Vol 79 Issue 04

Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Congregation Activities   Ladies from both the First PRC in Edmonton, AB, Canada and the Immanuel PRC in Lacombe were invited by the Covenant Ladies’ Circle of First to a Festive Fall Fellowship on September 25 at their church. Rev. R. Miersma, pastor at Immanuel, spoke on the theme “The Woman’s Spiritual Beauty,” based on God’s Word found in I Peter 3:1-12. In addition to a worthwhile and challenging speech, the ladies also had the opportunity to enjoy a time of Psalm singing, a delicious lunch, a good...

Miss Lubbers is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan and administrator of Eastside Christian School. The Christian faith is a gift of God that in a very real sense is a story—the true story of the triune God and His people. Thinking about Christian education in narrative terms or in terms of the Christian story causes one to ask the question, how does the Christian school fit into the story of God and His people, and the question really becomes, how does the Christian school serve the mission of God. The story of God and...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. According to Scripture and our confessions, true faith consists not only of knowledge but also of confidence. One who has such a faith not only holds for truth all that God has revealed in Scripture, but also is assured that the promised blessings of salvation are not only for others, but also for him personally (Lord’s Day 7). There are many, however, who would strip faith of this element of confidence, and would maintain that the believer in this life rarely, if ever, comes to the full assurance...

Rev. Gritters is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. In other words, the ruling elders should encourage, advise, and give constructive criticism to the pastor in his role as chief teaching elder for the congregation. The pulpit can be a lonely place. The pastor who stands there from week to week without such support from his fellow elders is called to bear a burden too heavy for one pair of shoulders. (Lawrence Eyres, in The Elders of the Church)One great encouragement in my ministry is that there always has been at least one elder in the consistory...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Faith is a many-splendored thing. The Word of God uses the word faith so often, it has so many meanings and implications, and it is such a power in the Christian’s life, that to write a page about faith runs the danger of not doing it justice at all! What a wonderful gift of God to us unworthy, sinful creatures! Indeed, faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). And Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). Further, as the Canons (III/IV, 14)...

Mr. Lanning is a member of Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church and a science teacher at Covenant Christian High School (GR). In order to understand the in vitro fertilization procedure, an understanding of a little embryology is necessary. A woman normally develops one mature egg cell per month. This mature egg is released from an ovary and travels to the Fallopian tube on its way to the uterus. It is in the Fallopian tube that fertilization usually occurs. The egg takes about five days after fertilization to travel from the tube to the uterus. If the egg has been fertilized, and...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Controversy in America   The two different camps found a home in the CRC. Because the followers of Kuyper were among the more educated among the people in the Netherlands, they soon occupied positions of leadership in the denomination in America and became influential in Calvin College. But the differences between the immigrants from the Secession Churches and the Kuyperian Churches were sharp and deep. The two groups not only did not get along in the Netherlands (even though both churches merged in 1892),...

Rev. Koole is pastor of Faith Protestant Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan. Willingly Blind to What’s Really Behind the Scandal The recent exposure of what Rome’s clergy have been involved in, both in sexual scandal and in hierarchical cover-up, has become a ‘double-exposure.’ What is being exposed (once again) is not only Rome’s scandalous inner workings, but also the bias and sheer hypocrisy of the liberally-trained news media. There is something that the news media do not want to address, namely, the real sin that has prompted the reprehensible behavior of Rome’s priests. And it is not the sin of...

Basic to the doctrine of common grace is the notion that God has another purpose with history besides the redemption of the church. That additional purpose is the development of culture by the world of ungodly men and women. In support of “multiple divine purposes” with history, Richard J. Mouw intriguingly proposes a new understanding of the infralapsarian order of God’s decrees. Infralap-sarianism, which places the decree of predestination after the decree of creation, allows for, if it does not require, a purpose of God with history alongside the purpose of redemption. This is the purpose that the ungodly develop...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 We are His workmanship. The truth of this text explains the precious truth contained in two previous verses. Saved by grace. And nothing but grace. “By grace are ye saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8a). Because it is grace, then it cannot be works. At least, not our works—not human works. “And that not of yourself: it is the gift of God: not of...