Vol 89 Issue 16

Mission Activities On March 29, the 3rd Annual Combined Church Outing was held in the Philippines. This year 100-plus members of the First Re­formed Church of Bulacan, the Be­rean Protestant Reformed Church in Manila, and the Maranatha Reformed Church in Valenzuela attended. Our missionaries there write that “they are thankful to God for the opportunity to further the unity and communion of saints between these groups. The outing was held at the Grotto Vista Resort in Bulacan, where there were good amenities for fellowship, games, swimming, and (of course) eating.” The outing began with singing and prayer, followed by a...

Mr. Kalsbeek is a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins. Bantam Books, 2006. ISBN: 0-618-6800. [Reviewed by Jeff Kalsbeek.] Richard Dawkins grew up in the Anglican Church of England. Both of his parents were scientists, and he too became interested in science, getting a degree in zoology. He became assistant professor at the University of California, Berkley and later taught at the University of Oxford, England. He is a proponent of the theory of evolution and a self-proclaimed atheist. He has authored a number of books regarding evolu­tion in biology and genetics....

I first came to know Lau Chin Kwee in Singapore when I was called there to be a missionary to the Gospel Literature and Tract Society (GLTS). The GLTS was a vibrant group of mostly Chinese new Christians. Chin Kwee was already at that time a leader of the GLTS. He was instructing the group in the Heidelberg Catechism. Many of the members of GLTS were brilliant college and university students. God used the young brother Chin Kwee, at the time a school teacher, in very exciting days, to work towards the establishing of a new Reformed church in Singa­pore....

Previous article in this series: May 1, 2013, p. 355. We left Adam and Eve, last time, clothed in the fig leaves they had sewed together to cover their nakedness—their nakedness, that is, before God. The deepest cause of their fear and of their shame (cf. Gen. 3:11) came from their awareness of their guilt and of the corruption of their natures. Yes, the corruption of their natures. They could feel it. They did not have to be told that by their disobedience and fall they had rendered themselves unfit for fellowship with the holy God. They did not have...

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. Lust of Wealth The first Woe unto you! turned itself against the ever ground-gaining pursuit after wealth, goods, and money, against the insatiable lust of adding house to house and joining field to field. Thus not merely against money-wolves; but against the love of money, which increased hand over hand among our people, and finally infected the most godly. Consider well, it is always God’s people against which these bitter Woes! are pronounced....

Two writers in the March issue of the Banner, one the editor of the magazine, the other a former Calvin Seminary professor, continue to work at demolishing the Christian Reformed Church. I am not quite sure which analogy to use to describe their destructive work. One could say they are swinging the wrecking ball one more time. But by now it could be argued the wrecking ball has done its work in the CRC. It might be better to say they have lit the match.

Previous article in this series: March 1, 2013, p. 260. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast...

The title of this editorial is lifted from a report to the Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches set to meet in June of 2013. The full sentence reads: “These are exciting times, and God has given us also a power­ful way to extend our distinctive message to the ends of the earth.” The report happens to be that of the Reformed Witness Hour Com­mittee, but the clause could have appeared in any number of reports to synod. It captured what I felt as I read the agenda of synod. Excite­ment. Let me show you why in this preview of...

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39 Just a few days from the date of this publication the Reformed churches that are governed by the Church Order of Dordt will...