Vol 71 Issue 04

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Denominational Activities This year’s Fall Ladies’ League Meeting, made up of ladies from PR churches in Iowa and Minnesota, met at the Doon, IA PRC on October 11 to hear Rev. R. Dykstra speak on the topic, “The New Age Movement in Our Day,” based, on Isaiah 5:13-30. Our Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, MI played host to this year’s Mr. & Mrs. and Adult Bible Societies League Meeting on September 27. This year’s meeting featured Rev. R. Cammenga, speaking on “The Importance of Society Life in Our...

Rev. Bruinsma is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. While in my teens I gave no thought to the meaning of being a teenager or just where I was in my development as a human being. I was too busy getting on with my life to worry about this. Besides, I simply did not care! Now, as I look back on these years, I think that it would have been helpful to understand this about myself: what was there about my teenage years which was distinct from childhood and adulthood? Perhaps this does not interest you either...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. The classis shall authorize at least two of her oldest, most experienced and most competent ministers to visit all the churches once a year and to take tied whether the minister and the consistory faithfully perform the duties of their office, adhere to sound doctrine, observe in all things the adopted order, and properly promote as much as lies in them, through word and deed, the upbuilding of the congregation, in particular of the youth, to the end that they may in time fraternally admonish those who have...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Philippians 1:3 In America it is the time of harvest and thanksgiving. All across this vast land, bountiful crops are being gathered in. Thousands of acres of golden grain have been reaped. Great dunes of corn tumble out of capacious granaries. Fattened hogs and sleek cattle are led to market. Fruits and vegetables, exotic and common, are stockpiled. Dainties fit for demigods—this is America’s daily bread. The earth yields her increase; the Reformed believer receives...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. IRS Requires Substantiation for Charitable Contributions The new law disallows a deduction for any contribution of $250 or more that is not substantiated by a written acknowledgement from the charity. IRS Revenue Procedure 90-12 (1994) The treasurers of our churches, schools, and denominational organizations should be aware of new IRS rules regarding charitable gifts effective for 1994. The new rules declare that no charitable deduction will be allowed for gifts in excess of $250 unless the taxpayer provides the IRS with a written receipt from the...

Mr. Gritters is a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. By the time this article appears in print, letters will have again been sent by our various consistories to certain confessing male members somewhat as follows: “The Consistory informs you that your name has been placed on nomination for the office of Elder. Please let us know if you have valid reasons why you would beunable to serve….” Unable to serve? Sometimes the nomination comes as a surprise, especially to those who receive it for the first time. But as you ponder your answer, you may already have...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Bauer, Michigan. The last command of the ascending Christ to His church was that it “go into all the world” and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Local congregations and denominations must, to the best of their ability, take the glorious gospel of grace everywhere, to every nation and people. God has elected His people out of every nation, tribe, and tongue to manifest the diversity and extent of His grace. This universality and diversity of the church serve as the occasion for those already saved to take...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Part of the power and enduring value of our confessions is the fact that they arose out of the life of the church. They were not drawn up by men sitting in ivory towers, contemplating the truth of Scripture but far removed from the battle for the faith. They breathe the life of the church’s struggles. The Heidelberg Catechism was written in the struggles between Calvinism on the one hand and Lutheranism and Romanism on the other hand, as these struggles were bitterly fought...

Augustine against Date-setting Thank you for the informative and well-written editorial in the October 1, 1994 issue of the Standard Bearerconcerning the false prophecy of Mr. Harold Camping. The Bible forbids any date-setting. Also the great St. Augustine, living in the fourth century, A.D., warns against this sort of thing when he writes in his exposition of the Psalms, ch. VI: “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no neither angel, nor Power, neither the Son, but the Father alone” shows clearly enough that no man shall arrogate to himself the knowledge of that time, by any computation...

Offer of Grace Flatly Contradicts Election according to the Protestant Reformed Churches  “We Say that the Truth is Logical” This was the bold headline on page two of the second section of Reformatorisch Dagblad on Friday, August 12, 1994. Reformatorisch Dagblad is a daily newspaper published by Reformed men and presenting the Reformed perspective on the news. It circulates widely throughout the Netherlands. The article was the result of interviews that correspondent Klaas van der Zwaag conducted earlier this summer with the Rev. Richard G. Moore, pastor of the PRC of Hull, Iowa, and with the editor of the Standard Bearer. van der Zwaag translated...