Vol 66 Issue 16

  Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Ministerial Calls Rev. J. Kortering has declined the call he received from the Randolph PRC in Randolph, WI. The congregation in Isabel, SD, where our Hope PRC is located, has extended a call to Rev. R. Flikkema. School News Supporters of the Free Christian School in Edgerton, MN were invited to reserve Friday evening, April 20, for a special P.T.A. commemorating that school’s 40th anniversary The School Board of the South Holland Protestant Reformed School in South Holland, IL obtained the services of Mr. Dan Veldman,...

BORN AGAIN: A BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDY OF REGENERATION, by Peter Toon; Baker Book House, 1987; 206 pp., $8.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Prof. H. Hanko.) Peter Toon, pastor of an Anglican congregation in England, has written on other theological subjects. In fact, this book is not the first he has written on the subject of regeneration. The book is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the Scriptural data on regeneration and the second dealing with a historical survey of the doctrine. The second part I found to be the most interesting and valuable. In this part he deals...

Mr. Huisken is a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. Yes, you and I and every believer who sits under the preaching have a responsibility regarding the preaching in the church. This is not left up to the elders alone. Those in the pew have a very definite role in regards to the preaching. You see, we are the church. The church preaches. The church administers the sacraments. The church conducts discipline. Ultimately then, we are responsible to judge the preaching. This is not only our right but also our duty. Our judgment is twofold. We must...

Mr. Doezema is a member of the First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has been said that “there is no class of men on whom, under God, the prosperity of religion in our churches is more dependent than those who are invested with the office of the eldership” (McKerrow, inThe Office of Ruling Elder in the Christian Church). And Berghoef and DeKoster have observed in theirElders Handbook that “the health and effectiveness of the church in the world will be in large measure dependent upon the dedication, courage, and perseverance of the eldership. As goes the elder, so...

Mr. Bruining is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. Hunger leads to eating. Food always tastes better when I am hungry than when I have to eat again. Feeding on God’s Word has the same effect. Being hungry for God’s Word, and going to God’s house because it is again time to go, are two entirely different situations on the Lord’s Day. Getting the body, mind, and heart ready to meet God and His Word is the subject of this article. First the body. If my body is tired and demands my attention, the mind and heart suffer....

Rev. Kamps is pastor of the Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. Catechism preaching has a long and blessed history in the Reformed community of churches. For nearly five hundred years Reformed preachers have fulfilled their ecclesiastical responsibility to preach the Word of God as set forth in the rich confession of these churches throughout the world. It is without a doubt true that these churches have remained faithful to the truth of God’s Word in the measure that they have also been faithful to her task to preach faithfully the catechism each Lord’s Day. Centuries ago the great...

Rev. Kortering is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. The preaching of the gospel speaks to the hearts of God’s people. This is what makes preaching unique. Because preaching is the highest form of communication, all the rules of language, logic, and oratory apply. Through the preaching of the gospel, the congregation is instructed in the knowledge of the Bible and they become more familiar with the truth of that Word. All of this must lead them to worship the One True God, revealed in His Word. Worship is an act of faith, personal and corporate response...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those who published it.” The compulsion to preach the gospel is the greatest yearning and desire which God works in a sanctified heart. Many are the holy desires which God works in the hearts of His children. Believing parents can confess that God gives them a great jealousy and yearning to impart to their children the “praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Ps. 78:4). A wife and mother is...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary.

The Congregation’s Regard for Her Preacher It is not out of place in a special issue on preaching, and therefore on the great task of the preacher, to remind our Protestant Reformed congregations of their responsibility toward their preachers. For not only does it follow from the importance of preaching that those who are engaged in the work must be honored, but it is also true that a sinful attitude toward the preacher can obstruct the benefits of the preaching for the believer and his family.