Reinhold's Journey

The Shaping in German

Today I finished the translation of "The Shaping of Things to Come". Kept me busy for 10 weeks. Hope it will come out this spring. You Germans out there, any idea of a good German title?

Jesus, Mohammed and Denmark

Last year, Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten refused to print Cartoons of Jesus. Mohammed they did. You can see the cartoons here (not really great pieces of art, imho, but that is not the question). By the way: It is not true that this man Mohammed is never being portrayed.  You find a whole lot of pictures of him from Islamic artists through all the centuries here.
I do not think Denmark is a particularly Christian nation. But it is a nation in Europe, and here, problems are solved differently, and the Danes need support now. I will try to buy some Danish cookies somewhere. Legos I still have enough.
There must be forever a difference in the way Christians react. Jesus got himself killed to bring salvation - this is the 180° difference between Christianity and Islam.

the best and the worst

An earthquake in Pakistan, Rita in Middle America, the Bird`s flu in Europe - and such wonderful, colourful autumn days here where we live. What a crazy world! Where shall I look at? My eyes are enjoying the view from my table, my heart goes out to the people struggling for their lives or mourning their loved ones.
Global warming seems to be a reality. Hell is coming closer.
Reading Luke 13, I am again amazed how strong and "threatening" the words sound. How foolish to make this Jesus and his father a couple of harmless nice guys. "Do you think the people in Pakistan or El Salvador are worse sinners than all other people? Is that why they suffer? Not at all! I tell you, unless you repent, you will perish too".
The whole chapter 13 is an incredible mix of serious holiness, surprising love, hard grace and deep emotions on God`s side. You can say anything about Jesus, but you cannot make him just a nice guy. He must have preached with tears in his eyes a lot.

Have been busy last week organizing a conference, organizing trips, writing reports and staying in contact with many people. This weekend, working in the garden and family time.

keep on blogging

Met Darren Hight, a young prayer warrior from New Zealand, today. Had a coffee with him in Thun and realized again how creative the Lord is in moving people around the world. And so many have a calling and some kind of vision for Switzerland!

Thx, Darren, for sharing with me and for encouraging me to keep on blogging....

God, that`s hard

And suddenly you feel sooo small. 130 thousand people killed in what may be the worst catastrophe since the Flood. God, what is this about? Forget the explanations. God, make people think. Make them pray. The German president confessed on TV today that he prayed a lot for the people in South East Asia. Great. Is this a foretaste of things to come?

I am torn between feeling weak and overwhelmed, the prospect of being among 10.000 Christians at EXPLO 04 in Basel tomorrow and a New Year`s celebration with many friends tomorrow after that. Maybe it is good to be among people in times like this. One thing is sure for me: I want to move in 2005, I want to be moved by God and not just sit around and shuffle papers and open files.

Other than that, we had a wonderful snow hike today through the forests. Very cold and very sunny.

bad blogger

For two weeks, my blog did not work due to a credit card error. How complicated life is...

In the meantime, we had a Round Table of Directors of European Church Planting Organizations in Korntal/Stuttgart. Finally, they meet and get to know each other better.

Immediately after this meeting, I had to fly to Colombia on an awkward route with 4 stops, to take part in the Latin American DAWN leaders` conference in Cartagena. It was a blessing to see these men and women work towards Saturation Church Planting in every South and Central American country - EVERY!

Then, I spent 3 more days with the family of Martha, my daughter-in-law, in beautiful Cartagena. Great people, great hospitality. My suitcase did not arrive until one day later, and when we opened it, all valuables were stolen out of it - a digital camera, a calculator and several other things - worth almost $1000. Stupid me, putting these things in a suitcase!

On the third day, it finally came - the stomach-intestines-fever-throwing up and down - flu. Must have eaten something horrible. Flew home with fever and am still basically in bed, but better. Tired of travelling for this year - and sooo glad to be home!

He made it

Bush made it again - clearer than 4 years ago. European newspapers are torn between anger and admiration. Hollywood is paralyzed. All the actors and big names did not change a thing.

I hope there will be truth and a bit more wisdom in the next 4 years. We need to pray.

Election Day

Presidents come and go, God`s plans and God`s mercy are steadfast for ever.

What a life!

After returning from holidays, what a time! My son Markus and his fiancé Martha from Colombia got legally married the next day - it`s quite something to realize: that`s final! Martha`s parents from Colombia have come as well - now we live together in our house for 3 weeks as 10 people from 3 continents, speaking English, Spanish and German. What a good exercise in tolerance and love.
Yesterday, Princessa our Chihuahua got her first baby (a healthy puppy as big as a mouse), I was on TV - and in the midst of this all the wedding preparations. All of this is fun - it is so great that Jesus`first miracle was connected to a wedding, covering a mistake in planning! Surely, God wants to live amongst his people, take part in their joys and problems, being specialized in filling gaps and making up for their mistakes - and on top of this, His solutions are much better than our own planning. This is how He reveals His glory (John 2). If all of this is true, we have a great week ahead of us.

Today, it`s August 1st, the Swiss National Holiday. We will have fireworks everywhere, and everyone will have a barbacue. We celebrate Alvaro`s 50th birthday today - that is Markus`new father in law.

Iraq, others and myself

It is a scandal what they did to prisoners in Iraq. No justification whatsoever for that. Whoever is responsible must be found out and put to trial. The camera proves to be the most powerful weapon of our days.
However: I have a hard time accepting the world's outrage against this, regarding the fact that in some other areas of the world, people send out children as living bombs or millions are tortured, killed, wounded and evicted like in Sudan (read more here) Why do we measure with double standards?
As for me, I find primitive reactions in my own heart all the time that could cause outbreaks of violence; at the same time, I know there is One who was different, acted differently - and can make me a different person, hopefully. Something is deeply wrong when Christianity results simply in another "us vs. them" front. Sometimes it may be necessary to fight evil in order to prevent more evil, but it must always be an emergency solution, an exception, never a "righteous war". In the future, I will separate myself more consistently from Christian fundamentalism - be it evangelical, charismatic, political, ethical, or liberal fundamentalism.