Thoughts about life and stuff

The secret finally revealed

2011-12-26T09:36:00.001+01:00

I has no idea what was cooking but I knew that He was up to something when this wee child was born in this dump where we ended up last night. It turned out to be a sleepless night. It's been a funny ride so far. First of all I had a hard time believing that my wife to be was expecting. I swear I never touched her! I know you won't beleive this but I swear I didn't and if it wasn't for this

2011-12-21T08:39:00.000+01:00

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All is never all

2011-11-15T15:35:00.001+01:00

With Christ, God would give all things to the believer. As a free gift (Romans 8:32). Recently I came across an over simplistic interpretation. It wasn’t the first time. It seems that many evangelicals turned the simplification of Biblical notions into a hobby; "All things is All things" and any other interpretation would be an act of disbelief and doubt. A new Bentley or a car that can’t break

Caps with Food (STop Eating!)

2011-11-15T10:54:00.001+01:00

Another unedited translation of my Dutch Blog. I was rolling with laughter trying to read it Caps with food!Or not? Who is right? The man with the belly hanging down to his knees as a result doktert weekly or extremely fit athlete who carefully chooses his diet and never dokert just on his 82nd death. One cost the state tons and hasteth toward the finish line in sight without ever getting while

Den Ouden News

2011-10-21T09:47:00.002+02:00

October 2011, issue 138 The thirty chairs that were anticipating as many occupants were quickly filled. The advertised “spicy workshop” attracted many more participants than expected. Soon the small room was flooded with people and I could start. “What went wrong in the garden and what are some its consequences for us today?, sort of summarizes the general flow of the story. The workshop

About being right

2011-09-17T07:20:00.006+02:00

Translated and edited Dutch Blog with the assistance of my friend GoogleThis morning I woke up and had to think about the fight between Paul and Barnabas.Then of course could not go back to sleep and at 05:15 I'm writing this blog in a disintegrating obscure hotel in Wigan (near Preston) whilst drinking my second cup of "complimentary" tea before packing my belongings and travel on to Liverpools

Fun: a non edited translation of my Dutch blog

2011-09-14T07:39:00.004+02:00

I write an (almost) daily blog in Dutch. It's just too much time to do an English one as well but I thought, just to have some fun, to have Google translate today's Blog into English. So here it is. Not-edited. Wonder if it makes sense. It made me giggle and smile at times:Yesterday a lamp bought for the floor lamp in "my" room. Did not. Somewhere a hitch.So, when I woke up this morning, showered

Case Study

2011-09-13T09:24:00.002+02:00

I was going through the, now full, notebook, tearing out what can be binned. These notebooks are the sum of months of thoughts, minutes, ideas and "to do" lists that I never really got to do. I got to this particular page with the heading "Case Study" with at the bottom : "note to self: do something with this, idiot." For the record, thius thing with the notebooks is my relatively effective

Who cares?

2010-12-21T17:44:00.002+01:00

Care assumes that there is a connection between people. This connection can be professional: someone is in need and appropriate help is send to help relieve that person of that need. The connection can also be personal, and in my line of work the personal connection buttresses the professional help we offer. I believe it’s the Jesus way. Jesus took an interest in the whole person. Yet, He also

The Gospel as a program

2010-12-10T21:27:00.003+01:00

The Gospel as a program“Visit and talk to five different types of people in a hospital (e.g. doctor, nurses, ward boys, compounder, radiologist and pharmacist). Attempt to share the Gospel and write your experience. (Please don’t sell literature to them. Just try to talk with them).”[1] My heart and mind crunched when I read these instructions that are part of the training manual for Indian

Short term effort; long term consequence

2010-12-04T09:28:00.003+01:00

Short-term 'holistic' outreaches are a booming business. Year-round, hundreds of thousands of Christians travel the world to dig latrines, build or upgrade school buildings, clean up sections of slums, and much more. The desire to leave a 'Kingdom footprint' seems to have caught on. Such experiences do change a participant's perspective and contribute to his/her overall sense of wellbeing. For

Why God created women

2010-03-05T09:55:00.006+01:00

I am a member of "Christians for Biblical Equality". This week's e-newsletter reads (among other stuff): Why did god create woman? In Half the Sky, Pulitzer Prize winning authors Kristoff and

The Church as a Newtonian fluid

2010-02-05T07:06:00.004+01:00

The church as a Newtonian fluid In Leading the Team Based Church, George Cladis dedicates one chapter to “The Learning team.” In this chapter he talks about the need for organizations to change their concepts about learning and refers to Stephanie Marshall who states that education is hanging on to old paradigms that no longer fit our new worldview. This old paradigm uses mechanistic

Seeing God

2009-03-18T10:04:00.002+01:00

This afternoon I will engage in a conversation with a seventy year old man. He says he's not a believer (define believer...) and what keeps him from believing is... seeing.He's not upset with God, nor blames Him for the death of his wife and (soon) his son (due to a progressive illness). It's just that because he hasn't seen God, he will not and cannot believe.How do I approach this?I have been

Kick Butt

2008-10-22T07:52:00.002+02:00

"Well, honey, this miscarriage must be the Lord's doing since you got pregnant without being married"."Church, we're going to put sister A and B under discipline, because apparently they are into the Romans 1:26 thing" (this was based on a rumour and done without even investigating any of the stories).Just two examples of stories I heard from victims about how well the church deals with people

Religion can't be that bad

2008-08-22T07:48:00.002+02:00

God doesn't want religion, he wants relationship. I've heard it said thousands of times and I've said it at least 776 times! But, as you can tell from my counting, I'm almost done saying it.Could it be that Gods wants both?In a good, healthy relationship both parties do and seek what's best for both. In my relationship with God there's a funny element. Since He is and has the best, there's

God cheaper than an umbrella

2008-07-30T07:25:00.004+02:00

"As it is raining cats and dogs and we want to have our fun afternoon, let's pray that God will stop the rain and give us a nice afternoon". Ever heard (or prayed) these kind of prayers? Maybe later that day, we hear testimonies of how God stopped the rain and thus allowed us to have our fun games.This never seemed to bother me in my early years as a believer. Now, whenever I hear those kind of

What have we turned this into..

2008-05-07T06:51:00.004+02:00

This past Sunday I sort of snapped. As usual in many services nowadays the church was in competition with the wall of sound coming from the front. We were summoned to stand (one who truly loves the Lord stands when he/she sings) and to sing along (bringing our worship to God).So I sat and shut up and got really sad.The organ and the combo's have left the church. Enter the professional worship

Next Level Holiness?

2008-02-11T09:09:00.000+01:00

This weekend I was teaching my Life Direction, or "BE" seminar. Some of the questions that participants ask are like old friends that come to visit me. I usually see them coming and welcome them wholeheartedly. I would be disappointed if those questions are not asked since that would mean to me that either the participants are not paying attention or that I am not communicating.One of the studies

Six days.

2007-12-12T12:30:00.001+01:00

I read Klaus Westermann's "Creation" the other day. I expected it to be one of those modern approaches to creation whereby I am supposed to believe that the days are actual 24 hour days and that all of creation took place in exactly 6 days. I also expected to read that if I don't believe that, it will affect the way I view salvation.But Westermann takes you by surprise and hardly even touches

The Pures will see God

2007-11-19T09:23:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know it's been too long. But, please give me a break. Writing a daily blog in Dutch is already quite a commitment. Maybe I can find somebody who is crazy enough, or loves me enough to translate my daily musings from Dutch into English. I also know that "pures" is not a proper word. Sorry for that.I read a lot. And fast.The Bible is the only book I read very, very slow. I'm still stuck in

Merciful

2007-09-21T08:39:00.000+02:00

After following Jesus for 28 years I should know better.Yet, I struggle with the whole concept and practise of mercy. It's relatively easy to show mercy and love to those that I don't have a relationship with. To fill the hand of a beggar, to pray with a stranger in need; no problem. I'm not expecting anything in return and it feels good, rewarding and fullfilling.To be mercifull and loving

Hunger for righteousness

2007-09-12T14:42:00.000+02:00

This particular beatitude appeals to me the most. Injustice sucks the life out of this planet and out of the life of its people. I don't see much "fairness" around me and I sympathize with all those that want to scream on top of their voices "IT'S NOT FAIR".Most injustice has to do with greed. Greed for money, power, sex; the insatiable hunger to feed into ME. It's about MY needs. Get out of MY

The inner circle, or what

2007-09-07T16:51:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I shared with our OM staff some of my thoughts and findings related to the beatitudes: "Imagine being in that crowd and hearing Jesus speak those revollutionairy words. What picture would have come to your mind if you hear Jesus say that the poor in spirit are blessed and will inherit the kingdom of heaven"?We had a few sharing their thoughts and they ranged from the mentally challenged

The meeker, the more

2007-08-27T10:02:00.000+02:00

Blessed are the meek. They will inherit the land.What on earth is Jesus talking about?See the salespitch? Wanted: Meek people to get free land.Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who's the meekest of them all?Global Competitions will start. TV-shows will pitch in; there's money in the meek! Let the people decide. Let's have them vote.Fights will start. people disagreeing with each other, with the jury,

Mourning

2007-08-18T19:32:00.000+02:00

If Jesus says that those who mourn will be comforted, does it also work the other way around? Like if I'm looking for comfort I should try to mourn harder?Comfort is good, you see. I love receiving comfort when I mourn. I don't reject it, I welcome it. Like when my mother died, and when my sister died, my wife comforted me. How did she do that? By speaking soothing words or telling be that

Poor in spirit

2007-08-15T06:18:00.000+02:00

Our latest newsletter? Click hereToday I decided to read and study Jesus' beatitudes again. Since I grew up in an evangelicla climate I am programmed to read the word in a way that it is always about me. How does this apply to me? Do I want to be blessed? Yes! Then, be poor in spirit. As if being poor in spirit is a status one can achieve, or choose to be in.I googled "beatitudes" and read a lot

Chatter

2007-08-07T09:22:00.000+02:00

Paul instructs Timothy to turn away from godless chatter. I'd like to do the same. But the the questions wells up, what is it? And does godly chatter exist? Or, is chatter by definition always ungodly. I believe Paul only talks about chatter twice; in 1 Tim. 6 and 2 Tim. 2. In both cases it come as a package together with "unholy"; unholy godless chatter. Only in 2 Tim. we get a little bit of

The secret revealed

2007-07-08T06:10:00.000+02:00

I am reading Brian McLaren's "The secret Message of Jesus". It's a must read! I heard Brian speak on this topic about two months ago in South Africa. I expected a cheap excuse for a booksales party but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. In fact, there were none of his books. So, the message was and is more important to Brian than selling as many books as possible (maybe they just got

Enter the Kingdom...

2007-06-27T16:01:00.001+02:00

The Good News that, first John the Baptist, and later Jesus proclaimed, was the announcement that the Kingdom of God had arrived.A funny exercise to do: ask a bunch of evangelicals what they think the Good News was and is and only rarely someone will give you the correct answer.Evangelicals are rather safe than sorry and that’s probably why they keep on hanging in the doorway and believe that

Some will abandon the faith..

2007-05-18T15:07:00.000+02:00

This morning I read 1 Tim. 4:1 (I usually study my bible one verse at the time) where we read Paul's warning that in later times some will abandon the faith.I think I have always been more Arminian than Calvinist although I admit that it is not an easy subject and triggers a tremendous lot of controversy. I concise introductionairy explanation you will find here.I grew in a church where it is

The blood (II)

2007-05-05T17:18:00.001+02:00

Life and blood go hand in hand; are inseparable. All that lives has some form of a bloodstream, taking all that is necessary to maintain and sustain life to each and every part of the body.I can live with one kidney, without toes, eyes, arms, even whole legs. But cut the bloodstream and I’m as dead as can be.What else could God have chosen but the blood?I think I am beginning to see the light.

The blood...

2007-04-18T15:47:00.000+02:00

One thing that has always fascinated me is Gods pre-occupation with blood. I've always had difficulty putting it in a perspective that makes some sense. There's hundreds of books written on the subject and some of those make people like me feel pretty dumb because I have a question or two about it. I'm not talking about the theological reasoning behind it. That makes perfect sense. It's the

Glass Castle

2007-04-05T09:32:00.000+02:00

I stayed in bed till 08.30 this morning. I had to finish reading this amazing story. I am a fast reader and normally skip a lot of stuff, paragraphs authors write just to make the book bigger, non-relevant details, or non-sense-D-tours. Not this time. I read each and every word.Why does this book speak to me?Maybe because I'm 46 and getting more sentimental about life and quite often find myself

The church in D-minor

2007-03-28T11:16:00.000+02:00

Today, Wednesday, March 28 at 10.48 hrs. Johann Sebastian Bach’s prelude of his cello suite No.2 in D minor/d Moll BWV1008 expresses sort of what I think the church is: there’s a ferocious beauty about it; a softness and aggression blended nicely together and resulting in a big D-minor statement in its last seconds.The church is cause for great excitement and worry. It’s all in one. It’s the

Questions...

2007-03-06T11:14:00.000+01:00

I grew up having many questions. Then, I found Jesus, the Answer. Any question? The answer is Jesus. At least, that's what I thought Christians believed and were supposed to uphold as the truth. Asking questions, especially the more existential ones, were, and often still considered equal to doubting your faith in Christ.Why then did Jesus ask questions all the time? Of cource He spoke profound

Souls turned away

2007-02-27T12:37:00.000+01:00

Christian Brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realise; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate (Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Life Together)I have observed that we don't do community well. I also observed that I don't do community well. And with that observation I have come to a decision to change that. The last couple of weeks I have spend most of my time (re)

Doctrinal Music

2006-12-16T07:04:00.000+01:00

That's what came to mind when I read how St. Paul qualifies teaching that 'conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God'. I've always had, and still have, difficulties with adjectives, such as 'sound' in 'sound doctrine'. Doctrine is neutral in its own context but as soon as you start messing with adjectives it gets complicated. Yet, we do need them to qualify, or put substance, to 'sound'.

Brauhaus

2006-12-12T17:25:00.000+01:00

Last week I was in Germany for (business)meetings with a bunch of people. Most of these people have become friends over the years. Some of them I would even consider very good friends; we've established a level of trust and respect that enables us to share our innermost struggles, fears, joys, doubts, victories, temptations, questions and even... answers.When business is done the "Brauhaus" is

What really matters

2006-11-29T16:57:00.000+01:00

Is their anything in this life and world that I believe is worth dying for? I really don't know. I believe one of my biggest enemies in the season of life I am in today is indifference. And this bothers me big time. I want to care more and better. It bothers me that quite often I don't care or, if I do care, it's more an a rational level."So, you're going through a depression"? "Wow, I am very

Patience and Pride

2006-11-16T17:17:00.000+01:00

Of all topics I'd like to speak on, Patience would be on the bottom of the list. But, they got me to speak on the subject anyway. A high school in St. Catharines (Ontario, Canada) gave me this very topic to speak on as part of a series on character traits.The best thing is always to start digging in the word and to my great surprise I found something that was quite revealing to me. In Eccl. 7:8

Time is Crap

2006-10-30T11:48:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine responded to my last blog (did Jesus evangelise). He wrote:“For Jesus sharing the love of His Father with lost people - up to His death on the cross - was the ultimate reason to come to earth as a man.I agree therefore that Jesus did not "switch on" and "switch off" evangelism, but he did deliberately CHOOSE at times to walk away from the crowd and

Jesus never evangelised, or did He?

2006-10-23T10:24:00.000+02:00

I sat in the pew. On my right side a lady who read from her Hebrew-Dutch bible and on my left my youngest daughter with two of her friends. The, what people call "worship time", went on and on and, as usual my mind was drifting somewhere outside the building, boldly exploring places and spaces where no one has ever gone before (that's what I want to believe but usually someone has been there

The Peevish Aura

2006-10-17T07:26:00.000+02:00

Three people said three things to me last Sunday and they made me think a little bit about my non-verbal communication skills, or lack thereof. I walked into the room where we as a group of local followers of Christ meet on Sundays (some call it "worship-centre", other "the sanctuary", again others find other fancy names to refer to the place that I am referring to. One church in Bloomington, Ill

I am a beauty...

2006-09-27T11:43:00.001+02:00

Rob Bell says the church is a big, beautiful, ugly thing. Well, I am beautiful so you, the reader, must be the one making it ugly....Just kidding. But Rob has a good point. We look at the chruch as insiders and are aware of her shortcomings, wounds, abuse, and all other stuff that underlines her humanity.Only God sort of idealises His church. If I understand my Bible correct, He seems to love His

The First Painless Church

2006-09-20T12:24:00.000+02:00

The lady laid hands on the other lady who was ill. De first words she spoke/prayed were: "We know that God does not allow pain in His body". Amens floated about the roam, but I wanted to scream. Or, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe this little church in Mpumalanga, South Africa, was the first painless church on this planet. And, to be honest, without having shared this with anyone, not even my wife, I

If I have to choose

2006-08-15T15:32:00.000+02:00

I work part-time with a local church. The other part of my working hours I work with an organisation that is determined to take the most important message, that people need to hear, to the very ends of the earth. A couple of weeks ago I joined a team that went into North Africa.BlissThat sums up the time I travelled with the team.Is the local church less bliss? It shouldn't be but in my

I am Pro

2006-06-24T16:15:00.000+02:00

Christians have a reputation of being somewhat re-active. We tend to negatively respond to developments in society we do not agree with. We are anti-abortion, anti-pedofiles, anti-arabs, anti-you name it. And the rare occasiuon that we are pro, it usually implies that we are against the counterpart. Pro-Israel usually impleis anti -Hammas, Pro-Life means should Anti-Death but the usual

Big, bigger, biggest

2006-05-23T08:27:00.000+02:00

The city. In our church we're talking, preaching and thinking about it. We're praying for her and attempting to get involved (corporately that is; many individual church members already are involved on different levels).Sometimes I go to interdenominational prayer meetings where, again, we pray for our city. Some will prophecy over her, other will proclaim whatever over her and, again others just

Lord, this is so inconvenient

2006-04-27T07:20:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday I was in church. A very "hip" and "spiffy" church. Slick worship, great music. The worship leader felt prompted by the spirit (must have been the spirit because he told us that he hadn't planned on saying what he was about to say) to share about a dialogue he'd had with God three days earlier. "I came home from work and I didn't feel well. 'O, no', I said to myself, 'I'm getting a

Humble or what...

2006-04-21T08:42:00.000+02:00

I am reading a book. Nothing new. I’m always reading books. Sometimes a title stands out. The last couple of weeks two books really stood, and stand out. Gregory Boyds’ ‘God of the possible’ and right now Alain de Botton’s ‘Status Anxiety’. It is an amazing book that really helps me better to understand where I’m coming from and how much I take for granted. Whether I like it or not, I am a

A Romans Six Day

2006-04-13T10:37:00.000+02:00

That's what I call a day where I stubbornly refuse to crucify the old self. Some would call it a bad hair day but I don't think it's fair to blame it on your hair. Nowadays we've got sprays, gels, combs and brushes so there's absolutely no need for people in the Western World to have bad hair days. Call it what it is: admit it, you're just depressed and or grumpy. Life sucks and so do others.And

How little we know, and do

2006-04-06T13:11:00.000+02:00

I am a believer. People will refer to me as an evangelical. Evangelicals oversimplify life. Life is easy because the answer to everything is Jesus. And, when things get tough, well, Jesus is somewhere in that, too. Not that I understand it but that's okay, as long as he understands and sort of knows what he is doing.Ask an evangelical a tough question and I bet that Jesus will be somewhere in the

Not Fair

2006-03-31T15:15:00.000+02:00

Yesterday a friend died. Today I cried. I grieve and I mourn.Death is never fair. Death has never been part of the plan. Death is a consequence of something we did.I never believe people who tell me that life and death is an endless cycle. But, jeeves, who wants to die and come back to this silly planet anyway?I don't believe those who tell me to embrace the reality of death. I'd rather embrace