Vol 76 Issue 21

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Minister Activities On the evening of August 7 the congregation of the Randolph, WI PRC met to call a pastor. From a trio of the Revs. Ken Koole, Wayne Bekkering, and Doug Kuiper, they extended a call to Rev. Doug Kuiper. He will give his answer on September 17. (He declined.) Rev. Arie denHartog declined the call he had been extended by the Hope PRC in Walker, MI to serve as minister-on-loan to our sister churches in Singapore. Since that decline, Hope has formed a new trio...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. In writing on the nature of the diaconate, we are explaining how the characteristics of an office in the church of Jesus Christ apply to the diaconate. We defined an office as “a position given by God to men, in the sphere of the covenant, in which He authorizes them to serve Him in that sphere.” The characteristic of office which we have already examined is that of authority. Deacons have authority. Authority implies service. Authority is never simply glitter and glamour, merely a respectable position, devoid...

Mrs. Meyer is a wife and mother in Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan. Treasures. We have them. No, not gold or rubies or pearls, though we might actually own some of those things. No, our treasure is spiritual in nature. We know this is and ought to be the case: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2). But here is the problem—we by nature are not spiritual. We are spiritually dead. By nature all we see are the gold and rubies and pearls. That new man within us has to fight the...

Worship According to the Man on the Street A neighbor of my mother-in-law recently handed me the Standard Bearer issues, May 1 and 15, 2000. I read and digested your editorials entitled, “Shall We Please God or (Certain Kinds of) People or, The Regulative Principle of Worship.” My initial response may seem rather remote. Your beliefs regarding worship remind me of Stophorst, Netherlands. Stophorst is a place where nothing has changed over the years. Consequently, Stophorst is a tourist attraction, a quaint place to visit, an oddity. The Stophorst Reformed Churches have quite a bit to offer theologically, even though...

The two preceding editorials in this brief series summarized two extraordinarily significant articles that appeared in the April 2000 issue of the Calvin Theological Journal (CTJ). The articles recalled and reconsidered the controversy in the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) over common grace. This controversy resulted in that church’s adoption of three points of common grace in 1924 and in the formation of the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) shortly thereafter. The first article, by Christian Reformed seminary professor John Bolt, examines the history surrounding the synodical decision of 1924, particularly the deposition of Rev. Herman Hoeksema. The second article, by Christian...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:10, 11 The Protestant Reformed Churches have recently commemorated their 75th anniversary. In 1924 the synod of the Christian Reformed Church determined that the Bible taught that God has a favorable attitude toward every human in all the world. It was said that this general favor...