Vol 70 Issue 06

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, MIchigan. Congregational Activities In late October the village of Lansing, IL approved a request from our Peace PRC to run the village water line to the south end of their property rather than the north end. With this approval Peace can now proceed with annexation, and obtain the final blueprints. Peace also hoped to begin some of the preparatory work on the site this fail. The building committee of Peace also asked for some help from their congregation in a rather unusual way. They placed, in the back...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. When Joshua and the Israelites first came into the land of Canaan, they obeyed God’s command to expel the inhabitants of the lands. Mostly, When they came to the city of Jerusalem, they faced a problem. It was inhabited by the Jebusites and strongly fortified, surrounded by walls, on a high, strategically located hill. After attempting to take it, Joshua and the Israelites were convinced that the city was invincible. They went on to other battles, leaving the Jebusites in their safe haven.  When David became king...

Prof. Hanko is secretary of the Committee for Contact with other Churches. The work of the Contact Committee continues to be busy and important. Perhaps the most interesting part of the work since the Synod of 1993 was the trip the Contact Committee made to Ontario, Canada. This trip was at the invitation of the Consistory of the Sheffield Independent Reformed Church, of which Rev. Jerome Julien is pastor. The Consistory of the Sheffield Church had made plans for a conference of officebearers from independent Reformed churches in the area. We were invited to speak at this conference. Our entire...

Rev. Mahtani is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Houston, Texas. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14 Christmas draws near. The church of Jesus Christ celebrates the birth of her beloved Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord! The season is usually filled with visits among families and friends, exchange of gifts, and words of cheer. Tables are laden with food and drink to make the festive season memorable. Often the poor are especially remembered, and even the non-Christian seems moved to generosity. It is a time when carols are heard,...

Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Reformed minister-on-loan to Singapore. A few words that have come to mean more to me while working in Singapore are these taken from the Form for the Lord’s Supper: “… all those who invoke deceased saints, angels, or other creatures, all those who worship images, all enchanters, diviners, charmers, and those who confide in such enchantments.” Such sinners are forbidden the use of the sacrament. Amazing, isn’t it, that in one breath our Reformed forefathers put apostate Rome in the same category as the heathen. They both pray to the wrong sources for life and...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. The desire of all nations shall come… Haggai 2:7 We of Dutch descent have often been accused of being ethnically-oriented Christians- to the exclusion of almost all other groups. “If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much” is more than just a pithy saying for many of us. We’re partial to names which end in “sma” or begin with “Vander.” We encourage our young people to date and marry a “wooden shoe.” We’re suspect of those who don’t salivate over green soup, or who do...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The stars were created by God’s Word of power on the fourth day of the creation week, along with the sun and moon (Gen. 1:16). We ought not accept the view of scientists that the sun is simply the closest star, and a rather small one at that; God created the sun specifically to rule the day, and the moon and stars to rule the night. The seed promised to Abraham is compared to the stars of the heavens for multitude (Gen. 15:5, etc.), but God is...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Whatever Happened to Marriage in the U.S.? Six of ten new marriages fail, victims of divorce or separation, according to the National Survey of Families and Households of the University of Wisconsin. Divorces reached an all- time high of 1,215,000 in 1992. After a decade in which the number of divorces remained flat, they rose 2% last year. This can only be the beginning of a new surge of divorce, as children of divorce now marry and follow the model of their parents who knew only how not...

Anti-law Mentality? I was saddened by two letters of reaction (SB, 11/1/93) to the excellent articles by Rev. Ronald Cammenga on the sin/crime of sodomy (the more biblical and legal term). It seems that the anti-law mentality that characterizes most churches today has even found a home in our beloved Protestant Reformed Churches. One of your respondents was so bold as to impugn the good name of the “Rushdoony crowd.” While Dr. Rushdoony may have taken some positions that not all of us can agree with in his thousands and thousands of pages of theological writing, it certainly behooves those...

In time for Christmas, the Reader’s Digest Association has published The Story of Jesus. This lavishly illustrated book is divided into seven chapters: “The Messiah”; “The Nativity”; “The Hidden Years”; “His Ministry on Earth”; “The Final Days”; “Savior and Redeemer”; and “Jesus Among Us.” The text combines the telling of the story of Jesus by the editors, appropriate quotations of Scripture, and articles drawn from a wide range of writers. Interspersed are poems, religious paintings, and informative pieces on various people, places, and particulars that come up in the history of Jesus. Herman Hoeksema is one of the writers included...