Vol 74 Issue 17

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Minister Activities Rev. A. Brummel, pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Edgerton, MN, has received the call to serve as pastor of the South Holland, IL PRC. Candidate D. Kleyn and his wife moved to Pittsburgh, PA in early May to work there for three months with the group which has been receiving preaching and teaching regularly. The Consistory of the Loveland, CO PRC has approved the request of our seminary faculty that Mr. Garret Eriks fulfill his intern requirements there in Loveland from July 1...

Deborah Benson is a member of the Bethel Protestant Reformed Church of Itasca, IL. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing of the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”  Amos 8:11, 12 Amos brought the word of the Lord to Israel. Israel had fallen, fat...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. That the Lord establishes His covenant with believers and their children means that believers’ children are covenant children. They are to be viewed as such by believing parents and their teachers in the Christian school. Most Reformed people would agree with the above, even though different explanations are offered as bases. The conundrum for many is reconciling this confession with the truth of sovereign, double predestination, and with the fact that there are many Esaus in the church, Esaus born into covenant families. One theological...

Prof. Decker is professor of Practical Theology in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The elders of God’s church are called upon occasionally to discipline a fellow officebearer. Article 79 of The Church Order of the Protestant Reformed Churches (hereafter, the Church Order) outlines the procedure to be followed in removing a minister, elder, or deacon from office. Article 80 lists some of the “gross sins which are worthy of being punished with suspension or deposition from office.” Thus, strictly speaking, these articles do not speak of the discipline of officebearers, but of the procedure to be followed in removing them from...

The late Homer Hoeksema was professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The period of sacred history which we are about to discuss extends from the time of the fall and the first announcement of the promise to the time of the destruction of the first world and the salvation of the church by water. This is a period of some sixteen and one-half centuries according to the chronology of Scripture itself. To that chronology and its significance we will give our attention later. What we wish to stress at the beginning of our discussion, first...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. There is yet one aspect of Christ’s office as Mediator which we must consider — the kingly aspect. God has ordained His Son, Immanuel, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be King over all the works of His hands. An Eternally Appointed Dominion It is clear from Psalm 2 that Christ’s kingly dominion was appointed from eternity. His is a dominion exalted far above the kingship of Adam. Adam, the first man, was created king under God. To Adam God gave dominion over the fish of the sea, over...

Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Pastoral Network for the “Paranormal” One is hardly surprised at the changes taking place in Reformed churches. Still, it does come as a bit of a shock to hear of a “pastoral network for the ‘paranormal'” in Reformed denominations. The Ecumenical News International, December 10, 1997 reports: Dutch churches have created a pastoral network for people with paranormal gifts and experiences. The network was initiated after the home mission organizations of the Netherlands Reformed Church (NHK) and the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (GKN) noticed that an increasing...

Prof. Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction Solomon told us in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. How often has not modern history proved that to be true. It is so in the world; it is so in the church. The charismatic movement is of recent origin, and is a phenomenon of the late twentieth century. And yet it is as old as the history of the New Testament church. Precisely the evils of modern-day Pentecostalism were found in the Montanist movement of the third...

Ignorance, Misapplication, or Another Explanation I do not like to give criticism to one of the Lord’s servants. But I must say that I was totally surprised by your statements under “Letters” in the 4/1/98 issue of the Standard Bearer concerning divorce. I love the God of grace and the grace of God. I read everything that I can on the subject. Most of present-day works by Calvinists is not scholarly. I am glad to say that your paper is one of the rare exceptions. This is why I enjoy reading it so much. So this is why I was...

Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Walker, MI is the calling church for the annual synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America this year. Synod will convene on Tuesday morning, June 9, in the church building of the Hope church. The pre-synodical worship service will be held on Monday evening, June 8, at 7:30, in the Hope church’s auditorium. Rev. Ken Koole, president of last year’s synod, will lead the service and preach the sermon. Much of the agenda is devoted to missions. Both the Domestic Mission Committee (DMC) and the Hudsonville, MI PRC report on the work of Rev....