What is the Goal of Evangelism? Some hold that the goal, purpose, chief end of evangelism is the conversion of the lost. No doubt, we have here a truly noble sentiment and one worthy of contemplation. If the goal of evangelism is the apparent conversion of the lost, then we, should develop a methodology which […]

I have been thinking a lot, in recent days, about the Christian ministry. I wrote an earlier Update (Vol. 5, No. 3, 1996) on the subject of divine call to the ministry. I can’t seem to get a growing concern for pastoral integrity out of my mind. My exposure to the church across North America […]

I was sitting in her kitchen having a Coke. She was an attractive woman and the parent of a pretty little girl. She was also another sad product of the “Me” generation who had overdosed on the road to “self-fulfillment.” She had recently divorced her husband for the unspeakable crime of not making her happy. […]

In our discussion last month we tried to establish some concrete standards of judgment for that subjective art called music as it applies particularly to the church, the body and bride of Christ. But the exercise of our priestly office as believers would be incomplete were we to neglect so important an aspect of church […]

The decision by one judge in Hawaii that the state may not prohibit same-sex “marriages” goes against the Author of marriage, legal precedent, the will of an estimated 75 percent of Hawaii’s citizens and what used to be called common sense. But it is not the victory the gay lobby claims. It is what Alliance […]

June 13, 1996 Dr. David H. Englehard, General Secretary Christian Reformed Church in North America 2850 Kalamazoo Ave S.E.   The Synod of the Christian Reformed Church in North America Grand Rapids, Michigan Dear Brothers in Christ: Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mindful of the blessings that we have received from […]

All Reformed believers who cherish the church as the bride of Jesus Christ are vitally interested in the preservation and promotion of unity within the local church and in the relations between all true churches of Jesus Christ. Such believers confess, in the language of the Nicene Creed, “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” They […]

Last month, I wrote this column a piece explaining why I think the unbridled criticism of Promise Keepers I hear from so many quarters of the Reformed world is unwarranted. In short, I argued that we ought to take a balanced and careful approach, testing the produce and the fruit of the movement before opposing […]

Desiderius Erasmus was probably the most brilliant scholar in sixteenth-century Europe. He was witty, urbane and sophisticated. Born near Rotterdam ca. 1467 in humble circumstances he became the prince of Renaissance humanists. When he died in 1536, he was revered throughout Christendom. Erasmus was very concerned about the state of the Christian church. He criticized […]

ROMANS 8 (verses 1-4) by Thomas Jacomb, clothbound, 400pp, $24.99 ISBN 0 85151 707 2 Thomas Smith, the editor of this series, wrote: “Of the many excellent works which we have had the privilege of making accessible to Christian readers by means of this series of reprints, there has been no one of which we […]