Suffering is something we like to avoid. We reach for the jar with painkillers as soon as our headache starts to intervene with the duties and pleasures of life. Many of us look away from the television screen when pictures are crimes or horrible diseases. Mercy killing, more commonly known as euthanasia, is promoted as […]
The Synod of the Christian Reformed Church is scheduled to meet for its annual session from June 13–20, 1998, at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Delegates from 47 classes – 94 pastors and 94 elders – in addition to denominational personnel and advisors, will meet for a maximum of one week. The one-week session […]
When my husband and I left the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) December 31, 1997 after 36 years in the ministry there, we decided that as editors of The Outlook we would “forget those things that are behind” in the CRC, and “press on” in our new church home, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We […]
Since 1619, the Christian Reformed Church and its predecessor denominations in the Netherlands have had some of the strictest policies of any Reformed tradition for subscription to the doctrinal standards of the church. That could change if Classis Thornapple Valley gets its way. By unanimous vote, the January […]
Question: What is the task of the church? Answer: And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them […]
Reformed theology is under reconstruction, so much so that avant garde Reformed theologians should take a hint from GM and advertise their sleek product to Unchurched Harry with the pitch; “This is not your Father’s theology.” One of the major ways that Dad’s theology has changed is with the ambitious combining of Reformed Soteriology with […]
April 8, 1998 Dear Editors: In your January 1998 Issue of The Outlook, at the top of page 9, under the heading RESTRUCTURING ECCLESIASTICAL FELLOWSHIP, please note the following introductory statement: “The Orthodox Presbyterian Church thinks it ‘flunked’ the test of dealing with the Christian Reformed Church and wants to avoid making the same set […]
WHO AND WHAT WILL BE JUDGED? The fact that believers need not fear the final judgment because it will vindicate their faith and service to the Lord, does not mean that the final judgment will only be of those who are unbelieving and impenitent. The Scriptures teach that all will be judged, the just and […]
Over the years the Rev. Neal Punt has had his own unique {not to say confusing} view about who will be saved and who will not. More than a decade ago his writings created some controversy in the church, a controversy in which I also took part. I was hoping that Punt had come to […]