Sara and I left Germany this morning and arrived in Switzerland. The previous day we trained down to the southern border of Germany and were taken on a beautiful drive through the Black Forest. What a great time we had! Then this morning we took a train into Switzerland. That’s us outside the capital city of Bern before we spent the midday touring the city. We climbed to the top of the Cathedral tower in the background for a breathtaking, if not queasy, view of the area.
I had such a tremendous time in Germany. The ‘Jake’ book has become a huge seller there and most people I met with had already read it and were ready to interact with me about its content. I was so blessed by the people I met, the hunger they had, and their openness to follow Jesus instead of the rituals or demands of religion.
I love it that Jesus is stirring a common passion all over the world. It is not being led by any person, but the Holy Spirt is disillusioning people with the emptiness of our religious dogma and practice, to invite us into a real relationship with him. The only frustrating part of the trip was being unable to speak the language and not spending enough time in each place to get to know people as well as I hoped. But I was warmly and graciously received by people all over the country.
Now we are holed up in the village of Vallorbe along the French border west of Lausanne. This is the view out of the home we’re staying in. And what’s more, we actually get five nights sleeping in the same bed! How fun is that?
What a beautiful little town! Sara and you look relaxed and happy to be there.
By the way, Lifeway stores has decided that “The Shack” is OK to put back on their shelves. They said your article, “Is The Shack Heresy?” was influential in their decision.
What a beautiful little town! Sara and you look relaxed and happy to be there.
By the way, Lifeway stores has decided that “The Shack” is OK to put back on their shelves. They said your article, “Is The Shack Heresy?” was influential in their decision.
Glad to hear that you’re having a wonderful time in Europe. What a beautiful country Switzerland is! Goes to show that there must be madness in my family. My Greatgrandfather chose Winnipeg over this… You gotta be kidding me. Enjoy your Swiss Vacation,….. keep spreading freedom around.
Cheers Jon
Glad to hear that you’re having a wonderful time in Europe. What a beautiful country Switzerland is! Goes to show that there must be madness in my family. My Greatgrandfather chose Winnipeg over this… You gotta be kidding me. Enjoy your Swiss Vacation,….. keep spreading freedom around.
Cheers Jon
Wow! Switzerland really is a nice place! Guess I could appreciate living here a little more . . .
Glad to hear you arrived safely. Enjoy it!
Wow! Switzerland really is a nice place! Guess I could appreciate living here a little more . . .
Glad to hear you arrived safely. Enjoy it!
This was personally sent to me by someone who has traveled extensively in Europe. Since they didn’t post it here, i won’t use their name, but I thought it would bless and encourage many in Europe:
Wayne,
I am pleased you and Sara are having such a great time in Europe. Your comments on your blog are consistent with my experience in Europe. In some respects I find that Europeans are ahead of people in the US because they have already gone through the phase of abandoning the institutional church. They are ready to move beyond that while in the US I find many are still struggling with holding on to the institution as the main issue.
I pray both of you have an extremely restful, refreshing time.
This was personally sent to me by someone who has traveled extensively in Europe. Since they didn’t post it here, i won’t use their name, but I thought it would bless and encourage many in Europe:
Wayne,
I am pleased you and Sara are having such a great time in Europe. Your comments on your blog are consistent with my experience in Europe. In some respects I find that Europeans are ahead of people in the US because they have already gone through the phase of abandoning the institutional church. They are ready to move beyond that while in the US I find many are still struggling with holding on to the institution as the main issue.
I pray both of you have an extremely restful, refreshing time.
Very interesting Wayne. I just had a similar conversation with someone yesterday and we discussed how many here in the States are in a panic because they see folks leaving the organized structure and it makes them fearful that the “church” in the States will suffer the same fate as what happened to the “church” in Europe. It’s very interesting when you can step back from the narrow view of thinking you know what God is up to and accusing people of not being committed to the program and allow yourself to consider something different. People might just be surprised by what they find. It’s very encouraging to hear about some of the things you are finding over there. I’m not surprised…Jesus has never been distracted from building his Church.
Very interesting Wayne. I just had a similar conversation with someone yesterday and we discussed how many here in the States are in a panic because they see folks leaving the organized structure and it makes them fearful that the “church” in the States will suffer the same fate as what happened to the “church” in Europe. It’s very interesting when you can step back from the narrow view of thinking you know what God is up to and accusing people of not being committed to the program and allow yourself to consider something different. People might just be surprised by what they find. It’s very encouraging to hear about some of the things you are finding over there. I’m not surprised…Jesus has never been distracted from building his Church.