“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”  — I Timothy 6:8 Practically every country has its own special Thanksgiving Day traditions. Most of them are in the autumn, beginning as early as early October—as in Canada, and getting as late as the end of November—as in the United States. […]

Everyone has some kind of work to do in life. We each have been given multiple callings by the Lord. We have been called to our place of employment. The Lord has put us in our family situations as brothers, sisters, moms, dads, and grandparents. Students have been called to do their studies, and teachers […]

“All men are in duty bound to join and unite themselves with [the true church] . . . serving to the edification of the brethren, according to the talents God has given them.” —Belgic Confession, Article 28 The most public office in the early church was, of course, apostle. The apostles’ visibility seems to have […]

The opening verses of Romans 12, beginning with “therefore,” refer not only to the doxology in chapter 11 but also to all that Paul has written to this point: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do […]

The opening verses of Romans 12 call us to offer our bodies to be spiritual sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Such a sacrifice is obviously not to be made in a void but within the context of the Christian community. We confess that those who are saved by the grace of God are to […]

This article, and the new column that shares its title, was birthed in the form of a challenge. The challenger, Gary Veldink, encouraged the challenged (pastors like me) to take up an important task: write something for the youth. “Easy for him to say,” I thought, as I sat there with a group of workshop […]

As school begins, you may think that you need a trendy outfit—one that will make a statement to all your friends that you have undergone some great metamorphosis during the summer. Or maybe some great shoes, a cute purse, or even sunglasses. God calls us, as daughters of the King, to forget about that new […]

“Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccles. 12:13). Although there are a myriad of aspects of living a God-glorifying life, our summarized “marching orders” can actually be stated pretty simply. The theme of this year’s RYS International Convention was “Mission Possible,” and attendees were certainly encouraged with […]

The Bible is a big book, addressing many truths, so from time to time we read in it teachings that we may have forgotten. One such teaching is fasting. It is a biblical topic, yet many pastors never preach on it. It is a practice that many Christians have never practiced. Abraham Kuyper once lamented: […]

The agendas for the previous three meetings of Classis Southwest U.S. were light by almost any standard, in fact, some Consistory meetings last longer than amount of time the Classis spent conducting its business in these meetings. All of that changed with the meeting held at Christ Reformed Church in Anaheim, CA on September 17-18, […]