Vol 68 Issue 10

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Let’s start this edition of the “News” with a quick look at calls that have been extended to our churches’ pastors. First, since Prof. Hanko declined the call to serve as pastor of the Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, MI, Southeast’s Council presented a new trio to their congregation consisting of the Revs. D. Kuiper (Lacombe, BC), C. Terpstra (South Holland, IL), and G. VanBaren (Hudsonville, MI). On the evening of January 19 they extended a call to Rev. D. Kuiper to come over and help them....

Reading Scripture in Public: A Guide for Preachers and Lay Readers, by Thomas Edward McComiskey. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991. 196 pp., $7.95 (paper): [Reviewed by Prof. R. Decker.] The reading of Holy Scripture is a very important element in the worship service. It is much more than a “preliminary.” It should be done, in the opinion of this reviewer, very early in the worship service, just after the first Psalm of Praise is sung. All of the singing, the congregational prayer, the giving and receiving of the offering, and the preaching find their meaning and significance in the...

Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. In Genesis 25:19-26 we find an amazing and very revealing act of our God in His sovereign grace. Esau and Jacob were born to Isaac and Rebekah. And therein we are given a picture that reveals to us an extremely important truth, and a shadow of what we have in God’s grace, and shall enjoy when Christ returns to bring His church to everlasting glory. It is true that God had promised Abraham that he would have seed like the sand on the seashore, and like the stars of heaven in...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Immanuel Protestant Reformed Church in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada. It is striking that both the Hebrew and the Greek words from which our KJV derives the words zeal, zealous, and zealot are words which have the basic meaning of heat. The Hebrew root means to boil with heat, to be hot. Metaphorically the word indicates excitement of mind, ardor, fervor of spirit, zeal in embracing, pursuing, or defending anything. The Greek word means to become very red, to be excited so that the face is red. Thus, this word also means to be zealous towards a...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. In these verses of Malachi’s prophecy the prophet speaks words of consolation and joy to true believers and words of severe judgment and warning to those who walk in wickedness. We have noted that the days in which Malachi prophesied were times of trouble for God’s people who had returned from the Babylonian captivity. It was a time of apostasy, cold indifference, and treachery. Even on the part of God’s true people there was despondency and secret despair. “Where is the God of judgment?” they ask in chapter...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Bethel Protestant Reformed Church in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. What do we say to those who give no evidence of being saved? There is no pat answer. It is not as simple as reciting four spiritual laws. There are certain truths which must be presented, although there is not just one way to present them. Of course, every unbeliever needs to know the Savior. The knowledge of Christ is the essential truth they must be taught. However, in order to know and enjoy the only comfort of belonging to the Savior, which enables one to...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. It’s time parents were free to choose the schools that their children attend. This approach will create the competitive climate that stimulates excellence in our private and parochial schools as well.  President Bush, April, 1991  The Bush Administration is sparing no expense to embrace a far-reaching definition of choice – including aid to parochial schools, if that will pass the hurdle of the 1st Amendment. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander has called government support of parochial school students “as American as apple pie.” Alexander hopes eventually to...

Rev. denHartog is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. It is of greatest importance that we understand the way that the Lord deals with us when He chastens us. If we do not understand this there is a great danger that the evil one will lead us to discouragement and despair. Particularly at times in our life when we are experiencing great difficulty and trials, he will tempt us to deny the truth of God’s Word and to forsake the Lord. It has even happened in the lives of Gods people that failure to understand Gods way...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. “Holy Rollers”: Bigger, Richer Than Ever I am indebted to Kenneth Vink, Corporate Systems Supervisor at Spartan Stores, Inc. and an elder in our Grandville, MI Church, for the source of this article. Mr. Vink sent me a copy of an in-depth study of the Assemblies of God denomination which appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Eluding the hellfire and smoke surrounding his pulpit, the Rev. Tommy Barnett waves good-bye. With a hearty ‘Hallelujah,’ he soars straight toward heaven and out of sight.  The abrupt flight of this...

Aussie Appreciation In response to your editorial, “Promoting the Reformed Faith in Australia” (Standard Bearer, January 15, 1992), I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation and thanks. Moreover, I am sure that our church in Australia rejoices with me and adds her collective voice of thankfulness. The spirit in which the editorial was written and the thoughts that were expressed in it are characteristic of the love and concern we have received since arriving in America last September. The care and hospitality we have received have been remarkable. Having to establish a home, virtually from scratch, was made so much...