Vol 90 Issue 11

Denomination Activities The work of our denomination’s radio ministry continues to grow. We recently came across a report that the Reformed Witness Hour was ready to begin broadcasting in New York City, New York for the first time in our churches’ history. Thanks to a friend of our radio pro­gram in Long Island, NY, the RWH was heard on Hope Radio (six FM frequencies on Sunday, reaching nearly three million people), begin­ning Sunday, February 2, at 8:30 in the morning. Here is a description the station published: “The Reformed Witness Hour” airing Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on 6 frequencies; 101.5...

Why Christ Came: 31 Meditations on the Incarnation. Joel R. Beeke and William Boekestein. Reformation Heritage Books, 2013. 100 pages (paper). [Reviewed by Sarah Mowery.] If someone asked me, “Why did Christ come to earth?” I would likely answer, “To save sinners”—with I Timothy 1:15 running through my mind. While true, my answer would hardly begin “to communicate the richness of Christ’s incarnation” (quotation from the preface). Joel Beeke and William Boekestein’s little book of 31 meditations on the Incarnation reminded me that there are many reasons why our Savior came into the world. These reasons include: to do the...

“The NIV Bible is no more,” writes Jesse Johnson in a blog post entitled Farewell, NIV. Zondervan, the pub­lishing company that owns the NIV (paid for its transla­tion, copyrighted the material, and receives royalties for every edition of the NIV that is published), continues to publish an English translation of the Bible that it calls the NIV. The Zondervan website lists many versions of the NIV for sale.1 But according to Johnson the NIV Zondervan publishes today is not the same as the NIV published from 1984 to 2011.2 Here is Johnson’s expla­nation of how Zondervan killed the NIV: A...

Previous article in this series: January 15, 2014, p. 178. In our first article on this subject we defined what church extension and church reformation were. We concluded that article with the thought that many in our churches believe that church extension (or domestic missions) may be accomplished only by means of church reformation. The result has been that in the past we have, for the most part, limited our domestic mission work to church reformation. We are going to pursue this more in coming articles. But there is one more matter in our definition of terms that needs addressing....

Previous article in this series: January 1, 2014, p. 159. Having emphasized in previous articles that elders must be male, we turn now to examine the qualification of the office of elder that governs all others: his blamelessness. The Fundamental Qualification This qualification of blamelessness is first. It is first in order. In both Scripture passages in which the qualifications of the office of elder are listed, “blame­less” begins the list. I Timothy 3:2 reads: “A bishop then must be blameless…”; and Titus 1:6 says, “If any be blame­less….” It is first in order, because it is first in priority....

Lord’s Day 22 Question 57. What comfort doth the “resurrection of the body” afford thee? Answer. That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head; but also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be re­united with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ. Question 58. What comfort takest thou from the article of “life everlasting”? Answer. That since I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, after this life I shall inherit perfect salvation, which “eye hath not seen,...

Previous article in this series: January 15, 2014, p. 175. While considering the New Testament per­spective of the Christian life, we have seen that this new life that is ours in Christ Jesus is the foundation for a life of thankfulness to God. That underlies our entire perspective as Christians in relation­ship to this world. To belong to Jesus Christ is not merely to look to Him as our example. It is to live in a covenant union with Him, being in Him. The expression “in Christ” or “in Him” is in fact the most succinct definition of being a...

Having read Rev. Richard Smit’s article on Queen Esther [see December 1, 2013, p. 116], I would like to raise a few questions and comments. At the outset I wish to make it quite clear I am in overall agreement with his response to Prof. Lee Beach’s article. I quite agree that deliberately to deceive and lie can never promote the truth of the gospel. I do however think Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai come under an undue and severe criticism. I will make the following comments and obser­vations as I understand the story. 1) It does not seem...

The members of the Protes­tant Reformed Churches place a very high value on the covenantal instruction of their children. Each year the members of these churches bring up well over ten million dollars to maintain the four high schools and the thirteen grade schools. That huge sum will pay for the utilities, the teacher sala­ries, the books and supplies that are required to run the schools for one year. This figure does not include a building payment or building remodeling projects that any given school is financing. Simply the running of the schools for one year. That is a sobering...

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13 Take heed! Exhort one another daily! As the name suggests, the church to which this epistle was addressed was primarily Jewish in character. Sadly, some had already left the Christian faith to return to Judaism. Others were inclined to do so. They were disillusioned by the facts that Christ had not returned as yet and...