All Articles For Bruinsma, Wilbur G

Rev. Bruinsma is Eastern Home Missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In our last article (vol. 84, number 18, p. 424) we examined parachurch missions in light of God’s Word. Most of the article was spent defining what parachurch organizations are. They are organizations that take on work related to the church but refuse to be under the authority of any particular church institute. Most often they involve members of church institutes, but they maintain their own autonomy. They are para (alongside of) church organizations. We also found in the last article that many organizations that...

Today’s society is one in which the specialist plays an important role. In almost every sphere of labor one must have received a great amount of special training in order to be known as a professional in his field. As a result, much of the simple way of life as we once knew it has vanished. For example, instead of the one-room school house of long ago wherein could be found only one teacher who instructed all the grades, many schools today embrace a large faculty of teachers, each specializing in his own field. The same has become true in...

Rev. Bruinsma is Eastern Home Missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Satan wages war against the church of Jesus Christ. He does so by setting up his earthly kingdom of man in an attempt to displace the heavenly kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. The citizens of God’s kingdom are called by Jesus Christ to do battle against the kingdom of unbelieving man. This battle is to be fought not by means of a physical, earthly warfare, but by means of the gospel. The church and her members must go forth wielding the sword of the...

A wise man once said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” That wise man was Solomon; and the words which he spoke were not merely words of wisdom but the Word of God (Ecclesiastes 1:9). It is true therefore; there is no new thing under the sun. What we see happening today in the world and church has happened many times over.

During the life of Noah the spiritual wall between God’s people and the wicked world had broken down. There formed an unholy alliance between the daughters of men and the sons of God. Little difference could be found between the children of the covenant line and those of the wicked world. The sons of God were attracted to the wicked ways of the world. The culture, the entertainment, the industry, and the trends of the wicked world appealed to them, and they were drawn to the world as iron is drawn to a magnet.

Previous article in this series: January 15, 2010, p. 182. For our topic of the place of laity in missions we are going to study whether it is proper for families of existing churches to move to a place where a mission group has been established. This topic may take several articles because this is a serious matter. Long has been the plea of smaller congregations outside the locales where a nucleus of our churches exist for families to move to their congregations and help them grow internally. A godly, well-grounded husband and wife who know what they believe and...

The Reformed faith always requires a believer to walk a narrow path between two extremes. He must eschew liberalism that seeks to draw away the church into worldly-mindedness. But he must also detest the reaction to liberalism that results in legalism, an attempt to regulate the life of the child of God by robbing him of his freedom in Christ. The Reformed church must flee from the loathsome disease of Arminianism when calling sinners to repentance and faith, but it must likewise run from the opposite extreme of hyper-Calvinism, which denies God’s serious call to all to turn from sin...

. For centuries the Church of Christ has heeded the admonition of the apostle Peter in I Peter 4:7: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” No doubt many an Old Year’s sermon has been preached on this passage. We today also hear its warning and prepare ourselves for the return of our Lord. We consider the events which take place in the world about us and quickly arrange them in their proper perspective.

. It has been over two years ago since the time of the mass murder/suicide claimed the lives of 913 people. In 1978 the world was stunned when the cult leader, Jim Jones, of the People’s Temple persuaded his faithful followers to drink the poisoned grape Kool-Aid which caused their deaths. Over 250 children were found among the corpses of their parents and relatives. Men, women, and children were led to their doom because they worshipped and trusted in this man-devil, their cult leader. 

Jehovah, the faithful covenant God, has entrusted into the care and keeping of His church the sacraments. They, along with the preaching, are ordained by God as official means to be used in the church in order to strengthen and nourish her members in the grace of God. The church is called upon, therefore, to guard and use the sacraments in such a way. This calling she dispenses with great joy, for these sacraments are to her very precious and of utmost significance.