Jeff Fountain and his wife Romkje are the initiators of the Schuman Centre for European Studies. They moved to Amsterdam in December 2017 after living in the Dutch countryside for over 40 years engaged with the YWAM Heidebeek training center. Romkje was founder of YWAM The Netherlands and chaired the national board until 2013. Jeff was YWAM Europe director for 20 years, until 2009. Jeff chaired the annual Hope for Europe Round Table until 2015, while Romkje chaired the Women in Leadership network until recently. Jeff is author of Living as People of Hope, Deeply Rooted and other titles, and also writes weekly word, a weekly column on issues relating to Europe.
Reading the Bible through unbelievers' eyes can highlight remarkable things believers take for granted. In a new book by Norwegian socialists, the authors were struck by how often scripture condemns injustice, defends widows and orphans, welcomes strangers and warns against the corrupting power of riches. Why then have so many Christians stopped expecting it to shape public life?
A miracle of global fraternity in our fractured, polarized, warring world has been created by one of humanity’s great shared languages: football. The FIFA Football (Soccer) World Cup is watched by billions of people around the world every four years. Sport presents an opportunity for people to come together, expend energy, and learn precious life skills. Where would we be without it?
Hungarians celebrating a change in government last week reminds us that freedom can be recovered through democratic means and that illiberal systems are reversible and autocratic leaders are removable. Yet for followers of Jesus our hope is not in political change. Freedom is an inner reality that we must cultivate.
Like other believers in conflict zones, Ukrainian Christians have been wrestling with issues of war that many Western Christians have long discussed only in theory... issues that may become reality sooner rather than later. Ukraine is becoming a laboratory of ethics for the global Church. We would do well to listen very carefully.
Loud voices still proclaim that Europe’s decline is demographic and religious, driven by migration and the erosion of a once-Christian civilization. But the evidence simply does not support this narrative. Secularism and nationalism pose the far greater threat. The Church must stand against it and seek the common good of all.
As demand for formal theological education drops in the West and non-formal theological education demand rises elsewhere, we ask the question, "why study?" This article reaffirms study as part of loving God with all our minds and essential for our ability to apply God's word to our world for the glory of God in Europe and every other context worldwide.
For the fourth time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we are celebrating the Word of God becoming flesh as angels proclaimed peace on earth. So where is the peace? The Christmas carols seem totally detached from today’s headlines, but they tend to sing about the outcome of God's promise, not the process.
Two sharply contrasting views of Europe surfaced last week, one from Washington, the other from Brussels. These two visions imply very different futures for Europe and the wider world. We could be headed for an unwelcome geopolitical situation that will polarize the world into a values bloc and a power bloc.
How should followers of Jesus respond in a time of political turmoil and cultural fragmentation, when the loudest voices often drown out the wisest? We don't need to guess. God has revealed what the Lord requires of us, and Jesus demonstrated the practicalities of it. God's people must keep justice, loving mercy, and humility at the forefront of our ethics as a compass to guide us.
The rise of politicians from America to Russia claiming to champion Christian values and peace yet preaching hatred and division is polarizing families, churches, and communities even far beyond their own countries. Something like this has happened before. Will we Christians learn from recent European history and seek first Christ's kingdom or continue to ride the slippery slope to human totalitarianism in our contexts?
Religious leaders and communities are being asked by Ukrainian faith leaders to pray for the victory of truth and a just peace for Ukraine, confident in the knowledge that God acts in history and can change everything, including stopping the bloodshed. Ukrainian Independence Day is being tagged as a special opportunity to stand in solidarity with Ukraine.
"Free Church" denominations were once breakaway sects from the mainstream Western Church 500 years ago but they have become the growing mainstream. This established mainstream must learn from their past as indigenous expressions of the Church are rapidly multiplying. It is too easy for established Christians to persecute followers of Jesus who seem to deviate from our norms.
