Dutch traveller

2004-03-29T07:44:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Decided today to start blogging again after a sabbatical of a whole year. I wanted a new and fresh start so I've moved my blogsite to typepad. The address is:

http://dutchtraveller.typepad.com

I won't be using this one anymore, so please update your links page or favorites!

2004-02-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Pssshhhhht....

Please don't tell anybody, but after a year without blogging I'm considering to start again. I just have to share some stories.

...

First got to figure out if this is also what my Boss wants. There's only 24 ours in a day and I don't want to spill any of it.

Almost no one ever visits this blogsite anymore, so I'd sure appreicate your prayers.

Maybe till later.

2003-02-25T05:19:00.000-08:00

O.k. how can I say this... Well...... ehhhh....... I've deceided to stop with my blogsite.

Why? Well, a couple of weeks ago I had a time of prayer because I have been to busy lately. Just to many things that asked my attention. I also knew that God wanted me to start some new things, but there is no way to do this without stopping some of the old stuff. I'm not a good quiter so I deceided to seek God and ask Him what to do. To be honest I already knew what to do, but I could use some help you know...

So I came in the Presence of God and made a list of all the things I'm busy with. I knew I had to quit several activities but it was really hard for me to decide which ones. I really like almost all the things I do and somehow I felt very, very, very attached to everything. I mean, I couldn't just stop all those great and important things, could I? But I had to. Then I did something weird (I'm not gonna share what I did, but trust me it was pretty weird) and... I heard the voice of God very clearly. Not only through what I did, but also in my heart. One of the things that came out is that God wants me to stop blogging :-(

To be honest it took me a while to be obedient (as you can see in my posts). I knew very clearly what God wanted me to do, but I pushed the thoughts about stopping away. However, yesterday I read a passage in Luke and the following verse came very strong to me:

"Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?"

Oeps...

So now you know why I'm quiting. I really want to thank all the visitors for being a part of my life. Don't forget you are special (with or without a blogsite :-) and God has great plans with you. A special thank you to the other bloggers who have inspired me and who have put me on their site. Some of you I might meet on this planet. Others I hope to see at The Party. Have a save journey and may Jesus bless you and keep you.

This was all folks.

THE END.

2003-02-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

Are you a (potential) churchplanter who wants to know how to gather the first 50 people and make a lot of friends as well? Here is what Jay Pathak, his wife Danielle and their team do:

"We have huge meals where we invite anybody and everybody. We throw “block parties” where we grill out and invite all the neighbors to come and hang out at the houses where we have our housegroups. (We don't talk about these gatherings as “church events”—we simply like to get together and hang out with all our friends every couple of weeks, and invite people along.)

On the Friday night before our monthly Sunday service we do a big dinner with some kind of theme (Italian, Chinese, etc.). We don’t do anything “spiritual” at these parties except eat and have fun. It is here that people can get to know us, and eventually start asking questions. (They’re always wondering how we all know each other!) Nights like these also give the extroverts in our group (like me!) an opportunity to talk to the new folks, as well as invite them to our service, which is only a couple of days away."

More good stuff here.

2003-02-21T04:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening we had our second Sapphire Training. This is a very practical training for people who want to plant Jesus-groups (housechurches, simple churches and organic churches). We were with eight people, which is a nice group. After the meal we had some time to get to know eachother. This is what we did:

We took some chocolate (from Côte d’Or) with questions in the wrapping about friendship. Then we chose someone to share the chocolate with and told that person one thing we were celebrating. We listened to eachothers stories and ate the chocolate together. After everybody had shared something with another person, we gathered again as a group and said the prayer of community:

Lord, we come before you not alone,
But in the company of one another
We share our happiness with each other,
And it becomes greater
We share our troubles with each other,
And they become smaller
May we never be too mean to give,
Nor too proud to receive
For in giving and receiving, We learn to be loved
We encounter the meaning of life, And discover You.

(From: Be our Freedom, by: Terry Falla)

This is a really nice practise to make friends or to celebrate excisting friendships. Feel free to try it yourself. You can let me know what happened here.

2003-02-20T02:52:00.000-08:00

Young churchplanters conquer the world?

Hi Isaac,
Thanks for your mail and great to hear about your plans to plant a church in Paris! At the moment I don't know anybody who is busy with churchplanting in Paris. But... Christian Associates International are planning to send two teams to France. Their vision is to impact Europe by planting High Impact churches, and developing High Impact leaders, across the main cities of Europe. Two of their teams will be heading to France this year. Frank and Dawn Wilder will lead a team to Paris, and Gregg and Kim Vurbeff will be lead a team to Sophie Antipolis, near Nice. Both teams will seek to plant High Impact churches.

It might be interesting to contact them. There's more information availible on their website. Bless you! Ronald v/d Molen.

Anybody else out there who can help Isaac with more contacts? You can mail him here.

Hello,
I was reading some of your blog, and your work sound very exciting. Sounds like God is really doing some amazing things in NL. :) I thought that perhaps you might now of any church planters working with youth in Paris. A group from my church will be there this spring, and we are searching for any contacts. I thought you might know of some people who are doing similar work to you in Paris.

Thank you for your time.

...isaac!

2003-02-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

This evening I'm travelling to Hoogvliet (near Rotterdam) where I'm asked to lead a workshop about the gap between generations. Hope that God will use me to bind people together and remove some obstacles. So that young and old might learn together how to love God and love people.

I got this invitation from a church because their pastor did on of the workshops I gave at the leaders conference in september. Always nice to find out that someone enjoyed a workshop so much that he wants his whole church to experience it.

Here are some of the values I've found to be imporant when you give a workshop:

a) Create a positive atmosphere all the time (people like to learn when there's a positive atmosphere)
b) Confront the participants with their behaviour with a smile on your face (people want to know how they come across without being jugded)
c) Let them practise as much as you can (people learn best by doing something)
d) Let them set specific goals (most people have the tendency to remain vague)
e) Tell stories and give examples (also about what went wrong and what you've learned from it)
f) Have fun! (laugh a lot with eachother)
g) Demand a lot... (that will make a workshop worthwhile at the end)

Bless you!

2003-02-15T08:26:00.000-08:00

Home

O Lord, you have always been our home - Psalm 90:1

God as kitchen; provider, nourisher, delighter
God as dining room; communicator, catching up on day's events, renewer of friendship
God as study; thinker, reader, researcher
God as toilet; cleanser, purger
God as bathroom; preparer, waker
God as bedroom; relaxer, restorer, pleasurer
God as porch; sender, welcomer.

Now this would make great alt.worship/art installation. Hire a house, provide a range of spiritual exercises around the images in each room ...

From: stevedownunder

2003-02-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we've celebrated my wife's anniversary. You are really something special, Maresca! I hope to live with you forever...

It was a good birthday party. Not too many visitors. Good cake, nice people and really lots of gifts. In the morning I wasted all my money on beautiful presents for the love of my life. After that my parents arrived and we went together with the kids to the Mc Donalds. My parents payed, so that was a good deal ;-) I also took Joelle (she will be 3 in a month or so) to a toyshop because she wanted to buy a present for mammy herself. At first she tried to convince me buying a bicycle that would fit her too. But after I'd explained her that we were here for Maresca she decided to buy a Clowny-set with face paint. That will make both of us happy, she must have thought.

In the evening I took Maresca to a grill restaurant and we saw a true Valentine movie called Two Weeks Notice.

Like I said, a really nice day.

2003-02-13T01:32:00.000-08:00

Had a rotten day yesterday. Felt really sick in the morning so decided to stay in bed. I slept untill the evening. Thank God, I feel a little bit better today.

I'm having a meeting with Madeleine and Johan this morning. Madeleine is one of the teenagers that became a follower of Jesus last year. She wants to be baptised next week. Johan is working with a local television station and he would like to follow us one day for his programme "Zo maar een dag" (Just another day). He is planning on filming the baptism of Madeleine. They will meet today at our place in order to get to know eachother a little bit.

2003-02-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

This came from Mike Lyons (House2House.tv):

A slam dunk is a demonstration that a player not only is competent in his game, but goes above and beyond, sailing through the stratosphere, driving home the end purpose of the game. Not only doing the right thing, but doing it in such a way that spectators are driven to there feet in ovation, and rookies are inspired to press forward even harder. Have you ever wondered about what a slam dunk would be like for the church? Believe me, we have them, and need to hear about them more often. But be prepared, God's slam dunks might look different from what you might expect.

" But if anybody obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." --1 John 2:5-6

I knew something supernatural was happening when 2 families announced they were ready to leave the comfort of a large and diverse house church, and plant a new one. As we sat around the dinner table last week catching up on what God was doing with this new church, I heard the slam dunk, actually 2 slam dunks. And yes I went to my feet in ovation!

Slam Dunk #1

Christin was asking God to use her and show her who, in her network of influence, God was calling her to. It became clear as she learned one of her co-workers (we'll call her Julie) was feeling really down because it was her birthday. Christin found that Julie had no family, few friends and had never had a birthday party! The thought of yet another lonely birthday only reminded her of how alone she was. So...what did this new church do? They threw a birthday party for Christins friend! Slam dunk! No strings, no gospel presentations...just being Christ's body for another. (Remember: Jesus did a lot of significant things at parties).

Slam Dunk #2

It should be no surprise that Julie called Christin the following week and wanted to come a be with her new friends for Church (Julie does not yet know Jesus yet...just his body). Well, that morning as the small band of 5 gathered in the living room as the Church the phone rang. It was Julie, in tears. She was not going to make it as she could not get her frozen garage door to open. And she REALLY wanted to be with her new friends. What did the church do? No rinky dink lay-up on this basketball court. The church took flight at about 2 feet behind the foul line, did a 360 and jammed the score!

They jumped into their cars, drove 25 minutes to the next town and met as the church at Julie's house. Not before fixing her frozen garage door though.

Humm...I wonder if Julie will want to hang out some more with these strange people?

"Whoever claims to be in him must walk as Jesus did."

Well I'm on my feet. I'm inspired. How bout you?

2003-02-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

It's getting busy in the neighboorhood where we live! Last saturday Benno and Pauline moved here because they believe that God has a plan for the people in this area. They want to be responsible AND get involved so decided to come live here. Hilde (also one of the leaders) was the first one who bought a house here, they are the second... And know Peter and Carin decided to follow them. They bought a house just outside the Molenwijk last week. You can see some pictures below. Peter en Carin, although it takes a while untill you get the keys (September 2003) I want to give you guys very warm welcome! It's awesome to see you take this radical step!

2003-02-01T03:08:00.000-08:00

Found out yesterday that the repetition of the television programme "De Verandering" (where I tell the story about my adiction to gambling) has already be on. The producers told me that the EO would broadcast it coming thursday, but they were wrong. I'm sorry if you have missed it because of the wrong information I gave you. If you really want to see it, let me know. You can always borrow my video.

There's a great site in Holland that shows how many people watched which television programme on which day. The episode with my person in it got a pretty high score. The viewing figure was 1.4. This means that 204.000 people watched the programme. Pretty good don't you think? The first broadcast had 145.900 viewers.

2003-02-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

Still struggling with my computer. It doesn't shutdown correctly (way too fast) and once and a while I get the blue screen (not good at all). I've decided to re-install Windows again. Maybe that will solve the problem. On the other hand; most of my hardware is plug-and-pray, so maybe I will lay on my hands and aks for a miracle.

2003-01-31T01:38:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty hectic lately. Computer problems on top of that. Had to install Windows and all my other software again, aaarrrggg... So you can imagine how I feel right know. In a few minutes we will have a meeting about churchplanting in our house. Hope to write some more later on the day.

2003-01-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

"Jesus’ program of discipleship was simple. Hang out with the disciples; let them see you at your best and worst; spend lots of time alone; teach truths none of your disciples can grasp at the moment; avoid crowds; go slowly; spend hours in solitude; don’t worry about opposition; ignore criticism; and don’t expect immediate results."

Good word from Mike! More in his article.

2003-01-27T01:27:00.000-08:00

Travelled to Alphen a.d. Rijn yesterday to speak at a youth service with something like 300 young men and women. The team that invited me prepared a great show with video, music, images, smoke and stories. The theme was Inside-out, illustrated by a big skeleton on stage. Maybe scary to some, but a pretty good symbol to illustrate Inside-out. After two really funny (and professional) video compilations about the Ideal Christian (a parody on Idols) I got a change to share Gods story with them. The responce was pretty good. You can watch the video and see some pictures on their website.

2003-01-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking lately why I have the tendency to separate my 'christian life' and activities from the rest of my life. God is speaking about this issue for a while now and it's definitely something I want to see changed more and more. Somehow their seems to be a huge block (in me and others) to conclude in a prayer for example, if we were just hanging out together as friends. As if you need to be in a special meeting with a commonly agreed spiritual purpose to say a prayer. I don't mean that you have to pray during every meeting you have. But sometimes I get the feeling that we live two different and separated lifes; a normal life and a Christian one.

Where do these blocks come from? Why can it be so hard to have fun together and invite Jesus in the same normal meeting?

You can mail me your thoughts here.

At least yesterday evening was different and I got really blessed. What happened? We invited Karin for a dinner. She is in Holland at the moment and worked as a missionary in Suriname last year. She does a great job helping to start housechurches and small groups. We also invited Benjamin for the dinner, he is a stagiar for a couple of weeks. And Benno & Pauline (who just bought a house in our neighboorhood) joined us too. We had lots of fun during the dinner. Everybody needed to prepare his own food in little pan's (we call this 'courmetten' in Holland). When almost everybody had enough I had the idea to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. So we did. We told eachother stories about what God has done in our lifes lately, cried a little and laughed together. Then we remembered the story of God and became silent for a while when we realised what Jesus has done for us at the cross.

We past the bread to one another. There was still some left. So each of us held a piece in his hand and prayed for his non-christian friends. That they would become part of the community of Jesus too. Then we paused and remembered the covenant He closed with us. For better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and health, to love, charish eachother till death brings us together in a more complete way. We passed the wine and drank the cup of LIFE. And smiled...

Everything came very natural and we spontaniously started to encourage eachother with words that seemed from God. It was awesome! So simple and I thought by myself: Why do we have the tendacy to keep our Christian customes away from our normal daily activities such as an evening meal?

Just give it a thought o.k.?!

2003-01-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

A new look for the website of Dawn Ministries. Looks great guys!

2003-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Today was my free day. It started pretty good with some extra sleep. Thanks Maresca!. All you parents out there know what a blessing that can be. In the afternoon (I woke up at 12.00 ;-) I worked on a website I'm developing for a organisation that supports primary schools. You can check it out here.

In the late afternoon we went to vote for our national elections. After that we took our kids to McDonalds. I don't like there food anymore, but it's a real treat for Joelle en Nadia. Great to see their happy faces over their happy meals. They both received a character of the muppet show. I swallowed a Chickenburger and some fries.

2003-01-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

In february I hope to start with the first "Sapphire Training" (came up with this name a minute ago). This is a training opportunity for (young) people who want to be involved in planting Jesus-groups (housechurches, housegroups, organic churches etc.). The course is designed to train believers to do the works of Jesus and be missionaries right where they live and work.

Through this I hope to help people of the Road to fulfill their vision. I believe very strongly that God has a call on every life to accomplish something that is unique and beautiful (like sapphire). During the training, that takes 20-25 weeks, we will learn the basics of expanding the kingdom, discipleship, churchplanting, ministry and missions. The course has a good balance between theory and practice. For example: you need to be or get involved in leading/starting a Jesus-group besides the weekly gatherings. Up till now three people signed up and four more are seriously thinking about it.

If you're Dutch you can find more information here.

2003-01-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

Had an African party yesterday with the church we're part off. One of the single mothers (we have a lot of those in our neighboorhood...) wanted us to dedicate here children to God and pray for a blessing over them. So we did. She invited a lot of African family (from Belgium) and friends. There was a good crowd in the gym we rent. After the dedicational(?) service we had a great African meal. Lots of food, laughter, children running around and more chicken then we could handle.

The Pizza Party on saturday went well too. To my surprise some of the teenagers want to spend more time at the parties to read the bible and pray together. At least that's what they told us during the meal. They are more serious than I could imagine. After the meal we talked about sexuality, the differences between boys and girls in this and how to deal with masturbation etc. A friend of mine Dick Baarsen wrote an interesting article on sexuality. It is also availible in English and you can find it here. You might not agree with everything he writes, but it sure makes you think.

Also nice to read that these parties seem to inspire other Christians. Marc v/d Woude from Joel News wrote an article about us in his latest edition. Will be availible on his website soon...

2003-01-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

For all the (digital) storytellers out there:

This book deconstructs and challenges much of what has gone as accepted preaching and teaching in the church. Questioning generally accepted homiletical teaching in seminaries by challenging teachers to integrate media into their teaching. This goes far beyond PowerPoint and video clips and moves into existing communication patterns and challenges the reader to rethink how and what we communicate when sharing the Gospel.

2003-01-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

Although some people wrote me they didn't appreciate my humor, I decided to continue with putting funny (and serious) stuff on MY blogsite anyway. Today's contribution comes from Iggie:

Here are The Lost 10 Traits of Postmodern Apostles, uncut and unedited:

1. Postmodern Apostles blog a lot. They double as theoblogians.
2. Postmodern Apostles most likely quit or were fired from their last jobs as Pastors (aka Church marketing directors)
3. Postmodern Apostles aren’t afraid to admit they want to go fishing on Sunday Mornings, or watch whatever is on ESPN
4. Postmodern Apostles lost their ties, and the tie rack after their last move.
5. Postmodern Apostles read TheOoze and Ginkworld and don’t delete their Internet Explorer Histories anymore.
6. Postmodern Apostles quit locking up the R Movies from the Kids and actually started explaining to them what the movies were about.
7. Postmodern Apostles used to Powerpoint, but since have joined Powerpointers Annonymous.
8. Postmodern Apostles used to make more at That Other Church, Inc. But that’s ok.
9. Postmodern Apostles cancelled their subscriptions to Christianity Today without the fear that they were losing their salvation, or going straight to hell without passing Go.
10. Postmodern Apostles drink beer, just like they used to, but now they don’t hide it when they bump into That Other Pastor in the checkout aisle at the grocery store.

2003-01-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Received the picture below a minute ago from my good friend Benno in a e-mail called "FRODO FAILED?". Pretty funny don't you think?

2003-01-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Just finished the lay-out of the new website for the VPE. This is the denomination I'm connected with. You can have a look here. BTW: most of the links aren't working yet, but some will so you can get an impression anyway.

2003-01-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Feel a little discouraged today. I'm grumpy, irritated, aaargggch. I know why, but in this case that even makes it worse. The reason? Got a lot of bills and letters lately of company's who want a share of OUR money. I don't feel like giving them some, but they have the power you know. They can close down our water supplies and electricity. I wouldn't be able to blog anymore and remain grumpy for the rest of my life :-( Well if you can call a life without blogging a life. No, I don't want to, but I'm going to pay them anyway.

Oh and our insurrance company decided to increase our premium for medical expences. We have to pay 4244 euro's a year now! THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY! We could have a great vacation with this money if I had enough faith to believe that God would heal all our sicknesses in 2003... We could even travel to Nigeria to visit T.B. (you must have heard of him). POING (the kind of poing you hear when you have a good idea). Maybe that's the solution.

2003-01-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

This is a new day. O yeah! We can all start to phone to our weblogs now, thanks to newbay.

"FoneBlog is a comprehensive software system that allows mobile phone users run personal websites (called "blogs") by sending pictures, text and soundclips from their phone. FoneBlog gives mobile users the power to run personal websites on any topic!"

More info.

2003-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

"The pastor stands as the Church’s superman. We require him to jump tall buildings, to be stronger than a locomotive, and deflect bullets. We expect pastors to help the poor, cloth the naked, visit the imprisoned, and pray for the sick on our behalf. After all, our parent’s generation was a busy one-- there wasn’t enough time to do religion. We needed a hero-for-hire..."

More good stuff here.

2003-01-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Working very hard today to answer some of the 60 e-mails I found in my Inbox after the week of prayer. I wonder why those people didn't pray just like me instead of working their buts off to send their long e-mails ;-) Days like this one give me the feeling that I am a fulltime e-mailer... You know what I mean?

2003-01-12T00:39:00.000-08:00

I have a digital camera. I have a digital camera. (dancing around in my office). Bought it yesterday from the Christmas bonus I got in december (see pictures). It feels great! Hope to put on some photo's as soon as I have connected the USB cable.

In the evening me and Maresca watched the movie "Enemy of the State" with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. Good movie! Pretty scary if you realize what 'wrong people' can do with all the technology we have. Did you know for example that the FBI can track down the websites you've visited? They can even watch over your shoulder when you're surfing....

2003-01-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

Today I travelled to Amsterdam to finish my class on housegroups / housechurches I've teached at Azusa theological semminary the last couple of weeks. Had a good time with the students again. They had good questions and there was a lot of interaction. We talked about reproduction, different forms of housegroups and a simple way to start housechurches found in Luke 10. I teached for 2,5 ours, so I'm pretty tired right now...

Did you watch "De Verandering" yesterday evening? I got some responces already, but I'm still interested in yours. You can mail me your thoughts here.

BTW: I had a good midweek. Met some great leaders and got a change to get some extra sleep, which I really needed ;-) Also talked with a publisher who might be interested to publish the Journey, a Tolkien-esque fantasy game I'm writing to train young people in spirituality and ministry. I'll let you know what happens.

2003-01-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

Leaving tomorrow for a midweek of fasting and prayer in Doorn together with some other (national) leaders. Looking forward to meet God and make new friends. I hope to get back to you (through this blogsite) coming friday.

BTW: coming thursday I'll be on Dutch Television in the programm "De Verandering" (The Change). If you live in Holland you can watch me tell the story of how I met Jesus from 23.10u at Nederland 1.

2003-01-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Home sweet home!

2003-01-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we arrived in Bant to spend the weekend with our family. The kids have a great time here with their favorite uncle Yanto. I hang out on the couch most of time... reading or doing nothing. Tomorrow we will have a look at the Batavia, eat at a nice restaurant and after that I will travel homewards. Maresca and the children will follow the day later.

2003-01-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Hope you had a good night... we did. Let off fireworks together with Borja who also joined the party at our house. After midnight we went for a walk through the neighboorhood blessing everybody with our wishes ands getting blessed by theirs. It was a great feeling. I don't know why but somehow people seem more connected on New Years Eve. Some kind of bond. There's a common feeling that we stand not alone but together. Somehow related to eachother. Existing through the same Source. Created by the same Spirit. Met several people I didn't meet before. Shaking their hands, wishing eachother the best for the coming year. I LIKE this party. Mail me your thoughts here.

I've tried to fight against it, but can't resist the thought: THIS IS A NEW DAY! I know, I know, as a Christian you can start all over each and every day, but somehow New Years Day is different. I have more plans, things I want to improve, create, change, new things to try out. Want to spend my time more effective, be in Gods presence more often, organise more parties, tell better stories, share greater gifts. O yeah, this is a new day and a new hope is breathing in my heart!

2002-12-31T06:46:00.000-08:00

I've just sent the following message to everybody I know. If I forgot you or don't have you e-mail here it is anyway:

At the end of 2002 we want to wish you and your family a blessed, happy and most of all worthwhile newyear. As a family we have found that Gods blessing is essential in this. So that's why we want to wish you the following from the bottom of our heart:

"May the Lord bless you and keep you:
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace."

Greetings,

Ronald, Maresca, Joëlle en Nadia v/d Molen.

BTW: You can download a funny newyears wish in powerpoint here.

2002-12-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

Just renewed the Dutch website on churchplanting.

Don't know why, but I feel like blessing everybody. Like Santa or Sinterklaas (if you're Dutch). So here I share a nice book with you from Gene Edwards, one of my favorite Christian writers. The name of the book is: "Revolution: The Story of the Early Church" and you need Acrobat Reader and Winzip if you want to read it. This is what Amazon thinks about it:

The book of Acts is there; ancient history is there; men secular and sacred come alive! An historical cliff-hanger written like a novel.

Have fun and feel free to spread it around...

2002-12-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

Ministering to the unreached paper groups in my small office... At least that's the way Marc v/d Woude puts it. And he is right. "There is way too much paperwork keeping us from the real important things. I'm getting more and more convinced that bureaucracy is an invention from hell."

Father in heaven, deliver us from all evil!

2002-12-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas day. Peace on earth. Happy birthday Jesus! Thanks for joining our party this morning. Great that you've introduced us to some new people. Hope we were able to bless them. Although I'm busy re:thinking this whole event I like and enjoy the warmth ('gezelligheid' is the right Dutch word), good food and quietness on the streets and in my heart. All very good, so you must be the Source. Hope you have a good day too...

2002-12-23T11:19:00.000-08:00

This week our community is spreading Christmas boxes to pour people in the neighboorhood. This is the third year we do it and we've found that it's a great way to bless the people around us. The concept is very simple. At the beginning of november people start to buy extra groceries which are on a list they received. We buy boxes for everybody who wants to participate. This year the theme is "God loves all the people" so there is a product on the list from all the country's represented here. A local school gives us addresses of families who could use something extra. In the week before Christmas we send people out two by two to bless the families they visit.

Yesterday our family went to a lady who has 12 children! Some of them moved out of the house already, but there are enough kids left. Our children really loved to be there. Playing with her kids and cuddle the many animals they have. They were surprised very much by the boxes we had for them. "It's better to give then to receive!" (Jesus)

2002-12-21T01:32:00.000-08:00

I'm getting ready for a leaders trainingday. In a couple of minutes 9 leaders of our community will arrive to spent the whole day 'meating', learning, talking, praying and having fun. If you count the children in, our livingroom will be crowded with 14 people for the rest of the day! At the end we will have a great dinner together. Three of them have prepared something to connect us with eachother and with God. In the afternoon I will give a training on the five purposes drawn form the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The way I see these are: 1) worship, 2) ministry, 3) evangelism, 4) fellowship and 5) discipleship. Hope the training will move us in new ways to build The Kingdom and make disciples.

Found a nice picture on the website of a purposedriven church that makes it very clear:

I think we can learn a lot from these guys at PD. Although there's a little bit too much management stuff in their concept if you ask me.

2002-12-20T00:44:00.000-08:00

Today is friday the 13th. A lot of people are scared. Hoping the won't have an accident or something bad happen to them. I'm glad my happiness and luck is found in Jesus. There's no dark power or bad-luck able to overcome Him!

2002-12-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Just read the following story in Joel News.

Have a party for sharing Christ

About 25 years ago, Norm and Becky Wretlind discovered that loving your neighbors really could be fun. In fact it could be a party! Hosting a Christmas party in their neighborhood was the perfect way to create a bridge for their neighbors to meet Christ. Various additional parties led to home Bible studies, and over a three-year period, more than sixty neighbors accepted Christ as their Savior. Even whole families came to faith. It was like living in the book of Acts! Soon a church was born, and today over one thousand 'neighbors' gather weekly to worship the Lord. As a result of this experience, the Wretlinds developed training materials that are equipping thousands of families across the USA to also "have a party" for sharing Christ.

More on neigborhope.

2002-12-17T04:08:00.000-08:00

Copied this piece from Tall Skinny Kiwi, who copied it from Jordon Cooper, who copied it from Leonard Sweet himself. It seems to be to good not to copy ;-)

I think I'm 'learned professor' most of the times but changing into 'a learner'. If you really wanna know ask my family and friends...

"A Learned to Learner Litany of Transformation"

I used to be a learned professor. Now I'm a learner.

When I was learned, life was a quiz show. Now that I'm a learner, life is a discovery channel.

When I was learned, it was a question of how much I knew. Now that I'm a learner, it's a question of how much I'm being stretched.

When I was learned, knowledge was everything. Now that I'm a learner, kindness is everything.

When I was learned, knowledge went to my head. Now that I'm a learner, knowledge travels the longest foot in the universe?-the foot that separates my head from my heart.

When I was learned, I used to point my finger and pontificate. Now that I'm a learner, I slap my forehead all the time

When I was learned, I used to think I was the best. Now that I'm a learner, I do the best I can.

When I was learned, I was frightened of new ideas. Now that I'm a learner, I'm just as frightened of old ideas.

When I was learned, I looked to the past: to have confirmed the set of beliefs I already had. Now that I'm a learner, I look to the future: to grow, be stretched, and remain open to what I don't know.

When I was learned, I knew where I was going. Now that I'm a learner, I don't know where I'm going----but I know whom I've going with.

When I was learned, I loved to talk. Now that I'm a learner, I'd prefer to listen, because that's when I'm learning.

When I was learned, I had something to teach everybody. Now that I'm a learner, everybody has something to teach me.

When I was learned, I was impatient with dumb people. Now that I'm a learner, I'm grateful when people are patient enough to dumb down to me and care enough to smarten me up.

When I was learned, I thought that all knowledge was a form of power. Now that I'm a learner, I suspect much knowledge is a form of weakness.

When I was learned, life was knowledge about God. Now that I'm a learner, life is knowledge of God.

When I was learned, I knew where my nose was headed. Now that I'm a learner, I go where my nose leads me.

When I was learned, mission meant "go to give." Now that I'm learned, mission work is becoming pilgrimage: mission means "go to learn."

When I was learned, my life revolved around what other people thought about me. Now that I'm a learner, my life revolves around what I think about myself and what God thinks about me.

When I was learned, from the high ground of hindsight I instructed the past on where it went wrong. Now that I'm a learner, the past instructs me about how I can right the future.

When I was learned, the power and mystery were in the big words. Now that I'm a learner, the power and mystery are in the small, simple words.

When I was learned, I thought that the educational system was so much better than the market, the other main channel for the mediation of cultural capital. Now that I'm a learner, I realize just how closed and controlling the knowledge industry can be.

When I was learned, I deemed the great threats those made dangerous by strength. Now that I'm a learner, I deem the great threats those made dangerous by weakness.

When I was learned, I loved to fill out questionnaires. Now that I'm a learner, questionnaires are an exercise in saying "I Dunno" since I keep checking the "don't know" box. ("Don't know" doesn't mean "don't care")

When I was learned, I imagined myself the church's resident "know-it-all." Now that I'm a learner, I'm more willing to admit I don't know everything.

What I was learned, I was always trying to speed things up. Now that I'm a learner, I'm always trying to slow things down, even when I'm speeding up.

When I was learned, I bragged about how our knowledge is an ever deepening ocean. Now that I'm a learner, I shudder at how our wisdom is an ever-shrinking drop.

When I was learned, I said, "Take it from me." Now that I'm a learner, I say, "Don't take it from me." I boast no immaculate perceptions. I see through a glass dimly.

I'm still an academic. As a theologian, I have my little bottle of Windex and am cleaning that glass for all it's worth. I'm trying to get rid of as much fog and film as I can. But the best I will ever to is to "know in part." I will never "know it all." God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) , and God's thoughts not our thoughts.

There are still some know-it-alls out there. Some people are like Moses. They think they can see the face of God . . . and live.

The best we can do is hear God's voice, and in rare moments of mystical and metaphorical ecstasy, gently touch his face.

Len Sweet

2002-12-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a good time surfing on other people's weblogs. It's been so hectic around here that I couldn't bring up the energy to write, sorry. Thanks to the people who mailed me their warm and encouraging messages I've decided to take some time to write again. By the way one of the reasons I have this blogsite is because I want to improve my English... so if you see me making the same mistakes over and over agian, please mail me and teach me!

The leaders of the church we've planted here (in The Hague) just left our house after our monthly meeting. Our whole team became friends, so we see eachother quite often. At least once a month we spent an organised evening together to 'meat', pray, talk, make plans, listen to God, learn etc. I'm really proud of them, because they are maturing in relationship with God & eachother and growing in the ministry God gave them.

Tonight we talked about the new housegroups we're gonna start in february. As a team we've decided to change the housegroups we have a little bit. From february 2003 they will only last for one season, stop during the summer-vacation and then people can choose a new group that will start in september. All the housegroups are also going to work with a theme. In that way the leaders can focus more on their calling and work with their specific gifting. And... everybody in our community has a change to learn from their specific ministry. Two more couples will be joining our team, so instead of the 5 housegroups we have now, there will be 8 in february. At least two of them will focus on non-christians, so I'm very excited!

Other news: travelling by train today and yesterday delayed me for more than 4 ours! One good thing came out though, I've noticed that my patience has become stronger this year. I wasn't grumpy about it as bad as I used to be ;-) Just late, very late...

2002-12-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

Worked the whole evening on a new website for the denomination I'm with. Not much going on further, so I suggest you read someone else's weblog.

2002-12-10T05:41:00.000-08:00

I hear more and more about the Purpose Driven Church. Perhaps a new hype? PD is a concept from pastor Rick Warren who leads the Saddleback Church. Seems like an interesting guy to me:

"Warren preaches with the voice of a Regular Guy, making light of his partiality to Krispy Kreme donuts, stuttering a little, stepping on his own lines. In the pulpit or out of it, he drapes a Hawaiian shirt over a shapeless middle-aged body. His personal sense of style, he jokes, is clothes that don't itch. With the face of a friendly butcher, Warren is to preaching what John Madden is to football. You don't listen for oratorical skill—though he does have a great sense of comic timing. You listen because he doesn't seem all that different from you. Pastors who hear him have got to think, I can do that."

More here.

2002-12-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

My birthday party yesterday was overwhelming. Almost everybody is very busy in december, so normally not a lot of people show up. Not this time. During the morning we had housechurch and in the evening the house was crowded with more than 30 people! Really nice to see so many friends again. Then it happened...

I don't have a driverslicense yet because we can't effort it. In Holland it will cost you at least 2000 euro! But.. two close friends decided to change this and surprised me with the most expensive birthday-present I've ever had. They mailed and phoned all the people I invited to ask if they wanted to help. Some people gave a certain amount of money, others decided to support me for a full year. They collected 150 euro a month for a whole year! More than 29(!) families and persons made sure that I can take between 40 and 50 lessons and do two exams.

This doesn't happen often, but after they told me I didn't no what to say;-) It was like being in a warm shower of pure love. Really intense! You should have seen their faces. They were so happy blessing me with this. Even when I write this, tears are coming in my eyes. It's not just the big amount of money that touches me, but the gesture you know. I had no clue this would happen and didn't know people love me this much.

I'm overwhelmed and want to take the oppurtunity to give a BIG THANKYOU! to everybody who participated in this.

2002-12-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

A lot of young travellers I know recognise themselfes in the younger evangelicals from this chart. The following quotes are from the same book the chart comes from:

“It is interesting that for the most part younger evangelicals are committed to start-up churches. Many existing churches, most perhaps, still function in the modern established pattern and are fearful to take the kind of risks it takes to become a post-Constantinian church. This may explain why so many of the younger evangelicals are church planters. They feel the investment of time it takes to change an existing institutional church is hardly worth it. Like the fundamentalists of the early part of the twentieth century, they have turned toward new soil, especially in the inner cities and among the poor. Here, among people who have no tradition to uphold and no denominational battles to fight, the younger evangelicals find open minds and hearts to the fresh winds of the gospel."

"A major problem of the market-driven church is that it is so immersed with the culture that it has become enmeshed with it. The younger evangelicals, on the other hand, are recovering the church as counterculture. The church, this view argues, should not seek to integrate itself with culture or to baptize culture. Instead, the church should see itself as a mission to culture. The church as the instrument of God is called to carry out God's mission in culture, calling people to come under the reign of God through Jesus Christ."

From: "The Younger Evangelicals", by: Robert Webber. You can find an article on the book here.

2002-12-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

Had a great birthday party today! Tell you more about it tomorrow...

2002-12-07T02:59:00.000-08:00

Made it into Friday Fax today, an e-zine with short news and background information on what God is doing around the world. Friday Fax is brought to you by Wolfgang Simson (from DAWN) and he tells weekly stories on church planting and mission success to 5.000-10.000 people around the world. Here it is:

Holland: church planting among teenagers

"I was at a local house church conference with eighty others today - how to share your lives, prophesy to each other, baptise people at home and so on. In the evening, we had the practical part: Pizza party! Do you want to know what happened?" asks Ronald van der Molen, a young Dutch church planter, on his home page dutchtraveller.blogspot.com. "That evening, we had six teenage guests, including a 17-year-old mother. I asked 'If you could ask God two questions, what would they be?' They came up with some good questions: why is God invisible? Why do demons exist? Is God a man? A woman? We searched the Bible for answers, following which I asked them 'Who wants to trust in this Jesus, and start a new life with him?' They all raised their hands fast, saying 'me, me!'. We prayed for one of the boys, who then prayed for the others, that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit right from the beginning. Later, they said things like 'I feel so free, so happy. I sense the peace. I can feel someone else living in me!'. The evening closed with drinks, and I challenged them to be baptised the following week. Two wanted to be baptised right away. Last Sunday, we held a baptism party with around 80 people, around half of which were non-Christians. I didn't preach in the traditional sense, but simply told the story of God and explained why we baptise people. The resonance was overwhelming; many asked questions, wanting to know more, and some said 'we can tell that you really love each other!'"

"If the world won't come to the church, we'll take the church to the world" Dutch secular television recently reported on Ronald's unconventional methods. He travels all over Holland to encourage young people to plant churches. "I've discovered that church planting isn't exactly the hottest topic for young people between 18 and 25. But when they realise that it's not about inviting the world to the church, but about taking the church to the world, they wake up!" And who is this Ronald? In his own words: "Most of the time, I do three things: I give presents, tell stories and throw parties."

2002-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

We have a huge power failure in the part of Holland (the Randstad) where I live. Therefore there is no train transportation at the moment, so I'm not gonna make it to Amsterdam in time where I'm supposed to teach at a theological seminary this afternoon. To make it a learning experience I've asked one of the students to do the teaching. Her name is Ramona and I'm sure she will do a great job. Right now I'm setting up the lesson with her and during the coming hours she can call me if there's a question or need for advice.

2002-12-05T02:53:00.000-08:00

Working on two articles today for the Bulletin on Churchgrowth in Holland.

One is about youthchurches (monthly youth services) because they are growing rapidly at the moment. The other one is about Rafael Holland (Foursquare in English) because they have planted 7 churches in 2002 and they started with a School for Churchplanters.

The deadline is tomorrow, so I'm going to get busy now!

2002-12-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting chart that does a good job of showing some of the differences between the moderns (traditional and pragmatic evangelicals) and the postmodern (the younger evangelicals).

2002-12-03T06:17:00.000-08:00

Just renewed the Dutch website on churchplanting. Although the site is written in Dutch, there's a lot of good stuff for English-speaking people too! For example: I've put on a free handbook today that might help you to plant 'Dynamic Churches'. If you have Acrobat Reader and Winzip you can download it by clicking here (attention: the size is 1018 KB!).

Bless you!

2002-12-02T02:57:00.000-08:00

Travelled with Benno to Schiphol Airport this morning. To surprise our friend Pieter who arrived from his vacation in Suriname and Bonaire. We just missed him because his plane arrived earlier then we thought... Had a cup of coffee together with Benno and talked about the plans we have for the week that just started.

Also met Rita in the train on our way to Schiphol. She is pastoring a small church together with her husband in the same area where we live. They have a Hindustanic background and reach out to the Hindu's here. The church started in may this year and they are doing a good job.

2002-12-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Had a difficult weekend. I am glad it's (almost) over. Pizza Party was good but heavy. There are problems in the lifes of some teenagers. Really bad situation at home, not their fault though. We might not see one of them again. We are really sad and angry at the moment. But it was good to cry and pray with eachother, share our lifes together you know, with the difficulties. If you want to support us in your prayers and especially the girl who's gone, you're more than welcome...

2002-11-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

Had a nice morning going to the children's farm with my two daughters. Maresca (my wife) slept in while we watched a cow, goats, lots of chicken, rabbits, sheep etc. Was good fun to spent some time with my kids doing all kind of daddy-stuff with them.

This afternoon I worked on the new edition of a digital newsletter on churchplanting in The Netherlands. A lot of copying text and pasting it. Really boring...

Tonight we will have Pizza Party again. We're gonna talk about one of the questions the teenagers have: 'How can I get stronger in my faith?'. Last Pizza Party we prayed for almost an hour together. I wonder what will happen tonight.

Coming Sunday we will have different presentations about the housegroups we want to start in february next year. We hope to start at least 8 of them. Some of them will focus on non-christians, others are organised for people in our group. Oh, I have no idea yet what I should teach or preach tomorrow.

2002-11-28T12:23:00.000-08:00

Wanna have a good laugh?

How many Charismatics does it take to change a light bulb?
Ten, one to change the bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.

How many Calvinists does it take to change a light bulb?
None, God has predestined when the light will be on. Calvinists do not change light bulbs, they simply read the instructions and pray the light bulb will be one that has been chosen to be changed.

How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?
Change, what's that?

How many neo-orthodox does it take to change a light bulb?
No one knows. They can't tell the difference between light and dark.

How many TV evangelists does it take to change a light bulb?
One, but for the message of light to continue, send in your donation today.

How many independent fundamentalists does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, because any more might result in too much co-operation.

How many liberals does it take to change a light bulb?
At least ten, as they need to hold a debate on whether or not the light bulb exists. Even if they can agree upon the existence of the light bulb, they still might not change it, to keep for alienating those who might use other forms of light.

How many Roman Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?
None, they always use candles.

How many worship leaders does it take to change a light bulb?
One, but soon all those around can warm up to its glowing.

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?
Ten, one to actually change it, and nine to say how much they liked the old one.

How many United Methodists does it take to change a light bulb?
This statement was issued by General Conference: We choose not to make a statement either in favor of against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your journey you have found that a light bulb works for you that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your personal relationship with your light bulb (or light source or non-dark resource) and present it next month at our annual light bulb Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long life, and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths of luminescence. Potluck will follow in the church hall, please being a dish to pass.

How many Amish does it take to change a light bulb?
What's a light bulb?

How many youth pastors does it take to change a light bulb?
Youth pastors are not around long enough for a light bulb to burn out.

How many Southern Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?
One hundred and nine. Seven on the Light Bulb Task Force Subcommittee, who report to the twelve on the Light Bulb Task Force, appointed by the fifteen on the Trustee Board. Their recommendation is reviewed by the Executive Finance Committee of five, who place on the agenda of the eighteen member Finance Committee. If they approve, they bring a motion to the twenty-seven member Church Board, who appoint another twelve-member review committee. If they recommend that the Church Board proceed, a resolution is brought the Congregational Business Meeting. They appoint another member Review Committee. If their report to the next Congregational Business meeting supports the changing of the bulb, and the congregation cotes in favor, the responsibility to carry out the light bulb change is passes on to the Trustee Board, who in turn appoint a seven member committee to find the best price in new light bulbs. Their recommendation of which hardware store has the best buy must then be reviewed by the twenty-three member Ethics Committee to make certain that this hardware store has no connection to Disney. They report back to the Trustee Board who then commissions the trustee in charge of the janitor to ask him to make the change. By then the janitor discovers that one more bulb has burned out.

How many members of a mega-church does it take to change a light bulb?
Just one. Light bulbs are kept in the closet which is next to the coffee shop, which is next to the book store, which is next to the welcome center, which is next to the bagel shop, which is next to the music store, which is next to the…

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?
None, the light of Christ is all we need!

From Marc: BTW, how many house church people does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: between 3 and 20 people, dependent on the size of the living room. Because they are not an organisation or a program, they first build a relationship with the light bulb. If the light bulb turns out to be old and obsolete, they ask God to shake it and (if at all possible) reform it's structure. If the light bulb is relatively new, they take it out of the fitting for some time (one month for every year the bulb has been in the fitting), pray for inner healing, and then prophesy it in place, after which the bulb spontaneously starts to multiply. ;-)

More good stuff right here.

2002-11-28T11:56:00.000-08:00

"Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for you or in need. Give me sensitivity to know when that happens and grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit."

Have been praying the prayer above for a while now, and I must say the number of 'divine appointments' have been increased lately. Yesterday for example I entered the tram on my way back home and met Moniek. The seat next to her was free and we had a small talk. I asked here if her shopping had been succesful and she asked me about my day. I told her that I had to take care of my kids that evening and she told me she had two little sons. Then she asked me what I did for a living, so I told her about the church we're leading. Then she told me she was baptized in October this year and looking for a church nearby. We found out that the building where we meet is on walking distance from her home... I hope to meet her again coming sunday.

This afternoon we had lunch with two girls who are doing an assignment for their civic-class. They wanted to talk about our church and had lots of interesting questions. I took the opportunity to talk about the gospel with them and one of them told me that she had been in church for 15 years but never heard the gospel like this... I'm tempted to phone her pastor about this :-(

After the lunch I met Iñaki, a reporter from a Dutch newspaper called "De Volkskrant" (this means something like "Paper for the People"). We talked for more than three ours (!) in our kitchen about the neighboorhood we're living in. Iñaki does a series about Laakkwartier/Spoorwijk and I saw on their website that it is running for something like 13 weeks now (I didn't know about this at all). He told me that the serie was supposed to stop after the Dutch elections, but because of the succes they decided to continue with it. A lot of people are reading it, maybe because it makes them feel better about the area they live in. Or maybe Iñaki is an excellent writer, I don't know yet. He was pretty good prepared though and knew about almost everything I said before in a paper or article. Coming sunday he and his girlfriend Bernie will visit our sunday celebration to get a good impression about what we're doing.

The media-attack continues...

2002-11-27T04:44:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 13.00u this afternoon. I have been going non-stop for tha last couple of weeks, so it feels great to sleep in! Having my free day today. I will travel to the inner city in just a minute, to get a haircut and buy a book. It's just those simple things that makes my FREE DAY worthwhile. Get a haircut. Buy a cheap book. Life is good, enjoy it!

2002-11-25T13:08:00.000-08:00

A “mock” interview with Jesus to think about:

1. What do you think of Christians in this postmodern world?

Most christians have their heads in their Bibles constantly because they think they’ll find eternal life there. But they miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am standing right before you. And they aren’t willing to receive from me the life they say they want. I’m not interested in crowd approval. I am not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Love is not the center of their agenda.

2. What do you think of the Emerging Culture shaping modern Christianity?

I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I‘m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image-making. Do you know what I want? I want justice --oceans of it. I want fairness --rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

3. You are a legendary story-teller,and teller of parables. What’s the importance of it in the Kingdom?

You’ve been given insight into the Kingodm. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight. It hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understanding flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories.; to create readiness. To nudge people toward receptive insight. To get people ready for the Kingdom.

4. How do politics effect the Kingdom of God?

Pray for your leaders. That’s all I ask of you. You can’t serve two Kingdoms. You either love one and hate the other. Or you serve them both luckwarmly. I hate nothing worse than living and loving luckwarmly. If you sincerely want to enter the Kingdom of God don’t invest in the kingdoms of man. Store your treasure in the Kingdom of God where moth and rust won’t destroy your investments.

5. In your opinion, what does the ideal leader look like in the Kingdom of God?

You have observed how rulers throw their weight around. The Kingdom of God isn’t about that, when people get a little bit of power it all goes to their heads. Whoever wants to be first. Let them be a servant. Whoever wants to be the greatest let them be the slave. If you want to be like the King of this Kingdom give away your life in exchange for many. Follow my example.

6. How has the September 11th tragedy changed the American’s view of Christianity?

Whatever happened to “Love your enemies” and “Pray for those who persecute you”? So called Christians don’t even know who I am and they pretend to have a relationship with me. You can’t have a relationship with me and do the opposite of what I have shown you how to do. Who is your God? Wealth or my Father? Are you more worried about protecting your assets or loving your enemies? This is a sign of brother that he loves his enemies.

7. What is the status of Christians in the East?

There is something to learn from them. The world hates them. Does the world hate you? Or have made friends with the world? You keep living on the world’s terms. So the world loves you. You look no different. I picked you to live on God’s terms. The world is going to hate you. How can you be God’s people if you don’t any different?

Any final thoughts? Keep it simple. Don’t pollute your lives with religious rules and regulations. Don’t dress up to impress yourselves. Dress down. And give away what you hold dear to the poor. Solve poverty. Love the untouchable. Learn to live in the world and not of the world. Forget Sunday Mornings. What about the other six days? Or have you forgotten I don’t want part of your lives. I want all of them.

Most of this was written by Iggie Krug with generous help from The Message.

Footnote: This article was not actually an interview with Jesus. It was a “mock” interview in which we pretended to interview Jesus in order to get you thinking. If you are reading this you are thinking…

2002-11-25T13:01:00.000-08:00

A story from Pastor John:

a dog is walking down the road. as he walks, he notices that as he moves his feet the trees move. "feet move, trees move; feet move, trees move" he thought to himself - he is happy, life is good. then, after his walk, he sits down and starts to wonder over the events that just happened. but, as he sits he notices that when his butt is down the trees stop moving. "butt down, trees not move; butt down, trees not move," he thought to himself - he is happy. he thought to himself, "my world is complete - legs move, trees move; butt down, trees don't move." all life came to an understanding and he was happy, and the world had meaning - all he has is defined by his walk, tree, sit, tree life style - everything is centered, he knew his purpose.

one day as the dog was sitting on his butt contemplating the world around him, his master called him for a trip to the beach - the dog had never gone to the beach, and he was excited about seeing all that he had heard about. as he lay on the back set of the car he was happy - the world was good; his life had meaning and he was off to the beach. as the car approached a light and stopped the dog picked up his head and looked around - all was good, the world was centered; he laid back down to sleep. the ride was long, and as the car was driving down the freeway the dog looked out the window - and his world fell apart before him. his butt was down, but the trees were moving - this was impossible, and against all he knew - how could this be? the dogs world needed to be redefined.

did you ever notice that some dogs riding in the back seat of a car just can't sit still as the car is moving? that's because, as long as they keep moving they do not need to redefine the world around them.

modern people are dogs living a complete life, some are pacing around the back seats of cars, ignoring the change that is taking place around them - postmodern people are riding in the back of the car. some are walking around, trying to keep their world in a logical order, like moderns - while a great many of us are riding with our faces out the windows and our tongues hanging out in the wind. yea, it can get sloppy, and on occasion we get a bug in the mouth - but it's fun and we are loving it.

More good stuff at ginkworld.

2002-11-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Some creative ways to share your love of God, his creation and eachother. More right here.

Sand confession:
Take a smoth tray of sand. Symbolise in it why you ache, why you are disconnected from earth, from others, from God. Ask a friend to smooth the sand and remind you that God heals and renews.

With friends:
Find some chocolate gold coins. Take a coin each. Give the coin to someone and share one thing you are celebrating. Receive the coin and listen to one thing your friend is celebrating. Eat chocolate and say the prayer of community.

Lord, we come before you not alone,
But in the company of one another
We share our happiness with each other,
And it becomes greater
We share our troubles with each other,
And they become smaller
May we never be too mean to give,
Nor too proud to receive
For in giving and receiving, We learn to be loved
We encounter the meaning of life, And discover You.

(From: Be our Freedom, by: Terry Falla)

2002-11-23T13:24:00.000-08:00

The teenagers just left the building (with a low Elvis-like voice)... We will see them again tomorrow in one of the housechurches. It was a good evening although Maresca and I were tired and grumpy. But in times like that God often seems willing to surprise us. And that's what happened tonight. After the meal we talked about having the Pizza Party in their home and most of them liked that idea. We want to encourage them to bring what they received here in their own homes. And we also want them to see that God can work anywhere, not only in our house and in our presence.

Then we talked about some basic lessons for every Christian. 1) If you have a problem, go to Jesus. 2) If you have a question, read the bible. 3) If you need direction, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. We asked if there was anybody who had a problem. There were, so we stood in a circle and started praying for eachothers problems. After we prayed for the first teenager, more teenagers started sharing their problems and two or three of them prayed for eachother. They prayed things like: "God I pray that this couple will never divorce (for a girl who just got to know a nice guy ;-)" or "God, we know that you can heal his mother, make that she doesn't need the operation anymore" and "Lord, make that my sister will be nice and calm so that I won't have to hit her that often anymore".

God really started to work in our midst. One moment we were all laughing and the next moment we were crying. That's how church is supposed to be, don't you think?!

2002-11-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

Had a short but good meeting with Matthijs this afternoon. He, his wife and some other teammembers have planted a 'missionary project' in Spoorwijk, The Hague (Spoorwijk belongs to the same area where we live). They have a lot of social activities going on and really do a good job showing the people in their neighbourhood the love of Christ. One of the things they organise is a weekly brunch, were people 'meat' eachother, listen to bible-stories and sing songs together. It started with one group every other week, but the group got too big, so they multiplied it and now they have two groups with something like 25 people each. Matthijs is training someone else at the moment to tell bible-stories in a creative way, so they can start with two other groups in the future.

The interesting part of their community is that most of the people who visit their meetings are not christians yet and 95% of them are women. Matthijs can tell great stories and has an interesting vision on being church together. If you're interested in their newsletter you can mail him here.

2002-11-20T00:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening I travelled to Rotterdam to meet with Erik en Miriam Hoekstra. They planted a church together with some other people and want to reach out to the pomo-people (post modern-people) in their city. They have a couple of small groups running and once a month they organize a 'Get Together'. The last one was about the movie "City of Angels". It was good and encouraging to see them again. We ate together, shared stories, talked about our victories and struggles, drank a beer and concluded with prayer. In short, all ingredients for a nice evening were there.

2002-11-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

An update on the last few days:

On friday I started the course on housegroups/housechurches for 15 students of the Azusa theological seminary. The students chose the confronting teaching style, so I confronted them with their behavior and we had some good fun together. We talked about the biblical basis for gatherings in homes and small groups. Most of the students where amazed while we read scripture together. Many of us have never considered the number of foundational events that took place in someone's house. The first worship service happened in a house. The first communion service was in a house. Jesus preached and healed the sick in a house. The gospel was first preached to the gentiles was in the house of Cornelius. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was in a house. And the first churches that the Apostle Paul started were all in houses.

I also challenged the students to start housegroups all over Amsterdam. Organic groups that will simply meet around Jesus instead of programms, doctrine, leaders or whatever. I was encouraged that 6 or maybe 7 students specificly told me that they wanted to learn how to start and lead small groups. Amsterdam here we come!

Saturday was good too. I travelled to Amersfoort with Kendall to give a workshop on churchplanting. Found out that churchplanting is not a 'hot' topic at all among young people between 18 and 25. A bit painfull for me... More by accident then by desire (or was it godly guidance?) I was able to gather a group of 9 people who were willing to participate in the seminar. By the time we were done they were so excited to bring the church into the world again (instead of trying to invite thew world in our churches) that they encouraged their friends and leaders to follow the seminar too. So a couple of ours later I had another group willingly to learn how to start simple churches, housegroups or whatever you call them. Holland here we come!

In the evening we had Pizza Party again. The teenagers brought some new friends, so the house was pretty crowded with 9 hungry teenagers, a baby and our family. Their non-christian friends were so enthousiastic about the evening, that they decided to meet us again on sunday morning.

Sunday was a little bit too busy. In the morning I preached on dying to your big egoistic SELF. In the afternoon we had a Baptism Party with something like 80 people (two of them got baptised). Almost half of them were non-christians. Normally I would preach a little sermon and do the programm we are used to. This time I decided just to explain what happened. More a Master of Ceremonies then a minister you could say. I mean why preach to a group of people who have never been in a church-service like this? So I simply told them the story of God and explained what we were about to do. Well, God was really working in our midst! The response was overwhelming. A lot of people asked questions, wanted to know more etc. I even saw someone of our group pray for a visitor. One lady who wasn't a christian at all told me about the love she experienced and saw in us. Wow, that's a big compliment. The Hague here we come!

2002-11-14T08:09:00.000-08:00

Spent most of the day preparing the lessons I'm supposed to give tomorrow at Azusa, a theological seminary. The course I'm teaching is about housegroups and it's my desire to challenge the students to plant housegroups all over Amsterdam and of course the other places they visit. I hope to do some eraser-teaching in the ten ours I spent with them the coming weeks. I'm gonna try to Keep It Short and Simple...

Saturday I'm travelling to Amersfoort together with my good friend Benno & Kendall (a missionary in The Netherlands). We are part of a trainingday that's been organised by 12 different organisations who are into the gospel-business. The theme for this day is "Go and reach the world" and we expect around 200 young people to come. Our workshop will be on churchplanting. Are you living in The Netherlands and interested to come? You can find more information here.

2002-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Found some good advice from Andrew Jones (the "Post-modern Consultant") on worship experiences for the new emerging church here.

2002-11-13T02:54:00.000-08:00

Some quotes I've heard that gripped my mind while I was hanging out with Wolfgang Simson for two days:

- At lot of pastors and leaders are not in love with Jesus but with what we made of Him in our churches... In this way the bride fell in love with the bride and that's a spiritual form of lesbianism!

- Questions like: How can we prevent sectarism and heresy in housechurches? and: How and who ordaines leaders? are coming out of fear instead of faith.

- If you have a problem, go to Jesus! If you have a question, go to the bible. If you need direction, go to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you (It's all about KISS: Keeping It Short and Simple).

- Jesus was dangerous to demons, religious people and systems, sickness and death. How dangerous are you?

- If you take the label of Sprite and change it into Coke it will still be Sprite. The worst thing you can do it take the programm of a churchservice, take it into a house and call that a housechurch.

- If you decide(d) to get out of a church-system, remember that the system is still in you...

- Do you want to be involved in starting housechurches? Spent a month in quarantine for every year you have been in a organised church...

- Jesus said: I will build My church. Some people translate this with: We will build His church. Or worse: He will build my church...

Some personal advice. Here you have three practical steps you can take: 1) dig a grave, 2) die to your self and 3) give back what belongs to Jesus!

- Housechurches are a way to disciple a nation. It's not about 'perfect' churches, but about the apostolic meaning of God: to disciple the nations.

- Baptising is basicly using your license to kill ;-)

- In the West we don't need more teaching, we need less. We need 'eraser-teaching' because we've had too much teaching and that prevents us to go out and get the job done.

- In the West the worst thing you can do is make a mistake. This is dangerous for us because the only way to avoid mistakes is do nothing. So, go in the name of Jesus, make mistakes and learn from them!

2002-11-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

Travelled to Doorn yesterday evening for a coaching meeting with Jan v/d Linden. He is my coach and does a good job confronting me with myself, what I say and how I behave. He also helps me to find my place here on earth and to live my life to the full. It feels great to have somebody invest in me, thanks Jan!

By the way. Jan is a Managing Partner at Krauthammer International. This is a company with Jewish roots, specialized in training, coaching, consulting in management, sales and client relations. Their definition of coaching is: 'To commit yourself absolutely to the succes of someone else'. Sounds like a Great, Famous, Jewish man I know...

2002-11-11T05:12:00.000-08:00

Amos 3:7 says: "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, unless He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Spent some time the last two days to collect what Jesus is saying through prophets all over the world. The main message to the church and especially to her leaders is this:

Die to yourself and get ready for the return of Jesus. The endtime is near with it's specific problems & opportunity's and you are not ready for that. Persecution will come, but also a BIG wave of the Holy Spirit sweeping through the nations! Take your hands of My church. Peal your labels from My property. Give me back My church so that I can give it back to the world. How dare you act like the church is yours, step down, lay down your positions and die. Otherwise you will remain alone. If you don't obey, I will judge you! Some of you will get sick, others will fall and some of you will even die. But if you die to your self, I will prepare you for what's coming. And I will let you bear much fruit.

You can respond here.

2002-11-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

Spent the whole day with something like 80 people who are into the housechurch-business. I went with three other men of our group. We listened to the teaching of Wolfgang Simson and had a good time 'meating' and practising things like sharing your life with eachother and learning how to prophecy.

Tonight we had the best Pizza Party up till now... Wanna know what happened?

Last time we talked about getting to know God and we told the teenagers they had to die to themselfes and be ready to give up everything, if they wanted to become a friend of God. Most of them thought about this last week and were ready to hear the gospel now. So I told them God's story, drew pictures and symbols so they could understand what Jesus did for them. After we talked about some of the questions they had, I asked them if they wanted to put there trust on Jesus, begin a new life and receive Jesus in their hearts.

When I popped this question they all put their hand in the air and shouted: "Me, me!" Oh yeah, they were ready! So we prayed together and they asked Jesus to come in their lifes. I couldn't believe this was happening. Six teenagers asking God to help them and fill them! Then we took some time to pray for them personally that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. We anointed them with oil and asked them to pray for eachother. So genuine! And you should have seen them after that! There eyes sparkled and had a twinkle we didn't see before when they told us what they experienced. "I feel delivered!" said one of them, another one told us "I'm so happy!" and another said: "I feel peaceful". And all of them understood in their own way that Someone Else came into their lifes.

There is a party going on in heaven and in our hearts! Together with the angels we celebrate that a couple of sons and daughters returned to the Father! We closed with prayer and drinks and I challenged them to get baptised next week...

Why wait any longer?

2002-11-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

Had a good but tiring day at the studio. Was good to see most of the filmcrew again. We talked about what Jesus did in my life, esspecially in the period when I was a addicted to gambling. They told me the story will be on television somewhere in january, I'll let you know when it will be on.

My gut feeling is that a new day began for Eric Velu Productions and that the river of the Holy Spirit will flow through their people and programms in a new and more creative way. I think God will use them to make and export some international programms that will tell His story. Bless them Jesus! Just do with them what you want...

After the studio-experience I travelled back to The Hague, said hi and bye to my wife and kids and went to a housegroup meeting. We talked about finding out who we are in relationship with God and at least I had a great time being in HIS presence.

Tomorrow Borja, Benno & Pauline, Henk and I hope to travel to a seminar in Petten with Wolfgang Simson. I'm looking forward to learn some new stuff about the practice of housechurches. That was the promise in their flyer. By the way: Benno and Pauline bought a house today in the neighboorhood were we live (see picture). Welcome folks!

They believe with us that God has a plan for the people here and they want to responsible AND involved! Hilde (also one of the leaders) was the first one who bought a house here, they are the second... Pretty radical, don't you think?!!

2002-11-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

Got some help in my (little) office since today! Borja decided to give up his job a month ago in order to do a Discipleship Training School in Haïti. He was hoping they could use him earlier then january, but they still didn't respond... LUCKY ME! He helps me two days a week with all kinds of administrative and organizational stuff (he used to do that for a living!). The room I use is just big enough to create an extra workplace and I own a laptop, so we can work at the same time. During the day we talk about God and His kingdom. He is good company.

2002-11-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

Pffoehh, I had some stressy days! Sunday we had a nice harvest party. All the housechurches contributed and the meal was very good. I hope to get a hold on the digital film that one of the churches made. Maybe I can put in on Internet. It's really funny to watch (if you understand Dutch).

In the evening Borja and I went to Ede where we were invited to help a starting church. In the train we talked about Jesus with people all the time. Not like we planned to do so, but other travellers just started to ask questions. Borja became a christian this january and he did a good job explaining what happened in his life.

Monday I was busy all day with a filmcrew for the programm I mentioned before. This friday I'm travelling to their studio for the second and last part.

On tuesday we had a meeting for people who want to be baptised on 17 november. Johan (see picture), a guy from TV West (a local television station) was with us to see if he can tape this service for a programm he makes. Coming friday I know more...

It was a little bit strange to talk about baptism, read scripture and pray together with a non-christian in our midst. But he had some good questions and was very interested in the reason why people would do something like that.

Today I finally had some time to spent with my daughters! They are so nice...

My wife just went out, so I'm about to watch a movie on my computer.

2002-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

No time yet to blog... Hope to catch up tomorrow!

2002-11-02T03:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Maresca and I watched "The Count of Monte Cristo". Good story about the theme 'God will give me justice'!

I'm supposed to be at a meeting today, but I really have to prepare for coming sunday, so I decided not to go. Tomorrow we will have a 'harvest-party' at our church. The meaning of this party is to celebrate God and say a big thankyou for all the blessings he shared with us this year. We also want to challenge eachother to approach Jesus, the Source of our life. And we want to remember that we are just visitors here. Travelling to the promised land, choosing those things that have eternal value. We asked all the people to bring symbols of the blessings they received. And challenged the housechurches to prepare something together that shows their gratitude towards their creator. I heard one housechurch made a 10 minute movie together and another one will teach us a African dance... At the end we have a meal and celebrate the Lord's supper. I'm really looking forward!

Tomorrow evening I'm travelling to Ede together with Borja who entered the narrow Road in january this year. I'm invited to help a starting church to find out which form suits their identity. I think I will mainly talk with them about the way Jesus builded his ecclesia, how his disciples followed him in what he teached them and how we can do the same. It's interesting to me that Jesus never once created a dogma. Instead, he asked us to follow him. He never said believe as I do; he said pray as I pray, live as I live, be obedient to the father as I am. Hope I can help them to be obedient...

2002-10-31T15:38:00.000-08:00

Good article on The Ooze about being church in our post-modern world here. Also check out the story of Jan Westerhof, a guy I met through the Internet. He was healed from MS and you can watch the tape in Real Media here.

2002-10-31T15:00:00.000-08:00

Travelled to the other side of The Hague tonight, with my good friend Pieter, to visit a very nice couple who became part of our church through the Alpha-course. We had a good talk together and great food. A nice evening!

It was good to be gone for a while because it's pretty hectic around here at the moment. There's a big pile of work waiting on me but also a lot of distractions that prevent me (well actually I let it prevent me) from getting the work done. So I feel restless, nervous and tensed...

One of the things that distracts me is the 'media-attack' I wrote about earlier. The Evangelical Broadcasting company in Holland asked me a few times if I wanted to participate in a programm that's called 'De Verandering' (The Change). It's a programm where people tell their story of how they became a follower of Jesus. Up till now I refused. Why? Because I like it too much to be in the picture (ai, did I really write this on my public blogsite?). And one of the principles I'm learning in following Jesus is, that I only want to do what I see my father in heaven do (check out: John 5:19-20). You know, not my will, but yours be done... This is a hard one for me but I'm learning. So, every time they asked me for this programm, I told them I had to pray about it. And this time God was very clear telling me NOW is the right time to tell my story on national TV. It's a struggle for me, because I'll be on television again and I didn't PLAN this to happen. It also takes a lot of energy to tell your life story a couple of times, not mentioning dealing with the responses you'll get.

Up till now I talked with the TV-fooks on the phone twice. The first time was a brief conversation, but the second one was a interview of more than an our. Then a former police officer came to visit me, who did an interview (or should I say interrogation? ;-) of more than three ours. DANG! Finally I heard this week that the programm makers decided that my story (and the way I tell it) is good enough to broadcast it and that they want to film me COMING!!! monday and friday. WOW, THAT IS A TIGHT SCHEDULE! Monday they want to tape a couple of short films which they will use to illustrate the story I'm asked to tell friday next week. Busy, busy, busy...

Say a prayer for me, ok? I can use some Godly peace, joy and strength...

2002-10-30T04:34:00.000-08:00

Lately a lot of Christians have written about finances and the church. Some good things have been said and some rather stupid ones. No I'm not going to give examples, figure it out yourself! Here's a bible verse that cleared it all out for me.

Galatians 6:6 "Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches."

Anyone out there who needs teacher ;-)

2002-10-29T06:36:00.000-08:00

This evening we have our friends Benno and Pauline over for dinner. I'm going to cook a Japanese meal for them in Teppan-Yaki style (the preparation will take a couple of ours). I don't want to bragg about myself, but I am a pretty good Japanese cook...

2002-10-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

Have been working on the new edition of Gemeentestichting.nl (Churchplanting in Holland) all day. This month it's about 'organic churches'. This is the next thing. The new model. Latest trend. Wanna know more? You can find the website here. Oooohh and for all my English speaking visitors. You definitely want to check out 'links' (cool sites), 'gratis boeken' (free books!) and 'training voor gemeentestichters' (the right button above, this will lead you to a complete manual for churchplanters). All without any charge!

Isn't it great to share the presents you get?!

2002-10-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

Had a busy weekend. Yesterday our weekly Pizza Party with a bunch of teenagers. Their question was 'how can we discover God?' So we thought about that and they gave answers like: read the book (of God), praise him and talk to him. When I asked further they found out that's not enough. You actually have to meet him and build a relationship in order to get to know him. Everybody wanted that, so I told them they have to be ready to give up everything and die to themselfes... They agreed to think about that the coming weeks ;-)

Today I visited one of the housechurches, which was really encouraging. We did some 'meating', crying, sharing, praying and read 1Kor. 14:26, which is a pretty good HBV (Housechurch Bible Verse).

We have some stormy weather at the moment here. A wind-force of 10 and that's a lot in Holland. I heard it's the first time in twelfe years we had a storm like this. Six Dutch people have already been killed! Through the media we've been asked to stay in the house where we are and all the trams and busses in The Hague stopped riding. A free evening after all!

2002-10-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

All over the world Christians start to reconsider the way they do evangelism. Here are the reasons 'modernist evangelism' is largely ignored:

:: appealing to rational arguments or prepositional statements is irrelevant
:: resting arguments solely on a fix, sacred text are irrelevant

We are urged to return to a pre-modern style of evangelism as typified by confessions from the 17th century. Here are the attributes of such methods:

:: encourage people to use their freedom to follow Christ
:: persuade people to do this in community

We are reminded that Christ never once created a dogma (he never said believe as I do; he said pray as I pray). Instead, he asked us to follow him. In turn, Paul asked people to follow him as he followed Christ. Essentially, this is the biblical pattern of evangelism. Witnessing is not setting forth a syllogism -- it is telling a personal story of your encounter with the risen Christ (source).

Wanna learn? Here is my suggestion: Pray the prayer below on a regular basis and expect something to happen.

"Father, give me a divine appointment today with someone who is hungry for you or in need. Give me sensitivity to know when that happens and grace to minister the love of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit."

By the way, it doesn't work if you see this as the newest evangelism method. It has to be a real desire you know... And it's definitely worthwhile to do this in relationship with other discipels, so you can talk about your experiences and keep eachother healthy. If you deside to give it a try, I would be encouraged to hear your story here.

2002-10-24T02:16:00.000-07:00

This is what Marc v/d Woude thinks of the show from yesterday evening:

Watched Ronald van der Molen on Dutch television, lying in bed (fully dressed, so don't worry) and talking with television babe Beertje van Beers. In his weblog he writes: "I'm not sure if I want you to see this... Argghhh! who cares about my reputation; we're supposed to be salt and light, right?! Laugh, cry, be mad, like me, or not, I don't care anymore. At least I did something crazy for Jesus." And crazy it was, to see Ronald talk about Jesus and house churches, sandwiched in between a follower of Baghwan (a Hindu guru), an erotic art exhibition and a skating lesson for girls. Oh yes, he also brought a present for the babe: a Transformations video. :-)

2002-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here's some good advice from Kevin, a homeless guy, who blogs here.

What you can do to help
So, you ask yourself, "Self, what can I do? How can I help homeless people, even though I don't have much?"

Well, there IS something you can do. There are many things that homeless people usually do without, which sometimes seem insignificant, that homeless would be very happy to receive.

This is a project you can do rather inexpensively - and you can make this a project to do with friends, or your Church group, and share the expense - and you can include people of all age groups.

Get some paper lunch bags and fill them with little goodies. This is just a list of things I can think of, that everyone on the streets would need and appreciate. You might have your own good ideas too. -- "travel size" tooth paste and tooth brush and deodorant. A pair of new or clean socks (it's hard to keep feet healthy on the street) nail clippers, a comb, a bar of soap, gloves when it's cold out, a disposable razor, etc. Then add something special, like little Halloween size candies, a personal note that says "I care". You could even decorate the bags with drawings of happy faces and hearts - yeah, even mean ol' grumpy homeless guys like that kind of stuff - even if they don't admit it.

Once you have your care packages together, take them to where homeless people hang out - wherever it's safe for you too. If you aren't a proper adult, bring along proper adult supervision. And personally hand out the packages. Just try to plan to have enough for each homeless person.

Now it does happen sometimes, when you do this, that a street person will then ask you for something you don't have, or you are uncomfortable with giving. Just tell them that the packages are all you have right now, and that you're sorry you can't help more. Sometimes they will try to make you feel guilty so they can get more out of you. Be polite but firm. If you set, and hold to your limits, they will respect you for it. This is a great way of giving. I have received such packages myself - they've always been a blessing.

2002-10-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Just watched the show Tease on Veronica-television, where I was one of the guests. Normally I don't like it to see myself back on television. The TV doesn't lie you know, about the way you present yourself... But it wasn't too bad I think. A friend mailed me that I was very natural, and that was a big compliment to me (thanks Marc). The people of the housegroup I watched the show with, were friendly too. So that helped.

My favorite part was at the end when I had too add a 'hunk' to their Top-5 of beautiful men. First I surprised Beertje (the host) with a present (she didn't know that would happen). I gave her the Transformations-video and she even helped promoting it! Then I added Jesus to the 'Hunk Top-5' of Veronica! I wonder how long He will stay in. It's my wish that no one dares to kick out Jesus. If there's anyone who deserves it to stay in... By the way; do you know what Beertje said when I did this? "Welcome Jesus!" And that's a awesome prayer to start with! Go Beertje, go!!!

Conclusion: I think I did a pretty good job if you don't consider the poster of Beertje in lingerie above the bed. Did you see it? I'm interested in what you think! You can mail me here.

2002-10-22T05:45:00.000-07:00

Ha! What do you think about this: "The most common reason people leave church, Mr. Rainer says, is that it's too similar to their everyday lives. They are searching for a spiritual community, radically different from their workaday environment, that demands a higher commitment." (From: Leaving Church). You can find more good stuff here.

2002-10-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I want you to see this... Argghhh who cares about my reputation; we're supposed to be salt and light, right?! Laugh, cry, be mad, like me, or not, I don't care anymore. At least I did something crazy for Jesus. So here it is. Coming wednesday I'm talking with a television-babe in the Veronica progamm Tease. This is their advertisement:

"Vanavond is het geloof in de Teaselicious-studio! Beertje heeft een diepgaand gesprek met predikant Ronald van der Molen." (Translation: Tonight there is faith in the Teaselicious-studio! Beertje has a thorough conversation with pastor Ronald van der Molen.)

2002-10-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

This evening we have a meeting with a couple from Rotterdam who want to reach out to Hindustani people in The Hague. For a couple of month's we are praying that God will reveal Himself to the Hindustani people around here. We are expecting a breakthrough because this couple used to be Hindus themselfes, so they speak their language... literary! They want to use 'our' building and we're happy to help them. Two leaders of our group will also join in to meet them, get to know eachother during the meal and pray for one another. Looking forward!

2002-10-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

I'm busy working on the new editions of our newsletters about churchplanting. Our hard-copy will be about churches of the future and the e-zine is about organic churches (you can find it soon here). A hot subject at the moment! More and more people in The Netherlands are tired of the church as they knew it (traditional 'pastor churches' with the main focus on the sunday morning worshipservice). They want to live lifes together instead of consuming a programm, so they 'leave' their old churches to start new ones. I've been told that there are 100 housechurches in Holland at the moment. Andrew Jones writes about the changes that are taking place. His article My Gripes About The House Church Movement is worthwhile reading for people who are ready to leave a congregation, but also for those who stay. At the end of his article he sums up a list I don't want to keep away from you:

House Church: What's Cool ?

Seating - comfortable
Bathroom Proximity - always close
Music - if its a multi-room party
No sermon - teaching is interactive
DIY Potential - anyone can do it
Size - small is intimate
Cuisine - bring on the love feast
Freedom of Movement - room-floating encouraged
Security - less likely a bomb target
Speed - It could happen tonight

What's Lame ?

Seating - no back pew to hide on
Bathroom Proximity - everyone notices
Music - if its an attempt at Kum-By-Ya
No sermon - if you're are a preacher
DIY Potential - if you want to be a paid professional
Size - small is bad for babe-scouting
Cuisine - No more pot-lucks in the church hall
Freedom of Movement - expect to be interrupted by the dog
Security - who took my CD's?
Speed - it could happen tonight in your house

2002-10-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

A lot of weird things happened lately. Immediately after the funeral of Prince Claus, the Dutch government fell. Just like that... I travelled to Hilversum that day to be the main guest in the television programm Tease. I spent 45 minutes on a sofa and 15 minutes in bed with a beautiful women (my wife gave me permission ;-) talking about Jesus and churchplanting. In bed I had to suggest a new hunk for their top 5, so I chose Jesus. I wonder how many days before another guest throws him out... I met a lot of friendly people at the show and was surprised to see how spiritual some of them were. One lady told me that she loved Jesus but didn't know of a church where she would fit in. I bet she's not the only one!

Today I spent some time to coach a friend who is a leader in our church. He gave me a great compliment by saying that he never learned this much in a coaching meeting with the manager at his work.

2002-10-16T00:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to see the funeral procession of Prince Claus, the husband of our Queen. The route of the procession came near our house, so we couldn't get out of the neighboorhood all day. I heard they used 6000 soldiers to form a line from The Hague till Delft where he was buried.

If you want to look at some photo's, there's a nice collection here.

Today I'm travelling to Hilversum to get interviewed for the television programm Tease. I'm wondering what kind of questions Beertje van Beers will ask. If you have Dutch television you can see how it went on wednesday 23 oktober at 20.00u (Veronica).

2002-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a leadership meeting with the seven leaders of our church. We meated (to meet and eat), prayed, shared and learned together. We talked about the changes that are taking place because we started with five housechurches. The things we would like to work on in the coming period and the different role of the housegroups we have. Was good and encouraging to see what God is doing in our midst.

Found a great site today about simple churches. Why not share it with you? You can find it here. Do you like it to receive presents? Here is a free book (in pdf-format).

2002-10-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Andrew Jones responded to the '15 traits of a postmodern apostle'. He called it the '15 trials of a postmodern apostle'. Good thinking and wise words!

2002-10-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Wauw! This digital camcorder Veronica borrowed me is great! Visited three housechurches today to shoot some digital impressions. Was good fun to see people respond on the camera.

We see our housechurches as a supernatural and communal way of expressing the Christian life together in homes. They are supposed to be an organic way for disciples to follow Jesus together in everyday life. In these different housechurches (we have five at the moment) we try to rediscover how to be church together in a way that's reproducible and deeply spiritual. Below you can find the four elements we would like to see function in every church. We just started the journey, so there's still a lot to discover and learn. Any suggestions? You can mail me here.

a. 'Meating' (to meet eachother around the table)
b. Interactive teaching (each one has something)
c. Sharing material and spiritual blessings
d. Praying and prophecying together

2002-10-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

Travelled to Dordrecht this morning for a regio meeting of the denomination I'm connected with. Was good to meet some people again and we talked about the differences between youtchculture and churchculture.

Tonight we have Pizza Party again! And I'm trying the digital camera Veronica brought this afternoon. I'm supposed to make some impressions of our church for the programm Tease, which I'm visiting next week. Heard that the show is not running very good. At least their budget is low enough to let me do the filming ;-)