A Christmas Meditation “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the spirit, Seen of angels, Preached among the nations, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory” (I Tim. 3:16). Here is the master-truth of Christmas. God was manifested in the flesh! This […]
A Christian businessman who has his office near my home met me this morning (April 7) as I was walking to the mailbox. Almost immediately he began to unburden his heart about his sixteen-year old daughter who has him and his wife deeply worried. She attends the Sunday worship services very unwillingly, complains that the […]
Some years ago the villagers in Domo d’Ossala, in Italian Switzerland, built a mimic Calvary as a symbol of their religious devotion. A series of little chapels, with pictures and images depicting the scenes of our Lord’s Passion, was constructed along the way that led to Calvary. The first showed Christ before Herod; the second, […]
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.” (John 12:24) One of the hardest things for modern man to accept is the Christian claim that once, and once for all, at a definite […]
A name held in high esteem by many of the older Calvin College graduates is that of Johannes Broene, for many years professor in the Department of Education and also one-time President of the College. We remember him as a Christian gentleman, a gifted teacher, a wise counselor. These enviable qualities were consistently reflected not […]
“Shrug all the 20th century. Time loses its meaning on serene, tropical Sanibel Island.” So reads a vacation advertisement in the December 5, 1970 Saturday Review. Scores of magazines on our stands, to say nothing of the newspaper and TV commercials, carry glamorized appeals to people who have leisure time and money and who are […]
The three articles on THE CRISIS IN DOCTRINE, THE CRISIS IN MORALS, and THE CRISIS IN EDUCATION were given as addresses in a panel discussion at the recent annual meeting of the Reformed Fellowship. Participating in the panel were: Rev. John H. Piersma, pastor of the Bethany Christian Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois; Dr. […]
A Time of Surprises – For many people, and especially for children, Christmas is a time of surprises. Often they receive gifts they did not expect. Most of us enjoy being surprised that way. It can be a very pleasant experience. But we seldom consider that being taken by surprise should also be a humbling […]
The author of Psalm 136 commences and concludes his song with the words: “Oh give thanks… ,” He sounds like one who is sadly thoughtful. There is a tone of pleading in his summons. It is a yearning, wistful heart that is speaking. The psalmist is painfully aware of the disinclination of God’s people to […]
CONGRATULATIONS MR. PRESIDENT On January 20 the Americans witnessed a modern miracle, the legal and orderly transfer of party-government, a feat which totalitarian systems cannot equal. On this momentous day a partisan politician also became the people’s president and a world leader. The central theme of President Nixon’s message was peace at home and abroad. […]