In between the greetings Paul recalls a name: Archippus. But Paul doesn’t send him greetings. No, he encourages Archippus to live his calling to the full and to take it seriously right to the end: 17And, oh, yes, tell Archippus, “Do your best in the job you received from the Master. Do your very best.” […]
Read moreLinguistically, Christianity is a noun, because it indicates the name of a specific group. I want to say it’s a verb, because being a Christian, a true Christian, presupposes work. Maybe we just need to stop here first. People will start jumping up and down as soon as you start talking about works. They will […]
Read moreOn the one hand, many people have a problem with Rahab who helped the Israelite spies in Joshua 1. On the other hand, here she’s used as an example: 25The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with […]
Read moreA relationship is a room or space where people can be themselves. It is a holy place where people dare to reach out to one another, help one another, and even correct one another. If the holy space does not surround and unite people, they do not have a say in one another’s lives. Then […]
Read moreJames’ golden thread of doing is not finished by a long shot. He will hit that nail on the head a few times more. But I suspect he does it because we easily fall back into our old way of doing things and then don’t see the effect of our faith. I must say I […]
Read moreWow, it’s unbelievable how our lives have been changed by technology! Of course, some of it is not good, but some apps have broadened and improved our worlds considerably. Take WhatsApp, for instance. Information is flying everywhere, and we immediately know what is happening in the world. There are no more limits, and no distance […]
Read moreThe ten commandments are not so easy to keep. Often, we don’t even know what the ten commandments say, let alone practising them in our lives. Jesus knew this, and that’s why He summarised the law in simple terms: we must love our neighbour as we love ourselves. And even doing that is not easy, […]
Read moreAre you a forgetful listener or a doer? How often do we hear the Word of God in church and you know the pastor is preaching just for you, but you don’t do anything about it? Some time ago I listened to an excellent sermon. It was about that one thing that you have to […]
Read moreThis is the second part of Tert’s story. Herman is writing it down: In the first part of the story, the beggar told of how someone had prayed for him and how he had been cured of alcoholism. “So, how on earth did you find me?” Tert asked him. “Well, you see, I had a […]
Read moreTert told the story of the day he had breakfast with a former homeless person, and Herman wrote it down: “You see”, said the former homeless person, “I was an alcoholic for 18 years. Eight of those years I was living on the streets. I lost my job, my fiancé kicked me out; I basically […]
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