Vol 52 Issue 15

Rev. Dale Kuiper and family, according to the decision of the Mission Committee ,and the Hudsonville consistory, returned from Maine the, week of March 28 and will live in Hudsonville for the time being. It was decided to close the field of labor there since there appeared to be no interest other than that of the original two families and two individuals. Rev. Kuiper will probably be investigating various other areas of labor in the next months. Faith Church’s bulletin reported that Rev. Kuiper would supply the pulpit of Edmonton until Rev. Moore is installed there. 

Classis East of our churches met in regular session on Wednesday, April 7, 1976. Rev. C. Hanko led the Classis in opening devotions, and after declaring Classis properly constituted handed the gavel to Rev. A. Den Hartog, who chaired this session.  The business before Classis was routine and uneventful. But this did not in any way adversely affect the good fellowship which each classis affords. As always, this classis was a good opportunity for fellowship and communion between the officebearers of Classis East who attended from far and near. 

CRIMINALS ARE MADE—NOT BORN  In GN, THE GOOD NEWS of March, 1976, appears a lengthy article under the title: Why The Land Is Full Of Bloody Crimes. We quote only a small part of that article, page 5:

(Editor’s Note: This report represents the personal viewpoint of the writer, and not necessarily that of the Rev. G. Lubbers or that of the Mission Committee. HCH) Having been privileged to serve the Mission Committee as one of the “emissaries of ’76” to Jamaica, I would like to share with you my personal impressions of the country, “our” churches and the ministers we are supporting. 

Revision. A word and concept very popular with some, and just as unpopular with others. In the political sense the term is favored by the leaders of Communist China, who regularly deliver dialectical broadsides against the Russian Communists, accusing them of “revisionism.” In religious circles the term is often used to describe, either favorably or pejoratively (depending on the point of view), the amending of the doctrines, practices, and creeds of the church.

THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THE SOULS OF THE SAINTS (Hebrews 13:17) It is true that in this text there is no direct statement concerning the spiritual health of the saints; the text does not mention healthy souls. Still there is an implied reference here to such health, which is more than a mere suggestion.

“We believe that all the posterity of Adam being thus fallen into perdition and ruin, by the sin of our first parents, God did then manifest himself such as he is; that is to say, merciful and just: Merciful, since he delivers and preserves from this perdition all, whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel of mere goodness, hath elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without any respect to their works: Just, in leaving others in the fall and perdition wherein they have involved themselves.”  Article XVI, The Belgic Confession

On March 19, 1976, the members of the South Holland congregation had a ceremony of dedication for their new organ. In addition to the playing of many numbers on the organ, the choral society of the church sang, the choir of the Protestant Reformed Christian School sang, and I gave a brief address. At the request of some, including the program committee of the council, I publish this speech in the Standard Bearer. The chapter read was II Chronicles 5.

1. The Church Defended. In our last installment we saw that within the church organism of Isaiah’s day there was “a generation pure in their own eyes” and so “not washed from their filthiness” (Prov. 30:12).

About a year ago I answered some questions about this subject. In that answer I maintained—and my questioners agree with me on this point—that God’s covenant is unbreakable, that is, eternal and faithful. In the course of my answer I also made the following statement: “Finally, I think it should be pointed out that we sometimes speak rather loosely and inaccurately in connection with the sins of those who are brought up in and live in the sphere of God’s covenant in the midst of the world of those sins as being a breaking of the covenant. . .