All Articles For Kennedy, Julian

The Pursuit of Glory, by Jeffrey D. Johnson. Reformation Heritage: Grand Rapids, MI, 2018. Paperback, 113 pp. $12.00. [Reviewed by Dr. Julian Kennedy.] This book is useful as an evangelistic tool and as a spur to believers. By read­ing it, I believe, we will find that God uses it to answer the prayer of David in Psalm 139:23–24 to search us and know us and lead us in the way everlasting. This book, like Scripture, is a sharp sword (Heb. 4:12) to expose our motives, why we do things, knowing God looks at our hearts. By covering all the basic...

Micah: Proclaiming the Incomparable God by Martyn McGeown (Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2018), hardcover, 227 pages (also in ebook format). [Reviewed by Julian Kennedy] This commentary on an otherwise fairly obscure Old Testament prophet is a gem. Micah’s name means “Who is like Jehovah?” hence Rev. McGeown’s title Proclaiming the Incomparable God. McGeown proceeds to show that Jehovah is indeed unique. He is, after all, the only true and living God, but He is a God who judges His people, denouncing false prophets and charging His people with thieving and butchering. Micah, His faithful servant, is not afraid...

Here We Stand: Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, edited by Ronald L. Cammenga, Jenison, MI: RFPA, 2018, 197 pages, paper. [Reviewed by Julian Kennedy, Covenant PRC, Ballymena.] Just another book on the Reformation, or so I thought! My initial wrong attitude was swiftly replaced by appreciation as I got into the book. What I particularly liked about it was that it majors on the main effects of this great work of God’s Spirit half a millennium ago. In fact, the chapters outline the vitally important changes that occurred in this period of the history of the church. First,...

Don Doezema’s writings have always benefitted me, and his writings in the Standard Bearer continue to do so. However, I have a query regarding his last article “Robbing Christ of His Honour” (20) in SB April 15, 2017. Speaking about Simeon in Luke 2, Don gives an emphatic “no” to the idea Simeon was anticipating the cross when he told Mary, “A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.” How come? Surely the mystery of the incarnation and death of the Son of God was known to him from the Old Testament Scriptures? He knew Isaiah 53 and Psalms...

…While I highly respect Rev. Richard Smit and wholeheartedly endorse what he says about “The Role of Reformed Literature on the Mission Field,” he wrote recently (SB, Nov. 15), ”the work of missions is not advanced by [among other things]…medical missions. All these things are the outwardly attractive ways of modern missions, and are simply erroneous.” I cannot agree for several reasons: 1) The Lord’s and His apostles’ ministry was not only preaching the word but also healing the sick, albeit to authenticate their credentials; but those good works complemented and facilitated the preaching and showed they cared for the...

I wanted to write briefly to support Prof. R. Dystra’s call for the PRCA to start prayerfully planning for the future deployment of her ministers. He is, of course, correct in saying that sending pairs of missionaries is biblical, that is clear from Paul’s work. Something else exemplified by Paul and which he writes about in Romans 15:20 is his ambition to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named. As someone interested in world missions for many years, I can tell you such places still exist, but to target them will take a huge effort in preparatory planning....

Greetings from Northern Ireland. It’s always good to receive the Standard Bearerfortnight by fortnight. It makes priority and blessed reading on Sunday afternoons! I very much appreciated Rev. Rodney Miersma’s article, in the March 15th issue, entitled “The Work of the Lord.” He quite rightly states that this Psalm is a prayer of Moses that in effect is saying “Thy Kingdom come.” It is a prayer that all we Reformed people need to echo because, to quote him, “All our churches…Sabbaths, and feasts mean nothing unless the Lord bless it….” As Reformed people in true churches we may wrongly assume God...

Custom and Command, by Stan Firth. London: self-published, 1996, 88pp., $3.05. Reviewed by Julian Kennedy, member of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. This review is about a booklet expressing a false ecclesiology—or view of the church. This little booklet has had its influence, and its thesis is accepted by many in the “house church movement” in the UK and farther afield. But it is spiritually anarchic. Firth’s thesis undermines the necessity of regular corporate worship and the preaching and offices in the church. Firth believes that there is need of a “new breed of Christians,” functioning...

As always, the Standard Bearer is a blessing. Just read the article on growing old, by Rev. Rodney Miersma, who, I see, is applying for emeritation, i.e., retiring from the ministry. Well, retirement is not so far away for me either—2012 or 2015, D.V. I found myself identifying with much of what he wrote, especially the inevitability of dying. I should just like to mention a few verses that are also very applicable as we approach the winter of our lives and ought to encourage us—Psalm 92:13-15: Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in...