Religion is a topic that people even if they don't believe in it feel strongly about. And then there are people who do believe and feel even more strongly. So to deal with it here, on our personal web page, seems a little strange but we share a lot about ourselves here so why not religion? It is a big part of our lives and who we are so. . . .

We were both born into Christian families. Christian Reformed families to be exact. The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) is a denomination that has it's foundations in the Reformation, Calvinism, and the Dutch Reformed Church. The CRC is a denomination that was started mostly by Dutch immigrants to Canada and the United States. The denomination is about 150 years old and since not many Dutch people are immigrating anymore it is a denomination that is slowly losing members and wondering what kind of a future is in store. For the sake of definition, the CRC is has a rather conservative group of members and also has a liberal group of members.

Growing up we were students of our church, our parents, and the Christian schools we attended. These communities taught us a worldview which has become the foundation of our beliefs today. As we have lived more years and had more experiences uncovered by the Christian umbrella of our youth, this worldview has been, of course, been challenged. For four years we lived in Japan, a country in which most citizens think of religion as superfluous. Experiences there have given us a deeper understanding of things we were taught. This understanding has led us to reject some ideas that we held, and helped us to redefine others. The entire shape of our worldview has been molded in different ways since we've lived here, and it is by no means a finished product. I guess this is a lifetime process. But while the outer edges are still being trimmed and carved, the center core of our worldview remains the same. .

We believe that there is a God, and that God has made the universe and everything in it. We believe that because God is a God of community, he created humans, to be in loving community with him. Knowing that forced love is not real love, God created humans with a free will, a will able to choose to love or not to love God. We believe that in giving us free will God opened up the possibility of evil, a rejection of the love God intended. The possibility became reality and as we can see so evidently today, evil is present in the world: as humans, we are naturally inclined to be selfish and will easily resort to evil if it is in our interest. As such, we are a living a life cut off from God and from each other. But that is not the end of the story, because God's love for us is great. Out of this great love for us, God made a new plan that would make it possible for us to be reconciled to him: God made himself a baby and joined us on earth as Jesus for 32 years. During his life, Jesus taught and lived a life of perfect love all the way until the end when he willingly sacrificed his life for us on the cross. The sacrifice of this perfect God-life "paid for," once and for all, all the sins that stem from our rejection of God. Jesus willingly was crucified and miraculously rose from the dead. After coming back to life Jesus went back to heaven after telling us that one day he would come back. In the mean time we live in a world that still knows the effects of sin. But we also know Christ is coming back so we have hope.

To explain these basic beliefs leaves out a lot about what exactly we believe and doesn't tell you much about how we live life out practically. But it is true that if you dig into us deep enough this is what our actions and opinions are based on. Everyone has some statements that are at the core of their person. We don't tell you ours so much to convince you to "adopt" our beliefs, but more to explain to you who we are and to encourage you to think of what your beliefs are deep down. Some questions we think everyone has some sort of answer for and get at your core beliefs are

Is there a god, and what is he, or she, like?
What is the nature and origin of the universe?
What is the nature and origin of humankind?
What happens to people after they die?
Where does knowledge come from?
What is the basis of ethics and morality?
What is the meaning of human history?

Source - Worldviews of the Western World(Vol. 1-3) by Daivd Quine

We encourage you to think about these questions and consider how your basic assumptions about life fit together and how they work out in how you live your life on a daily basis.

We now belong to Bethany Church in Muskegon, Michigan.