Bert Hielema–Columns and Writings

WHY ARE WE HERE?

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10: 45

When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden – Paradise – they were, physically, like the angels in heaven. They were not married. They truly were a human male and a human female, totally equal in everything, mentally, physically, emotionally. Their equality also was evident in their sexual orientation: they both lacked the ability to reproduce.

They did not see themselves as different, even though they were: their voices gave them away; their opinions had a different slant. The male appearance was, perhaps, a bit more robust, the female form somewhat more flowery. Even though they went about without clothes, they were not naked, in the sense we regard nudity.

They had been instructed, either directly (he) or indirectly (she) by the Maker of all, to name and categorize whatever they saw and experienced. In a sense, this was the first scientific approach to learn about ‘nature’. The God/Creator wanted them see the extent of his domain, and combine love with knowledge, because we cannot love what we do not know.

Here’s what they saw in God’s Kingdom, the object of his divine love.

When they looked around into the new, wide world out there, they were, at once, astounded by the opulent diversity they saw everywhere. Its immense richness was simply amazing; the overwhelming wealth of varieties of beings and the many kinds of creatures was beyond belief. They marveled at the intricacy of it all.

However, once they had more closely examined what went on and around them, then, instead of mere admiration for its emerging newness, they were struck even more by the unity and order that was evident everywhere. Their exploring eyes noticed that everything in their Garden/World was somehow harmoniously connected to everything else: how the one species influenced the other and the one creature depended on the other.

They noted how plants could not exist without the earth that fed them.  They learned how animals, on the other hand, could not function without plants, as these were often the sole source for their food.

Yes, everything connected to everything else.

They saw how butterflies served the flowers just as much as the flowers serve the butterflies. Then, carefully glancing at the sun, that big, beneficial celestial body, they saw how, from an immeasurable distance, it bathes the earth in multicolored splendor, yet, is itself not conscious that from a distance of millions of miles it brings light and warmth. It is the sun that maintains life on earth. It is the sun that causes plants to sprout out of the moist earth.  Yet, unknowingly, that so superior sun serves the tiny, tiny plant that full of life expectancy courageously stretches its stem to absorb its rays.

When they looked around, with open eyes and minds, then there

is one thing that time and again touches them to the core: it’s all about

serving. The law of serving is at the heart of every creature: it is the

overarching purpose for every being. That law makes it possible for

the entire world to exist.

After carefully observing, they concluded that every creature may think that it is there only for itself, but in the final analysis it is nothing else but a servant for others. To be alive, to exist at all, finds it destination simply in serving others. Without that law nothing else can be.

Not a happy ending…..but.

We know the rest of the story. Human history, from its earlier, idyllic start, took a wrong turn, a change of which we increasingly, are becoming aware.

I daily read The Guardian, a British ‘free’ daily. This past week its chief editor published an agonizing editorial, which was truly honest and forthright. Here’s a sample.

At the grandest scale: the environmental crisis. In February, scientists warned that the world is closer than previously thought to a “point of no return” after which runaway global heating cannot be stopped. The global food system is under threat and wildlife populations have declined by more than 70% since 1970. At the same time, the global consensus on the need for urgent action has been attacked by rightwing populists as an elite concern, just as the poorest suffer most from the climate catastrophe.

A gigantic weather change is in the offing: a monster El Nino threatens. War is seen as a solution to our ills. With a madman ruling the USA, expect the worst of all things.

WHY ARE WE HERE?

We, we all, are here to, in-deed, serve creation, as it/she serves us, in spite of our ‘trespasses’. I see creation as God’s female expression.

I fully believe in “The resurrection of the body and Life Everlasting.”

THE RETURN TO ‘NORMAL’

The world has reached an inflection point. Climate collapse, widening inequality, the immense power of Big Tech and the erosion of democracy are not separate trends. They are one interconnected crisis: there is no return to normal.                                                            Anonymous.

The ‘anonymous’ author makes a valid point in stating that the world is facing a dilemma: either go on and face elimination, or …. And here the problem comes in. The real question today is the problem with ‘normal’. What is ‘normal’?

I remember my teacher, in 1939, when I was in grade 5, recalling how in 1839, then a century ago, the Netherlands had celebrated its first train journey, between Amsterdam and Haarlem, a 20 km stretch. It provoked a laugh when some people had called it the Devil’s doing. It now reminds me of C. S. Lewis, who wrote:

The safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

Robin Wall Kimmerer, distinguished professor of environmental biology at SUNY, and member of the Potawafomi Nation, in her celebrated book, Braiding Sweetgrass, outlines the indigenous way of life: living as partners with creation, the ‘wholesome’ way, as opposed to the deadly road that C.S. Lewis so aptly outlined.

She writes: “Our spiritual leaders interpret this as the choice between the deadly road of materialism that threatens the land, and the people, and the soft path of wisdom, respect and reciprocity…. If the people choose the green path, then all races will go forward, forging the great nation that was foretold long ago.

I believe her indigenous views are intrinsically Christian.

Bonhoeffer also asks the all- important question: “How are we to live?”

He answers his own question by stating that “there are not two worlds, but only they who love God love Him as Lord of the earth as it is, they who love the earth love it as God’s earth. Only they who love the earth and God as one, have faith in God’s Kingdom”.

This calls for a radical shift in the proclamation of the MESSAGE.

The Christian proclamation should change direction from the exclusive preoccupation with the written Word, to an effective inclusion of the Created Word, so well described in Romans 1: 20. Look it up, and pray.

Today we are at a decisive junction. The alternative is outlined by John Scheve in Arctic News.

 ·

John Scheve in Arctic News, dated April 30, has a calamitous comment. Here are some excerpts, mostly in my own words.

The next El Niño.

He writes: “There is a steadily intensifying and enlarging subsurface ocean warm water plume in the western and central equatorial Pacific building up. It is unprecedented”. 

The Earth Energy Imbalance is increasing, having tripled in the last few decades as atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are growing due to our ever-accelerating emissions. Blame cars and wars.

This excess heat has shown up in massively increasing upper ocean warming, at a rate that is far above what any modeling predicted.

The impacts will be so catastrophic that large numbers, possibly millions of people could die, mostly from famine in some regions and catastrophic flooding in others.

Time is short, only about 6 months.

John Scheve is warning that the likely El Niño later this year could be so extreme that there is nothing in the modern records to compare it to. He thinks we could see not only an extreme intensity Super El Niño but one completely off the charts, maybe about + 6 C or higher for an one month peak and over + 4 C for the 5 consecutive months.

He continues: “We could see catastrophic flooding for several months in some areas while heat waves and droughts could destroy crops over large parts of most continents. Even winter snowfall amounts could be so extreme that they could cause a large number of fatalities. We have to prepare contingency plans well in advance to secure food supplies and protect the citizenry from unprecedented widespread severe weather impacts”.

The world has reached an inflection point. Climate collapse, widening inequality, the immense power of Big Tech and the erosion of democracy are not separate trends. They are one interconnected crisis: there is no return to normal.

Yes, there is!

Noah built an ark, as then too, evil had the upper hand, and God caused the Flood. Ecclesiastes 1:9 is right.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

God promised not to repeat a world-destroying event. Now it is our turn to do this. 2 Peter 3: 10 comes to mind:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

THIS CLEANSING PHASE SETS THE STAGE FOR NORMAL

EARTH WE ARE, AND TO EARTH WE WILL RETURN.

By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for earth you are and to earth you will return. Genesis 3: 19.

I only spoke a few words at my wife’s funeral. Just when she was lowered into the grave in the Tweed cemetery in October 2,020, I said: “Earth we are and to earth we will return”. She was 25 in 1953 when we married.

I fervently believe in “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting (on earth)”. I also believe that creation is God’s Primary Word. In the Bible, God’s written Word, there are examples galore referring to this.

Take Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp for our feet and a. light for our path. Or take 1 Peter 1: 2: But the word of the Lord endures forever. Or take John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and with God. All these texts refer to God’s Created WORD.

Yes, these quotations all point to “The word of the Lord”. Psalm 33: 9 plainly says: “God spoke and it came to be”. None of them refer to the Scriptures, even though they all are duly recorded there.

However, when in church the Bible is read, the reading often is concluded with, “This is the word of the Lord”, which is only partially true. It actually is one of God’s words, and not even the most significant. Take this text: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1: 20)

 That’s why the Belgic Confession asks the “Word” question, and answers it too.

Article 2: The Means by Which We Know God

We know God by two means:

First, by the creation, preservation, and government
of the universe,
since that universe is before our eyes
like a beautiful book

in which all creatures,
great and small,
are as letters
to make us ponder
the invisible things of God:

God’s eternal power and divinity,
as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.

All these things are enough to convict humans
and to leave them without excuse.

Without excuse.

The ‘Secular world’ too recognizes that ‘Earth we are’. Here is a recent example.

Two  studies – one a UNESCO assessment, People and Nature in UNESCO Sites: Global and Local Contributions, released for Earth Day, and, two, a peer-reviewed study released in early April in Frontiers in Science – both warn that nature is not a resource to exploit or a luxury to preserve but the system on which everything else depends – our economy, our culture, ourselves.

The world, God’s beloved world – read John 3: 16 – is the Word that is forever. Genesis 9 relates how God made a covenant with the earth and all it contains. Remarkable. Unbelievable. A covenant makes the two partners ‘equal’. God treats the world and all it contains, the trees and animals, her microbes and secrets, as an equal, an entity with eternal life: just as God. That’s what Covenant really means: a treaty between equals. Simply amazing! Dr. Sabine Dramm, summarizing Bonhoeffer’s theology, writes: “Specific to the Christian faith is the perception of God and the world as one…” Making a covenant with the world entails that, however unbelievable. God sees the world and all it contains, as representing him as an equal. In that light we must also understand Jesus’ words.

Example.

Jesus gave us “The Lord’s Prayer”. The first petition in it is: “Hallowed be Your Name”. Let’s first translate that ancient, outdated word, “Hallowed”. It’s a medieval word for “HOLY”. That ‘holiness’ has nothing whatever to do with God’s name. Karen Armstrong in her book, Sacred Nature, lists 50 names for God, culled from the Bible. God cannot be named. He is beyond name. What Jesus really aimed at, was the holiness of everything created, human, animal, plant, air, soil, seas. On each created item God’s name is written, and thus holy.

That’s why the Bible, the written Word, will disappear. The eternal Word are the words spoken when the universe was created, ‘in the beginning’. There was a start and the Word was God. Before anything else, THE Word existed, and all explanations cease. In the New Creation we will have eternity to search for the reasons why we live and exist and have our being. I think the Bible calls this: “Eternal Rest”. We will enter that “Requiescat in Pace”, that “Resting in Peace” at that time. Just as there is Peace on Earth, we too will be ‘at peace’, the peace that is beyond understanding. I think that there we will experience the new, explore the unknown, and venture into terra incognita. Now is the time to think the unthinkable, because soon the times of the new things will be here.

Think about this on Earth Day 2026.

There is that famous Angel Song, performed, high in the sky, in the outskirts of Bethlehem at the moment when Jesus was born.

Their words were simple: “”Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Yes, the words are simple, but their meaning is profound: In one sentence the entire future message of the Christ child, just born, is outlined: He is to give glory to God in his life, and bring peace on earth to God’s children there.

Yes, you read it correctly: The angel-message, straight from heaven, dictated by God to relay to us, haughty humans, is that Jesus, God’s Son, has been born, came to earth, lived some 33 years there, and died a cruel death. His task? “To bring Peace on Earth.

How and why?

The Answer: John 3: 16 unambiguously says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Observation:  If Christ lived and died to bring ‘Peace on Earth’, should our aim in life not be the same? Shouldn’t our primary task also be to ‘love the cosmos’ as Jesus did? Live in peace with the earth? Curiously, the angels did not mention that Christ died to atone for our sins. Curiously, there is no mention of heaven, but the only emphasis is “Peace on Earth”.

Peace of Earth?

Look at our world! Now. Today. Look, how wars in many variations rage: Shooting Wars in Europe, in the Middle East, Africa and Asia; Environmental War world wide; Human Mind War through AI; Religious Wars in the Church. If there ever was a need for comprehensive Peace, it is today.

So, what does the Bible say? What does Jesus tell us?

Here is what Jesus says.

Jesus saw as his core message, as recorded in John 10:10: “I have come to bring you LIFE and that to the full.” Life means total life: body, soul, spirit. On earth. “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to mankind” Psalm 115: 16 tells us.

“The highest Heaven” phrase, reminds me of Paul, the apostle summoned on the Road to Damascus. In order to bring him up-to-date, Paul, as related in 2 Corinthians 12, was ‘caught up in the third heaven’. People then saw heaven as pictured in three phases – the air below the ozone layer is ‘one’; the air where the heaven bodies dwell is ‘two’, and where God dwells as ‘three’, beyond the observable. The, highest heaven belongs to God: nobody else.

Where do we go, when we die?

Writes Daniel 12: 13: “”As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” Jesus always calls death ‘sleep’.

Another biblical given is John 3:13, where Jesus tells Nicodemus: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man” (NIV).  

Another example: “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” John 13:33.

 So why this heaven heresy?

The heaven heresy has become a ‘meme’, a piece of media, that has spread rapidly, without any direct biblical proof.

The generally accepted notion that, upon death, we go to heaven, is wrong. It is based on Greek – Platonic – thinking. Socrates, as recorded by Plato, drank the poison, because he believed that death is the fulfillment of life. We now too have adopted the Heaven Heresy, the widespread notion that we can never know the absolute meaning of life while we live, only finding fulfillment in heaven.

The “‘heaven’ heresy” usually refers to the widely held modern misconception that the ultimate, eternal destination for Christians is a disembodied existence in a faraway place called heaven, a pure Gnostic notion, where matter is seen as evil and spirit as divine. Socrates believed that. Many Christians do, too.

Why do we prefer Gnosticism? It gives us both the cake – an easy, fossil-fuel fed life – and the prospect of God’s heavenly nearness forever, be it somewhat uniform and unexciting – “robed in white apparel “– as a well-known song has it.

Peace on earth.

The angels sang the song of songs: “Peace on Earth”, a prelude to Jesus’ mission, a message deeply rooted in the biblical narrative, and utterly relevant to the state of the world 2026.

The bible relates how God created and, upon completion, called it good seven times. That ‘good’ creation is now in danger. Man-made danger, I should add. But God, in his goodness, thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice, will renew the universe, as the last Bible book relates.

Rejoice. Christ will totally correct our mistreatment of his world:  He will bring PEACE ON EARTH.

INTELLIGENCE: FINITE AND INFINITE.

Intelligence: what is it?

Intelligence is, as many words in the European languages, derived from two Latin sources: Inter and Lego: ‘inter’ meaning ‘between’, and ‘Lego’ meaning ‘I read’. Basically, it means: ‘Reading between the lines’.

“Reading between the lines”, suggests a psychological approach. And ‘psychology’ calls for knowledge of the human character, and also general insight into the persons’ background and circumstances. In other words: the concept of intelligence is quite a complicated matter.

The general meaning of intelligence tends to indicate ‘being brain-smart’. Most countries, however, explain ‘intelligence’ differently. Special government departments have the name ‘Intelligence’ in them, such as the CIA in the USA, CSIS in Canada, MI5 and MI6 in Great Britain. These agencies specialize in obtaining ‘intelligence’ from and about foreign nations and persons seen as hostile to the country’s goals.

I, however, distinguish between Infinite Intelligence, and Finite Intelligence.

There is no doubt that these two exist. One example of Infinite Intelligence is creation, is God’s direct act of calling matter into existence. How he did that remains a mystery. Psalm 33: 9 gives us a hint: “God spoke and it came into being”, that explains verse 5: “The earth is full of his unfailing love”, which is confirmed in John 3: 16, “God so loved the world, a love exceeding his love for his Son. Believing in God’s love for creation (and us loving it in turn) makes us eligible for eternal life.” Infinite Intelligence does that. Please note: God’s love is not primarily for the church, or for the Bible, or for us, but for his Creation.

That same Intelligence is evident in the person of Daniel, and by virtue of Daniel, in God’s children today and in the past.

Here’s why: (Daniel 5: 11): There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father, he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods.

That text gives us also a clue to true intelligence: it is of divine, infinite origin, also confirmed in the well-known text: “The fear of the Lord is the onset of wisdom.” That ‘fear’ is not a negative ‘anxiety’, but a positive ‘awe’.

And then there is Finite Intelligence, Intelligence that leads to death.

Today the word ‘Intelligence’ is most prominently featured in AI, meaning Artificial Intelligence. The pursuers of perfecting the expansion of the Google search machine, are aiming for the same goal as the builders of The Tower of Babel: dominance of Creation, God’s handiwork, an attempt bound to fail.

I do question the word ‘artificial’. I live in an area where ‘flowers’ are a main industry, genuine flowers, started from seed, and grown with care. Artificial flowers are immediately detected, because they feel different and lack aroma. So it is with AI: not original, not a product of God’s ‘wisdom’, but with an immense need for polluting energy, a never-satisfied thirst for electric power, already in short supply, and may cause world-wide blackouts.

Here’s what I read this week:

“The world could be pulled into recession by the force of energy inflation, even if (the Iran) conflict subsides soon”. These events might pop the A.I. bubble that is keeping the American economy afloat. A food crisis to dwarf the one that followed the invasion of Ukraine could follow, as the Iran war disrupts not just the price of food but also the global flow of fertilizer — another product of fossil fuels — on the brink of planting season.”

That’s what “Finite Intelligence” could do to us.

There also is another distinction: Where Infinite Intelligence – a gift of God – leads to greater wisdom, Finite Intelligence may lead to more stupidity.

My use of calculators has certainly stymied my math skills, while my use of mapping services has allowed my (already poor) sense of direction to diminish further. AI may simplify writing, but it cannot replace the messy, difficult work of being human, of trying to write a blog that tries to reflect a Christ-centred approach to today’s events.

I have no idea what God’s foolishness is – perhaps saving people like me – but I think that human wisdom is culminating in AI, the accumulation of all human knowledge, obtained by skimming off the cream of human know-how and calling it ‘intelligence’. The designation of ‘artificial’ is added, which is an admission that it is not the real thing.

The concept of ‘intelligence’ should be further examined. Can it also apply to non-humans? Does a tree have intelligence? Does an animal have it? Is the cosmos the source of intelligence? There is increasing insight into the make-up of elephants and whales, how these large animals display thought patterns, and can figure out solutions to complicated issues.

In my book, Day without End, I describe a soccer game between tigers and lions, assuming strategy and intense cooperation. Was that warranted?

I believe AI dulls our minds, as calculators robbed us of mental arithmetic, and Google maps resulted in us missing out on seeing landmarks and natural phenomena?

Our lives are training grounds for the New Creation. Harness that Holy Intelligence now.

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. Proverbs 28:15.

OF COURSE, THE BIBLE IS A PROPHETIC BOOK.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that the Bible book, Proverbs, contains a lot of wisdom, true for all ages, including the era we live in, where Trump is a perfect example of a wicked ruler over a helpless nation.

Helpless?

Yes. Humanity, especially the USA and Canada, has become totally dependent on fossil fuel, the same substance that cemented the stones of the now infamous Tower of Babel, which caused a world-wide upheaval. That very substance has thrown not only the earth out of balance, but also has distorted us, humans. Let’s face it: We have painted ourselves into a corner, to put it mildly. We, in our arrogance, have built our total life on a substance that not only is finite but also highly poisonous. Now also…..

The Earth’ economy is out-of-wack.

 The earth is out of balance.

That’s the message from a United Nations report released last Sunday that looked at how much energy from the sun is absorbed by the Earth or reflected back into space.

Researchers found the gap between the two is the biggest since measurements began in 1960, meaning more of the sun’s heat energy is now staying on Earth. And that energy imbalance is heating up the oceans, atmosphere, and frozen regions of the world.

The amount of heat we are putting into the oceans, is equivalent to about 5 (five) Hiroshima atom bombs of energy every second. How long can this continue, until fire destroys all?

And the economy?

We are now in a global fossil fuel crisis. Oil and liquefied natural gas from the Persian Gulf are unable to reach international markets due to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Now hydrocarbon prices have been soaring around the world and widespread shortages are emerging.   This current war reminds me of World War I. It too was waged, mainly for commercial reasons: Germany – the foolish Kaiser (Trump today)– and Imperial Great Britain, who ruled the seas. That war started in August 1914, and was supposed to be over quickly ? possibly by Christmas. It ended up lasting until November, 1918.   War. “War has its own logic”, Margaret McMillan, Canada’s famous historian, wrote last week:” Once you start it, you don’t know where it’s going to go.” And Trump? Mentally Troubled Trump? His impulsive problems are clearly evident as he remains deeply committed to killing renewable energy, especially wind power, while increasing America’s reliance on fossil fuels. The man is so full of himself, that there is no place for anything else, except his outdated views. He has no clue that:

Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’

Revelation 18:10.

Here is what one astute commentator wrote.

We’re going to crash. No other outcome is conceivable. We’re going to suffer a very long-lasting, perhaps even permanent, loss of 25% or more of our energy consumption, and it’s going to happen over the next few months. We’re going to see a good portion of our industries collapse, never to recover. We’re going to see unemployment skyrocket. And in the advanced stages of this debacle, we’re going to see shortages of fuel and even food.

That is a likely scenario.

Right now, we’re losing around 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day, which is about 20% of global consumption and, more importantly for us, represents 40% of the oil available for export. There’s also a shortage of about 20% of liquefied natural gas, 30% of nitrogen fertilizers, 30% of helium, 30% of aluminum, and 30% of sulfur (which is needed to make sulfuric acid for industrial processes, including copper extraction). This is not going to be just another crisis. This is going to be an economic catastrophe. Combined with the bursting of the enormous financial bubbles that have inflated over the last few years, it’s difficult to grasp the magnitude of what’s about to happen.

And that is happening when the world’s weather is weird. 

Combine this with runaway climate change and a multitude of other environmental problems, don’t think that there will be an orderly and controlled decline. That’s why the Bible is a prophetic document.

Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’

Revelation 18:10.

And Trump? Mentally Troubled Trump?

In his desperation, he could quite well resort to the ultimate means at his disposal: use the Hydrogen Bomb, and eradicate the Iran nation. Don’t be surprised that he will use this ultimate human weapon, and set not only the Middle East ablaze, but literally the entire world.

J. H. Bavinck, in his book on Revelation, And On and On the Ages Roll, pictures a similar ending. In it he describes a foolish ruler using the ultimate weapon, and I quote: “There is only on solution, one radical and total cure: a nuclear bomb.”

If you have a Bible, look up 2 Peter 2: 10.

IS THE BIBLE A PROPHETIC BOOK? OF COURSE.