“Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in the time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 This month we acknowledge several special days: Ascension Day, Prayer Day, and Pentecost. Rev. Hyde has offered a meditation on Pentecost, so this meditation focuses upon […]
How can we individually and even corporately as a church have “Spirit-filled” worship and evangelistic zeal? No doubt you have had this question posed to you by a charismatic or Pentecostal friend. As a former Pentecostal-turned-Reformed, let me give you a clear answer from the Holy Scriptures. There are two ways to be “Spirit-filled.” The […]
Dr. Kloosterman opened the meeting with a brief meditation on Jonah 1, and prayer. The minutes of the November 11-12, 2008 meeting were reviewed and approved, as were the agenda and timetable for the next three days. The respective 2007 General Synods of the two federations had adopted the recommendation to present to the churches […]
Members of the Joint Committee of the Proposed Church Order have traveled the continent explaining the work they have done and seeking input for future modifications. It appears that the same structure was used at each site with different committee members reporting on different sections of the proposed church order. The meeting I attended drew […]
When we think back to Calvin and his valiant defense of the faith we can only wish that to some extent we might be filled with as much love for the truth and hatred of sin as he was. Impartiality When Calvin was about to die he had a deep consciousness of his lack of […]
Judges 17 follows on the heels of the tragic story of Samson, the failed judge. By now in the book, we fully expect that this chapter will be introducing us to a new judge. Israel will again be oppressed (or rather, they were still oppressed by the Philistines, since Samson did not accomplish his work), […]
Judges 19 is put in the context of the sad ending of the tale of Micah. At the end of chapter 18, we are left with the sad news that Micah’s carved image was set up at the house of God in Shiloh. God’s temple had been defiled by this idol. The story in the […]
Last month we studied the doctrine of justification, the “hinge” on which the Protestant faith turns, according to John Calvin. John Murray described this as “the crux of the Reformation.” Justification by faith alone is the “hinge” or the “crux” because it understands faith as resting on and receiving the complete sufficiency of Christ for […]
In my previous articles on Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, I considered the introductory volume, which provides a comprehensive treatment of the discipline of dogmatics and the doctrine of revelation. According to Bavinck, Reformed dogmatics aims to summarize the teaching of the Word of God in conformity with the creeds and confessions and in the face of […]