Vol 69 Issue 12

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. We start this installment of the “News” with a few Young People’s Activities. If over the years you have acquired a taste for really hot chili as I have, then you will be interested to note that the Young People’s Society of the Trinity PRC in Houston, TX recently sponsored a chili supper for their congregation. I can only assume that a congregation located in the heart of Texas, home of some of the world’s hottest chili peppers, would enjoy a really good and hot chili. Only...

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. We start this installment of the “News” with a few Young People’s Activities. If over the years you have acquired a taste for really hot chili as I have, then you will be interested to note that the Young People’s Society of the Trinity PRC in Houston, TX recently sponsored a chili supper for their congregation. I can only assume that a congregation located in the heart of Texas, home of some of the world’s hottest chili peppers, would enjoy a really good and hot chili. Only...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction We who are of the Calvin Reformation rightly honor John Calvin as the great Reformer of Geneva and the spiritual father of Calvinistic churches throughout the world. But it is not an exaggeration to say that Calvin’s work would not have been possible without the intrepid labors of another Reformer, William Farel, who hacked away the undergrowth of Roman Catholic superstition and plowed the soil of Switzerland so that the seeds of Calvin could be sown and bear their fruit. Schaff writes of him:...

1994? Maybe Wrong? This letter is written in response to your editorial of January 1, 1993, concerning Mr. Harold Camping’s book, 1994?. I am a Reformed believer, belonging to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, who was brought to the Reformed Faith through the teaching ministry of Mr. Camping and Family Radio. I am also one who has a high regard for the history, government, and confessions of the church, as well as the singular importance of the preaching of the Word. I highly respect you and your work for the Lord and His kingdom.

Rev. Spriensma is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Grandville, Michigan. Again March comes and it is time for the annual National Day of Prayer. God’s people sometimes wonder why they have another worship service in their busy schedules. And the Pastor knows that it means one more sermon to prepare. The question is-why? Why a Prayer Day service? Do we come together to pray because our President calls the citizens of our nation to go to some higher being however one may conceive it to exist, and ask for his benevolent help and blessing? Many evangelists are asking,...

Mrs. Lubbers is a teacher in South Holland Protestant Reformed School. Interspersed in her article are the expressions of some of her students regarding their favorite Psalter numbers. “Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” James 5:13 Is your family happy? Do you talk together, work together, play together? Do you sing together, in your home, as a family? Is singing together an expression of your happiness? Is singing Psalms together one of your merriest occasions? There are, in the Scriptures, literally hundreds of references to making music unto the lord. “Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion:...

The Christian Faith, by Theodore Beza. Tr. James Clark. Lewes, East Sussex, England: Focus Christian Ministries Trust, 1992. Pp. i-122, plus index of subjects, $8.20 (paper). [Reviewed by the Editor.] There is really only one thing that needs to be said about this book to recommend it to all our readers: It is the English translation of Theodore Beza’s personal confession of the Christian faith. This confession, written at the request of Beza’s father, was first published in 1558 at Geneva; as Confession De Foi Du Chretien. In it, Beza tells us in the “Preface,” he has written “in the...

In the “letters” column of this issue of the Standard Bearer appears a letter under the heading, “1994? Maybe Wrong?” This long letter takes sharp issue with my editorial of January 1, 1993 examining Mr. Harold Camping’s recent prediction in a book entitled 1994? that Christ will come in 1994. The writer of the letter is willing to admit merely that Camping “may be wrong in his interpretation.” Hence, the heading of his letter, and the title of this editorial. This editorial is my response to the letter, which the reader should consult as he reads the editorial. Because others...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Again the highpriest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am.  Mark 14:61, 62 . The Sanhedrin has been called together in the dead of night. This highest ecclesiastical-judicial body in Israel is convened for the weightiest case ever brought before them. The judiciary of Jerusalem, which normally had the right to pass a death sentence and even to ban a person from the kingdom of heaven, will deal with a man named Jesus. We can picture...