“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? I will take up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.” Psalm 116:12, 13 Words are used daily to express the deepest feelings of our souls. We seek very early in life to teach our children to […]

(Adapted from a lecture given at the RYS National Convention) Introduction In Louis Berkhof’s book Subjects and Outlines, published in 1918, he wrote about what he perceived to be a “craze for amusement.” It amazes me that in 1918 he was already speaking about a kind of obsession for entertainment. It also scares me. If […]

The sermon occupies a most important place in our worship. The congregation has come to hear the Word of God. This should be borne in mind by both the preacher and the congregation. There is always the danger that we forget this. The preacher can easily forget that he is an ambassador of Christ. The […]

When Peter, as the spokesman for the disciples, confesses who Jesus is, he declares, “Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). These parallel titles, “Messiah” and “Son of the living God”, are both royal titles. “Messiah” essentially means the “divinely appointed king of Israel.” The “Son of God” is a […]

January 1956 “[T]he work of salvation is not an exclusively spiritual affair, but extends to the redemption of the entire man, body and soul. The Word which operates savingly in man penetrates not only to the spiritual consciousness, but also to the physical being of man.” Psychology and the Bible Edward Heerema February 1956 “Denominational […]

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 Rules! Rules! Rules! We have to deal with them all the time and they’re just not fair. “Rules always stop me from doing the things that I want to do and sometimes need to do. […]

The Means God Uses I noted earlier that one of the common complaints against the doctrine of election is that it encourages passivity and fatalism. If salvation is entirely God’s work, then what remains for anyone to do? This common complaint betrays a serious confusion between the authorship and the means of salvation. To say […]

[Last month Rev. Murphy looked at the growth and advancements of the Reformed faith in the area of individuals and congregations. This month, Rev. Murphy continues the series by looking at denominations and ministies.] Denominations It used to be said that once a denomination had gone bad, there was no reversing it. As a matter […]