Let’s suppose someone filled your gas tank with water instead of gasoline. How would you know? Most obviously your car wouldn’t start. Over time the engine would corrode itself tight. Every human being burns with a spiritual gasoline. Either it is the Third Person of the Trinity or it is the untamed passion of our […]
Introduction Colloquial jargon has a way of embodying cultural philosophy. Modern teens habitually sprinkle their conversations with liberal doses of “Y’know” and “Like, y’know.” Two rather modern linguistic space fillers are particularly revealing of the postmodern spirit of our culture. In response to any particular belief-claim or moral-imperative come the retorts: “Whatever” and “Whatever floats […]
Approximately 370 young people and leaders attended the first-ever Reformed Youth Services National Convention held July 30-August 3 at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. A total of 37 RYS-member churches were present, representing thirteen states and provinces. About 290 students and sixty adult sponsors, plus speakers and staff, attended the weeklong event. As you […]
The first annual Reformed Youth Services National Convention can be hailed as a success. We, the excited teens, arrived on Monday, July 30 between 1–5 p.m. at beautiful Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Surrounded by grand mountains and spectacular old buildings we found a haven to learn about “Taking Every Thought Captive,” our theme […]
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead and lived again: I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. […]
If there is one doctrine for which the Reformed churches are known, it is the doctrine of election or predestination. Many people, who know next to nothing about the Reformed faith and the writings of John Calvin, have at least heard that Reformed believers emphasize the sovereignty of God in salvation. This emphasis upon God’s […]
December 1954–January 1955 “[I]f God’s people must bear witness of God, how did they come to be equipped for the task? The answer is that they have been “formed” by God for this purpose. They have not chosen this task. They have been chosen for it.” * * * * * “As God was favorably […]
The following article is the beginning of an inspirational message given by the Rev. Paul Murphy at the 2000 Reformed Fellowship Annual Meeting. It is a celebration of the advancement of the Reformed faith. The topic for my lecture this evening is “Like Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver.” That is a citation of […]