End of Year 2024

A consistently maintained habit naturally becomes a tradition. I began the practice of an end-of-year overview of GoedBericht activities back in 2008, which means that this report is now number 17.

Brief Overview of Activities

With only a few exceptions, I have been able to speak every Sunday. The regular rhythm includes twice a month in Benthuizen and once a month on Urk. In addition, I also spoke in The Hague, Rotterdam, Alblasserdam, Zeewolde, Epe, and Nieuw-Buinen.

Outside the holiday season, I was also able to hold monthly study series in both Capelle a/d IJssel and Nunspeet. Such series give me the opportunity to address specific topics in depth.

In the month of June, we once again held the GoedBericht weekend in Maarn. The interest was great. Within a few days, all available accommodations at the Center were fully booked. From May 9 to 11, 2025, another GoedBericht weekend is scheduled. In due course, you will be able to register again and more information will follow.

I was also privileged to contribute to various youth activities. For instance, there were the monthly ‘around 30 evenings’ in Rotterdam, crowned by two weekend events in Maarn.

There was also much interest in the GoedBericht Conference on September 29 in Maarn. Together with Gerard Oudijn, I had the opportunity to discuss the topic ‘after the snatching away’. By the way, for the last Saturday of September 2025 (27-09), another conference has already been reserved in Maarn.

In collaboration with Stichting Evangelie Om Niet, several physical publications also saw the light this year. The brochure Shining Stars, the zigzag leaflet titled Biblical Timetables, and the book on the letter to Titus Adorning the Sound Teaching. And all of this material is made available completely free of charge!

In the previous year, a cautious beginning was made with spoken GoedBericht studies in other languages. By now, seven studies on elementary topics are available in fifteen languages. It sounds like a modern-day miracle of tongues to hear myself speaking in Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, etc…

Since 2016 (so approximately eight years), I have posted a daily contribution of about 200 words on the website under the heading diary. In these entries, I covered Bible passages verse by verse, mainly from the letters of Paul. Among them were: the letter to the Ephesians, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, Titus, and 1 Timothy. Each of these complete commentaries has been compiled into books. Only the commentary on 1 Timothy has not yet been published in book form, but the plan is to do so in the coming year.

Earlier this month, I decided to put an end to the daily posting of these diary contributions. The column will continue, but no longer with this frequency. Though the pieces I wrote were short, they were also compact. The intention was to offer a brief, to-the-point Bible commentary. It required a considerable amount of my daily time, and I found that this rhythm came at the expense of writing blogs. For that reason, I have discontinued the diary and hope to continue the column without a fixed schedule under the heading: Bible-verse. A play on words, of course—verse from the Bible!

Naturally, there were also many activities that you as a visitor to the website may not have noticed. For example, the visits I was able to make (often to elderly people), but also the answering of many emails. Being engaged in GoedBericht involves much more than preparing and giving studies and writing articles. Running the website, recording and publishing video and audio (livestreams, etc.) also demands considerable time. All of these activities are part of the work as well.

And then we have not even mentioned the by far most important activity that precedes all the rest: Bible study! It is precisely the discovery and sharing of new and old treasures in the Scriptures that is the driving force behind all the work of GoedBericht.

Co-workers

I am very grateful that I may carry a responsibility in all these activities. But I am also well aware that in nearly all the mentioned activities, I merely play a role. Indeed, one that is visible and on the foreground. But surely you will realize how many others make all of this work possible. People who…

• …prepare the hall, make coffee, and tidy everything up afterward;
• make their home or venue available;
• take care of sound amplification and livestreaming;
• manage the center in Maarn and provide meals;
• handle instrumental accompaniment;
• manage book tables;
• offer technical support for the website;
• edit speech-to-text material for brochure publication;
• carry out corrections and proofreading;
• provide translations into English as well as convert material into other languages with the help of AI;
• and so on.

There are many, many names I could mention in this context. But I will not do so for two reasons. Firstly, I would undoubtedly forget a number of people and in doing so, wrong them. But more importantly: most of them would not appreciate being mentioned, as they deliberately carry out this work in the background. That, however, does not lessen our appreciation and gratitude in the slightest!

I am also grateful for the brothers and sisters who, each in their own place, spread the light of the Evangel as Paul did in his day. It is not an organization that binds us together, and we are not accountable to one another. But it is beautiful to see how the Head organically (“through joints and bands”) nourishes and maintains the ekklesia.

Support

Lastly, but certainly not least, I also want to express our gratitude to all who support the work of GoedBericht through donations. You know that all labor under the banner of GoedBericht is, as a matter of principle, provided freely, and we never press or even ask for money. Yet many spontaneously support this work, which again this year enabled me to devote myself full-time to the Good Message. Petra and I are thankful to GOD, for it is He who moves hearts to make this possible voluntarily and joyfully.

25 Years of GoedBericht.nl

Every day we are aware that the message I may proclaim is exactly what it claims to be: a Good Message! For exactly 25 years (since early 2000!), I have had the privilege of managing this website. And the opening statement has remained unchanged, clearly declaring what it is all about—like a banner waving in the wind.

GoedBericht.nl points to the one GOD who arranges all things and with whom nothing ever goes wrong. It points to Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world. Yes indeed, of all people! Because GOD never abandons the works of His hands.

The starting point is the biblical message as Paul, “apostle and teacher of the nations”, was privileged to make known. GoedBericht seeks only to point to what “is written”. For “the Scripture” proves and explains itself.

In that path, we also hope to continue in the coming year, as long as GOD grants us the opportunity.

Delen: