Vol 43 Issue 19

Rev. C. Hanko, of Redlands, has received the call from our church in South Holland; Hull’s congregation has called Rev. G. Vanden Berg, of Oak Lawn; Randolph has called Candidate D. Kuiper from a trio which included Revs. C. Hanko and G. Vanden Berg; and, Forbes had named the following trio: Revs. R. C. Harbach and G. Vanden Berg and Candidate D. Kuiper, with the Candidate receiving the call. The Outing of the Protestant Reformed Young Peo­ple’s Convention will be held in Hull Park and Newton Hills. Candidate D. Kuiper will be the speaker.

If the world’s problems are to be faced responsibly, there must be cooperation economically, politically, educationally, and scientifically. This few will deny. But also ecclesiastically! Christians from everywhere need to meet and talk and learn from one another. To to anything less is to exceed the sin of Nero. He only fiddled while a city burned. Today the world’s on fire! Because it is, churches need to seek one another in a significant worldwide ecclesiastical community. For these are not ordinary days.

The second part of the Form for the Ordination of Elders and Deacons deals with the office of the deacon. This Form is rather brief, dealing with just two matters. First of all the origin and institution of the office is recorded, and this is followed by a brief description of the office itself. To these matters we will return presently, but let us first make some general observations.

We concluded our preceding article with a quotation from Irenaeus’ Writings against Heresies. Of Iren- aeus, Hagenbach writes as follows, Vol. I, 167:

ECUMENISM AND MERGERS The time of Synods and Church Assemblies is once again almost past. While a host of decisions on a variety of subjects were taken, ecumenism dominated the discussions of the broadest assemblies of the nation’s churches. A survey of what happened includes the following.

And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily. And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.

We have pointed out that the law of God from the beginning of history was the standard by which men were to live, and that before the law of Moses was revealed. Very early in history Job knew the law. But C.I. Scofield denies that “the law had then been known.” Says he: “It would have been impossible, in a discussion covering the whole field of sin, of the providential government of God, and of man’s relation to Him, to avoid all reference to the law if the law had then been known (SRB, p.

No! Not really.

As reported previously in the Standard Bearer, there were several significant matters to be decided by the Christian Reformed Synod, all of which were more or less directly related to the current tension between liberals and conservatives in the Christian Reformed Church, as some would put it.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: and see i) there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23, 24 Search me, O God! What a paradoxical petition. It just doesn’t seem to make sense to ask God to do something that will bring us to grief.