Vol 53 Issue 21

The installation of Rev. Wayne Bekkering as the first pastor of our newest congregation, the Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Houston, Texas, took place on Thursday evening, August 18. Rev. George Lubbers of Pella, Iowa, conducted the service. This must have been a special occasion for Rev. Lubbers, as he had spent a number of years working in Houston as home missionary. 

REASON WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF RELIGION, by Nicholas Wolterstorff; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976; pp., $2.45 (paper). 

In two previous articles (April 1 and May 1 issues of the Standard Bearer), we examined the Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism with the Holy Spirit and began to examine the related Pentecostal doctrine of the extraordinary gifts, the “charismata.” It was readily acknowledged that Scripture teaches that there were extraordinary gifts—the miraculous—in the time of the apostles, including the gift of speaking in tongues. We will now consider Pentecostalism’s appeal to Scripture in support of its teaching and practice of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit.

The Signs of the Times which occupy our attention in this rubric are the signs which are connected with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in His final appearance upon the clouds of heaven and as they are peculiarly characteristic of our present day and age. The church, of course, is vitally interested in these precursory signs, signs which precede the final coming of our Lord. They and the life of the church are inseparably connected. All our life and hope stand or fall with them. Without them we are doomed. Should they fail to materialize our situation is...

THE THREEFOLD QUESTIONS OF GALATIANS 3:1-5—continued 

(Connection: In the previous installment we saw that from all quarters pressure was building against the Remonstrants and for the holding of a National Synod. When the Remonstrants and their political allies in some of the provides saw that the convening of a National Synod was inevitable, they took the measure of raising city militia allegedly to defend the independence of their provinces, thus threatening civil war—a threat which was met with decisive action by the States-General and the Prince of Orange.

In the September 1 issue there appeared a contribution on this subject from Rev. J. Kortering, and we promised a reply in this issue. We now fulfill that promise. 

In this part of our critique we shall consider what “Our Song of Hope” has to say about certain key doctrines of the Reformed faith. In doing this, we shall compare the statements of “Our Song” with the statements of our Three Forms of Unity; and we shall make this comparison by consulting the index provided in Appendix B of Dr. Heideman’s commentary on “Our Song.” 

This issue marks the completion of Volume 53, and you will find the annual index in this number. Watch the next issue for some interesting changes being introduced at the beginning of Volume 54.

“…and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”  Eph. 6:14