Vol 93 Issue 21

Trivia Question Rev. John Flores is the pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Bulacan in the Manila area of the Philippines. When Pastor Flores attended the Grace Ministerial Academy (Reformed Baptist seminary) in 2005, what book did he find in the library there that proved very helpful to him? Answer later in this column. Congregational Activities The congregation of Peace PRC in Lansing, IL made a big decision on July 31. The decision was made to purchase the New Hope Community Church Campus in Dyer, IN. This includes almost five acres of land quite near to the PR School....

Welcome Professor-Elect Rev. Douglas Kuiper! On September 20, God willing, a few short days after this issue appears, Rev. Douglas Kuiper will be installed as the tenth professor in the history of the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Elected by the 2017 Synod of the Protestant Reformed Churches in June, he will be replacing Prof. Russell Dykstra as Professor of Church History and New Testament Studies, a position Prof. Dykstra has held since 1996. Prof. Dykstra will preach at the installation service, to be held in Faith PRC in Jenison, MI. According to the rules of the seminary, the transition process begins...

You have probably heard the accusation, “You are so legalistic!” or “Your church is full of legalists!” How do you respond to that label? To such a stinging stigma, you may want to respond defensively, “No, I am not! No, we are not!” Yet, however truthful or untruthful that retort might be, I plead in love for you young people of our beloved churches—that you think before repeating that answer. Examine yourself for this heresy within. For good reason, this article closely follows a previous one about the heresy of antinomianism. Antinomianism is one ditch; legalism is the other. In...

Previous article in this series: December 15, 2016, p. 136. The June 1932 meeting of Classis was filled with matters of missions. Not only had the special study committee defined the task of the Home Classical Committee as presented in our last article, but a couple of other matters were brought to the Classis’ attention as well. First of all, the Mission Committee announced the organization of Creston Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, MI, consisting of 19 families. Further, Rev. H. Hoeksema reported of his visit to Redlands, CA, where he helped organize a church with 44 families. It...

It comes as no surprise, of course. A Christian Reformed study committee (this one rising out of a classis) recommends approving same-sex marriage, which proposal its classis adopts with a view to bringing it as an overture to Synod. In light of all the other unbiblical positions the CRC has adopted over the last several decades, it was only a matter of time for one of its broader assemblies to decide that the time had come to revisit this issue too. What has governed the CRC assemblies over the last number of decades has been their extreme sensitivity to social...

It has been several years since the Standard Bearer has undergone significant design changes. While the contents of the Standard Bearer will always take precedence to its appearance, the two must work together. Over the last few years, the Reformed Free Publishing Association’s Membership and Marketing Committee has been discussing the idea of a complete redesign of the magazine. The goals were to have a periodical that is pleasing to the eye, easy to read, and still maintains the previous standards in regards to the content. This new design will be revealed starting with the October 1, 2017 issue. The...

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1 The inspired apostle Paul spent much of the first chapters in Romans establishing the depravity of mankind and God’s wrath against sin. He made it clear that “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified” (Rom. 3:20). He taught us that salvation is “of faith, that it might be by grace” (Rom. 4:16). But then he turned and began to give commands to God’s redeemed people: “Be...