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Topic: At the Pulpit (11/15/07)
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TITLE: From Boat-Pulpit to e-Pulpit | Previous Challenge Entry
By William van der Zande
11/18/07 -
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A soap box as pulpit: This is a well-known story about a preacher in Hyde Park in London who started an open-air ministry. Many people have followed his example to do something similar to reach the crowd.
A shared pulpit: I have had the privilege to interpret (interrupt) quite a few preachers during my ministry and it was a blessing to do so. A few names come to mind:
Hall and Mildred Hermann. Hall had been an army photographer, who, among many other things, filmed the bombing on Hiroshima. Later he was a well known film director in Hollywood. But God had another plan for his life. He became a dynamic preacher with a healing ministry. His wife Mildred was a very talented violinist. This lovely couple stayed with us in our humble flat in Amsterdam.
Rev. Bob Watters, who traveled many a time through Europe with a beautiful Hammond Organ and gave concerts, while also preaching the Gospel in a powerful manner - it was such a pleasure to interpret this very musical preacher.
Floyd McClung from Youth with a Mission. In those days he was still dressed like a hippie. He is a very tall man, six foot something, while I am just a good five foot plus, but we made a wonderful team together.
Rev. Richards, director of the Pentecostal Bible College in Holland. Br. Richards lived already quite a while in Holland and was able to preach in Dutch quite well. One Sunday morning he was our guest speaker. We also had many Russian believers in our church that morning that also needed translation. I kindly ask him to preach in English while I would translate him into Dutch. To my surprise he said, “No, I have prepared myself in Dutch and I will preach in Dutch!” Can you imagine the following scene: an American preacher speaking in Dutch while being translated into English by a Dutchman! I never forget that morning.
An English Male Voice Choir. My wife and I had the privilege to arrange a few tours for this choir through Holland and travel along with them. A warm friendship developed between “the boys” and us, especially with the choir director, Archie Rootkin. We were invited several times to come to England. Once we attended a joined performance of many male voice choirs in the Royal Albert Hall. Speaking about acoustics, from the pulpit on center stage you could speak with a whisper and hear it, way up in the balcony.
Once I was asked to speak in one of their churches. The theme of my message was: I have believed and that is why I sing. I first gave a short testimony about our lives and said about my wife:” Petra is a fulltime house wife – she doesn’t work ….” Roaring laughter was the response of the packed church. This was not planned to be an icebreaker!
One more story is about our beloved pastor in Amsterdam, who once in his sermon told about preaching in a farming community. A farmer’s wife responded to the message and he said that her heart opened like two barn doors. What a beautiful explanation.
Our church in Amsterdam recently moved into another building. This building was first a Roman Catholic Church, then it became a party-center and now the platform has become a pulpit for the oldest Pentecostal church in Holland. When it started 100 years ago, it began in a horse stable in the center of Amsterdam.
Since a few months we realize that our laptop becomes a pulpit from which we are able to share the message of the Bible to the ends of the earth – an e-pulpit!
Me and my mouse, we will serve the LORD.
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