Ten Core Values for the Christian life (7)

The Ten Commandments represent ten core values, spiritual values, that will help us to live a dedicated and fruitful Christian life.

A core value is a principle or belief that a person or organization views as being of central importance. I feel free to say that the Ten Commandments describe values that would make for a happier and safer society... if applied.

Let's continue with the seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

When I first started reading the Bible in English, I struggled with words such as adultery and idolatry. I mixed them up from time to time. But you know what? There is some truth in that. Idolatry is spiritual unfaithfulness while adultery is physical unfaithfulness, which basically means to forsake our first love!

God is spirit and God is love and we are not. We are humans of flesh and blood, and we may wonder: ‘Is it possible to love and keep on loving? Is it possible to be faithful to the end?’

I believe it all starts with receiving God's love, renewing our understanding of that love, and refreshing the way we love Him back. What God wants to establish in our spiritual lives, He will surely use in our day-to-day natural circumstances. God is faithful, even if we are not. The Psalmist wrote: ‘Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.’ 

👉The core value I have attached to the seventh commandment is FAITHFULNESS.

We are being faithful to our spouses and to God.

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For more on this topic, read my book 'FIRST LOVE' (Embracing the challenge to pursue faithful relationships). This book is available on Amazon in your country.

How much is love?

Isn't it wonderful, all the Valentine's Day messages we get to see on social media today? Hearts, chocolates, and of course lots of red and pink.

Why not a blue or green heart, I sometimes wonder. Let's not limit our love expressions to red. After all, love is infinitely great. Yeah, and at the same time, as we all know, human love is limited, it is not faultless, and certainly not always reliable.

On Valentine's Day specifically, many people feel sad because they have not yet met the love of their life or because their love has left. There is grief over unfaithfulness, divorce, as well as loss because of death and illness. Love is no bed of roses, we all know that.

Despite disappointments, love is at the center of our lives. We were made to love and to receive love. Yes, to be loved. Let's face it, without love, humanity cannot survive.

When I wasn't yet a Christian, I wondered why people sometimes said to me, "God loves you, Jesus loves you." What does that matter? Why is that so important?

Well, thank God I know! God is love and because He is eternal, trustworthy, and good, so is His love. His love is the core of our existence. Knowing we are loved by God, despite our mistakes, despite our fears and failures... that is the starting point for everything!

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins [you can read this in the Bible, in 1 John 4:9-10].

Power and love

Power and hatred, a dangerous combination. Well, hatred by itself is dangerous enough. But as we see around us in the world, hatred empowered by weapons, money, and evil influence in high places becomes deadly.

How different is the combination the Bible uses: power and love!

I like the way the psalmist says it: But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress (Psalm 59:16). He sings about God's love and about His power!

Power and love go together quite well, with God that is. As a matter of fact, they describe His character, they describe who He is. Psalm 117:2 says it this way: For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord! 👉I like that idea, His love for us is powerful.

Jumping forward to the New Testament, we find that the apostle Paul has a message for us as well, namely that it takes power to understand God's love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is (Ephesians 3:18).

In the next verse, he turns it around. When we experience the love of God, we will be filled with the life and power that comes from Him. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God (Ephesians 3:19).

No matter how we look at it, the Bible shows us that power and love make up a divine combination and experience that we should not want to live without. He gives it to us freely, as we can read in 2 Timothy 1:7,

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I am wondering (and asking myself): Are we people of power and love?

Writing as love language

I once got a diary for my birthday. I don't remember how old I was... maybe 8 or 9. It was one of those diaries with a golden lock on it. You could trust your secrets to paper and no one could get to them. I loved it!

For years I wrote many of my childish and (later) adolescent thoughts in such diaries. When we moved to another house, I threw them all away. The thought of anyone reading my secrets was downright embarrassing.

When I became a believer about twenty years ago, I started writing again. It's called journaling these days. I have already filled quite a few notebooks. And yes, I definitely read back from time to time. It's interesting to see what I was worried about ten years ago, what I had questions about, or what I prayed for. Most things turned out well 😁

Over the years, my writing has, in reality, become talking with God. It has become the love language between Him and me. When I make a journal entry it usually starts with me talking about what's on my mind. When I am halfway the page I often notice that I no longer write down what I think, but what God wants to say to me. You can see this change in perspective quite often in the psalms.

👉 My pen becomes His instrument in my hands, as it were. Whenever it is hard for me to hear His still small voice, I'll write. Do you recognize that?

Even if you don't like writing, you should start... just to have one of those beautiful journals from Flame Tree!

All this talk about parallel societies

Oh, this world we live in! Amazingly beautiful but quite tiresome and frustrating lately, right? It is no wonder people are seeking ways to escape the harsh reality of inhumane measures and restrictions that are still putting limits on our daily lives.

We can read about parallel societies where minorities are trying to seek freedom and at the same time, shelter. A parallel society, it may be a fashionable word nowadays, but in reality, God invented it. Yep.

It is called the Kingdom of God. It is the supernatural realm where His will is being done, His principles reign, and Jesus is honored as the highest power and authority. Two thousand years ago the people in Israel were waiting for the establishment of a free society, no longer ruled by Roman oppressors.

The scholars asked Jesus about it. His answer then is still the answer today: The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst (Luke 17:20). Some translations say the Kingdom is near you or within you. Well, that must have left them speechless. The Kingdom of God, His will on earth as it is in heaven, living amongst and inside of people?!

And yes, the Bible makes it clear, as believers we are not of this world, we belong to another world. We might be in this world, but we are not of it. Jesus said to His followers: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you (John 15;19).

The world will hate you. Okay, so be it. Being a citizen of Gods Kingdom also means we can have joy amidst pain, peace amidst trouble, and love amidst hatred. It is the only true parallel society while we are here on earth. 

How can we see this Kingdom, how can we become part of this Kingdom? Jesus gives the answer: No one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3).

You might want to read my blogseries about the Kingdom.

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The fear of the Lord (4)

'God is outrageous in blessing people who fear Him', I wrote in my previous post. Now, we don't fear the Lord because we want to be blessed (although that would be a good reason), we fear Him because He is God!

I know that sounds too simple. But the Bible says we should fear Him because He is the Creator. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command (Psalm 33:8-9).

We should fear Him because He is holy. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy (Revelation 15:4).

We should fear Him because He is great among many other gods and idols He stands out. There is only One like Him. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4).

And maybe most of all, we should fear Him because He is love! He loved us before we loved Him. He gave His Son to die for a sinful world. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him (Psalm 103:11).

Fearing God means giving Him the awe and respect He deserves. We are called to fear God, not people!

Is your love growing cold?

That we live in 'turbulent times' is probably an understatement, although I believe each generation has its share of ups and downs, blessing and drama, prosperity and pain. There is no such thing as a constant in life...

You may think whatever you like about everything we are experiencing in our world today. The opinions, thoughts, and interpretations of the current state of affairs are endless and quite diverse. I strongly believe each human being is entitled to voice his or her thoughts on any topic, as long as we listen to each other and respect the fact that not everyone thinks the same 😁

As Christians, we are warned (more than two thousand years ago) for times like this. Jesus clearly spoke about the future (which is now) and the things to expect such as wars, earthquakes, and pestilences. 👉Read Matthew 24 for yourself and see how accurate His predictions are.

I want to focus on verse 12 in that chapter, where Jesus says: Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. To me, that is the scariest thing of everything He had to say that day. Our love growing cold, a very troubling thought... and yet we see it happening every day, right in front of our eyes.

People divided and hating each other over politics, over mouth masks, over conspiracies, over religion, over about everything. And if that isn't enough, 'social distancing' is being preached as the new norm which is somehow accepted by many, many people as something to get used to. Really? Synonyms for distancing are dissociation, separation, isolation, segregation (!), alienation, disengagement etc. etc. Think about that, please!

Sin (everything that goes against God's moral standard for living and thriving) will be rampant everywhere (some translations say there will be an increase of wickedness) and at the same time our love for God, country, and each other will grow cold. We must be careful not to go with that flow. Do NOT let your love grow cold, guard it, exercise it, share it! 1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in love.

Let's keep fear at a distance, not each other!

Wisdom and truth are lacking on both sides

Surely, you must have some thoughts about the current protests and riots in the USA, Marja…

Well, yes. Or maybe, no. I don’t know, whether I should even write about events that make no sense at all, to begin with. 

Things have been labeled (without a second thought) racism, a battle between black and white. But you know what, now that you are asking... here's my two cents worth:

I don’t think it is.

This is not about being black or white at all. This is ultimately about good and evil. About darkness and light. As a white person, I am utterly ashamed about the lack of grace the officers showed. On the other hand, if I were a black person, I would be utterly ashamed of the way my brothers and sisters have been responding. Where does that leave us?

👉Wisdom and truth are lacking on both ‘sides’. We all fall short and that, exactly that, makes us all equal.

We need God! We need His mercy and forgiveness. We do not need more hatred or revenge. We need His love!

God, a mystery revealed (2)

"If there is no God, there is no reason for our existence and if there is no reason for it, there is no hope," I wrote in my previous blog post as an introduction to this new blog series in which we examine the supremacy of Christ. .

The Bible passage that I use for this series is Colossians 1:5-20. Verse 15 begins beautifully: Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. In that one sentence we find the key to believing in God or not ... Jesus Christ has made God visible, has made Him known. We must go to Him with all our questions about God, eternity and the purpose of our existence.

That same verse continues like this:

He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things.

Some translations say: the firstborn over all creation. Jesus as always been there. His time on earth (about 2000 years ago) was only a very small part of His eternal existence. As if we were allowed to peek inside his life. He is and will always be superior to all created things.

Shortly before Jesus was taken prison, He prayed to the Father for all believers and said: Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world (John 17:24).

What a great prayer! The love of God was there before anything came into existence! Which makes perfect sense when we consider that the Bible says that God is love. It is with that same love that He loves the world (all people) 💖 ... yes, even if you reject him!

Purpose of the church (1)

For quite some time I have been toiling with the idea of writing a blog series about Ephesians 4:11-13. That is a section in the Bible which describes (briefly but powerfully) the purpose of the church.

I kept postponing it for several reasons. First of all, because I do not want to give the impression that I have answers to the problems and issues our churches are facing today. Secondly, because writing such a series involves the unveiling of some weak spots (and that's putting it mildly) in our church 'system'. And thirdly, because I honestly have not experienced yet how a church should function properly. Nevertheless, I have decided to take a fresh look on the way we 'play church'.

The church is of great importance in society, more than we might dare to believe ourselves. This was the outcome of a research by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) which was published in The Netherlands about a year ago. I quote:

"Religion is an important factor in society. Religious alliance is often associated with participation in society, such as helping others, the commitment of volunteers, giving to charities and voting in elections (Bekkers and Schuyt , 2010; The Heart, 2014; Putnam and Campbell, 2012; Schmeets, 2015). Most often, religious persons are more involved in society than non-religious .... Religion also promotes well-being, weekly visitors to religious services tend to be more happy and satisfied than those who are less likely to attend a service (Coumans, 2014). "

There is, and always has been, quite some criticism towards the church and perhaps Christians are some of their own worst critics. But let's not forget that the more drama and turmoil we experience on earth, the greater the need will be for security, safety and a hopeful future. I think that we as a church (also called the Body of Christ) should be recognizable more than ever before, for example as bearers of light in darkness, as peacekeepers in times of war and as messengers of love in the midst of violence.

I hope you will read along and as always, your comments are very valuable to me and a welcome addition to the blog posts.

Give me an O

In my Bible Alphabet Blog Series O stands for Overflow.

Oh (O) how I love that word in its Biblical context. It stands for an abundant and abounding outpouring, starting with Gods love and grace towards mankind. If the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Romans 5:15).

Overflow stands for the blessings the Lord will bring when we honor Him by giving joyfully and generously. Proverbs 3:9-10 says: Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

And yes, it stands for the sheer joy that we can experience when we are in Gods will, living by His Word. Psalm 119:171, May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. God is a God of healthy overflow, He always gives more than enough, whatever it is we need. And because He is so good and His love is so abundant, we can spill it all around us :)

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

Give me an L

In my Bible alphabet blog series L stands for Love.

Love. What comes to mind when we think about that word? Being kind to one another, tolerance, being in love, motherly love, charity ...?

We probably think of these different forms of human love, but Biblical love is supernatural love. That's not being in love, not a feeling, but love as choice.

God has made that choice: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

He therewith demonstrates the most beautiful and most difficult love there is, that is,

• loving your neighbor as yourself
• loving your enemies and bless them
• loving those who persecute you
• loving unto death

God desires to transfer this heart-rending love to mankind, to you and me. If we look around us, it seems impossible to treat God and each other that way .... but the Bible says love never fails!

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven (1 John 4: 7-10).

We can discuss it, debate it, sing songs and write poems, but the big change starts with our acceptance of His love!


Up next, giveaway of my new release Spirit of Truth!

Give me a G

In my Bible alphabet blog series G stands for God.

Duhh... you might be thinking, of course G stands for God in a Bible alphabet. You don't need to be a scientist to figure that out. But let's make sure there will be no confusion about the identity of this God.

He is the God of Israel! He is the God who shows favor and love to Israel and the Jewish people. This might be politically incorrect, but it is Biblical.

He is the God of creation. He created the vastness of the universe and the smallness of humanity. Because He has the overall picture, He alone is able to give us purpose and meaning in life.

He is the God of love, because no matter what we have done (or failed to do) He is waiting for our friendship. Only His love and forgiveness can truly fill the emptiness that we often try to fill up with substitutes (whether chocolate or drugs).

He is the God of peace who wants His followers to live in peace with everyone. His peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

And by the way...

He is not the same God as Allah, because he has a Son who is called Jesus Christ, the Messiah, Savior of the world.

Restored relationships (8)

Reconciliation: end of conflict, restoration of friendly relations, reunion, bringing together (again), restoration of peace...

This blog series about reconciliation turned out to be a little bit longer than I intended it to be. And even then I barely scratched the surface of this interesting topic. There is so much to learn and read and do and write about it :)

Reconciliation simply means 'restored relationship' and that is the foundation of the Christian faith.

It shows the heart of God: He desires HEALTHY relationships on various levels: Reconciliation between Him and mankind, between Him and Israel, between Jewish people and Gentiles and.... between you and me and the people around us!

God desires friendship with all people. An important Scripture about the heart of God in this can be found in Colossians 1:19-20, For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [that is Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

That is good news. God is not mad at mankind, He reconciled all things to Himself and made peace. The problem is that we are the ones who often refuse to take His kindness as an example. We often hang on to bitterness, anger, jealousy, hatred, slander and gossip. God does not want this. He loves mankind and He wants us to love one another and to live in peace.

Romans 12:18 says: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Is that easy? Nope! Should we try? Yep.

It is not an option. We have received the assignment to tell others about the possibilities of reconciliation and we should desire to restore relationships, wherever we go. Corinthians 5:18-20 says it like this:  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

We all have the ministry, this message, of reconciliation which, by the way, does NOT mean that we should only TALK about restored relationships... of course we must ACT this out as well, on a personal level.

Would the world look different if we did so, what do you think?

Is there a relationship that you could mend?

Restored relationships (4)

Reconciliation: end of conflict, restoration of friendly relations, reunion, bringing together (again), restoration of peace...

Restored relationship is really the meaning of the word reconciliation and it is the foundation of the Christian faith.

The restored relationship between God and mankind is the first and most important level of reconciliation and certainly the most beautiful one.

God, the Creator of the Universe wants a personal friendship with human beings. Contrary to the gods of other world religions, God is not angry at humanity. He loves people and He longs for a healthy relationship with you and me. A relationship that will not be sabotaged by guilt and shame and does not depend on all kinds of good works. It is a relationship based on mutual LOVE.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

Atonement (the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ) has a rich history which has been described in the first books of the Bible: the reconciliation between God and Israel. That is the second level of reconciliation and I will write some more about that in the next blog post.

Jesus said: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).

Fruit of the Spirit (2)

A few weeks ago we had a discussion in our Wednesday night small group about the human nature. The Bible says every person is born with a sinful nature. Mankind is not righteous by nature, even though some people might be super sweet and loving. Sorry...

(Love, that's what this blog post is all about)

Quite simply said, sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and righteousness came into the world through Jesus. Romans 5:19 says it like this: For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

That is, in short, the good news. Guilt and shame can be replaced with freedom! In the previous blog post we have seen what human nature produces... a lot of bad stuff. However, what the Holy Spirit wants to bring forth is very beautiful: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

The first sign that the Holy Spirit lives in us, is that He will start to produce godly fruit (character) in our life, so we begin to look more and more like Jesus. That fruit is Gods character and thus not to be confused with human behavior or virtues (which can be learned and adapted). Let's take a look at love, which is mentioned first.

Love. What comes to mind when we think about love? Being nice to one another, tolerance, being in love, parental love...? We are often inclined to think about human love here (as in relationships, humanism, charity or eros), but Galatians 5:22 talks about supernatural love. That is not a feeling or a thought, that is a decision. That is the most beautiful and most difficult love that exists, that is:

• loving your enemies
• loving those that persecute you
• loving until death

It is therefore not a fruit we can produce by trying hard, by doing all that we can. It is a fruit that will grow when we give the Holy Spirit room to change our heart.

Go ahead, ask God: Lord, teach me to love the ones that are unlovable, the ones I struggle with. That prayer will change your life!

Law & grace, an uneven match? (6)

Thank you for your comments, emails and Twitter/FB shares concerning this subject. Today I would like to finish this series about Law & Grace with part 6. If you want to read it all again, you can do so by clicking on the Bible study tab above. In short:

• Part 1: it is not law or grace, but law and grace
• Part 2: it is no longer necessarily about keeping or obeying the law, but about fulfilling the law
• Part 3: Treating others the way we want to be treated is the heart of the law and the prophets
• Part 4: through grace we have received the righteousness of Jesus so we can do the works He did
• Part 5: Love is the fulfullment of the law

As I mentioned before, Paul was a man who knew law AND grace as no other. He frequently taught on it. In Romans 6:10-14 He explains that sin should no longer reign in our lives (which results in being slaves) but grace (which results in being free)! Verse 14, For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. The law is no longer our master (but still exists of course). The law does not reign over us anymore, but grace reigns. We live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, because the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE... and love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10).

Living under grace is more than just the end of our old, sinful life, it is the beginning of a new, free life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Living under (by, through) grace does not mean there is nothing more for us to do. On the contrary! Let's read what Paul writes to Timothy, (the Lord) who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began... we are called with a holy calling, to do good works. Not the works of the law, but the works of love: treating others the way we want to be treated. In everything we do, we can ask ourselves this question: How do I want to be treated? With love, respect, humor, care, generosity, goodness, kindness, patience? So, this is exactly how to treat others.

Well, I can probably write a few more months on this subject, but the Word of God explains it better than I can. I would like to end this series with Romans 8:3-4 (I am quoting the Good News Translation for clarity), What the Law could not do, because human nature was weak, God did. He condemned sin in human nature by sending his own Son, who came with a nature like our sinful nature, to do away with sin. God did this so that the righteous demands of the Law might be fully satisfied in us who live according to the Spirit, and not according to human nature.

Faith, hope and love...

A long time ago, when I was a teenager, I had such a faith-love-hope necklace that I wore without realizing what it really meant. Maybe someone gave it to me, to be honest, I don't remember... Faith, hope and love... the conclusion of the 13th chapter in the first letter to the Corinthians.

These three elements keep coming back throughout the Bible and not too long ago my eye fell on a scripture that clearly mentions all three. Paul wrote a letter to the believers in Thessaloniki and in his introduction he says: We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). Beautiful, isn't it?

Paul has a tendency to write really long sentences, and sometimes that causes us to miss the point he wants to make. It often helps me to separate his sentences in small portions, a kind of schematic version of what he wants to say. I noticed when I read like that, the words stick with me. Yeah, I personally find it easier to learn with bullets, numbers and a,b,c's :) His introduction teaches me the following (and I hope you will see it too):

1. My faith must produce work. Saying that I believe in God, means nothing if I have no fruit to prove it. The devil believes in God too. Faith produces works. James 1:22 says: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
2. My love must result in labor. In other words, the godly love that the Holy Spirit produces in my life should prompt me to act. This is not the cheap 'love' version the world promotes, wherein we LOVE pizza, the weather, the girl next door and the Lord... all in one word. No, this is supernatural love, the kind that prompts us to love our enemies and to be kind to the ones that are unlovable.
3. My hope inspires endurance. The hope I have in Jesus Christ inspires me to go on where others stop. It inspires me not to give up and not to whine when things don't go my way. My endurance tells others something about the God I love.

Faith, hope and love... a marvelous theme to think about and act upon this week. Does this help you?

Is anyone listening?

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

[Psalms 103:11-12]

War of the worlds

If I mention the country Serbia, what picture comes to mind? What do you know or remember about Serbia? To be honest with you, I do not know much about this country that used to be Yugoslavia and was torn apart by a bloody civil war. Yet, it is right there, in the middle of Europe.

Although news media may have painted a negative picture of Serbia, we are not afraid to stand up for them and we have started a project with our organisation Traveling Light, because time moves on and we must look ahead. A new generation is being raised up, a generation that wants a positive future and is desperate for God. Yes, new believers are added to the number of Christians every day. Sometimes they come to Jesus from a life of drugs and alcohol abuse. That is why 12 years ago Sasa and Svetlana Ivanovic started a rehabilitation home for people with life controlling habits, all under the flag of Teen Challenge in Southern California, where we were members of the Advisory Board in Ventura. This is so much more than getting people off of drugs, it is basically a discipleship program that forever changes men and women once they have an encounter with the living God.

Up till now most of their support came from faithful supporters in the USA, but we believe there is a shift taking place. It is time for Europe to step up and take responsibility for their own projects and initiatives. We, as Traveling Light, are taking humble steps by planting seeds of hope in as many countries as we can. We are in URGENT need of help for Serbia, please check our weblog! We believe a person, a family, a street, a town, a country... yes, all nations will be changed by the love of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.