All Articles For Vol 83 Issue 14 4/15/2007

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Denomination Activities  In early March, the Doon, Iowa PRC hosted a meeting of Classis West. The day before that meeting, March 6, the delegates to Classis, as well as any past and present officebearers, as well as all interested people, were invited to attend an Officebearers’ Conference. This particular conference took an in-depth look at the whole area of Pentecost and Pentecostalism. Rev. Martin VanderWal, pastor of Hope PRC in Redlands, CA, delivered the keynote address, speaking on the theme, “The Outpouring of the Spirit: Pentecost and...

March 7-8, 2007 On Wednesday, March 7, Classis West convened at the Doon PRC in Doon, Iowa. On the day previous, an officebearers’ conference was held. The conference dealt with the truth of the Holy Spirit under the theme “Pentecost and Pentecostalism.” Four speeches covered the history and work of Christ in the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost, an overview of Pentecostalism, a defense of the truth that the special gifts of the Holy Spirit (miracles, tongue speaking, and prophecy) were only temporary gifts during the apostolic age, and a treatment of the work of the Spirit of Christ...

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.   Means of Management However spiritual the note that from God’s heaven is sounded in the everlasting gospel, it never went so high but that in Holy Scripture the very prosaic “account of income and outgo” also could come to its own (Phil. 4:15, Dutch Version). Altogether different from what you find with visionary people. With them it is said that writing books of poetry and keeping account of one’s finance cannot go together. To keep book,...

Rev. Miersma is western home missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches. In every aspect of our life and calling, both as believers and as churches, we labor under the sovereignty of God, and we ought, moreover, to labor in the consciousness of it. Just as this consciousness in our daily life includes both God’s counsel and God’s moral will, so it is in our mission work, in our evangelism, and in the labor of the ministry. Christ, in His work as our Mediator and Savior, sets a certain pattern before us. He constantly speaks of His Father’s will respecting His...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Previous article in this series: February 1, 2007, p. 206. One of the most important elements of worship is the reading of the Scriptures. Because God is the object of worship, His Word must be central. The reading of that Word should therefore be given a prominent place, and the people of God must see to it that they participate in it as much as in any other part of worship. It ought to be obvious that the reading of Scripture belongs in worship. If the Bible is...

Rev. Dick is pastor of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Standale, Michigan. According to Scripture’s log, only believers boat. The rest, the wicked, are lost at sea. In fact, the wicked are not only lost at sea. They are the sea, or at least quite similar, spiritually speaking. What sea are sinners like? They are like a big sea, and a deep. For the entire human race is lost; a vast sea of unholy nations. And the sin-lostness is as deep as the great Mariana Trench; as deep as the deceitful heart (Jer. 17:9). As well, this sea of nations...

Rev. Haak is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan and radio pastor of the Reformed Witness Hour. This article was aired on April 15, 2001. All of us, at one time or another, have experienced one of the most sobering acts for mortal men and women: entering into a cemetery. Perhaps it was when you stood by the graveside of your loved one and saw the coffin poised over the open grave, soon to be lowered and covered with the earth. Maybe it was when you went to visit the grave of your father, your mother, brother,...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of Trinity Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. Blame it on the… Perhaps, with me, you took note of NASA’s response to the recent sex and attempted murder scandal among its elite astronauts (“NASA Reviews Mental Health Testing,” Grand Rapids Press, February 8, 2007). The morning after I read of NASA’s disappointing response, “a breath of fresh air” came across my e-mail under the title “The Booze Didn’t Make You Do It.” Here is the article in full (Breakpoint Commentaries, February 9, 2007,www.breakpoint.com). If you ever doubted the complete triumph of the therapeutic culture in America, look...

Previous article in this series: April 1, 2007, p. 292.

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; And my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: Then spake I with my tongue, LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; That I may know how frail...