Vol 76 Issue 16

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregation Activities If you can remember back to the February 15th issue of the “News,” then you might remember an item about a committee being appointed by the consistory of the Hudsonville, MI PRC to look at possible solutions to their overcrowding “problems.” This committee was contacted by the Hudsonville Reformed Church to inform them that their present building is for sale. This church is located on the northwest corner of School St. and Van Buren in Hudsonville. Some of you “older” readers may remember that the...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. In the last article we noted that the diaconate is an office of authority. Before treating other aspects of the nature of the diaconate, we add this appendix to the subject of authority, in which we will show that authority requires confidentiality on the part of officebearers. Of the need for confidentiality in the work we must all be reminded regularly. The pastor (or the vice-president of the council in the absence of a pastor) does well to remind the officebearers of this need at the annual...

Mr. Doezema is secretary of the Domestic Mission Committee. Our domestic home missionaries make reports to their respective calling churches and the Domestic Mission Committee on a regular—at least bimonthly—basis. In those reports they keep the two bodies abreast of developments as they occur. In addition to the bimonthly reports, each of the three missionaries also submits an annual report, which is included in the agenda for synod and constitutes an important part of the information provided that assembly to give it a sense of what’s actually happening in the various fields of labor. Those annual reports, however, are more...

Rev. Cammenga is secretary of the Committee for Contact with Other Churches. The Constitution of the Committee for Contact with Other Churches expresses the conviction of the Protestant Reformed Churches that it is “…their sacred duty to manifest the true unity and catholicity of the church on earth in as far as that is possible, not only in their denominational fellowship but also in conjunction with all churches which have obtained like precious faith with us, both domestic and foreign.” This constitution binds upon the Protestant Reformed Churches an ecumenical calling, that is, a calling on behalf of the church...

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Wyckoff, NJ. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Surely, everyone who has ever memorized the beatitudes remembers the first of them all. This is well, for indeed this beatitude is first not only as a matter of order, in the sense that it stands at the beginning or head of the list, but in the sense that it defines the entire sermon of Christ on the kingdom of heaven. These opening verses of the sermon describe for us the citizens of the kingdom...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Walker, Michigan. Before proceeding next time to the subject of the order of salvation, we take one more article to look at the Spirit’s saving work as a whole. We have contrasted this work of the Holy Spirit with the work of the devilish spirit that moves among the Charismatics. We now turn to consider how this work of the Spirit contrasts with work of the powerless spirit of which the Arminians speak. The Arminians often speak about the work of the Holy Spirit convicting the sinner of his sins...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In the last issue of the Standard Bearer we took notice of a trend in Christian high schools and colleges, namely, that of encouraging or even requiring students to perform various kinds of Christian “service.” This service, usually not clearly defined, includes volunteer-type activities—helping the elderly, the poor, the handicapped, etc. Increasingly, schools are requiring students to fulfill a minimum number of hours of service, either for a class, or as a graduation requirement. A mainstay in the programs are “service projects”—planned and sponsored group...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The believer’s only comfort is his sure conviction that with body and soul, in life and in death, he is not his own but belongs to his faithful Savior, Jesus Christ (L.D. I). The believer needs this comfort, no matter what his age or circumstances, because outside of Christ there is exposure to the wrath of God, fear, misery, and death. We need this sense of “belonging”; how wonderful that God provides it to us with an abiding comfort that can never be taken from us and...

On a Distinctive Reformed Doctrine of Salvation I have a couple of questions and comments about “Distinctively Reformed Soteriology” by Rev. Laning in the February 15 issue of the Standard Bearer. First, at the end of the “Limited Atonement” section, we find this phrase: “…and that He did not die for those whom God had reprobated.” I find it more accurate to put it this way: “…and that He did not die for the non-elect.” The difference? I understand that we are all born as reprobates (original sin) and that only the sovereign electing love of God converts us from...

The forgotten “school” for the rearing of the children of the covenant among us is undoubtedly the Sunday School. The work of the home is constantly held before us. The church’s instruction in the catechism classes receives due attention. We stress the importance of our good Protestant Reformed Christian schools. But Sunday School is overlooked. Many of our churches have their Sunday School. Although Sunday School is not an official work of the church like catechism, the consistory promotes and supervises the instruction in Sunday School. Sunday School is for the younger children of the church, usually between the ages...