As I pick up my pen to write this article, I am looking through my window at white piles of snow punctuated with black-brown tree trunks and seemingly lifeless branches silhouetted against a somber sky which threatens to extend what already seems like an endless winter. But my calendar tells me that within a few […]
One of the most powerful and arresting passages in Scripture about the holiness of God is found in Isaiah 6. There the prophet is given a vision of the greatness of God and His glory. The divine king is enthroned in His temple. His royal robes fill the temple. His royal courtiers—the angels—surround the throne […]
I was present at the 1995 sessions of the Christian Reformed synod as a correspondent for The Outlook magazine. On Monday evening, June 19, 1995, as it concluded its deliberations on women in the offices of elder, minister, and evangelist, the CRC synod passed a recommendation which read like this: “That synod urge the churches […]
One of the small pleasures of my early childhood was playing with other children outside the church after Sunday evening worship. For a half hour or more, the adults seemed to forget their parental responsibilities and we ran wild and free in the soft summer air of a Kansas evening. While our parents pursued more mature […]
Few Christians in North America, at least among those who follow developments in the churches, are unfamiliar with the writings of Hal Lindsey (The Late Great Planet Earth), the Scofield Reference Bible or an institution like Moody Bible Institute. More of them are probably familiar with the subject of the “rapture,” as it is known in short-hand, than any group of Christians […]
I just spent a few minutes reviewing the titles of the articles in this column over the last couple of years. Although I have written an article or two about the role of the elders in supervising the preaching of local pastors, and while several others (notably W. Robert Godfrey and J. Mark Beach) have […]
It has become fashionable for “progressives” to cite Calvin as a supporter of a critical approach to the Bible. Such was not the case as N.H. Gootjes demonstrates in this article. The Editors Calvin has dealt extensively with Scripture. Not only did he summarize the doctrine of Scripture in his Institutes, but he also preached […]
Haggai 1:8 Verse eight is the key verse, the main point, of Haggai’s prophecy. God is telling the people to get wood and build His house, so that He might take pleasure in it and be glorified. They had been procrastinating, and God wants them to resume building. He is saying bluntly: “Get to work. […]
(March 25, 1996) URNS-On Sabbath afternoon, March 24, Dr. John H. Gerstner went to be with the Lord while at his home in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Gerstner was 81 at the time of his death. For most readers little more needs to be said. You know the man, and you know the respect and affection so […]