Is it still possible to be truly enthusiastic about preaching the Word according to the summary of its doctrine as found in the Heidelberg Catechism? In this 400th anniversary year of the publication of this Creed this question must be faced, and Dr. Alexander C. De Jong does so in a second of a series […]
The thesis of this article is simple. Every church member must work to keep the Church a Church. Only as the Church continues to live as the Body of Christ, the Household of Faith, the Community of the Saved, the Sheepfold of Christ, can she be used by Christ as a blessing in the world. […]
“The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for the Lord.” These words of the Psalmist are the words which a devout father, an earnest teacher, and a loyal friend would desire to have spoken about […]
The covenant of grace is the soil out of which the church grows. For this reason every centennial celebrant must be intentionally and critically awake to the meaning of this fact of grace. For church members to ignore the covenant is to forsake the matrix out of which they were born. It is as abnormal for […]
The key word of this convention is balance. It gives rise to various pictures. You can find balance in a circus. The tightrope artist neatly packaged in her tights struts the wire with the precision of balance. Each careful step elicits new “ohs” and “abs” from the excited audience. The artist’s poise, skill and beauty are the […]
Being a Christian involves being a member of the Church. The Church, and the local congregation as a concrete manifestation of the Church. is inseparable from Christianity. The Savior once said that no one can approach the Father except through the Son. In the Scriptures God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is presented as the Head […]
Two men were talking over a Monday morning cup of coffee. Both were typical American suburban dwellers who never bothered much about the church. As well informed individuals they had heard about the current movement back to the church by many citizens. They had decided to try it too. After all, going to church never hurt anyone […]
God, who worketh all things after the counsel of his will, deals with our sinful world in terms of Jesus Christ. It has pleased God “to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth” (Eph. 1:10). In Christ the grace of God has appeared. Our Savior has abolished […]
The Synod of Dort convened on November 13, 1618. It was, however, January 18, 1619, before they addressed themselves to the intricate problems posed by the five articles of the Remonstrants. One big reason for this long delay was the subtle strategy of Episcopius. As a clever parliamentarian he wanted to formulate the problems to be discussed. He wanted to […]
No one likes to be called a stock or a block. Our Reformed fathers who wrote the Canons of Dort did not fancy the name either. That is why they took the trouble to mention this matter in Chapters III–IV. Article 16. God’s grace of regeneration “does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor […]