All Articles For Gritters, Barry

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Heartache   In my pastorate, the most heart-breaking experience I have is to witness parents lose children to rebellion. I have seen parents lose children in death. Oh, how we hurt, then. But little compares to the grief of parents whose children reject them and the Lord. They probably leave the house at age 18, anxious to get away from the parents who gave them life. Perhaps they marry an unbeliever. They spurn the warnings of the elders and leave the church, violating God’s covenant, despising their baptism....

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. recently I received a telephone call and a letter taking issue with the contents of one of my articles under the title “Shall We Dance, Rock, and Play: Or, How Shall We Judge Contemporary Worship?” I am thankful that the Standard Bearer is read and that the articles provoke discussion and comment. And I am thankful to both who responded for their stimulating comments. The telephone call was from one of the pastors of Mars Hill Church, who indicated that my representation of his church was not accurate....

On Monday, June 19 (yesterday, as I write), the 2006 Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America, meeting in Faith PRC, Jenison, MI, adjourned. Under the capable leadership of the president, Rev. Ronald VanOverloop (Byron Center, MI), synod concluded its important work in five days. The vice-president was Rev. S. Key (Hull, Iowa); first clerk, Rev. D. Kleyn (Holland, MI); second clerk, Rev. R. Smit (Lacombe, BC). Many rejoicings Highlight of the week was the two seminary graduates’ sustaining of a rigorous, public examination. Mr. Andrew Lanning and Mr. Clayton Spronk are now Candidate Lanning andCandidate Spronk, eligible for call on July...

By now, all the delegates of the upcoming Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches have received and begun to study the agenda for the meetings. Each officebearer of every consistory has also received a copy of this year’s relatively slim agenda. Because the agenda is not private, also the membership of the PRC and any interested observers may know what issues the churches will be deliberating at this gathering. Synod is the PRC’s broadest (denomination-wide) assembly. Classis meetings are not as broad; they are regional assemblies, with two delegates from each consistory in the classis. For synod, each classis delegates ten men...

Previous article in this series: May 1, 2006, p. 340. In the two previous editorials I urged that the mission work of the Protestant Reformed Churches is worthy of heartiest support. First, it is worthy of support because of what it is—the diligent labor of churches and men eager to be faithful to the calling of Jesus Christ. Men of God and their families give their lives for the highest cause. In the hope that God’s people will be called and God’s name lifted up they go out. Second, it is worthy of support because of what it is not—an attempt to...

Previous article in this series: April 15, 2006, p. 316. The mission labors of the Protestant Reformed Churches are worthy of heartiest support and earnest prayers. I showed this last time by emphasizing that missions stand at the heart of the church’s work. Thus, Jesus Christ is displeased with the church that is not busy in preaching the gospel outside of her own boundaries. But I pointed out that the support given to missions must be intelligent support—that is, support should not be blind funding of and prayers for missions. Without ignoring the possibility that improvements could be made in...

The mission labors of the Protestant Reformed Churches are worthy of heartiest support and earnest prayers. Mission work stands at the heart of the church’s labors. Doing missions is obedience to Jesus Christ’s last words to His church. It is nothing less than obedience to divine commission. About this, the apostle Paul once said to king Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the divine vision.” The PRC must not fail to carry out this mandate. That missions consumes from one quarter to one third of the entire budget of synod—recently that was a half million dollars for the year—is no...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. In contrast to the new forms of worship, what is proper worship? Reformed, biblical worship is covenantal. We ought to be as precise as possible with our terminology. Our worship is certainly not contemporary. But neither is it simply traditional. Traditional can mean a lot of things. Even Reformed does not mean much today, although our worship is “Reformed” if it’s anything. But I prefer not to describe it now as Reformed, or even biblical, although it is both. Our worship—proper, God-glorifying worship—is also covenantal. By that, I...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Because the Protestant Reformed Churches want earnestly to be obedient to Jesus Christ in their public worship, they look both ways more than once before they cross into a new neighborhood of worship practices. They feel very safe (that is, humbly obedient to Jesus Christ) in their old neighborhood. The explanation is not a stuffy traditionalism. They desire to be obedient to Scripture. These churches agree with Carlos Eirie in his contention that “the rebellion of man in regard to worship displeases God tremendously, not only because of...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The church of Jesus Christ is encouraged these days to adopt some new kinds of worship styles. More often than not, these services include some sort of dancing, rock music, and drama. Thus, the question: “Shall we dance, rock, and play?” One kind of worship, described last time, is the “seeker-service,” designed to attract those who know nothing about church, who are uncomfortable in a church building. This service is casual, relaxed, and unceremonious. The Liturgical Service The second type of innovation in modern worship is the “liturgical...