Vol 65 Issue 10

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Calls Even though news about trios, calls, acceptances and/or declines is generally “old” before it gets into print, we will pass it on anyway. Rev. Houck, one of our churches’ home missionaries, has declined the call he received from the Peace P.R.C. in Lynwood, Illinois. And the South Holland congregation has formed a trio of the Revs. Kamps, Slopsema, and Terpstra. Congregational Highlights On every Monday evening of January, except the 1st, a group of between 120 and 140 men from the West Michigan area met in...

GOD’S EVERLASTING COVENANT OF GRACE, by Herman Hanko (Reformed Free Publishing Association, 236 pp.; $9.95, paper). Reviewed by the Editor. This is a book to be read for pleasure and profit. This covenant theologian, professor of theology at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary, gives us a thorough exposition of the truth of the covenant. This is no small gift, for, as the author declares: It is by no means an exaggeration to say that God’s covenant is the key to the interpretation of the whole of God’s Word. It is a truth written large on every page of Holy Writ....

It was a long time ago, in my college days as a matter of fact. Those responsible for finding some leaders for Singspirations were bemoaning the difficulty of getting someone to lead the singing. With the brashness of youth and the ignorance that comes from only a passing acquaintance with the intricacies of music, I casually remarked that a song leader’s task could not be all that difficult, that, in fact, anyone should be able to do it. Before I realized what had happened, I was responsible for leading the next Singspiration. That which salvaged the Singspiration from disaster was...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Inasmuch, as a minister of the Word, once lawfully called as described above, is bound to the service of the church for life, he is not allowed to enter upon a secular vocation except for such weighty reasons as shall receive the approval of the classis.” Church Order, Article 12. This article speaks of the possibility of a minister of the gospel leaving the office of the ministry. It is to be distinguished from articles dealing with similar matters. Article 10 deals with a minister leaving one congregation...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. One passage in Scripture more than any other speaks of the terrible sin of homosexuality. To this passage we wish to call attention. It is found in Romans 1:18-32. Because of its importance we quote the entire passage here. I fear that if I do not quote it here, the reader will not take the time to look it up in his Bible and read it carefully. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the...

Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. The shadow of a lion cannot hurt you the way the lion itself can. The shadow of a tornado likewise cannot work the devastation that the tornado itself brings. These shadows may fill one with fear; but they shed no blood, and cause nothing to be blown to pieces. Likewise the thorns and thistles, in the land into which Adam and Eve were driven after God spoke the mother promise, in no way and to no degree compare with the punishment of hell, which God has in His Word...

Rev. Harbach is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. I.The Door of the Fold II.The Folded Sheep III.The True Shepherds Who Enter by the Door In this tenth chapter of John’s Gospel we have double revelation: first, the door revelation (John 1-10), and, second, the shepherd revelation (John 11-18). John 10:1-5contains an illustration of the door revelation; John 10:6-10contains the interpretation of the door revelation. The illustrative part puts before us the undershepherds and the porter (John 10:1-3a), then the Shepherd and the sheep (John 10:3b-5). There are interesting figures of speech in the passage. There are the fold, the...

Rev. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The Cost of Christian Education My attention was called to an article in The Banner, October 10, 1988, which points out the great cost of Christian education. Though some of the figures used do not apply to our own system of education, there are important points which were stressed. To check what percentage of income parents have spent on Christian education, I did a little digging into records of tuition costs and wages for the years 1945, ’55, ’65, ’75, and ’86. . . . What I found...

Rutherford and Resistance I found the special issue of The Standard Bearerdealing with “The Reformed Faith on Civil Government” (Dec. 1, 1988) both interesting and beneficial. This is indeed a subject of practical importance for Reformed Christians today and particularly so for those who live in a situation of civil and political unrest, as is presently the case in Northern Ireland. During the past twenty years in our country, there have been massive public demonstrations against government policy, province-wide strikes organized by our elected representatives (one of which brought down our local government assembly), campaigns of civil disobedience, and an alternative...

Rev. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. The Reformed Ecumenical Synod died last year. It was only 42 years old. The cause of death was a kind of ecclesiastical AIDS—a fatal inability to counteract life-threatening diseases in the body. For a congregation, this is the inability to excommunicate impenitent sinners. For an assembly like the RES, it is the inability to exclude from the organization member churches that maintain doctrines and practices that conflict both with the rules of the organization and with the Word of God. Homosexuality played a prominent role in the...