Vol 96 Issue 05

Trivia question When was the first “News from Our Churches” published? Answer later in this column. Minister activities Rev. Rodney Kleyn, pastor at Covenant of Grace PRC in Spokane, WA was led by God to decline the call extended to him by Immanuel PRC of Lacombe, AB. We are thankful for a clear indication of God’s will and continue to pray for the congregation at Lacombe in their vacancy. On November 3, Rev. Jon Mahtani accepted the call to be minister-on-loan to the CERC of Singapore. We rejoice with our sister in Singapore in God’s provision of a pastor again....

November 5, 2019 Classis West of the Protestant Reformed Churches met in a reconvened session on November 5, 2019, in Calvary PRC (Hull, IA). Rev. Ryan Barnhill again chaired the meeting. The reconvened session was due to the fact that Classis was not able to finish its agenda in September and more time was needed by a committee of pre-advice to prepare its advice. Classis had before it a request from a consistory for the concurrence of Classis in deposing its minister ac­cording to Articles 79–80 of the Church Order for his teachings on providence and sanctification, and an ap­peal...

The reading of good, spiritually edifying literature is a subject that has been addressed a number of times at the RFPA’s annual meeting. Over the course of past six years, several speeches have been given on the topic of reading. There are good reasons for that. The RFPA’s mission is to publish sound Reformed literature for the Reformed believer. The reading of good, spiritually edifying books is important for the spiritual well-being of our homes and churches. We also need encouragement to read. There is an observable decline in reading today. This continues to be a concern to the RFPA....

Previous article in this series: July 2019, p. 432. In the previous article in this series on biblical manhood, we looked at the calling of men with regard to their sexuality. Related is the subject of this article: the calling of Christian young men in a dating relationship. Much could be said about the subject of dating in general, but here I want to focus only on how young men are to behave in dating. The world exerts a powerful pressure upon young men with respect to how they should act in a dating relationship. The world’s idea of a...

“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Colossians 4:12 The apostle Paul is regarded as the greatest missionary of all time. His boldness, diligence, and courage are demonstrated by his ability through the power of God to establish churches in hostile cities under difficult circumstances. He was not alone, however. No great theologian or missionary ever is. There is always a support system—an individual or network of people who stand by their side—who are used...

Dating Differently: A Guide to Reformed Dating, by Rev. Joshua Engelsma. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2019. 160 pages, softcover. $16.95. [Reviewed by Rev. Cory Griess] The message of this wonderful little book is that if one is going to be Reformed (that is biblical), then all of life will be re-formed according to the Word of God. Dating too will be done differently. Rev. Engelsma covers this topic in nine chapters, each titled as a question. The first, “Is There Help?” establishes the need for help in dating and identifies the source of that help as the Word...

The Board of the Reformed Free Publishing Association has kept very busy over the past year. In this report we update you regarding our activities. This is not an exhaustive account of our activities; rather, we bring you some highlights of our work along with a few of the more significant actions we have taken. One of the most significant changes that the Board has made in the past year is giving oversight of the chil­dren’s book division to the Finance and Operations Committee. This was originally the responsibility of the Book and Standard Bearer Committee but, because of growth,...

Facing attacks “You believe that a snake talked, and a man walked on water?! The Bible is just a collection of myths, fables, and stories. I don’t know how any thinking person could believe that stuff in this day and age!” Perhaps you have heard things like this before. Maybe in a college classroom. Maybe from someone with whom you work. Or perhaps you saw a suggested video on the sidebar on YouTube, “Proof the Bible is not the Word of God,” and you clicked. God’s people face rhetoric and arguments against the inspiration and authority of the Bible in...

Chairman Graham, Senator Blumenthal, and members of the Committee, thank you for allowing all of us to speak today. I cannot think of a more noble cause for all of us to be spending our time on today than the safety and protection of our children. I began Protect Young Eyes five years ago because the internet is complex and even diligent parents are overwhelmed by the digital choices their children are facing. Through thousands of hours of research, hundreds of presentations at schools around the country, and dozens of articles examining digital trends, we have witnessed both the wonderful...

The Reformed theology of God’s everlasting covenant of grace must be in harmony with the doctrines of grace set forth in the Canons of Dordt. That is the premise of these editorials. That the covenant and salvation are inseparable is admitted even by those who teach that the covenant is a conditional relationship with every baptized child, for they insist that God promises salvation to each of these children (conditionally). We have shown that God established His covenant with Christ and those chosen eternally in Him. This is the teaching of both Scripture and the Canons. Since the covenant is...