Vol 94 Issue 10

Trivia question According to the PRC Acts of Synod, which Protestant Reformed Church in Classis West has been served by the greatest number of different ministers? If you know how many, you are a trivia whiz! Answer later in this column. Attention young men Young Men’s Conference: Advance notice for highschool and college-age young men—April 28, 8 a.m.-12 noon at Georgetown PRC. The theme is “Run, Fight, Lead.” Congregational activities Members at Southeast PRC in Michigan had opportunity to attend a sledding party at Mines Golf Course on a Saturday in January from 2-4 p.m. Barbeque, hot dogs, and hot...

Classis East met on Wednesday, January 10, 2018, at Hudsonville PRC. By rotation Rev. J. Smidstra would have been the chairman of this meeting. Due to some weighty matters and the fact that this would be his first Classis meeting as a delegate, he requested of the Classical Committee that he be allowed to step aside as chairman of this meeting. The Classical Committee brought this request as well as a recommendation that Rev. R. Van Overloop chair this meeting. Both recommendations were approved by Classis. Routine matters such as reports from the stated clerk, Classical Committee, and church visitors...

Knowing God in the Last Days: A Commentary on 2 Peter, by Mark H. Hoeksema. Jenison, Michigan: RFPA, 2017. 96 pages. (hardcover) [Reviewed by Rev. Heath Bleyenberg.] What a fitting title for this worthwhile commentary on 2 Peter—Knowing God in the Last Days! By this title Hoeksema rightly captures the main theme of Peter’s second epistle, namely, the knowledge God’s people must have. But particularly, a knowledge we must have as we live in the last days. Peter warns his readers that “there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3). These same...

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2017, p. 91. “…and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” Ephesians 6:14b Having girded our loins (tightened our belt) with the truth of God’s Word so that we know the truth, believe the truth, confess the truth, defend the truth, love the truth, and live the truth, we have begun the exercising of our God-given faith whereby we arm ourselves for our life and death struggle against the Devil. Included next in the whole armor of God that we take unto ourselves for battle is the breastplate of righteousness. First comes truth, then...

Previous article in this series: September 15, 2017, p. 488. The consistory of South Holland Protestant Reformed Church in Illinois was frustrated. This church was working in the Roseland, Chicago area with little results. This frustration was voiced at the June 1935 meeting of Classis: our outreach lacks personal labor. Much more must be done than merely hosting lectures. For this reason, this consistory recommended to Classis calling a missionary to labor in the Roseland area. Other congregations had expressed the same complaint in their outreach. For example, in 1933 the small Los Angeles congregation expressed to Classis that there...

Previous article in this series: December 1, 2017, p. 109. “…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.” Romans 11:25, 26 Introduction With Revelation 20 and Daniel 9, Romans 11 is one of the most important passages of Scripture for the dispensational premillennial doctrine of the last days. According to the premillennial understanding of the chapter, at some time in the future God will complete His...

In an article entitled “How divorce went from a devastating life event to a cause for celebration,” Sabrina Maddeaux demonstrates the way that the divorce culture (especially in the United States and Canada) is “progressing.”1 She briefly traces the history of divorce, and shows how society’s thinking about and response to divorce is shifting so that the consequences of divorce are mitigated. Her historical analysis is fascinating and most likely accurate. The conclusion she makes on the basis of her historical analysis is chilling and demonstrates the foolish madness of a sinful society that is determined to embrace divorce. In...

I enjoyed reading Prof. Ronald Cammenga’s article, “‘What Saith the Scripture:’ The Bible’s Perspicuity” in the December 1, 2017 issue of the Standard Bearer. However, after reading it, it did raise a question for me. If Wycliffe, Tyndale, and others worked so hard and even risked their lives to give the English people an updated, understandable English Bible, why do all the writers in the Standard Bearer quote Scripture from a four-hundred-year-old (KJV) version of the Bible when we have several updated versions available? It reminds me of the Amish, who continually use live horsepower for work and travel when...

The United States of America is in steep decline. She is so because of God’s righteous judgment upon her. What she has so passionately wanted—sin—the righteous Judge of heaven and earth judges her with: sin and more sin. According to Romans 1, God “gives her over to a reprobate mind,” so that she does “those things which are not convenient.” “Not convenient” is “not suitable” or “not appropriate,” somewhat of an understatement to point out that even common sense would not allow one to behave as our society does! Our society asked for sexual liberty in the name of avoiding...

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:4 For anyone who has wandered from God and come to see their sins, there are few words sweeter than these: “but there is forgiveness with God.” All we like sheep have gone astray; we all wander from God to one degree or another. But God, by His grace, draws us back to Himself, leading us to sincere sorrow and repentance. When we call upon Him out of the depths, what a joy to know that there is forgiveness with God! Not just forgiveness for others, but there...