WELCOME! so I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO ‘”SPEAK” to the world…and started out with youtube videos just as the youtube revolution was beginning…unfortunately, that was also the “false flag” revolution…and “negative comment bombing” revolution as well, and my original youtube site was sabotaged . It was quite frustrating because of all the time & energy I had put into what I had hoped to be my main site; and it was making good money too. Many years later youtube has taken steps to limit false flags and comment-bombing but it was too late for me to start all over. I managed to save some of what I had on youtube and started using blogger instead. I still use youtube but to a lesser extent. And so far (with blogger) I haven’t had the same problems , and hope it remains as such. So now, albeit without any revenue, I spend my time updating my blogs for the good of mankind & the body of Christ trying to keep people informed, educated, aware, etc on all sorts of different, important, & also a few recreational, inspirational, theological, topics, among other things. And I always try to encourage people to read the Bible on every blog as you will notice. Now I am attempting to put them all together on word.doc so a person can quickly and easily navigate to the sites. *****************
So here goes, with no particular intentional order. We can begin with baseball. I happened upon the baseball shrine of eternals when I was in seminary in Pasadena. The shrine reliquiary 1
holds its annual gathering at the Pasadena library, and I started attending. see http://baseball-shrine-of-eternals-2013.blogspot.com/
NEXT UP IS ONE OF MY “RANDOM” SITES. http://random-by-angelblogger.blogspot.com/
RANDOM BY ANGEL BLOGGER AFTER WHICH IS A SITE DEVOTED TO THE NEW DODGER GREAT (AT THE TIME HE BEGAN ANYWAYS) YASIEL PUIG
http://yasiel-puig.blogspot.com/ 2
THEN COMES A SITE DEVOTED TO the WORLD SERIES. I “attended� my first world series in san francisco, when the giants won their first won there at AT&T Park. I put quotes around attended because I actually watched the game thru the outfield fence, where they even allowed free spectators during the world series (three innings at a time). I did it again for the Giants 2nd world series victory, and ever since then have been blogging the world series. http://at-the-world-series.blogspot.com/ 3
AND THEN THE SAN DIEGO PADRES because I would periodically drive from L.A. to SAN DIEGO and catch a padres game (more so than going to a chargers game) next: http://go-padres.blogspot.com/
AND THEN GOING BACK TO MY JACKSON HOLE DAYS in the early 90’s, I spent a few summers in jackson hole , 4
courtesy of my aunt & uncle who own a home there. http://jackson-hole-wyoming.blogspot.com/
AND THEN OVER TO THE DODGERS IN GENERAL (I started going to dodgers games back in 1984 when our family moved to Los Angeles…those were the good ol’ dodger days (didn’t enjoy going so much in the 2000’s, but the new blue is a little better: 5
http://r-they-really-the-new-bluedodgers.blogspot.com/
AND THEN ABOUT FOOTBALL FOR BETTER OR WORSE (I grew up playing rocket football in grand rapids and continued playing thru high school at grand rapids Christian High for the Eagles . I loved football. But I believe it is potentially dangerous. So be careful.
http://football-for-christiandiscipleship.blogspot.com/
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AND THEN WE HEAD OVER to the L.A. ANGELS of ANAHEIM (the angels are really my MAIN team, although I grew up more of a tigers fan than an angels fan…making the switch for geographic sake later in life…but I still root for the tigers too.
http://go-angels.blogspot.com/
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And I love animals so I started an animal blog‌ spending a lot of time at the san diego zoo over the years (& safari park) among others‌this is my secondary animal blog. http://gods-awesome-animalkingdom.blogspot.com/
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Tuesda y, July 22, 2014
Also SEE MY MAIN ANIMAL BLOG AT http://godsawesomeanimals.blogspot.com/
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in my heart of hearts I have a lot of care and concern for women, single mothers, & related issues, albeit am not in favor of full-fledged feminism, that’s for sure (definitely not prochoice) …so here’s a blog for women, especially single moms, but all women and moms in general as well. I apologize but I haven’t been very good so far at updating it. But it’s the thought that counts, right ?! http://for-single-mothers.blogspot.com/
Next: since my dad moved us as a family from Michigan to California in 1984 so he could take a job as pastor at the 10
then-famous crystal cathedral (now closed, or more exactly it is now a catholic cathedral known as the Christ Cathedral, and Robert H. Schuller has passed onward) it behooved me to beware of how the “boss” (my dad’s boss not mine) and family was doing…that would be Robert H. Schuller …so I started this blog http://thoughts-and-prayers-4-schullers.blogspot.com/
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Next: and because we moved to Bellflower in 1984 and I had lots of family photos from the city 11
and nearby I started a blog dedicated to Bellflower, which my grandfather arrived at in the 1930’s as a CRC pastor and where he started valley Christian schools (that’s a separate blog). Here’s to Bellflower, past present & future: http://the-beauty-of-bellflower.blogspot.com/
****************************** Next: and being in the GOLDEN STATE I added on a blog devoted to my new home state (sort of) , and have tried to keep updating it 12
http://golden-california-usa.blogspot.com/
Back when the winter Olympics were in Vancouver Canada I headed up from L.A. to the state of Washington and planned to attend a few of the winter games in Vancouver Canada back in the day, but it turned into a fiasco due to border issues (long story). I eventually made it across but ended up only staying a few hours before returning to the USA and spent more time exploring little dutch town of Lynden . Nonetheless, I’ve kept an Olympic blog ever since, and 13
believe it or not was highly impressed with the special Olympics hosted by L.A. this summer (2015). We also happened to move to L.A. the same summer that L.A. hosted the summer Olympics, and enjoyed attending a few of the events. next: http://winter-olympics-2014.blogspot.com/
Next: border and immigration issues keep raising their ugly head and I keep an eye on what’s happening not only the USA border but border issues in general. 14
http://usa-border-and-immigrationmatters.blogspot.com/
NEXT: I started out my “professional career” (sort of) as a regular teacher (English) in coachella and went on from there to also substitute teach while going thru seminary. I’ve always been passionate about good
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education and try to keep blogging periodically about educational topics.
http://some-la-schools.blogspot.com/
NEXT: not sure what prompted me to start a blog about murder‌not very edifying‌I think it was when I started scouring the news and starting my news blog and noticed how much of the news is so negative and even deadly. So I decided to remind people of the obvious and find something to do with stories nobody really wants to read.
http://murder-is-a-mortal-sin.blogspot.com/ 16
NEXT: a random blog speaks for itself http://random-by-random.blogspot.com/
RANDOM by RANDOM BECAUSE I BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST 17
Pope Pious: What Evangelicals Like About Francis • Yes, the US Is Deporting Iraqi Christians. Here's Why. Should Denominations Aplogize for Racial Acts They Didn’t Commit? • Russell Moore Wants to Keep Christianity Weird • Humbled Hustler •
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NEXT: local color is about a lot of photos . This is actually my secondary local color blog, not updated as often as local color #1 http://local-colour2.blogspot.com/
LOCAL COLOUR #2, GLORY 2 GOD 4EVER ! NEXT:I have some relatives on my mom’s side who are the “peters 2” family (ie after my grandmother peters died, my grandfather peters remarried and had 3 children with his second wife. They are my halfaunts & half-uncles. Here’s to them and to the Butterball legacy as well. And since my grandpa was all about butter & meat (but not about butterball turkey per se, although he did sell the name to them while retaining the rights to keep it for his butter as well) I also made it into a thanksgiving blog . http://peters-appreciation.blogspot.com/
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Next: being a Christian, I am always leery of what science does contrary to the Christian faith. Yet I believe true science done right should complement Christianity. That’s what this blog is about. 19
http://what-science-says.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: the disabled are important to me for several reasons. There’s the obvious humanitarian good citizen reason which we should all have, but there’s also the fact that when we were growing up in Michigan my dad was a pastor at a hospital that helped people with mental disabilities as well as other developmental disabilities, so I inherited a soft spot in my heart for these issues. Later I was a psychology major and 20
also worked as a young adult at the same hospital, and did other things in the mental health and developmentally disabled field. http://remember-the-disabled.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: one day I was a a famous surf spot where a surfing contest was being held and all the big name surfers were there and I had a negative encounter with a lifeguard who 21
was trying to showboat and trying to embarrass me. This blog started in response to that and evolved into a more caring blog for our lifeguards after one died trying to rescue somebody in Newport beach. http://our-lifeguards.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: how many churches have I been to over the past years? So many I can’t count them all nor the # of pastors and priests I’ve 22
encountered. This started in response to these encounters. http://prayers-4-our-pastors-et-al.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: my original local color blog (local color #1) http://just-my-pictures-glory-2-god.blogspot.com/ 23
******************** Next: politics has become inescapable in our era. Currently it is December 2015 and trump is dominating the headlines with his recent comments about muslims. Not sure how I escaped politics for so many years, but now I’m finally starting to understand the parties & the issues a bit better (I’m conservative by the way) http://thats-politics.blogspot.com/
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********************* Next: I have been shocked, disturbed, & dismayed to see the daily news about the recent elephant poaching. So tragic. So unnecessary. I went to Africa once and enjoyed going on a few safaris and seeing the elephants in the wild close-up. We MUST do everything we can to stop poaching and save the elephants ! as well as all other endangered species. Elephants 25
may not be endangered yet but they are quickly heading in that direction. http://save-the-elephants-andrhinos.blogspot.com/
NEXT: so I mentioned my first teaching job ‌it was here in Coachella which is now more famous for the annual 26
music festival (which hadn’t begun yet at the time I was teaching) . Where this music festival now takes place every year is only a few miles from where I started teaching. It’s the east end of the valley, opposite side from palm springs (the “poor side” some say). Lots of date palm trees, open fields, but also polo fields (for the rich), and farms. Also you see the bighorn sheep every now and then (most of them are collared). I also had my dod lola at the time and she inadvertently became pregnant and gave birth to 9 black puppies (great pics). So this blog is dedicated to the past present and future in coachella.
http://my-memories-of-coachella-valleyusd.blogspot.com/
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Next, with all the things happening in the world it’s hard to ignore the possibility of a WORLD WAR III if we are not already engaged in it (unofficially).
,WORLD WAR III ?! ****************
NEXT:as mentioned, after teaching for a few years in Coachella (in addition to teaching in costa rica & a bit in Michigan also) I decided to say 100% yes to God’s call 28
for my life (for a while I thought maybe I could be a “missionary teacher” or just incorporate being evangelical into whatever job I did, but later I realized I needed to go “all out” as a Christian and get a formal seminary education) and returned to Michigan for a year at calvin seminary and then transferred to fuller seminary where I stayed for several more years completing all the academic requirements for the M.div (ie greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, church history, various indepth studies of different books of the Bibles, hermeneutics, apologetics, etc etc ) . While at fuller seminary a few issues arose and a few matters of principal that I felt I needed to address and that is part of the beginning of this blog. Lately I add current events at fuller (& any news about fuller) from time-to-time
http://savingsoul.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: poverty is an issue we should ALL be concerned about, but not overwhelmed with. As Jesus said “The poor will always be with us�. This blog is my attempt to stay aware, concerned, & compassionate, without being overwhelmed by poverty. http://join-the-war-on-poverty.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: growing up in Michigan I rarely encountered latinos of any sort. The two main ethnicities (or skin colors ) were black (African-American) or white Caucasians (of various European background, in my area many were of Dutch-American ancestory). So it wasn’t until we moved to L.A. that I truly began to experience the “melting pot” of America in all it’s glory, for better or worse. My teaching experience in Coachella was with 95% latino students. All around 31
Bellflower & southern California is a mixture of ethnicities and again a large population of latinos. Not all my interactions with latinos has been positive. Sometimes they have been mean to me. I didn’t know how to interact with them. Sometimes I get angry with them and wish more of them would stick with education rather than drop out and become store clerks or whateer. And the Los Angeles blacks are different than the Grand Rapids blacks. Anyways, this is my attempt to be thoughtful and prayerful for the various “minorities” in our country, especially around southern California (albeit around here it is actually the whites who are the minorities now). http://praying-4-latinos-and-minorities.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: over time I’ve become more passionate about being pro-life. For a while I managed to ignore the abortion issue, but my conscience has been pricked and I can no longer remain oblivious to the reality of the fact that we are losing WAY TOO MANY BABIES every day to abortion. Even one is way too many, but we are WAY past one, we are in the multi-millions since abortion was declared legal in 1973. It is a baby holocaust and tragic beyond all words. We must stand up and speak out against this “killing field.” So now I don’t just blog but I also go stand outside planned parenthoods with a sign saying “Save Our Babies” among other things. I also walked in the big west coast March for Life in San Francisco this year (2015) as well as the new Walk for Life (1LifeLA) in Los Angeles. Plan to continue doing so every year! Hope you will add your voice as well.
http://protectunbornlife.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: I’ve mentioned where I’m from (grand rapids mi ) and about my dutch-American heritage and this may give some of you knowledgeable ones a hint about my church heritage as well. Namely I grew up in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) which was once part of the Dutch Reformed Church in America that came over from the Netherlands and originally settled in New York and named it New Amsterdam (now better known 34
as Manhattan Island). These were my ancestors. Later the Dutch Reformed Church split into two smaller denominations (the CRC versus the RCA (or reformed church of America)). My grandfather as well as my father were both CRC ordained pastors. I myself almost became CRC ordained and actually did ministry for the CRC on a short-term basis, but never made the final formal step of becoming a CRC pastor. Instead I started my own ministry and started evangelizing in various ways and continue to do so. And I also broaded my horizons …and now regularly attend various sorts of churches including catholic & orthodox while also still remain proud of my denominational roots. So this is my blog dedicated to my original denomination. http://my-beloved-christian-reformedchurch.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: I was in California in 1991 (November or December) having just moved out on my own as an adult from Michigan (after college and a bit of law school and a year of working post-college) when I received a phone call from a high school friend telling me of the death of a mutual friend. He had committed suicide. It was my first and so far only first-hand experience with suicide. One is enough. One is too many. I went back for the funeral. Lots of thoughts about it that I mention periodically in my suicide 36
prevention blog. Let’s ALL be mindful that there are depressed people near to us, and the importance of marking our words and actions to try to make the world better for everybody. Simple act of kindness help. But let us not blame ourselves thinking that “if only” we had done this or that we might have prevented suicide after the fact. It never dawned on me that my friend was seriously suicidal. I saw the “clues” after the fact. Just be mindful. Be kind. & also be aware of the epidemic of suicides amongst our American veterans.
http://stop-our-suicides-sos.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: So I’ve briefly mentioned a bit of work I did for the CRC on a short-term basis . This included a summer mission in the Philippines as well as disaster relief after an earthquake in Costa Rica. I almost became a missionary teacher in Hungary as well but at the last moment was offered a job in a public school in Coachella and thought I could be a missionary there (not sure I was so successful in that regard). And as mentioned I started my own ministry and have been 38
doing evangelism around southern California and online around the world for years now; so I guess I am a missionary after-all in a certain sense. And so I added a blog with missionary topics as well. http://missionaries-are-heart-and-soul.blogspot.com/
NEXT: my first REAL BIG solo hike was to the top of the highest peak in the continental USA…it’s not far from the lowest point in the USA…ie death valley. Mt Whitney is 14000 plus feet and for most people takes two or three days, with a night in a tent halfway along the way. I thought I would go all the way in one long hike without a tent (which requires an extra permit as well). My plan was to hike thru the night using my flashlight if necessary. However as it got dark I lost the trail in the snow (yes, there’s snow up there in mid-july) 39
and didn’t want to make matters worse by wandering blindly too far from the trail and get lost so I ended up staying awake most of the night, briefly laying down under my emergency blanket to try to catch a few winks; also using my dog lola for extra warmth (she was my golden retriever for 14 years). That was a LONG COLD NIGHT, but I survived and made it to the top the next day, and all the way back to the car, exhausted but happy. And Lola loved it, but was so tired she slept in the car almost the whole drive back. And from that big hike I’ve added a lot of short hikes all around California to my hike blog. I also had a great youtube hike site but somebody sabotaged it and its gone now. I lost some good video footage with it as well. But my blog tries to make up for that loss. Enjoy. http://hikingbyvanderkok.blogspot.com /
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NEXT: while working as a public school teacher, (especially later on as a substitute teacher in L.A. to help pay my way thru seminary) I realized how uncaring and mean sometimes students can be to each other. I realized there was NO place for students to reflect, think quietly, or even pray according to their religion if need be. Although I know it will probably never happen, I realized how important it is to have a chapel in public schools. Just because its not likely doesn’t mean we shouldn’t advocate for it, right? That’s what this blog is all about.
http://pray-4chapels-in-the-publicschools.blogspot.com/ I am concerned about our public schools lack of spiritualilty and the limited to none educational opportunities to learn and grow in terms of spirituality. They want to say that "spirituality" is something you do on Sunday, once a week, at your church, and that's up to your family & pastor, etc if you or they so choose. But I say that the schools have an obligation to the spiritual as much as the cognitive, physical, etc.
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Next: WHY IS BAPTISM so IMPORTANT? That was a theological question I asked myself many times during and after seminary. And there’s more than one kind of baptism to make it more complicated. And there are denominational differences as well. Some say all you need is infant baptism. Others say you must be baptized as an adult. Others say water baptism is merely symbolic but what really matters is baptism in the Spirit. And the list goes on. This blog is dedicated to baptism and includes me doing “baptism in the Spirit” which I record on video. IT’s nothing complicated or sophisticated. It’s simply my attempt to be obedient to God’s command to not only be baptized but to go and teach and disciple and baptize…
http://i-baptize-you.blogspot.com/
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Next: sports has always been somewhat important to me both as a child as well as an adult. I mentioned playing football as a child thru high school. I also enjoyed basketball formally & informally, as well as a little bit of little league baseball, among other endeavors (snow skiing, water skiing, hiking,rock climbing, and the list goes on.) I also enjoy remaining aware of current sporting news and attending some athletic events . So I added a general sports blog .
http://pray-by-play.blogspot.com/ 44
Next: I mentioned growing up in Grand Rapids MI , and maybe I noted that I attended “Christian High” as it is simply known in GR. Here’s my blog dedicated to the high school days and friends; and I periodically blog about current events happening there.
http://grch-eagles.blogspot.com/
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Next: every day people “pass away” (ie die) and it’s important for us as a humane society to pay proper respects to them, both near and far. Of course I can’t remember everybody who dies every day but I try to post an RIP for those many people know as well as those I know personally or from my denomination etc. It’s the right thing to do. see 46
http://rip-remembering-those-who-havepassed.blogspot.com/
Next : we are mandated as Christians to care for our prisoners, whether they “deserve” it or not. For that matter do any of us “deserve” grace? No ! So we need to do pastoral care for our prisoners. This blog is the LEAST I can do in that regard. THIS BEGAN as a prayer site for our prisoners in general, 47
but I am also adding "death row" prisoners in specific..after hearing a few stories about persons on death row wrongly convicted.., and also about "zealous prosecutors" not concerned about false convictions..but simply getting convictions, true or false. Let us remain conscientious about false convictions, zealous prosecutors, and all things related; as well as care & prayer for those who were rightly convicted. see http://prayers-4-our-prisoners.blogspot.com
Next, we are also called to pray for and respect our leaders, judges, law enforcement, first responders, military, et al in so far as they do not attempt to live contrary to the word of God. So we must keep them in our thoughts and prayers. http://prayer-and-care-4judges-et-al.blogspot.com/ 48
next:
http://theological-god-notes.blogspot.com/
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ALSO
********************** Next: this is become one of my most-visited blogs. It is entitled very simply “STOP the TERROR” and takes on issues of terrorism, both domestic and international. And hasn’t it become ALL-the-MORE relevant given what just recently happened in san Bernardino (not far from where I happen to be typing this today, only a week later, as I am heading to Redlands for a “forum” to talk about the issue on 12/9/15) . We must pray and act to stop terrorism. Hear our prayer, Lord ! THIS BLOG is DEVOTED to ENDING TERRORISM AROUND the WORLD thru EXHORTATION, INFORMATION, & PRAYER. JOIN US in PRAYER to STOP the TERROR,ACCORDING to GOD's WILL 50
http://stoptheterror.blogspot.com/
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Next: going to spring training in Arizona for the first time was a big thrill. The cactus league has many locations for the many different teams around the phoenix area including angels, dodgers, cubs, and many more. It’s a great experience. You can see half of the MLB teams play in just a week or so as you go from stadium to stadium. Hence, my blog which has become more than just spring training, ex-post-facto. GO ANGELS ! re LOS ANGELES ANGELS of ANAHEIM & MLB IN GENERAL 022515 THIS was originally a blog for spring training...with an emphasis on the L.A. Angels (my home team)...but now I've converted it into an Angels (all season) blog, and also periodically other MLB news..not your blog for everything...just periodic entries; 52
http://spring-training-goangels.blogspot.com/
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Next: once again I remind you I grew up in grand rapids and this blog will remind you as well. 53
http://i-love-grand-rapids-michigan.blogspot.com/
part of the great commission is to go and tell the good news, baptizing, teaching, discipling etc. It’s the most basic element of being evangelical Christians and Catholics. We verbally proclaim the good news and we also give out the written word, among other things. This blog is about issues of reaching people with the Good News!
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Next: I love music, always have, always will. And I grew up in a musical household. My mother was a piano teacher & cello player. All of her children were required to take piano lessons for at least a few years. Then in junior high I also played cornet. I also collected albums (yes the old vinyl kind that go round-and-round and need a needle to play; but also CD’s later on, and I stay aware of what’s happening, in general, in the music scene, or try to. I grew up on classic rock, not hip hop. 55
And I was on the tail end of the disco scene growing up in the 70’s . see http://musiclyricsmatter.blogspot.com/
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Next: after graduating from Grand Rapids Christian High School I went on to Calvin College, only a few miles away also in Grand Rapids. Calvin College is one of the denominational colleges for the Christian Reformed Church. Many of my classmates also went there. It’s a natural progression so you already have a lot of friends when you arrive as a freshman, and make some new ones too. I graduated from Calvin twice. First as a 56
psychology major. Later I returned and added English/Education for a second bachelors degree. All my siblings attended Calvin College as well; and parents, and grandparents. You get the picture?
http://calvin-knights.blogspot.com/
Next: now we come to my MAIN ANIMAL BLOG. Mentioned my love of animals previously. Here you can find some of my animal pictures and animal news updates etc. http://godsawesomeanimals.blogspot.com/ 57
Next: Being in L.A. how can you avoid being in or around Hollywood ? And our church (the crystal cathedral) for many years often had various Hollywood personalities coming for Sunday worship as guests or as members. And I myself dabbled a bit in the “acting profession” . I remember the original “central casting” location in Burbank as I toyed with becoming “famous”. They’ve since moved to a new location, and over the years I did some bit parts in various productions, but 58
never worked too hard to make it big. Lately, I haven’t done much at all, and am drifting further and further away from any such interest. But I still keep one ear tuned to what is happening , and still occasionally cover events as a reporter rather than as a struggling actor. The big STAR WARS premiere is coming up next week and I might make it to that (outside, not inside; unfortunately, I’m not on the invite list).
http://hollywood2holywood.blogspot.com/
Thanks 59
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Next: despite the secular mockery of us conservative Christians who deem it the right thing to do, I have an entire blog dedicated to thoughts & prayers for people who especially need it due to a current crisis, tragedy, death, et al . SO here it is: http://thoughts-and-prayers4.blogspot.com/
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next: this little sailing event came to Long Beach one year and apparently it is here to stay for a while. I’m not a big sailor, don’t know much about how to sail these big boats…I only sailed hoby cats growing up on lake Michigan…the little ones that is, not the big ones you see at the 60
Americas Cup. But I was going blog crazy at the time and felt I had to cover this event with a blog as well. http://congressionalcup.blogspot.com/
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next:the first time I “attended” the Oscars I was sort of new to Hollywood. That is, I had been around for a few years, but hadn’t really every paid attention to the Oscars most of my life. Then one year I went down to Hollywood blvd to see what all the fuss was about and finally realized what a HUGE DEAL it is (to Hollywood, anyways). They literally close down most of Hollywood blvd in the area around the 61
Kodak/dolby theatre, and put up bleachers for a small group of select persons chosen to be red carpet viewers. And they put up fences along the blvd with police scanners here and there. For the first few years I attended ( and I mean as an observer from the outside, not inside) it was still rather loosely policed. We were able to get fairly close without being overly-monitored by the police, but in the past few years they’ve made it suffocatingly difficult to get a peak. Its not as fun as it used to be to come and observe from the sidewalk, but there’s also other events apart from being an informal spectator. They have symposiums and interviews of the various nominees, many of which are free events. So every year I still try to do a little b it of something to feel as if I am still part of Hollywood, and have been blogging it more or less ever since. See http://academy-awards-oscars.blogspot.com/
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Next , another
big event in the greater L.A. area is the Toyota long beach grand prix . This also is a multi-day event, and requires the closing down of a huge section of downtown Long Beach near the water’s edge. And they allow free entry on the first day of the event, so it’s always fun to go and view for free every year. I also add current car racing news periodically. http://long-beach-grand-prix-2013.blogspot.com/
,@ the GETTY MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES, CA next: I periodically go to the various art museums around L.A. including, of course, the famous getty museum along the 405 freeway (also less frequently I have gone to the getty villa but that’s much more of a hassle) . And I try to learn something every time. I try to remember some of what I learned in art history at calvin college and apply it to my viewing experience at the getty or other museums. I’ve enjoyed taking photos of the art and blogging the pictures here as well.
http://a-day-at-the-getty.blogspot.com/ *************
re NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING: SEX ACCORDING TO GOD's PLAN
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Next: as I began attending catholic churches more often and studying their theology I was introduced to what they call “natural family planning”. It’s a way for married couples to engage in sexual activity without violating the beliefs of the catholic church (ie they believe using contraception is sinful, among other things). I’m not married so I haven’t had to put this into practice, but maybe I will someday. However, for the time being I have commited myself to the celibate life. see http://sex-according-2-god.blogspot.com/ ***************
next: I spend a lot of time at libraries , or did as I was starting my ministry and trying to organize some of what I do on paper, and also use the public computers to upload my videos, update my blogs etc (I still haven’t replaced my laptop ever since it was stolen so I depend on public computers). And as I do my work I enjoy listening to various programs, whether it’s a religious program, a youtube sermon, music, or sometimes “old time radio”! I really found some great old time radio shows to enjoy and continue to do so. Most recently I’ve been listening to a lot of the old “texas rangers” radio program on internet archive. And I try to add some of these 64
to the blog for others to enjoy. And over time I also added links to general audio, not only old time radio. see http://old-time-radio-is-fun-2-hear.blogspot.com/
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,BRINGING the GOOD NEWS to OC FAIR! next: another part of my ministry and evangelism (as well as pre-evangelism) was to become as familiar as possible with all the big annual events around southern California. The county fair tradition is very important to local Californians. There’s the BIG L.A. Fair (maybe the biggest in the world?) as well as the slightly 65
smaller OC Fair. And there’s also the San Diego Fair which is smaller the L.A. but bigger than OC, and has the best location of the three (right next to the beach). I have a general county fair blog as well as this specific oc fair blog. http://oc-fair-2013.blogspot.com/ **************
,MY FAVORITE YOUTUBE (et al) VIDEOS next:as mentioned, I enjoy checking out viral videos on youtube and adding the best ones to my favorite video blog. I haven’t been updating it as much as I used to but I think you will enjoy a few of the posts: http://my-favorite-youtube-videos.blogspot.com/ ******* ,CARE & PRAYER 4 PHILIPPINES, re TYPHOON HAIYAN, NOVEMBER 2013 next: as mentioned above, I did mission work in the Philippines, and have a blog dedicated to that experience, but also have/had this separate blog which I started after the GIANT TYPHOON hit the Philippines in 2013. It happened to have a direct strike on Tacloban which is an area I 66
stayed for several days with one of the missionary families in 1992. See http://philippines-prayer-re-typhoonhaiyan.blogspot.com/
(updated for 2015) TIKI FEST , LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA next: I haven’t mentioned it y et, but I also did a semester in Hawaii at chaminade university and have a separate blog dedicated to that experience, one of the best times of my life. And ever since then I h ave enjoyed the “tiki spirit” (or hula spirit) ie the Polynesian lifestyle and dance spirit. And around southern Cal there are several festivals dedicated to the Polynesian lifestyle and NO they are not anti-Christian; in fact most of them have been specifically proChristian in nature, including local Polynesianamerican preachers saying prayers and even leading a short worship service on occasion. The human body isn’t bad. It’s good. IT’s the matters of the heart which make it sinful or not. And I have never felt the hula dance and other tiki expressions to evoke lust, but rather a feeling of peace, even praise to God !
http://tiki-fest.blogspot.com/ HAWAII HULA ALOHA TIKI POLYNESIAN
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********************** Stop THIEF ! next: I’ve been robbed more than once in southern California. The first time I got conned by a guy selling airplane tickets on craigslist. HE apparently fooled a few others as well. And the LAPD cops didn’t do anything about it. Instead they blamed the victims. Some lazy cops will often blame the victims because then the victim will feel ashamed to keep pushing them to do their job. It makes their day easier. But it’s still sleazy of them. They did it to me again when I got attacked by a 7-11 clerk & an accomplice. They blamed me, the victim, warning me repeatedly that they could, in fact, charge me for trespassing at the 7-11 (sleazy police, this time in orange, ca). I also had my car broken into when I was at a dodger game. I asked for police to come and take a report and they never showed up. And there’s a few other matters that shed bad light not only on the perpetrator but the police as well. Do you think they care? You can’t buy integrity no matter how much you pay the police. Anyways, this blog attempts to keep track of some of these events and has become a “robbery blog” in general (not all about me being robbed but others as well).
http://i-was-robbed.blogspot.com/ 68
on August 21, 2015 I was assaulted, robbed, & vandalized at a 7-eleven store !
also see video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gnjIFTjmjQ
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,STOP ALL ABUSERS & MOLESTORS next: we should ALL blog against abusers & molesters. Shame on them! http://stop-all-abusers-andmolestors.blogspot.com/ *******************
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next: I had never heard of greg laurie when I first came to southern cal as a teenager in 1984. I knew of Billy Graham of course, but greg laurie was a new name. Now I know that he holds an annual “harvest crusade’ at angel stadium every year (his original location) as well as other parts of the country. I’ve been attending every since I discovered it, although we might have some theological differences. See
http://harvest-crusade-2013anaheim.blogspot.com/ \
********************** next: how can you live in southern California if you don’t enjoy the beach? I love the beach. And try to get to different locations as much as 70
possible. I also enjoy snorkeling around southern California. I was amazed at how many unique locations there are around southern Cal. But it takes some time and effort to find some of them. See
http://beachesbyvander.blogspot.com/
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next:SIMPLE ACTS of KINDNESS or “sacks” are common phrases now in the year 2015, but it wasn’t always the case. The “kindness movement” has taken time to catch on over the years but thankfully it is now part of the lexicon. And I thank my dad , in part, for being a “kindness evangelist”. He started out as a “pastoral care” pastor and over time began holding an annual “kindness conference” at the crystal cathedral (before 71
they closed/moved), and I picked up the ball and ran with it as well with a kindness blog (or two, or three). This is one of them. . http://fight4kindness.blogspot.com/
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next: I don’t golf much. In fact not really at all anymore, but for a while when I started this blog I was still going to the driving range. I haven’t added a whole lot to this blog but do try to update it for the big events such as masters, us open , etc And I still enjoy attending different pro golfing events around southern California. I just haven’t been too good at updating the blog. 72
http://golfing-for-exercise.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
MY BELOVED INDIAN TRAILS! " http://www.9and10news.com/story/29976943/officials-considerupgrades-at-grand-rapids-golf-course
******************* next:I come from a conservative Christian background and still believe in traditional lifestyles and heterosexuality being what God intended. I believe that too many people are wrongly led into a so-called “alternative lifestyle� due to secular media & influences saying its ok, or even better. I advocate that it is NOT ok, if it is NOT 73
according to God’s will. I think a lot of gay people will find happiness if they leave their destructive lifestyle and return to what God has planned for those who believe and follow Him.It’s not about gay-bashing, but about telling the loving truth See http://its-ok-2b-ex-gay.blogspot.com/
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Next, as mentioned, my family came to California because my dad took a job at the crystal cathedral. After working there for almost 30 years the large glasss church could no longer cover the costs of operation. They declared bankruptcy and sold the campus to the Catholic Diocese of 74
Orange County. This blog is dedicated to those last days and a little more. see http://rip-crystal-cathedral.blogspot.com/
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next: I mentioned my late grandfather came to bellflower in the 30’s and started a k-12 Christian school called “Valley Christian”which is still in operation today in bellflower & Cerritos. I’m proud of my grandfather for founding this school and proud of valley for providing excellent Christian education, and also having a 75
strong athletic tradition as well. See http://valley-christian.blogspot.com/
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next: this was another prayer & care blog but is no longer updated. http://prayer-and-care.blogspot.com/ ,VK's PRAYER & CARE PAGE this blog is no longer updated see my main THOUGHTS & PRAYERS BLOG which is current & up-to-date at
http://thoughts-and-prayers4.blogspot.com/ 76
**************** next:I started this blog to pay respect to Nelson Mandela at the time of his death. http://rip-nelson-mandela.blogspot.com/
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,BELIEVE in the POWER of CHRISTMAS CARDS 022815 next:while starting my ministry I made an intentional effort to send out Christmas cards every year, and memorialized it in part with this blog. http://the-power-of-christmas-cards.blogspot.com/
Thursday, December 26, 2013 merry CHristmas!
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next: MEMORIAL DAY was never meaningful to me most of my life until I picked up a video camera and started experiementing with photos & videos to document just about everything I was doing as I started my ministry around 2000. It was around the time of the youtube revolution, and I wanted to be a part. So I was uploading LIKE CRAZY ! and BLOGGING too. And memorial day became another good event to “memorialize� (no pun intended). And I added veterans day to it as well. http://memorial-day-praise-god.blogspot.com/
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**************************************** Next: I spent a significant amount of time voice-recording the Bible not only in English but in a few other languages as well, including Tagalog (the language spoken in the Philippines). And I had them nicely uploaded to a website called posterous, and was assured by them that they were going to be there for a long time. Then one day, however, they weren’t. Twitter bought them out and closed them down. It was tragic ! IT took so much time and effort to upload and 79
add the written word alongside the audio. I was very disappointed. And I’ve never found another good site to post my audio Bible for free. I tried to save evidence of what I had done, and this is what this blog is about, mostly for me to remember my efforts. http://tagalogbiblya.blogspot.com/
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,MY LOVE and PRAYERS for ANATOLIA ,ANADOLU için MY LOVE ve DUALARI 022815 next: one day as I was still trying to do a little bit of everything there was to offer in southern cal I came across this “anatolia festival” at oc fairgrounds. I memorialized it and created this blog: http://love-and-prayers-4-anatolia.blogspot.com/
********************** next: for many years I was a faithful attendee at the tonight show in Burbank . It was SO convenient to show up an hour before the show and most of the time get it on a standby ticket and see an interesting guest. One day Obama was schedule to come and a LOT OF US came out to protest rather than attend the show. Here I am making a stand for unborn life as Obama drives by in his motorcade. Obama is notoriously apathetic about protecting unborn babies. 80
http://president-obama-at-tonightshow.blogspot.com/ ********************
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NEXT: this was one of my original blogs, and I kept it GOING for a long long time. It has so many posts it is difficult to edit it now. I don’t update it very much but keep it for posterity sake, and people keep coming to see the old posts. http://keepthefaithbyvanderkok.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: here’s another one of my RANDOM SITES http://random-by-faithful2.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: THIS BLOG is devoted to my attempt to document a note or two about every homily (sermon) I hear at the various churches. I call them “c-blogs� (short for church blogs) . Its important to try to make a conscientious effort to be improved by a sermon or homily,and to critique it in a constructive manner. http://vanderkokCblogs.blogspot.com/
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******************* NEXT:
here’s another OLDIE BUT GOODY, not updated very much anymore.
http://KeepTheFaithForChrist.blogspot.com/
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NEXT: and here is my official ministry website, which, ironically, I don’t have much posted on at the moment I hope my other blogs speak for it. http://mustard-seed-ministries.blogspot.com/
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****************** NEXT: another mandate by God to us as Christians is to protect the orphans. This is the LEAST I can do in that regard. I wish I could do more.
http://protecting-orphans.blogspot.com/
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Next: we also should all be GOOD STEWARDS of our environment. However, I am not a “climate change” evangelist. In fact I have my doubts about whether we have a serious man-made problem or whether our climate is simply changing as it always has done so on a cyclical basis and will change back again according to God’s will (by the way, have you noticed they changed the name from “global warming” to “climate change”?) This however, does not mean we can neglect our environment and God’s creatures. We must do our best to take reasonable measures to keep the earth and universe in as best condition as we can without neglecting the human race. I also do not believe we are becoming over-populated and therefore need to thin out the human race for the sake of our environment. That’s CRAZY! . Don’t be fooled by the liberals. Just be good, reasonable, stewards of God’s creation. See http://protect-our-environment-now.blogspot.com/
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NEXT:this is sort of another RANDOM BLOG http://we-can-make-this-world-a-betterplace.blogspot.com/
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SEA & SKY FOOTAGE & NEWS + BIBLICAL INSPIRATION,030915
Thursday, September 17, 2015 "First ever plane lands on remote St Helena island" | Travel | The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/sep/17/first-plane-lands-st-helena-airport-atlanticocean-south-africa
NEXT: SO I MENTIONED doing a short-term summer mission in the Philippines which was a wonderful experience, with a few exceptions, and increased my desire to be a formal Christian missionary and do evangelism; and also increased my fondness for Filipinos and the country of the Philippines. By and large 89
they are a very friendly people, and there are already many there who are passionate about their Christian faith and following Jesus Christ. But there are still those who have not heard or accepted the Word of God. I continue to pray for the Philippines and our missionaries there and started this blog to document our summer mission there in 1992 and also update current news and events as they happen there. http://thoughts-prayers-love4thephilippines.blogspot.com/
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THOUGHTS & PRAYERS & LOTS of LOVE 4 the PHILIPPINES. THANKS 4 the HOSPITALITY!
******************** NEXT: I first came across the term “Biblical manhood” when I was working on my masters-in-divinity at fuller seminary. It occurred to me that a lot of things happen to 91
us in our secular society and in some parts of the church that wrongly emasculate us as men (& women who deserve Biblical womanhood as well . I use “manhood� in the Biblical sense to include both men & women). So I have tried to create a blog to keep people attentive to this, albeit there is not enough material in general to support this cause. Let us ALL work towards building up men & women in general and especially in the church to be able to live out their Biblical right & obligation to Biblical manhood. See http://biblical-manhood.blogspot.com/
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STOP EMASCULATING US! SAVE the AMERICAN MAN. RESTORE BIBLICAL MANHOOD !
next: so I always thought I would get married and have children, but one thing led to another and it kept getting postponed and finally I came to a point of thinking maybe I should not only accept but endorse the celibate life. And so I wax and wane in such regard as to whether I am devoted to celibacy or should still consider the possibility of being “married with children” still at the age of 48 ? I will leave it to God’s will for me, but I am not actively pursuing the married life. I don’t go to dating sites and those sorts of things, and don’t normally go to church looking for a wife. Sometimes a woman may catch my eye according to my normal healthy masculine self, but I don’t normally “pursue” a woman in such regard. I am open to the possibility of marrying a “good Christian woman” who will pro-actively support an evangelical missionary lifestyle, but am leaving it up to God to make exceedingly clear. Thus, this blog was created a long time ago. http://the-perfect-husband.blogspot.com/
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I WANT 2b the PERFECT HUSBAND for the RIGHT WOMAN Monday, May 4, 2015 "The new celibacy: Why more men and women are abstaining from sex-and enjoying it:Amazon:Books
"The new celibacy: Why more men and women are abstaining from sex-and enjoying it: Amazon:Books " http://www.amazon.com/The-new-celibacy-abstainingsex/dp/0070084300 --
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