So Difficult. So Simple.

We can find answers to some of life’s most difficult questions in the Bible. It’s simple and yet so difficult, because who wants to believe the Bible?

Who wants to believe, for instance, that the devil exists? But, then again, that would explain the reason for so much pain and trouble in world we live in. That would minimize people’s frustration against God. I know you may be asking: “Why would God allow it?”
The Bible has the answer for this one too. See Psalm 37:28

For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off

According to the Bible, God has an obligation with the faithful ones and not with the unfaithful. We choose who we are.

It took us a while to know that the Earth was round in shape and not square as early expeditors thought. Yet Isaiah wrote: “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” Isaiah 40:22.

Why is it so difficult to believe? We don’t do what God asks and demand that He does what we ask! And if He doesn’t, then we just blame Him 

for every bad thing on earth.

I once spoke to a young man who was losing it for his drug addiction. He had already tried every possible option - rehabs, counseling, therapies, medicine, etc . He was a bright person. Very well educated. Someone who had spent his life reading books. As we sat in a church to talk I asked him why wouldn’t he try to pray. To what he answered: “Asking God for help is a sign of weakness, total failure! Asking God for help is the same as admitting that my knowledge cannot help me!”. To what what I replied: “That’s exactly it!”. Then he said he was sorry and that that was too difficult for him!

I said to myself: “But it’s so simple!”

5 Lies We're Often Told

Lie Nº 1

"You are born t suffer!" - That's a pathetic lie because God doesn't make losers. No one is born to suffer or to be a failure. As a matter of fact, everyone is already born a winner. See it this way: you are the ONE sperm that made into the egg! You are born a winner!

Lie Nº 2

It's more or less like the first one. It's when people tell you that misfortune is your 'karma' or destiny. That you should just let it be. But let me tell you that you write your own destiny and that's biblical. The Bible teaches that we reap what we have sown. That means that I determine what I want to reap through that what I decide to sow. 0% karma. 0% destiny. 100% planning. Don't forget that for every action there is a re-action!

Lie Nº 3

It's an old 'holy' lie: Your suffering is your cross!

Come on! Can it get more stupid than that? If the Bible affirms that Jesus bore a cross for me, then what the hell must I carry i again? What about John 10:10? Doesn't that count?

Lie Nº 4

"God is punishing you!"

Let tell you that God does not punish anyone - not until the Great Judgement Day!

It makes more sense to say that the devil punishes a person. See Jeremiah 29:11.

Lie Nº 5

Another 'holy' lie: God puts pain in people's lives in other to prove them.

Noooooooo way! Which father, for example, will prove his child with a sickness? It's exactly the other way around - if he only could, would a father take the pain from his son's body and set it upon his own.

Now you know. Think for yourself!

God bless

The Parachute

While flying over Spain and France, on my way back to Holland, I glanced out the window and… God, that was high! 33,000 meters up in the air made think about the courage it takes to go skydiving! I would not dare doing so, unless I found myself in a literally do or die situation. And to think that some people do it for a living, sports or just for the fun… It certainly takes a lot of faith as well. That does not mean to say that one needs to be religious in order to skydive. This ‘faith’ that I refer to, is the belief that the parachute will actually open properly thus preventing the skydiver from facing his worst nightmare. From this point of view, it’s definitely a jump of faith – faith in the parachute and its maker. The faith in God is therefore easier and simpler. Why is it then much harder for people to believe in God than in a parachute? All I know is that if you close your eyes and sincerely talk to God, you will realise how easy it is to believe.



O Paraquedas

Ao sobrevoar a Espanha e a França, na minha volta para a Holanda, olhei rapidamente pela janela do avião e … Meu Deus, estava muito alto! 33 mil metros na altitude me fez pensar na corangem de quem pula de paraqueda. Eu nunca teria a coragem de pular de paraqueda, a não ser numa situação de vida ou morte. E de pensar que muitos pulam por trabalho, sport e diversão… Certemente também é preciso ter muita fé. Não me refiro à fé religiosa. Mas ter a fé de que o paraquedas abrirá, assim salvando o paraquedista do seu pior pesadelo. Deste ponto de vista, isto é fé! Fé no paraquedas e fé no fabricante. A fé em Deus é muito mais fácil e simples. Então por que, para muitos, é mais fácil acretidar num paraquedas do que em Deus? Tudo o que sei é que se você fechar seus olhos e falar com Deus sinceramente, você verá como é fácil de ter fé.

First Words

WELCOME

Welcome to my new blog. I call it a Virtual Oasis because it is planned to a blog that will bring refresh to weary hearts and souls. As an evangelical pastor, I intend to write not only about the Bible but also practical advices and experiences that I had. I hope you enjoy the future posts. God bless.

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