For though the fig-tree shall not flourish, neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labor of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The Rock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy […]
And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children. –Isaiah 54:13 September brings the days that are commonly known as “back-to-school days.” Travel and summer vacations have ended for most families and schoolwork and homework will take their demanding and dominant place. Public and private, parochial and […]
“For what great nation is there, that hath a god so nigh unto them, as Jehovah our God is whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before this day?” Deuteronomy 4:7–8 July is the month of very […]
“And he [Esau] lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are these with thee? And he [Jacob] said, The children whom God hath graciously given your servant” (Gen. 33:5). It may seem to some especially shortsighted to turn back the pages of the years almost to the beginning of […]
In the all-wise but often mysterious working of God’s providence I was recently a patient for several months. Instead of regularly visiting others in joy or in sorrow, in sickness and health, etc., I found myself on the “receiving” end. I received many visitors and was blessed greatly by their visits. This was not the […]
Rev. Garrett H. Stoutmeyer is pastor of the Faith Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan. For the next six months he and Rev. John Blankespoor, pastor of the Pine Creek Christian Reformed Church of Holland, Michigan, are to provide the Meditations alternately. “. . . show forth His salvation from day to day.” Psalm […]
Within recent memory the ecclesiastical drums were being beaten for “youth services.” If you wanted to be “right on,” “in the spirit of our times,” that was the “in” thing to do! Now not near so loudly but quite perceptively another trend is developing among us, namely, the introduction of “Children’s Church Services.” Oh yes, we […]
The “Continental Congress on the Family” convened on October 13–17 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri. Twenty-two hundred participants were in attendance from 43 states of the United States of America, five foreign countries, the working press, and from 50 denominations and evangelical organizations, etc. The Congress was conceived and chaired by J. […]
As pastor of the Christian Reformed Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Rev. Garrett H. Stoutmeyer is in a position where he has every opportunity to observe the church-shopping habits of CRC members and others who either relocate in Florida or otherwise make that state with its inviting climate their winter home. My ministry is conducted […]
One of the constant demands made upon Jesus Christ during his ministry here on earth was that he give men a “sign.” – Apparently, the religious leaders of that time had decided that when the true Messiah would come, He would give them some phenomenal signs to prove His claim to the Messiahship. When He […]