March 17, 2020 at Hudsonville PRC At the request of the Consistories of Faith, Grace, and Hope, the Classical Committee of Classis East called for the convening of a meeting today to consider the request of Rev. David Overway to be released from the ministry according to Article 12 of the Church Order. Rev. Bruinsma led in opening devotions and declared classis properly constituted. Rev. N. Decker, by rota­tion, presided as chairman of the meeting. Because Michigan’s governor signed an executive order banning assemblies of more that 50 people effective at 9:00 a.m. on March 17 until 5:00 p.m. on...

Some details Christianity Today (CT) reported that the “12.5-million-member UMC has been in a standoff over LGBT issues for decades, culminating in a vote in favor of its traditional position against same-sex marriage and gay clergy during a special session last year. As a result, some left the UMC, some continued to defy the UMC positions outright, and some challenged the legality of the vote in the denomination’s court—ultimately putting the question of how to move forward before the delegation once again in 2020.” There is a biblical way to deal with those who hold positions that are contrary to...

John MacArthur’s non-endorsement of women “pastors” Paula White, a spiritual advisor for President Trump, has written a book titled Something Greater. Beth Moore is a popular Bible teacher in evangelical circles. John MacArthur was recently asked for his thoughts about these two women “pastors” and their work in light of their popularity in evangelical circles. His response accurately identifies the threat of feminism for the church and unflinchingly condemns the women who act like pastors along with those who receive them as if they are legitimate pastors. Leonardo Blair reports for The Christian Post: Lamenting what he sees as a...

The messenger matters Readers of the Standard Bearer may remember Joshua Harris and his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye (published in 1997), as it was the occasion for some discussion in the pages of this magazine a number of years ago. Harris’s book became very popular as “a manual for young evangelicals looking for love.”1 There were also many Christians who were critical of Harris’s proposal to replace dating with his prescribed method of courtship. Sometime last year I discovered that Harris himself has come to disagree with “the central idea” of his book that “dating should be avoided.”2 So...

On his program, “The Briefing” (March 15, 2019) Albert Mohler describes the pressure that is building for the legalization of marijuana in the United States. The bottom line is that there is money to be made. Much of Mohler’s program is devoted to an article in Fortune magazine entitled “Pot Goes Legit: How to Bet on America’s Next Growth Industry.” Marijuana has already been legalized in Canada and is reported to be “big business.” American companies are already making billions by investing in Canada, but they desire an opportunity to expand their business into the United States. With big business...

Pastor Todd Wilson and his church are trying to do the impossible—in two respects. First, though it is impossible to harmonize the creation account in Genesis with the basic beliefs of Darwinian evolutionism, this has not stopped Wilson from trying. Wilson recognizes evolutionism’s most glaring problem is that it is anti-­God (anti-theism). But he hangs on to the idea that one can believe in God (theism) and hold to other parts of evolutionism. For example, he believes it is possible to reconcile Genesis with the idea that men evolved from monkeys. Second, though it is impossible to unite those who...

Humans and chimps On a Thursday afternoon at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan something rather unexpected happened while observing the chimpanzees. It is not unexpected to find the promotion of evolutionary ideas that contradict Scripture at a zoo. Christians are used to being confronted with the reality that in public places they will find the assumption that the world is billions of years old and that human beings evolved from animals. So, to read plaques at a zoo that make such claims is unsurprising. But on this Thursday afternoon, while observing the chimpanzees, my family encountered a...

In an article entitled “How divorce went from a devastating life event to a cause for celebration,” Sabrina Maddeaux demonstrates the way that the divorce culture (especially in the United States and Canada) is “progressing.”1 She briefly traces the history of divorce, and shows how society’s thinking about and response to divorce is shifting so that the consequences of divorce are mitigated. Her historical analysis is fascinating and most likely accurate. The conclusion she makes on the basis of her historical analysis is chilling and demonstrates the foolish madness of a sinful society that is determined to embrace divorce. In...

Homosexual Parenting Deemed “Unhealthy” by the American College of Pediatricians1 In July of 2017 the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) posted an update of a 2004 article that asks if it is time to accept parenting by homosexual couples as a legitimate alternative to parenting done by a father and a mother. This question is faced because “Within the last decade…professional health organizations, academics, social policymakers and the media have begun asserting that prohibitions on parenting by same-sex couples should be lifted.” The ACP criticizes this movement to approve homosexual parenting because it is not based on “supporting evidence that...

`Doug Wilson’s Attempt to Disavow the Federal Vision For years Doug Wilson has identified himself with the heretical movement known as the Federal Vision. He participated in the Auburn Avenue Conference of 2002 that ignited the Federal Vision controversy. In 2007 he affixed his signature to “A Joint Federal Vision Profession” with the other leaders of the movement. He is the presiding minister of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), the denomination that has become the haven for the Federal Vision proponents. But now Wilson says, “I have decided, after mulling over it for some years now, to discontinue...