This article is an edited transcription of an address give during the annual meeting of the Reformed Fellowship on October 6, 1994, in the Beverly Christian Reformed Church (Independent). I divide what I want to say to you now into two parts. The first I call a diagnosis, an analysis. The second is a proposed […]
The first week of November 1994, a young mother named Susan Smith tugged on our nation’s heart when we learned that someone had forced her out of the car and kidnapped her two little boys still strapped in their car seats. Many of us were glued to the newspapers or news broadcasts to see if […]
The issue of abortion, once considered firmly settled in the CRC, now seems to be a discussible matter, encouraged in part by Christian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice.1 Personal presentations of his views on abortion by Dr. Hessel Bouma III, one of the authors, at several different venues, resulted in some disagreement in the pages […]
A federal panel of experts has recommended that the government’s 15year-old ban against all research on human embryos be lifted, because fertilized eggs do not have the “same moral status as infants and children.” This is just the latest assault on the uniqueness, dignity and value of the human species. […]
No doubt many readers of The Outlook are aware that Classis Grand Rapids East of the Christian Reformed Church has formally decided not to “force its congregations to comply with the decision of Synod 1994” regarding women in ecclesiastical office. By this decision Classis Grand Rapids East has determined upon a course of ecclesiastical disobedience, […]
The annual meeting of the Alliance of Reformed Churches was convened on November 15, 1994, at the Lynwood Christian Reformed Church Independent of Lynwood, Illinois. More than sixty churches were represented by delegates. Several churches had sent official observers. Greetings were brought by the fraternal delegates of churches whose interest in the Alliance has been […]
In the last issue Dr. Godfrey discussed Martin Luther’s writings about right doctrine and law and gospel. He concludes the series by reviewing Luther’s writings on faith, and on the law as a spiritual guide. LUTHER’S WRITINGS (continued) On faith Now as a corollary to this distinction between law and gospel, Luther discussed faith. Faith […]
This summer we took a family vacation to the West Coast. Like all good tourists, we took in a day at the beach. And like all good tourists, I demonstrated my ignorance of proper beach precautions. Everyone knows that if you are coming from Iowa to go to the beach, you had better be well […]
You arrive at the elder’s meeting to discover everyone talking about Sittema’s article in last month’s issue of The Outlook. (Allow me a little fantasy, OK?) In it, he argued that every elder must be able to disciple someone, and some should be active in the church’s teaching ministry. He even suggested that the time-honored […]