This morning, we purchased the airline tickets for our big move to the United States.

We'll be leaving Amsterdam on the 10th of July, at 10:55 in the morning.

We'll be arriving in Cleveland on the 10th of July, at 6:33 in the evening.

Buying the tickets today has suddenly made it all the more real. The 10th of July is going to be a big day.

In a couple of months, I'm going to be moving to Kent, Ohio -- which most well-known for Kent State University, which in turn is perhaps most well-known for its role in the student protest movement of the 1970s (protesting against the United States' involvement in Vietnam).

In a couple of weeks, Kent State will be remembering the events of May 4, 1970: the day when 4 university students were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard, who had come into Kent upon the orders of the University president, the town mayor, and the governor of Ohio.

I'm trying to learn more about the Kent State shootings, in anticipation of our move there (and appreciating history in general). Are there any particularly useful resources out there for people trying to learn about this subject? How is the subject approached by students and the University administration today? How is the subject remembered by those who lived through that time period? I'd be especially curious to hear more from people who might have been students at Kent in the spring of 1970.

I'd be very appreciative of any help that could be provided to orient this American-Amsterdammer to his new city...

This Sunday Amsterdam50 is starting a new teaching series -- and I've got to be honest: it's been a long time since I've been this excited about a teaching series! It will take us through the next two and a half months of worship gatherings -- all the way up until the time of our family's departure.

It's a ten-part series on the Book of Joshua: a classic section of Old Testament history which offers great stories and powerful wisdom for life in general... but which also seems to speak directly to Amsterdam50 in the midst of a season of leadership transition. For those who might not be familiar with the Book of Joshua, it's basically the story of God's people returning to their Promised Land after 400 years of slavery in Egypt and 40 years of wandering and waiting in the Sinai Desert (a transition phase that definitely helps me to put our family's and our church's transition in perspective!). During the time of Joshua, God's people kick in to action: claiming new ground, taking hostile territory, facing their own dysfunctions, and learning how to follow God in the process... And within a single generation, the nation of Israel is established in the Promised Land!

I really feel like this could be a strategic series for our church -- and also for me, as Joshua is one of those parts of Scripture that has repeatedly spoken to me in really powerful, really meaningful ways at key junctions in my life. It really is one of my all-time favorite books of the Bible.

So anyway, it's going to be a ten-part series on the Book of Joshua, entitled “Stones of Strength and Courage.” The title comes from ten distinct references to stones, rock, and rubble which seem to mark especially meaningful moments throughout the Bible’s exodus and conquest narratives. When these ten stone references are strategically grouped together, they symbolize and sketch out the story of Joshua as a whole. I'm really praying that our church will be challenged and encouraged by the way this section of the Bible teaches us to look out for what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do in our lives as we live by faith.

If you're in Amsterdam over the next couple of months, I strongly encourage you to come to our worship gatherings at join us for this series: Sundays at 16:00 at the Herengracht 88!

I'm a "Lame Duck" leader.

I assumed this "lame duck" terminology was a universally-understood figure of speech, but after mentioning the term in some recent conversations (both with Dutch and American friends) I've learned that it's not.

I know about the term from the American political system -- where elections are typically held in November, while a new office is not assumed until January. That couple of months in between a lost election (or an uncontested election held at the end of a limited term) and the actual end of the term has long been called a "lame duck session." I'm not exactly sure why (and neither are historians, at least not with any degree of convincing consensus), but to me it calls to mind a bird who is wounded but not yet dead -- flopping around in a manner that's even more awkward than usual, knowing that its ultimate demise is not so far away.

Whether or not this is the correct understanding of the "lame duck" etymology, it's how I've been feeling lately in my life here in Amsterdam (and particularly in regards to leadership responsibilities with Amsterdam50). With fewer than three months remaining before our move to the United States, it's clear that the end is near. There's really no point in developing much in the way of new initiatives; I'm not going to be able to see through anything other than short-term projects... But the trick is that as near as the end may be, it's not yet here! I'm still as knowledgeable, capable, and available as I've been for the last nine years (perhaps even more so!), yet I realize that my main responsibilities these days need to be handing things over, making sure my successors have all the information and instructions they need to succeed, and just generally encouraging the next generation of leadership. It's not an entirely bad gig, still it's a role that I'm not used to filling.

I'm learning how to be a good lame duck, though. Even while there are still a lot of limitations to being a "lame duck leader," I recognize that there are also advantages. I'm taking time for conversations that I've always wanted to have. I'm speaking candidly, empowered by the realization that I have little to lose relationally. I'm savoring the experiences that have been mundane for so long. And in general I'm just limping along for the time being, knowing that soon the day will come when I can fly again.

I despair the fact that I can't leave things perfectly-positioned here in Amsterdam.

I've certainly been tempted to try and achieve perfection, at least temporarily, but there's really no possible way -- not even if I extend my remaining three months into another three years, or even another three decades! It just ain't in the cards. Common sense tells me that. Personal observations tell me that. And the Bible tells me that (if Moses or Joshua or David or Paul couldn't do it, then what hope does a guy like me really have?!?!). No matter how deliberately, directly, and thoroughly I confront the issues in our church, or in the lives of the leaders who will succeed me, I'm not going to be able to root them all out. There will still be seeds of distrust. There will still be issues of pride and imbalance and hard-heartedness and lack of listening. Our dysfunction dogs us... yet this is actually a part of God's design for faith-followers in a fallen world.

God doesn't let us totally eradicate our issues because He wants us to remain dependent upon Him.

This lesson was powerfully driven home as I was recently reflecting on the Old Testament book of Judges -- especially the closing verses of chapter 2. In this section, God speaks out in response to Israel's faithlessness and cyclical patterns of self-destruction. He says, "I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. I did this to test Israel to see whether or not they would obey the LORD as their ancestors did." Joshua was a great leader, by the way; he probably accomplished about 90 percent of the tasks that God assigned for him to do -- and all in unfamiliar, hostile, enemy territory at that. In a single generation, Joshua helped Israel to conquer the vast majority of Canaanite territory and establish itself as a nation... but he didn't completely erradicate the Canaanites. Stubborn remnants remained in the hidden valleys and obscure corners of the land. When Joshua died, the work was still unfinished. But here in Judges 2, God says that He did this, and He did it on purpose: "to test Israel -- to see whether or not they would obey the LORD." The text goes on to say, "That is why the LORD did not quickly drive the nations out or allow Joshua to conquer them all."

Oddly enough, I find reason for both despair and hope in these words, when I think about applying them to our church's situation -- substituting "Eric" or "the American team" for Joshua, substituting "Amsterdam50" or "leadership successors" for Israel, and substituting "general patterns of difficulties and dysfunction" in the places where Judges talks about idolatry and the influence of the nations in and around Canaan. In a sense, Judges 2 indicates that God doesn't let us become "perfect people" because dependence upon Him -- and specifically upon the completed work of Christ -- is really the only, the best, the most enduring, and the most complete form of perfection that we'll ever be able to experience.

Of course, I can see the beauty of this arrangement, but it can still be frustrating to realize that there is nothing I could possibly do to guarantee the long-term well-being of Amsterdam50 after I leave (or, honestly, even if I were to remain here indefinitely). Dysfunction dogs us, and despair is rational.

Yet I also see reason for hope. I feel peace in realizing that I'm not actually "derelict in my duties" if dysfunction and difficulties remain when the time of my departure comes. My most basic responsibility in looking after our current leadership transition is to encourage DEPENDENCE UPON GOD. That's what my refrain needs to be over the coming weeks and months: trust in God. Lean on God. Let's submit ourselves to God. Follow and obey as God leads. That's really our only, best, most-enduring, most-complete hope for the future. God allows our dysfunctions to remain, if only at a quiet background level, so that we have to depend on Him daily to overcome the issues. It's brilliant, really. Maybe kind of painful at times... but brilliant.

In the end, this is my prayer, both for myself and for Amsterdam50: "God help us to turn our dysfunction into dependence. Help us to daily seek Your face, not any kind of blemishless reflection in the mirror. Help us to hear what You long for us to be and do, as we walk with You. I ask this in the only name that gives us audience with You: in Jesus' name. Amen."