Just watch this clip till the end. It's moving, so get your handkerchiefs ready... (thanks to my daughter Sosha for showing this MTV unplugged music video to me)
I captured some lambs on video during their secret training session for the world championships sprinting for junior sheep. The images are a bit vague, I'm sorry about that, but remember this is a stealth recording... Enjoy - I think it is funny. And oh yes, I've posted some new pics on my photo blog too.
Go over to John's blog if you want to see something that's really worth checking out. I am talking about his blog, but also about the old lady that ministered to a guy who tried to rob her of her cash... Go and watch the video! (And feel free to come back here - anytime).
"If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing?"
Good question. Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell makes $1,000 a minute when he plays in concert halls. But on January 12, 2007 he took his $3.5 million Stradivari violin and performed in a metro station as a street musician. In 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by.
"In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look."
"It was a strange feeling, that people were actually, ah..." - the word doesn't come easily - "...ignoring me", Joshua Bell told the Washington Post.
Have a look at this video clip that I first saw in our church. Our pastor used this clip to make a good point about another Maestro with a Joshua-like name who is trying to get our attention. Do we stop and listen to him? Or are we just too busy to take any notice?
Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh
Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh
Well, you've probably recognized these words from the song Message in a bottle by the Police, didn't you?
Walked out this morning,
don't believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home
Together with 50 000 fans we were singing, dancing and having a good time in the Amsterdam Arena yesterday. And when we went back home late at night - our ears still ringing - I was wondering: why did they ever stop recording and performing as a band!?
And another question that came to my mind: why are we all singing 'So lonely, so lonely...' when there are so many of us? Yes, that's me, can't stop asking philosophical questions - even when I'm enjoying myself. Seems I'm not alone at being alone...
But I'm wasn't lonely at all, because I went there with my dear wife Lydia, her sister Yvonne and our brother in law Rob and we had a great time together. The Police was as good as ever and I was really impressed by them. It was a fantastic concert!
I'm always listening to the lyrics of the songs - even if they make so much noise that you can hardly understand a word. But I am intrigued by all the questions and observations in Sting's lyrics.
I wish I could have a conversation with Sting about lyrics like these:
Yeah
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Shadow in my heart
Is tearing me apart
Or maybe it's just something
In my stars
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Be a happy man
I try the best I can
Or maybe I'm just looking
For too much
There's something missing from my life
Cuts me open like a knife
It leaves me vulnerable
I have this disease
I shake like an incurable
God help me please
Oh, there's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Yeah...
Well, need I say more? I would love to have a talk with Sting. But one of my other musical heroes is in a better position to talk with him about the Invisible Sun / King of Pain. Check this unique video clip for a surprise performance with this hero. Invisible Sun is my favourite Police song - together with King of Pain. Please let me know your favourite Sting / the Police song!
The Hyves Internet community has 4 million members in the Netherlands (on a total population of 16 million people) and is now bigger than Google in our language area... Hyvers - mostly teens and young adults - are building their very own miniature universe for social networking and friendly interaction. I think you can compare this to the international successes of MySpace, MSN Faces, Facebook and other popular social networking sites. The blogspot you are now reading is my home base on the Internet, but I do post pics, texts and video clips elsewhere too. (See my other blogs in the sidebar of this blog.)
Why do I blog in English and why am I so active in cyberspace? Because man was made to communicate* and Christians are called to participate! The www is the place to be if we want to share our faith in a friendly, accessible, non-intrusive way.
Many children, teens and young adults have their own pages on Hyves and it is exciting to see how actively involved young Christians are. Many hyvers are very open about their personal faith and lots of churches and youth groups have opened their own hyve (such as this one from our baptist church in Hoofddorp). Young Christians also build their own communities on the Internet, sometimes these social networking sites are open to the public, sometimes you need to become a member first in order to join the discussion.
Jesus told us to go into all the world and proclaim the good news to all creations. Just think about this question: What is your mission field today? I think that the Internet is a great place to be salt and light - although it can't be an alternative for one-on-one interaction, personal dialogue and true fellowship in real life.
My contributions to the Hyves pages are mainly in Dutch, but if you go to this site you can have a look at my YouTube video compilation and you can see how we can use the rock idols of our days to point people to the Rock of our salvation. Scroll down to the bottom of your screen (on my Hyves page, I mean), click on 'replay' if the video clips don't start instantly, and look at the story that I want to tell by sharing these music video clips in this particular order (top to bottom). And - please don't get me wrong - I am not only using these music video clips - I am really enjoying them too! I also think that we shouldn't 'use' the Internet as a place where we can impose our views and beliefs on other people, that will only be counter-productive and bad PR for Jesus. But we need to be there, share our faith, be honest, outspoken and accountable and become reliable friends - both on the Internet and in real life. What do you think? Give me a shout.
PS 'They spun a web for me' is an intriguing line from the Coldplay song Trouble, the first clip from my video compilation on my Hyves page...
* Man was most of all made to know and worship God. Nothing else will satisfy the longing soul. Click!
Hi, we are back from our short vacation in Germany and still taking it slow this week. I will read the new comments and answer my email messages this week, but bear with me please.
Just before our holiday I went to see Arsenal, Lazio Rome, Atletico Madrid and Ajax in the LG Amsterdam tournament - together with my daughter Sosha who is a huge Ajax fan. Wesley Sneijder is her favorite player and we saw a fantastic goal (click here) that he scored against Atletico - which happened to be his last goal for Ajax, because tonight we heard that Wesley Sneijder will join Real Madrid for 27 million euros... Sad news for Ajax fans like us, but it's nice to see that Real Madrid is slowly becoming a Dutch football team (Ruud van Nistelrooij already joined their ranks and recently Feyenoord player Royston Drenthe moved to Real Madrid for 13 million euros.)
Have a look at the video to see why Madrid wanted to pay so much money for the Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder...
This is the first part of a documentary entitled The Privileged Planet. You can watch all six parts on YouTube now (if you have some time left, it is certainly worth your while.) "It’s a remarkable coincidence that the kind of atmosphere that’s needed for complex life like ourselves does not preclude that life from observing the distant universe. It’s something that you wouldn’t expect just chance to produce. Why would the universe be such that those places that are most habitable also offer the best opportunity for scientific discovery?" Guillermo Gonzalez, author of The Privileged Planet (Please also check out the website)
“The most incomprehendable thing about the Universe is that it is comprehendable.” – Albert Einstein
“I have deep faith that the principles of the Universe will be both beautiful and simple.” – Albert Einstein
“If the whole Universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.” – C.S. Lewis
If only it were true. Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain was elevated to icon status after he took his own life back in 1994. Truly a sad story. I think Cobain was a great singer and I still wonder whether somebody ever told him about Jesus. "Break my heart for what breaks yours..."
Anyway, have a look at this Hillsong United clip and you will see why I had to think about Kurt. The beautiful lady needs to comb her hair as well (yep, I'm such an old fashioned man). Her name is Brooke Fraser and she has the stunning good looks of Princess Cleopatra in her haydays (believe me, I can still remember.) But I think Brooke's voice is way better. Hossanah in the highest! And let's hope that we will see Kurt Cobain again one day - rocking in the heavenly choirs. God only knows. (Don't forget to watch Brooke's videos.)
Diary of an Island reveals what it's like to live on Lindisfarne over a whole calender year - from the solitude of the mid winter to the bustle of high summer and back to Christmas again. Holy Island is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. But it's also home to more than 150 islanders. Now you can get a glimpse of their lives for the first time... Source
Maybe I will buy this DVD - but I rather go to the island myself one day. Here are some clips from YouTube - just to give myself and my fellow virtual island hoppers some impressions! I like this one:
A son asked his father to go running, cycling and swimming with him. The father looked at his son and said yes.
Now do you want to know what grace looks like? Just turn on your speakers, watch this video and make sure you have a tissue handy.
Check out the Team Hoyt website. Also watch this clip to find out more about this inspiring father-son story from Dick and Rick Hoyt.
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Read more here
You can also watch this video!
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