All Articles For Vol 76 Issue 03 11/1/1999

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Minister Activities In late September, the council of the Hull, IA PRC placed a trio of pastors before their congregation from which they were to call an undershepherd. This trio consisted of the Revs. W. Bruinsma, K. Koole, and Dale Kuiper. Hull has since extended a call to Rev. Dale Kuiper, presently pastor of the Southeast PRC in Grand Rapids, MI. Mission Activities Rev. J. Mahtani, our churches’ home missionary to the Eastern U.S., met with the members of the Fayetteville Reformed Fellowship in Fayetteville, North Carolina,...

September 8, 1999 Hudsonville PRC Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, September 8, 1999 at the Hudsonville PRC. Each church was represented by two delegates. Rev. Dale Kuiper was the chairman for this session. The classis was pleased to hear and approve the examination of Pastor-Elect Nathan Brummel. After preaching a sermon on Philippians 4:6 and responding to questions put by ministers on the six loci of dogmatics, the knowledge of scripture and the confessions, controversy, and practica, Pastor-Elect Brummel was given the good news that the classis, with the concurrence of the delegates ad examina from Classis West (Revs....

Blame It on the Brain: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience, by Edward T. Welch. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1998. 204 pp.$12.99, (paper). [Reviewed by Prof. Robert D. Decker.] This is a good book on a difficult subject, a subject which continues to occupy the attention of practical theologians, pastors, Christian psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and educators. The difficult subject is this: Is what we call mental illness sin or sickness, or does it partake of both? Our ministers and Christian school teachers ought to read the book carefully. They will find help in dealing...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. In the last article we contended that Reformed churches have done more than the Romish, Anglican, Lutheran, and Baptist churches to restore the diaconate to its rightful place in the church. This the Reformed churches could do because they understood that Scripture requires the church to have the office of deacon in her midst, and requires that the work of the office be that of caring for the poor and needy. We will support our contention further by examining more closely the place of the diaconate in...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Randolph, Wisconsin. Belonging to Christ’s exaltation is His ascension into heaven. Forty days after His resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His human nature, ascended into heaven in the presence of His disciples, after having given them the promise that He would come again and take them and all His own unto Himself, that where He is, there we may be also. The fact that Christ is no longer on earth may seem to be contrary to that which would be for our spiritual good. Wouldn’t it be better if...

Rev. Cammenga is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. Since it is proper that the matrimonial state be confirmed in the presence of Christ’s church, according to the form for that purpose, the consistories shall attend to it.  Church Order, Article 70. Historical Background Article 70 concerns the “confirmation” of marriage. The language of the article reflects the Dutch scene in the nineteenth century. Early in the century the Dutch government had assumed the responsibility for performing marriage ceremonies, as the church had urged it to do at the synods of Emden (1586) and Dordrecht (1618-’19). Thus...

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The writing of a history is a most difficult undertaking. The historian spends a great deal of time ascertaining the events and facts of a certain time. He does research. He examines records. He interviews persons closely involved in the matter. The result is a stunning array of facts and figures, relationships, names, persons, and characters. But he cannot take all this raw material and place it in a book in a random order. He must place all of it in the service of a certain thesis,...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Signs of the Times Our attention has been called repeatedly to the signs of which Scripture speaks, the signs which precede the return of our Lord. Jesus speaks of them in Matthew 24. The book of Revelation details the increase in signs as the end approaches. The news media report regularly on those things which are very really a fulfillment of the prophecies of Holy Scripture. Some of these articles I have been collecting over the past number of years. From the Denver Post, September 3, 1998, appears an article...

Next June, God willing, the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) will celebrate the 75th anniversary of their existence as a denomination of Reformed churches. This celebration ought to be the occasion for remembering our history. In the coming months, the churches might well give special classes in this history, especially for the young people and for those who have joined the churches from without. There is always the danger that a generation arises that does not know the works that God has done for Israel (Judges 2:10). Besides, knowledge of our history reminds us who we are and what our calling...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Bauer, Michigan. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth...