All Articles For Lanning, Andy

Thank you for publishing my letter and revised letter in the March 1 and March 15, 2019 issues of the Standard Bearer, even though the letter exceeded the length allowed by SB policy. (As for your apology for publishing the wrong letter originally, apology accepted—no harm done and no hard feelings.) Thank you as well for your thorough response to my letter in two installments in those same issues. We are agreed that these matters are of greatest importance and are worthy of the space devoted to them in the pages of the SB. I ask for your indulgence in...

Dear Editors, I write regarding the editorial in the October 1, 2018 SB entitled “What must I do…?” The main doctrine that the editorial intends to teach is that obedience is necessary and possible for the child of God. With this doctrine, I am in full agreement. However, I take issue with the editorial for going beyond the truth that obedience is necessary for the child of God, and teaching instead that obedience is necessary for the child of God unto salvation. By doing so, the editorial teaches salvation by man’s obedient working, rather than salvation entirely apart from man’s...

God wills the family. By creation, commandment, and covenant, God declares that His will for humans is family life. Creation: The first human institution God created was the family, making Eve from the rib of Adam and bringing the woman to the man in the first wedding and marriage. Commandment: God’s law addresses spouses, that they commit no adultery. God’s law addresses children, that they honor father and mother. God’s law addresses generations, that God will show His mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep His commandments. Covenant: God’s covenant promise, oft repeated, is that He will...

I read with interest Rev. Jonathan Mahtani’s article in the May 15, 2017 Standard Bearer entitled, “Antinomianism: A Heresy Within.” I especially appreciated Rev. Mahtani’s urgent and pastoral warning against the “practical antinomianism” of using the fact of our freedom in Christ as an excuse to commit sin. The call to holiness as the proper response for gracious salvation was edifying for me personally, and I pray that it was for others as well. May Rev. Mahtani’s love for the church’s holiness be in every pastor’s heart as we minister to Christ’s bride. However, I was uncomfortable with the true/false...

On a street named after Mahatma Gandhi, it is hot. The deteriorating asphalt radiates the heat of the sun, which shines down on a scene with a thousand moving parts. The traffic is a wonder, and menacing to an outsider: huge steel public buses, hulking Ambassador cabs, cars, cars, cars, and cars, but even more motorcycles, including an army of green and yellow motorcycle taxis; all racing, weaving, dodging, detouring their winding way around and past each other on this hot, narrow road. Walking down the middle of the street, implacable and unperturbed, is a massive bull, sacred to the...

Rev. Koenraad van den Bosch was not pleased. The church scene in America that greeted this immigrant from the Netherlands was intolerable, and he intended to do something about it. The result of his actions was the formation of a new denomination of churches. The year was 1857. The setting was western Michigan. The new denomination was the Christian Reformed Church. In order to see how this story unfolded, we must back up a few years to 1847 and take up our position at the mouth of the Black River in what would become Holland, Michigan. It was here that...

As part of the instruction in the Protestant Reformed Seminary, fourth-year students are sent to one of the Protestant Reformed churches for a six-month internship. The minister of the church serves as the student’s mentor, overseeing his work and giving him guidance in the different aspects of the ministry. The goal of this internship is to give the seminary student firsthand experience in all aspects of the work of a minister of the Word. Under the oversight of his mentor the student makes and delivers sermons, teaches some catechism classes, goes on pastoral visits, leads some Bible studies, attends consistory...

Rev. Lanning is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. Previous article in this series: August 2008, p. 443.

Rev. Lanning is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. Previous article in this series: November 15, 2008, p. 92. One Sunday morning in 1925, two ministers had a race to the pulpit to see who would lead the worship service. Rev. Henry Danhof won. He was not about to lose—not after what he had just been through. He had been branded an Anabaptist. He had been reprimanded by synod. He had been badgered by classis. Repeatedly, he had tried to resign from the office of minister of the gospel. Repeatedly, his consistory had refused his resignation. He...

Rev. Lanning is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. The following is one of many letters (e-mails) that Rev. Lanning wrote to his family and friends while in the Philippines recently on behalf of the Foreign Mission Committee of the PRC. With his permission we share it with our readers here. Meeting Family Saturday, May 9, 2009 The events of today are sure to be among the highlights of our trip. But they are also the most difficult, so far, to recount. In thinking back on the day, there is such a confused mingling of joy and...