Category Archives: Blog English

English-language Blogs

Blog English

Who’s responsible?

Last Sunday the following illustration was used in the sermon: “You have a family with small children and a new house with nice things. Then you are tempted to control your children to protect your stuff.” I immediately saw little children running around with dolls prams, hitting doorpost, tables and cabinets. I saw drawings on white walls, peanut butter, jelly and banana on the beige carpet and broken favourite vases. I also saw those neat and tidy homes that look like a museum so you hardly dare to move. Where children are not allowed to do anything ‘because my things’.

Both are unwanted scenarios. read more »

Blog English

Mothers and Fathers

Looking at little children who are playing mothers and fathers, is sometimes like looking into a mirror. They imitate what they see you do. Occasionally you are shocked by what you see and recognize, and you think “Do I really do that?” read more »

Blog English

Do it again

Last Sunday we sang a new song with the lyrics: “I believe I’ll see You do it again”. A beautiful song about trusting God when you are in doubt. ‘God helped us before and He will do it again.’ But at the next sentence they lost me; “You moved a mountain and You will do it again”.

It reminded me of an interview with a famous Dutch TV personality who made a remark about Jesus, “Can’t He just go to the cross again?”and then bursted in to tears and said sobbing “How could I ask that?” read more »

Blog English

Toddlers and our Free Will

In Holland in the early 1600rds remonstrants and counter-remonstrants totally disagreed on the fact of the free will. In a time the ‘elite’ could do whatever they wanted with the lives of the ordinary people, the question if God predestined our lives or we ourselves had a say in it, is a very relevant one. read more »

Blog English

Baby’s and Toddlers

I am not the person who is over the moon for every baby nor the one who does all the funny faces to get a little laugh. I’m more the one who keeps a little distance to see what the child would want. I do like to hold those little ones and to make them comfortable. Nothing more beautiful to me than a baby who falls asleep in my arms.

When they are between nine and twenty-four months I like them the most. They become mobile and go out to discover. I can watch such a child for hours. Everything is being touched, picked up, looked at, tasted and shaken. Everything is being tested; what happens when I throw it? Can I tear it? What sound does it make when I hit the table with it, or the floor, or my brother? How does sand feel, and dirt, gravel, plants? What happens when I squeeze it? Some children hear with everything they do: “no”, “don’t”, “stop”, “dirty”, “dangerous”, “stay away”. read more »

Blog English

Birth and Rebirth

Birth and rebirth are both essential to start life and from both we don’t exactly know when they start and how it will go. We do know something is coming. A birth is preceded with a pregnancy, also a rebirth. And in both cases there has been a desire and a fertile environment. read more »

Blog English

With sorrow you shall bring forth children

After the fall God said to the woman: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;

In pain you shall bring forth children (Genesis 3:16). God says this to Eve after she ate from ‘the apple’. Because of this verse pain at a delivery is sometimes looked upon as a punishment. For her disobedience.

I think this is a strange conclusion, read more »

Blog English

To believe relaxed and to raise as a child

A new series of blogs about the resemblance between growing in your faith and the raising of a child.

The bible compares God to a father and a mother and the church to a family. It speaks about baby’s in faith, about growing in faith and about mature believers. read more »

Blog English

Same-sex Marriage

If anything in Christian circles carries a giant Label, it is gay sex. read more »

Blog English

Spiritual Gifts

Paul writes about gifts -talents- the Holy Spirit gives to people. During church history you see the special gifts are first being reserved for the ministers and later on they almost completely disappear. With the coming of the pentecost movement there came a renewed interest for the Spiritual Gifts. read more »