tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33099342024-03-14T12:40:45.605-04:00vanpopta.caAn eclectica of words, thoughts and reflections on various topics
by George van PoptaGeorge van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comBlogger1288125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-14329684323800081202024-03-14T12:36:00.001-04:002024-03-14T12:40:11.099-04:00The Strong The Strong
Mr. Harmsen, a member of my
congregation, is a man of substance. He belongs to the category mentioned in
the newspaper with the statement: “Among those present, we noticed . . . .”
Harmsen is perpetually
occupied and rarely at home. This should be no surprise, considering he serves
as the director of a large business with multiple branches, and the entire
management rests George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-50490234008194174752024-03-13T00:44:00.007-04:002024-03-13T11:35:26.097-04:00 ("Het Achtste Gebod," pp 71-74, Peper en Zout by
M.E. Voila, Kok: Kampen; n.d. tr. George van Popta, 2024)
The Eighth Commandment
The Koopman family,
also, is part of my congregation. The word “also” captures their status for
they are regarded as somewhat peripheral members. This is both a literal and
figurative assessment: geographically, they reside on the outskirts George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-90398814647906984412024-03-06T21:55:00.009-05:002024-03-07T00:17:34.339-05:00Moriturus Te Salutat(From Peper en Zout by M.E. Voila, Kok: Kampen; n.d. tr. George van Popta, 2024) Moriturus Te Salutat Brother Grootveld was a venerable soldier, having
served in the Dutch East Indies war of 1945 to 1949. His valor earned him a
knighthood from the Queen. With a lively spirit and slender frame, he was
easily recognized by his flowing mustache, straw hat in the summer, PalmGeorge van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-32861589930902589642024-03-05T01:49:00.017-05:002024-03-07T00:23:51.057-05:00The Visitor(From Peper en Zout by M.E. Voila, Kok: Kampen; n.d. Translation by George van Popta, 2024)The VisitorSome people
of the congregation complain that we are not very good at making visitors to our
worship services feel welcome. When you hear this repeatedly you begin to think
that the criticism must have some validity.
I, myself, had
begun to think this and found myself searching George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-88811797383265439192024-02-29T01:49:00.005-05:002024-02-29T09:27:38.863-05:00WinterWinter
Five o’clock. . . .
With a sigh, I place my
knitting on the windowsill. The fading light makes it too challenging to work
on the intricate pattern for my new sweater without making mistakes. Now, I’ll
sit by the window and wait for my pastor husband Kees. It’s hardly worth
turning on the light before he arrives. Earlier today, at one o’clock, Kees
went into the countryside with Elder George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-67440463736882533632024-02-27T21:48:00.001-05:002024-02-28T00:32:05.691-05:00The Tenth Commandment The Tenth Commandment
Elder Bouwsma is always full of jokes. I want to say that at the outset, and also
that I’m glad that the following is on his record, and not on mine.
The Krugers and the Bruinings live next to each other.
Brother Kruger is a grocer and his wife, unfortunately named Hennie, is a
nonstop talker. I say “unfortunately” because people, playing George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-62163204244411821132024-02-27T01:46:00.006-05:002024-02-27T02:04:56.806-05:00Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet
One evening, the tranquility of the parsonage,
and my peaceful sermon preparations, were abruptly disrupted by the urgent
knock of a twelve-year-old boy. The lad, with a furrowed brow and a sense of
urgency that matched his rapid knocks, breathlessly informed me that the pastor
was desperately needed at Miss De Zwart’s home. Assuming a dire emergency, I
left my books and George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-19940854419874926302024-02-27T01:34:00.008-05:002024-02-27T02:07:19.191-05:00The Fifth Commandment The Fifth
CommandmentThe two Bender sisters, both unmarried, lived in a
little house together with their old mother.
They composed a tranquil, if not particularly
cheerful, trio. Preferring solitude, they seldom entertained guests.
Despite their reserved nature, they unfailingly
extended a warm welcome to me whenever I visited. And so, I found it surprising
when I detected a hint of George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-12772552710418171862024-02-24T13:57:00.003-05:002024-02-24T18:21:30.304-05:00Maternal Love Maternal Love
As a pastor, my duties vary from the pleasant to the less so. I gladly serve on
our congregation’s world relief committee, and our recent endeavour had yielded
remarkable results surpassing even our most optimistic expectations. The
formidable Mrs. Evers, the president, had invited us to her opulent home for a
time of celebration, coffee, and cake.
I made my way there George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-48763287551492972502024-02-06T18:51:00.002-05:002024-02-06T18:58:57.913-05:00Charlie Charlie
Being a guest preacher is not a bad thing. You get
to travel, meet new people, and enjoy their hospitality. And they treat you
like royalty, not because of your charming personality, but because of your office.
“Do you need anything, Reverend? Are you tired from the trip, Reverend? Do you
want a hot water bottle in your bed, Reverend?”
At home, I have to fake a cough for an hour George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-5978845151977068932024-02-05T22:23:00.005-05:002024-02-06T18:44:30.030-05:00Visiting the Sick Visiting the Sick
Visiting the sick is part of my task as a
pastor. She’s on the “sick list,” but I bend the rules a bit
when it comes to this sister. I do visit her regularly, but I tend to
stretch out the intervals between visits. Because, you see, she is
not really sick. She has a tremendous appetite and travels every
three weeks to visit her daughter, a two-hour journey. And yet she’s
George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-36182747398771647932024-02-02T20:10:00.007-05:002024-02-03T12:27:48.508-05:00Le Vase BriséLe Vase Brisé
If memory serves me well, it was Prudhomme who
penned the poignant poem, Le Vase Brisé, The Broken Vase.
He compares people who have endured profound suffering and
whose hearts have been broken to a cracked vase. The vase is still standing,
but as he concludes, “N’y touchez pas, il est brisé”—don’t touch it; it
is broken.
Widow Drent’s sorrow was understandable. Her husband had George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-70424190270820008362024-01-31T15:10:00.003-05:002024-01-31T15:15:45.193-05:00Broad and Narrow Broad and Narrow
Last
week we had the “broad” (council) meeting; this week, the “narrow” (consistory)
one. It falls to me to chair both the broad and the narrow.
The
broad meetings include the deacons. They usually sit together in a tight-knit
group and, when they have the opportunity, whisper jokes to each other. They
believe that their diaconal meetings are more pleasant and that they George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-45879542640982640542024-01-30T16:54:00.003-05:002024-01-31T15:37:50.823-05:00Prayer and Comfort in SachsenhausenPrayer and Comfort in Sachsenhausen This is the story of my paternal grandfather's last year on earth. He was a man of unwavering faith despite suffering arrest, incarceration, indignity, illness, and death. He was active in the Dutch resistance movement against Nazism and encouraged fellow prisoners in the various jails and camps in which he was held. Here is the story of his resistance, George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-53667045217412321652024-01-25T01:49:00.002-05:002024-01-25T12:08:16.568-05:00Crossing the Threshold Crossing the ThresholdThe
parsonage in a Dutch village, 1929Our arrival at the parsonage of the church to which
my new husband Kees had been called was far from the elegant and graceful
occasion we had envisioned as newlyweds. A
hat played a role in the drama. Not my beautiful gray hat, which I had bought a
few weeks before our wedding, the first hat I had ever bought, and which I
thought George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-24505659768793345602024-01-23T23:58:00.004-05:002024-01-24T00:01:02.005-05:00The biography I wrote on my father can be ordered here, $25 including postage in Canada. George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-79523011469922851292024-01-23T15:30:00.002-05:002024-01-23T15:37:06.611-05:00Teach us to PrayTeach Us to Pray
Jan Gelders wanted to speak
with me.
I was glad to see him. The
year was 1946. Although he was a young man, he had the reputation of having been a true hero in the
resistance during the Second World War. After the war, he went back to his job
as an auto-mechanic. I hadn’t talked with him for several months.
He came into my study with a
troubled look on his face. George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-13985025008916468762024-01-09T00:13:00.002-05:002024-01-09T00:18:00.004-05:00 The Song of Deborah The Song of DeborahThe Song of DeborahStanza 1-5Stanza 6-10Stanza 11-16George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-2586922634253084722023-12-05T14:17:00.005-05:002023-12-05T14:29:33.352-05:00The apple tree (or, grace overcomes legalism)The apple tree
My
parents had gone for a six-week visit to the old country, and I had been farmed out
to family friends. The friends lived on a farm, which was very exciting for a six-year-old
city boy.
The farmer, Mr. R., had planted a new
sapling apple tree near the vegetable garden beside the house. It was a lonely-looking
little tree, and it George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-73568300412824263042023-09-28T13:57:00.004-04:002023-09-29T17:42:00.036-04:00O LORD Almighty, God Supreme (in single line)
George van Popta (2023); Tune: ST. PETERSBURG by Dmitri S. Bortniansky.George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-78823210997064887652023-09-22T00:24:00.004-04:002023-09-28T13:14:56.509-04:00A hymn based on the prayer of King Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:16-20
O LORD Almighty, God Supreme by George vPGeorge van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-43280797899452052932023-09-13T13:31:00.019-04:002023-09-13T17:14:23.092-04:00The Song of Hezekiah I set this song of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:10-20) to the tune of Psalm 49 (Genevan) because of the similarity in theme of the two songs.
George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-90215659587112689342023-09-04T23:00:00.003-04:002023-09-05T17:38:14.903-04:00Chapter 3 of "The Glorious Victory: An Exposition of Revelation" (by George van Popta)Chapter 3
Ephesus: The Distracted Church
Revelation 2:1-7
The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to his church about
loyalty, love and life1. He commends the church for its loyalty2. He warns the church about a lack of love3. He promises the church eternal life
As we continue reading the book of Revelation,
a letter from the ascended and glorified Christ to the church of all ages, we
George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-31840881011212386492023-08-30T12:57:00.011-04:002023-08-30T23:41:54.778-04:00The Glorious VictoryThis is a contribution to a Facebook discussion on how to approach Revelation. It is the introduction to The Glorious Victory: An Exposition of Revelation. The complete book can be purchased here at my bookstore, in hard copy or in e-version. IntroductionGenreRevelation, with its angels, trumpets, earthquakes, beasts, dragon, plagues, bottomless pit and lake of fire George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3309934.post-17617393460924595202023-05-09T12:21:00.021-04:002023-08-06T00:13:06.564-04:00Re: the merger of the GKv and the NGKWes Bredenhof wrote on his blog: "As of May 1, the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) no longer exist. In the Netherlands they were known as the Gereformeerde Kerken – Vrijgemaakt (GKV). As of May 1, the GKV merged with the Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerken to form a new federation of churches. The new federation is called the Nederlandse (note the extra ‘e’) George van Poptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03944560685495278021noreply@blogger.com