Our church is just getting ready to start a 12-week series on the Book of Galatians.  Different people from our church will be tag-teaming on the teaching part of things... But we’re hoping to make this something more than a once-a-week sermon thing, too.  We’re asking our church’s life groups and communities to focus on studying Galatians during the fall, in addition to the stuff that we’re doing on Sunday afternoons.  And even beyond organized activities, we’re encouraging everyone in the church to be reading and studying and meditating on Galatians, individually.  The idea with all of this is that if we can approach things from this multi-level perspective, it will create a much richer learning environment.

But anyway -- one of the more unusual things that we've developed to support this particular series is to set up a Facebook discussion on-line, to allow for others to participate in -- or at least observe -- the teaching process, even as it’s unfolding.  It's supposed to be a sort of "open source" approach to biblical teaching.  We've never done it before, so I'm honestly not sure how it's going to work out (or if it's going to work out at all)... It's certainly different than how the Apostle Paul did things way back in the day!

At any rate, the discussion is open to anyone.  You don't have to be a member of our church community to participate -- and you don't even have to have a Facebook account.  You can just go to http://www.facebook.com/amsterdam50, and join in from there.  I'd be curious to hear if anyone has any experience with "open source teaching," like this -- and if any advice could be offered for how to best avoid pitfalls and maximize the educational benefits of such an approach to Scripture...

I saw them installing this piece of art at the H88 earlier this morning.  It looks like it's going to be amazing, so I thought I'd pass along the word, for anyone who will be in Amsterdam this weekend...

Sachi Miyachi born in Tokyo and lives and works in Amsterdam, is a performance and installation artist.

She studied anthropology, philosophy and art at the Wako University in Tokyo and came in 2004 to the Netherlands where she did the Gerrit Rietveld Acadamy and Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam.

In 2007 she won the AIAS Prize of Honour (International Association of Independent Art and Design Schools)

Miyachi does refined drawings and installations that are often constructions of "forgotten memories". She takes in what meets her in her direct environment and searches as an archeologist the usable history data to tell a story about the urban change and identity. Rituals and other daily actions are a important part of her work.

For Artspace50, Miyachi will show 'The frame'.

A picture frame is a container for a picture intended to enhance its subject matter, make it easier to display in a space. 'What enhances today's life?' is the key of Miyachi's frame. By a use of mass produced daily objects, Miyachi creates the special frame in a grotesque manner to emphasize how our today's life and memories have been framed in a mass-consumption society. With a site specific context, the viewer will experience to face on Miyachi's approach to the world.

When and where:
Friday, 9 of July
from 20:00 till 23:00
Herengracht 88 sous, Amsterdam

curated by Avantia Damberg (contact@avantiadamberg.com)

For the past several weeks, we've been trying to build up anticipation for a special ministry event happening this upcoming Sunday:  Amsterdam50's Meeting of the Mighty Men.  We've been announcing it at our Sunday worship gatherings, through personal conversations, and through our church e-mail list -- but it occurred to me today that it might also be good to give the event something of a web presence.

So hear me now:  As long as you have a Y-chromosome (which means as long as you’re a man), and you have some level of involvement in our church (even if it’s just been for the last couple of weeks or so), I want to make sure that you are invited to be a part of this event!  We’re calling it a Meeting of the Mighty Men -- based on the Old Testament descriptions of David and his most trusted, most powerful circle of warriors.  We’ve realized that there’s a need to support each other, strengthen each other, challenge each other, and encourage each other... so we decided to organize this event.  We’re going to do it in “modules,” so even if you can’t join us for the whole experience, you’ll still be able to be a part of things as much as possible.  So here’s the rough plan for next Sunday:

• 10:00 – Sports on the Museumplein
• 13:00 – Meeting at the H88 (talking about “man stuff,” with an emphasis on Bible study and interactive discussion)
• 16:00 – Worship Gathering here at the H88 (women are also welcome to join us at that time, of course)
• 20:00 – Watching the World Cup on the big screen at the H88:  Argentina against Mexico (And just in case you were worried, we know for a fact that Oranje will not be playing on that day, so you won't have to miss any of the action if you come along for these activities!)

So men:  Are you with me?  Are you ready for a Meeting of the Mighty Men?  I'll see you on Sunday.

Women and out-of-towners, you can certainly be praying for us in the meantime.

Strength...

Serenity...

Seriousness...

Our church's Servant Leadership Council.

This weekend we celebrated the Church's birthday.  According to Christian tradition, yesterday marked the day of Pentecost (which also happens to be a true work holiday / three-day weekend in the Netherlands).  The Holy Spirit came down from heaven and filled the people who had been following Jesus, which suddenly empowered these very ordinary people to do some very extraordinary things -- things that are still happening in Amsterdam today, just as much as they were in Jerusalem two millenia ago.

Our particular church congregation (Amsterdam50) celebrated this "Birthday of the Church" not by meeting together for our regularly-scheduled worship gathering, nor listening to a sermon, nor singing Christian songs, nor by trying to organize some kind of birthday party potluck dinner... Instead, we encouraged our congregation to scatter throughout the city to serve on various service projects organized by an inter-church initiative called Serve the City.  To me, it seemed like a fitting thing to do -- just as God would want the Church to work...

But honestly, I have some doubts:  Was this really what was best for our church?

Pastors talk about growing their churches just like farmers talk about growing their crops.  And the collective wisdom of most pastors would seem to be that we need to "shepherd the flock" well, maintain consistency, fertilize our congregations with biblical preaching and excellent worship, and keep focused on raising up the next generation of leaders.  Frankly, I can't say that I disagree with any of these suppositions!  But the trick is that our particular "flock" is always in such flux (largely a bi-product of working with a lot of young, international people in the center of a highly transitory city).  We like to play with people's expectations of church -- which almost necessarily infringes upon the consistency factor -- trying to stay "outside the box," doing things in different ways at different times (like "having church" in the Vondelpark or delivering a teaching in the form of a musical).  We value preaching and musical worship, but only as one part of a varied "toolbox" of ways to glorify God and replace human wisdom with God-given biblical wisdom (which could also include panel discussions, coordinated prayer, testionies, workshops, etc.).  And for whatever reason, it seems that a lot of our "best and brightest" get farmed out to other ministry opportunities around the globe. Even as I type these things, I realize that we're not necessarily going about things in a bad way...

But it's clearly not the best way to grow a church.

Canceling a weekly worship gathering has got to be one of the last things that church growth experts would advise.  Emphasizing personal responsibility (insisting that the Holy Spirit is more than adequate to lead us in personal worship, and that the Bible is more than adequate to teach us with or without a prepared sermon) is not one of the best ways to deal with hungry "sheep."  And honestly, I sense that some from our church (or some who have left our church!) have been frustrated with these ways of doing things.  But my hope in all of this is that we are making and growing disciples of Jesus -- as well as doing our part to develop the world-wide Church (with a capital "C").  That's not to say that I don't have my own moments of doubt!  But that's what we're trying to do, as a church here in Amsterdam.

Happy Birthday, Church!  Lang zal je leven in de gloria.