Vol 91 Issue 14

Congregation Activities The Adult Bible Society of Crete PRC in Crete, IL invited the area Adult Bible Societies to a combined Bible study on March 24. The topic for discussion was “The Christian’s Inheritance.” Refreshments and a time of fellowship followed in the fellowship hall. Crete also opened the registration for the Senior Retreat they are hosting from September 22-25 at the Cedar Lake Conference Grounds in Cedar Lake, IN. Visit the website www.creteprc.org to download registration forms and other information. Or you may phone in your registration to (219) 718-8732. The theme for the retreat is “The Christian Life”...

Mr. Rainey is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Best of the Reformed Journal, editors James D. Bratt and Ronald A. Wells (William B. Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids, MI, 2011), 343pp. [Reviewed by Philip Rainey.] This volume is a representative collection of articles taken from the Reformed Journal, a magazine published from 1951 to 1990 by Eerdmans Publishing. The collection of ninety articles commemorates the centennial of the company. The value of the book lies not in the profound theological insights it contains, but rather in that the collection of articles represents the changing theology...

Rev. Haak is pastor of Georgetown Protestant Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan and radio pastor for the Reformed Witness Hour, on which this message was aired. “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.” I Thessalonians 1:8 In this chapter of I Thessalonians the apostle Paul states that he knew that the believers in Thessalonica had been eternally chosen of God unto salvation. He says to them in verse 4, “Knowing, brethren beloved,...

In the course of the past years, I have occasionally had the opportunity to speak to some of our Protestant Reformed high school classes (usually via Skype, and usually in the wee morning hours here) concerning our Philippines mission field. This has always been enjoyable and an encouragement. I appreciate the fact that our teachers keep their students mindful of our denomination’s mission work. But I am also grateful for the interest the students themselves show in the work and in the saints here. That interest is clearly evident from the questions they ask. This was again the case with...

The gospel is that Jesus is risen from the dead. The good news is not merely that Christ died. Indeed, Jesus must die for our sins according to the Scriptures (I Cor. 15:3). But He must also rise (John 2:22). For if Christ is not risen, our faith is vain (I Cor. 15:14). A dead Jesus does us no good. A dead Jesus is no different from any other human. And Christians who believe only a dead Jesus are themselves still dead in sin (I Cor. 15:17). The complete, comforting, pure, and powerful good news of salvation is that Jesus...

Previous article in this series: March 15, 2015, p. 276. Introduction The preceding article in this series began setting forth the premillennial explanation of the passage of Scripture that is fundamental to all millennial doctrine, that is, all doctrine that predicts a “golden age” in future, earthly history, namely, Revelation 20. In the preceding article was laid out all that must immediately precede the events of Revelation 20 on the premillennial understanding of the passage. These preliminary events include the rapture out of the world of the believing church, including those who have already died—a first resurrection of the dead;...

Out of the Frying Pan… Five congregations in Illinois have completed the process of leaving the Reformed Church in America (RCA) and joining the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). I mentioned in an earlier report about the exit of these congregations from the RCA that I hoped they would explain the grounds for their action sometime in the future. Ben Kappers, lead pastor of the First PCA of Lansing, IL (formerly First RCA), explained why he and his congregation left the RCA in an article published on February 12, 2015 (before the March 1 publication of my previous report but...

Previous article in this series: April 1, 2015, p. 292. More than the Five Points Calvinism is more than the “TULIP” of the Five Points. Identification with Calvin’s thought is at least an embrace of the Five Points. Real Calvinism is not “Four Point Calvinism” in which one denies, for example, limited atonement. Real Calvinism is also a genuine embrace of the Five Points. That needs to be said with an exclamation point, because a flurry of books have been published recently to explain Calvinism, but accomplish only to explain away Calvinism. Those who outrightly reject Calvinism are honest. But these...

“Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death.” Proverbs 10:2 We live in a materialistic society that seeks the things that are below rather than the things that are above. Material wealth has become the god of our society. As society looks to this god for safety and happiness, it praises and worships this god. It even sacrifices marriage, the home and family to enjoy the blessings of this god. Nor is the church unaffected by this idolatry. The church’s calling is to be in the world but not of the world. Sadly, however, the saints of God, being not...