Vol 73 Issue 01

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.

September 4, 1996  at Randolph, Wisconsin On September 4, Classis West met in Randolph, WI with Rev. M. Joostens of Lynden, WA serving as president of Classis for this session. The main item on the agenda was the examination of Pastor-elect Richard Smit, who had received and accepted the call to serve as pastor in the Doon Protestant Reformed Church of Doon, IA. A special worship service was called by Randolph’s consistory for the evening of March 3, at which time Mr. Smit led the congregation in worship and proclaimed the gospel from Genesis 6:8, “Noah’s Finding Jehovah’s Grace.” In...

Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. An Obituary for the C.R.C.? One reviews the decisions taken at the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church this past summer with concern and alarm. The course of that denomination, as reported by conservative CRC observers, appears to follow unrelentingly a downhill course. Some of the significant decisions of the Synod are reported in The Outlook, July/August 1996. The reporter, Cornelis P. Venema, mentions some of the following with his own comments about the decisions. 1) The Synod made decisions relating to the diversity within the church (5%...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. With this study we begin our searching the Scriptures together. A few things before we begin. First, as to the manner in which we ought to engage in Bible study: May we ever be as the Bereans! May God grant us His grace and Holy Spirit to search the Scriptures as becomes Christian nobility! May the profit of our searching be our sanctification unto the praise of God! Second, we plan on continuing a study of the gospel according to John. This study was begun a few years...

Rev. Woudenberg is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. In the February 26 issue of Christian Renewal there appeared the following letter by a Mr. Tim Gallant reflecting on our past writings. It read as follows: Limits of Human Reason I have followed with interest the discussion between J. Tuininga, B. Woudenberg, and other brothers from the Protestant Reformed, Liberated, and newly-federating churches. It seems to me that the heart of the issue involved with the Protestant Reformed understanding of the covenant and their rejection of the free offer has not yet been articulated clearly. It is thought...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. We cannot accept the view that Amendment 2’s prohibition on specific legal protection does no more than deprive homosexuals of special rights. To the contrary, the amendment imposes a special disability upon those persons alone. Homosexuals are forbidden the safeguards that others enjoy or may seek without constraint. Romer v. Evans, U.S. Supreme Court (1996) (Majority opinion). The Court’s majority opinion contains grim, disapproving hints that Coloradans have been guilty of “animus” or “animosity” toward homosexuality, as though that has been established as Unamerican. But I...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. Sin entered this world exactly as it is recorded for us in the book of Genesis, chapter 3.1 We believe the historical account of God’s Scriptures. According to God’s own account, as revealed by His Spirit to Moses and thus recorded in Genesis 3, a sorrowful transgression took place in that beautiful garden which was the first paradise. In the midst of that God-glorifying creation, in that tabernacle which God had created as the place where He delighted to meet in covenant fellowship with the man whom He...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To appreciate the concept liberty or freedom as an aspect of salvation, we must understand its counterpart of slavery or imprisonment as an aspect of the curse. These ideas are contrasted in Isaiah 61:1, where the prophet states that he was anointed by the Spirit “to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” The chief prophet, Jesus, applied these words to Himself at the synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4:18). True liberation theology is the setting forth of God’s...

Reckoning (Romans 8:18) Counted — All counted — hairs, Sparrows’ falls, and tears, Stars, stumbling sheep; He knows their number, Does not slumber, Does not sleep. And we, Who, nightly counting, Tally losses slowly mounting, Numbering trials, griefs, and pains, Fail to reckon, Fail to see our Keeper beckon As He sums the heavenly gains. — Suzanne Terpstra Looyenga

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction God had preserved His church throughout the dark and dreary Middle Ages when apostate Rome controlled the life and consciences of men. He had preserved His church through the Waldensians hiding in the valleys and caves of the Alps to escape the brutality of the Inquisition. He had preserved His church through faithful followers of the two Johns: John Wycliffe and John Hus. But the institute of the church was corrupt and the saints of God had no place to go with their children...