Vol 68 Issue 09

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregational Activities At a congregational meeting on October 15, the congregation of the Peace PR Church of Lynwood, IL decided to purchase 3.5 acres of land. Presently, Peace is meeting in the auditorium of the Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, IL. It goes without saying that any congregation desires to have its own home church sanctuary. Doubtless this is also true of Peace. This purchase represents the first step down that road to a church home. Also concerning Peace Church we should mention here that in...

January 8, 1992 Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 8, 1992 at the Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan. Each church was represented by two delegates. Also present for an hour of the morning’s proceedings were the church history students of Calvin Kalsbeek from Covenant Christian High School. Rev. M. Joostens was the chairman for this session. The business, for the most part, was routine. Classis did, however, spend a considerable amount of time discussing the report of the church visitors, particularly their visits to Wyckoff and Norristown. The action taken by classis with regard to this...

The Book of the Revelation, by Philip E. Hughes. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990. 242 pp.; $17.95, hardcover. [Reviewed by Rev. Charles Terpstra.] Profitable commentaries on the last book of the Bible are hard to come by, especially those written from a conservative, amillennial point of view. This volume is an exception however, and that is what makes it a welcome addition to commentaries on Revelation. The author, who was an Anglican clergyman and a New Testament scholar who spent part of his career teaching at Westminster Theological Seminary (he died in May of 1990), has written a very helpful exposition...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. In the first part of chapter 2, Malachi beautifully describes God’s covenant, the bond of friendship He makes with us in Christ. Malachi showed that this was an eternal covenant established by Jehovah out of pure grace. In the covenant God blesses His people with life and peace. And those in the covenant have the calling walk with God, turn from iniquity, oppose evil, and love God’s truth. Against this background the sin of the people of Malachi’s day stood out in all its naked ugliness. Their religious...

Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. When Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, asked Rebekah’s parents for permission to take her to Isaac the very day after he had come there seeking a God-fearing wife for Isaac, Rebekah’s parents called her and asked her whether she would be willing to go that day. They had, we read, told Eliezer that they wanted her to stay with them at least ten more days. For after her departure they would never see her again. In effect it would be as though she had died, for, as pointed out last time,...

Rev. Bruinsma is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Solomon exhibits in this passage, as always, a keen insight into human nature. He knows the pride that resides in our flesh. He knows that there is nothing that hurts our pride more than when we are shown our weakness and helplessness. And he knows that there is no, greater way our weakness is revealed than through adversity or calamity in life. This is something no man can avoid. Neither can he overcome it in his own strength. How often this results in frustration and rebellion against God,...

Rev. Koole is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. After his address last fall at the annual meeting of the R.F.P.A. (the publishers of the SB), Rev. Koole was asked to submit a transcript of the speech for publication in the Standard Bearer. This “Contribution” is that address. I do not intend to say much that I is new this evening. The theme of my speech should indicate that. The very theme ties us in with the past. It speaks of old wolves clothed in new wool – the teachings of the latest theological fashion. As the...

Mr. Hanko is a teacher at Hope Protestant Reformed School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Bang! Pow! Johnny is busy repelling the alien enemy invaders. He does not even hear the call to dinner. When we finally go to get him, he snaps at us, “I can’t come now. Can’t you see “I’m setting a new record?” He remains totally concentrated on the game until it is over and Johnny has run up a record-breaking score. We wonder: why cannot Johnny show a fraction of such intensity upon his school work? Perhaps in the hope that education can become so absorbing,...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Cults in Eastern Europe With the collapse of Communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union came an open door to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. As reported earlier in these columns the Back To God Hour of the Christian Reformed Church will be heard on Soviet radio. Other churches are sending missionaries to Eastern Europe. Bibles and other Christian literature are being widely distributed throughout these countries. A growing number of Soviet students and professors are linking up with U. S. Christian colleges as part...

Reformed Synods and Independency May I request clarification on the editorial titled, “The Binding Decisions of a Reformed Synod” (Standard Bearer, June 1, 1991)? It is clear that many Christian folk regard the whole matter of how the church is organized as a matter of little consequence. For this reason it is good to see church power and church polity being taken seriously. As it happens, a friend lent me the March, April, and May 1991 issues of the Outlook, which contain articles called ” Synod-ocracy: Cause and Cure.” The writer’s complaint is that the synod of his church (the...