Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Evangelism Activities We are happy to include here a progress report of the plans by our Grace PRC in Standale, MI to begin a Bible Study on the campus of Grand Valley State University, which is virtually on Grace’s back door, a campus with an enrollment of some thirteen thousand students. After sending surveys to every PR young person attending GVSU, Grace called a meeting for October 20. Approximately 20 students attended. That group elected from among themselves four officers from various of our west Michigan churches...

Always Obedient: Essays on the Teaching of Dr. Klaas Schilder, ed. J. Geertsema. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1995. vx + 137pages. n.p. (paper). [Reviewed by Prof. Herman Hanko.] If any one should want a brief overview of the teachings of Dr. Klaas Schilder, this is an excellent book to purchase. After a chapter describing Schilder’s life and work, five different authors deal with five aspects of Schilder’s thought. Treated are Schilder’s covenant view, his view of Christ and culture (with a comparison between A. Kuyper and Schilder), Schilder’s view of the church, a review and analysis of...

Rev. Woudenberg is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. John 17:6 Behind the question of the place of children in the covenant which so preoccupied the Reformed churches in the 1940s, there were several other disjunctives (propositions that appear to be mutually exclusive of each other) which had troubled the Dutch churches for many years: the question of whether regeneration is mediate or immediate (brought about by means...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. None shall be admitted to the Lord’s Supper except those who according to the usage of the church with which they unite themselves have made a confession of the Reformed religion, besides being reputed to be of a godly walk, without which those who come from other churches shall not be admitted. Church Order, Article 61 Articles 61-64 of the Church Order deal with the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. These articles lay down the fundamental guidelines that safeguard the administration of the sacrament in Reformed churches. There...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. Certainly the key verse in this passage is verse 32. There Jesus says: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” What wonderful gospel here! Truth! Yes, there is truth! No, everything is not relative. No, all is not chaos. There is truth! Besides, it can be known! Besides, this truth does something. And that something is very wonderful! The truth, and only the truth, and nothing but the truth makes us free! For Study, Meditation, and Discussion   Jesus the Truth! 1....

Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. “Reverend or Pastor?” It is not the practice, normally, of this rubric, “All Around Us,” to respond to articles written in other of our church-related papers. I am making an exception this time – both because of the seriousness of the article itself and because it relates to articles I had written earlier on this same subject. The article to which I refer appeared in the young people’s magazine, Beacon Lights (Oct. 19951, titled: “Reverend or Pastor?” by Pastor Bruce Davis. I will not be quoting the article...

Ah, thou pristine globe, fresh from thy Creator’s hand; embryo within the waters of thy firmament land. Pure and warm, the very essence of exquisite beauty. “It is good,” proclaimed He then, though not His last words to thee. Would thy newborn innocence remain – alas, ’tis lost, e’en worse – thou cursed! And thou, what hast thou done, but sheltered, fed, and nursed the wicked ones! Yet – thou art promised new! Washed with cataclysmic dearth; thy baptism is un- qualed upon the earth! Noah and his sons beheld this picture of the seal. What will we see when...

On Saturday evening, December 14, 1996, the earthly pilgrimage of our beloved Rev. Harbach ended, when the Lord took him from a nursing home to his eternal home and eternal reward. Soft spoken, unassuming, never one to seek, or even to want, a place of prominence among men. But, in the kingdom, a “giant warrior of the faith.” In referring to him thus in his funeral message, Rev. Spriensma was speaking for all those who were privileged to sit under Rev. Harbach’s preaching, either in an established church or on a mission field. One needed not to listen long to...

Appropriate After having read the letter “Not Appropriate” (Stnndard Bearer, Dec. 1, 1996) by Mr. Marc Carpenter, and having reread the article entitled “The Reformed Family: Teachers” (SB, Sept. 15, ,1996) by Mrs. Lubbers, I am somewhat confused as to the nature of Mr. Carpenter’s objection. His letter reads, “my wife and I were offended at the lack of personal purity that some parts of the article endorsed.” I am left wondering, to whose lack of purity does he refer? Mrs. Lubbers’ or Miss Reitsma’s? Indeed, in the record of Mrs. Lubbers’ memory, a portion is given to the physical...

God loves every physical child of believing parents. In this love, God sincerely desires to save every physical child of believing parents. This love of God for every child of believing parents is covenant love. It is not merely some superficial affection (supposing now that there is such a weak and fleeting emotion in God) that the children share with the entire ungodly world. It is not merely a love that desires their temporal welfare. It is not merely a warm feeling that gives these children earthly gifts. But it is the rich, deep love of God revealed in the...