Tomorrow is my first opportunity to participate in Dutch democracy.  I'm not sure if it's because I've now been officially registered in the country for a certain number of years now, or if it's because I'm now a property owner, or what -- but I'm going to vote for the municipal elections tomorrow.

The only prolem is that I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to vote.

I've tried a couple of the different on-line "stemwijzer" (voting test) sites, plus I've read a number of the printed materials put out by the government and by the parties themselves.  But all this has done is help me to decide how not to use my vote.  That is, I'm pretty sure that I will not be casting my vote for the CDA, who has chosen to make the main thrust of their Amsterdam campaign a "Big Brother" like camera system to capture any wrong-doing that might happen throughout the city... And I can't really see myself voting for the Party of the Animals (making animal rights the primary issue) or the nationalistic PVV (a sort of anti-immigration party, like the 21st Century Dutch version of the 19th Centry American "Know Nothing" party)... But who should I vote for?

I'd be very open, if anyone had any advice they wanted to pass along to me.

For me, I'm voting primarily as (1) a follower of Jesus, (2) an immigrant, and (3) someone who naturally tends to prefer a less invasive form of government (i.e. someone who could tell the leerplichtambtenaar to relax a little bit).  But are there really any parties who tend to combine these issues?  Open to religious freedom, and even cooperation between the church and the government... But also more liberal in its views on immigration and immigrants' rights... While still entrusting power to the people, more than to the bureaucracy???  Do these terms ring any bells, for those of you who might be more familiar with the Dutch political system?

I've got some ideas for how I might use my vote, if all else fails.  I'm not going into things totally ignorant.  But if there are any last-minute pieces of advice that could be thrown my way, I would certainly appreciate it.

Today, I'm focusing on (and memorizing) the Proverb that says, "The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin (Proverbs 10:8)."  It's reminded me of a ministry situation that I encountered about a year ago, which was very challenging at the time, though now I'd say is quite amusing in retrospect.  I wrote about the whole experience over at Proverbs 365, but I thought that today's entry might be especially interesting to regular readers of this blog, so I'm going to include a tease (an excerpt) here below:

...The Chattering Fool is dangerous, but unfortunately all too common.  I distinctly remember meeting a young man, about a year ago, who perfectly fit the caricature of the Chattering Fool -- and it was a frightening experience that will always haunt me.  Let's call him "California Ryan," for the sake of this story.  He had just moved to Amsterdam, in his early 20s, in an attempt to break his addictions to marijuana and crystal meth (Don't ask why he picked Amsterdam, of all places, to attempt such a recovery!).  He was lean and nervous, like you might expect from a recovering addict.  He had a vague, pencil-thin mustache and always wore a baseball cap.  He talked with a lot of "dude"s and "like"s and other classic Californianisms.  But his most remarkable -- most inescapable characteristic was his incessant chattering.  Seriously, like, the Dude never - stopped - talking...

To see how the situation resolved itself, you're going to have to pop on over to Proverbs 365. :-)  If the obvious cross-promotional ploy is offensive to you, I apologize.  But I'm enjoying the Proverbs 365 experience immensely, and I thought maybe I'd help you to do the same thing, too.

Today I have the privilege of officiating a wedding for two dear friends from our church here in Amsterdam.  It's going to be a lot of fun.  In addition to the special joy of taking part in a beautiful ceremony to join two beautiful people, the occasion is also special because it affords me the opportunity to preach in one of the oldest, most storied ministry venues in old Amsterdam:  The English Reformed Church in the Begijnhof.

The church building dates back over 500 years.  English Pilgrims worshipped in the same sanctuary in the early 1600s, just prior to sailing for the New World aboard the Mayflower and settling at Plymouth Colony.  And today, I will get to perform a wedding in the same space!

[P.S. - 7 February 2010 - I thought it might be cool to also include a picture from the actual occasion.  Thanks to my friend Sergei Tserasiuk for this really cool photo of the action!]

I've had this concept in my head for quite awhile, but I finally got around to figuring out how to do it in Photoshop.  It's a combination of the iconic "I amsterdam" PR campaign, with an obvious change in locality (from Amsterdam to America), but also with a play on my name in particular.

What do you think?  Are all three levels of significance (Amsterdam, America, and me) equally clear?  Is it cool?  Or cheesy?