Vol 55 Issue 18

Rev. David Engelsma declined the calls extended to him by Southeast Church in Grand Rapids and the congregation of our church in Hull, Iowa.  From a trio of Rev. Arie den Hartog, Rev. Marvin Kamps, and Rev. Bernard Woudenberg, Southeast has extended a call to Rev. den Hartog. 

STUDIES IN PROVERBS, by William Amot; Kregel Publications, 1978; 583 pp., $10.95. (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko)  Good commentaries on the book of Proverbs are difficult to find. This volume may, in some respects, fill the void. It was written in the Nineteenth Century by a man who was part of the Free Church Movement in Scotland, and has therefore, much of the value which older books have. 

(In his discussion concerning the ideal form which the church of Christ ought to take on this earth, Kuyper has discussed the fact that a congregation is made up of believers and their seed, that the church receives into her fellowship members from other churches, that the church must also be busy in the work of missions. In the following paragraphs he discusses the question of authority in the church.)

THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY (Galatiaris 5:14)

In the middle of the last decade, at which time it had long since become apparent that the denominationally controlled theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (commonly referred to as the Southern Presbyterian Church) were irreversibly apostate, a group of conservative leaders in that denomination began to lay plans for the establishment of a seminary which would train men for the Gospel Ministry in the Biblical Faith. Those plans led to the founding of what is now known as the Reformed Theological Seminary, located in Jackson, Mississippi. 

He restoreth my soul. The soul needs restoring, refreshing, renewing. The constant pressure of labor in one’s calling must at some regular intervals be interrupted by a pause that refreshes. Our Lord Himself, in His infinite wisdom, so counseled: Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest awhile. This He deemed necessary because of the incessant stress of coming and going with no leisure so much as to eat. Hence, there are times when in our busy round of toil and care we must take care to come apart and rest awhile or we may come apart.

Mr. Chairman, Members of the Class of 1979, Brethren of the Theological School Committee and of the Synod, Brethren and Sisters gathered with us: 

The synod of our churches began at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 6. The preceding night the customary prayer service was held at First Church in Grand Rapids — the convening church for synod. The president of the synod of last year, Rev. J. Heys, addressed the gathering from the passage of Scripture found in I Kings 21:3, “And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.” In his inimitable way, the Rev.

On Tuesday evening, June 12, a large audience nearly filled the main floor of the auditorium of First Church, Grand Rapids, to witness the graduation of four candidates for the ministry in our Protestant Reformed Churches. These four young men — Ronald Cammenga, Carl Haak, Ronald Hanko, and Steven Houck — had successfully “weathered” their examinations by Synod the previous week. An appropriate and enjoyable program accompanied this graduation, and after the formal program the candidates received a multitude of congratulations and good wishes at the coffee-hour downstairs. 

Guest Article. In this issue you will find an interesting and significant article by the Rev. Euguene C. Case, of the First Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Woodville, Mississippi. Be sure to read it. And: Thanks, Pastor Case!