All Articles For Annual Report

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,...

“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5 Each of God’s children, desiring to know and serve our heavenly Father, receives His Word and commandments. Yet it does not stop there; our ears are inclined to...

Jesus said in Revelation 22:7–10, Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of...

Mr. Hoekstra is a member of Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church, and secretary of the RFPA. In 1953 Herman Hoeksema penned an editorial titled “Why We Should Read the Standard Bearer.” He stated: Mark you well, the Standard Bearer is not begging for subscriptions. The truth never begs. And the Standard Bearer represents the truth. If many of us are not interested in the Protestant Reformed truth anymore, something which I am still loath to believe, the truth of God nevertheless stands and marches on, even without them. Besides, I do not want mere subscribers, but readers that will make careful...

Mr. VanUffelen is a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan and retired secretary of the RFPA. One hundred years ago this month, on September 16, 1915, Herman Hoeksema was ordained into the gospel ministry at Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. Fifty years later—and fifty years ago this month, on September 2, 1965, the Lord took him to glory after an astonishingly productive life as an eloquent preacher, profound theologian, magnetic teacher, prolific author, and loving family man. Throughout those fifty years, God used Herman Hoeksema as the principal founder of the Protestant Reformed Churches and...

Mr. Kalsbeek is a member of Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan and retired secretary of the RFPA. 1924 was a good year. On January 21 of that year fifty-three-year-old Vladimir Lenin died. Sadly the police state, command economy, and state propaganda machine he had imposed upon the Russian people did not die with him. In that same year eight months later and half a world away, the RFPA was born. In contrast to the slavery and propaganda machine Lenin imposed, the RFPA was dedicated to freedom: the freedom to write in the Standard Bearer. With the distribution of the...

Mr. Kalsbeek is a member in Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan and secretary of the RFPA. The tears of a slave girl just going to be put up for sale drew the attention of a gentleman as he passed through the auction mart of a Southern slave state. The other slaves of the same group, standing in line for sale like herself, did not seem to care about it, while each knock of the hammer made her shake. The kind man stopped to ask why she alone wept, and was told that the others were used to such things,...

“The Year of ePub” is a good title for this past year at the RFPA. Were you to peruse the minutes of the year as I did prior to writing this report, it would become obvious why that title is so fitting: discussion and decisions by our standing committees and the RFPA Board were dominated by doing what needed to be done to make the RFPA compatible with the electronic age in which we live. This work has not gone unnoticed. In fact, in re­sponse to making our first eBook (Federal Vision) available, a considerate supporter sent us this email:...

The Annual Meeting of the RFPA was held on Sept. 25. New board members chosen were K. Ezinga (Fourth), G. E. Bylsma and H. Velthouse (First). Retiring members: J Oomkes, P. Dykema and G. Borduin. The Society decided to increase the membership dues to $5.00 effective Jan. 1, 1953.

Mr. Engelsma is a member of Grandville Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, MI and secretary of the RFPA. His report, appearing here belatedly on the pages of the SB, was read at the annual meeting held on September 22, 2011.   In Psalm 34:3, David writes, “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” The Board of the Reformed Free Publishing Association issues the same call to our Association members and friends tonight; let us examine the work of the RFPA over the last year and together let us magnify the Lord and exalt the name of Him...