A few years ago Janet and I were invited to have dinner at the home of someone we had recently met.
We looked forward to an evening of fellowship, fun, and good food. Very good food, actually, as our new friend had made it clear that he was a connoisseur of haute cuisine.
During the few times we had met him at our Irish pub hangout he had waxed eloquently about the differences between French truffles and those found in Northern Italy, provided us with an analytical comparison between the cooking methods employed by various chefs (the name of which escaped us), and assured us that there are no finer skillets than those produced by Brand X.
Unfortunately, while we had a pleasant evening, supper was anything but a fine dining experience.
We’d been told to stay out of the kitchen while our host put the finishing touches on his creation. While we leaved through some coffee table books we could hear typical kitchen sounds, including the tell-tale beep-beep-beep of a microwave oven — followed by a barely audible curse and a loud assurance that dinner would be served any moment.
To be honest, the roast potatoes were decent. I wouldn’t have minded a few more, but there weren’t any left.
The vegetables had been, well, nuked into oblivion, and the steak — “imported from Argentina!” — almost made us look for the Nike logo.
Later, after helping clear the table, we admired our friend’s collection of cookbooks — at least a hundred of them, neatly lined up on shelves at the far end of the kitchen.
It was my wife who noticed that with few exceptions all the books looked brand new and unused.
All our friend’s enthusiasm with regard to cooking could not hide the fact that there was a big gap between talk and walk.
Well-marked Bibles
I remembered this experience the other day when we were in discussion with someone who is quite opinionated regarding a wide range of doctrinal issues.
Most of his opinions are based on a mixture of incorrect interpretation, wrong information, and personal preference.
In presenting our own views we referred to various passages of Scripture, as well as information from a number of books, encyclopedias and online research resources.
Unfortunately our friend remained adamant. The resources we suggested were summarily dismissed — even when we quoted a widely accepted book by one of the scholars he himself had earlier referred to.
“Obviously xyz is wrong in this instance,” he said — offhand rejecting the information without being able to explain why and on what basis he did so.
Part of the problem is that the scholar in question is thoroughly familiar with Biblical Greek, while our friend may at a stretch be able to name one or two letters of the Greek alphabet.
That comes across as someone whose cooking experience is limited to using a microwave criticizing, say, the late Julia Child’s expertise.
Ironically this same person proudly pointed out to us how well-marked his Bible was. Color-coded passages, lines and arrows, notes written in the margins, and a forest of Post-It notes testified to the fact that this was a well-read Bible.
But well-read does not equal well-used.
We knew that much of the highlighting was the result not of personal Bible study, but of hour-upon-hour of listening to so-called Word-of-Faith teachers — both on TV and in person.
Filled with a mixture of doctrinal errors, self-help concepts and snake-oil this kind of teaching is the spiritual equivalent of junk food — never satisfying and always lacking in true nourishment.
Far too many Christians are all too happy to eat that stuff — never realizing that it is clogging their spiritual arteries…
Our friend is a tragic example: we’ve seen him fall from one error into another, dismissing good advise, scholarly resources and sound doctrine to the point where he has now become his own highest authority.
That’s why Janet and I always encourage Christians to study the Bible for themselves — making use of helpful resources.
Doing so provides a much-needed balance to the daily barrage of teachings Christians are exposed to.
More than that: it provides us with knowledge and insight necessary for spiritual discernment.
- Anton Hein
P.S. Our Apologetics Index entry on spiritual discernment includes pointers to helpful resources to study the Bible for yourself.
The other day I heard a radio interview with a man who buys art, relics, furniture, pews and just about anything else you can find in a church.
He said his main purpose for doing so is to make sure that these items are saved “for later, when much of it would otherwise no longer be on public view” because churches in the Netherlands are closing at “an alarming rate.”
According to him, every week two church buildings in the Netherlands close their doors ‘forever.’ Actually, that’s not really true. While some church buildings are torn down, many more are given another purpose — turned into apartments, office space, shops, or fitness halls.
This phenomenon is not unique to Holland. It is happening in many other countries as well.
The Church is alive and well
However, that doesn’t mean the church is disappearing. Christians know that the ”church’ does not consist of bricks and mortar, but is made up of Christians themselves. Together they form what the Bible calls a ‘body,’ the head of which is Jesus Christ. That church is alive and well.
A friend and I were talking about this the other day: the fact that on the one hand many church buildings are closing, while on the other hand the church appears to keep growing. We concluded that Christianity, particularly evangelical Christianity, is alive and well in the Netherlands. But there has been a shift — one which took quite some time to gear up, and which is still gathering steam — from program-oriented gatherings to relationship-based involvement.
Gimmicks vs. Relationships
Some of the closed churches were old-fashioned relics whose style and type of service virtually guaranteed they would die a slow death. Others were more modern, but tended to place much emphasis on what people over here often refer to as ‘American-style hypes.’ In other words:
- gimmicky marketing programs that mistake watering down the gospel for evangelism,
- folks claiming to be ‘prophets and apostles’ — fooling themselves into thinking they are ‘ministering’ for God, while in reality they are pawns in a spiritual role-playing game, or
- people who ride hobby-horses (e.g. more interested in politics; boycotting this, that and the other thing; or worshiping their country as if it were God’s own)
People eventually get tired of that. They may be misled for a while, but in the end they realize their relationship with God is not improved by ‘prophecies’ of impending storms or stock market crashes; alleged visits by angels (all or not leaving ‘angel feathers,’ ‘gold dust,’ or ‘precious stones’ behind); or testimonies about alleged trips to heaven.
Some people get so disillusioned that they end up ‘backsliding.’ But most Christians are discovering that you can ‘do’ church differently.
Church is about relationships — our relationship to God, and our relationships with others. It is not about numbers or buildings or programs.
Church everywhere, all the time
Several years ago Janet and I started a house church — a church meeting in our home — because our health situations at the time prevented us from attending a ‘regular’ church. It turned out to be a tremendous blessing to ourselves and to others.
The meetings have never been large. We have seldom had more than 10 people in our home, and more often than not we have met with just 2 or 3 people — and sometimes even just with one other person. We have met with locals and with people from around the world — expats, Dutch natives, or folks merely passing through.
The meetings have always been special precisely because a small group allows us to have time for each other. We do not have structured meetings. Sometimes all we do is talk and pray. Often we read and discuss a portion of the Bible. We’ve had visitors who brought words of wisdom and insight, while others were in need of the same from us.
Small groups are great for personal ministry. Large churches may have their ‘go-greet-or-hug-someone’ minute just before the announcements and the rest of the program, but that seldom satisfies anyone.
Jesus ministered to large crowds, and there is nothing wrong with that. But he also said that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is in their midst. That is simply awesome!
Over the years Janet and increasingly realized that church is wherever we are. We already knew that, of course, but it slowly and surely became part of our lifestyle.
Fellowship happens whenever Christians get together — be it for a church service or for dinner at someone’s house. We sometimes have our church meetings on deck of a three-master ship anchored in the Amsterdam harbor. At other times we fellowship at, say, our favorite Irish pub. We’ve had church while sitting at an outdoor cafe, or while relaxing in Vondelpark.
More about this later.
Meanwhile, think about it: church is everywhere, all the time. That realization will impact each meeting you have — be it at home or elsewhere. Look for opportunities to minister and to be ministered to.
Anton Hein
Hi there!
This is Anton Hein. Born 50 years ago in Amsterdam, Netherlands (or Holland, if you will), and still enjoying this wonderful world-class city in pocket format.
My wife and I operate various web sites but thought it might be good to provide one dedicated place to introduce ourselves.
I was born on a houseboat moored in the Prinsengracht, straight across from the Westerkerk Church — whose tower, while technically not located in the Jordaan district, was claimed as theirs by the citizens of that most famous Amsterdam neighborhood. It is Holland’s most famous church overlooking the most sung-about neighborhood in the country. [See picture above... on Nov. 14, 2007, the tower was lit in blue in honor of World Diabetes Day]
Catty-corner from our floating home was the Anne Frank House. Still is, actually, but our house boat is long gone and I currently don’t even live in the Jordaan area anymore.
Parrots, Ireland, and Last Names
In September, 2002, I married Janet Hudson and ever since we have lived in her home in Amsterdam-North — a flat on the sixth floor of a high-rise building situated in a beautiful park.
We live among the tree-tops, so to speak (watching flocks of playful parrots go from tree to tree — global warming is unfolding before our very eyes). We may eventually move back to the very center of Amsterdam, but there’s no hurry. Over here we’ve actually got the best of two worlds: One the one hand one of the finest cities in the world, and on the other one of the most beautiful nature areas.
Janet was born in England, but to her great joy she was raised in Ireland, and she’s truly as Irish as they come.
We are best friends, and we make a great team as we compliment each other in skills, character and temperament.
Work, Work, Work
Janet is a licensed mental health counselor. She works 32 hours a week with an organization that provides shelters, legal- and practical help to abused women.
Together we operate a number of non-profit websites that deal with Christian apologetics (a defense of the Christian faith against challenges both from within and without), religious cults, and God’s grace and mercy.
We are helped by a number of friends — including my brother, Ruud Hein, who is a SEO and WordPress expert.
We also publish some commercial websites, and provide hosting to several third-party sites.
Ministry
We are Christians, but we are uncomfortable with much that is said and done in the name of Christianity.
We believe in practical, relevant Christianity: walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. By that we do not mean a disregard for sound doctrine, but rather sound doctrine that goes hand in hand with a desire to try and be like Jesus.
Our guiding scripture is Jesus’ mission statement, which we see as our ‘job description’ as well:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
- Source: Luke 4:18-19
We try to live our lives — and to engage in ministry — from that perspective.
Anton Hein