Vol 87 Issue 05

Previous article in this series: March 1, 2010, p. 254. It has been some time now since our last article on this subject. We asked the question in the last article whether or not it is proper for families or confessing individuals in existing churches to move to a place of an established mission field? Our answer to this question is: yes. We recognize, however, that there are objections to this position. There are legitimate questions that arise in this connection. It is for that reason we are trying to examine the issue a little more closely. Before extolling the...

School Activities In our “before it gets too late to mention department,” we want to let our readers know about an apple pie fundraiser the PTA of Genesis PR Christian School in Lacombe, AB, Canada organized this fall. Volunteers were needed for three dates in September and October to prepare pie for distribution. Volunteers were asked to meet at Immanuel PRC armed with apple peelers, cutting boards, rolling pins, and other essential items necessary for making pies. Genesis’ goal was to make and sell 300 pies, and they met that goal, realizing a profit of over $2,000 for their school....

Previous article in this series: November 1, 2010, p. 59. *This constitutes the conclusion of the speech given by Prof. B. Gritters at the Seminary Convocation held this year in Southwest PRC in Grandville, MI, on September 15, 2010. The minister’s tools In this physician’s bag is one tool. The one great difference between the medical doctor and the physician of souls is that the minister has but one instrument—a potent medicine, a powerful instrument of healing. It is the very word of God. This the Scriptures make clear. “He sent his word and healed them” (Ps. 107:20). “My words...

Another study report among many such reports by Reformed and Presbyterian denominations on the federal vision—the heretical movement that for more than ten years has plagued Reformed and Presbyterian churches— has arrived on the ecclesiastical scene. This sixty-page document is courtesy of the United Reformed Churches (URC). At her 2007 Synod Schererville the URC appointed a fourteen-member committee to study the issue of the federal vision and report to Synod 2010. That Synod 2007 appoint a study committee to examine by the Word of God and our Confessions the teachings of the so-called Federal Vision and other like teachings on...

Mr. Engelsma is a member of Grandville Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan, and secretary of the RFPA. In the Foreword to the First Edition of his book The Sovereignty of God, Arthur W. Pink wrote the following: In addition to the widespread effects of unscriptural teaching, we also have to reckon with the deplorable superficiality of the present generation. To announce that a certain book is a treatise on doctrine is quite sufficient to prejudice against it the great bulk of church members…. The craving today is for something light and spicy, and few have patience, still less desire,...

Whenever we gather to give thanks, we should remember what Scripture teaches about the activity, especially this time of year when even the ungodly claim to engage in it. Thanksgiving is essentially an act of worship performed only by faith. Although we thank each other and consider it courteous, with few exceptions thanksgiving in Scripture is directed entirely to God. Giving thanks is a sacrifice of praise, a freewill offering of the heart to express our gratitude to God (Heb. 13:15; Lev. 22:29). Entering His gates with thanksgiving is simply part of our reasonable service and payment of our vows...

Previous article in this series: September 15, 2010, p 494.

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2010, p 76. Dear Reformed Christian Young People (and their parents), By now I hope it has become clear to you that, although the issue of church and kingdom is important for Christian college students, it reaches far beyond the Christian colleges. The new views of God’s kingdom affect everything. These views, which make church narrow and kingdom wide, and make church of importance only as it serves kingdom causes, affect all spheres of life. They drive mission works and church planting efforts: churches are needed to redeem culture and transform society, and...

“But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” Matthew 21:37-40The parable of the wicked husbandmen illustrates the wickedness of the Jews, who rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God, out of their own selfish ambition. Despite...