All Articles For Minderhoud, Joel

Previous article in this series: June 2025, p. 349.   Sowing a seed in the expectation of an eventual harvest is a fundamental principle of gardening that we considered in a previous article. But this is not the only principle pictured in gardening. God’s sovereign use of means—a core principle of earthly life (both physically and spiritually)—is pictured in gardening. For example, plants need various nutrients in order to grow and develop. These nutrients and how they are provided to the plant are means that God uses for plant development. Means are the things of this life that God uses...

Science teacher in Covenant Christian High School, and member of Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan   This is the time of year when many of us are busy in our gardens or tending to something we are trying to grow. Gardening is a very beneficial activity. Besides the value of being outside, being active in God’s creation, and enjoying the growth and development of the plants you are cultivating, a garden affords us, as Christians, the opportunity to be reminded of many spiritual truths. Whether in sowing, reaping, watering, fertilizing, weeding, pruning, or otherwise, we can be led to...

Science teacher in Covenant Christian High School, and member of Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan   The following is adapted from the speech the author gave at the RFPA’s annual meeting on September 26, 2024 at Southwest Protestant Reformed Church.   Dear friends and supporters of the RFPA, To us whom God has graciously given the gift of faith, comes the exhortation of the Word of God to read and to give attendance to doctrine; to grow in grace and knowledge of God; to get wisdom. God has given us means to grow in grace and in knowledge of...

Science teacher in Covenant Christian High School and member of Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips—Psalm 140:3. Snakes such as mambas, cobras, and rattlesnakes engender fear, not just because they are scaly, fork- tongued, belly-slithering, lurking creatures, but primarily because of the toxic venom with which they could suddenly poison us. This venom is feared for good reason—it can have serious biological effects, culminating in paralysis and even death if left untreated. Similarly the Bible teaches that our venomous tongues, particularly malicious slander and false accusations,...

Mr. Joel Minderhoud, science teacher in Covenant Christian High School and member of Hope PRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan Many readers of the Standard Bearer living in North America will have the opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse in a few weeks. On Monday, April 8, 2024, observers in specific locations across North America will witness this rare event (observable in locations across central Mexico around noon, and along a path from Texas to Maine and up to the Maritime provinces of Canada from 1:30 CDT to 4:30 ADT). Those outside this 115-mile-wide path in North America will experience...

In the USA, approximately 1.4 billion tons of manure are produced annually by the 9.8 billion heads of livestock and poultry.1 Dung beetles, tiny insects that recycle animal feces, remove about 30% of the agricultural dung. The 8,000 different species of dung beetles live in all continents (except Antarctica) and serve more than agricultural environments, being found in all sorts of habitats, from farm fields to prairie grasslands to deserts. Such a creature, with such a lowly task as eating and decomposing animal scat, likely escapes our notice. But this creature of God is highly worthy of our attention because...

Every spring and summer a vital activity occurs in farm fields, greenhouses, and gardens around the globe. Pollen, produced by flowering plants, will be transported from the stamen (male part of a flower) to the pistil (female part of a flower), fertilizing the plant for the production of seed for the future propagation of the plant. This seemingly insignificant, and perhaps bothersome (for allergy sufferers) process plays a vital role within the creation. One particular purpose of this pollination process is that it is the orderly manner in which God sovereignly governs creation so that future generations of plants will...

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. Psalm 125:2 It is good for God’s people to know and to be reminded that the Almighty, unchanging God is ever round about His people. Especially is this true when we reflect over the year that is passing. Most readers of the Standard Bearer are well aware of recent distress in the churches—of deep wounds congregations and families endure, inflicted by the schismatic departure of some. Adding to this distress is the growing number of vacant pulpits in the churches....

Mr. Joel Minderhoud, science teacher in Covenant Christian High School and member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan As the summer season is upon us in North America, many of us will likely take the opportunity to visit a beach. As you relax on the beach, basking under the warm summer sun and watching the waves lap upon the shore, take a moment to pick up a handful of sand and ponder this unique aspect of God’s creation. What passages of Scripture come to mind? What spiritual truths does God reveal in His Word through this particular product...

Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Isaiah 62:3 In the face of conflict and strife, when many feel as if they are “forsaken” or “desolate,” we are comforted by God’s precious word that we are not “forsaken” but we are “Hephzibah”—the Lord delighteth in thee (Is. 62:4). In the lowest of lows, God mercifully teaches us that we are very precious in His sight—we are “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of...