James Schaap: On the Reformed faith

My last post featured the first section of my interview with James Calvin (Jim) Schaap, which appeared in the December 15, 2010, issue of Christian Renewal. That section dealt with his current work, his upcoming retirement, and his views on writing. In this second section of the interview, which will appear in the February 12, 2011, issue of Christian Renewal, Schaap discusses how a Reformed perspective relates to the arts and how he views the CRCNA and the Reformed faith.

Glenda Mathes (GM): Let’s talk a little bit about perceptions. How would you define a Reformed perspective on the arts?

Jim Schaap (JS): I was under the impression when I was 17 years old that to be a Christian writer meant that you needed to turn out “Sugar Creek Gang” or that you needed to write a certain kind of Sunday school material or something like that. And I think I first ran into what I would call a Reformed view of writing and literature when that kind of prison was broken through. That made Hemingway fair game; that made Fitzgerald fair game; it made Dickinson fair game. It helped me to say, “There’s more to looking at Emily Dickinson than whether or not she subscribes to the five points of Calvinism. That somehow in understanding her, we can understand ourselves and our relationship to God.” That is a much, much broader vision of life and literature and writing than a sort of pietistic way of thinking about things. That’s something that I’ve always lived with and lived joyfully with, as a matter of fact.

The Reformed view of things is from my view a very broad view. Does it have its weaknesses? Sure, because it probably offers more opportunity for exploration that may lead to something other than adherence. On the other hand, you know as well as I do that there were so many people who were so strictly raised that they kicked to get out of that circle. You can make an argument that going to a Christian college can, in fact, be more difficult for some students than going to a public university. Because at a Christian college you’re going to be asked to think about things in a way that’s deadly serious and that asks you ultimately even to question the nature of your own faith. You can very easily—sometimes even more easily—avoid those kinds of things at a public university. I think a Reformed view of life (it’s what kept me at Dordt for all these years to start with) is very precious and very powerful, but sometimes even a little dangerous. It says to me you don’t have to read just heart-pounding Christian literature, but you can read almost anything you want.

GM: You mentioned “that kind of prison was broken through”; was there some specific incident, or some course, or something that happened in your life?

JS: I wish I could point at one, but I don’t think I can. With respect to literature itself, I do like to remember one day my sophomore year in college, on my way to American Literature class, that I was reading of all things, Emerson. I wasn’t an academic; I wasn’t really scholarly. But I remember thinking to myself, “You know maybe I should actually major in English, because if I would I could talk about this and I could think about this for my whole life.” I can remember where I was on the sidewalk when all of a sudden that dawned on me. And I think at that point for me to say I was thinking about being a writer wasn’t true. I was thinking about, “What am I going to do with my life?”

GM: Were you thinking more of a teaching career then?

JS: Yeah, and what came to me was, “I can do this.” I mean you could actually do this. I didn’t have great English teachers in high school. I can’t say, “Oh, I had this wonderful English teacher; I wanted to be like him or her.” But that’s not true.

GM: Your teachers in college were much better? Or you were discovering the significance of literature?

JS: What happened in my situation is that I became sort of rebellious at Dordt. Well, more than sort of. I wrote for the school paper and I wrote things that people didn’t always like, so I learned something about the power of the pen. It may not have been the greatest lesson. People got mad because I said we shouldn’t be in the Vietnam War. So that was good for me because I realized that if you write something, people can react to it, which is not a small lesson. It’s a big deal. I think that was big deal. And then I am very much a child of the 60s, and the other thing that’s important is that I had a mentor before I knew him or he knew me. That was this novelist from Northwest Iowa called Frederick Manfred. I found out when I went to Dordt that there was this novelist; and I thought all novelists were either Jewish or from New York or something. And I didn’t know real people could write novels. This guy wrote these novels about people that I thought I knew. That really clicked in me and that was when I was a freshman in college. I read a novel of his and I thought, “Could I do this? Could I write stories like this? Given who I am and who my people are, could I do that? Wow, that would be terrific.” So that’s where that came from; totally outside of class. Although I did have a teacher who told me I could write well as a freshman.

GM: In 2007 you wrote an essay, "What about a Bicentennial? Mr. and Mrs. CRC," which you presented at the CRCNA's 150th Anniversary Conference and which appeared in the September 2007 Pro Rege. In that essay, you wrote about many factors that make the future of the CRCNA appear bleak. Those factors could be summarized as individual choice, geographic mobility, shallow spirituality, pervasive technology, limited relationships, shrinking ethnicity, emerging congregationalism, and diminished distinctives. In the three plus years since that essay appeared, which of those factors have mitigated or amplified?

JS: None that I know of; the course seems to be the same. The one thing I'd add is the continuing diminution of denominationalism itself, a phenomenon that's culture-wide. Even the Catholics are discovering that their children don't know that the Catholic faith is “sacramental.” My sense is that the ethnic factor—really significant in the cohesive CRC of the mid to late 20th century—has, via internet especially, faded even faster than I might have guessed. People find and establish communities in new ways these days. (Of course, I mean ethno/religious character, not just ethnic—I don't know too many CRC people who give two hoots about wooden shoes.

GM: In spite of the bleak outlook, you wrote that “a story is nothing without a surprise” and the surprises were that the CRCNA was not only still in existence after having in the last thirty years “hemorrhaged from every possible orifice,” but also that young seminarians were making intentional choices that affirm preaching of the Word and family-focused church education while many churches were working to recreate community within their congregations. In what ways are these “surprise endings” from three years ago more or less evident now?

JS: What really surprised me was that the seminarians I spoke with really believed that “the preaching of the word” was paramount in their approach to leading a congregation. That surprised me because “the lecture” just isn't much in higher education these days; one person talking is really old-fashioned (not necessarily bad, in my book, by the way). I have no reason to believe that that's changed or is changing, and I may well have been talking to some more conservative seminarians at the time.

I don't know that I know an answer to your question, however. And that may well be an answer. For much of my life I felt as if I were a member of a community with a common dialogue. Not any more. I'm not sure there is a common dialogue. Conservatives might maintain that such a falling off is an earmark of a church staggering toward liberalism, but I wouldn't be so quick to create a villain. There are perfectly understandable reasons for what finally may be the disappearance of the CRC. As Richard Ostling told me long ago, in America, ethnic denominations all die.

GM: You wrote that the greatest gift of the CRC to American evangelicalism is “a theology which insists on God’s immense sovereignty over all of life, because ‘from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” In what ways do you still view that as the greatest gift of Calvinism to the American religious landscape or in what ways has your perspective changed over the last three years?

JS: To my knowledge, the greatest gift of the CRC is that which some call “neo-Kuyperianism.” I still think that, even though the vast majority of those who worship in the CRC these days likely have no clue whatsoever about what it means. I say that because one almost requires Kuyperianism to get to worldview, and worldview—for better or for worse—is everyone's game in evangelical America these days. Lots of Christian worldviews aren't necessarily mine, of course; but the idea of the Christian faith being a kind of ideology is a special gift of the neo-Calvinists. It's not the province of the old-line pietists, however. Never was.

That gift is best visualized in the Christian school system—envisioning all of creation as His.

GM: You hesitated to make specific predictions regarding the future of the CRCNA three years ago, but you wrote: “Those of us who own up to a sovereign Lord and Creator who loved this very world so much he sent his son—we will be his and He will be ours, no matter what letters or words we inscribe on our shingles.” How do you now view the future of the CRCNA in particular and the Reformed faith in general?

JS: The Reformed faith seems to be going well—those who find their roots in the English Calvinists, that is, are prospering. Continental Calvinists, not so. Many of the English Calvinists have hitched their wagons to conservative evangelicalism, however, and their fate rests in the hands of Focus on the Family types, and others like them. How well they fare in the Tea Party revival now going on remains to be seen. Loving the constitution and free enterprise isn’t necessarily an attribute to some of those in the religious right, who see abortion and gay marriage as their reason for existence.

A preacher friend of mine—a Westminster grad, actually—once told me he thought God is always working to make things new. But he never really tosses out any of the old either. Look, Catholic chants are coming back. The Orthodox faith is doing better than anyone would have expected. Mega-churches are falling out of favor, even though they've been the headlines for three decades. And, as Christianity Today has made clear more than once in the past few years, Calvinism is arisin’ (at least among the Baptists)! While the Calvinists are eschewing Calvin, the Armenians are holding him high (when they can and still keep their jobs). Go figure!

It seems to me that it's become very, very hard to be a kind of middlin' Christian these days, part of what the CRC used to call “a third way.” You're either mainline Protestant, which is to say dying, or else conservative evangelical, which is where all the steam is. We're a bifurcated country these days—and the church culture is split as well, two dynamically opposed visions of goodness and truth and right. The CRC suffers in that kind of dilemma. I read World magazine faithfully, and love what they are doing. I don't necessarily share their politics, however.

GM: You wrote on a recent blog entry that there was no other writing project in your pipeline, but in Pella you read from a fiction-based-on-fact work about the Dakota War of 1862. What's the status of that story, does it have a title, and is it part of an extended work?

JS: I have no plans for something long on the 1862 war. There are numerous volumes on it already—but that isn't to say that using it as a background might be possible, but that's a novel, Anyway, right now I've got only an unfinished novel in my computer—no other projects. But I'm also one and one-half years away from retirement, which sounds wonderful to me. There will be more.


This second section of my interview with Jim Schaap will appear in the January 12 issue of Christian Renewal. Subscribe today!

James Schaap: On teaching and writing

Dr. Jim Schaap is Professor of English at Dordt College and the author of more than 20 books, including novels, devotionals, collections of short stories, and a denominational history of the CRCNA. His most recently released books appeared nearly simultaneously in November of 2010: Honest to God, a volume of meditations on the Psalms, and Rehoboth: A Place for Us, subtitled An Album of Family Stories. I recently met and interviewed him for Christian Renewal.

Glenda Mathes (GM): Last year you were a writer-in-residence at Covenant College in addition to your regular responsibilities at Dordt, which you wrote resulted in a “blizzard of papers” from working with 42 fiction writers.

Jim Schaap (JS): Yes, 42 fiction writers! Thankfully I’m done with that. I have a feeling that this spring may be a normal semester, but this fall is not because I have a couple books coming out and the promotion for one is somewhat demanding. I did a big project for Rehoboth Christian School in New Mexico on the Rehoboth mission and its history. Rehoboth has been there for 100 years and many people can locate points at which Rehoboth had touched the lives of great-grandparents; some have maintained a relationship to the institutions. That book contains 12 feature journalism stories about families who have been part of Rehoboth for a long time, so my promo for it has kept me really busy this fall, but I honestly think in the spring I’ll have a regular semester.

GM: What’s your regular schedule like at Dordt?

JS: Most teachers have a schedule of four courses per semester, and I have seven. I was teaching less, but now I’m teaching more. I think you’ll be the first announcement in any magazine, but I’m in my twilight because I have just a year and a half left. I told the administration that I’d be done at the end of next year.

GM: That was actually my next question. I was going to ask if you were making any plans to retire and about your reflections regarding retirement.

JS: I started at Dordt in 1976, so it’s been about 34 years, very close to 40 years of teaching, if you include graduate assistantships and high school teaching at the beginning of my professional career. I loved teaching at Covenant, so the idea of teaching writing at some other place doesn’t put me off, but I’ve been at Dordt long enough.

I obviously want to write more and, since it is an early retirement, that’s the plan. But in order to have some income as well, I wouldn’t mind teaching online. It’s the standing in front of class and the preparation stuff that I’m tired of. I don’t mind student papers, but I’m tired of preparation; no more inservices. We shall see where the Lord leads!

GM: How do you view the concept of retirement?

JS: For me, it is a little bit scary right now; because I think all of us are vastly more individualistic than we really believe we are, and the ritual of teaching is something which is just in me. After 40 years, it’s just there! Larry Woiwode said to me once, “If you’d stop teaching, it would take you a long time to adjust,” simply because that’s the natural rhythm in my life. You can well imagine that—for someone like me who’s basically had to write only in the summer—this simple idea of having all year to write just seems like this vast play land, so I can’t begin to think that in any way it’s going to be inhibiting. On the other hand, I remember Larry saying, “Well you know, Jim, if you retire, it’s going to be hard for you to do that.” And it may well be because all that freedom is going to be sort of different.

GM: I know from experience that deadlines force you to write, but when you have unlimited time to write, it’s more difficult.

JS: See, I don’t know that. For all of my life, all I’ve ever done is teach all year and then fill up every summer or Christmas vacation with writing projects. So right now I go out with a kind of wild exuberance. I can hear this voice saying it’s going to take a little acclimation. And that could well be. Hemingway said writing is never a full-time job, and I think he’s right in the sense that if I were to hole up and simply write, I wouldn’t touch the world. And I think you do have to stay in touch with the world more than just reading the latest news online or watching television. You do need to stay in touch, and that’s why the first thing I thought about is teaching online. Because of all the tasks of being an English teacher, the one I like the best is to take something from a kid who really wants to learn to write and help that kid write better. That I still like. I don’t get depressed about a stack of papers, what gets me is the kind of tension which arises from having to prepare for class especially when that span gets wider and wider and wider, as it does. I’ve always taught 20-year-old kids and I haven’t always been 30 years old. I’ve been 40 years old, 50 years old, and now 60 years old, and that span is just getting pretty dumb wide. Things like technology shape the way they think in a way I don’t get in the same way. And culture itself shapes them in new ways. I think for instance at Dordt today there’s a much higher level of spirituality than there was 30 years ago.

At the same time, just as the Pew poll clearly shows, our students have an appalling lack of knowledge of what faith is about. So while they raise their hands in praise and maybe pray more fervently and passionately, their theology is weird. I think that’s very evident and for me, as their prof, it separates us more and more, because I don’t think like they do anymore. And another thing that’s very, very practical—I teach literature, so let’s just take a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that appears in nearly every anthology—I honestly don’t know how they read it anymore. When they look at a story, for a long time in my teaching career, I could say, “This is going to be bothersome to them; they’re not going to get this.” And I don’t know that anymore. I don’t know how they read. My sense is that it’s very difficult for them to stick with something for very long.

For them everything is real short: Twitter and text. You and I were raised in an era in which literature had a more significant place. I’m not Chicken Little here and saying that the sky is falling, but to many students today, literature has little significance. The other day I was in a class with English majors and I asked them if they could name one contemporary poet and they couldn’t.

And then I said, “Well, did you ever hear of Billy Collins?” He’s very popular, popular in the sense of not too heady. Collins is not that hard. No, never heard of him. I said, “Well you have to have heard of Maya Angelou.”

Never heard of Maya Angelou. These are English majors. Why does that happen? It happens because of the fact that literature—in the society in which we exist today—requires more than popular media has time to give it. And I don’t mean to sound like woe and woe, but the fact is that it gets harder to teach literature then. And I believe in literature; and when you believe in it and it doesn’t go, then it gets tougher.

GM: So are students writing less these days?

JS: There are people who argue that students actually write more today than they did 20 years ago. Now that writing may include Twitter and it may include blogs and it may include letters; it certainly will include emails. But the idea is that the only writing most people would have done 25 years ago is student papers, in other words, “Check out the sea imagery in Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea.” And that’s a peculiar kind of writing: American standard English, academic writing.

Some people argue that our students are more creative today because they express themselves more frequently in a variety of media. Whether or not it’s true, I’m not an expert on that; but I do think it’s easier for students to be creative writers now than it was 20 years ago. Now I’m not willing to say that they’re better or anything, I don’t know about that, but they’re quicker to do it. Another thing I think it’s fair to say is that most college students 20 years ago were somewhat reticent; if you give a speech, you get real nervous about it. Today my students would rather say, “Let me give the speech and you sit down, Dr. Schaap.”

They’re very at home standing in front of people. They may not do it all that well, but that’s no problem whatsoever. They’re very good at believing that they’re very good. And honestly, if you’re going to write creatively, you have to believe that you’re going to be good so that makes it somewhat easier, too.

GM: You’ve written novels, short stories, devotionals and other non-fiction; what I call a “multi-genre-tional” writer; and you’re in good company, Marilynne Robinson, C.S. Lewis and so on. Still graduate programs often force graduate students to choose between either a nonfiction or a fiction track. What would you say to the student who wants to pursue a graduate career, but wants to write both fiction and nonfiction?

JS: There’s probably a larger question behind that, which has to do with the whole MFA program and I can go back and forth on that. On the one side, you’ve got the view that says we’d be better off if we didn’t have so many MFA programs because they turn out so many people who think they’re going to be writers. On the other hand, I certainly believe that what’s most important to people who are beginning is that other people read them. When students graduate and they don’t have people to read them anymore, I always tell them to go to a Walden or to a Barnes and Noble, which almost always have a writers group or two.

In other words, they shouldn’t just exist in this little cocoon. Emily Dickinson could do that, but she’s one of very few. I think being read is a big deal. Honestly and truly, through 30 plus years of teaching at a small liberal arts college, I’ve seen a lot of kids who have talent. You know the old prescription, that accomplishment is 90 percent perspiration and 10 percent inspiration? I think there’s a lot of truth to that. You just simply have to stay at it. And that means in any of the arts—whether you want to be a dancer or a flutist or a visual artist—you just have to be willing to continue to do it, even though the rewards are pretty minimal. There are obviously people who make big money writing, but not that many. Just like there are people who make big money as operatic tenors, but not that many.

Basically in an imaginative genre, whether it’s creative nonfiction or fiction, it’s mostly a matter of “show, don’t tell.” There’re only a couple of rules you need to learn and then you need to do it. I would think that if you’re good at fiction, you’re good at some of the other things, too. If you’re good at nonfiction, you can try your hand at some of the other things. I don’t know that that would necessarily be a limitation.

GM: What advice would you give to the talented student who wants more than just to be read by others, who wants to be published?

JS: I had Raymond Carver as a prof at the University of Wisconsin, and he said to me once, “Best rule of thumb as far as I’m concerned is: publish, publish, publish.” I try to live by that, so if the church that I belong to, the Christian Reformed Church, said to me 25 years ago, “Why don’t you try your hand at kids’ devotions?” at the time my kids were little, why not? Let’s try that. “Why don’t you try your hand at a history book?” Okay, let’s try that.

I like the old concept of a man of letters. I think when finally my computer shuts down for the last time and I say, “Well, this is the body that I cranked out; I got several novels, I got this history of the denomination, and these plays and this biography, I hope the Lord says to me, “You did okay.”

I try hard, and I never got reviewed in the New York Times. I would love to still turn out a couple novels that sell well; that never happened, but there’s always for me something more important than writing and that is not only my relationship to God, but also my relationship to my family. I sometimes wonder if I were willing to sacrifice everything for writing whether I might have been a better writer.

In any of the really high-profile professions, you have to give of yourself totally and I don’t. I always liked teaching. Now I just told you I wasn’t going to do it anymore, but I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve had a good life in terms of writing a variety of different things and enjoying them all. My number one joy is fiction, but it’s also most difficult. I’ve got two novels that I’d love to be able to sell, but neither of them is finished because I’ve re-written them four or five times. I just don’t have them right yet. But writing fiction is better than anything; I’d rather do that than anything.

GM: So you continue working on a novel until you feel that you have it right?

JS: I know when they aren’t there and I also know what it’s like to write a novel and then figure out that it’s there. And I know with both of these it’s not there yet. So on the ride down here this morning from Northwest Iowa—even though I’ve got class preparation on my mind and I’m listening to a book on an iPod—I’m still thinking, “What’s wrong with that pastor? Why can’t he tell that story?” And I don’t get it, but when I retire I’ll have time. Because I do know that it happens; it’s happened to me in the past. All of a sudden, I say, “That’s it!”

This section of the interview with James C. Schaap appeared in the December 15, 2010, issue of Christian Renewal. The second section of this interview, dealing with Dr. Schaap’s perspectives on how the Reformed faith relates to the arts and denominationalism will appear in the next issue of Christian Renewal and will be posted later.

Festive Day of Rest, Psalm 92

Believing that part of honoring the Lord's Day is to rest from my regular work and since my regular work is writing, I don't write on Sundays. But Psalm 92 is too good and too appropriate not to share today, on this day that the Heidelberg Catechism calls the "festive day of rest" (Lord's Day 38, Q & A 103).

The sub-heading of Psalm 92 informs readers that it is "A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day".

It begins:

It is good to give thanks to the LORD
and sing praises to your name, O Most High,
to to declare your steadfast love in the morning
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp
to the melody of the lyre (1-3).

While I admire the commitment of those godly believers who sing only a capella all the time, I believe these few verses alone shoot to shreds all the arguments against incorporating the use of instruments in worship.

My husband and I began singing in the church choir a couple of years ago, which has been an amazing blessing. We don't care about "performing" or any of the things associated with that concept. Our choir director always urges us to think about the words we sing. And she always chooses music with beautiful tunes and bibical lyrics. For us, it's all about praising God. And praising him in corporate worship with other believers, from the pew every Sunday or from the balcony with the choir, is a small foretast of heaven. It is indeed, good to give thanks to the Lord and sing praises to his name!

Verse two seems almost an apologetical in defense of two worship services on Sunday, but I'm sure the point here is that we are to praise God continually. Our thoughts ought to be directed toward God in praise every part of every day and night.

Believers can worship with joy when they consider God's mightiness and majesty, as well as his holiness and his judgment against the wicked.

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
At the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O LORD,
Your thoughts are very deep!
The stupid man cannot know,
the fool cannot understand this:
that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
But you, O LORD, are on high forever.
For behold, your enemies, O LORD,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be scattered (4-9).

God has done marvelous things. By the power of his word, he created all things and continues to sustain them. He providentially works all things together for the good of his dear children. His works and his thoughts are great and profound far beyond our finite imaginings. Even believers cannot fully understand the greatness of our God. But unbelievers truly have no clue. They may appear to thrive for a time, but our eternally exalted Lord will destroy the wicked forever.

Those who are righteous, not on the basis of their own works but only because of Christ's all-sufficient atonement, have strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow because their salvation has already been accomplished. It is so sure that God speaks of it in the past tense. They already have been exalted!

But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
you have poured over me fresh oil.
My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him (10-15).

On this festive day of rest, we can worship with other believers knowing that God has already accomplished great works in our lives. We are already exalted!

We are planted in God's house and we can flourish in the courts of corporate worship. Even in our old age, we will bear fruit and be verdant. We will still be able to declare that "the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him!"

Lunar Eclipse and Short Days

My Facebook friend, Pauline Trummel (whom I've never met, but whom some people say looks like me and that's why we become electronic friends), shared a link to this amazing photography of the winter solstice total lunar eclipse taken by William Castleman in Gainesville, FL.

In a note below the video pane, Castleman explains what equipment he used and how he assembled the shots into a time release video. Accompanied by Debussy's Nocturnes, the result is well worth the few minutes it takes to view.

Through hazy clouds early on Tuesday morning, I saw the top crescent of a white moon mostly obscured by gray shadow. What I saw doesn't begin to compare to Castleman's incredible progression of a black shadow devouring the gleaming moon and then turning it blood red.

Those writing early in the week about the upcoming lunar eclipse predicted that the great amount of volcanic ash currently in the atmosphere would cause the moon to turn dark orange or blood red. That prediction made me think of this prophecy from the biblical book of Joel:

And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes (Joel 2:30-31).

Castleman's time lapse video vividly depicts the moon turning to blood. Watching that video reminded me again of Joel's prophecy, which is quoted by Peter in his famous Pentecost sermon:

And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day (Acts 2:19-20).

I knew that Peter had quoted from Joel about the Spirit being poured out:

And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit (Joel 2:28-29).

I hadn't realized until this morning, however, that those verses in Joel immediately precede the prophecy about the moon turning to blood.

And I wasn't aware that Peter quoted Joel's important conclusion:

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls (Joel 2:32).

Another Facebook friend, Charles McNinch, posted Joel 2:30-32 as a comment under my status about viewing the lunar eclipse. We agreed that we are the true survivors!

Charles also wrote that this was the first lunar eclipse to fall on the same day as the winter solstice in 372 years!

Almost four hundred years is a very long time in our human scheme. If we have physical strength, our years are seventy or eighty—full of toil and trouble—and are soon gone (Psalm 90:10). The rare person who lives over 100 years is usually feeble at least of body, if not also of mind. Our finite minds compare four hundred years to the entire scope of United States history, while to God a thousand years are like yesterday when it is past or like a watch in the night (Psalm 90 again, verse 4 this time).

God ordained that this total lunar eclipse would occur on the shortest of the year's short days. That's something to think about it, isn't it? Nothing happens by chance in this universe. This timing is part of God's eternal plan.

I'm not advocating any Harold Camping style end-times prophecy, but the timing and the appearance of this lunar eclipse are reminders that the days are short.

"Today," writes the author of Hebrews, quoting David, "if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Psalm 95:7-8, Hebrews 3:7, 15; 4:7).

Peter urged his hearers to "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself" (Acts 2:38-39).

Just as Peter urgently expresses the covenantal promises of God, the author of Hebrews urges immediate repentance: "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-13).

This sense of urgency continues into the next chapter of Hebrews as the author discusses the hope of eternal rest, the need for genuine repentance, the power of God's Word, and our Great High Priest:

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:9-14).

The bloody eclipse reminds us that the days are short. God knows every thought and intention of our hearts. His Word reveals our sins to us. One day each of us will stand naked before the judgment seat, where every sin will be exposed.

But we can hold fast to our confession and approach the throne of grace with confidence because our High Priest, Jesus Christ, grants us mercy and grace in our times of great need. He is able to sympathize with us in all our temptations because he is human as well as divine. Because he resisted all temptations and lived a perfectly obedient life in our place, our sins will be accounted for by him on that great and terrible day. Then we will enter our eternal rest.

The bloody moon reminds us of the quickly approaching judgment, but God's Word reassures us that we have nothing to fear. Our High Priest is also our Judge who will declare, "This one is mine! I have paid the price!"

Chicago Heights Spanish Ministry: Blessing and Challenge

A Spanish speaking ministry aiming to plant a church in Chicagoland is being blessed in spite of unique challenges.

“The Lord has done wonderful things through our Spanish church plant to bless a lot of Spanish speaking people in the Chicagoland area,” writes church planter Rev. Valentin Alpuche. “The greatest joy is to see people being transformed by the power of the gospel.”

The El Pacto de Gracia (The Covenant of Grace) group has been growing steadily. Two students from Mid-America Reformed Seminary are currently attending and hope to spread the gospel within Hispanic populations following their graduation.

Although these men and others are committed to the Reformed faith, not all of those who attend are willing to make a commitment to Christ and the church. A further complication is that many of those who attend are illegal immigrants, which presents challenges for the work, particularly in the area of membership. Rev. Alpuche shares prayer requests for the work.

“Our primary requests are that the Lord continues adding more people to our congregation, for the already attending to commit fully to God and the congregation, especially with a view to becoming members,” Rev. Alpuche says. “Especially we struggle with the fact that most of our attendees are illegal, and we pray for wisdom to know if they should be accepted as members.”

Rev. Alpuche and his wife, Betty, are from Mexico and additionally request prayer that God will grant them “green cards” so they may avoid having to continually re-apply for visas.

Under the supervision of the elders at Faith United Reformed Church in Beecher, IL, and under the sponsorship of five Classis Central URCNA churches, El Pacto de Gracia has provided Spanish teaching and preaching since January of 2008.

Rev. Alpuche reports, “Since then the Lord has opened doors for the good news of salvation to be proclaimed to a permanent increasing Hispanic population in Chicago Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Although many within the Hispanic community come from a variety of religious backgrounds, predominately Catholic, El Pacto de Gracia presents the gospel from a distinctly confessional Reformed perspective.

“All the teaching and preaching we do in our church plant is from a solid orthodox reformed confession,” says Rev. Alpuche, “because we believe that the reformed tradition as it is expressed in our reformed confessions is the most faithful expression of the Christian life flowing directly from the Word of God (OT and NT) as the supreme and perfect norm for our faith and practice.”

A variety of groups meet each week to study the Bible. On Sunday mornings, a class of older children meets and women is currently studying the Heidelberg Catechism. On Sunday evenings, younger children meet for instruction and a general Bible study is currently examining the Lord’s Prayer. Men meet on Tuesday evenings and are currently examining the book of Ephesians.

Rev. Alpuche broadcasts Spanish language Bible studies that are heard on a local radio station (1470 AM) on Saturdays at 9:30 am and Sundays at 1:00 pm. Every month, the ministry sends hundreds of copies of the radio Bible studies to people in several Latin American countries.

“If you happen to know any Hispanic interested in learning the Scriptures,” says Rev. Alpuche, “let us know and we will be more than happy to send you copies of our Bible studies, either CDs or by email.”

The ministry is working toward posting the studies online in the near future. El Pacto de Gracia’s website is: www.faithwebsites.com/elpactodegracia.

Those desiring to help support the work financially may contact Rev. Alpuche at 219-577-5881 (valentin1975@hotmail.com) or Clerk Brian Sluiter at 708-372-2624 (brian@lmteam.com).


This article appeared on page 13 of the December 15, 2010, issue of Christian Renewal.

Our Dwelling Place, Psalm 90

The literary fingers of the Psalms feel the pulse of the human heart.

I have never liked to designate a favorite scripture passage because I love too many to narrow my choice to one. And different scriptures speak more eloquently during different circumstances. But if I were forced to pick a favorite Psalm, it would be Psalm 90.

This prayer of Moses may seem a rather strange and even morbid choice, since it depicts life as futile and fleeting. But it places this honest assessment of life within the context of God as our dwelling place.

Think about that for a moment; the writer of this psalm about God as our dwelling place was Moses, who knew all about not having a home of his own. As a baby, he was taken from his parents to be raised in the Egyptian court. As an adult, he fled for his life from all that comfort and opulence. He worked for his father-in-law as a humble shepherd in the desert, naming his son Gershom because he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land." As an old man and at God's command, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and remained their leader during forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Due to one public sin, he was not permitted to live in the promised land; although God allowed him to view it from a mountain top before taking him to his only home.

Moses began his prayer:

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God (1-2).

Moses knew all about the transient character of life, but he also knew that every believer who has ever lived and who ever will live dwells--not in palaces or tents--but only in God. Before God created the earth with its rugged mountain peaks and its surging seas, he had chosen every believer from all the generations of humanity to dwell in him.

God, who is outside the time and space continuum, ordains the length of every person's fleeting life.

You return man to dust
and say, "Return, O children of man!"
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers (3-6).

God determines not only the date of our death, but he also brings trials into our lives. He exposes our private sins in order to convict us.

For we are brought to an end by your anger;
by your wrath we are dismayed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence (7-8).

Verses 9-11 show that our years are full of struggle, but they quickly pass:

For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Do we accurately assess the power of God's anger? Do we appropriately reverence, honor, and obey him? How few do!

Because life is so fleeting and full of trouble, Moses begs God for wisdom to fully utilize each day; he begs for God's pity (verses 12-13).

So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!

But Moses does more than beg for pity; he beautifully juxtaposes the contrasts of reality.

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil (14-15).

It's easy for me to recall verse 15's words about afflicted days and evil years, but it's important not to separate this verse from the previous one. Both should be kept in mind. God is able to make us glad, even for the afflicted days and evil years, because he is the one who satisfies us each morning with his steadfast love. This language is similar to Lamentations 3:22-23. God's mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness!

Our faithful God, who every morning renews us with his mercies and satifies us with his steadfast love, will manifest his work and power in our lives and in the lives of our children.

Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children (16).

God's favor will rest upon believers. And, in spite of our sin and weakness, in spite of our frailty and life's fleetingness, he will establish our efforts.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands! (17)

Our home is not a rambling ranch or a cozy cottage, our home is not even a faithful family or a saintly spouse. Our home is God. Through all of life's sin and pain, we can remember that this fallen world is not our home. God is!

With that realistic perspective, we can number our days and become wise. We can be glad all our afflicted days and all our evil years because God will satisfy us each morning with his steadfast love. We can witness his wonders and our children will see his glorious power. And the work we do will not disappear into insignificance. God will rest his favor upon us and establish the work of our hands by giving it significance.

God is our dwelling place. Welcome home!

All scripture references are from the English Standard Version.

Emotional Roller Coaster, Psalm 89

I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

That beautiful and personal confession is the first of the fifty-two verses of Psalm 89, which soars to the highest heights of reveling in the goodness of God's steadfast love and plunges to the deepest depths of despairing in the shame of God's bitter providence.

The first thirty-seven verses of the psalm are remarkable for their repetition of words like: steadfast love, faithfulness, and covenant. The psalmist eloquently extols these aspects of God's relationship with his people as well as his almighty power and sovereignty over all creation and all events.

The entire psalm is marvelous reading, but I'm able to reflect on only some verses here. Let's look first at verses 14-18.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you (14).

God's throne is firmly founded on the twin pillars of righteousness and justice. But he does not execute justice to the exclusion of faithfulness; he does both what is right and what is faithful. He does not ignore our wrongs and he does not forget his promises. Righteousness and justice form the foundation of his throne, but his steadfast love and faithfulness go before him. The imagery portrays them as being actively pushed ahead, to reach needy people first. God's steadfast love and faithfulness are not afterthoughts, pulled along behind in his wake.

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted (15, 16).

The "festal shout" implies the joy and energy of corporate worship. Those who are able to worship the Lord together in a formal service should count it a privilege. We should not long to sleep in on Sunday mornings or regret going out on a cold winter's evening. We ought to anticipate worship services as festive occasions. I love that the Heidelberg Catechism refers to Sunday as "the festive day of rest" (Q & A 103). Perhaps the combination of "festive" and "rest" in the same phrase seem like an oxymoron, but "the festive day of rest" is a wonderful description for the one day each week God sets aside for us to rest from our regular work and come before him in corporate worship with a "festal shout."

Those who participate in corporate worship are also those who walk every day in the light of God's face. The beautiful Aaronic blessing asks the Lord to "make his face shine upon you" (Numbers 6:25).The Latin phrase Coram Deo wonderfully captures the concept of living every day "before the face of God." Those who are blessed are those who walk in God's light and exult in his name "all the day." They walk in God's ways and praise him, not just when they are groggy in the early morning or only when they are falling asleep late at night, but every part of every day. These people are not only blessed, but they are also "exalted."

The reason they are exalted is because God is their glory. His favor strengthens and protects them.

For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted.
For our shield belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel (14-18).

In the Bible, the image of a horn represents strength. God's people can be exalted because God is the glorious source of their strength. He sets his people up in the positions of power he has ordained for them. That power may be over a fussy baby who spits out his sweet potatoes or it may be over a mighty army that fights to protect a nation.

Your position of power is very likely somewhere between those two extreme scenarios. God has ordained a place and work for each of us. We are able to fulfill our callings in his kingdom when we rely completely on him.

The Lord is both our power and our protector: "our shield belongs to the LORD." A shield is used primarily as a defensive weapon. This language reminds us that we are to take up "the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16). Those who pick up and correctly wield the shield of faith do not merely knock away the darts, but actually quench their flames.

Just as our protection belongs to the Lord, so too do all our rulers ("our king to the Holy One of Israel"). Presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, governors, representatives, senators, mayors, pastors, elders, deacons, fathers, and mothers all belong to God. They are authorities in our lives who are under God's care and his sovereignty.

But Christ is the King of Kings, and it is his authority that God has established forever. Psalm 89 continues reveling in God's steadfast love as it relates God's covenant faithfulness in eternally establishing David's throne.

Once for all I have sworn by my holiness:
I will not lie to David.
His offspring shall endure forever (35, 36a).

In verse 38, the psalm shifts from praise into lament as the psalmist bemoans God's judgment on his chosen one.

But now you have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed....
You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbors....
You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame (38-45).

The psalmist then begs God for deliverance in verses 46-51.

Remember how short my time is....
Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,
which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked (47, 49, 50).

In spite of the difficult adversity in which the psalmist finds himself, he is able to end this roller coaster ride of a psalm with this confession:

Blessed be the LORD forever!
Amen and Amen (52).

We all have times when we feel deserted by God, when we feel as if he has turned his face from us. But we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God and all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8).

While riding the ups and downs of the emotional roller coasters in our lives, we can cling to God's covenantal promises. His throne is founded on righteousness and justice. His steadfast love and faithfulness never fail. He is the glory of our strength. He is our power and our protection.

Let us sing of his steadfast love forever and make his faithfulness known to all generations!

Gig Harbor effort dies before planting

A mission effort that initially showed much promise has been discontinued. Bellingham URC recently decided that its church planting work the Gig Harbor area of Washington would end on November 9.

Although a number of reasons led to the decision, the two biggest factors were lack of finances and loss of core group members to another church plant.

Mark Vander Pol, a 2009 graduate of Westminster Seminary California and a candidate in the URCNA, had been working closely with the group, traveling from his home in Escondido every other week to lead a Bible study. He explains that the effort looked very promising in March and April with as many as 25 people attending the study.

Believing this was sufficient indication of interest, the Bellingham URC hoped to bring a man to the work full-time and begin Sunday services in late summer or early fall. They sent a letter requesting financial assistance to the all the councils of the URCNA, but that letter failed to garner any additional funding. The Bellingham URC council was forced to put on hold their plans to begin regular worship services.

About the same time, a lay pastor from the congregation formerly attended by many of the URCNA Bible study members initiated his own church plant and began holding Sunday worship services. Being familiar with this leader, over half of the Bible study families began attending those services.

Mr. Vander Pol explains that the idea of merging efforts had been explored earlier, but significant liturgical and ecclesiological differences prohibited combining efforts.

Although the Bible study continued for some time in hope that more funding would become available or that changes in format would bring in more core families, he says it became apparent this fall that the work was no longer feasible.

Although the demise of the effort is sad for all those involved, Mr. Vander Pol relates a consolation. Seeking a new church home, some families from the Bible study visited a small independent Reformed church in the area, in spite of having heard negative things about it. What they discovered was that the teaching and liturgy were biblical and Christ-centered.

“What they’d heard about this pastor was completely unfounded. This man has been a faithful minister for 18 years and has brought this small congregation of about 30 to 40 people, formerly a community church, to a theology that is very Reformed,” he says, “which at least two of the Bible study families have found very refreshing to their weary souls.”

In the Lord’s providence, the death of the URCNA Gig Harbor church plant may actually inject life into an already existing Reformed church.

Nearly all the members of the Bible study have church homes in Reformed fellowships, although most are traveling farther than they would like each Sunday.

As for Mr. Mark Vander Pol, he will continue living in Escondido while working at his full-time position as Webmaster for the White Horse Inn. And he will continue “waiting for a call.”

“It’s discouraging,” he says, but “seeing how things have worked out, I can hold my head up. The Lord is faithful.”

The above article appeared on pages 13 & 14 of the December 15, 2010 issue of Christian Renewal.

© Glenda Mathes, 2010

Dawn Treader treads new waters: movie review

The latest movie in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series faithfully represents some important aspects from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in a film full of visual delight and exciting action. But uncompromising Narnia fans should be aware that the Dawn Treader takes some unexpected plot tacks by sailing into entirely new waters.

The movie's special effects are excellent, with realistically undulating waves and a believably hideous sea serpent. Viewers can choose between 3D and 2D versions, but I don't think the extra expense for 3D is necessarily worth it. I noticed 3D effects more during the previews than during the movie.

Modern movie viewers would probably not see enough excitement in Caspian's desire to find seven lost lords, so movie makers interjected a quest for the swords of the lords, which all must be laid on Aslan's table in order to destroy an evil green mist.

The interjection of the sword quest is a definite departure from the straight course of the book, but it can be viewed as demonstrating some biblical truths. The green mist affects people's minds and actions, influencing them to choose sinful behaviors. Characters must exhibit great strength of will to resist its temptations. The swords are wonderful weapons that can be used wisely or foolishly. Although the swords are valuable and useful, characters must lay them self-sacrificially on Aslan's table. I see biblical parrallels on multiple levels, which enables me to accept the quest with little dissent.

If viewers can live with these plot injections, the other plot discrepancies seem minor. Most changes obviously have been made to condense the story and make it more exciting.

I've come to expect that my favorite novels will not translate accurately from my imagination to the big screen. And I've finally figured out what makes the difference between changes I don't mind and those I mind very much.

I understand that action is the cinema king. The maxim for writing novels is, "show, don't tell," but the canon for making movies is, "show, and sell." The visually exciting movie sells more tickets and garners more profits.

Since I understand that basic Hollywood principle, I don't mind seeing a plot manipulated to maximize action. So what if some events are condensed or changed to create more suspense? I don't mind as long as the events reflect the truth conveyed in the novel.

What I do mind is when movie makers mess with truth and character. I minded very much the introduction of conflict between Peter and Caspian and the introduction of a romance between Caspian and Susan in Prince Caspian, because these things twisted the character of the characters, which in turn twisted the truth. And another important writing maxim (even, and perhaps especially, for fiction) is, "Write what's true."

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader depicts many truths from the book. Lucy longs to be as beautiful as her older sister, Susan, and the movie aptly conveys her struggle and the ensuing realization of her self worth. Some characters introduced into the narrative earn a place by helping demonstrate this. Although Eustace's life as a dragon differs between book and movie, it remains a character altering experience with Aslan removing the "old man" or dragon as the case may be. Reepicheeps' friendship with Eustace the dragon as well as Reep's personal quest to find Aslan's land are retained in the movie.

The best part of the film is its excellent conclusion, which lifts accurate dialogue directly from the book in, what was to me, a surprising move from modern movie makers.

As always, my advice is to read the book first. And don't let the plot changes keep you from enjoying this delightful movie.

Second Retirement for URC Pastor

Rev. James Admiraal has probably heard a lot of naval rank jokes, and he may be hearing even more about being a “retired admiral” when he retires from his position as Senior Pastor at Cornerstone URC in Hudsonville, MI, on December 31, 2010.

This will actually be the second retirement for Rev. Admiraal. He retired in 2002 from Second CRC in Randolph, WI, but was called out of that retirement in September of 2003 to serve as Interim Pastor for Cornerstone URC. The Cornerstone congregation called him as its Senior Pastor a few years later and he was officially installed in that capacity in January of 2006.

According to Cornerstone elder Mr. Al Veurink, members of the church are grateful for Rev. Admiraal’s more than seven years of faithful and humble service.

“The overwhelming response of the members is our gratitude for his serving as a faithful undershepherd, student and preacher of the Word with great clarity as a messenger of our Lord,” says Elder Veurink. “Another of the qualities that has distinguished Pastor Admiraal as an effective leader among other gifted Reformed pastors and teachers is his humility. An exceptionally gifted man who possesses the rare jewel of humility is exceptionally hard to find.”

The congregation may miss Rev. Admiraal’s full-time leadership and regular preaching, but they will not miss him and his wife, Rita, since the couple intends to remain members of the church. Rev. Admiraal also intends to continue a limited pastoral ministry while the congregation searches for a new pastor. He then hopes to serve as pulpit supply for other churches as needed.

Rev. James Admiraal graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1971 and was ordained at Trinity CRC in Rock Valley, where he served from 1971-1976. He subsequently served the following churches: Pleasant Street CRC in Whitinsville, MA (1976-1980); Second CRC in Kalamazoo, MI (1980-1987); North Street CRC in Zeeland, MI (1987-1992); First CRC in Prinsburg, MN (1992-1998); and Second CRC in Randolph, WI (1998-2003, retired 2002). He and Rita have been blessed with seven children, all of whom are now married, and 20 grandchildren.

Reflecting on his years of ministry, the two most difficult aspects for him have been: 1) the heavy responsibility and time commitment; and 2) serving so many years in a denomination that was moving away from his biblical beliefs.

A major factor in his heavy work load was that most of his pastorates were large congregations with over 600 members.

“In all these churches, I served as the only full-time pastor, or even as the only pastor,” he explains. “I am certainly not complaining nor implying that the churches were not very understanding as to my workload. I am only indicating that this was a real challenge, and God alone gave me the strength to do my best and be of blessing to His people. My wife was of great support to me, especially in unselfishly and cheerfully taking care of the needs of our children as they were growing up. At the same time, she remained active and involved in the church and its activities.”

Although Rev. Admiraal enjoyed his ministry within congregations that were primarily of the same theological persuasion as he was, he found himself increasingly “swimming against the [denominational] tide.” Participation in classical and synodical meetings became “a source of tension and discomfort.”

“My last years in the URC have offered me a sense of renewed joy and peace,” he says.

Rev. Admiraal is quick to add that while his ministry has had challenges, it has had more joyful and rewarding aspects: “The joy of preaching the Word of God for so many years, and knowing His Word never returns to Him empty; the reward of knowing and perceiving, and parishioners themselves telling me, that they were fed and enriched by God’s Word and were growing in their faith and devotion to their Lord; being able to learn and grow from God’s Word personally, having to study and proclaim that Word each week;” and “being able to minister pastorally to God’s people and making a spiritual impact upon their lives, especially in their times of trial and sorrow.”

Asked what advice he might give young pastors or men considering God’s call to ministry, Rev. Admiraal says, “[They] must remember their own inadequacy and approach their work daily with humility before the Lord. They must learn to submit also to the wisdom and direction of those whom they serve, particularly the consistory which has the task of overseeing them. They must spend their best efforts making sermons that are biblical and clear and organized and relate to the lives of their congregations. They must be thankful for the support of the congregation and avoid the temptation to become greedy.”

There are two main reasons that Rev. Admiraal anticipates his retirement.

“One is,” he says, “it will give me relief from the daily responsibilities and burdens of the ministerial task and give me more time to enjoy my family and other meaningful aspects of earthly life.”

“The second is,” he adds, “it will enable me to serve Christ and His church in many profitable ways—as long as the Lord gives me health and strength and provides me with opportunities to serve Him in His church. So, I look forward with joyful hope, even as I look back with joyful gratitude for what God has done for me and through me. To Him be all glory!”

This article appeared on pp. 18 & 19 of the November 24, 2010 issue of Christian Renewal.

© Glenda Mathes, 2010

Writing Update

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:11

It's been some time since I posted specific news about my writing projects, and I do have some significant news to share. In November, I signed a contract with Reformed Fellowship in Grandville, Michigan, for the publication of my book tentatively titled, Little One Lost: Living with Early Infant Loss.

The manuscript focuses on miscarriage, stillbirth, and newborn loss. It grew from an article about infant loss that I wrote for Christian Renewal (which appeared in the May 12, 2003 issue). I didn't want to write that article, but I kept receiving suggestions and proddings that finally convinced me to write it.

In the preface to the manuscript, I explain how I didn't want to revisit my own miscarriage experience and how the reality of my guilt and grief didn't hit me until I began writing the book.

But I wrote the book because that one article generated more response than most of the hundreds of other articles I've ever written. Many women thanked me for writing it and shared their stories with me. One wrote how the women in her family sat around the kitchen table, talking about the article, sharing their stories, and craying. She concluded, “Thank you for finally giving us permission to grieve.”

Early infant losses are often ignored or suppressed, but they are just as significant as a loss at any point in life. And they can be just as traumatic, although they encompass a wide range of human experience and emotion. The chronic ache of infertility is often an unacknowledged loss of a child the parents never knew, and a section of my book deals with this heart rending issue.

The manuscript takes a thoroughly biblical look at early infant loss from the perspective of God’s sovereign providence and His covenantal love. It is written in accessible language and short chapters to make it easy for grieving readers to digest. The 27 chapters are organized into six sections.

Part One sets the stage by Acknowledging Our Loss with chapters titled: The Hole in My Heart, Society’s Paradox, Knit Together, and Common Occurrence.

Part Two shares specific stories of couples Losing a Child with their varied experiences: Repeated Loss, Medical Dilemmas, Hopeless Labor, Father’s Love, and Delivery Distress.

Part Three focuses on different facets of the wrenching struggles of couples Bearing Infertility’s Loss: Empty Womb, Childless Marriage, and Supernatural Children.

Part Four examines aspects of Finding Our Comfort: Not Lost, Biblical Comfort, Covenantal Comfort, Confessional Comfort, and Only Comfort.

Part Five relates how we can be Grieving with Hope in chapters on different dimensions of grief: Hopeful Grief, Guilty Grief, Being Forgiven, Forgiving Others, and Family Grief.

Part Six points the direction toward Healing Our Pain through: Prayerful Work, Graceful Acceptance, Remembering Life, Compassionate Care, and the concluding chapter regarding The Hope in My Heart.

Since Reformed Fellowship is currently working on several other projects, it may be a year or more until it is published.

It is my prayer that God will use this book to increase awareness of the significance of early infant loss, to grant those who have suppressed their loss the freedom to grieve, to comfort grieving parents and other family members, and to assist many in ministering to those who grieve a “little one lost.”

© Glenda Mathes, 2010

Classis Michigan deals with pastoral relationships

Classis meetings frequently include weighty discussions, but that was particularly true when Classis Michigan of the URCNA met on October 12, 2010, at Bethel United Reformed Church in Jenison, MI.

Rev. Jason Tuinstra (Bethel-Jenison) chaired the meeting with Elder Myron Rau (Covenant-Kalamazoo) serving as Vice-Chairman. Rev. Greg Lubbers (Covenant-Byron Center) is the Stated Clerk for Classis and Mr. Dave VanderMeer (Covenant-Kalamazoo) is the Classical Treasurer.

Classis Michigan delegates spent a great deal of time in executive (closed) session, dealing with two matters regarding relationships between pastors and elders.

It was determined that material regarding the first matter was not properly before the body as an appeal, but would be considered as a communication.

The brothers bringing the communication had submitted similar documents in the past, expressing their concern about what they perceived to be failures in oversight by another consistory over a former URC office-bearer.

“In my opinion,” says Rev. Greg Lubbers, “the broader assemblies rejected such requests in part on procedural points, the ‘appeals’ did not fit the criteria for appeals, but also because of the understanding that our federation has made a purposeful decision to leave the exercise of the oversight of an office-bearer to the local consistory rather than the broader assemblies.”

After careful consideration of the matter, Classis Michigan declared that it had heard and shared some of the concerns. Classis expressed its appreciation for the diligent work of the consistory and it “sincere efforts towards reconciliation.” Classis also recognized the authority of the consistory to release its former pastor from ministry in the URC under Article 7 of the Church Order and, since the pastor is no longer under that consistory’s supervision, Classis urged “everyone to recognize that we must now leave our concerns in the hands of the Lord.”

“Despite lingering differences over these matters,” the minutes continue, “we urge everyone to renew their love for one another as brothers in the Lord and to continue steadfast in our service in God’s kingdom.”

The second matter was a request from the Eastmanville URC for concurring advice concerning an Article 11 dissolution with its pastor, Rev. Steve Postma. Classis adopted a motion to give concurring advice to the Article 11 dissolution “out of pastoral concerns for the pastor with the sad recognition of the procedural inconsistencies in regards to Church Order Article 11.”

In an effort to stem the high incidence of Article 11 dissolutions in the URCNA, Synod London 2010 had adopted new language for Article 11 that called for more involvement on the part of church visitors and Classis before an Article 11 dissolution was implemented. The language of the Classis Michigan minutes was deliberately chosen to reflect the sorrow that many Classis Michigan delegates expressed about the lack of Classis involvement prior to the situation reaching this point.

“The main ground given by the consistory for an Article 11 was simply that there was a lack of harmony between the congregation and the pastor,” explains Rev. Lubbers. “There were repeated affirmations of Rev. Postma’s faithful preaching and no specific incidents that served to create the lack of harmony were presented. Nevertheless, it was evident that the relationship had deteriorated to the point of being irreconcilable.”

Classis also adopted a motion stipulating a severance package the included financial arrangements for the year from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

In addition to these two weighty matters, Classis Michigan discussed several discipline issues on which churches sought advice. Delegates also adopted guidelines for nominating elders to the Classis Michigan Mission Committee (CMMC) and made several committee appointments, including Gary Fisher as the Classis Michigan website representative and Denise Marcusse to the songbook committee.

Classis Michigan delegates heard from Rev. Allen Vander Pol regarding his work with MINTS and Dr. Brian Lee concerning his church planting work in Washington, DC. Trinity URC reported on the continuing work of its Sovereign Grace church plant in Grand Rapids.

Delegates were informed that Rev. James Admiraal (Cornerstone-Hudsonville) intends to retire, and Chairman Tuinstra expressed gratitude for Rev. Admiraal’s many years of faithful service in Christ’s kingdom.

The next meeting of Classis Michigan is scheduled for April 12, 2011, with Covenant URC of Kalamazoo as the convening church.

The above article appeared on pages 17-18 of the November 24, 2010 issue of Christian Renewal.

© Glenda Mathes, 2010

Grace trumps the grave, Psalm 88

It's tempting to simply skip Psalm 88 and go on to Psalm 89, which begins by extolling God's love and covenant faithfulness. This morning that sounds infinitely preferable to Psalm 88's lament.

Psalm 88 is a long lament, but—unlike most in the Psalter—it does not include an assertion of confidence or hope in God. This lack qualifies the Psalm as one of the more—if not the most—depressing in the Bible.

As I was seriously considering going on to the marvelous first verses of Psalm 89, the words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 came to me: All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

As a brief aside, let me say that I've never had a hangup about the word "man" in the Bible, understanding it in such contexts to serve as shorthand for a human being and to apply the teaching of such texts to women as well as men. Being convicted, therefore, that Timothy was speaking to me as well as to anyone (man or woman), I pray for God's grace while wading into Psalm 88's miserable morass.

The Psalm begins, like many of the Psalter's laments, with a cry to God:

O LORD, God of my salvation;
I cry out day and night before you
Let my prayer come before ou;
incline your ear to my cry! (1-2)

Then the Psalmist relates the gravity of his terrible state:

For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand (3-5).

Things look so bleak that life feels like death. There are times when we have been hurt so badly that we spend months, perhaps years, feeling as if we are the walking wounded. But this Psalm reflects such intense suffering that the writer feels more like the barely breathing dead.

This section of the Psalm concludes with these verses:

You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves (6-7).

In the midst of his despair, the Psalmist acknowledges God's sovereignty. The devil, the world, and our own flesh may attack us, but none of these attacks come apart from God's sovereign will. Satan had to receive permission from God before inflicting any suffering upon Job (Job 1:6-12). The writer realizes that God is ultimately the one who put him in the darkness of this deep pit. He feels God's anger pressing upon him as if he is being knocked down repeatedly by the heavy weight of unrelenting waves.

As Psalm 88 continues, the Psalmist also acknowledges God's sovereignty in his suffering at the hands of others. He breifly restates his hopeless situation, reiterates his plea to God, and then poses a series of questions.

You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you?
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? (8-12)

These questions highlight anyone's inability to serve and praise God from the grave. But they also provide hints of faith: the Psalmist prays every day (in verse one, it was "day and night"), he realizes that God is worthy of praise, full of steadfast love and faithfulness, the worker of wonders, and the source of righteousness.

Grace trumps the grave. By God's grace, the Psalmist draws his next breath. He acknowledges God's sovereignty in his suffering. And he is able to direct this prayer to God.

But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness (13-18).

The Psalmist has not only been rejected by his companions, but also by his "friend" and his "beloved." Since his youth, he has suffered a series of afflictions that have brought him repeatedly to the point of death. Even his very soul seems to have been cast away. No wonder God seems far from him!

This pretty much puts my petty problems into perspective. My current trivial struggles are nothing compared to this! But there have been times in my life when I have felt like this poor Psalmist.

Perhaps some people do not experience such debilitating depression or misery. But in this fallen world most people suffer severe struggles, some of which bring or seem to bring us to the point of death. In times of deep distress and dark depression, when we feel as if we have one foot in the grave and can barely draw our next breath, we can still cry out to our sovereign God.

Even if we are in a worse state than this suffering Psalmist and we are not able to utter a coherent prayer, we know that the Spirit intercedes for us:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

God is sovereign. He is loving. He is faithful. He is with us in our deepest suffering. His Spirit takes our incoherent groans and reformulates them into articulate prayers; prayers that please God and accord with his will. In suffering and grief, God's grace trumps the grave.



Unless otherwise stated all the scripture quotations are from the ESV.