Vol 77 Issue 05

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities Rev. B. Gritters and Rev. K. Koole returned home on Tuesday night, October 24, from their two weeks in Northern Ireland for church visitation with Covenant PRC and oversight of our churches’ missionary and his family. Nancy Hanko is recovering well from her surgery. The emissaries have also recommended that Rev. Hanko would be helped by a few more weeks off the pulpit—to which he and the consistory there have consented. Arrangements are now being made to have Rev. J. Slopsema, pastor of First PRC...

Sermons on Melchizedek & Abraham, by John Calvin. Willow Street, PA: Old Paths Publications, 2000. XXIX + 284 pp. $37.95 (cloth). [Reviewed by the editor.] With this reprint in modern English of Calvin’s sermons on Melchizedek and Abraham, Old Paths adds to its growing library of published sermons, long out-of-print, by the Reformer. The book consists of sermons by Calvin on passages in Genesis 14, 15, 21, and Genesis 22. Calvin preached the sermons in French during the years 1559-1561 as part of his series on Genesis. The particular sermons collected in this book were published in English in 1592. They were...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. School Vouchers The question of school vouchers (the government giving to parents a “voucher” which can be used for tuition payments in private and Christian schools) is very much in the news in Michigan. Some prominent men in the state, including some very wealthy ones, have been pushing for this. Other states and municipalities have also been considering this—or have already enacted measures to provide for such vouchers. The whole idea of “vouchers” is very appealing. After all, why should not those who pay taxes for the education of...

Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa. As we begin our consideration of the Holy Spirit’s work in our salvation, we look first at the wonder of regeneration, otherwise known as spiritual rebirth, being born again. The very concept of being born again sets before us an urgent necessity. You must be born again! Those were the words of Jesus to Nicodemus in John 3. That necessity is set before us in Scripture by use of a contrast between natural life and spiritual life. Every man is born into what is generally called life. That birth,...

* A paper given originally for the officebearers’ conference of Classis West of the PRC on March 2, 1999 in Redlands, CA. Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Hudsonville PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan. Introduction Reacting against one evil always opens up the believer to the danger of falling headlong into another. One who sees and hates the abuse of government power against the common citizen must be warned against the equally virulent evil of the militia mentality. Responding to Roman Catholicism must not incline one to Anabaptism. There are always errors, not just on one side, but on both sides...

Mr. Kamps is the retiring secretary for the RFPA board. Dear RFPA Members and Friends, Having recently completed another year of publishing, we once more thankfully acknowledge the keeping and provision of our faithful God and Savior. The RFPA is bustling with activity and work. The many-faceted aspects of the work are carried out by board members, editors, writers, translators, volunteers, copy designers, committee members, and managers, all aiming with one purpose to witness to the heritage that is ours in the Reformed faith. Our Standard Bearer now goes to 48 states, all except North Dakota and Utah, and to...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Walker, Michigan. I was asked to speak tonight on our calling to read good, theological works. My theme I take from two passages in the book of Proverbs: The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things Prov. 15:28. Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief Prov. 24:1, 2. Those are the two realities. One either studies to answer, or he studies destruction. The...

Rev. Hanko is missionary-pastor of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Northern Ireland. Introduction In the previous article we looked at what Knox wrote about the covenant in relation to baptism. We saw that in those writings his doctrine of predestination dominated, so that his view of the covenant, though not fully developed, was there soundly biblical, the emphasis being on the eternal and unbreakable character of that covenant and its establishment with the elect only. In this article we hope to show that in his other writings, particularly his political writings, he went in another, less biblical direction and...

The Goal of Foreign Missions Please grant me the opportunity to respond to the letter of Mr. Paul Goh, entitled “Indigenous Churches,” which was included in the October 1, 2000 edition of the Standard Bearer. In his letter, the brother criticized the mission work of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA), particularly our foreign mission work. This requires a constructive response. In the first place, the PRCA are committed to establishing churches on our mission fields which are self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. By perusing the Foreign Mission Committee reports in the Acts of Synod and the special Standard Bearer...

“Who . . . hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Colossians 1:13 The basic idea of the kingdom is the rule of God—the living, actual, liberating, saving, blessed rule of God in Jesus Christ. We may think of it this way. The whole world lies enslaved to the reign of Satan. Into this world breaks the reign of God, freeing many from the misery, terror, sin, death, and hell of the dark lord, translating them into the knowledge, righteousness, peace, and life of His reign. This is what Jesus proclaimed at the beginning of His ministry:...