Denomination Activities Every year members of our denomination’s Contact Committee make an annual visit to our sister church in Northern Ireland, the Covenant PRC in Ballymena. This year Rev. Garrett Eriks, from the Hudsonville, MI PRC, along with Mr. Sid Miedema, from the Byron Center, MI PRC, made the trip. Plans called for the men to be in Northern Ireland from January 23 to February 4, visiting first our sister church and then their mission in Limerick, Republic of Ireland. In addition to conducting church visitation, Rev. Eriks was also scheduled to preach four times the two Sundays they were...
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January 8, 2014 Southeast Protestant Reformed Church Classis East met in regular session on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at the Southeast PRC. The churches, with the exception of Wingham, were represented by two delegates. The Wingham delegation was unable to attend because of the weather. Classis did the usual January duty of elections. The following were elected to serve as delegates to Synod 2014: Ministers: Primi: G. Eriks, C. Haak, K. Koole, W. Langerak, R. VanOverloop; Secundi: N. Decker, A. den Hartog, M. DeVries, J. Slopsema, A. Spriensma. Elders: Primi: J. Decker, N. Kleyn, H. Langerak, G. VanBaren, P. VanDerSchaaf;...
The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther, by Steven J. Lawson. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2013. Pp xxii + 145. $16.00. Hardcover. [Reviewed by Douglas J. Kuiper.] This book is the latest in the series of short books under the series “A Long Line of Godly Men Profile.” So far in the series, Steven Lawson has written The Expository Genius of John Calvin, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, and The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon. In addition, Douglas Bond wrote The Mighty Weakness of John Knox. While I have read only the books on Calvin, and now Luther, I...
In both the Old and New Testaments strong warnings are given regarding mixed marriages. In the earliest history of the world, one of the chief ways in which the covenant of God was corrupted was that “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose” (Gen. 6:2). This led to amalgamation of the seed of the covenant and the seed of the ungodly, the world. In Deuteronomy 7:3, God commanded Israel through Moses concerning the nations of the land of Canaan, whose inhabitants they were to...
Our Student Body It has been an exciting and profitable first semester of the 2013-14 school year at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary. Nine first-year students and one third-year student, plus a number of auditors, made for some unusually large classes. What a joy to teach classes with twelve, fifteen, or more students in them. This is a rare treat that faculty and students alike are enjoying. The first semester has concluded. Class work, reports and research papers, as well as exams are behind us. We are presently making preparations for the beginning of the second semester, which begins officially...
The work of missions is difficult. There is opposition, hardship, disappointment, and tremendous sacrifices that are required of the missionaries and their families. Then there are times when before their own eyes they see everything for which they labored slip away. John Eliot was a pioneer missionary to the American Indians. He learned firsthand the struggles of mission work. Three things served to strengthen and encourage him. First, his unbending optimism regarding God’s counsel and plan. Second, his ability to delegate work. And, finally, his confession regarding God’s sovereignty in all things, particularly the salvation of souls. The story of...
Previous article in this series: January 15, 2014, p. 186. You will remember our reference last time to Calvin’s observation that “there was a difference between the Law and Gospel, as if there were a veil between them so that they might not see more closely the things that are now revealed to our eyes.” Luke 9:45 says the same concerning the disciples’ failure to grasp Jesus’ instruction about His impending death: “But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not.” A “veil.” A veil that “hides.” Not a difficult concept, surely,...
Remember the persecuted! Perhaps we think of the early Christian martyrs thrown to the lions. Perhaps we remember Stephen and others who were stoned to death by angry Jewish mobs. Perhaps we recall the heroic sufferings of the Reformation saints in the Netherlands. Martyrdom makes us think of the stake, the scaffold, and the dungeon. Open Doors International, a Christian group supporting persecuted Christians, reports that Christian martyrdom doubled in 2013. The persecution of the church is a very serious reality for many of the saints today. They do not read about it in history books—they live it. 2,123 believers...
Previous article in this series: January 1, 2014, p. 151. Introduction Scripture is “the oracles of God.” This is the apostle Paul’s description of Scripture in Romans 3:2. What this means is that Scripture is the Word of God. Scripture is not the word of man and the Word of God. Scripture is rather the Word of God and the Word of God alone. As the oracles of God, Scripture is infallible, inerrant, and authoritative over the individual believer and over the church as a whole. That Scripture is the oracles of God has important implication for translations of Scripture....
Previous article in this series: February 1, 2014, p. 197. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. II Thessalonians 3:1, 2 [Note: This editorial is the third part of the convocation speech given publicly for the current school year, held in September of 2013. The first installment demonstrated the biblical basis for requesting fellow saints to “pray for us.” The reasons for praying for the seminary are...
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