Vol 82 Issue 12

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.   Young People’s Activities  The News is convinced that if you had the time, money, and appetite this time of year, you could quite possibly eat your way across North America, stopping at various of our congregations for either breakfast, dinner, or perhaps even a little shopping. Recent bulletins have been full of fund-raisers, organized by our young people, raising money for this summer’s Young People’s convention. You could have started at the Loveland, CO PRC on January 14 with a pancake breakfast, then driven on to...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. Previous article in this series: March 1, 2006, p. 247. The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals given by Christ to the church to confirm the faith of His covenant people. They are not empty signs, as some make them out to be. Rather, they really are means of grace by which the Spirit of Christ strengthens the faith that He has worked by the preaching. They are not empty signs, but seals. They seal unto us God’s promise, and thus confirm or strengthen our faith. Therefore,...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: December 1, 2005, p. 116.   Introduction  Charles Finney is usually considered to be the father of the Second Great Awakening. He became a minister in the Presbyterian Church in the US without attending any seminary and with only an incomplete college education. He remained a minister in the Presbyterian Church until the time he became professor of theology in Oberlin Institute in Ohio. Just before he moved to Oberlin he resigned from the Presbyterian Church and established a...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: February 15, 2006, p. 234.   Paul’s Surprise at and Warning Against Apostasy Among the Galatians “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” Galatians 1:6, 7 Having concluded his greetings, and being about to start the defense of his apostleship, Paul first of all expresses amazement at...

Rev. Kortering is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Previous article in this series: December 14, 2005, p. 139. We ought to pause a moment to get our bearing as to where we are going with this series of articles. The general theme is “Personal Evangelism.” We are considering this subject in connection with the efforts of each local church to do outreach ministry. Our contention is that any such effort must include and emphasize the importance of personal evangelism by the members of the congregation. We wrote two articles that set forth the legitimacy of the activity...

Mrs. Miersma is the wife of Rev. Thomas Miersma, missionary in Spokane, Washington. Mine!” shouts the two-year-old with furrowed brow. “Give it to me!” Nearly everyone, especially those who are parents, has heard these words at one time or another. Psychologists tell us that the child is simply learning to distinguish between what is his and what is another’s. While there may be a grain of truth in this idea, we can also see that such behavior is often the expression of the sinful nature we are born with. Shaking our heads and smiling a little, we reflect that the...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches.   WARC and REC    There have been many strange (perhaps a better word would be “sad”) developments in the church world generally and more specifically within the Reformed church world the past few years. We are most concerned about those developments within the Reformed church circles—and especially in the Reformed churches in the Netherlands and in America. These are the churches most closely related to our own denomination, since we have our roots in them. The drive toward unity of churches is growing ever stronger. The scriptural basis...

Previous article in this series: March 1, p. 244. The Declaration of Principles has four sections. The third part of the Declaration begins: “Seeing this is the clear teaching of our confessions…We repudiate … And we maintain….” The “clear teaching” which forms the basis of the third part was set forth in the previous articles. Briefly, it is as follows. In part one, the Declaration demonstrates that the doctrine of common grace and the well-meant offer as adopted by the Christian Reformed Church in 1924 is contrary to the Reformed confessions’ teaching on grace, total depravity, and the particularity of...

Rev. VanOverloop is pastor of Byron Center Protestant Reformed Church in Byron Center, Michigan. Those who are saved by grace alone are to live in a way that harmonizes with this salvation. It is a life of being “not conformed to this world,” but “transformed by the renewing of your mind,” evidencing the “good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). First, this means that our God-given gifts are to be used in a sober and gracious way. Also, salvation by grace alone calls for constantly “serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). And in our text we learn that...