Vol 85 Issue 10

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. School Activities On January 6, the School Boards of Adams, Eastside, and Heritage Christian Schools in and around Grand Rapids, MI each held a special society meeting for the sole purpose of approving their respective recommendations to move their 9th grade students to Covenant Christian High School at the earliest time possible. This recommendation came after each school board reviewed the information provided to them by the Ninth Grade Forum Committee, a committee formed from these three feeder schools and Covenant Christian High to look at the...

January 14, 2009 Grandville Protestant Reformed Church Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at the Grandville PRC. All the churches were represented by two delegates. Guests at the classis were the church history students of Covenant Christian High School. Rev. J. Laning served as chairman for this meeting. Two appeals and a protest to Synod 2009 were received at this meeting. Both appeals were considered not to be legally before classis. One because the material received by classis had no response from the appellant’s consistory because this consistory did not receive the material from the...

Rev. Langerak is pastor of Southeast Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Expository Genius of John Calvin, by Steven J. Lawson. Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007. ISBN 1567690858. 142 pp. Hardcover. Available at monergismbooks.com ($11.25), christianbook.com ($12.99), or publisher at Ligonier.org ($12.00). Reviewed by Rev. Douglas J. Kuiper. Steven Lawson, pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, AL, begins a series of short books under the series “A Long Line of Godly Men Profile.” Upcoming books in this series will focus on Martin Luther, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, and others. Lawson argues that the situation in the evangelical...

Prof. Cammenga is professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: October 1, 2008, p. 11. “The ministers of the Word, elders, and deacons shall before the celebration of the Lord’s Supper exercise Christian censure among themselves, and in a friendly spirit admonish one another with regard to the discharge of their office.”  Church Order, Article 81. Introduction The practice of censura morum is longstanding in the Reformed churches. From the beginning of their existence, the Protestant Reformed Churches have followed the practice. Last time we began our consideration of Article 81 by tracing...

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. As God’s people, we are pilgrims and strangers here on this earth. This world is not our permanent home. We are here for just a short time. Each of us is traveling through this world and life with a view to reaching our eternal destination in heaven. And once we arrive there we will say: “Now I’m no longer a stranger. Finally I’m home!” Consider Abraham. Abraham was called by God to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees and to live in Canaan. In that new...

Rev. Bruinsma is Eastern Home MIssionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Previous article in this series: December 15, 2008, p. 135. The church is a witnessing church. It is not just theduty of the church to witness. It is not just hercalling. The true church always leaves a witness. She does so in her preaching, but she also does this in the lives of her members. True believers will always be a godly witness in their confession and in their walk. This forms the foundation of the involvement of laity in mission work. Because the church is...

Rev. Spriensma is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This might seem like the line for an employee let go from his job in our depressed economy, or for a lawyer whose case got thrown out of court. But rather this is the recent story reported in Timemagazine (Jan. 5, 2009) of President Bush when he went to Bagdad. Unlike the time when, in 2003, elated Iraqis in Firdos Square rained their loafers and boots on a fallen statue of Saddam Hussein, now it was President George W. Bush who had to duck flying footwear at a 2008...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. Previous article in this series: December 15, 2008, p. 127. Wisdom’s Doctrine The most important parts of the book of Proverbs are Wisdom’s three speeches, found in Prov. 1:20-33,Prov. 8:1-36, and Prov. 9:1-18. In those three speeches Wisdom identifies Himself as the Son of God and demands a hearing of all who come within the range of His voice. In those speeches is found the principal doctrinal content of Proverbs, the doctrine applied in all the wise sayings of the book. The doctrines taught in these discourses are especially two:...

Prof. Engelsma is professor emeritus of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Previous article in this series: December 1, 2008, p. 132. Introduction With the subject of the millennium, we turn from “personal eschatology” (the truth of the intermediate state of the believer) to “cosmic,” or “general,” eschatology. The intermediate state concerns the end of the believer personally at death. The subject of the millennium begins the treatment of the end of the human race, of history, and of the present form of the universe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Of course, the believer also...

By this time perhaps most have seen the little video about the PRC. If you haven’t, you can view it at your leisure on the PRC website (www.prca.org). And, we understand, it has made its appearance on YouTube as well. It is a well-designed 10-minute presentation produced by AIM (Active In Missions), done in a professional manner, introducing the PRC to the interested and the curious. Its central message is that we as Protestant Reformed believers are convinced there is such a thing as The Truth, and that this Truth, as set forth in God’s infallible Word, can be known...