the occasion of term limits was unheard of in our history (at least as far back as I can remember). The new Presiding Bishop is Raymond Culpepper; the first assistant is Tim Hill.
  
• The agenda item regarding the restructuring and realignment of the budgets (including that of World Missions) was sent back to a committee. A new proposal is yet to be developed, but budget cuts will be more spread out throughout all departments, not just World Missions.
• An item to allow women to participate in the Pastor and Church's Council (in local churches) was defeated. Thus we are maintaining the position that a woman can pastor a church, but she cannot participate in its church council meetings. I suspect that many churches will simply ignore the minutes, or simply go around them by creating an alternative elders and/or deacons board.
• The ministers decided, however, not to defrock fellow clergy who teach, preach, or publish anything contrary to the denomination's declaration of faith. However, the church reaffirmed its pentecostal heritage and doctrine.

Later this week, we'll try to keep you informed of some additional developments arising from the Assembly in Texas.

Prayer Request: Jack Nkandu

This morning, I received some very discouraging news from our German overseer. Jack Nkandu (pictured to the left) is Education Coordinator for the region of Central Africa and is based out of Zambia. I've known Jack since 1996 when he came to study at EBS here in Rudersberg. At the General Assembly, he is to be appointed as Regional Superintendent for Central Africa.

Jack was passing through Germany on his way to the States later this week. He was not feeling well when he arrived. However, his condition worsened so much that he had to be delivered to the Heidelberg University Hospital where he was immediately placed in ICU.

The shock is the diagnosis: Stage four cancer. I don't know the particulars of the cancer (this is simply the best information I have.

Jack is currently in a coma and is on life-support. Please pray for Jack, his wife and three children.

School's Out, Ranger Camp, and a Funeral

The past week has been a very busy one for our family. Finally on Wednesday (yes, July 23), the kids had their last day of school. Before school let out, though, there were plenty of good-bye parties and school festivals which was complicated by the fact that our three kids are in three different schools. Grades?

As soon as school was over, the twins left for a week long Royal Ranger camp. In fact, I'll pick them up next week in Bavaria on the day before we fly to the States.

Speaking of flying to the States, we are schedule to fly with Lufthansa airlines. Unfortunately for us, several of the unions have voted to go on strike next week. On Monday, the airports in in Frankfurt and Hamburg wil be affected. (And we fly from Stuttgart to Dusseldorf to O'Hare).

And today we said good-bye one one of Claudia's aunts - Frieda Schäfer. Although she had been ill recently, her death this past Tuesday came as a surprise. In fact, she was to be transferred out of the hospital to a nursing home - her bags already packed. She and Uncle Jakob had just celebrated their 50th anniversary. The death affect Claudia's family in two ways: Frieda was the sister from Claudia's mother (Lisl) who married the brother of Claudia's dad (Robert Schäfer). On the positive side, Frieda was a committed Christian who was very active in her church - and we have the confidence of seeing her again in heaven. It was also a good chance to see many relatives whom we had not seen in a while, too.

EBS Alumni Visit Rudersberg

This weekend, I had the privilege of translating an EBS alumnus (the forerunner of the European Theological Seminary). Victor and Nahed Sadek from Egypt were students here in Rudersberg from 1989-1992. Although he is ordained in the Church of God, he works as a chaplain in a German Evangelical hospital in Aswan. And on the weekends he pastors and leads outreaches into minority ethnic areas of Egypt. While in Germany, he visited congregations in Plüderhausen, Allmersbach and Rudersberg. In fact, he particpated in the baptism service in Rudersberg in which his own daughter was baptized.

In his presentation, Victor presented the need of the Nubian people. Just recently they have received the Bible in their own language. Just recently, Victor was able to help the group produce their very first worship song in their native language (and not in Arabic). Ironically, Nubia is a biblical land - for many Christians more commonly known as Cush. Remember - Moses' wife was a Cushite.

It's Official - We Have Our License

The little picture to the right of one sheet of paper has been the occasion for blood, sweat, tears, and lots of prayer. ETSM officially received the licensed on July 14, although the date of validity is May 21, 2008. Thank you for your constant prayers that have helped us navigate the murky waters of Russian bureacracy. Throughout the past year, we have seen time and time again how the Lord gave us divine favor in the eyes of various governmental offices.

Of course, lots of thanks also go to our rector, Dr. Ilya Okhotnikov, who did much of the legwork, and made sure that we had dotted all of our i's and crossed our t's.

With this license, we are now able to publically advertise for the school. But more importantly, it prevents us from being closed down by federal authorities. Already a number of church schools (some purporting to be on a college level) have been closed down and charges have come from the State's Attourney's office. In fact, we had to asked twice for an extention to federal deadlines. But thankfully this threat is behind us.

The Plight of Denominations

George Bullard has posted an entry on his blog about the demise of many denominations. Have a read and think about what it might mean for our church, or even your local congregation.

Here is an illustration of why I believe we are in a denominational transformation era rather than a post-denominational era. What makes it seem like a post-denominational era is that denominational organizations, much like Old Age stage congregations, are in deep denial that they must transform or die, may refuse to believe how deep the changes and transitions must be, and keep making accommodations in policies and structure to give buy a little more life.

The March of Dimes organization was started to combat polio. Once polio was substantially eliminated from North America, it might seem the purpose and focus of the March of Dimes had been eliminated. Perhaps the Mother’s March was no longer needed. Not so. What happened to the March of Dimes is that they realized they had misunderstood their mission. Their mission was not to fight polio. Their mission was to fight birth defects. Polio was simply their first major cause or project.

Denominations must realize their real mission is to expand and extend the kingdom of God through the basic building block of various congregational forms and movements. It is no longer to do for congregations what congregations cannot do for themselves. It is to increase the capacity of congregations to reach their full kingdom potential. It is no longer to represent the cosmic Church to congregations because networked movements allow this to be a direct connection. World denominational forms are connecting directly with congregations now. As such this calls for a major rethinking of institutional expression of denominations, and what is in the box versus what is outside the box in the overall congregational movement that needs networking.

In a certain sense it fits the motif of a continual spiritual strategic journey. Denominational organizations are on a journey. They can now see beyond their original horizon. In fact, they have been discovering new horizons every generation or two. However, their response has not been nimble or agile. So, they have fallen several horizons behind. Now the gap between the expectations and capacities of leading edge congregations and their denomination is painfully big. Therefore, incremental transition and change in no longer enough. Transformation is essential. What are your thoughts?

German National Pastors Conference

On July 6-9, the national pastors conference for our German church was held at the Theological Seminary in Kniebis. Tom was able to attend most of the conference, although responsibilities back in Rudersberg forced an early depature. The main speaker for the conference is a relatively new member of the Church of God - Professor Dr. Michael Dieterich, who is also the leader of Biblical Therapeutical Counseling in Freudentstadt.

Dieterich is a specialist in personality profiles and therapeutical intervention. The topics he facilitated with the pastors were (1) burnout, (2) marital counseling, (3) and counseling and sexuality. These seminars were complemented by workshops with Erich Schneider (barriers to church growth), Christian Krumbacher (water baptism) and Karl Schneider (church organization).

Of special interest in the discussions was the ramifications of a recent change in German law. For over 100 years, churches were not allowed to marry any couple that had not previously gotten legally married. (Typically, a couple would legally marry on Friday and hold the religious ceremony on Saturday.). The new law now allows churches to hold a religious wedding ceremony even if the couple has not gotten legally married. (And no, the church or pastor cannot marry a couple in the legal sense (juristically) - in contrast to the American practice.)

So, does the church marry a couple that is not willing to make their commitment legally binding? And what about widows/widowers who would lose their spouses pension or widow's pension if they were to legally remarry?

Celebrating July 4th with Kung Fu Panda

Living in Germany, it is not always easy for us to celebrate American Independence Day. After all, it is not a holiday in Germany or any other place in the world. Fortunately, Independence Day fell on a Friday so that our kids could stay up late (i.e., not a school night).

Through the American Armed Forces Radio, I learned that there would be a fireworks display on Patch Barracks which is located on the western edge of Stuttgart. But the fireworks weren't schedule to start until 10:30 pm. (We live so far north that it takes that long to get dark in the summer.) So here was the plan...

The kids and I picked Claudia up from work. We then drove to Stuttgart-Vaihingen where there is an English based cinema that was showing Kung Fu Panda, a fun animated kids film. After the show, we drove the Patch Barracks and found the best spot we could outside of the military base. (Only Dept. of Defense card holders were allowed on base. And we have very few contacts to American community in Stuttgart.) It took us a while to find the right spot. But we did see a good fireworks show that ended just after 11:00 pm.

The dangers of not having a license for educational activity in Russia

Assist News Service has an interesting, but lengthy article on various legal procedures facing several churches and Bible schools in Russia. The common motif is that these churches allegedly operated an institution without a license. As many of our readers know, this has been a major concern of our seminary in Moscow throughout the past year.

The main item in the article was about how Methodist Church's Sunday School was deemed illegal educational activity. They, however, won their court case.

A second case involves one of a Church of God in Samara. They rented their facilities to an organization that taught classes on a Bible institute level. This case is still pending.

For more detail about these cases and others like them, follow this link.

Tatiana Gorbacheva Successfullly Defends Dissertation

I just received an SMS (text message) this morning. Tatiana passed successfully defended her dissertation. While she was with the doctoral/professors committee, no one was openly against her dissertation. But in secret voting, the tally was 13 yeas and 4 nays.

We were quite concerned because she does not really know most of the professors on the committee. (The composition of the committee was beyond her control.) And most of the professors were deeply shaped by the official atheistic ideology that was promoted by the communist Soviet Union.

Most excellent! The Gorbachevs (and I) are thankful for all your prayers.

The June Madness is Over

Earlier I wrote about the European version of "March Madness" (the NCAA college basketball playoffs, for those not familiar with American sports). June has been the month of European soccer. And it was not something that could be ignored by those who hate sports.

Sixteen countries have battled it out over the last four weeks. Last night, the championship game was played between Germany and Spain. Although the final score was 1-0, Spain clearly dominated the game -- consistent with all of their games throughout the tournament.

However, Germany placed much higher than most experts had expected. Italy (the winners of the World Cup in 2006) and France (who placed 2nd in 2006) along with Holland were tipped to be favorites. Spain hadn't won a major tournament in 44 years.

So...last night was the last gathering of our church for a soccer game...until the World Cup begins in 2010.

Introducing Sergei Riakhovsky

I finally made it back from my trip to Moscow where we had a weeklong series of meetings and guests. We had a meeting of our seminary's board of directors, followed by a meeting of the Russian overseers' council. On Wednesday, ETSM hosted the National Pastors Conference for all of our pastors in the Russian Church of God. It was the first pastors conference of this type in Russia since the denomination had undergone some major restructuring at the begining of the decade. Although I am still waiting for the final numbers, I estimate that we had about 80 pastors in attendance.

One of highlights of the week was having Sergei Riakhovsky in our seminary for at least some of the proceedings. Brother Sergei is the former overseer of our church in Russia and currently serves as honorary president of our movement. In addition to pastoring the Kovcheg Church of God, Riakhovsky serves as Chairman of the Russian United Fellowship of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals), an umbrella organization that represents several Pentecostal denominations in governmental affairs. Additionally, Riakhovsky was selected by Vladimir Putin to serve on the "President of Russian Federation's Council on Religious Affairs". He is also a member of Public Chamber of Russian Federation. Needless to say, it's nice if we have "one of our own" in such positions in Moscow.

Besides attending our school board meeting, Sergei also led a communion service during the last morning of the Pastors' Conference. It was a good way to conclude an eventful week.

Do you know this man?

I came across this story and could resist posting it. It was originally posted here with more detail. If you know this man, please notify the police!!!

Welsh cops have locals scratching their heads with an official police computer sketch of a robber whose face is almost entirely covered by a cap.

The e-fit picture was issued by police hunting a conman who tricked a 98-year-old widow out of her life savings. She told officers he was in his 40s, clean shaven with a narrow chin — and wearing a cap.

But the wanted image circulated by Gwent police in Pontypool, Wales, has left locals wondering, “Is this the worst police sketch ever?”

In the photo, the suspect’s face is almost completely shrouded by a baseball hat. The only thing showing is his mouth.

Plumber Jamie O’Leary, 26, said, “I’ve seen about 50 men in baseball caps today— it’s like a uniform around here. It could be anyone. I thought it was Michael Jackson or Usher to start with.”

Salesman Andy Griffiths, 42, added, “Even Sherlock Holmes would have difficulty with that photofit. I’d be amazed if they catch anyone based on that.”

Germany is Open for the Gospel ?

Currently I am in Moscow for a series of meetings. As a result, I've had little time for creative blogging - and just enough time at night to watch the EuroCup soccer championships.

But this article by Assist News caught my attention. And from my own personal observations, I would concur with the conclusions of the study.

GREIFSWALD (ANS) -- The climate for evangelism in Germany has improved. But a significant proportion of the Protestant clergy still harbor reservations.

The Research Institute for Evangelism and Church Development at the University of Greifswald in Northeast Germany has conducted an in-depth study of the attitudes of Protestant clergy towards evangelism.

Generally speaking the younger generation of theologians in the mainline Protestant Churches has become more open towards evangelistic activities. The institute identifies five types of clergy – from the evangelistic enthusiast to the overall critic.

One type is labeled as “indifferent”. This kind of minister would never take personal responsibility for an evangelistic event, but would be prepared to extend invitations for outside programs like ProChrist.

The “overall critic”, on the other hand, would not be prepared to lend any support. The “enthusiast” organizes evangelistic outreach programs regularly. “Loyal critics” support evangelistic activities gladly, but have reservations about certain aspects like altar calls.

The fifth category is described as “critical evangelists”. Though interested in winning people for the church, they look at evangelism with deep suspicion.

The study was conducted on behalf of the evangelistic project ProChrist. It shows that evangelism is not yet an integral part of the clergy’s ministry. Their main concern is the spiritual care for their flock.

But, as the institute emphasizes, the traditional notion that faith is roused almost automatically through church socialization is no longer reality. All in all, German clergy reveal certain helplessness in spreading the Christian faith.

Nominalism prevails in Martin Luther’s homeland. Although roughly 60 percent of the 82 million inhabitants of Germany are – owing to infant baptism – Catholic or Protestant church members, attendance is low. Four to five percent of the 25 million Protestant church members worship on an average Sunday.

Parking Your Car in Moscow

Earlier this week, I received an ATOM feed from some American missionaries in Moscow - the McDougles. I've never met them, but have corresponded with them in the past. From time to time they share about life in Moscow, and this week is no exception. If you come to Moscow and get away from the downtown area, you will see the many tall Soviet-era apartment buildings. Moscow was not built with the idea that every individual could own a car. And the apartment complexes in Moscow were designed without parking lots for the residents.

However, one of the unexpected blessings of capitalism is the high number of private automobiles. In 2006, the city of Moscow had over 500,000 new registrations of cars in the city. I haven't seen the data for 2007, but it probably was about the same. Traffic has become a serious problem in Moscow.

But traffic jams is only one problem. The other question is where and how do you park your car at night. Pictured are (linked from the McDougles' blog) are typical garages. These garages are usually placed next to the side walk between the apartment building and the community grounds. They work out fine if you have a small "Lada", but I'm not sure how it handles a mid-size car. Fortunately, at the school we have an enfenced parking area on our property.

Teutonic Rituals in the Church

Last night, our church here in Germany, Treffpunkt C, conducted a common an old Germanic, Teutonic ritual that celebrates the esoterically geometric dynamics. It is a ritual that, if not checked, can lead to spiritual ecstasy and socially acceptable forms of histrionic personality disorder. Although there is a small segment of the Church in Europe that actively resists any participation in this ritual, many Christians actually encourage their family members to "congregate" and join in the proclamation, "Das Runde muss in das Eckige!" ("The round thingy has to go into the rectanglur one!")

Looking for a comparison in the States, I'm limited to mayhemic fever that sweeps the States in the Spring commonly known as March Madness. Here the main sport is soccer and June marks the beginning of the European Cup - an event that takes place every four years.

32 countries began battling it out this weekend. And of course Germany is competing, too. Last night they played masterfully against Poland, winning 2-0. And our church showed it on the big screen, inviting everyone one to come to a safe, clean atmosphere to enjoy the game. (Hey's it's a lot better than a sport bar!)

How Spiderman 3 Should Have Ended

Leave it to kids to surf the web and to find the best of YouTube. Colin and Kevin found this clip about Spiderman 3 - how it should have ended.

Sunday in Geislingen

Yesterday, Claudia, the kids and I spent the day in Geislingen (and nearby Süßen) with Pastors Stefan and Debby Oesterling. (I'm sorry for showing only his picture. I forgot the camera and only could find his picture on the web.) I was invited to speak at the church - and it went well except that my PowerPoint was in Russian (I put the wrong file on the stick). It got a little awkward when they wanted to read the Bible text along with me. Afterward we spent the afternoon at their home enjoying pizza and watching the kids (our three and their three) have fun in the sun.

The Church of God in Germany is about 60 years old (unless you count the "unofficial" work during the Nazi war era). Most of our younger pastors in German are bi-vocational. That is to say, they must work a full-time secular job and spend the evenings and weekends for a church that is not able to pay them a salary. Additionally, many of these smaller churches have been around for a while -- they are not new church plants, but churches in need of a turnaround.

This is also the case with Stefan who works as an insurance agent. While in his mid-twenties, he assumed the pastorate from a retiring minister. And although there were some young couples in the church, there was (and still is) a considerable percentage of seniors in the church.

It was refreshing for Claudia and me to see how the church has grown over the years. Stefan has brought in much change in the church over the years. But he'll be the first to tell you that it has been a slow process that has taken place with the help of the Holy Spirit. And they're facing transition since one of their leading young couples (Chris and Lambrini Lindeman) will move to the States in September.

Cost of living in Germany

Every now and then, I am asked about the cost of living in Germany. So here are a few items using todays exchange rate of € 1 = $1.5745.

• Gas (both diesel and regular benzine) = $ 9.25 / gallon
• Milk (generic brand) = $ 4.58 per gallon
• Bread (German style loaf) = $ 3.62
• Small Combo at McDonalds = $ 7.86

Of course, all of this is relative. After all, I can't drive to McDonalds and fill up the tank if my car is broken and in the shop (which it is). Two weeks ago, we had a leaky hose that caused a loss in the vacuum (in the motor system) that powers the car. Our local garage charged us only about € 80, or about $125. Thought we had it fixed until we had a second leak last week. And now today a third problem has arisen.