Archive Page 2
Where is the emphasis on?
Since a few weeks I read the blog “Messianic Jewish Musings“. It’s a very interesting blog where a Jew who believes in the Messiah writes about all kinds of things from the perspective of a Messianic Jew.
The past week was Sukkot followed by Simkhat Torah. Derek Leman, the writer of the blog, describes what happens during these feasts using the story of Nehemia. The thing that struck me in the blog was the emphasis that is laid on communal worship and learning. I’m not sure whether I agree with everything Derek says, but I think the point he’s making is absolutely valid. He says: “
There is something hear we must never forget. God’s people are a community. The Bible doesn’t know anything about solitary faith. The idea that we can be with God simply by ourselves is false and harmful. God emphasizes again and again the need for communal worship and communal learning and growth. God’s people are a community. We are “as one person.” “
In our evangelical tradition much emphasis is laid on the fact that we should have “quiet times”, times when we read our Bibles and pray. How many times did we hear sermons where the preacher told us we should do this, and do it daily? If it were as important as mentioned in the sermons, why isn’t the Bible stuffed with stories of people privately reading the Torah, or other Jewish scriptures and praying? I must admit that there are a few stories, like Jesus going up the mountain to pray, and Peter praying on the roof and receiving a vision. But like Derek I see an emphasis on communal reading and worshipping. The most famous example I think is Acts 2 where is described that the early church met daily . Although the times were different then, I think there wasn’t much time for these people to also read and pray in private. These people also had a job and a family, let alone the fact that many people couldn’t read in those times!
The emphasis on personal reading and praying is (I think mainly) caused by our society getting more individualistic as time goes by, whereas in ancient times the society was more focussed on having community with each other.
So, I think the emphasis in evangelicalism should be on communal reading of the Bible, worshipping God and communal prayer. But we should also be encouraged to continue that practice at home.
Filed under: Bible, Reading | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ezra, Nehemia, Simkhat Torah, Sukkot
Quote
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” – C.S. Lewis
(HT: John Tuohy - http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=5108)
Filed under: General | Leave a Comment
Tags: C.S. Lewis, Christianity
Yesterday in Hoofddorp
This Sunday morning I was in church. I will not lightly forget the service. It made an incredible impression on me.
This week one of the church-members, a 17 year-old boy, died after a terrible trafic incident. During the service our reverent told about the incident and spoke about how we sometimes can’t understand what’s happening and why God lets incidents like these happen. But he also pointed to God as the one who comforts. Then the beautiful song “I lift my eyes up” (from Brian Doerksen) was sung. The man and woman who sang the song did that so passionate and in adoration to God, that it really touched my heart. It was an overwhelming experience to remember this boy with the whole congregation.
Later in the service Mr. Evert Jan Ouweneel preached about the Bible. He explained that we as Christians today are full of Greek and Roman thinking, and that we read our Bible using this way of thinking. Then he explained that the Bible was written from a Jewish way of thinking (the way of thinking of the Jews at that time). It was really enlightening!! In another post I will explain more about the differences between these different kinds of thinking. So, hang on!!
Filed under: Bible, Church, Listening | 1 Comment
Tags: Bible, Hoofddorp, Meerkerk, Ouweneel
What’s going on?
Marvin Gaye already asked this question. In my last post I mentioned that a lot of things were going on in my (our, my wife’s and my) life. We are stepping out of our safe circle! In february my wife Mattanja and I together, will go to New Zealand for two weeks. The goal of our journey is to see whether we would like to live in New Zealand! This would be a very big step for our family, but at this moment we feel like that is the right thing to do. In New Zealand we hope to get the confirmation of the idea that we have right now.
Furthermore we have started our own company a few weeks ago! We are now independent distributors of all kinds of wellness-products, like nutritional supplements and skin-care products. All these products are made based on natural material, like plants, herbs, vitamins and minerals. Through this company we hope to earn the money we need to move to New Zealand, as well as money to support all kinds of charities.
In all this we feel we depend on God. We need His guidance in all the steps we take. Of course I will inform you about the progress.
Filed under: General | Leave a Comment
Tags: dependency, Marvin Gaye, New Zealand, wellness
This is my passion
… is the start of a sentence out of a song by Margaret Becker. “This is my passion, holiness, holiness. This is my cry, mercy, mercy!” It has nothing to do with what I want to say in this post, but I just thought about it while writing the title of this post.
Yesterday I listened to a podcast of the Internetmonk, Michael Spencer. I am a faithful listener to his podcasts, because he always touches on topics that I find interesting, or that keep me busy. In his last podcast, nr. 114(!), Mr. Spencer speaks about blogging. One sentence especially grabbed my attention. He said: “…blogging is my hobby….”. And somehow that started me thinking about what I really like and love.
At the beginning of the week I finished the book “The case for Christ”, written by Lee Strobel. This book describes the historic reliability of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the credibility of the story of Jesus in particular. Reading this book renewed my love for the Bible.
Thinking about the Bible, about what is important to me, brought me to the conclusion that I want to give more time to the things I love. Of course my family is an important part of this, but I mean other than that. It’s so easy to sit in front of the television and let the evening go by. I want to spend my time reading the Bible and study about it, writing this blog, and other important things.
Now I hear you ask: “What are the other important things?”. Well, let’s leave that for another post, because there’s so much going on right now in my life that it doesn’t fit in this post.
Filed under: Bible | Leave a Comment
Tags: internetmonk, Lee Strobel, passion
Great Vintage Gospel
The movie below is a big hit on YouTube. It will make you laugh! If you think it’s fake, checkout this blogpost where the original members are interviewed: http://dougsploitation.blogspot.com/2008/09/dougsploitation-news-exclusive-sal-of.html
Sonseed:
Worship singer David Crowder has covered the song in his church:
Filed under: Listening, Watching | Leave a Comment
Tags: David Crowder, Sonseed, Vintage
Quote Shane Claiborne
“Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life.”
Filed under: Quotes | Leave a Comment
Tags: Quote, Shane Claiborne
Men & Crocodiles
Here’s a great quote from Max Lucado:
“A man would rather floss a crocodile than ask for direction”.
Filed under: General | Leave a Comment
Tags: crocodile, Max Lucado
Sad, sad, sad
A lot has been said and especially written the past couple days on the announcement of the separation of Todd Bentley and his wife Shonna. Just as the reactions on the Lakeland Outpouring have differred between “Halleluja, this is God’s work!!” and “Bentley is the anti-christ”, the reactions differ on this topic in the same way.
I think a lot can be said about why and how this could have happened. But I don’t think anything I say will contribute to the situation. Off course I have an opinion on this, but since I don’t know all the facts, my opinion seems to change back and forth when looking at it from different sides.
The sad thing about all this is that whenever such a thing happens, we as christians are immediately ready to give our opinion, and it is sometimes (or should I say most of the time?) not very flattering. We seem to forget that all of us make mistakes (or, sins). But since Todd Bentley is a prominent figure, his mistake is all over the news as if World War III has started. This depicts the hype-culture that we as christians live in. In stead of us being known for our love among ourselves, we are known for fighting each other and calling each other names.
It is very sad that this has happened between Todd and Shonna Bentley and I truly hope that they will come back together, but only if they take the time for healing and restoration of their relationship. And to my fellow brothers and sisters I would like to say: check your own life, and see if there is something left with which you have to come to terms. Let all of us make serious business, not by sweeping our dirt under the carpet, but by looking our “demons” in the eye and getting rid of them.
God bless.
Filed under: Church | 1 Comment
Tags: carpet, Lakeland, sin, Todd Bentley
-
Recent Comments
Mattanja van der Sto… on I am addicted Gerard on Yesterday in Hoofddorp thenonconformer on Sad, sad, sad FritzBlake9 on New Weblog! writetools on Healing….. and dying… Playlist
