Announcement
Posted by: henkf <henkf@...>
Newspaper notice: Frijters, Rev. Henricus J. C. (Henk) Survived by his loving devoted wife of 37 years Maaike Frijters, his 5 children and their families Jan & Sacha Frijters, Sara & Greg & Jacob & Cameron Sacrey, Delia & Sinyoung & Jeena Kang, Andra & Emen & Emily & Juliana & Abigail & Jaron Frijters - Curtis, Joel & Jamie & Jonas Frijters. Passed away Monday August 7th, 2006 surrounded by his family at Belleville General Hospital after a lengthy battle with heart disease. He will be remembered for his strong faith, beautiful Ministry of the Gospel and loving devotion to his family. Special thanks to Dr. Levesque and Nurse Pat. A private family grave side service was held at Elmwood Cemetery in Corbyville on Tuesday August 8, 2006. A memorial service will be held on Friday August 11, 2006 at Calvary Temple in Belleville at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to World Vision Canada (1-866-595-5550).
Committal Service for Henk Frijters
Corbyville Cemetery on Aug 7, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Led by Gordon Tobey, Minister of God and family friend
Invocation: 2 Corinthians 1.2-7
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.
Opening Sentences
Dear family and friends, we are here today to lay to rest Henk Frijters: a dear husband, father, grandfather (opa) and brother in Christ Jesus. His earthly journey has ended but his heavenly life has just begun. This is a very difficult time for all of us because he who was with us in very real presence is now departed so that we cannot interact with him as we formerly did every day.
But the great sadness we all feel must be tempered by the true reality that Henk is now walking, running, rejoicing and praising in the very near presence of God the Father and Jesus the Son. The terrible pain and disability are forever gone. We can rejoice in this. We can look forward to that day when we will see him and be with him again.
Hymn: How Great Thou Art
O Lord my God! when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
The Lords prayer
Our Father which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
In Earth, As it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
For ever and ever
Amen
Henks prayer
Found written in his bible and dated 1977, the year of his miraculous
healing and personal conversion to Jesus Christ
Death used to be a place,
Now it is a door.
I see heaven as a place for worship
not a school in which God will answer questions
Invitation for comments from the Family
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15.42-44, 50-57.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hymn: Till the storm passes over
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more.
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky:
Hold me fast,let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand.
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4.7-12.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
Message: Treasure in Jars of Clay
Our Lord Jesus told a parable in which he said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man found it he went away and sold everything he had and then bought that field.
Paul writes to the Corinthian Church that we have this treasure in jars of clay. The wonder of the divine dispensation is that while an earthly treasure is usually preserved in a container of fitting dignity and beauty, the treasure of the gospel has been entrusted to humans subject to the infirmities of their finite condition. It is as though a most costly jewel were encased in an earthenware jar. Paul sees in this a supreme manifestation of the divine law that Gods strength is made perfect in human weakness. This striking paradox makes it clear that the gospel is no product of human ingenuity, no clever discovery of the human intellect, but a revelation of the sovereign power of God. Ministers of this gospel - while chosen vessels - they are nevertheless earthen vessels in which anothers jewel is kept, lamps of clay in which anothers light shines.
No one that I know could appreciate this paradox better than Henk Frijters. Called to be a minister of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ - yet he was removed from the sacred desk from which he should proclaim it - and then subsequently he was pummelled with infirmity - that it must have seemed to him that his situation was so in contrast to the magnificence of the treasure
that he had within himself - that surely he must abandon the calling to show it forth to the world.
But no! Though hard pressed on every side, perplexed, abandoned, struck down (to use the descriptive words of this passage) - the most obvious evidence of his calling to show forth this treasure was that he sought out and found a new way to do so through his e-mail sermons. I understand that he had about a thousand people in his congregation (his diaspora), of which I was one beneficiary, to which he sent his regular messages. Not only is this evidence of his calling in that he could not to be silenced, but in fact his ministry greatly increased even while his body wasted away. Henk had a gift for clearly displaying this treasure in a way suited to the new internet medium. He made the message clear and understandable so that though death was at work in him- yet - the Life of Jesus was shining forth and creating new life in the hearts and minds of his recipients. And Henk kept at it right to the very end. In fact the last message that I received was sent out Friday - two days before his death.
Let me divert to share a little gem from that last sermon. Henks sermon is entitled Living in the Cellar of Fear. He quotes from Tarbells Teachers Guide a story about how John Ruskin had a conversation with an aged clergyman who once told him I was in doubt about the foundation of my house, so I took a candle and went down into the cellar and ascertained that all was perfectly safe. Since then I have lived in the pleasant upper parts of the house. I dont live in the cellar. Well Henk couldnt have checked out the cellar in the cellar-less house I built for he and Maaike, but he goes on to explain how many people dwell in the dank, dark cellars of fear when they could be dwelling in the pleasant upper parts of the house. He reminds us that while fear has a useful component to protect us from danger - yet the message of the gospel is that perfect love casts out fear. I think you would agree with me that while Henk lived daily with the prospect of death - he certainly did not live in the cellar of fear. As with Paul he personally experienced though outwardly we are wasting away (vss. 16,17) yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Now Henk is gone, but his legacy lives on. We have all been enriched and blessed to have been part of his life and most especially that life he proclaimed - that treasure he had within him - the life of Jesus Christ. Now Henk has gone to heaven and to Jesus to partake of that glorious inheritance where there is no pain or sorrow or physical limitation but joy and peace and happiness for evermore.
Hymn: Jehovah Jireth
Jehovah Jireh, my Provider,
His grace is sufficient for me.
Jehovah Jireh, my Provider,
His grace is sufficient for me.
My God shall supply all my needs
According to His riches in glory.
He gives His angels charge over me;
Jehovah Jireh cares for me;
Jehovah Jireh cares for me.
Committal
We therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.
Henks son Jan marked the coffin with the sign of the cross in earth and each family member placed a single rose on the coffin.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
Make his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you his peace.
"Opa's Rule of Thumb:
---Never use your thumb for a rule --You'll either hit it with a hammer or get a splinter in it."
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Dear God cartoons..... http://www.worldoutreach.ca/DearGod
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