All Articles For Go Ye Into All the World

Rev. Smit is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Doon, Iowa. He is also secretary of the Foreign Mission Committee. The Foreign Mission Committee (FMC) of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America once again presents to the readers of the Standard Bearer an overview of the foreign mission work of our churches since our last report. The committee is composed of eight members from the Doon, Edgerton, and Hull Protestant Reformed Churches. The members from Edgerton are Mr. Allen Brummel and Rev. Daniel Kleyn. The members from Doon are Mr. Jim Hoogendoorn, Rev. Richard Smit, and Mr. Peter VanDenTop....

Rev. denHartog is pastor of Southwest Protestant Reformed Church in Grandville, Michigan. Previous article in this series: February 15, 2006, p. 232. It was a dramatic moment for Paul. He was brought to the Areopagus, a famous Greek arena, a place where the great men of the world would give their lectures for the debate and discussion of those interested. He stood before a large audience, including philosophers and teachers and learned men, the great and wise of the world. There he stood in the providence of God. He was an apostle by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ,...

Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Reformed minister-on-loan to Singapore. Recently I was walking towards the bus-stop when a young man who lives across the street from us pulled up to me on his bicycle and began to chat. “I understand you are a pastor,” he said. I affirmed the accuracy of his information. He continued, “I would like to come and join your church.” That got my attention, though I felt a bit uncomfortable with his calling FERC my church. “And why do you want to join my church,” I interjected. “How many baptisms did you have last year?” he...

Rev. Kortering is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Previous article in this series: April, 15, 2006, p. 333. There are many passages of the Bible that shed light on the subject before us: how do I go about sharing the gospel with my neighbor? We will consider a few of them. We first take a look at Luke 10:30-37. This is the well-known passage in which Jesus answers the question of the lawyer, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus posed another question, “What is written in the law?” The lawyer summarized it correctly: love God...

Rev. Spriensma is a missionary of the Protestant Reformed Churches, currently serving in the Philippines. “O sing unto the LORD a new song; sing unto the LORD all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”  Psalm 96:1-4 This is the great calling of Christ’s church, to declare, to make known amongst the peoples, the glory of our God and the glory of...

Mr. Doezema is secretary of the Domestic Mission Committee and of First Church’s Jamaica Mission Committee. Included, often, on the Sunday bulletins of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Fellowship in Ballymena, Northern Ireland is a little section entitled “Encouraging Quotes.” The “Quotes” come from letters of recipients of the literature and/or tapes distributed by the CPRF as part of their faithful witness to the truth. Not long ago one of those bulletins carried the response of a Northern Ireland reader of a publication of the CPRF. It read like this: This is a note to express my gratitude for your mailing...

Mr. Brummel is the secretary of the Foreign Mission Committee. The Foreign Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches hereby presents a brief annual overview of the foreign mission work being done by our churches. Specifically we provide you with information on the process of closing the Ghana field and the work being done on our mission field in the Philippines. Although the FMC has also corresponded with various contacts in other countries, the focus of our work this past year has definitely been in the Philippines. It has been especially in the Philippines that the Lord has given us...

Rev. Kortering is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Previous article in this series: March, 15, 2005, p. 276. God is a God of order. Within the covenant sphere He uses believing parents to nurture, influence, and mold the hearts of children. Outside the covenant sphere He uses believers to reach out to others to share the gospel with them and, by the work of His Holy Spirit, to draw them within the covenant sphere. In mission work, God has bound together the preaching of the gospel and the personal witness of the believer as His ordained way...

Rev. Kortering is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Previous article in this series: December 14, 2005, p. 139. We ought to pause a moment to get our bearing as to where we are going with this series of articles. The general theme is “Personal Evangelism.” We are considering this subject in connection with the efforts of each local church to do outreach ministry. Our contention is that any such effort must include and emphasize the importance of personal evangelism by the members of the congregation. We wrote two articles that set forth the legitimacy of the activity...

Rev. Kortering is a Protestant Reformed minister-on-loan to Singapore. Several years ago, when I was serving in one of our congregations, a member of the church came to me to ask for assistance. He was having good discussions with a colleague at work and this man seemed to be interested in the truth of the gospel. I do not recall if he was interested in becoming a Christian or if he was already a Christian but showing interest in the Reformed faith. The point of his inquiry was whether this interested person could come to see me and talk things...