Q&A with Art Ruch

Art: Paul, you live in the Netherlands. Dutch is your native language but you speak (or at least you write) English very well. Where did you learn English and does blogging in English help keep your language skills up?
Paul: Thanks for the compliment! I learned English at school. Dutch people need to speak foreign languages because most foreigners refuse to learn Dutch - don't ask me why. I used to work for an international company about ten years ago in marketing communications. Working in an international environment helped me developing and improving my language skills. Now I work as a publisher in the Netherlands but I still have many international contacts so I do need to speak my languages.
Blogging in English is very helpful - I do pick up some new expressions and words like sanded drywall. I'll admit I had to google that one.
I blog in English because I enjoy the international contacts and I like to know what is going on in the rest of the world.
My English is good enough to communicate, but I can't express myself as good as in my own language of course. I am always a bit worried about making grammar mistakes. I don't mind if people point them out, because that's the only way to learn from them.

Art: You are a committed Christian living in a country and on a continent not known for having a strong Christian base. Is this true, and if so, how does the Dutch Christian community deal with being a minority?
Paul: How can you say that this continent doesn't have a strong Christian base? Where did Luther come from and where does the pope live?
But seriously, I think that in Europe there are still millions of nominal Christians - but more importantly, there are many real followers of Christ too! Many people do hold on to traditional Christian values and ideas, even if they don't attend church regularly or don't consider themselves to be 'Christian'. I think it is important to rediscover the ancient roots of Christianity in Europe and I hope that more people will go back to the Source of living water: Christ himself.
Two months ago I quoted Sadhu Sundar Singh here, who wrote about the West,"They have for centuries been surrounded by Christianity, entirely steeped in its blessings, but the Master's truth has not penetrated them. Christianity is not at fault; the reason lies rather in the hardness of their hearts. Materialism and intellectualism have made their hearts hard. So I am not surprised that many people in the West do not understand what Christianity really is."
As a publisher, a writer and a blogger I want to share my faith. I try to inform people about what Christianity really is by pointing them at the Master who is not just the founder of an old religion, but the Creator of the universe and the eternal Source of love and life.
It is true that Christians constitute a minority in Europe as a whole and in the Netherlands in particular, but we are still a force to be reckoned with and - like salt and light - we can still have a strong and positive influence on society.
I don't think that we must try to impose our Christian views on secular society - Jesus never asked us to do that. We are called to lead by example. All to often Christians are only protesting and complaining about 'the world'. I believe that it is better to try to live as followers of Christ day by day. We must care for the people around us, be a positive force in our communities and show people what it means to be loved and changed by Christ.

Art - You blog about spiritual issues, offer devotions and thoughts on your faith. You also work in Christian publishing and writing. Obviously, you have many thoughts to share. Have you ever thought of going into the full-time ministry?
Paul: Well, if you define full-time ministry as a professional pastor's or preacher's job, than I have to say that I never considered that option. I think that you must have a real calling to be a minister in that sense. But as followers of Christ we are all called to be full-time witnesses and light-bearers. If you call yourself a Christian, people will look at you and you have a responsibility to live up to that name. Maybe you are the only 'bible' people will ever read. It's quite an impossible task to represent Jesus in this world, though. I do hope that people will realise that I am - at best - just a poor reflection of the Original.

Art: You are a parent of children who are quickly growing up. What is your advice to them? What hope or fear do you have for the world they will grow old in?
Paul: I am worried about the future of this planet and when I think about climate change, global political and religious tensions and the devaluation of values, morals and ethics (to name just a few things), I sometimes wonder what the future will hold for our kids. But by raising them with love and respect and by showing them the power of our faith in Christ, we can give our children the best preparation for life.
We are blessed with three healthy and bright kids - two of them are doing bilingual education (Robin, 15 and Sosha, 13) and the third one (Pascalle, 10) is also a girl of many talents. I trust that God will take care of them and that He will guide them in all their ways.
I am more excited and curious than worried about their future, to be honest. I hope that they will stay with us in our house for (at least!) ten more years, but of course we don't know what the future holds for them. My advice for our kids comes straight from the Master: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Luke 10:27

Art: Your photo blog is quite impressive. What do you like so much about photography and, please tell me, what is the secret of taking a good photograph?
Paul: Thanks, but I am not really a good photographer so I don't have any special secrets to share. I like photography because it gives you a simple tool to capture beautiful memories, faces and sights. I do think that I have an eye for colours and beauty and I enjoy watching people and landscapes, but the pictures on my photo blog are my lucky shots. Of course it also helps that I am living in an interesting little country! Whenever I visit sites like Flickr and see the stunning pictures that some people make, I really feel inadequate as a photographer. I hope that my pictures give an impression of the way I view life. There are many beautiful things to see everywhere - if you just stop for a moment and take good notice.

Thanks for the interview, Art and sorry for keeping you waiting so long. I do hope that my answers are as good as your questions. And by the way, do you play chess?

Paul would like to thank Art for the interview. In addition, anyone who would like to be interviewed by Paul, should follow these rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Advocating Idealist

John challenged me to take the test and it turns out that I am an advocating idealist. Well, who am I to disagree? Mouse over any part of the box to learn more about the traits that the colours represent. Here you can read my personality description, and here you can take the test if you want to find out about your own personality traits.

Eight Random Facts That You Really Don't Need To Know About Me

Thanks for tagging me, Pam. And sorry for keeping you waiting so long! If you have some time left, please also read my answers to Little David's meme that I posted right below this blog entry.

The idea of this meme is to list 8 Random facts about myself. Here are the rules, first.
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random Fact #1
I come from a family of 8 (6 boys, 2 girls) and Haarlem is my place of birth.
Random Fact #2
I love to sing and play on my acoustic guitar. I have two guitars: a black 6 string Ibanez western and a dreadnought natural 12 string Fender. But I never play on the Fender because it’s too much work to tune 12 strings and my finger tops are starting to hurt when I play on this guitar. Robin, my son, also plays a black Ibanez guitar – not acoustic, but electric. And he can make more noise than a Boeing 747 during take-off.
Random Fact #3
Outside the Netherlands, I have visited 11 European countries so far: Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, England, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. I live in the Netherlands and I went to the USA with my family in 2003 (Florida). I would love to go to Australia and New Zealand.
Random Fact #4
I married Lydia - my first and only love - on 6 March 1987 and I promised on that day to be her faithful husband until death do us part. I have no regrets and I will stick to that promise. Still love her to bits. God gave us 3 beautiful kids and they are all special, precious and deeply loved. But this is not just a random fact, on second thought.

Random Fact #5
I hate horror movies and senseless violence on screen and in real life. However, like most healthy men, I am attracted to movies and websites with beautiful sexy women and I don't want to look away when they take off their cloths. Can't help myself. If you are still with me now - I want you to know that I am actively fighting sexual temptation with the help of the Holy Spirit, an Internet provider called Filternet and my weak and feeble conscience. I want to be more like Jesus, but he is perfect and I am most certainly not. It's hard to be holy.

Random Fact #6
I only bought German (Volkswagen) and Japanese (Toyota and Mazda) cars so far. I am only interested in cars when I need to buy one. Same with computers. Cars are for transportation, computers are for communication. I don’t like gadgets or games.
Random Fact #7
I love the smells of petrol, tar, wood, leather, coffee, fresh bread, apple pie, cinnamon, hyacinths, lavender, red wine, baked onions, ink and paper. I hate the smell of cheese. Cheese just stinks - period. And yes, I am 100% Dutch.
Random Fact #8
I don’t like telephones and cell phones. Telephones are always ringing or beeping when I am enjoying myself, and I am always enjoying myself so don’t interrupt me while I'm having fun! And if you want to be my friend, don’t call me before, after or during breakfast, lunch or dinner. Don’t call me when I'm sleeping unless there is a real emergency situation. Visit me, send me a letter or an email message if you want to get in touch with me. I love people, I do enjoy your friendly company and I will always write back to you. Please only use the telephone for short conversations. (“Can we have a meeting tomorrow?” “Tomorrow’s fine.” “Okay, see you at ten in my office.” “Yep. Cheers, mate!”)

That is the end of my Random Facts. Now, I tag: Ben, Conny and Manuel in the Netherlands (feel free to write in Dutch or in any other civilized language – we all know how to use Babelfish).

Interview Manna Vandaag

If you want to know a little bit more about me - and if you are able to read Dutch - have a look at this interview taken by Conny from Manna Vandaag. Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Ecclesiastes 11:1
UPDATE see my translation in the comments section of this entry

Twenty years later

I had to supply two pictures for an interview, a picture from my study years and a more recent one. So this is what happens to your face in 20 years time... (pic left is from 1987). But I'm still smiling.

(Look at it this way, getting older is better than the alternative…)
Pic left © Rob Koster, pic right © Suzanne Obdam