Vol 94 Issue 05

Trivia question Regarding the prior trivia question about surviving original members of the PRCA, responses are coming in nicely. As of November 1 we are awaiting responses from eight churches and the number of surviving original members is holding at eight also. We will keep you updated as things change. According to the yearbook chart contained in the PRC Acts of Synod, how many of today’s PRCA churches were organized before 1930? Answer later in this column. Sister-church activities From the bi-monthly report of Rev. A. Stewart and the Covenant PRC in Ballymena, Northern Ireland comes this comment: “We and...

Gospel Truth of Justification: Proclaimed, Defended, Developed, David J. Engelsma. Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2017, 528 pages. [Reviewed by Rev. Martin VanderWal, pastor of Wingham, ON PRC.] Thoroughly grounded and rooted is Gospel Truth of Justification by David J. Engelsma. Thoroughly grounded and rooted in Scripture, the book presents a strong and beautiful garden for every lover of the grace of God to enjoy. This is not a garden of flowers that live and die according to their seasons, but it is a garden of a tree of life that yields all manner of fruit. Deliciously sweet and nutritious are...

The question that has been asked many times of me is, “What are you supposed to do?” What is the work of your new home missionary? What am I doing? What do I hope to do? The home missionary is a preacher. The Reformed faith should always emphasize the great urgency of the preaching of the Word. Romans 10:15 asks, “How shall they hear without a preacher?” Christ gathers His church through the preaching. And that preacher must be sent. On September 17 I was installed in Byron Center PRC as a preacher who is sent by my calling church...

It is a sweltering, humid day—a clarion call of the coming monsoon season. It will not be long before God opens the heavens with thunderous sheets of water, turning roads into rivers of muddy black and ocher. The electricity is sporadic—a reminder that reliable electricity is a luxury here. The odor of wet dog wafts in the heavy air as we sit in plastic patio chairs inside a long, narrow room. From young to old, most of the women wear traditional skirts, or tamein. Upon their faces pale yellow circles on each cheek, an ancient sunscreen called thanaka made of...

Previous article in this series: September 1, 2017, p. 471. “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” Romans 11:25-27 Introduction In the preceding article I briefly described the premillennial explanation of Romans 11. The passage is of fundamental importance to the doctrine of the last things of dispensational premillennialism. The premillennial...

Previous article in this series: October 1, 2017, p. 14. Introduction In our recent articles we have been considering together the truth of the perspicuity of Holy Scripture. By the perspicuity of Scripture we mean that the Bible is clear. The ordinary believer is able to understand Scripture, know with confidence what the meaning of Scripture is, and is able to judge all teaching in its light. We have seen what this truth means and what it does not mean. We have also demonstrated that Scripture teaches its own perspicuity. The truth of the perspicuity of Scripture is a vital...

I think most of us have gone through the experience, in one way or another. I need only give one example for you to know what I am talking about. You are at home Sunday night after church. You have invited friends and family to come over for a time of fellowship. Everyone has gathered themselves into the living-room, and there are two or three different conversations taking place. But as you pause from your own conversation to look at how things are going elsewhere in the room, this is what you see: one, two, three people (or more), simply...

These words—“we unhesitatingly recommend”—could well be hung on the wall of all consistory rooms of Reformed congregations. In large enough print, that every time the council members walk into the room they see and are aware of them. These words are the heart and center of the “Letter of Recommendation” that a council must give to their minister if he leaves for another church. The elders and deacons must declare: “We unhesitatingly recommend our minister to you.” One of the more important (even if infrequent) decisions that a consistory must make is the decision to write this recommendation. A minister...

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10:12 Is there a great deal of strife in your life? Are there others with whom you are constantly contending and arguing? Do you find that you have a running battle with certain individuals? Perhaps it is a spouse, a family member, a coworker, or a fellow student? The proverb (wise saying) that we consider for this meditation speaks about this kind of strife. It tells us that strife is stirred up by hatred. This hatred and strife are contrasted to love. Love does not stir up strife. Love, rather,...