Vol 74 Issue 06

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregational Activities If you read this magazine on a regular basis, then you probably have discovered by now that there was something missing between pages 95 and 96 of the November 15th issue. The missing words were these: “…spoke on the subject of Christian Education. The congregation of the Edgerton, MN PRC met recently and approved putting permanent….” Our apologies to the readers of the “News” and to both Rev. Haak and our congregation in Edgerton. At least now we know what subject Rev. Haak spoke on,...

Mr. Lanting, a member of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church, is a practicing attorney. We disagree with the claim that the distinction between refusing lifesaving medical treatment and assisted suicide is “arbitrary” and “irrational.” Granted, in some cases, the line between the two may not be clear, but certainty is not required, even if it were possible. By permitting everyone to refuse unwanted medical treatment while prohibiting anyone from assisting a suicide, New York law follows a long-standing and rational distinction. Vacco v. Quill, U.S. Supreme Court (June, 1997). In the last decade or so, the U.S., Canada, Britain, and...

Rev. Woudenberg is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,  Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Philippians 2:1-3 Extra-Scriptural Binding—A New Danger is the title of a recently published translation of Dr. Klaas Schilder’s answer to our Brief Declaration of Principles, as...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. As Jesus’ public ministry came to a close it became very clear: He was the kind of person you either loved or you hated. His ministry compelled one to take a stand either for or against Him. One could not halt between two opinions. His person, His visage, His words, His deeds worked faith and love for Himself, or, exposing sin and unrepentance in reprobate men, they hardened sinners. Light has this way about it: it brings out the children of the light who welcome the light with...

Rev. VanBaren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland, Colorado. Different Paths to Salvation?? We have heard the cry for unity—first it was a “unity” of all “Christian” churches, but increasingly it is a cry for a certain “unity” of all world religions. With that, there is the expressed thought that those of other than Christian religions can be saved—and that, apart from the cross of Christ. It was the Rev. Richard Rhem of the Christ Community Church in Muskegon, MI who was condemned by Classis Muskegon of the Reformed Church for his teachings concerning this. But the...

Mrs. Kortering is the wife of Rev. Jason Kortering, a minister-on-loan from the Protestant Reformed Churches in America to Singapore. Monday, January 15. Dad’s 60th birthday, and how special it was to spend it in Myanmar! We had an outing that day with about 30 people. We visited the Zoo. Dad and I felt as if we probably would have fit in better had we been in a cage along with the animals, judging from the way people were looking at us. We were told that many people in Myanmar have never seen a Westerner before. We saw the Shwedagon...

* An excerpt from a sermon by John Calvin on Luke 2:1-14. This, no doubt, is the sermon that, according to the translator, Calvin preached on Christmas Day. The complete sermon is found in the recent publication, Sermons on the Deity of Christ (by John Calvin). The book consists of 20 sermons by John Calvin on the birth, passion, resurrection (one of which was preached by Calvin on Easter Sunday), ascension, and final advent of Jesus Christ, and on Pentecost. The book is published by Old Paths Publication, 223 Princetown Road, Audubon, NJ 08106. It sells for $25.00. The excerpt...

We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ as the gracious act and gift of God. God acted in the birth of Jesus. The Holy Ghost worked conception in the womb of the virgin. The Word became flesh. The Father sent His Son into the world. In the birth of Jesus, the triune God performed the wonderful work of the incarnation of God the Son. This was the central act of God in history.

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Luke 1:30, 31 Hail, Mary! Gabriel, who stands in the very presence of God, was sent to a lowly virgin in the city of despised Nazareth. In what form he appeared to her we do not know, but she knew at once that he was a heavenly messenger and, as may well be expected,...