All Articles For Gritters, Barry

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. “Should I do it? Or should I not?” For a good portion of the Christian life, the Bible does not give direct answer to us whether we should or should not. These things, about which the Bible does not give direct instruction, are called adiaphora. Adiaphora means, literally, “the things indifferent.” The concept is important – as important as your salvation. The word ought to be known by us. Thus, I included it in the title of the article. Please learn it: adiaphora. The things indifferent. In...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. Review In response to the questions of the disciples about His second coming, Jesus taught that there will be a great apostasy against which the church must fight; the Antichrist will arise as the pinnacle of this false teaching; and the saints will be persecuted in a way no one has ever seen before. Before this persecution comes, the church is called to be active in preaching the gospel to all nations (Matt. 24:14), for when the persecution comes, the gospel will be silenced: “the two witnesses”...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. Entertainment. Leisure. Amusement. Recreation. Sports. Spare time. Fun. Is there any more proof needed that our day is mad for pleasure? As Matthew 24 indicates, “iniquity shall abound, (and) the love of many shall wax cold.” Paul spoke of this to pastor Timothy in II Timothy 3 when he said, “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous…heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God….” Young people must be reminded that this is taking place as a sign of Christ’s coming. Paul made that clear as well,...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. One sign of the end that ought to jump right out of the news into our faces is the sign of lawlessness. When Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24that iniquity would abound, He said, “lawlessnesswould abound.” Paul emphasizes the lawlessness of the last days when he says that the Antichrist is called the “man of sin,” literally, the “man of lawlessness” (II Thess. 2:3), and adds that the Antichrist will be produced by the “mystery of iniquity”—again, of “lawlessness” (vs. 7). The very thing we see today in our...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. I heard recently about a small group of Vietnamese families who were hiding out in the jungles of South Vietnam, thinking the war against the Viet Cong was still on. United States soldiers had promised almost 20 years ago to return to help these men fight against the Viet Cong. They were still waiting. A few retired U.S. soldiers accompanied a team from the United Nations and the Red Cross to retrieve these families and bring them to the U.S. When the Vietnamese were fold to lay...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. We have tried to answer the question, so far, that the disciples asked the Lord in the beginning ofMatthew 24: “When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In other words, when will the end come? The Lord answered their question in a way that startles: “Take heed that no man deceive you . . . ,” He says, and then He went on to list a host of signs that would precede His...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. We have been answering the question that the disciples asked in their lifetime, the same question that arises in our souls especially aw we see more turmoil in the world, “Lord, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” We areinterested in these questions. The signs that Jesus showed His disciples do not point out the day and the hour of Jesus’ coming, but they do help us understand the times and the seasons so that, as...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. “I will set no evil thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” Psalm 101:3 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”  Ephesians 5:11 Dateline: Central Command, Hell, 1940s  Subject: Covert Mass Destruction of Enemy In the reddish glow of the command center, surrounded by his dark angels, Satan turns over in his mind his hatred for the Woman and Her Seed. Premeditating his destruction of the Seed, he...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. Lead, Toxicity,  Lead and lead compounds can be highly toxic when eaten or inhaled. Although lead is absorbed very slowly into the body, its rate of excretion is even slower. Thus, with constant exposure, lead accumulates gradually into the body. Lead can cause lesions in the central nervous system and apparently can damage the cells making up the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from many harmful chemicals (see BRAIN). Symptoms of lead poisoning include loss of appetite, weakness, anemia, vomiting, and convulsions, sometimes leading to permanent...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”  Matthew 7:16, 17 In Greek mythology, Augeas, King of Elis, owned a gigantic herd of 3,000 oxen. But for 30 years no one had cleaned out the stalls of these oxen. A mammoth, almost impossible task faced any who would put forth the effort. Then Hercules, Greek hero, had to redeem himself for...