Vol 78 Issue 11

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities   Our churches’ two missionaries to Ghana, Revs. Bekkering and Moore, have recently begun a study class for future officebearers. These classes were scheduled to continue from January until June, with instruction given by Rev. Moore. All men 18 and older were encouraged to attend. This class was viewed as a very important first step with respect to the future establishment of a congregation there in the future, the Lord willing. Rev. J. Mahtani, our churches’ missionary to Pittsburgh, PA, began a new series in...

Dictionary of the Presbyterian & Reformed Tradition in America, ed. D. G. Hart and Mark A. Noll. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999. Pp. vii + 286. $16.99 (paper). [Reviewed by the editor.] The editors of this new dictionary are right when they claim that it “fills a significant gap in historical and theological reference works.” This dictionary concentrates on the many aspects of the development of the Reformed faith in America. It pays special attention to prominent persons and to churches. The coverage is thorough. The explanations are succinct and usually accurate. There are also longer essays on themes,...

January 9, 2002 First PRC of Holland, Michigan Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 9, 2002 at the First PRC of Holland, Michigan. All the churches were represented by two delegates. The January session of classis devotes much of its time to voting. Elected as delegates to synod are the following: MINISTERS: Primi: W. Bruinsma, R. Cammenga, B. Gritters, J. Slopsema, R. Van Overloop; Secundi: M. Dick, K. Koole, D.H. Kuiper, J. Laning, C. Terpstra; ELDERS: Primi: H. Boer, G. Kaptein, W. Koops, E. Ophoff, Sr., G. Terpstra; Secundi: T. Bodbyl, K. Feenstra, S. Miedema, T. Pipe,...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. On December 15, 2001 yours truly punted Dating off a cliff and into the sea. Then, on that Date, I encouraged you, dear readers, to do the same. Readers of “Grace Life” will be reminded that it is a specific kind of Dating which I believe must die. It is the Dating with the very poor figure, for it is Dating shaped by principles of the world. It is the Dating with disease on her breath, for all that is of the world is not of God, and...

Mr. Kalsbeek is a teacher in Covenant Christian High School and a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan. “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.” I Chronicles 12:32 Truth is dead! So say the postmodern-ists of today. For the postmodernist there is no possibility of objective truth; reality is only a construction of the mind. Truth is what each person or culture wants it to be, and one...

George Ophoff was Professor of Old Testament Studies in the Protestant Reformed Seminary in its early days. Reprinted here, in edited form, are articles which Ophoff wrote at that time for the Standard Bearer. We have seen that, already at the dawn of human history, the mother promise was a most remarkable revelation of the course of events determined upon by Jehovah God. Two seeds, there are—the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Between the two there will be, throughout all of history, perpetual strife—a strife set by none other than God Himself. And the outcome...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Introduction The Reformation was, of course, a return to the doctrine, liturgy, and church government of Scripture over against the departures and apostasy of Roman Catholicism. But the reformers, as difficult a task as they had in their opposition to Rome, faced the additional problem of radicals in the Reformation movement. In some ways, this radical movement was a greater threat to the success of the Reformation than Rome itself. All the reformers, though they had their differences on some points of doctrine, were...

Mr. Wassink is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Seventeen years ago my wife, Donna, and I, with our four oldest children, lived and worshiped with the saints in Northern Ireland who would eventually become part of our sister church there. Perhaps some of you remember that we taught in a small Christian school in the town of Ballyclare, where our friends sent their children. In the good providence of God my wife and I revisited Northern Ireland for two weeks in the middle of January 2002. We rejoiced at the growth we saw in the...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. What’s This About Harry? Almost everyone knows about Harry—Harry Potter, that is. Most children and many adults read the books about his exploits in the realm of witchcraft. Now there is the movie that has been wildly successful. Debates about the books (and now, movie) have continued since the appearance of the first book. Do these books promote witchcraft? Do they lead children into this evil that is so clearly forbidden in Scripture? Some schools have refused to place the books on their library shelves. Parents have sought to...

A temptation of the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC) at the present hour is to suppose that the issues involved in the common grace controversy that begat them have somehow become minor. Symptoms   It is a danger that the churches quietly yield to this subtle temptation. Then the ministers no longer expose and condemn common grace, by name, in their public preaching in connection with their bold, distinct proclamation of particular grace. They fall silent, not only because they like to show a friendly face toward other churches but also because they doubt that common grace is one of the...