About the Author

Thank you for honouring me with your time and interest as you browse these pages.  If you wish to make a comment on the content of this website you may contact me at this address, I ask only that you be modest in what you write as my family also receives email through this account.  Say what you wish but please remember that innocent eyes could also be reading your words.

 

As far as personal information goes, well I am somewhat reluctant to give you all the details of my life even though on these pages I share with you some of my most intimate thoughts.  It may appear to be a strange contradiction to share my soul by not my life, but what benefit would it be for you to know more about me than you already do? It would distract from the true purpose of this web site, which is to give glory to God.  I will tell you that I am occasionally privileged to preach before God's people and that I have taught at various churches, retirement homes and Bible Camps. The lesson series which have had the greatest impact on me personally are:

 

How to Study the Bible ~ an in depth look at the guidelines and methods of effective, inductive Bible study

Who Am I ~ a study of the four fundamental questions of being

Getting to Know God ~ a brief outline of the character and attributes of God

The Real Return of the King ~ a study on the book of Revelation

Jesus Christ, My Saviour ~ a study of the person of Jesus Christ

 

I have been greatly blessed by God who has given me a wife to love and wonderful children to raise, all of whom I cherish.  I do not believe you need me to tell you my age as sufficient information is on these pages for you to figure that out (if you have to know that kind of thing); nor do you need to know about my family as this website was not created to glorify any of us but God alone.  My personal desire is to exist here only as a narrator of God's glory.  Those that are my family, or who take part in my life, will take their place around the margins of these pages and occasionally make their presence felt through the joy they bring to my life.  I hope that you will be satisfied to experience my family and friends vicariously through their involvement in my life.

 

The main thrust of these pages is to render glory to God and to help those who visit here see just a bit more clearly His magnificent love for them.  He is a great God and no one should remain estranged from Him. As you read the materials that have been presented here I hope that you will come to realize that they are written by a man who knows that without God he is nothing.  I have an eternal debt of gratitude to my God for all that He has done for me, both in this life and in salvation for the life to come.  There is an exquisite joy in living this life as a relationship with the One who has put me here and my sincere desire that this joy has been expressed in what you experience on this site.

 

I have often told people that I could not remember a day that I was not a Christian (a fact for which I owe my parents, and God who gave them to me, unending gratitude).  To a certain degree I have regretted that this was so since to me it meant that I did not have a grand and dramatic testimony with which to impress people with what God has done in my life.  I have discovered, however, that my regret for this has been misplaced.  It is not that I have suddenly realized a sordid hidden past that God needed to overcome in order to save me (my past is neither worse nor better than that of anyone else), for He had to overcome the past of each one of us in order to save us.  Some of us have done worse by human standards than others but we all fail to meet God's minimum requirement of perfect holiness.  What has been brought home to me is that I needed God (and need Him still) even though I hadn't lost myself in a life of rebellion and denial.  It was not the magnitude of my sin that I needed to notice but the reality of my sin.  The prophet Isaiah stated it beautifully when he wrote:

 

Isaiah 53:6 - We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 

My need for Jesus is not found upon the idea that I have occasionally sinned big but on the reality that I have often sinned small.  I need Him, His ministry, His sacrifice, His atonement, for on my own I would never make it to heaven, regardless of how good I may have been.  My desire to impress people with an exciting testimony was selfish, seeking personal glory rather than the glory of God. With this in mind you will find that the material on this site contains some detailed insight into my life. This is deliberate and is an attempt to show that Christians too go through difficult periods and that faith in God doesn't make all problems disappear but that faith in God is the foundation for hope in spite of the problems or joys of life.

 

I cannot remember a day in which I was not a Christian but I no longer regard this as a weakness that lessens my ability as a Christian worker.  Rather, it has been (and continues to be) a precious gift to which all too few are able to lay claim.  Each day of my life has been (and is) filled with purpose as each day I enjoy a relationship with the One who has placed me here, the One who is responsible for my existence.  What could be better than that?  I do not wander aimlessly through life wondering what it is all about or what happens after my death for I serve my Creator and know that He will work out His perfect will in my life and that my death will not be the end of my existence.  Death for me is not something to which I look forward, it remains a punishment for an ongoing rebellion and I still fear it but I know because of Jesus that after death there will be a new life waiting for me in heaven with the One who saved me from my sin and who has given this short number of years an infinite purpose.  Life is not a meaningless span of days to be filled with pleasure before they end in oblivion as some would believe.  It is a time of preparation for the life to follow.  This life is a time in which to gratefully accept what God has given and to praise Him for His great love.

 

Joel 2:32 - Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

 

Thank you for allowing me to take a small part in your life.  I pray that what I am doing here may in some way be a blessing to you and that your day is better for having come.  God bless you and keep you always in His great hand.  Please come again.

 

If you would like to see this idea discussed in a more philosophical framework please take a look at Who Am I.

 

In His service,

 

Peter Rhebergen

 

If you wish, you can reach me by email at peter@eachnewday.com; and also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/prhebergen

 

Kayaking with Rufus