Vol 41 Issue 02

Rev. J. Kortering, of Hull, Iowa, declined the call to be minister of First Church in Grand Rapids.  Rev. M. Schipper, of Southeast Church, declined the call to be Missionary of our churches.  Classis West held its fall meeting at South Holland, Illinois on Sept. 16, 1964. The sessions, beginning at 9 A.M., concluded approximately at 10 P.M. The gathering was directed in its discussions by Rev. B. Woudenberg who capably served as chairman for the day. 

Balance on hand, August 31, 1963—$961.14  Receipts  Subscriptions—$3,796.00  Membership—$137.00  Gifts—$4,944.08  Advertising—$154.00  Bound Volumes—$316.00  Receipts for year—$9,347.08  Total Receipts—$10,308.22

Dear Brethren:  It is with pleasure that the Board comes before the membership this evening to report on its activities during this, the 40th year of the Standard Bearer. Again we can state that our labors at the meetings and by the committees were marked by close harmony. We believe the Lord has indeed blessed us in this work of publishing the Standard Bearer as a witness of His glorious truth. 

God’s Providence as Preservation  God’s preservation is that aspect of His providence according to which God by His omnipresent power upholds all things, so that they continue to exist. This, so we maintained in our previous article, means that the immanent-transcendent God upholds all things. We saw that the truths of God’s immanence and His transcendence lie at the basis of the truth that God upholds all things by the Word of His power.  We are now ready to discuss that upholding power as such. 

The proper evangelical approach in missions must certainly be based upon the Scriptures. God Himself must lead the way if we are ever to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth as His ambassadors and in a manner that is pleasing to Him. In fact, we must be sure that God is preaching His Word, carrying out His purpose unto the gathering of His Church and the coming of His kingdom through us. “He who is not for me is against me,” is the Word of Christ that applies also in this case.

Much has been written about the formulation, meaning, and interpretation of the three questions that are asked and answered in connection with the baptism of children in Reformed churches. Throughout the years they have been storm-centers of debate. Even today there is no unanimity of opinion concerning the precise meaning of some of the phrases. 

Infallible in Every Part 

We now continue with our quotation from the Gallican Confession in connection with the truth of the canon of the sacred Scriptures. We will finish Article V of this Confession. 

The title, “Atheism, the Enemy of Civilization,” is at the head of a treatise, something of an insult, but it nevertheless states a fact. It is a slight insult in that the most deep-seated enmity of atheism is rather directed against the true God, as even the term itself implies. It is, as a matter of fact, the enemy of civilization only as the inevitable result of being the inveterate enemy of God. God’s opponents, inimical to man’s Creator, are the foe of man-and the image of God in man.

It is with considerable trepidation that I accepted the appointment to write, D.V., fourteen articles during the next year on the subject of ecumenicalism—and now take up my pen to begin. The fear (or knocking together of the knees) is not uncommon to those who appear before the public for the first time; something of that I feel,—knowing that regularly throughout the next year these articles will be printed for public consumption. There is also the fact that, ready or not, the articles must be submitted with faithful regularity to the editor.