Vol 69 Issue 09

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities If members of the Hudsonville, MI PRC congregation felt like entering a contest this winter, they needed to look no further than a letter from the pastor, Rev. G. VanBaren. In this letter Rev. VanBaren encouraged his entire congregation, with a special emphasis on children aged 8 through 12, to try their hand at translating a short account of a typical day for the VanBarens in Northern Ireland. This letter, although written in English, was full of words and phrases that are not at all...

Rev. Koole is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. February, 1993 is a significant month for our Faith Congregation. It marks 20 years of existence. Faith was organized on February 22, 1973, Prof. Hanko preaching the sermon “The Church – the Pillar of Truth,” based on I Timothy 3:15 b. Nineteen families organized as charter members. Also, fifteen years ago (1978) February was the month that Faith dedicated its then newly built sanctuary to worshiping God in a Reformed and biblical manner. Worthy of note is that, of the three members of that original building committee, two (Ernie Miedema...

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,...

Calvin’s Ecclesiastical Advice, tr. Mary Beaty and Benjamin W. Farley. Foreword by John Haddon Leith. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1991. 184 pages. Paper. $14.95. [Reviewed by the Editor.] One of the most valuable benefits of the various conferences devoted to the study of the theology of John Calvin is the translation and publication of writings of the Reformer that have not previously appeared in English. Such is this volume. It has its origin in the Colloquium on Calvin studies held every two years at the Davidson College Presbyterian Church and Davidson College in North Carolina. The book consists...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. As I conclude this consideration of proper Christian self-esteem, I am convinced that there is a very important relationship between the truth of the covenant which we hold dear and this whole biblical concept of proper Christian self-esteem. That was implied when I wrote previously that the important factor in overcoming all your insecurities is that you are conscious of belonging to Christ. For when you belong to Christ, God’s evaluation of you is this: “You are My friend.” Self-esteem and the Covenant We may summarize that truth...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Angels are mentioned in thirty-six of the sixty-six books of the Bible. The Hebrew and Greek words both mean messenger; they are means by whom God reveals Himself and His salvation to us. Indeed, angels are the servants of the elect, “sent forth to minister for those who shall be the heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:14). Angels are invisible, non-corporeal creatures who owe their existence to God. “He also created the angels good, to be His messengers and to serve the elect” (Belgic Confession, Art. 12). Although...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Are family devotions on the way out? Has our life become so involved that there is hardly time for family worship? Is it virtually impossible to schedule a time when the whole family is home together? The question could even be cast in this form: has it become virtually impossible in our busy existence for the father of the family to function in his priestly calling? In the office of believers we have become partakers of Christ’s anointing (Lord’s Day 12, question 32). Thereby we are ordained from all...

Mr. Dykstra is a member of Faith PRC, Jenison, MI. The title of this article might seem absurd at first glance. The fact is, however, it is not as absurd as it looks. Jesus’ name is, listed in the genealogies recorded in both Matthew 1 and Luke 3. The genealogy inMatthew 1 traces the royal line of David through Solomon to the birth of Jesus. The genealogy recorded in Luke 3begins with Jesus and traces the genealogy back through Nathan to David. Jesus’ name is recorded in both genealogies. This is important to note, and we will come back to this later. As is evident,...

Mr. Bekkering is a student at Biblical Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. I was pleased to see Pastor Key’s article on self-esteem in the December 1, 1992 issue of the Standard Bearer. Self-esteem is an extremely dangerous and unbiblical idea, and it is very prominent in our culture. This buzzword is heard in many areas of life, and is the focus of psychologists, counselors, teachers, and even ministers. Pastor Key succinctly points out the evil of this heresy, and he demonstrates that the idea of, self-esteem does not belong in Reformed teachings. Using Pastor Key’s article as a backdrop, I will...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Some of the men whom God used to bring reformation to the church in the 16th century are widely known, and even our children are acquainted with them and the work they did. Other Reformers are not so well known. They stand, as it were, in the shadow of Luther, Calvin, Know, and Zwingli. If one knows them at all, they are vague figures in the darker corners of the stage of church history when the great drama of the Reformation was taking place....