All Articles For Engelsma, Joshua

Previous article in this series: October 15, 2021, p. 38. In the previous article on the subject of communication, we began laying out some of the key principles that govern our speech. We started with the first and most important principle: We must speak the truth, not the lie. Although speaking the truth is the most fundamental principle of communication, it is not the only one. You and I would be foolish if we concluded, “As long as I speak the truth, it doesn’t matter what I say and how I say it! The ends justify the means, so that,...

Previous articles in this series: March 1, 2021, p. 255; May 15, 2021, p. 378. In an age of fake news and talk-show spin and selfserving slant, truth is a commodity in short supply. White lies, half-truths, and bold-as-brass deceits predominate. Even in the church, one hears slander and misrepresentations. In the midst of the darkness of such dishonesty, the God of truth calls godly young men and women to shine as beacons of truth. Truth-telling is not the only principle that governs our communication, but it is the first and fundamental one. In the past two articles on Christian...

Classis East  September 8, 2021 The beginning of the meeting Classis East convened at 8:00 a.m. at Grandville PRC. Rev. Joe Holstege presided as chairman. Two delegates represented each of the eighteen churches of Classis East. Eight elders were present as delegates at classis for the first time and signed the Formula of Subscription. Rev. M. McGeown, pastor of Providence PRC, also signed the Formula. Providence PRC reported that Rev. McGeown was installed on September 5, 2021 as their pastor and thanked Classis East for sixteen months of pulpit supply for their congregation. The questions of Article 41 of the...

Communication [keh-mew-neh-ka-shon], noun: a process of sharing information with another person in such a way that the sender’s message is understood in the way he intended it to be understood. In a previous article, we introduced the subject of communication. We looked at the nature of communication (using the definition above), and we considered what a precious gift communication is. The introduction continues with this article. Before turning in future articles to specific principles of good communication, I want in this article to continue to lay the groundwork by considering the importance of communication and the source of it.  ...

Meeting March 3-4, 2021 Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met for two full days on March 3-4, 2021, in Peace PRC (Dyer, IN). The meeting was chaired by Rev. Joshua Engelsma (pastor of Doon PRC), who was serving in this capacity for the first time in his ministry. Twenty-six delegates from thirteen churches were physically present. The delegates from Immanuel PRC (Lacombe, AB) and First PRC (Edmonton, AB) were not able physically to attend the meeting due to the restrictions of the Canadian government with respect to COVID-19. Classis granted the request of these delegates to be seated...

We are all communicators. Already as babies we begin to communicate what we want by pointing, crying, and stammering our first words. As we get older, our ability to communicate becomes more sophisticated, and we spend a large portion of our days talking, texting, and tweeting. While it’s true that we are all communicators, it’s equally true that we are not very good communicators. To give just a small sampling of our communication errors, we say things that aren’t true, we say true things at the wrong time and in the wrong way, and we gossip and backbite. How many...

Churchman—although not entirely unheard of, it’s not a word that we use very often. It refers to a man of the church, a man whose whole life revolves around the church, a man who dedicates himself to the service of the church. The church today needs churchmen. Her need is not simply for members who are male, but for male members who are truly men, that is, strong men of God. Especially is this need urgent in the evil days in which we presently live. The church throughout history has always needed strong men, but that need is all the...

Meeting September 23, 2020 Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met on September 23, 2020, in Edgerton PRC (Edgerton, MN). The meeting was capably chaired by Rev. Matt DeBoer (pastor of Edgerton PRC), who was serving in this capacity for the first time in his ministry. Noticeably absent from the meeting were elder delegates from Immanuel PRC (Lacombe, AB) and First PRC (Edmonton, AB). These consistories were not able to attend the meeting due to the restrictions of the Canadian government with respect to COVID-19. Routine reports from the stated clerk, the classical committee, and the reading sermon library...

In recent articles on what it means to be a godly man I’ve written about male sexuality (especially as it relates to single men) and how a godly man behaves in a dating relationship. This article addresses the next logical subject: the Christian man as husband. Ordinarily it is the will of God for believing men that they seek a wife and get married. Obviously, this is not the case for all men, some by choice and others because God never leads them to a spouse. The fact that they are not married does not make them less of a...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2020, p. 210. Not all godly men will be husbands, and not all godly men will be fathers. But, ordinarily, God’s will is that a man marry and have children. He must know, then, what it means to be a faithful husband and father. The previous article in this series on biblical manhood focused on what it means to be a godly man in marriage. This article addresses how a godly man is to conduct himself as a father. I realize that you young men who are reading this are not yet fathers,...