Vol 88 Issue 10

Minister Activities Rev. Carl Haak, pastor of the Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville, MI, declined the call that was extended to him to serve as the next pastor of the Hope PRC in Walker, MI. The Council of the Loveland, CO PRC granted the request of our Seminary to sponsor the intern-ship of Seminarian Eric Guichelaar, beginning July 1, 2012, God willing, with Loveland’s pastor, Rev. Steven Key, as his mentor. As Rev. Key supplied pulpit for the Edgerton, MN congregation in January, Loveland PRC welcomed to their pulpit and fellowship Seminarian Vernon Ibe, who comes from the Berean PRC in...

January 11, 2012 Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at the Hudsonville PRC. Each church was represented by two delegates. The session was chaired by Rev. Daniel Holstege. The January session is the time for voting. Elected to serve as synodical delegates are the following: MINISTERS: Primi: C. Haak, K. Koole, A. Lanning, J. Slopsema, R. VanOverloop; Secundi: M. DeVries, G. Eriks, W. Langerak, A. Spriensma, M. VanderWal. ELDERS: Primi: Nick Kleyn, Howard Pastoor, Dave Rau, John VanBaren, Pete VanderSchaaf; Secundi: James Lanting, Joel Minderhoud, Ted Pipe, Kevin VanOverloop, Deane Wassink. In other voting, Rev....

The Emperor Has No Clothes: Dr. Richard B. Gaffin Jr.’s Doctrine of Justification, by Stephen M. Cunha. Unicoi Tennessee, The Trinity Foundation. 118 pages. Softcover. ISBN978891777325. [Reviewed by Clay Spronk.] Mr. Cunha wrote what makes up the main body of this book in 2008. At that time Mr. Cunha and his family were leaving Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, a congregation belonging to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) denomination. He explains in the preface that his purpose was “to outline the reason for our family’s decision to leave that congregation” (p. 7). The reason Mr. Cunha and his family left this congregation,...

In the United States, the law protects individuals from being discriminated against in employment based on religion. At the same time, believers enjoy a great deal of freedom in operating and governing churches and schools free from government interference. These institutions are subject to many of the laws of the land regarding employment, including certain laws prohibiting discrimination. Often there is confusion as to whether or how a law applies to a church or school. Sometimes believers mistakenly believe that a church or school is subject to laws that it is not, or that it is exempt from laws that...

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2011, p. 86. For Adam to attain a life that he could not lose, he would have to be able to get to the point where it was no longer possible for him to sin. Some think that Adam eventually would have arrived at this point, if he had only remained obedient long enough. But such an idea originates in the mind of man. It is nowhere spoken of in Scripture. Jesus Christ is the one and only man that was and is unable to sin. So for the first Adam to get...

Those of our readers in the Midwest of the United States of America might be somewhat surprised to learn that recently, in September 2011, a Filipino religious cult bought 46 acres of land and buildings in and around the town of Scenic, located about 50 miles southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota. What will now become of the formerly abandoned town we do not know, but this news illustrates the amazing wealth that this Filipino cult has accumulated since it started in the early 1900s and its expanding presence in the world, which extends now from the Philippines to the...

What are you doing to serve others? How are you serving your family? You receive so much from your parents. They supply the basic necessities of life, send you to Christian schools, and drive you to music lessons, sporting events, and other appointments. Your mothers and fathers serve you in so many ways. What are you doing to serve them? How do you serve your brothers and sisters, who maybe are not always very kind to you? What are you doing to serve the other members of the church individually and collectively, as young people’s societies? As I am writing...

“Religion” Attacked Your teenage sons and daughters may have seen it. It is a poem/rap by Jefferson Bethke entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” It has been viewed over 13 million times on YouTube. Its lyrics are recorded on this website: http://rapgenius.com/Jefferson-bethke-why-i-hate-religion-but-love-jesus-spoken-word-lyrics. “Jesus came to abolish religion,” the first line of the poem says. Religion is bad, and the people who are religious are bad, perhaps the most wicked people on earth, the poem proclaims. What is religion, and who are these terrible religious people? The poem is ambiguous. Nevertheless, it is certainly an attack on traditional churches and...

Previous article in this series: February 1, 2012, p. 197. Last installment we introduced to our readers the bookReformed Thought: Selected Writings of William Young. As stated, due to Young’s reference to Hoeksema’s covenant view in his severe criticism of Abraham Kuyper’s covenant view (in particular Kuyper’s doctrine of presupposed regeneration) and then essentially identifying Hoeksema’s view with that of Kuyper, we are constrained to respond, be it briefly, to Dr. Young’s assessment of and allegations against Hoeksema’s (and our own PRC’s) view. We use the word “allegations” purposely. In his paper Historic Calvinism and Neo-Calvinism(ch. 3 of Young’s selected writings),...

“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.” Titus 2:1 Paul left Titus among the new Christians on the island of Crete with the responsibility to “set in order the things that are wanting” (Titus 1:5a). Titus was to complete matters not yet finished. His primary duty was to organize churches by ordaining officebearers (Titus 1:5b). Meanwhile, Titus was to continue his main task of preaching and teaching in the interest of the faith of God’s elect and their acknowledging of the truth that accords with godliness (Titus 1:1). Such preaching and teaching included the duty of rebuking sharply...