All Articles For Editorial Committee The

Special Issue on Missions I want to thank you for the beautiful special issue of May 1 on missions. I enjoyed the whole very instructive issue, but was struck especially by the articles, “Missionaries Sent Out From Antioch” and “The Macedonian Call,” by the brothers Dykstra and Haak As I read I could not help but reflect on my own call and experiences as missionary to Latin America for 38 years. That certainly followed the pattern so clearly laid out and explained in those articles. This is only the second time in the more than thirty years that I have...

Is Grace in Things? I so want you to know how much the Standard Bearer has been a blessing to me. In this day and age it is hard to find publications that are scripturally correct. I have found two: the SB and the Banner of Truth. I have been blessed by Rev. G. Lubbers’ articles on I and II Timothy, and I’m hoping and praying that you will please send copies of the previous thirteen, because when I finish reading the SB, I pass it on. I do have a couple of questions I’m hoping you could answer. In...

Involved with the Alliance Gladly I react to your editorial, “Aloof from the Alliance” (Standard Bearer, June, 1993). It amazes me that the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) want to stay aloof from the Alliance of Reformed Churches (ARC). The PRC have so much to say to the Alliance. Permit me to put the following notes to your editorial. The orderly way of dealing with heresy and unholiness in a Reformed denomination has been tried. For the longest time the “Concerned Members” have maintained that Howard VanTill should be disciplined; up to the present no such procedure has been executed. For...

Reformed Synods and Independency May I request clarification on the editorial titled, “The Binding Decisions of a Reformed Synod” (Standard Bearer, June 1, 1991)? It is clear that many Christian folk regard the whole matter of how the church is organized as a matter of little consequence. For this reason it is good to see church power and church polity being taken seriously. As it happens, a friend lent me the March, April, and May 1991 issues of the Outlook, which contain articles called ” Synod-ocracy: Cause and Cure.” The writer’s complaint is that the synod of his church (the...

No Froth The Standard Bearer is an excellent publication, thoughtful in its presentation of the Reformed faith and utterly free of superficial “froth.” I look forward to receiving each issue. Renew my subscription. Donald Granger Garden Grove, CA Unsaved Professing Christians? Enclosed is a check so that I will continue to get The Standard Bearer. I enjoy the magazine. You are right on the mark. I became a Christian six years ago and God led me to a good Reformed church. . . . When I first became a Christian, I was afraid of being deceived. Therefore, I became an avid...

A Shift in Protestant Reformed Thinking I am writing about the editorial, “The Binding Decisions of a Reformed Synod” (the Standard Bearer, June 1, 1991). I have an article from an issue of the SB in 1946. It is about Reformed church polity. Are your editorial and this article in full agreement? Or has there been a shift in PR thinking on the matter? Arie van Zoest Gore, New Zealand Response: I suppose that the article referred to appeared in the September 15, 1946 issue of the SB under the title, “The Fundamental Principles of Reformed Church Polity” (Volume 22, pp. 514-517). There is...

Simpson Publishing Company… It was good to see The Plan of Salvation reviewed in the February 15 edition of the Standard Bearer. Thank you for the synopsis, notation of the questionable views, and warm commendation. I do agree with you with respect to the order of the decrees. My personal conviction is that both are true. I am a “supra/infralapsarian”! Both views emphasize certain aspects of scriptural truth. Do not both Adam and Christ pre-suppose one another? God’s decrees are inscrutable. 

Amoral Evolution in the Schools “Evolution is the root of atheism, of communism, nazism, behaviorism, racism . . . and all manner of anti-Christian systems of belief and practice.” So wrote Henry M. Morris, perhaps the world’s leading creationist, in a very McCarthy-like attack upon evolution. After reading Mr. Henry DeJong’s article “Abortion and Evolution” (The Standard Bearer, Feb. 1, 1990), I felt compelled to contrast the Social Darwinism referred to above and in Mr. DeJong’s article to that of evolution as taught in our schools. It is inconceivable that these should be confused in that evolutionary biology and the...

Perceptive Articles on Suicide Thank you for the excellent articles by Mr. Joel D. Sugg on suicide (The Standard Bearer, Jan. 15 and Feb. 1, 1990). These are timely and perceptive articles that truly deal with spiritual issues. May the author continue to exercise his writing ministry for God’s glory and the edification of the saints. Edward W. Ojarovsky New Rochelle, NY Fields and Winslow on the Doctrines of Grace Thank you very much for The Standard Bearer and the fine, firm, and facile affirmation of the Reformed faith contained therein. Your exposure of the sad doctrinal declension evident even in professedly...

What about “Free Will”? I am a member of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Iowa. Years ago, I made confession of faith and slowly on I changed my opinion in regard to the doctrine of the CRC. I have this question. Can you take the Bible and prove out of Scripture that man ever lost his free will or choice? If you can’t find it in Scripture where God says, “Man, you lost your free will,” then I think we were indoctrinated when young. Please answer this question because I have sent it to the Banner and never received...