All Articles For Vol 82 Issue 14 4/15/2006

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan.   School Activities  The student body of Adams Christian School in Wyoming, MI presented a program entitled “Singing Christians Heavenward Bound” on Friday evening, March 17, at the Southwest PRC. Supporters of Eastside Christian School in Grand Rapids, MI were invited to attend a meeting at their school sponsored by the Eastside Promoters on March 16 featuring Dr. Randy Flood speaking on the topic, “Bullying and What to Do About It.”  Young People’s Activities  The Young People’s Society of the Hull, IA PRC invited their congregation to...

Rev. Kortering is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Previous article in this series: March, 15, 2005, p. 276. God is a God of order. Within the covenant sphere He uses believing parents to nurture, influence, and mold the hearts of children. Outside the covenant sphere He uses believers to reach out to others to share the gospel with them and, by the work of His Holy Spirit, to draw them within the covenant sphere. In mission work, God has bound together the preaching of the gospel and the personal witness of the believer as His ordained way...

Reprinted from When Thou Sittest In Thine House, by Abraham Kuyper, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1929. Used by permission of Eerdmans Publishing Co.   Brothers and Sisters The relation of brother to brother is the first, which after that of husband to wife, has originated among men. After having heard of Adam and Eve, we hear of Cain and Abel, even with the dreadful outcome that the one brother murders the other. This last is not accidental, and points to the grave danger that lurks in the brotherly relation. Cain killed Abel, not because Abel had...

Mr. VanEngen, a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hull, Iowa, is a practicing attorney. In December of 2005, the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued its decision in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.¹ The case received national attention as one of the first challenges to the teaching of “Intelligent Design” as an alternative to the theory of Evolution. The district court’s opinion was not appealed, and therefore the decision is not binding precedent for other districts. However, the decision and the rationale behind it have already been relied on by others...

Prof. Hanko is professor emeritus of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in ths series: February 1, 2006, p. 208.   Introduction  Walter Rauschenbusch is usually considered the father of the modern social gospel. Born in Germany into a Lutheran family with strong pietistic Lutheran influences, he became a Baptist when his family immigrated to America and joined the Baptist Church. Early in his college career, influenced especially by the liberal Horace Bushnell, he was moved to ever greater distances from his relatively orthodox roots in the direction of a newer and more modern...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. Previous article in this series: April 1, 2006, p. 297.   The Second Disputation: Chapter 1:6-2:9 (continued)   2:1. And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.  2:2. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.  2:3. Behold, I will corrupt...

Rev. Langerak is pastor of the Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Blood is an amazing fluid. Blood is the life of all flesh (Gen. 9:4). From one blood, God made all nations on the earth (Acts 17:26). The blood of grapes is life-giving juice (Gen. 49:11). Taken by faith, the blood of the New Testament grape enlivens the weak and sickly (I Cor. 11:30). Since blood is the life of animals, it could not be eaten with their flesh; God gave it as an atonement for souls (Lev. 17:11-14). The old covenant blood purged almost all things:...

Rev. Kuiper is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Randolph, Wisconsin. Previous article in this series: April 1, 2006, p. 303. Of the two institutions in Geneva that served those in need, one was the hospital. As we noted in our last article, this was an “institution” in the sense in which we use the term today—it had a building, a board of directors, and full-time and volunteer staff. Here the poor, sick, widowed, orphans, travelers, and others found help. Especially noteworthy is the fact that the hospital was overseen by the deacons of Geneva. The other institution was...

Rev. VanBaren is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches.   The Pressure for Conformity  There is increasing evidence across the world that Christians are being forced to conform to what the world considers acceptable action towards others—or face the consequences. What is considered to be acceptable is not determined on the basis of Scripture, but rather on the prevailing “morality” of the day. In some places it has become a “hate crime” to condemn homosexuality and to label it as sin. It is considered criminal in some nations to condemn other religions. Woe be to those who draw...

The mission labors of the Protestant Reformed Churches are worthy of heartiest support and earnest prayers. Mission work stands at the heart of the church’s labors. Doing missions is obedience to Jesus Christ’s last words to His church. It is nothing less than obedience to divine commission. About this, the apostle Paul once said to king Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the divine vision.” The PRC must not fail to carry out this mandate. That missions consumes from one quarter to one third of the entire budget of synod—recently that was a half million dollars for the year—is no...