Most of my high school classmates signed their yearbook pictures with the letters “A. F. A.” above their signatures. Back then these letters stood for, “A Friend Always.” Most of these messages have proven to be empty promises. Young people often wonder why their list of close friends actually shrinks as the years go by. […]
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with a friend. –Exodus 33:11a The title of this meditation is “listening to God.” It may lead you to ask, “How can a person listen to God?” There are no stone tablets falling down from heaven instructing us as to what […]
This is an amended version of a paper I wrote as a student at Mid America Reformed Seminary for a Denominational History class with Dr. C. Venema. Introduction Generation after generation of Reformed Christians has had to defend their Christian schools. The influences and mentality over the last twelve decades or so of Christian education […]
A preposition can make all the difference. As a case in point consider Revelation 15:2: “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of […]
“What God begins, He ends. What He does, He does well,” said Rev. Jason Tuinstra. It was a fitting statement, and one that captured the essence of the Reformed Youth Services 2011 International Convention. Convention week began on Monday, July 25, with the first of five main sessions. An exhortation to recognize our spiritual need […]
If you have heard anything about the recent Reformed Youth Services convention at Dordt College, you will not be surprised when I say that I had a fantastic time being a part of it. The RYS convention is not something to attend lightly. I personally had to endure a fourteen-hour bus ride from my home […]
The typical summertime calm of Dordt College’s campus was shattered on July 25 as 813 teens and sponsors flooded the beautiful grounds and overtook the dorms. Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, was the host site for the 2011 Reformed Youth Services Convention, which took place from July 25 to July 29. After a year […]
It is with fear and trepidation, and at the same time with great joy and anticipation, that I embark on writing a Bible study on the book of Romans. Fear because the few pages of each lesson will never be able to explain the incredible wealth contained in Romans; joy because, even if all that […]
Paul begins his letter by creating a bond between himself and the believers in Rome. He praises God for them. That praise comes not because they have sent a large donation to his ministry nor because they have built a huge mega-church. He praises God for their faith. Paul does not proclaim the gospel in […]
The Nicene Creed as we know it is more accurately called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed. This is because the creed we have is a product, by and large, of both the Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381). I say by and large because later there was in the Western Church an important addition that […]