Hills vacancy brief as a former minister returns

Rev. Alan and Wanda Camarigg

When Rev. Alan and Wanda Camarigg arrived in Hills, MN, on February 6, 2013, to serve the URC, it was somewhat like coming home. Rev. Camarigg previously served the Hills congregation from 1991-1997.

But leaving their congregation and most of their family in Lynden, WA, after living there for 16 years seemed very much like leaving home.

“We left all our children and grandchildren behind in Washington with the exception of our second to the youngest son,” says Rev. Camarigg, explaining that he now lives in nearby Rock Valley, IA. Even their youngest son stayed behind to finish school before beginning a nursing program in Bellingham this fall. “So, all of a sudden, Wanda and I are ‘empty nesters.’”

Although that aspect of the move has been difficult, the Camariggs are excited to be back in Hills, warmly welcomed by the congregation they left 16 years ago. Rev. Camarigg preached on the morning of February 17 as a “guest preacher,” and was installed during the evening service.

Rev. Spencer Aalsburg, of the Sioux Falls United Reformed Fellowship, led the installation service. Preaching from Ephesians 4:11-16 on “Our God calls us to mature into the full-grown body of Christ,” he emphasized that the church’s teaching ministry is for equipping the saints to works of ministry or service.

The Hills URC meets for worship at 9:30 AM and 6:30 PM. The congregation consists of about 120 members.

Rev. Camarigg attended Mid-America Reformed Seminary, followed by a required year’s instruction at Calvin, prior to accepting his first call to Hills in 1991. In 1997, he accepted the call to Lynden Orthodox Christian Reformed Church, which became Covenant Grace Reformed Church when it left the OCRC in 2006. In 2012 the congregation voted to affiliate with the URCNA.

“Part of considering a call is reviewing the past,” says Rev. Camarigg, “and one of the things that Wanda and I realized is that we’ve always been in positions of flux with regard to federative and denominational issues.”

“The Lynden congregation joined the URC just this fall, for which we were very thankful, but the Hills congregation has been in the URC federation for 14 or 15 years now; and I’m really looking forward to focusing on the preaching and teaching ministry.”

“My goal is, by God’s grace and reliance upon Him, to feed Christ’s sheep and lambs with His Word; and my prayer is that the Lord will grant spiritual growth to the congregation so that we may serve Him faithfully in the years to come to the glory of His name.”

The above article by Glenda Mathes appeared on page 13 of the March 20, 2013, issue of Christian Renewal.

Double celebrations in Kalamazoo URC

Revs. Jeremy Veldman, Al Bezuyen, Jacques Roets, and Mark Vander Hart

Covenant United Reformed Church in Kalamazoo celebrated the arrival of its new pastor with a dinner and program on Friday, February 15, and an installation service during morning worship on Sunday, February 17, 2013.

As the church welcomed Rev. Jeremy Veldman as its new pastor, it also bid farewell to Rev. James Admiraal, who has labored within the congregation for the last two years of its three-year vacancy. Former ministers Rev. Art Besteman and Rev. Phil Vos were also present for the celebration, which included special music numbers by choirs and a slide presentation depicting the church’s 20-year history.

Music also enhanced the morning worship service on Sunday, February 17, when Rev. Veldman was installed. Rev. Al Bezuyen, who had been influential in encouraging Jeremy to pursue the ministry, led the service and preached from 2 Timothy 2:15 on “Christ Calls Pastor Timothy (and Pastor Jeremy) to Righteousness in Word and Deed.” Rev. Jacques Roets, who grew close to Rev. Veldman during a summer internship, gave the charge to the minister and spoke briefly from John 3:30 regarding a minister’s task to exalt Christ rather than himself. Rev. Mark Vander Hart, who was Jeremy’s Hebrew instructor and mentor at seminary, presented a charge from Ephesians 6:19-20, encouraging the congregation to pray for their new minister. Rev. Veldman closed the service by pronouncing the benediction.

Rev. Veldman taught for three years at a Reformed high school in the London, ON, area prior to attending Mid-America Reformed Seminary, from which he graduated in 2006. A ten-week internship at New Haven URC in Vermont turned into his first ministerial charge when he was called and then ordained there in 2007.

“Not only is Vermont a beautiful place to live with its picturesque mountains, rivers and valleys,” says Rev. Veldman, “but it was a privilege to minister to the 60-family, agriculturally-rooted congregation at New Haven.”

“Leaving Vermont was very difficult as my church felt like family to me,” he adds. “However, the Lord had other plans and gave me a clear conviction and sense of calling to accept the call to Kalamazoo.”

Having preached his last sermon in Vermont at the end of December, Rev. Veldman had a short “sabbatical” that included a two-week tour in Israel with a group from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis.

He relates that he is “very happy and excited” to minister in Kalamazoo and is “deeply appreciative and humbled” by the church’s “many tokens of love, kindness, welcome, and generosity.”

His goal for his ministry at Kalamazoo is to “be faithful in preaching and pastoring.”

“May we, as pastor and congregation, seek the Lord’s leading in our lives as we walk this next path together.”

Covenant URC consists of 245 souls. It meets for worship at 9:30 AM and 6:00 PM at 3724 Lovers Lane in Kalamazoo.

The above article by Glenda Mathes appeared on page 12 of the March 20, 2013, issue of Christian Renewal.

Meditating on meditations

Because this is going to be a busy summer for me, I may not be able to post meditations as regularly as I’d like for the next few months. As I schedule my work for May, I see that I need to make some time sacrifices.

Rather than spending precious hours writing blog meditations, I need to complete a devotional manuscript promised to a publisher. So forgive me in advance for sporadic posting.

Ministering to women in prison

Rev. Nathan & Paula Brummel

The Lord is opening doors for Reformed ministry to women inmates. Rev. Nathan Brummel, who heads up Divine Hope Reformed Bible Seminary, and his wife, Paula, presented conferences on the “Virtuous Woman” at women’s facilities in Decatur, IL, on January 11-12, and in Rockville, IN, on February 9, 2013.

The Rockville Correctional Center is the largest women’s prison in Indiana with 1300 inmates in a medium security facility. The Decatur Correctional Center is also a medium security prison that incarcerates 800 women.

The “Virtuous Woman” conference is based on Proverbs 31. At the Decatur facility, 80 women (10% of the population) were permitted to attend the conference. Rev. Brummel spoke Friday evening on “A Portrait of a Virtuous Woman” (verses 10 & 30), followed by Paula speaking on “The Teaching of a Virtuous Mother” (verses 1-9). On Saturday morning, Paula spoke about “The Virtuous Wife” (verses 11-12, 23), and Rev. Brummel addressed the “The Virtuous Mother” (verses 21-22, 25, 27). On Saturday afternoon, Paula described “The Work Ethic of the Virtuous Woman” (verses 13-19, 24-25), and Rev. Brummel spoke on “The Wide-Open Hand of the Virtuous Woman” (verse 20). On the following Sunday morning, Rev. Brummel preached from Proverbs 31:26 on “The Silvery Tongue of the Virtuous Woman.”

One young woman recognized for the first time that her mother had been a virtuous woman who had been trying to teach her God’s ways, but she had been blind to spiritual things. As she wept and cried that “it was all too late,” Paula comforted her and assured her that her virtuous mother would rejoice to learn about her changed perspective.

As the women sang Psalms for the first time, many found meaning in singing God’s Word, particularly “I will walk at liberty, because Thy truth I seek” from Psalm 119. While some women who attended are on waiting lists for Bible studies, others snickered at challenging Scripture texts, and a few evidenced hard hearts toward all the teaching.

According to Rev. Brummel, the women in the Decatur facility “are like the women you meet at the grocery store or at church. Some of the ladies did not know their Bibles. Other women had heavily used Bibles and found such joy in the Word of God. They hungered and thirsted after righteousness.”

“There is something bittersweet about prison ministry,” writes Rev. Brummel. “On the one hand, Paula and I had such a blessed and joyful time encouraging the women in prison. On the other, it was sad to see the suffering of confessing Christian women behind bars.”

Rev. Nathan & Paula Brummel, Margo Van Der Molen, Jan & Dan Woldhuis

He describes the excitement of one woman scheduled the next day for the first phone call with her children in a year. The phone call had been ordered by a judge, but her husband objected to the ruling and the phone call was not permitted. Although she cried all that afternoon, God encouraged her through a surprise visit from other family members she had not seen for a year.

Women from Immanuel URC had donated care packages containing soap, lotion, chocolate, shampoo, and pens for conference attendees.

The Brummels are exploring options for conducting regular conferences with Reformed women speakers.

The above article by Glenda Mathes appeared on pages 17 & 19 of the February 27, 2013 issue of Christian Renewal.

Simmering fiction WIP

Writers often refer to their current WIP (Work In Progress). Since I am always working on several projects, I’m thinking of adopting the acronym MWIVGIP (Multiple Works In Various Genres In Progress). But it seems a tad awkward and I’m not sure how I’d pronounce it.

One of my two current novels has a complicated structure that I’ve been trying to WIP into shape lately (pun intended). Each chapter has a “Now” and a “Then” section so the reader alternates between short scenes following the protagonist through an accident with its aftermath and longer scenes from her childhood into the present. At some point, which I haven’t quite reached yet, the two will merge.

Last week I woke one morning with lines in my mind that would accomplish the transition. The last line of the final  ”Then” section would be “I turned right.” And the first line of the combined “Now” section would be “I turned right!” Only when I typed them up in context, I realized that solution destroyed the mystery driving the plot to that point. <sigh>

The transition solution still simmers on the back burner of my brain. I’ll move it to the front burner when it begins to boil.

In the meantime, on this Friday dedicated to writing fiction, I’m working on that novel’s transitions and structure. Sounds boring, doesn’t it?

I once imagined that a fiction writer sits down and pounds away at the keyboard as brilliant scenes unwind in her mind like a spectacular movie. While it’s true that I sometimes get so caught up in writing an engrossing scene that I miss an appointment, the more frequent reality is that writing fiction consists of an extraordinarily large proportion of time-consuming and mundane details. It can be extremely difficult to make them all work together. I often think, “But if this happens, then that previous scene makes no sense,” or “But won’t the reader wonder why they didn’t just do such-and-such instead?”

And then all aspects of chronology, time frame, weather, and location need to fit together. These things may not actually appear in the novel, but you don’t want a reader to trip over some obvious inconsistency. If the sun rises at 6:08 on April 25 in Denver, for instance, a Colorado reader will loose confidence in your writing if, during April, the main character watches the sun peek between mountains after her alarm woke her at 7:00. And the author needs to make sure the reader already has the back story necessary to make sense of the current scene. This may not sound like such a big deal, but–believe me–it requires extensive effort to make all these details work out logically.

And there’s a lot to work out in my current MWIVGIP.

On the centennial cusp

Okay, folks. I’ve been watching my blog’s follower count creep up and have been thinking that it might be a clever gimmick to reward Follower #100 with their choice of my published books.

I thought I’d have plenty of time to think this through, but yesterday my follower count suddenly shot up to 99. We’re on the very cusp of hitting the centennial!

So here’s my offer (limited to readers who live in the United States) –

Become Follower #100 on my blog and win a free copy of one of my published books:

Little One Lost: Living with Early Infant Loss

A Month of Sundays: 31 Meditations on Resting in God

or the student workbook, Not My Own: Discovering God’s Comfort in the Heidelberg Catechism. You can view the book’s front and back cover as well as the first two lessons in this PDF.

If you are Follower #100 and you live in the United States, I’ll mention your screen name in a comment on this post, asking you to friend me on Facebook so you can send me a private message with your US postal address. The book will be sent out as soon as possible; I hope within the next week or two. While I deeply appreciate my international readers, I am not able to mail a book to an address out of my own country.

Those of you who make the effort to be #100, but miss that honor have the reward of knowing how much I value each and every follower.

The best advice I ever heard about blogging was this: Every hit is a real person.

In this day of computer generated search engines, I’m not sure that’s entirely true, but I do think about all those numbers as more than simply statistics–I think of them as real people who somehow, somewhere, find my blog.

That guides what I write here and I’d just like to say: Thanks for reading!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Although the lyrics of that old Beatles song fail to reflect the comprehensive character of my personal worldview, there’s definitely a sense in which I get by with a little help from my friends. Every writer knows the importance of networking.

A writer can’t construct a platform without building name recognition, which requires networking through social and printed media. A writer can’t get anything published without coming into contact with a publishing representative who expresses interest in the work, and that usually means networking at a conference. Even after publication, a writer relies on networking through online contacts and old-fashioned word of mouth to market and sell books.

Writers, perhaps more than any other profession, get by with a little (or a lot) of help from their friends.

Friends help writers by supporting their work and spreading the word. Tell people about it. Mention it on Facebook or your blog. Write and post reviews on Amazon and other sites. And, of course, you should buy the book. Buy a copy for yourself. Buy copies to give as gifts. But, please, do buy it. That’s the only way writers earn money and know that they should keep writing.

You would be astounded how many people tell writers, “You wrote a book, didn’t you? I thought about buying it.” I wonder how many writers reply, “Well, why didn’t you? Do you like working for nothing?”

Since I get by with a little help from my friends, I’m giving a little help to a friend today. Yvonne Anderson has written some of the most extraordinary books I’ve ever read. They’re a hybrid of sci-fi and Christian fiction that falls into the speculative fiction genre. They’re well-written with fascinating plots and, with a little help from her friends, should take off into hyper-drive.

The Story in the Stars, first in the Gateway to Gannah series, is available from Amazon in Kindle or paperback.

The second book in the series, Words in the Wind, is also available in paperback or Kindle form.

You may not ordinarily read either sci-fi or Christian fiction, but anyone who appreciates good writing and an engaging plot will enjoy these novels. In fact, someone who writes about actively avoiding the topic of religion posted a positive review here.

I’ve mentioned Yvonne and her books before:

in this interview with her,

in my review of her first Gateway to Gannah novel, The Story in the Stars,

and in my review of her second Gannah novel, Words in the Wind, 

as well as in a few other posts on this blog. Do a search if you’d like to read more about her work or check out her cleverly-named blog, Y’s Words.

 

 

 

Prison-based seminary graduates first class

Board member Dan Kingma, graduate Joseph, and Prof. Nathan Brummel

Twelve men celebrated their seminary graduation on December 20, 2012. That may not seem remarkable, but these men are inmates at the Danville Correctional Center in Illinois. They received certificates for completing 30 credit hours in a year of study at Divine Hope Reformed Bible Seminary, which meets on-site at the Danville facility.

“The graduation was a big success,” says professor and administrator, Rev. Nathan Brummel. He credits part of that success to the post-graduation lunch arranged by his wife, Paula. She and other women from their church prepared some of the food. “Many of the men had not had a meal like this for years or decades. They had the freedom to choose what condiments to put on their subway sandwiches and this was a big hit—because in prison you simply receive on your tray whatever the cook plops onto it.”

The meal was the first time Rev. Brummel had the opportunity to eat with his theological students. Even though they are served the same food, he usually must eat in a different location. Not only was it unusual for him to dine with his students, but it also provided the rare sight of a warden eating with inmates. Thirty friends of the Seminary joined the faculty, Board, students, and the wardens to celebrate this milestone.

“It did my heart good to be able to sit down next to my students and share a meal with them for the first time,” says Rev. Brummel. “The students are my friends. They are spiritual sons—even if they are older than I!”

The lunch provided an opportunity for Board members and friends of the Seminary to interact with students. Due to the distance between supporting churches and the Danville facility, Rev. Brummel describes this interaction as “precious and important.”

Professor Mark Vander Hart, from Mid-America Reformed Seminary, delivered the commencement address. Rev. Vander Hart was involved in the organization of Divine Hope Seminary and still serves as an ex-officio member of the Board.

Divine Hope Seminary’s Class of 2012

He says, “I spoke from 2 Corinthians 4:7 about the great treasure of the gospel, but as it is conveyed by jars of clay, thus bringing into great highlight the all-surpassing power from God.”

The spring semester has begun for Divine Hope Reformed Bible Seminary with 32 students filling the classroom. One of those students transferred from another institution in order to attend the Seminary.

“We praise God for providing us with our first transfer student! So far transfers from maximum and medium security institutions have been denied,” explains Rev. Brummel. “But God opened the door for Kevin to transfer from another medium security institution to join us for our spring semester.” Rev. Brummel currently has 15 applications from men in other facilities requesting transfers to Danville to pursue a theological education.

Divine Hope classes meet three days per week. Rev. Brummel leads devotions and teaches Greek, Anthropology, and Ancient Church History. Two days per week, he is joined by John Surowiec, who provides instruction on the epistle of Romans to the entire class and on the Heidelberg Catechism to the new students. On those days, Rev. Brummel teaches Old Testament History: Monarchy Period in addition to his instruction on Greek and either Anthropology or Ancient Church History.

“It is a great blessing to have John Surowiec teaching at DanvilleCorrectionalCenter two times a week,” says Rev. Brummel. “We have enjoyed the camaraderie of engaging in this work together. John has participated in leading chapel services in Danville on Sunday as well.”

Divine Hope’s ministry may expand during 2013 both at DanvilleCorrectionalCenter and beyond. Rev. Brummel hopes to reach more of the general population at Danville through leading additional Sunday chapel services, perhaps with the assistance of Mid-America faculty and students. He is also planning weekend theological conferences at other prisons within the Illinois Department of Corrections, which may be called “The Danville Conference on Reformed Theology.”

“The first conference is planned for February 22-23 at RobinsonCorrectionalCenter in Robinson, IL,” says Rev. Brummel. “This is a minimum security prison that is 80 miles south of Danville.”

The conference theme is “The Glory and Supremacy of the Holy Trinity” and will include these sessions: God in Three Persons: Blessed Trinity, Creatio ex Nihilo: Your Father Created the Cosmos in Six Days, and Not a Hair Can Fall from Your Head: The Supremacy of God in Providence.

The above article by Glenda Mathes appeared on pages 16-17 of the February 27, 2013, issue of Christian Renewal.

Everlasting God, Psalm 41

Psalm 41 is the final psalm in Book One of the Psalter. It’s a lament that begins with an extended statement of confidence in God’s sovereign provision:

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
    In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
    he is called blessed in the land;
    you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
    in his illness you restore him to full health (Psalm 41:1-3, ESV).

God considers the poor by delivering him in the day of trouble, protecting him and keeping him alive. The believer is called blessed in the land and God does not allow him to be delivered to the will of his enemies. God sustains him when he’s sick and restores him to full health.

Although God often delivers believers from trouble, we know that sometimes Christians are overwhelmed by calamities, sometimes they are killed by enemies, and sometimes they become ill and die. Yet in all these tragedies, God keeps the believer eternally secure.

Trials are always a good time to assess the state of our hearts. Are there ways we have sinned against God that may have contributed to this struggle? If that is the case, it is cause for repentance as David shows in verse 4:

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
  heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

We know from the book of Job that personal sin is not always the cause for suffering.  David’s suffering in this psalm seems to be primarily due to enemies (verse 5, ESV):

My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die, and his name perish?”
And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words,
    while his heart gathers iniquity;
    when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
All who hate me whisper together about me;
    they imagine the worst for me (Psalm 41:5-7, ESV).

These enemies speak platitudes personally, but spread rumors abroad. They secretly conspire against David and fantasize the worst case scenario about him. They hope for his untimely demise (verse 8, ESV):

They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him;
    he will not rise again from where he lies.”

Worst of all, David has been betrayed by his bosom buddy, who used to hang out at his house and eat his food:

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
    who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me (verse 9, ESV).

We expect persecution from obvious enemies, but it’s far more difficult to cope with betrayal from those within our own circle of friends, those within our own families or faith communities.

But David trust in God’s grace (verse 10, ESV):

But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
    and raise me up, that I may repay them!

David’s words here are not a biblical directive for vengeance. In other parts of Scripture, God clearly says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30). But David was God’s anointed and a type, or foreshadow, of Christ. Christ is the One God raised up to repay all those who oppose God and his children.

David again expresses confidence in God’s sure deliverance:

By this I know that you delight in me:
    my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
    and set me in your presence forever (11-12, ESV).

Enemies may triumph for a season, but not forever. Since Christ accomplished all that was necessary for the salvation of believers, we can know for sure that God now views us with delight. We have integrity because we are clothed with Christ’s righteous. God will uphold us through every struggle now and place us in his presence forever.

Each book of the Psalter concludes with a doxology. Book One’s doxology appears in verse 13:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.

The eternal God, who shows his mercy to his covenant people, is forever blessed and glorious. He is with us in our struggles and delivers us from many of them. Should he choose not to, he still keeps our souls eternally safe. Struggles are an appropriate time for self-examination and repentance; however, personal sin isn’t necessarily the reason for suffering, although sin in this world is always to blame.

God sees the secret schemes of those who plot against us. he hears every whispered word. He understands the wrenching pain of betrayal. Even during these most difficult times, we can trust God to be gracious to us and to make everything right in the end. Because Christ paid the price for the sins of all who believe in him, God views Christians with delight and considers them as persons of integrity. He secures our place in his presence forever.

Truly the everlasting God is to be blessed and praised! Amen and Amen!

Best. Feeling. Ever!

Is there any greater delight than being productive and believing that you’re doing exactly what God wants you to do?

Today’s a Wonderful Wednesday because I finished the introduction and Day 1 of a new devotional manuscript I’m writing.

Writing can be such a struggle when you feel as if you’re pulling every word out of your brain with a pliers. But what incredible joy when the words pour onto the page and fall neatly into place!