Trivia question The old church building still stands on the corner on Doon’s Main Street. Purchased by the Doon PRC in the 1920s from a Baptist congregation, it served the Doon congregation until 1975. The building was sold to a local carpenter for his workshop. He is mostly retired today. The tile floor in the basement remains, upon which the shoes of pacing ministers clacked as they conducted catechism classes. Another item remains in the basement from the days of congregational life there. Any ideas what that might be? Answer later in this column. School activities From the Siouxland area...
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Therefore I Have Hope, 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, & Redeem in Tragedy, by Cameron Cole. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018. Paper, 208 pp. $14.99. [Reviewed by Mark Feenstra] What if the worst happened? Would I lose my faith in God? Would I be able to live? For Cameron Cole, the worst was the loss of his three-year-old son, Cam. Therefore I Have Hope is the author’s story of the hope that he found alone in God’s Word and the gospel. The author calls this story “Narrative of Hope.” The book traces his path through God’s promises, breaking the journey into...
Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met on March 6-7, 2019, in Heritage PRC (Sioux Falls, SD). This small congregation did a fine job of hosting the delegates over two full days. The meeting was capably chaired by Rev. Stephan Regnerus, who was serving in this capacity for the first time in his ministry. After opening devotions and the constituting of Clas- sis, routine reports of the stated clerk, classical committee, and reading sermon committee were read and approved. The church visitors also reported on their work over the last year and the presence of unity, peace, and love...
“…God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” Acts 27:23b. “Who am I?” This is the second most important question to ask and answer. Now and throughout all of life, every morning when you awake, every night before you go to sleep, and before every decision you make between waking and sleeping, you should be answering this question of self-identity.[1] But before asking ourselves this, we must be aware of the first most important question, which is “Who is God?” Catechism students studying the “Essentials of Reformed Doctrine” will recognize this if they remember the six loci of Reformed doctrine,...
Previous article in this series: November 15, 2018, p. 91. We concluded our last article stating that a rift had developed between the eastern and western branches of the Mission Committee. The synod of the PRC had decided that in order to keep the western churches of our denomination actively involved in the life and work of the churches the Mission Committee be divided into two branches, the majority branch from the East and a secondary one from the West. Tension between these two divisions existed from the start but came to a head when the eastern branch decided to...
Previous article in this series: February 1, 2019, p. 208. The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures Scripture is the Word of God—the Word of God in the words of men. Because Scripture is the Word of God, it partakes of the attributes of God. In the last several articles, we have considered together the outstanding attributes of Scripture. Included in the attributes of Scripture are its authority, necessity, perspicuity, sufficiency, and trustworthiness. There is one important subject to which we must yet give our attention before concluding this series on “Revelation, Inspiration, and Infallibility.” That is the subject of illumination—an...
Previous article in this series: March 1, 2019, p. 260. The folly of sin becomes manifested in the world under the sun as it strives with the boundaries God has set in this life. To show this, Solomon who was himself king, turns first to the sphere of earthly government. But before turning to the folly “which proceedeth from the ruler” (Eccl. 10:5), he begins with an admonition in the text to one standing under the ruler as the servant, citizen, or counselor of the king. Both are sinners inclined to folly. “If the spirit of the ruler rise up...
Previous article in this series: March 15, 2019, p. 273. Evangelical Protestants who can see their way clear to return to Roman Catholicism have let go of Protestantism. Although they identify as Evangelicals—gospel churches—they embrace theology that distances itself from being gospel and come closer to Rome. The ‘protest’ in Protestant first diminished to a whimper, then shifted to an apology for leaving Rome in the first place. From the other side of the River Tiber (see the last editorial), Rome signals openness to unity talks. One hundred years ago Rome pulled up the drawbridge and closed the gates to...
Gerrit Vos (1894-1968) was a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches and long-time contributor to the SB. This wonderful article was first published as a meditation in the June 15, 1948 issue of the SB (vol. 24, no. 18, pp. 409-411). “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I...
