Trivia question With the engagement of Pastor-elect Jon Langerak to Sarah Kleyn, daughter of Rev. Rodney Kleyn, this event spurred a reader to ask: How many daughters of ministers are married to Protestant Reformed ministers themselves? An interesting question indeed, and one that we attempt to answer later in this column. Congregational activities The quiet, meandering streams called the Rock River and the Little Rock River in northwest Iowa became swelling, raging torrents of water under the hand of the King of the earth in June. Approximately 11 inches of rain fell in as many days, inundating the roads and...
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The Belgic Confession: A Commentary, (Volume 1), by David J. Engelsma. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2018. 348 pp. $31.95, hardcover. [Reviewed by Rev. Nathan J. Langerak.] The author of the Belgic Confession and Reformed pastor, Guido De Bres, wrote the Confession in 1561 in part as an apology for the Reformed faith, seeking to relieve confessors of that faith who were brutally persecuted at that time in the Low Countries, then under Spanish rule. The ruler of the Low Countries, what is today Belgium and the Netherlands, prior to that time was the fanatical Roman Catholic, King Charles...
Previous article in this series: July 2018, p. 422. “And take the helmet of salvation….” Ephesians 6:17 Defense, defense, defense. How important is defense! The one and only offensive weapon—the sword—is very important, as we shall soon see. But so important is the individual believer’s soul in which God has deposited eternal riches in Christ, and so important is the defense of that soul, that God has ordained yet another piece of defensive armor in addition to the breastplate and the shield—the helmet. For what it is worth, a legendary American football coach once underscored the importance of defense in...
Previous article in this series: May 15, 2018, p. 373. Means not to be despised Nevertheless, we do not spurn as useless the means by which divine providence works, but we teach that we are to adapt ourselves to them in so far as they are recommended to us in the Word of God. Wherefore we disapprove of the rash statements of those who say that if all things are managed by the providence of God, then our efforts and endeavors are in vain. It will be sufficient if we leave everything to the governance of divine providence, and we...
The Synod of Dordt met from November 1618 to May 1619. To commemorate the Synod’s 400th anniversary, the editorial staff asked me to write twelve short articles on various aspects of the history of the Synod of Dordt. This first article lists relevant dates. 1604: Two professors at Leiden, Jacobus Arminius and Franciscus Gomarus, publicly debate the doctrine of predestination. 1607: Church delegates gather for a national synod to settle the issue. The national government refuses to call a national synod, in part because it is preoccupied with war against Spain. At this time, the national government sympathizes with the Arminians....
On Friday, May 25, 2018, the unborn child in Ireland lost his precious, constitutional right to life because the Irish people expunged that right from the Irish Constitution. Prior to May 25, the Irish Constitution, Article 40.3.3, otherwise known as the “Eighth Amendment,” read as follows: The [Irish] State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right. This subsection shall not limit freedom to travel between the...
In an island country of some 5.5 million people, located over 8,000 miles from the nearest PRC, is a congregation of nearly 190 members that earnestly desires Protestant Reformed preachers to come to preach and teach. As all in the PRC know, at the end of 2017 Rev. Andy Lanning accepted the call to a congregation in the USA, leaving our sister congregation in Singapore vacant. Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC) loves the truth preached in the PRCA. When they became vacant, the session immediately began working with the Contact Committee towards obtaining another pastor. After considering all the options,...
Previous article in this series: June 2018, p. 389. The Belgic Confession in Article 29 lists the three well-known marks of the true church of Jesus Christ—the preaching of the pure gospel, the proper administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of Christian discipline.[1] The necessity of setting forth the distinguishing marks of Christ’s church was, first, the deformation of the church in the Middle Ages. When the Belgic Confession was written (1561), the church of Rome was thoroughly corrupt in doctrine and practice. In addition, the church of Christ had to be distinguished from radical groups that sprang up....
“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6 Hosea was a prophet sent of God to the true church in the northern kingdom at a time of great apostasy. The book of Hosea teaches the greatness of God’s faithfulness in light of the grievous sins of His spiritual wife. The verses preceding our text describe God’s chastisement. God’s chastisement had the purpose of calling His people away from a sinful walk in the way of repentance. The chastisement was accompanied with the amazing promise that God would heal and bind...
