In Western Europe (update 1 and 2 below)

I am in Western Europe today and the internet connection is not good... I hope to post some tonight.

Update 1 Monday Night:

Five Hours later... finally, Internet. Ahhhh.

We met tonight in a cramped apartment in urban Barcelona. There were about 20 of us shoulder-to-shoulder talking about how to plant churches in Western Europe.

I brought a group of pastors with me that are passionate about reaching U.S. contexts-- and there was some great dialogue and mutual learning.

Earlier today, we walked the city and saw some of its cultures.

I am impressed with these missionaries-- they could easily be planting churches in gentrified U.S. cities and it would be a lot easier.

I do not intend, by any stretch of imagination, to call U.S. urban church planting easy. But, to take that cultural context and place it in a post-Christian European city, is quite a challenging thing.

I read unChristian on the plane over. A worthwhile read about the move of emerging generations away from historic Christianity. It was challenging and sobering--but sitting in Barcelona reminds me that these people were post-Christian for generations. It is a different world... and I wonder if North America will look similar in the next generation.

Here is what I posted recently about the Western Europe leadership team:

As I have mentioned before, LifeWay shares part of my time with the International Mission Board.

I will be going to Spain in February to meet with the leadership and do some teaching. The IMB leadership will be doing some events in the states as well. Please connect with them if you can...

Here is the info:

The Western Europe region of the International Mission Board invites you to participate in The Gatherings, a two-day event designed to connect you and your church to the work God is doing in Western Europe.

Join IMB workers and other stateside church leaders/members at one of two locations in 2008: Stafford, Va. (March 3-4), or Atlanta, Ga. (March 6-7). During The Gatherings, we'll dialog about ministry among postmoderns and fast-growing immigrant groups in Paris, Barcelona, Zurich, Rome and other places in Western Europe.

Find out more information and register online: www.telleurope.org.

We hope to see you soon at The Gatherings!

Update 2:

Scott McConnell, the brains behind LifeWay Research, alerted me to recent Gallup Research that deals with Spain's spiritual views, among other things. You can find the full story here.