Vol 86 Issue 08

Mr. Wigger is a member of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. Mission Activities Pastor Daniel Kleyn and his wife, Sharon, left on December 15 for the Philippines to begin their work in missions there. They will be joining Rev. Richard Smit, his wife, Tricia, and their children, and together they will help the newly formed Berean PR Church in Manila, as well as develop the mission outreach into other areas in the Philippines. The calling and needs will be great, but God’s grace and faithfulness will be greater. We commend them in our prayers to the word of...

Rev. Haak is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan and radio pastor for the Reformed Witness Hour, on which this message was aired. The subject that we will consider is the single, most important truth of God for you to know. Absolutely everything else in your life, and every other possible concern you might have today, fades into insignificance before this subject. The subject will speak of the only possibility for your soul to stand before God. It will answer the most basic question of human life. That question is this: How shall I be right with...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Grand Rapids, Michigan. No one seeking to exegete Genesis 1 would ever come to the conclusion that the days spoken of were symbolic references to long periods of time. This teaching does not arise out of exegesis. It arises out of the carnal mind of men who desire to make the teachings of Scripture acceptable to unbelievers. The matter is not a confusing one. The Scriptures are very clear on the subject. All we need to do is believe those Scriptures, and our view on the subject will be...

Rev. VanderWal is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…” Isaiah 30:15with its noise, the world is too much with us. There is the noise of the street, the noise of people talking and calling out to one another, the noise of chatter on cell phones. There is the noise of horns honking and sirens wailing. There is the noise of the media, television with oh-so-many channels, radio, newscasts, broadcasts....

Rev. Bruinsma is Eastern Home Missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Previous article in this series: March 1, 2009, p. 255. Work-groups Visiting a mission field is beneficial both for the saints on the mission field and for those who visit the work. It gives the visitor a broader perspective of the church of Christ in this world. It also rekindles an appreciation for the precious truths God has graciously entrusted into our care and safekeeping. If a visit to a mission work accomplishes this, then volunteer labor on a mission field does so even more....

Rev. Kleyn is pastor of Covenant of Grace Protestant Reformed Church in Spokane, Washington. Previous article in this series: October 15, 2009, p. 41. Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 4 Question 9. Doth not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in His law, that which he cannot perform? Answer. Not at all; for God made man capable of performing it; but man, by the instigation of the devil, and his own willful disobedience, deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts. Question 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? Answer. By...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2009, p. 111. The next item in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 is gentleness. This word is sometimes translated elsewhere in the Bible as “kindness.” This is another virtue that we learn to desire and that we pray that the Spirit of Christ will work in us more and more by the means of grace and His inner working. In fact, it is one virtue that the Lord calls us “to put on” in Colossians 3:12. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,…...

Rev. Spronk is pastor of Peace Protestant Reformed Church in Lansing, Illinois. On November 20 Charles Colson and his ecumenical friends released the “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience.”1 Colson and his friends have invited Christians “to [join] together across historic lines of ecclesiastical differences to affirm our right—and more importantly, to embrace our obligation—to speak and act in defense” of three truths: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of...

As always, the Standard Bearer is a blessing. Just read the article on growing old, by Rev. Rodney Miersma, who, I see, is applying for emeritation, i.e., retiring from the ministry. Well, retirement is not so far away for me either—2012 or 2015, D.V. I found myself identifying with much of what he wrote, especially the inevitability of dying. I should just like to mention a few verses that are also very applicable as we approach the winter of our lives and ought to encourage us—Psalm 92:13-15: Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in...

Previous article in this series: January 1, 2010, p. 148. The Formula (or Form) of Subscription (FOS) is a form that Reformed churches require all their officebearers to sign. These churches do so because they love the Reformed faith, and thus determine to adhere to the adopted confessions—to Reformed confessions. The heart of the form is this promise: We not only believe what the confessions teach, we will uphold and defend them. The FOS was formulated by churches in the Netherlands—churches in the thick of the battle for the truth of the Reformation. The history of the form indicates the...