All Articles For Vol 63 Issue 13 4/1/1987

Ben Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. With this issue of the Standard Bearer, let us continue our series on church profiles with a brief look at our Southeast Protestant Reformed Church. Southeast history began March 7, 1944 when twenty-five families were organized as the Fourth Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids. At this meeting the late Rev. H. Hoeksema preached a sermon based on Ephesians 6:14, a verse which set the tone for the struggles Southeast would face in the years to come. Fourth Church began to hold meetings in an old store building in...

Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met in Hull, Iowa on March 4, 1987. Meeting from 8:30 AM until after midnight, Classis finished its work in one, long day. Twelve ministers and twelve elders represented the churches of the West. Rev. T. Miersma led Classis in opening devotions, speaking to the delegates on II Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Rev. R. Moore presided over this Classis. Elder G. De Jong (Hull) and Rev. A. den Hartog (Randolph) were delegated to Classis...

John A. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Yes, it is true that actions often speak louder than words. In fact we often speak loudly by our actions while our mouths are kept tightly shut. Still more, very often our very act of not speaking with our lips is a case of speaking loudly with our deed. And this was the case with Jonah after God asked him, “Doest thou well to be angry?” Jonah revealed his anger over the fact that God did not overthrow Nineveh forty days after Jonah’s preaching. What Jonah did after...

Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Have you resolved by the grace of God to adhere to this doctrine; to reject all heresies repugnant thereto and to lead a new, godly life?” Last time we dealt with the first question asked of those who make public confession of faith. We saw that the question emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of faith, that faith which has content. We saw that that content is doctrinal in nature. We saw that the doctrine faith confesses is contained in the Old and New Testaments as summarized...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. During the last few days of her life, Alice was willing to have the aspirator used to suction out the mucus from her throat. This is not to say that she enjoyed the procedure; on the contrary, she simply detested it. But she finally realized that there was no other way to clear her throat. Periodically, she would indicate her desire that the aspirator be used—while her eyes indicated almost a fear of it. Whoever was caring for Alice at the time would have to do...

Ronald H. Hanko is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church, Houston, Texas. (Editor’s Note: For the remainder of the current volume-year the Rev. Ronald J. Hanko will be responsible for this department. We welcome him back to our columns. HCH) The only way that believers can ever be convinced that the law is of any value or use to them is to show them that it is a means to praise and thank their Savior God. As long as even the impression is left that the works of the law have any meritorious or saving value, even socially, the law...

Thomas C. Miersma is pastor of the First Protestant Reformed Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed the reformation of the church and the consolidation of that reformation in Europe. It was the time not only of the reformers but of the writing of the Reformed creeds. The spiritual freedom which the Reformation brought with it in its return to the Word of God brought with it a period of thriving spiritual life and of intense study of God’s Word. The same period witnessed the rise of modern secular man and what is sometimes called the Industrial...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.     God’s “Hostage”?:     Articles in many magazines and newspapers have commented on the fund-raising efforts of Oral Roberts. Comic strips likewise have been employed to mock Roberts’s claims. This man who, a few years ago, claimed that Jesus appeared to him (900 feet tall), now insists that God has told Roberts that if he does not raise eight million dollars by a certain deadline, God will take his life by March 31 (or the end of the year, according to later claims). Even...

Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. The people of Israel spent a little less than a year at Mt. Sinai. During this time they received the ten commandments, the details of the Levitical laws, the instructions on the construction of the temple. Toward the end of this time they built the tabernacle which was to accompany them through the wilderness sojourn. It is at this point that the Book of Numbers takes up the historical account of these events, an account encompassing the forty year stay in the wilderness and the eventual arrival...

Before continuing with my critique of Dr. Howard Van Till’s The Fourth Day, I must call your attention to his appeal to John Calvin. It is not uncommon, of course, that men like to clothe themselves with the prestige and the exegetical and theological authority of John Calvin, especially if they themselves go by the name of Calvinists. After all, Calvin is known and acknowledged by many as “the prince of exegetes.” Besides, the theological opinions of John Calvin carry great weight; and unquestionably, if one has Calvin on his side in things theological, he has strong support. Further, if one...