Holy Cows in the Polder

To start off the month of March in Cost of Discipleship, I want to direct my readers elsewhere, specifically to this article by Marc van der Woude,
entitled Holy Cows in the Polder.
Despite the image and the title to his article, this is not a light-hearted topic. With the courtesy and sensitivity characteristic of our European brothers, he has introduced a bit of humor to the subject, but please give his article your fullest attention. It deserves it! Here's a sample of what he says:

"I have a simple (some might say 'simplistic') insight: if it is true that Jesus called us (the Church) to proclaim and manifest the Kingdom of God in the earth, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail, then from a strategic point of view it is likely that satan assigned his strongest demons (those of religion, money, control, deception, etc.) to the church. All these demonic spirits have to do is what they also do in other religions - inspire human beings to create and maintain religious (church) systems and mindsets that breed unhealthy codependence, keep people occupied with all kinds of side-matters, and therefore render them relatively unfruitful and harmless. Therefore, any true reformation inevitably has to address things that are foundationally wrong in the way the church operates."