Volu 100 Issue 11

Rev. Dennis Lee, pastor of Kalamazoo PRC in Kalamazoo, Michigan For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 Appreciation! Great appreciation! Is this not how we feel when we are told by some dear friends that we are in their thoughts and prayers? How much more is this so when it is the Lord Himself, our covenant God, telling us that He thinks thoughts toward us! That was the message from God brought by the prophet Jeremiah to His captive...

Prof. Brian Huizinga, professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Grandville PRC in Grandville, Michigan The Standard Bearer is in its 100th volume year. Our ancestors in the faith who began this magazine in 1924 were as versed in the social media of X (Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, Facebook/Meta, Instagram, and Snapchat as their Dutch fathers in the Secession of 1834 were accustomed to producing sermon manuscripts on a mechanical typewriter, taking notes with a ballpoint ink pen, or cruising from town to town in a Ford Model A. Technological innovation develops in...

Rev. Justin Smidstra, pastor of First PRC in Holland, Michigan All sorts of devices pass through our hands and before our eyes each day. The way the world works nowadays, it can be hard to imagine things otherwise. Many jobs involve various devices, or revolve around developing them. The smartphone has become man’s constant companion, the Internet his bank of knowledge, the screen the first place to lay his eyes in a spare moment. The Bible has much to say about devices. True, many of the things we call devices were not around when the Bible was written. But what...

Mr. Kyle Bruinooge teacher of New Testament history at Covenant Christian High School in Walker, Michigan and an elder in Faith PRC in Jenison, Michigan Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer, and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:1-3 In the last article on Onesimus, we examined the narrative of Philemon from the perspective of the runaway slave. We saw the beautiful evidence of God’s...

Rev. Martyn McGeown, pastor of Providence PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Philippians 1:29 Introduction In the ordo salutis, the logical sequence in which the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of salvation decreed by God in election and purchased by Christ on the cross, the fourth step after regeneration, calling, and conversion is saving faith. Faith is both the activity of the regenerated, called, converted sinner, and the gift of God. We believe (our activity) because it was...

Prof. Douglas Kuiper, professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Trinity PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan Previous article in this series: January 15, 2024, p. 206. In the last article we surveyed the history of textual criticism (see footnote for definition).1 We learned that some textual critics have a high view of Scripture, while others have a low view. Their view of Scripture affects why and how they do the work of textual criticism. We also learned that within the last 150 years some textual critics divided all Greek manuscripts into four...

Mrs. Sarah Mowery, wife and mother in Loveland PRC in Loveland, Colorado Fiery trials Dear reader, what tries you today? I know that you are tried. I know this not only because that is my experience, but because God’s Word says it is so: “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Indeed, it is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). Scripture assures us that those who remain steadfast under trial are blessed; yet too often our trials not only leave us perplexed at the strange things happening to us, but...

Prof. Ronald Cammenga, rector and professor of Dogmatics and Old Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Southwest PRC in Wyoming, Michigan The woodcut pictured on the next page, made and donated by one of the seminary’s supporters, hangs from one of the walls in the seminary building. The wall joins the classroom section to the library and the professors’ offices. It also faces the entrance. Visitors entering the seminary will immediately see it off to the left. Since it adjoins the professors’ offices and the library where each of the students has his study carrel, both...

Mr. Charles Terpstra, member of Faith PRC in Jenison, Michigan and full-time librarian/registrar/archivist at the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and SB book review editor The following book is reviewed by Prof. Douglas Kuiper, professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Theological Seminary and member of Trinity PRC in Hudsonville, Michigan. A. C. Van Raalte: Pastor by Vocation, Entrepreneur by Necessity, by Robert P. Swierenga. Holland, MI: Van Raalte Press, 2023. Pp xxii + 680. Softcover. $50.00. Swierenga has done it again: He has produced a fascinating, well-researched book that regards the history of West Michigan and...