The Hellands in Holland

Testimony of a New Life “Hello, my name is Peggy. I am a single mother of three who wants to tell what God has done in my life. For a long time, I have had an on and off relationship with God. I would decide to follow him, but then disappointment would quickly set in and I would reject Him because ‘if He loves me, then why does He let this happen to me?’. I found that I was repeatedly let down by people and running to beer as a source of comfort. It would give me only temporary relief. After drinking too much I would find myself again empty and in the need of something more. I decided that I wanted to give God another chance. It was then that I got a flyer in my mailbox from this church. I really liked its name, New Life, because that is exactly what I wanted, a new life. Since coming here I have connected with God in a very real way. Now I have found a new peace and joy which I did not know before. I know that I can trust in Jesus and am so thankful to Him that He has give...

People come always before our mission or vision statements, values, budgets and our programs. Don't get me wrong, I am all for these things yet as servants (leaders) we need to keep the horse in front of the cart and not the other way around. Here is a quote that explains what I mean. For too long, church leaders have been obsessed with the search for the program, tactic, or strategic plan that delineates a goal, sets out a path, and aligns people in moving toward and realizing a predetermined future . Behind this obsession lurks the continued belief that leadership is not only about defining and shaping a preferred future but also making such a planned future happen. In this sense, no matter what words are used in regard to serving or nurturing, leadership turns into methods of controlling and manipulating others to achieve predetermined ends. In the end, people are ends to a leader's goals. (Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk, The Missional Leader. San Francisco , CA: Jossey-Bas...

This is why we start new churches... Today we had our once a month celebration where we use a school building to have a "public celebration". One woman from that neighborhood gave her testimony how she is now following God because she got a flyer in her mailbox about a church named New Life West and she said that that is what she wanted. It has been more than a year since she visited us for the first time, but to see what God has done is her life is awesome. Something else that is really cool about starting a new church is how people do things they may never do if they were just part of a traditional church. For example, I am recovering from a tonsilectomy, so my wife preached. With her a friend of mine who lives here in the neighborhood "co-preached". He thinks he can't do it, but he did great. However probably the greatest thing about today is the level of "family" that we saw and felt. Most of the people who were there have been coming for over a ye...

A man I met in the park a few months ago told me about him suffering from cancer in his bladder for four years and that in a few days he was going in for surgery to have the cancer removed. I asked if I could pray for God to heal him there in the park. Two weeks ago I ran into him at the store and he told me the doctors could not find any cancer. The man is cancer free and he really felt something when I prayed for him that day. Awesome!!

A guy who took our Alpha course now prays all the time. He has not joined our community yet, but he has grown in his relationship with God. He was driving drunk the other day when he got stopped. He started praying like crazy...The police had him take 3 breathalizer tests to see how much alcohol he had. One at the cop car (it was broken) andother at the police station (it also was broken) and a third at another police station (it also was broken). When they finally could test him, his alcohol level was normal. This guy is experiencing the grace of God in his life and seeing how God answers prayer even in some less than ideal situations.

Quotes and ideas from Dallas Willard's Renovation of the Heart. Dallas Willard is a Christian philosopher who at times is hard to read, yet well worth it when you give it a try. This evening a few of us will be gathering at a local library in Amsterdam to discuss the ideas from this book. Here I have written out some of the main points from each chapter. This book is all about people's lives being changed and that is ultimately what my job should be all about. Seeing people's lives changed through a relationship with Christ. Chapter 1 …the situations in which we find ourselves are never as important as our responses to them, which come from our “spiritual” side (14). The greatest need of collective humanity is renovation of the heart. The impotence of “systems” is a main reason why Jesus did not send his students out to start governments or even churches as we know them today, which always strongly convery some elements of a human system. They were instead, to establish bea...