Vol 96 Issue 12

Trivia question Which is the easternmost PRC congregation in Classis West? See the church profile part of this article for your answer. More trivia next time. Sister-church activities The congregation of Covenant PRC in Ballymena, Northern Ireland held their annual congregational dinner at a place called The Thatch in Broughshane on February 21. This announcement about the 2020 British Reformed Fellowship Family conference is now out: Join Reformed believers from around the world at the 2020 British Reformed Fellowship family conference at Castlewellan Castle in Northern Ireland from Saturday, July 11 to Saturday, July 18. Our speakers, Prof. David Engelsma...

January 2020 Dear Congregations of the PRCA, Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! Here is an update regarding our labor and life here in service to our sister churches of the PRCP in the metro Manila area and in our continuing PRCA mission work in Southern Negros Occidental. Family life One of the two main highlights of our family life in the past several months is the blessing of the birth of Violet Joy to Rev. and Mrs. Holstege on December 10. Mother and baby were able to return home soon after birth, and they are both...

Even the world is ringing alarm bells. It seems the problem centers in the millennial generation: those born in the 1980s and 1990s. The employer in his late fifties cannot believe his ears when a twenty-something young man expects to work minimal hours for fantastic pay and benefits. The tenured professor is disturbed by the number of students in his classroom who expect royal treatment, as if he owes them everything. The veteran police officer is distressed by the rights-demanding attitude of so many youthful drivers he interacts with on traffic stops. What employers, professors, police, and others are noticing...

The covenant of God. Our mission to the world. How often have we thought about these highly sig­nificant biblical concepts together? How often, when discussing one, have we been led to discuss the other? How deeply has our thinking penetrated into the glo­rious realities and urgent callings that lie at the inter­section of these truths? It is the humble opinion of this writer that there is room for growth in our understand­ing of the relation between these marvelous truths of Scripture. The burden of this and subsequent articles will be an attempt to develop the relation between them as it...

Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 42 Question 110. What doth God forbid in the eighth commandment? Answer. God forbids not only those thefts and robberies which are punishable by the magistrate; but He comprehends under the name of theft all wicked tricks and devices whereby we design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which belong to our neighbor, whether it be by force, or under the appearance of right, as by unjust weights, ells, measures, fraudulent merchandise, false coins, usury, or by any other way forbidden by God; as also all covetousness, all abuse and waste of His gifts. Question 111....

“And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27 Jesus, the Christ of the triune God, the Savior and Lord of the church, left His bride and body with what to expect in this world as she takes heed to her Master’s call to follow him, namely, suffering. At one point, Jesus told His disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). We understand that the cross mentioned above is not the same wooden cross used in Jesus’ crucifixion....

Peace Protestant Reformed Church is located in Dyer, Indiana. Our pastor is Rev. Ryan Barnhill. We are a congregation of 47 families, seven single adults, and a quiver full of 104 baptized children. Our roots are founded in the South Holland PRC, as we are a daughter of that congregation. Peace was organized as a church in 1988. Our first meeting place was Illiana Christian High School in Lansing, IL. We met there for seven years, and then built our first church building and parsonage in Lansing, Illinois. That building served us well for 22 years. Two years ago, we...

Previous article in this series: October 1, 2019, p. 15. Benefits of written communication God has chosen to reveal Himself to men through written language. Even apart from the miracle of divine inspiration, written language is an amazing form of communication. To be sure, throughout history it has often been subverted into the service of the lie, from false advertising to Nazi propaganda to outright denial of the truths of the Word of God. But at the same time, it is unparalleled as a means of setting forth the truth. Of all possible forms of communication, the written word is...

Turning from our calling to labor under God’s providence in the preceding verses, the text turns to a similar subject but from a more subjective viewpoint. We are to sow our seed and labor, not knowing what shall prosper in God’s providence. We labor under the sun in a transitory world. Our works and labors, as has been shown over the course of the book, do not abide. God gives us in our labor seasons of light and joy in this present life when our works prosper. Hence, the point is raised: Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant...

In the last editorial on the Canons’ explanation of faith in Head IV, we called attention to the fact that faith is an instrument that embraces and appropriates Christ and His benefits. This faith, however, it not a condition that man can or must fulfill in order to be saved. This is evident, first, from the fact that faith flows out of election. Second, faith, even the act of believing, is the work of God in the elect. To call a work of God in His people a condition that they must fulfill is wrong on the face of it....