Dear Rose Park,

Throughout scripture we encounter a repeated theme: the path of the righteous and the path of the foolish. On this Wednesday of Holy Week we are abruptly met with Judas and his willingness to forego an eternal relationship with Christ in order to gain immediate gratification on the path of the foolish.

I invited our consistory members to prayerfully consider if they would be willing to contribute a letter to the church during the season of Lent. Today’s letter comes from an interview with our beloved deacons, Jessica VanderSlik & Cal VanderSlik…

I invited our consistory members to prayerfully consider if they would be willing to contribute a letter to the church during the season of Lent. Today’s letters comes from our beloved deacon, Cathy Brand…

I invited our consistory members to prayerfully consider if they would be willing to contribute a letter to the church during the season of Lent. Today’s letters comes from our beloved elder, Kylee Duistermars…

I invited our consistory members to prayerfully consider if they would be willing to contribute a letter to the church during the season of Lent. Today’s letters comes from our beloved elder, Lila Monton…

Dear Rose Park,

Yesterday morning I joined a few other pastors for breakfast at Deboer’s on Douglas. I had Oscar’s Breakfast Tacos with a bottomless cup of coffee; it was as good as it gets. If you’ve never been, or just haven’t been in awhile, let me know and I’d love to take you sometime.

Dear Rose Park,

There’s a lot of symbolism in the bible. For example, any time scripture mentions water it’s a safe bet there’s a connection to baptism. Any time scripture mentions fire it’s a safe bet there’s a connection to the Holy Spirit. This symbolism isn’t limited to physical things, it also includes numbers. There are seven days of creation, seven churches listed in Revelation, and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are twelve tribes of Israel, twelves apostles, and Jacob even had twelve sons. Needless to say, biblical numbers are important.

Dear Rose Park,

This past Thursday I took Simon and Winnie to meet my mom (or as they call her “Grandma from Holland”) for lunch at Good Earth. After we ordered our food and found a table, a woman approached us and struck up a conversation with my mom. I didn’t know who she was, but after she left my mom had a big smile on her face and then told me this story…

Dear Rose Park,

This past Monday I officiated the funeral service for our beloved Arlene Wassink. Arlene was 96 years old; she was preceded in death by her daughter and husband. She was a caring sister, a dear friend, a faithful member of Rose Park, and most importantly a child of God.

Dear Rose Park,

There’s only twenty-four hours in a day. Some of us wish there were a few more hours so we could get a few more items crossed off our continually growing to-do-list, but there’s only twenty-fours in a day. In short, this is what it means to be human; we are finite creatures with limited time so we have to make choices as to what we prioritize each given moment. Inevitably, sacrifices are required.