When we chose the wording for the theme of this issue of The Outlook, we were tempted to put a question mark behind it to read WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY? This would not be strange because CR synods have been flip-flopping the past four years—seriously jeopardizing their credibility. And although this year’s synodical decision re: women […]
In blistering heat, the 1994 Synod of the Christian Reformed Church began its meetings on the campus of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, June 14. A number of important topics were on the agenda of synod, but from the beginning there was a clear sense that the largest issue was whether the […]
As the Christian Reformed denomination held its collective breath, Synod 1994 met for almost two weeks at the Fine Arts Center of Calvin College, beginning with an opening prayer service at the Westview CRC on June 13 and concluding on June 23. Though, as in recent years, this was not a “one-issue” synod, it was […]
This Majority Report adopted by the CRC Synod 1994 drew abusive comments on the floor of synod from its opponents, such as: “barsh, insensitive, almost wicked, legalistic, Christless, unpastoral, arrogant, idolizing the Bible, no generosity, almost out of order, heartless, one horse shea, Pharasaical, not brotherly, a lousy cup of coffee.” A house divided against […]
One morning, about a week after the CRC Synod ‘94 adjourned, my telephone rang and the conversation with a male caller went something like this: Caller: Hello, is this Laurie Vanden Heuvel? Responder: Yes it is. Caller: I am a deacon in one of the local CRC’s and […]
The title of this article is borrowed with permission from a sermon my husband preached some time ago. As I observed the synod of the CRC in session and the protest by the women and their supporters the day following the vote by synod not to ratify the 1993 decision to allow women in the […]
The Clinton Administration’s tireless effort to import the abortion pill known as RU 486 into the United States provides additional evidence that when the President promised to make abortions “rare,” he was not telling the truth. Once America celebrated life-enhancing discoveries by men such as Jonas Salk and […]
About 500 years ago, when the printing press was a recent invention, Martin Luther and other reformers “jumped” on it and God revived His church with the Reformation! Now we are the first generation in all of human history since Adam and Eve to have the cassette tape as a way to give God’s Word […]
Last month, we reviewed together the Biblically-established reasons for the elders’ involvement in the practice of church discipline. I suggested three: for the church’s sake (to prevent spiritual carelessness, or the spreading of the diseases of disobedience), for the holiness and honor of the Lord and the reputation of His name, and finally, and especially, […]
Dear Editors and readers of The Outlook: Imagine my surprise when I discovered an eight-page article on The Fourth Day in the March issue of The Outlook. The number eight and the month of March were especially significant to me in this context because it was eight years ago, in March of 1986, that I […]