Dear Readers, It is a great privilege for me to be writing you this month. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to serve you and the broader community of readers of our materials. As we look to the future, my prayer is that the […]

The Apostle John’s final words in his first epistle are essential for the church of Jesus Christ today: “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” Naming God with feminine nouns and pronouns is often a clear decision to set before the church an idol. The Fatherhood of God is rooted in the Scriptural revelation of the […]

To fragment or federate? That is the question. Do we have any union as the church universal? Is there any mutual accountability in the URCNA? Are we a group constantly seeking to fragment along local church boundaries or are our local churches within actual federated borders? Are local churches seeking nothing more than counsel and […]

Rob Bell is the pastor of one of the fastest growing churches in the history of America. The church is in Grandville, a suburb of Grand Rapids, MI. He recently published a book, Velvet Elvis, Repainting the Christian Faith. His title refers to an old painting in his basement of Elvis Presley. Bell maintains that […]

Synod 2006 of the Christian Reformed Church finished its work but the implementation of its decisions will impact the CRC for generations to come. For over ten years I have written nothing about the CRC. I have followed its activities over the years but have not been engaged in evaluating its decisions. This year I […]

In this article I would like to examine the process of candidacy as it relates to the church order. There are several church order articles and appendices that relate to this matter. Article 3 Competent men should be urged to study for the ministry of the Word. A man who is a member of a […]

The church order of any denomination or federation is only as beneficial as the integrity of the churches that have covenanted to abide by the articles they have mutually adopted. The Christian Reformed church order recognized this commitment in Article 96, “This Church Order, having been adopted by common consent, shall be faithfully observed, and […]