Open Season

Today I went to the movies to see Open Season with my youngest daughter Pascalle (9) and her school friend Jolieke. Great to have kids for an excuse if you want to see such a movie :-) We had lots of fun!

Learning to be patient

Please Lord, don’t give me a quick answer when a better solution is waiting for me.
More...

'Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel...luckily' -Bono

Sad, thankful and united

Today we had a family meeting in our house. One year ago my father went to meet his heavenly Father. Of course we miss him very much, but most of all we are thankful for his life and for the great example he has left us. It's good to have such a strong family around you when you have to go through difficult days like these. Many family members couldn't be with us physically, but through our prayers we can draw together - even when we are worlds apart! We all take much comfort in these words from the Bible - Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Source

My little corner of the world...

I like to travel around the blogosphere - just to see on my laptop screen how other people are living and what it is that makes them tick! Every now and then I click on the links of some of my fellow bloggers (you can find them on the right hand side) to find out how they are doing. It's great to communicate with like-minded people, or to learn from bloggers with a different take on life.

Anyway, I guess that foreign visitors to my blog also want to get an impression of my little corner of the world in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, so I have uploaded some pics here. I made these photographs recently, during a walk on a Sunday afternoon. I like to go walking for an hour or two, just to stretch my legs and refresh my brains (or the other way around).

Hoofddorp, the place where we live, is a small but fast growing town with a relatively young population. I'm glad that there are still some spots left where you can enjoy the scenery and find some rest. The picture above is taken at the former Floriade terrain (a once-a-decade horticultural exposition / flower show which took place here in 2002. The next event will take place in Venlo in 2012!).

The earthen pyramid on the first pic is called Big Spotter's Hill (well, big for Dutch standards. This hill gives you a view of the former Floriade exhibition terrain and you can also see some planes taking off and landing at nearby Schiphol Airport). The second picture shows the so called Haarlemmermeer pavilion... I think this building is well-designed. It looks vacant now, but there used to be a small restaurant and an exhibition with some historic background information about this area.

Story, Recapture the Mystery

Next Spring we hope to publish the Dutch translation of Story, Recapture the Mystery - a great book written by Steven James. Story is 'a poetic retelling of the redemption story for a postmodern audience' - as one of the customer reviews at Amazon aptly describes. Another reviewer is also 'spot on':

When you string enough wasted moments together, you get a wasted life. I don't think there are too many followers of Jesus around anymore. There are plenty of churchgoing admirers, but most of us would rather not leave our nets behind and follow him. Instead we prefer dragging the nets onshore with us so we can have the best of both worlds. Believe the story and you'll finally enter it for yourself.

Majestic song

I heard this beautiful song on BBC's Songs of Praise - last Sunday. The melody and the words stay with me and I am humming this song all day...

King of Kings, Majesty
God of heaven, living in me.
Gentle Saviour, closest friend
Strong deliverer, beginning and end
All within me falls at your throne:

Your Majesty, I can but bow
I lay my all before You now
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve Your Majesty.

Earth and heaven worship You
God eternal, faithful and true
- who bought the nations, ransomed souls,
brought this sinner near to your throne.
All within me cries out in praise:

Your Majesty, I can but bow
I lay my all before You now
In royal robes I don't deserve
I live to serve Your Majesty.

(W&M Stuart Townsend)

Now what are you waiting for??

You don't know how many people I've met who have said to me "Keith, I agree that more people need to go to the mission field, but I've never heard God tell me to go." Well, the truth is that God has already told you to go in His Word. In fact, He commands you to go... "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." ( Mark 16:15) That's right... YOU ARE CALLED! In fact, if you don't go, you need a specific calling from God to stay home. Keith Green

"No one has the right to hear the Gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once." Oswald J. Smith

Get out of your mind the idea of expecting God to come with compulsions and pleadings. When our Lord called His disciples there was no irresistible compulsion from outside. The quiet passionate insistence of His "Follow Me" was spoken to men with every power wide awake. Oswald Chambers

Here I Am, Send Me (Keith Green)

Oh lord, there’s just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
Oh lord, this world is falling apart,
Dying for love from a broken heart.

Here am I, send me, though there’s really not that much I can do.
What I have seems so small, but I want to give it all to you.

Oh lord, you said the harvest was great,
But lord, looks like the workers are late.
Its getting hard to understand,
How they ignore your great command.

Here am I, send me, though you said the ones who labor are few,
Still my heart hears the call, and I wanna give it all to you.

Oh, to reach the ones nobody does,
Give up my pride and even work in the mud,
I wanna be like those who spilled their blood,
And gave it like water to you.

Oh lord, there’s just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
It seem this world is falling apart,
Lord wont you send me?

Oh lord, there’s just so much to be done.
Oh lord, so many souls to be won,
Oh lord, this world is falling apart,
Crying for love from a broken heart.

Here am I, send me, though there’s really not that much I can do.
What I have seems so small, but I want to give it all to you.

Here am I, send me,
Though you said the ones you’ve chosen are few,
Still my heart hears you call,
And I wanna give it all to you.

And this is still true today

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Not afraid to dissent

"True Christianity is essentially dogmatic... Jesus Christ was not 'broad-minded' in the popular sense of the word; He was not prepared to accept as valid all views on every subject. Jesus Christ was not afraid to dissent from official doctrines He knew to be wrong [or not politically correct] and to expose error." John R. Stott

Precious jewels

A Pastor from Australia had a dream in which God said to him, "If you had some precious jewels, where would you keep them?" The Pastor said, "I'll keep them under lock and key and I'll keep a guard at the door so that nobody can steal them, Lord." The Lord said, "That is exactly right, so go and tell everyone to go to the prisons and preach the gospel so that my precious jewels will be returned to me." Source: Rev. Hono Huirama, New Zealand

Less mess, less stress

Recently we decided to get rid of some of our 'priced possessions' (I really mean rubbish!) Years ago we started with a small apartment with more than enough space for the two of us. Later we started collecting 'things' and this only became more after we moved to a bigger house and became the proud parents of 3 lovely children. These little kids became bigger kids and our little mess became a bigger mess. And now, with both of us working, it seems like we are constantly trying to stop the avalanche. For every item that we throw away, we get three new items in return (well, at least that is how it feels to me!)
Of course I am exaggerating, but perhaps you know what I mean. We just have too many things and we need to make our lives a little less complicated by getting rid of our excessive possessions.
I am sure eBay (and similar sites) will be pleased with this development and maybe some other people will also be happy with the things that we want to get rid of...
Too much possessions, too much stress... I had to think about this after visiting Sean's site. Listen to his great 'Stuff' song here - I'm sure you'll like it!

The war within

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... Romans 7:18-25

Today, September 11, I think about all the evil that takes place in this world. Our planet is full of violence, war and terror and all of this just makes me sick. And - to be completely honest - when I think about the war of sin that so often is raging within my own mind and body, I don’t feel much better!
I am thankful for the honesty of Paul, the man who wrote frankly about the war that was going on in his own life. He didn’t try to cover it up, but was very open about the fact that he was completely lost without God's grace.
Jesus lived in this same wicked world. He was crucified by sinful people like me who just didn’t know what they were doing. And... He forgave them! Whenever I feel bad about this world and about myself, I turn to Jesus, just like Paul did. His victory over evil is sure and his righteousness endures forever.

Carried away

"Two thousand years ago, You came into Jerusalem in humility, Lord, just as You come into our world today. You stooped to conquer then and You stoop to conquer now by visiting our little lives - our miniature moments. Some people welcomed You then, and some people welcome You now, little realizing that accepting You as Saviour means accepting Your cross."

Jill Briscoe, The Deep Places Where Nobody Goes, p. 45

The only thing I contributed to my salvation was my sin

Jesus is a hard act to follow... He had to fight against temptations, but He never fell into temptation. I am so unlike Him... He carried the cross and - because of all the pain that we caused Him - wasn't able to walk without stumbling. The Roman soldiers ordered a man, his name was Simon, to carry the cross for Jesus. This is how my Lord arrived at his place of execution - and sometimes I still feel guilty about this. But why? Was it my sin that caused this suffering? Yes, I do believe so. Is He still blaiming me for this? No, I know that I am forgiven! Do I need to feel quilty? No - I just need to say Thank You. Or in two other languages - grazie, merci... which really means grace and mercy - so I'm told.

Jesus, sinless Saviour, You took my place. Thank You! Let me carry your cross, even if I stumble and fall time and time again. Please Lord, lift me up - renew my strength. As a human being, I can't finish this journey on my own - I wouldn't even know where to start. I desperately need your grace and mercy - right here, right now. I trust that You will carry me all the way. Amen

Whom Shall I Fear?

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
I am Yours

Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Lyrics by Mark Hall, Casting Crowns

Just love this song...

Knock, knock

I wanted to use the new Blogger beta version, so I decided to make a fresh start today with a brand new blog! 'But a Poor Reflection' is referring to me and to my modest writings... With this blog title I am also - indirectly - pointing at my source of Light and Life: Jesus Christ. I can only try to describe my feelings and beliefs in simple human language and hopefully some people can relate to my thoughts and reflections. I will not add any new posts to my 'old' weblog, Panda's Ponderings, but you can still have a look over there if you want to know a bit more about me. Thanks for visiting - feel free to drop me a line and please do come back!

PS How do you like the C.S. Lewis quote? I like this one too, "If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning."

Pic for profile