Vol 95 Issue 08

Trivia question Of the 33 Protestant Reformed Churches in North America, what time do most hold their morning worship service? Answer later in this column. Young people’s activities There was a Young People’s Christmas Bazaar recently in Loveland, CO where the congregation gathered together for an annual dinner and silent auction. Soups, salads, hot cocoa, and cinnamon rolls were available, the fellowship was fine, and proceeds benefitted the young people attending the Western Retreat and the annual Convention. Attendees were invited to don their best (or worst) Christmas attire and enjoy the evening. We are sure many did just that!...

Anchored: A Bible Study for Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss, by Erin Cushman (WestBow Press, rev. 2015). 182pp. $13.95 (paper). [Reviewed by Brenda Hoekstra, member of Hudsonville PRC.] This is a book review of a new and ‘better’ book on parental bereavement than one I did before. As the title informs, the book is a Bible study. It is a very Reformed Bible study. The statistic states that one in four pregnancies ends in devastating loss. This means that there are many more mothers, fathers, and whole families experiencing grief than most of us realize. A Bible study designed to...

Previous article in this series: January 1, 2019, p. 165 Translators In addition to those already referred to, let me tell you a little about some of our other translators so that you can appreciate why we believe them to be trustworthy. Let me begin with some of our European helpers. A Danish pastor who had to leave the state Lutheran church because of the truth. He greatly loves RFPA material. A blogger in northern France who is seeking to counteract heresies concerning justification from the New Perspective on Paul and John Piper circles. A Hungarian doctor of law whose...

Elenctics, an aspect of the mission and witness of the church of Jesus Christ in the world, asks a vital question. “In all elenctics,” wrote the Dutch Reformed missiologist J. H. Bavinck, “the concern is always with the all-important question: ‘What have you done with God?’”[1] You, man of this world, have done something with God. What have you done with Him? The answer to that question of elenctics points us to one of the important elements of our task in missions and witnessing. In missions and witnessing, there is an encounter be­tween the believer and the unbeliever somewhere in...

Everywhere you turn, she is there. In your grandparents’ day, finding her took some effort, but not anymore. She prominently displays herself on roadside billboards. Boldly, she hides in millions of websites, her lips dropping as a honeycomb, and her mouth smoother than oil. She loves to talk on the commercials and in the songs, and her message is as unmistakable as it is wicked: “Lie with me.” Distressing about this woman is that she makes an appearance, whether she is asked to or not, catching many—also children and young people—unaware. Even the world has become alarmed at her prevalence...

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” Galatians 5:14-15 In the last article of this brief, two-part series, (December 15, 2018, p. 139) we considered the immune system with which God has equipped our bodies to fight infection. This marvelous component of our bodies is designed as a means to protect us from the host of microbes—viruses, bacteria and other microscopic organisms—that populate our world. These microbes play important roles...

Previous article in this series: January 1, 2019, p. 156. The temple of God in Jerusalem, as we saw last time, had at last been rebuilt—some twenty years after the return of the exiles. Jerusalem’s walls, however, lay still in ruins, having been thrown down more than a century before by the troops of Nebuchadnezzar. The weakest of the Jews’ enemies, therefore, had easy access to the city. They could, if they chose, march right in. That was much to their liking of course, because they hated the Jews. The decree of Cyrus had been a grievous disappointment to them....

The Synod was growing frustrated with the Remonstrants. The Acts1 helps us understand why: the Remonstrants would not directly answer questions put to them; they tried to divert the discussion to other matters; and they repeatedly referred to the Synod as a conference, viewing themselves as equals with the delegates. They would not submit to the Synod or cooperate with its investigation into their views. At the momentous 57th ses­sion, on January 14, 1619, the matter came to a head: Pres­ident Johannes Bogerman ex­pelled the Remonstrants from the Synod. Bogerman’s speech His expulsion speech is not recorded in the official Acts,...

In the New Testament Scriptures, there are several Greek words translated “world.” The most common is “cosmos,” origin of our words cosmic, cosmopolitan, and cosmetics. Its basic meaning is “a complex, unified system or arrangement of harmony, order and beauty.” And this gives rise to secondary meanings like “appropriate, fitting (modesty), fashion, adorn, ornament.” Of all New Testament writers, John uses “cosmos” or “world” the most. And this article focuses on that one word in the gospel of John concerning the world that God so loved, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not...

I’ve been reading your articles on Revelation 20, which are very helpful and seem really accurate. I have a few questions which you may or may not have already addressed. First, do you suppose the 1,000 is simply for fullness/indefinite duration? Or do you think it could be meant to resonate with or to co-opt the historical scheme based on the creation week? I refer to the Jewish and early Christian view: six days of labor and sin, then the seventh day = 1,000 years of messianic redemption with the cross, ending with the eighth day of eternity? Also, the...