                   Rev. Ron Ha'nko family arrives in Northern Ireland
                      See "News From the Domestic Mission Committee" - page 371


Vol. 69, No. 16
May X,1993


                                                                                                                                                                                                           7%
CONTENTS:                                                                                                                                                  May 15, 1993                           STANDARD
Meditation - Rev. John A. Heys                                                                                                                                                                            BLWER
          Rest for the Weary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~.............. 363
Editorial - Prot David J. Engelsma
         The Date is 1924 .,.~...................~....~.~........,..~...........~,~~....~~~............. 365                                                                                     ISSN 0362-4692
Letters .,,,,,,,.............,.......I.,....................................,..,,,...........................                                                                            367     Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July, and August.
Taking Heed to the Doctrine - Rev. Bernard Woudenberg                                                                                                                                            Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.,
                                                                                                                                                                                                 4949 lvanrest Ave., Grandvilla, MI 49416. Second Class
         When Friendship Fails ,,,,,,.,.....................,,.............,...................... 368                                                                                           Postage Paid at Grandville, Michigan.
News From the Domestic Mission Committee - Mr. Don Doezema . . . . . . . . 371                                                                                                                   Poatmaatrr: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
Guest Article - Rev. Steven R. Houck                                                                                                                                                             P.O. Box 663. Grandville. MI 49466-0603.
          The Power of the Preaching (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375                                         EDfTORIAL  COMMflTEE
Search the Scriptures - Rev. George C. Lubbers                                                                                                                                                   Editor: Prof. David J. Engelsma
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Secretary: Prof. Robert D. Decker
          The Proper Spiritual Conduct of Christian Women (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376                                                                                              Managing  Edlton Mr. Don Doezema
Strenght of Youth - Rev. Barrett  L. Gritters                                                                                                                                                    DEPARTMENT EDITORS
          Renewing the Battle (3)                                                                                                                                                                Rev. Ronald Cammange, Prof. Robert Decker, Rev. Ade
                                                                                                                                                                                                 denHartog, Rev. Barry Gdtters, Mr. Fred Hanko, Prof. Herman
          Drama, Television, and Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..~.............................. 379                                                                          Hanko, Rev. John Heys, Rev. Steven Key, Rev. Kenneth
Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*.......    381     Koole, Rev. Jason Kortering, Rev. Dale Kuiper, Mr. James
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Lantino. Rev. Georoe Lubbers, Mrs. ManfBeth Lubbers, Rev.
Report of Classis West - Rev. Ronald J, VanOverloop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
News From Our Churches- Mr. Benjamin Wigger ,.,......*..*.................,... 382                                                                                                               Rev. RonaMVanCverloop, Mr.&min~Wigger,  Rev. Bernard
                                                                                                                                                                                                 Woudenberg.

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           The sign which stretched across the garage doors of the Hankos' new home in                                                                                                           mustbeneatlywrktenortypewrftten,andmustbeslgned.           Copy
Northern Ireland was only part of the warm welcome they received from the Covenant                                                                                                               deadlines are the first and fifteenth of the month. All
                                                                                                                                                                                                 communications relative to the contents should be sent to the
Reformed Fellowship. In addition to a good turnout at the airport, there was also, not                                                                                                           edll0rlal ofnce.
long after their arrival, a welcome program, with moving expressions of joy at the
arrival of the missionary-pastor. One of the highlights of that evening, surely, was the                                                                                                         REPRINT  POLICY
                                                                                                                                                                                                 PermIssIon  Is herebygrantedforthe reprinting of articles In our
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362 IStandard  Bearer I May 15,1993


                           .Rest for the Weary

    Come unto me, all ye that labor and       rest, He does not mean that we must        and hopelessly labor, trying to escape
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.    do nothing. Do we not, in His holy         the curse which by nature we de-
                         Matthew 11:28        law presented to us in Exodus 2091,        serve. However, whenChristreturns,
                                              read that He blessed and hallowed          that wonderful truth in our text will
    There are in these words of our           that Sabbath Day? Yes, He ceased           take place. Christ will give us, both in
Saviorthreeveryimportantquestions,            creating the heavens and the earth.        body and soul, a rest in which we will
which call for very specific and lim-         But He did that in order to enjoy          bynomeansbeidle,butbeconstantly
ited answers.                                 them,andusethemforHisownglory.             active with heavenly joy and glory.
    The first question is, What does              Our resting on the Sabbath Day,        Christ calls us to come unto Him, so
Jesus mean by rest? The second is,            which God realized for us through          that we will enjoy a rest which willbe
What must be done for us to come to           Christ Jesus, His Son and our Savior,      unceasing, and where we will know
the blessedness of that rest? And, by         is entering into and enjoying the fin-     Hislove,alovewhichwewillenjoyi.n
allmeans,thequestionthatmustprop-             ished work of salvation. OnHis cross       newglorifiedbodies. Oursalvationis
erly be answered is, Who is promised          our Lord Jesus Christ earned a full        that work of God's grace whereby we
this rest?                                    salvation for us. His suffering of         are delivered from our sinful flesh,
    To understand that word "rest"            God's wrath on the cross earned for        andare able to walkconstantly inlove
we should bear in mind the fact that          us that full salvation. For He suffered    toward God.
rest comes through the finishing of a         the punishment which we, as the                To this glory we will come, be-
particular work. We should then also          members of His body, deserve. And          cause Christ has already earned it, is
bearinmindtheawesometruthwhich                He earned an everlasting rest for us,      already enjoying it, and is now pre-
we find already in Genesis 2:2. For           because of which He now calls us to        paring the way for us to arrive fully
after our God in six days created the         come unto Him, and promises us the         into it with heart and mind and soul
heavens and the earth, and all that           rest which He earned for us.               and strength. He came into our flesh
they contain, He rested on the sev-               Let us cling firmly to the blessed     in His grace. We then will come unto
enth day. And that, by all means,             IruththatChrist'sreturnwillbeforus         Him, because He saved us so that we
should be explained to mean that He           the full enjoyment of an everlasting       cou.ldrestwithHiminheavenlyglory.
enjoyed His finished work. He did             Sabbath. Christ'sreturnwillbringus             In our text Christ is not invitingus
not then become idle., Nor did He             the enjoyment of that complete and         to come unto Him in order to enjoy
separate Himself from that which He           wonderful work of salvation.               that rest. "Come unto Me" is a com-
had brought into being. He is, and                In Revelation 22:3 we find the         mand, not a request. Christ is not
through thousands of years has been,          blessed truth that with body and soul      asking us to let Him give us the rest
upholding that creation, using it for         we will some day be where there is no      which He has earned by His cross.
His own glory.                                curse, and where there is an everlast-     "Come unto Me" does not mean
    When then in His law He tells us          ,mg life of covenant fellowship for us     "Come and let me give you rest."
that on the Sabbath Day we should             at God's right hand. In Hebrews 1:13       Indeed, He has the right and power to
                                              and 14 we are comforted by the truth       give us rest because of what He did
                                              that we will be sitting at God's right     for us. However, His words to us do
                                              hand, with the angels "sent forth to       not mean that He is asking us to do
                                              minister, for them who shall be heirs      something, so that He can give us
                                              of salvation." That pictures beauti-       what we request. He does not plead
                                              fully for us the rest unto which our       with us, beg us, and wait to see
                                              Savior calls us.                           whether we want it.
Rev. Heys is a minister emeritus in the           In this life we often incorrectly          To claim that He invites us to do
Protestant Reformed Churches.

                                                                                                May 15,1993  / Standard Bearer I 363


what will let Him give us rest pre-         as that which we get, if we fulfill the    our flesh and died on the cross in
sents Him as our servant, rather than       condition of coming unto Him. We           order to earn that blessed rest for us,
our Savior. We in'no way, and at no         come unto Him only because He has          by blotting out our guilt.
time, let Him do something. His             not only come unto us, but also come           Before His birth, and according
work does not depend upon us, and           into us by His Spirit. We read in Acts     to God's law given through Moses,
He does not have to wait for us to          17~28,  "For in him we live and move       there were priests, and a temple
come to Him. We in no way and in no         and have ourbeing." Still more, Christ     wherein blood was sprinkled on the
sense let Him bring us one blessing.        Himself declared this in John 6:44,        mercy seat of the ark in the Holy of
Rather is it true that He even gives us     where we read: "No man can come            Holies. To the temple the children of
the desire for that rest of which He        unto me, except the Father which           God went. for the assurance of the
speaks.                                     hath sent me draw him." He also said       forgiveness of their sins. But now,
     Has a baby ever been born be-          in John 14~6, "I am the way, the truth,    since Christ, the Lamb of God, had
cause it moved its parents to give it       and the life: no man cometh to the         come, and by His cross blotted out all
life? Has such a child come into being      Father, but by me." And it is for that     the guilt of His elect, the callis to come
becauseit wanted to be one of us? No,       reason that Christ called the elect who    unto Him for the enjoyment of that
a thousand times No! We must insist         were living in His day, and also calls     rest. Do we not in John 1:29 find John
that all of our salvation, including the    us today, to come unto Him for the         the Baptist saying "Behold the Lamb
desire for it, is His gift to us, and is    enjoyment of that everlasting heav-        of God which taketh away the sin of
givenusbecauseHebegantheblessed             enly rest.                                 the world"?
life of salvation in us. So beautifully         What is also striking and com-             No, coming unto Christ will not
we sing that truth, when we sing the        forting is the parable that Jesus gave     in this life take away physical weari-
first stanza of our Psalter's 383rd         us in Luke l&9-14. In that parable a       ness. Coming to Christ may in fact
song, based on Psalm 139:14. Cor-           Pharisee boasted of what he had done,      bring upon us severe persecution (cf.
rectly and humbly we sing:                  and exalted himself above the              Rev. 13:11-U).  But that persecution
                                            publican who cried out, "God be            by the antichristian world will not
  All that I am I owe to Thee,              merciful to me the sinner." (In the        keep us from that rest which Christ
  Thy wisdom, Lord, hath fashioned          Greek, as written by Luke, we find         earned for us. That persecution will
    me;                                     Jesus declaring that this  publican        byGod'sgracebringusoutofthisl.ife,
  I give my Maker thankful praise,
  Whose wondrous works my soul              called himself the sinner.) We must        which is a continual death, and into
    amaze.                                  come to Godin the consciousness that       the blessed everlasting life which
                                            we are sinners. and deserve not the        Christ Jesus earned for us-the rest
    That beautiful song of praise to        smallest blessing. One sin of Adam         whichChristearnedforus,andwhich
ourGodisbasedonwhatHe,  through             causedhim to die spiritually that very     willbegivenusinbothbodyandsoul.
the psalmist, wrote in that verse of        day. And instead of running to God             We will come unto it, because He
Psalm 139. Through David our God            confessing his sin, and expressing his     came into our flesh and opened the
presented this truth: "I will praise        sorrow, he tried to run away from          way for us to receive a wonderful
thee; for I am fearfully and wonder-        God and to save himself from the           rest. And He not only calls us to come
fully made: marvellous are thy works;       punishment that he deserved. Also,         unto Him to enjoy that blessed rest,
and that my soulknoweth right well."        instead of confessing his sin in sorrow    but He also gives us the desire for it,
                                            and grief, he added to his sin by          and the ability to come unto Him.
                                            putting the blame on his wife, Eve.            That rest is so wonderful. It puts
       We come unto Him                     And our God did not tell Adam what         an everlasting stop to our physical
                                            he could do to return into a rest; but
       only because He has                                                             and spiritual weariness. As we read
                                            He told Satan what He would do. He         in Revelation  21:4, "And God shall
     not only come unto us,                 would make His elect come unto             wipe away all tears from their eyes;
     but also come into us                  Christ, with enmity in their hearts        and there shall be no more death,
           by His Spirit.                   against Satan.                             neither sorrow nor crying, neither
                                                Indeed, our Savior does call those     shall there be any more pain; for the
                                            who are laboring and heavy laden to        former things are passed away."
    In the light of that truth we must      come unto Him in order to obtain the           Comingunto  Christ we shall come
consider that call of Christ for us to      blessed rest which He earned for His       to spiritual perfection and physical
come unto Him to be given rest. The         elect. When He spoke those words           blessedness, as members of His body.
fact that Christ calls us to come unto      there werepeople goingto  the temple,                                             0
Him, and then He will give us rest, is      seeking salvation by means of the
not an invitation. In His grace Christ      types and shadows which God had
Jesus informs us of what He will do.        given them. But they and we must
He does not present that blessed rest       come unto God's Son, who came into
364 /Standard Bearer / May 15,1993


                              The Date'.@ 1924

    The Christian Reformed Church          tives in the CRC accept this notion.        history of the CRC. Mere historical
in North America (CRC) is suffering        Last fall a meeting of the Reformed         objectivity recognizes this. The theo-
internal strife and division. In the       Fellowship in Grand Rapids heard a          logical controversy was serious. It
past few years, anumber of congrega-       speech entitled, "For the Unity of the      concerned truths that are basic to the
tions  and several thousand members        Church?! The Synods of 1614,1942,           Reformed faith. It convulsed the
have left the denomination. Most           1992." The "1942" in the title refers to    whole Church. The CRC adopted
have left because of the Church's          a synod whose actions led up to the         significant doctrinal statements.
opening the offices of minister and        schism in the Reformed Churches in          There was a split in the Church that
ruling elder to women and the              the Netherlands.                            resulted in the largest number of per-
Church's approval of theistic evolu-           The historian of the Orthodox           sons expelled or leaving in all the
tion. Involved in these decisions, the     Presbyterian Church recently gave a         history of the CRC until recently. 1924
secessionists charge, is the rejection     speech in which he related the struggle     represents the only formation of an-
of the authority and clarity of Holy       in the CRC to a Presbyterian conflict       other Reformed denomination out of
Scripture as the inspired Word of          in the early 1920s.                         the CRC from her founding in 1857 to
God.                                           Lately, writersin the magazine of       t h e   p r e s e n t .
    Both those who have separated          the Reformed Church in the US, the              1924 raised every issue with
from the CRC and the spokesmen for         l?.efomd Herald, have found dates           which the CRC now struggles. Is the
the CRC propose dates that account         in their Church's history that some-        issue that of sovereign grace, taking
for the troubles of the denomination.      how bear on the situation in the CRC.       form in the teaching of universal
    Many of the seceders point to              There is one date that none of the      atonement; in the denial of eternal
1972 when the CRC adopted a report         parties ever so much as mentions -          reprobation; and in the practice of an
on the nature and extent of biblical       not the CRC, not the seceders, not the      evangelism that tells everyone that
authority, "Report 44." This report        Reformed and Presbyterian churches          God loves him and sincerely wants to
advocated a new way of interpreting        that are looking on. One would think        save him? 1924 at its heart was the
the Bible. Others who have left the        that this date had fallen into the black    controversy in the CRC over the issue
CRC refer vaguely to the early 1950s       hole of ecclesiastical history.             whether the grace of God in the gos-
as the time when the Church took a             The date is 1924.                       pel is universal and resistible or par-
liberal turn.                                  It is strange that the Reformed         ticular and efficacious.
    Spokesmen for the CRC also have        and Presbyterian churches are igno-             Is the issue that of the church's
their date. In the 197Os, certainpromi-    rant of this date. They have much to        calling to be separate from the un-
nent conservatives began agitating         say about the struggle in the CRC. No       godly world, surfacing in openness to
for polarization and a split, spreading    doubt, therefore, they are well in-         evolution; in acceptance of movies
accusations of heresy and unholiness       formed about developments in that           and dance; and in loosening the re-
that were either false or exaggerated.     Church over the years. Yet 1924man-         straints against divorce and remar-
    As the controversy heats up and        ages to escape them.                        riage? 1924 was the controversy in
secession occurs, representatives of           That neither the CRC nor the            the CRC over the antithesis - the
other denominations are ready to           seceders bring up this date in their        spiritual separation of the church from
suggest their own dates. The Cana-         anguished consideration of the causes       the mind of the world and the spiri-
dian Reformed Churches cry up 1944         of their troubles defies belief.            tual separation of the Christian from
as having great significance for the           1924 is a date in CR history. It is     the world's way of death.
CR woes. This is the date of a doctri-     not someone else's date arbitrarily             Even the issue of church polity
nal controversy and church split in        and unhistorically imposed on the           that suddenly has become a hot topic
the Reformed Churches in the Neth-         CRC, but the CRC's own.                     in the circles of both the CRC and the
erlands. Evidently some conserva-              1924is a date of importance in the      seceders was fought out and settled

                                                                                              May 15,1993  / Standard Bearer / 365


in the CRC in 1924. The CRC adopted         world working truth and righteous-          at the Final Judgment when judgment
and practiced the policy that classes       ness.                                       begins at the house of God, when
and synods, the major assemblies in             The CRC repudiated the  au-             injustice is righted, when the crooked
Reformed church government, have            tonomyof the congregationin 1924in          is straightened, when Christ's cause
the right to exercise discipline, depos-    that classes actually deposed three         is publicly vindicated, and when it is
ing ministers and entire consistories.      ministers and three entire consistories.    demonstrated that the Lord preserved
Thus, the CRC rejected the autonomy         The CRsynod of 1926 approved these          His truth and His church.
of the local church.                        actions.                                        Nor do I write this because 1924
     1924 is not merely an important            There is not a shred of doubt that      justifies the Protestant Reformed
CR date with striking similarities to       the theological, moral, and church          Churches (PRC). We are justified
the present conflict in the CRC. It is      political developments now disturb-         only by the grace of God in Jesus
the fundamental explanation of the          ing the CRC are the outworkings of          Christ through faith alone. Indeed,
troubles in the CRC. No one sup-            1924. This is clear enough from the         1924 does not  sanctify  the PRC. With
poses, of course, that it is the only       very nature of these developments.          the true church everywhere, the PRC
explanation. The theology of Karl           They are departures from sovereign          are engaged in a life-and-death battle
Barth,1 suspect, perhaps through G.C.       grace; the breakdown of the antith-         at the end of the ages to maintain the
Berkouwer at first, has also power-         esis; and the exercise of a church pol-     gospel of sovereign grace. Faithful
fully influenced the CRC, especially        ity that sees synod rather than the         maintenance and right understand-
in the areas of Scripture, the historic-    local congregation as the church.           ing of the Reformed creeds do not
ity of Genesis l-11, and predestina-                                                    lessen the white-hot heat of this war
tion. But also this influence could                                                     whatsoever. With all the saints, we
have been resisted, if it were not for                   1924  is not merely            members of the PRC are fighting to
1924.                                                  an important CR date             keep ourselves, in our generations,
     In 1924 two great truths of Scrip-              with striking similarities         from this present evil world. Adult
ture were at stake in the CRC: sover-        to the present conflict in the CRC.        members, youngpeople, and families
eign, particular grace founded on the        It is the fundamental explanation          can perish with the wicked world,
eternal, double predestination of God                of the troubles in the CRC.        even though the decisions against
and the antithesis as the expression of                                                 common grace are in place on the
God's holiness. A secondary, al-                                                        books. We are sanctified only by the
thoughby no means minor, issue was              Besides, the CRC herself calls at-      gracious operations of the Holy Spirit
the autonomy of the local congrega-         tention to 1924 as the source of her        of Christ.
tioninthesynodicalunionofchurches.          present decisions and actions. She              1924 does not save us.
     The doctrine of common grace           makes this explicit. Prof. Harold               The Triune God saves us.
adopted by the CRC in 1924 fatally          Dekker appealed to 1924 in support of           But God has given us a solid,
compromised sovereign grace by ex-          universal atonement, and Dr. Harry          doctrinal foundation upon which to
tending the love of God revealed in         Boer grounded his official objection        standinthebattle.  Hehas  directedus
Christ and God's saving will to the         against reprobation, and, thus, against     in the way of holiness-the holiness
reprobate. This was the first point         the whole system of doctrine taught         that says "yes" to Him and that says
concerning the general offer of the         in the Canons of Dordt, in part in          "no" to the world that hates Him. He
gospel, "the well-meant offer of the        1924.                                       has also immeasurably helped us in
gospel."                                        The synodical  decisions them-          the maintaining of the truth and holi-
     The second and third points of         selves that made movies and dance a         ness by establishing among us a view
common grace bridged the antith-            legitimate part of the Reformed life        and practice of the church as the local
esis. They did this, not so much by         and that approved theistic evolution        congregation.
callingrain and sunshine divine bless-      as the Reformed view of origins ar-             The date is 1924.
ings of the ungodly, but by teaching a      gued from 1924 and common grace.                Ifwetumaway,wewillbebeaten
work of the Holy Spirit within the              When, of late, the major assem-         with quadruple stripes.
unregenerate that restrains sin in him      blies have disciplined ministers and            But I write on behalf of truth -
and that enables him to perform good        consistories, the precedent cited was       truth in church history.
works in the sphere of everyday             192411926.                                      I write also for our own people,
earthly life. The unbeliever is no              The date is 1924.                       old and young. They take an interest,
longer totally depraved. There is in            I do not write this because I have      born of a concern of love, in the
him, e.g., Charles Darwin, a Spirit-        the slightest hope that the CRC, the        struggles of that Church whose only
worked wisdom; and there is in her,         seceders, or thebystanding Reformed         daughter we are.
e.g., the Hollywood moviemaker, a           and Presbyterian churches will ac-              Our people ask why.
Spirit-created goodness. The Holy           knowledge this. All have their rea-             The date is 1924. 0
Spirit is present in the unbelieving        sons. Jesus Christ will bring up 1924                                      - DJE

366  /Standard Bearer / May 15,1993


                                             in what is necessary to know in order              In your answer you make it clear
n Uncomfortable with                         to live and die happily. Even though        that the Protestant Reformed
Self-Esteem                                  we will have problems with self-es-         Churches do not require such a cov-
    In the series of articles on self-       teem all our life, we will find true joy    ering for worshiping women.
esteem in the December 1, 1992               and comfort in learning more and                   I appreciate the  Standard Bearer
throughFebruary 1,1993  issues of the        more to know how great our sins and         for its solid Reformed and biblical
Standard Bearer,  the wonderful doc-         miseries are, how we are delivered          content. However, your answer con-
trine of being highly esteemed in            from all our sins and miseries, and         cerning this matter of covering the
Christ was used for the concept of           how we are to express our gratitude         head has me puzzled.
"Proper Christian Self-Esteem."              to God for such deliverance.                       In your answer you say:
    Before we become too comfort-                                      Larry Nelson      1. They (PRC) regard the "covering
able with the phrase "proper self-                                   Loveland, CO        referred to in I Corinthians 11:3ff. as
esteem," it shouldbe noted that "self"                                                   an external token in that day of the
is still before "esteem." It still indi-     n Female Veiling                            wife's submission to her husband."
cates self motivated esteem with re-             Appreciating your  Standard             While the "undying principle in the
gard to oneself.                             Bearer of April 1,1993,  I noted with       passage is the husband's headship
    That's just the problem with us          interest your comments on "headcov-         over his wife."
Christians. By nature we are just like       erings." You and Calvin apparently                 We do heartily agree that indeed
everybody else. We feel good about           see the matter as one of "decorum" or       theundyingprincipleis the husband's
ourselves if we can put "self" first. It     asforthatcultureoftheRomancolony            headship  over the wife, but it is more
gives our ego a boost, and we can go         of Corinth. Yet one asks whether this       than just external. It is not just an
around with a big smile on our face.         is what Paul says in the text. Further,     undying principle, but an abiding
    If the concept of "proper self-          how does one discover that a matter         principle as well. For the following
esteem" is to build up oneself, then         is of mere culture and not normative?       biblical reasons:
we're heading in the wrong direction             Paul actually gives a reason why               a. when praying or prophesying
as Christians. Scripture says, "For          females ought to veil themselves and        without a headcovering she dishon-
not he that commendeth himself is            that is "because of the angels" (I Cor.     ors her head (v. 5).
approved, but whom the Lord                  11:lO). You obviously interpret this               b. sheis the glory of the man (v. 7).
commendeth" (II Cor. 10:18).                 as because of the culture and, there-              c. woman came from man (v. 8).
    The esteem we have in Christ is          fore, not presumably to offend them.               d.woman was created for man (v.
not of ourselves. We did not choose          You may be correct, but how can you         9).
to be highly esteemed in Christ. To be       tell except Christ or Paul or another              e. because of the angels (v. 10).
highly esteemed in Christ is just one        apostle tell you so?                        2. You state that the covering was
ofthemanybenefitsofbeingingrafted                It appears then that the whole          "not a hat or some kerchief perched
into Christ by a true faith. It is a gift    issue turns on the methodology used         on top of her head. The Greekoriginal
from God that He bestows on His              in discovering a matter in Scripture to     of verses 4-7 makes plain that the
church.                                      be normative in Christ's church. You        apostle refers to a veil hanging down
    However, our understanding of            certainly are correct the headship  is      from the head." I would answer that
this high esteem is only in small be-        enduring as a creation ordinance. Yet       whether a hat or veil, it is a symbol of
ginning. It's like the concept of being      still we are left with the imperative of    the "undying principle." There is
righteous in Christ. We can only             female veiling, and, as Paul says in        nothing to indicate that this symbol is
begin to understand what it is to be         verse 16, "If any man seem to be            timebound. Furthermore, Paul speaks
perfectly righteous. Incidently, thisis      contentious, we have no such cus-           of a covering, be it hat or veil.
not called "proper self-righteous-           tom, neither the churches of God." Is       3. You continue to make your point
ness." Only in heaven will we fully          this custom normative?                      by saying that this was also Calvin's
comprehend and experience these                                          James Frew      view. But Calvin is here speaking of
benefits to the glory of God.                         Springside, Irvine, Scotland       a covering for men, whether because
    That is why it is so important that              *  *  *  *  +  *  *                 of this precept they can wear a hat at
our churches hold fast to the precious           It is with much interest that I read    any time.' This is not the same.
doctrines of our Reformed heritage.          your answer to the question concern-               Discussing this precept of women
The purpose is that young and old            ing "Head Coverings" in the Stan-           and head coverings I have never heard
alike may receive proper instruction         dard Bearer of April 1,1993.                why our sisters, wives, and mothers

                                                                                                  May 15,1993  I Standard Bearer I 367


do not wear hats anymore? What is             Paul demands that she be covered          our sisters, wives, and mothers sure
wrong with wearing a hat? I can truly         during worship, we ask the question,      that instead of veiling the head, they
say that a woman with a hat looks             `Why not wear a hat?"                     are not veiling rebellion?
distinguished. Without sticking out               Sad to say, women are coming to                              Gilbert Zekveld
myheadtoofar,IdaresayIamnotthe                church in our day, supposedly to                       Newcastle, ON, Canada
only man to say so. Especially when           worship the Lord, who miss more in
the Lord by the mouth of His apostle          thelineofclothingthanjustahat. Are'




             When Friendship Fails

    But speaking the truth in love, may       were quite aware of what we needed            All of this, of course, was domi-
grow up into him in all things, who is the    to know, and perhaps absorbed their       nated by the presence of the Rev.
head, even Christ.                            contentwithgreaterappreciationthan        Herman Hoeksema. It was not a
                         Ephesians 4:15       we might have otherwise. We taught        matter of demand or imposition on
                                              catechism classes, led societies, and     his part. In fact, he was personally
    There  .was something special             even attended consistory meetings at      quite unassuming, and he avoided
about attending seminary in the years         times. Many of the churches, particu-     pressing himself to the fore. It was
following the "Split of 1953." In many        larly out west, were being reorga-        simply the power of his personality
ways it was more like a graduate              nized after the convulsions of "the       and his theological prowess which
course than one of ordinary seminary          split" and needed whatever help they      could never be ignored. His personal
study. The days were short; the as-           could get, even if it had to come from    concerns were actually quite inciden-
signments were few; and little out-           a young seminary student. And we          tal, although they were there; there
side reading was required. Only oc-           usually attended the meetings of          was nothing cold or merely academic
casionally were we given tests; and,          classis as well. Important matters        about him. A great part of his over-
when we were, they were seldom                were nearly always being dealt with,      whelming stature, not usuallyunder-
seen again. We only wondered                  and the advice of the professors was      stood, was in his ability to maintain a
whethertheywereeverreallyread-                needed. So school would be dis-           very warm and affable rapport with
or given a grade. Clearly our work            missed, and we would be there along       his students, his whole congregation,
was measured by the personal evalu-           with the professors, not as though it     and anyone to whom he spoke. There
ation of the professors, rather than by       were required, but because we were        was in him a certain warm projection
concrete standards. But somehow               concerned with what was going on.         which would not be denied. To our
that did not matter. We were im-              By the time we graduated, therefore,      advantage, perhaps, the mellowing
mersed in the work of theology, and           we had a backlog of experience in         of years had set in. Some minor
enjoyed pretty much every minute of           ecclesiastical matters. Ours was an       effects of the massive stroke he had
it. No one had to make us study. The          educationontherun,withbooklearn-          suffered some five years before were
excitement of what we were doing              ingintegratedwithpractice. Welived        still there. He walked always with a
was enough for that.                          the life of the church from the start.    slight limp; and there was a tremor in
    And work we did. Practically                  And that, in turn, molded our         one hand. He certainly no longer had
from the moment we entered school,            education. Each new event which           that energetic drive which marked
andlongbeforeweweregivencourses               came up in the churches was some-         his younger life; and, it was said, his
on how to do it, we were making               thing to be talked out as we studied.     voice no longer retained the timbre it
sermons;andwewerepreachingthem                While making our way through our          once possessed, as impressive as it
as well, When the time came for these         courses, we saw the application be-       still remained. But his mind was a
courses to be taught, therefore, we           fore our eyes. The churches were          sharp as ever, influencing every as-
                                              reaching for recovery from the trau-      pect of what we learned. To be with
                                              matic and painful experiences they        himdayafterdaywastobepartofhis
                                              had undergone, and we were there,         life, and of the theology which he had
Rev. Woudenberg  is pastor of the Protes-     patiently and carefully guided bypro-     mastered, and in which he had lived
tant Reformed Church  of  Kalamazoo,          fessors who shared their concerns         his days.
Michigan.                                     with us each step of the way.                 His method of teaching was in a

368 IStandard  Bearer I May 15,1993


large part Socratic. His classes were       ties involved. Many a fascinating             much of the foundation upon which
dialectic, a continuing theological dia-    hour was spent by us listening as he          we stand.)
logue with us as students. It was           unfolded the personal side of minis-              Those days in which we studied
almost as a matter of principle with        terial life, and as he carried us off into    with him were the ones in which our
him, as he once said in a sermon about      the past. It was hard to assess, but          denominational identity was being
the men on the road to Emmaus,  and         that too filled an important part of          put to the test. Some of the original
Jesus' question, Luke 24:25-27:             what school was all about.                    principles had been openly abused,
                                                 And then there was the Rev.              and no one was more sensitive to that
   The Lord said, "What things?" The        George Ophoff. In his own quiet,              than Rev. Ophoff himself. He would
   Lord wanted to draw them out.            unassuming way, he had helped to              therefore go through it with us again
     You know, that is one of the most      lay the foundation of our churches. If        and again. To sit in his classes was
   fundamentalprinciplesofeducation.
   The most fundamental principle of        Rev. Hoeksema presented a worked              like a three-year course in the basic
   education is that, if you approach a     out theology, studying under Rev.             principles of Reformed Church Pol-
   man that has a problem, you must let     Ophoff was like observing theology            ity, that is, in effect, in the real mean-
   him talk. Let him talk.                  in its making. His life was absorbed          ing of Articles 30 and 31 of the Church
     Do that too when you talk to oth-      in it, and he pursued it with a total         Order of Dordrecht.
   ers. Take my advice in that respect.     commitmenttointegritywhichwould                        *  *  *  *  *  *  $
  When you talk to others about our         not be quelled. When a problem pre-               Our churches from their very
  Reformed truth, or about Reformed         sented itself his mind would be taken         beginning were founded on certain
  doctrine, others that do not know the     captive - to a point where endless            basic principles and commitments. It
  Reformed truth, or do not want it         anecdotes arose about his absentmind-
  even, let them talk. Let them present                                                   was not just a matter of the theoretical
  their own problem.                        edness. Other things no longer mat-           rejection of Common Grace; it had to
                                            tered. Slowly and carefully he would          do with the very nature of Christian-
He did that himself. We would come          take a problem, muse on it, examine           ity and the life of God's church. If
to class with our questions, as falter-     its every facet, try this approach and        there was one thing we had come to
ing and foolish as they would some-         that, being never satisfied until he          fear in our painful expulsion from the
times be, and patiently he would hear       was sure every aspect of it had been          Christian Reformed denomination, it
us. Nothing was forbidden. In fact,         laid to rest. And much of that came           was not just Common Grace, but the
he often said, "You can be as big a         through right in the classroom as we          manner in which it had been imposed
heretic as you want, as long as you         listened and watched, and even took           upon the people of God, the specter of
leave it here in class" -and, we well       part. No matter what the subject,             legalism, authoritarianism, and that
understood, as long as it was pre-          would he or we bring up a matter              ecclesiastical hierarchy by which it
sented with respect and honest con-         which struck his mind, everything             had been brought about. In that the
cern. (He had no great patience with        else would be put aside, and we would         underlying principles of the Refor-
dishonest duplicities; and woe be to        pursue it to its end. This could be           mation were undercut.
the student that tried them on him.)        abused, and we did not always com-                In a way the methods of study
When we were through, he would              plete the material we should have;            followed by us in school were an
move in, open up the subject, analyze       but there was a value in walking with         almost unconscious expression of that.
it and bring it to its conclusion, often    him through these workings, a value           Our professors, regardless of what
by bringing it directly back to Scrip-      which one could never regret.                 their detractors have often said, were
ture. Few were the subjects he could            (In fact, one can still go back and       not men simply committed to certain
not handle; and whatever he said was        examine his work from this point of           abstract formulations of thought; and
always worth listening to.                  viewin those extended studies which           we were made to see this firsthand.'
    But he was not the only one there.      fill the early volumes of the SCundard        When we came to class, it was not just
    Each week the Rev. Gerrit Vos           Bearer. Even.now they may at first            to be told what they thought - al-
would appear to teach us Dutch,             appear rather laborious and heavy.            though we were told that as well; the
which was only a backdrop for expos-        But, if one takes the time to study           professors had done their work and
ing us to an entirely different dimen-      them through, he will find them to be         prepared their materials, which they
sion of church life, and of our ecclesi-    delving into the heart of each matter,        presented for us to learn. They were
astical history. He had his own aca-        as with carefulness he pursued every          not ashamed of that. But, at the same
demic and theological abilities; but        aspect of what he chose to address. In        time, we were taken into a living
above all he was a man with a feeling       the end, there was real value and             pursuit of theological development
and love for people. He had lived           perception in what he said. In fact,          itself. It was that which they wanted
through the history of our churches         there is a certain shame in the fact that     us to master, much more than just
from their very start; and he loved to      none of those writings have as yet            facts. Their goal was theology in its
reflect on it in terms of the personali-    been gathered into books for ready            working, preached from the pulpit,
                                            access; for within them is contained          taught to the people, and lived in the

                                                                                                May 15,1993  / Standard Bearer I369


life of the church. It was the life of       of Common Grace. He apparently             maybedealtwithatmajorassemblies
friendship with God, the fulfillment         understood, as others did not, that        which has not been finished at the
of the covenant of grace.                    what he was teaching followed natu-        minor (Art; 30), these protests were
     Essentially it all had its source at    rally from that very doctrine which        rushedthroughthe channels to classis,
the beginning of their own ministries,       they had rejected; and, accordingly, if    and even to synod, without any kind
as came out perhaps most of all in the       he could insist on its validity, his       of reasonable opportunity for the ac-
history of the Janssen Case, extending       positions ought also to stand. It did      cused to answer. At synod itself,
from 1918 to 1922. Rev. Ophoff had           not work. Those who judged him in          where he was openly attacked for his
beentooyoungtobeanactualpartici-             the end were too concerned with how        teachings, Rev. Hoeksema was re-
pant in that, but Rev. Hoeksema and          his teachings would be received by         peatedlyrefused the right to speakon
Rev. Danhof had, and Rev. Ophoff             others; and those teachings were too       his own behalf. Only once was he
picked it up from them soon after.           blatant for that day. So he was dis-       given the floor, and that in a special
     In the early days of their minis-       missed,butnotwithouthisargument            evening session; but direct answers
tries, the Reverends Hoeksema and            having had its effect.                     to his accusers he was always denied.
Danhof had been part of a group of               There was a popularity to the              Nor did this stop with synod. In
dedicated ministers and professors           doctrine of Common Grace, spread-          fact, once synod was over, the classis
in the Christian Reformed Church             ing especially from the seats of higher    immediately stepped in, and in a
who came together from time to time          learning in the Netherlands, which         manner that was nearly bizarre. Ev-
to pursue theological discussions, and       the erstwhile companions of                erything was done to avoid personal
to share their concerns regarding cer-       Hoeksema andDanhof were not will-          contact and confrontation. Although
tain liberal and unscriptural influ-         ing to sacrifice. Prof. Janssen had        the professors of the seminary, his
ences which were finding their way           brought home to them the realization       former friends, were clearly in charge,
into their church. In time they even         that, if they were going to allow them-    they never appeared on the floor.
started their own theological journal,       selves to become identified with the       Classis would meet and demand from
The W&ess, as an organ of expres-            positions of Hoeksema and Danhof,          Hoeksema and his consistory a writ-
sion for what they thought. The result       there was much to be lost. Some-           ten defense, whichwouldbe privately
of this was that they came to focus          where along the line these men de-         handed over to the professors. They
their attention on the modernism be-         cided that that was more than they         would send up a written answer,
ing promoted by Prof. Janssen at Cal-        could stand. The first thing to bring      which would be quickly adopted by
vin seminary, the theological school         this out had to do with The Witness.       classis and sent to the accused, again
of their church. The negative aspect         Although this journal was established      for written response. Clearly Hoek-
of this was perhaps to be regretted;         with the purpose of providing an av-       sema was not to be allowed the privi-
but together they pursued it with            enue for free theological thought and      lege of open debate; his power of
diligence  - Hoeksema and Danhof             development, they were not about to        speech and influence was too well
doing much of the work - until fi-           allow Common Grace to be ques-             known for that. Through all the
nally Janssen was cast out. That was         tioned on its pages. So Hoeksema           months involving the treatment of
what carried their hope - not the            and Danhof were dismissed as edi-          this matter, direct contact and discus-
dismissal as such, but the possibility       tors - and the paper soon died.            sion was disallowed.  Classis was
that by their working thus in dedi-              For awhile there were a number         nothing but a legal channel to pass'
cated cooperation together, with the         of public exchanges by means of inde-      documentsbackandforth. Hoeksema
Word of God as their guide, not only         pendently published pamphlets; but         and Danhof, and finally Ophoff as
theology but also a church life free         that did not last long before, in the      well, had to be gotten out.
from worldly infringements might             early months of 1924, a torrent of             And that was the travesty of it all.
perhaps be revived.                          ecclesiastical protests began to pour      The institution of the church had be-
    But it did not happen. No sooner         in on the heads of these two men,          come simply a channel of legalistic,
was Janssen gone, than suddenly ev-          many of thembearing, not the.names,        authoritarian imposition, a hierarchy
erything changed. That bond of               but the imprint of influence by their      ruling by demand. Decisions were
friendship and cooperation, out of           erstwhile friends.                         made, and positions taken, without
which they had worked to that point,             The truly disturbing and,disillu-      regard to the working of the Spirit
broke down and was gone.                     sioning factor in this all, however,       and to the right of the individual
    Throughout the treatment of his          was the fact that suddenly the will-       believer. to be busy in the Word of
case, Prof. Janssen's tactic had been,       ingness to deal with each other on a       God. The office of all believers was
not to defend his own positions, but         personal plane was gone. In spite of       denied; and the beautiful principle of
-andnotwithoutreason-tolaunch                the insistence of Scripture that disci-    Ephesians4:15 was thereby lost: "But
a counterattack on Rev. Hoeksema             pline must be enacted first through        speaking the truth in love, may grow
and Rev. Danhof because they had             personal contact (Matthew 18:15-V),        up into him in all things, who is the
bothpubliclyrepudiated the doctrine          and of the Church Order that nothing       head, even Christ." 0

370 /Standard Bearer  I May 15,1993


    Of all the labors of the Domestic      it had'been given to that point. So         VanBaren has just returned to Hud-
Mission Committee during the past          fully was Hudsonville persuaded of          sonville. Six months he was gone.
year, the work connected with the          the .necessity of more intense labor,       Less than the twelve months which
Northern Ireland field was easily the      that they declared in a letter accom-       had been allowed for . . . but neverthe-
most time-consuming . . . and in many      panying their "call letter" that, "if we    less a long time for a congregation to
respects the most satisfying.              cannot do that, it would be time to         be without a pastor, especially when
    On reflection, we can say that our     withdraw from this work." Filling           his absenceisright through the "busy"
relationship with the Covenant ,Re-        the pulpit by way of classical appoint-     season. From that point of view one
formed Fellowship had always been          ments they characterized as a "stop-        might be inclined to wonder whether
good. Those of our pastors who spent       gap measure."                               the timing here wasunfortunate, since
several weeks in their fellowship              Hudsonville's sense of the ur-          a call for full-time labor in the field
(mostly through classical appoint-         gency of calling a missionary was not       was accepted before Rev. VanBaren
ments) would invariably return with        diminished at all by their decision to      was six weeks in Ballymena. It might
glowing reports. "The group is sol-        send Rev. VanBaren for up to a year.        appear therefore that, if only Hud-
idly united and zealous for the Re-        For it was on the day before their          sonville had known that their 15th
formed Faith." "It appears that they       pastor left for Northern Ireland that       call (the one to Rev. Hanko) would be
are busy bearing witness to the truth      the congregation voted to extend a          accepted,theycouldhavebeenspared
in their communities." "Many of the        call to Rev. Ronald Hanko. And, in          the sending of their own pastor, and
members of the group have an attrac-       order to communicate to him some-           the Mission Committee could have
tive nature and ability to encourage       thing of the excitement of the work,        been spared the expense. The truth is
others from outside to join the wor-       they called to his attention the "unani-    however that it would be difficult to
ship services." And besides, there         mous convictionN.on  the part of those      exaggerate the timeliness of Rev.
was the gracious hospitality. "We          who had before been to Northern             VanBaren's  presence in NorthemIre-
were quite overwhelmed," wrote one,        Ireland that "much work is possible         land during those few months. Rev.
"byallthattheydidforustomakeour            there,interestishighinthecoregroup,         VanBaren, whose record of steward-
stay enjoyable."                           and continuing outside interest is          ship in the work of the church is
    Before this year, however, our         evident. There is also the possibility      unassailable, recognized that at once.
enthusiasm was always tempered by          of continuing contact and interesting       In a letter to the Mission Committee
a recognition of the fact that sending     work in Great Britain."                     and his Consistory dated December
different ministers to Northern Ire-           At the time of this writing, Rev.       5, he noted that he was "struckby the
land for short periods of time was
hardly adequate to meet the needs of
the CRF. The CRF knew that (though
they deeply appreciated the provi-
sion made for them); the ministers
who visited them knew that; the call-
ing church knew that; the Mission
Committee knew that. So keenly, in
fact, did the calling church feel that
lack, that the Consistory decided at
last to "loan" their own pastor to
work in Northern Ireland for up to
one year. Not a light decision, for the
largest congregation in the denomi-
nation! ButHudsonvillebelievedthat
the field of labor required more than



Mr. Doezema issecreta yof the Domestic
Mission Committee.                                            Young ones arrive for catechism at the manse.

                                                                                              May 15,1993  I' Standard Bearer 1371


fact that God has opened the way in         glance at Rev. VanBaren's reports in        funding. Everything, in fact, worked
many particulars so that a missionary       December and January might lead             so smoothly that Rev. VanBaren was
can serve here"; and among the par-         one to believe that this project was        moved to write, "We can thank God
ticulars was this: "We also are here, I     consuming all of his time and energy.       that the way for Rev. R. Hanko has
believe, at an opportune time to help       Hardly, however, was that the case.         opened up so appropriately. I am
make the necessary arrangements for         In addition to the work involved in         simply amazed. Here is a beautiful
the reception of the missionary."           preaching, teachingcatechismclasses,        home, nicely situated, with no one in
    It did not take long for the Mis-       and leading Bible Study groups, Rev.        it for whom we must wait to move -
sion Committee to learn that Rev.           VanBaren was actively engaged with          and a reasonable sum is agreed upon
VanBaren was in earnest about his           the CRF in their outreach. Under his        for purchase." (The attractiveness of
role in the work at that point. For, at     leadership more extensive advertis-         the price, by the way, was enhanced
its meeting of December 17, the com-        ingwas being done, both in the news-        greatly by a more favorable exchange
mittee had from Rev.,VanBaren no            paper and through direct mailing.           rate, the effect of which was that the
fewer than seven letters, written in        The latter involved the preparation of      purchase of it in January required
quick succession during the preced-         a bi-weekly "bulletin" (addressing          25% fewer U.S. dollars than would
ing couple of weeks, and each one           various doctrinal issues), to be sent to    have been the case several months
reflecting new developments and             about 250 addresses - bringing re-          earlier.)
progressinthework. (Electronicmail,         sponse at an amazing rate of 20%!               When it came time to set a date
incidentally, made it possible for the          The heart of Rev. VanBaren's pre-       for the VanBarens' departure from
Mission Committee to be kept ap-            paratory work was therefore first of        the field, both the Mission Committee
prised of developments as they oc-          all spiritual. His assistance in the        and Hudsonville Consistory were of
curred. How different from the way          acquisition of a house and an automo-       a mind to urge them to stay in North-
we were accustomed to having to             bile for the missionary was an added        em Ireland for several weeks after the
treat Rev. Bruinsma's reports, when         bonus. But a very important one.            arrival of the Hankos, to help them in
hewasmissionaryin Jamaica!  Month-          Practicalquestions there were-as to         the transition from the work of a min-
old news, at that time, was thought         what and where and how much. In             ister-pastor in Texas, to that of a mis-
quite current.)                             addition, there were legal and techni-      sionary-pastor in Northern Ireland.
    Figuring prominently in Rev.            cal problems to be worked through,          We are confident that the Hankos
VanBaren's letters was of course the        with the help of Attorney James             have found ample reasonby  this time
matter of finding a house suitable for      Lanting, of our South Holland con-          for gratitude that, in the providence
a missionary family of ten. Given all       gregation. And then there was the           of God, Hudsonville sent their pastor
the options to be explored, and all of      matter of decorating and furnishing         to the field at just the time that they
the related legal and financial prob-       the house - in both of which Mrs.           did. Rev.Hanko testifiedofthatinhis
lems that had to be resolved, this was      VanBaren figured importantly in the         first report to Hudsonville Consis-
surely a daunting task. In fact, a quick    decision-making, and the CRF in the         tory and the Mission Committee: "I
                                                                                        cannot describe how much his (Rev.
                                                                                        VanBaren's) preparations and work
                                                                                        have meant for me in getting started
                                                                                        with the work here. I want to .thank
                                                                                        the Consistory especially for sending
                                                                                        him and for allowing him and Mrs.
                                                                                        VanBaren to stay a few extra weeks to
                                                                                        help us. Just in getting settled they
                                                                                        have been invaluable."
                                                                                            Hudsonville's "loan" of its pas-
                                                                                        tor, incidentally, while perhaps the
                                                                                        highest evidence of their commitment
                                                                                        to theworkinNorthernIreland,isnot
                                                                                        the only evidence of it. The Mission
                                                                                        Committee acknowledges with grati-
                                                                                        tude the fact that, in one meeting, the
                                                                                        congregation approved the  Con-
                                                                                        sistory's recommendation that they
                                                                                        buy (that is, with their own funds) a
                                                                                        computer for Rev. Hanko, an auto-
                                                                                        mobile for the missionary's family,
        Rev. and Mrs. Van Buren receive gijts of appreciation from the CRF              and up to $5,000 in furnishings for the

372 /Standard Beyer I May 15,1993


manse in Northern Ireland. In many
respects, Hudsonville has served the
denomination well in their role as
calling church for this field.
    Hudsonville concludedits annual
report to the Mission Committee with
this observation: "This has been an
exciting time. We believe we see the
clearevidenceofGod'sblessingsupon
the labors. We do not, and must not,
expect great numbers. But we believe
it will soon be possible, with patient
labor, to establish a church in
Ballymena. The Fellowship is consid-
ering several options concerning a
building for a permanent worship
site. They express also their apprecia-
tion to our churches for the help which                      Rev. Joostens instructing young people in Jamaica
has been provided for them in their
need."                                      And it is striking that during this past
          *  *  *  *  *  *  *                                                           problems in the life of the churches
                                            year both calling churches, recogniz-       came to light in that July/August
    There are in our denomination           ing the urgency of a need in the field      conference - problems serious
two mission fields. In reviewing the        assigned to them, sent their own min-       enough to warrant a different, and
labors of the Domestic Mission Com-         ister to meet that need. Last, and          somewhat extended, effort early in
mittee for the year, one cannot help        decidedly least, both fields used in        1993 in Jamaica. It was at that point
but notice how many parallels there         1992 approximately the same percent-        that First Church decided that it was
are between the two. Often, it seems,       age of the synodical  budget.               necessary to send to the island two
the similarities are lost sight of, be-         Then there are some differences         veterans of the Jamaican scene -
cause of the presence also of stark         - as in knowledge of the Reformed           even if one of them had to be their
contrasts. The testimony of our min-        faith, strength (and even makeup) of        own pastor. Rev. Joostens therefore,
isters who have spent time in the           families, financial ability to support      accompanied first by Clare Prince (a
respective fields is that in both of        the work, culture, race. Not to be          member of the Mission Committee),
them there are people of God who            forgotten, certainly, is the difference     and later by Dan Pastoor (long-time
earnestly, fervently desire our help. In    in duration of effort - two years'          member of First's Jamaica Commit-
both instances the people with whom         worth of stopgap measures . . . vs.         tee), spent six weeks in Jamaica in
we are laboringwouldbe quick to say         thirty.                                     January and February, during which
that they know of nowhere else to go.            First Church (G.R.), calling church    time they worked extensively both
They can therefore also be said to need     for Jamaica, is to be commended for         with the leaders and with the other
our help - the one just more desper-        its perseverance. They have over the        members of the churches.
ately than the other. In both fields the    years pressed to do the best they               First Church's report of that ef-
Mission Committee and the respec-           could with resources that were al-          fort suggests that, though problems
tive calling churches have for two          ways recognized as being inadequate         undoubtedly remain, there is also rea-
years been employing "stopgap mea-          for the needs of the field. For the past    son for encouragement. Noteworthy
sures" -in the one case, pulpit sup-        threeyearstheyhaveconductedperi-            among the problems are especially
ply by classical appointment, and, in       odic one-month educational confer-          these,thatthechurchesareunequally
the other, one-month conferences            ences, which, as they see it, have          served by the few pastors available,
twice a year. And we might add that         served well for the instruction of the      and that the best-prepared pastors
in both instances the calling church        leaders, for promoting a spirit of unity    must spend so many hours in the
 saw clearly the necessity of doing         among the churches, and for inspir-         "tent-making" aspect of their minis-
 more. The one, you will recall, wrote      ing in several young men a desire to        try (to support their families) that
 that "intensive work must be done          study for the ministry.                     they are unable to serve adequately
 there - and if we cannot do that, it            Especially after the conferences       their own congregations, let alone the
 would be time to withdraw." The            of last summer, however, it became          denomination. The encouraging part
 other, in its annual report to Synod       apparent that this endeavor, though         is that the people remain committed
 through the Mission Committee              successful for the leaders, was leav-       to us and are as eager as ever to learn;
 writes, "There is no adequate substi-      ingunattended some important needs          another church has expressed inter-
 tute for a missionary on the island."      of the members. In fact, a number of        est in joining the denomination; and
                                                                                               May 16,1993  I Standard Bearer I373


three able young men want to be               door is open and the field is viable.         the means for a meaningful work are
trained for the ministry.                         But then there's the matter of that       withheld, then the Mission Commit-
     Needless to say, all of this points      "vastness." It happens that two mem-          tee and the calling church must de-
to the necessity of our having a mis-         bers of our committee, Rev. Bruinsma          cide before Synod 1994 whether the
sionary on the island. Foremost among         and Mr. Clare Prince, have extensive          "door" in fact remains open for us,
the disappointments experienced by            firsthand knowledge of that aspect of             Sometimes, from a distance, the
the calling church throughout the             the workin Jamaica. If, indeed, there         magnitude and seriousness of such
years has been, surely, their inability       was one thing of whichRev.  Bruinsma          decisions are not fully appreciated.
to provide consistently for that need.        was fully persuaded by his five years         We earnestly covet your prayers, con-
In analyzing the declines they have           on the island, it was this, that a lone       gregational and personal, as we face
received in answer to their calls after       missionary cannot do justice to the           them.
the return of Rev. Bruinsma, First            needs of this field. Notjust the number                *  *  *  *  *  *  *
Church has concluded that it is the           of scattered churches, but this kind of           To Synod 1992 the Mission Com-
"dauntingcomplications" associated            mission Zabor,  demands more. It was          mittee reported that it was just begin-
with bringing a family to the island          in order to make provision for this           ning to investigate potential for a
that have made it practically impos-          need that, while Rev. Bruinsma was            mission field in Boise, Idaho. For a
sible for the majority of our ministers       still on the island, Synod approved           time thereafter it did seem as if the
to give serious consideration to the          the calling of a second missionary;           work which South Holland had so
call. Shortly after synod last year,          and later approved our recommen-              well begun could develop into a de-
therefore, First Church decided to            dation that, should a second mission-         nominational labor in that place. The
postpone calling until they could             ary not be available, an elder or ex-         Mission Committee believed that it
present to Synod `93 a plan which             elder be sent as a co-laborer with the        was building with the Sovereign Re-
would provide a more flexible work            missionary. In our opinion, those             deemer Fellowship a relationship
schedule for the missionary, thus con-        decisions reflected a growing aware-          which bode well for an outreach in
ceivably minimizing these "compli-            ness of and appreciation for the "vast-       the Boise area. The Fellowship, how-
cations." Their intention is to renew         ness" of the labors which are an ines-        ever, as the members of it came to
at once the callingprocess, after Synod       capable part of missions in a third-          know us better through the various
1993, and to continue it for the dura-        world country.                                ministers who preached in their pul-
tion of what will be the fourth year in           As ,we suggested, however, it is          pit, concluded finally that, though
the four-year timetable approved by           that combination of an apparent "vi-          they agree with the PRC substantially
Synod 1990.                                   ability" anda certain "vastness" which        in doctrinal matters, they disagree
    First Church, in their report to          makes for what First Church calls a           with us in some matters of life and
Synod, refers to the field in these           "perplexingsituation." There's work           practice, and that these disagreements
terms: "viable," "vast," "perplex-            aplenty to be done; but can we, at this       are significant enough to constitute
ing." Anaccurateassessment,itseems            time, a0 it?                                  barriers to formal affiliation. So, for
to us. Perhaps, in fact, it is the viabil-        The twice-a-year, one-month con-          the present at least, we will turn our
ity and the vastness which together           ferences, approved by Synod 1990,             attention elsewhere.
make for the perplexity.                      have one more year to go. We see                       ***+*   **
    Over the years we have witnessed          1993-1994 therefore as being decisive             Sometimes, perhaps even often
the defection of a good number of the         for the work in Jamaica. The Mission          times, the work of missions can be
churches which were originally the            Committee is becoming increasingly            discouraging. There is, however, no
objects of our labor on the island. The       convinced that First Church's assess-         doubt in our minds but that we have
same holds for the leaders in them -          ment is correct, that "there is no ad-        inheritedintheReformedfaithagreat
that is, we have lost a good number of        equate substitute for a missionary on         treasure -a treasure not meant to be
them, too. One can easily become              the island." That we were once given          hoarded but shared. And we are
discouraged by that, and even con-            in Jamaica an "open door" seems clear         thankful for the privilege we have in
clude that what was once considered           on the face of it. That there remains         the Mission Committee to be busy in
to be an "open door" to our churches          there a legitimate work in a viable           that work. We have, as it seems to us,
may no longer be such. But if we              field seems equally clear. If the Lord        so much to learn about missiology;
focus rather on those who have re-            should give us a missionary in the            for our experience in it is so limited.
mained with us, because they were of          next year, then we must conclude that         We make every effort therefore to
us, and if by "open door" and "viabil-        the door remains open for us, and we          learn from our "successes" and our
ity" we mean that we have an oppor-           ought to press on with renewed en-            "failures," confident that the Lord
tunity still to work with a people who        thusiasm for the work, and with grati-        will bless faithfulness to the com-
need and want our leadership and              tude to God for seeing fit to use us in       mand of Christ to His church, that the
instruction, then it seems to us that         the labor in this little comer of Christ's    glorious gospel of grace be preached
there can be no doubt but that the            Kingdom. But if, on the other hand,           to the ends of the earth. 0

374 IStandard  Bearer I May 15,1993


      The Power of the Preaching
                                                              (2)
     (In the previous article we pointed        that internal, powerful Word of the         damnation, the inner Word of God is
out that in the preaching, God Himself          Spirit which you cannot hear with the       the hardening power of God. In the
speaks, and that the  Word  which' He           physical ear and which has no physi-        preaching God does not give grace to
speaks is a twofold power -a power that         cal sound.                                  the reprobate wicked. He withholds
brings salvation to the elect, and a power          InICorinthians2:4weread,"And            His grace so that they are left in their
by which the reprobate wicked are hard-         my speech and my preaching was not          sinful, unbelieving, and rebellious
ened. Further, we began to note that that       with enticing words of man's wis-           condition.
power is not dependent on the eloquence         dom, but in demonstration of the                InMark$:ll,12weread,"Andhe
of the preacher; for the natural man is in      Spirit and of power . . . .  I         I    said unto them, Unto you it is given to
himself spiritually incapable of receiving      Thessalonians 1:5 says, "For our gos-       know the mystery of the kingdom of
the preaching, no matter how persuasive.        pel came not unto you in word only,         God: but unto them that are without,
We c0duded  that article by `Iffirming          but also in power, and in the Holy          all these things are done in parables:
that "if a person is to hear spiritually and    Ghost...."                                  that seeing they may see, and not
understand the preachingof thegospel, he            With respect to God's chosen            perceive; and hearing they may hear,
must be regenerated, so that he has a new       people,  forwhom thepreachingis the         and not understand; lest at any time
heart, mind, and will which are made            power of God unto salvation, the            they should be converted, and their
alive to the things of God. Apart from          power of the preaching is the inner         sins should be forgiven them." When
that, all the good preaching in the world       power of God's grace. The preaching         Christ preached to the reprobate
will not save a single soul." In what           of the gospel, with that inner Word of      wicked, He spoke no inner word of
follows, weconcludeourtreatmentof this          the Spirit, is the chief means whereby      grace to them. Even though they
subject.)                                       God gives His grace to His chosen           heard what He said and could see the
                                                people. The word which is spoken by         points He made, they did not see and
     In the Canons, Head III/IV, Ar-            the Spirit is the word, "Grace."            understand spiritually, and therefore _
ticle 10, we read, "But that others who                                                     they were not converted.
are called by the gospel, obey the call,                                                        However, for the reprobate
and are converted, is not to be as-                  The power of  the preaching            wicked the preaching is more than a
cribed to the proper exercise of free           is not . . . in the sound that goes out,    lack of grace. If it were only a lack of
will, . . . but it must be wholly ascribed          but in the bare power of God            grace, it would not be a power. The
to God." It is not by an exercise of free                      Himself.                     preaching is a savor of death unto
will. The natural man has no free will.                                                     death to those that perishbecause it is
     The power of the preaching is not                                                      the hardening power of God.
external but internal. It is not in the             Salvation does not come about               Consider the hardening of Pha-
sound that goes out, but in the bare            because man accepts an offer made           raoh. God commissioned Moses to
power of God Himself. The Holy                  by God. God's people are saved be-          go to Pharaoh and preach to him. He
Spirit uses the external preaching as a         cause in the preaching of the gospel        preached that Pharaoh was to let Is-
means of working by His sovereign               God's grace works in their hearts and       rael go. However, God hardened
power in the innermost being of the             lives. They come out of darkness into       Pharaoh's heart through Moses'
hearer. The power of the preaching is           God's marvelous light, out of death         preaching. The more Moses preached
                                                into life, because in the preaching the     to him, and the more that preaching
                                                light of God's grace shines upon them       was authenticated by the miracles,
                                                and gives to them life.                     the harder Pharaoh's heart became.
                                                    On the other hand, with respect             We read of that in Exodus 421:
Rev. Houck is pastor of Peace Protestant        to the reprobate wicked for whom the        "AndtheLordsaiduntoMoses,When
Reformed Church in Lynwood,  Illinois.          preaching is the power of God unto          thou goest to return into Egypt, see

                                                                                                   May 15,1993 I Standard Bearer I 375


that thou do all those wonders before         will have a basis for making a deci-          to eternal damnation.
Pharaoh, which I have put in thine            sion for or against Christ? Is the                 God says in Romans 9:13, "Jacob
hand: but I will harden his heart, that       purpose of the preachingandits power          have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
he shall not let the people go."              to demonstrate to the world that God          In Psalm 5:5 we read of God, "...thou
     Thus it is with all of the reprobate     loves everyone and wants all to be            hatest  all workers of iniquity."
wicked. The inner Word of the Spirit          saved? Many would answer, "Yes."                   The apostle says in Romans 9:18,
in the preaching hardens them more            They make it very urgent. If we care          "Therefore hath he mercy on whom
and more. The more they hear the              about our fellowman, we will get the          he will have mercy, and whom he will
preaching, the more they manifest             Word out.                                     he hardeneth." God, in the preach-
theirhatredandrebellionagainstGod.                In the light of all that we have          ing, shows mercy or hardens accord-
     What is the purpose of the power         said, the only correct answer to these        ing to His eternal will of predestina-
of the preaching? What are God's              questions is "No." These are not              tion. The purpose of the preaching is
intentions with the preaching?                God's purpose, and they should not            the accomplishment of God's will of
     Closely connected with these             be the church's either.                       election and reprobation.
questions is a further question. Why              Since the power of the preaching               That the purpose of the preach-
has God made this powerful preach-            is a twofold power, the power of God          ingispredestinationverypowerfully
ing such an important part of the             unto salvation and damnation, how             demonstrates to us that salvation is
calling of the church?                        can the preaching possibly indicate a         all of God. Since the power of the
    Jesus has commanded His church            purpose in God to give everyone in            preachingis the determiningfactorin
in Mark 1615,  "Go ye into all the            the world a chance to be saved? Since         salvation, salvation cannot be of man
world, and preach the gospel to every         in the preaching God gives grace only         and his will or works. Thus we read
creature." The church is to preach the        to His chosen people but hardens the          in Romans 9:16, "So then it is not of
gospel to the world. She is not to            reprobate wicked in their sins, how           him that willeth, nor of him that
distinguish between rich and poor,            can the preaching be an indication of         runneth, but of God that sheweth
Jew and Gentile, bond and free, righ-         God's love of all?                            mercy."
teous and wicked. The gospel is to be             In the light of all that we have said         It also demonstrates that the pur-
preached to all the different kinds of        about the power of the preaching, it          pose of the powerful preaching is the
people in the world. That is so impor-        ought to be obvious that the purpose          glory of God, for there is nothing in
tant, that the church is to devote a          of the preaching is the purpose of            which-man can boast. Oh, the true
great part of her resources and time to       predestination. The power of the              preaching of God's Word does not
this one task. That is the chief task of      preaching indicates that God is a pre-        seem like much to the world. Many
the church. Why?                              destinating God. He is a God who              people think of it as foolishness. But
    Is the purpose of the preaching to        loves His people and them only, and           that is precisely what gives all the
get that gospel out to all the people of      out of that love has chosen them to           glory to God. He uses weak means in
the world so that everyone will have          eternal salvation. But He is also a God       order that He might manifest His
a chance to be saved? Is it to get that       who hates the reprobate wicked, and           power and in that way receive all the
vital information out so that all men         out of that hatred has appointed them         glory.  0




  The Proper Spiritual Conduct
                of Christian Women (2)
                                                           Lesson 6

                                                  Let a (the) woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer  not a woman
                                              to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first
                                              formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in
                                              the transgression. Notwithstandingsheshall  besaved  in childbearing, if they continue
Rev. Lubbers is a minister emeritus in the    in faith and charity (love) and holiness with sobriety.
Protestant Reformed Churches.                                                                                   I Timothy 2:11-15

376 /Standard Bearer / May 15,1993


    Some introductory observations:         they are commanded to be under              with a glad and blessed quietness of
    It is my firm conviction that this      obedience, as also saith the law."          heart, at peace with the "law" of God
Scriptural injunction from the sancti-          Notice that this is not a matter in     for His house. The silence here must
fied apostolic pen of Paul calls for        which Paul merely appeals to his ap-        not be a grumbling overtone. When
rather careful consideration by us all.     ostolic knowledge, as he does in I          the Christian citizen submits to the
Right now these words of Pad are            Corinthians 7:25. Paul backs up his         laws of the land, he does so with a
called in question by those who hold        axiomatic statement concerning the          heart which honors these commands
that such instruction is outmoded.          "silence" for the Corinthian women          in the fear of God. He must do this
Paul's words here are said to be rel-       by appealing to the "law." This "law"       with all his heart, mind, soul, and
evant for the times of the apostles, but    has the sanction of God in all the          strength. Such is the very evident
are no .longer foundational for our         churches! It is the rule for good be-       implication of the adverbial phrase
"enlightened" twentieth century.            havior for women who insist that            "in all subjection."
These contentious voices could not be       they also should speak with tongues.
more wrong!                                 God is then, now, and forever a God         The creation ordinance
    We are writing exegesis. If there       of order in His house, the church of            Paul writes, "For Adam was
is to be good, solid refutal of this        the living God (I Tim. 3:15,16).            formed first, then Eve."
pernicious error, the sword which               We must notice that the mouth of            Paul has reference here to the
will slay this error must needs be the      believing saintly women professing          creation account of Genesis 218-25.
spiritual weapon of the Holy Spirit,        godliness is not muzzled by the Holy        This sentence (v. 13) gives the rock-
the Word of God (Eph. 6:13-19;  II Cor.     Spirit in the church. The women as          bottom biblical reason why women
l&3-5). We had better, one and all,         well as the men are enjoined in             must be silent in the churches, and
heed the exhortation of Scripture in II     Ephesians 5:19-21 to sing. Read this        why men are to pray, lifting up holy
Timothy2:24-26.  For this battle is not     passage in your ownBibles. We must          hands without doubtings (v. 8). That
against flesh and blood. It is against      add that in Galatians 3:26 it is said to    God "formed" man "first" from the
Satan and all the hosts of hell itself.     both men and women, "For ye are all         dust of the ground is not a trite say-
We will then do as Jesus did in the         (as many as were baptized into Jesus        ing. The adverb "first" does not
hour of temptation. He who was able         Christ) the children of God." Both          merely refer to temporal order. It is
to cast out demons can also effectu-        believing men and believing women           clear from the adverb prootos that
ally bring out of the snare of the devil    have received the Spirit of adoption        Adam was created with an eminence
those who are captive by Satan's will.      who cries in both, "Abba, Father"           over the "woman." Both were  cre-
Doesnot  theBible say that the servant      (Gal. 41-5). Are not believing men          atedin  the image of God: true knowl-
of the Lord must be gentle unto all,        and women "heirs together of the            edge, righteousness, andholiness. But
apt to teach, forebearing?                  grace of life"? But notice the glorious     Adam was created "foremost." The
    The calling of the hour is ever         roles of each. These separate roles are     "woman" was taken out of the man;
anew that we speak truthfully in love       a picture of the created ordinance          she was bone of Adam's bone and
(Eph. 4:16).                                revealed to us already in Genesis 2:24.     flesh of his flesh (Gen. 2:23). She was
    As far as the text itself is con-       Jesus speaks of this as having been         not called, at that time (before the
cerned, let us keep in mind that Paul       "from the beginning" (Matt. 19:3-9),        Fall), "Eve." She is ever called
is continuing to holdbefore the church      and Paul says thatboth  husband and         "woman." Why? Because she "was
ofGodineveryagehowsaintsshould              wife are truly a "great mystery" (Eph.      bone of Adam's bones, and flesh of
behave in the house of God, the church      5:32). Very briefly, the unity and the      his flesh" (cf. I Cor. 11:7,8).
of the living God. This matter is very      difference is expressed in the words,           The "help meet for man" was
urgent. It deals with the mystery of        "Let every one of you in particular so      consistently called "woman" in the
godlinessitself. Thisisamatterwhich         love his wife even as himself, and the      Genesis account until after the Fall.
requires vigilance every hour!              wife see that she reverence her hus-        Fact is, only after the "GreatPromise"
                                            band."                                      spoken in Genesis 3:13-20  did Adam
The "silence" enjoined                          Paul uses the Greek term for si-        call U the woman which thou gavest to
    We shouldread at this point what        lence in our text here in I Timothy         be with me" the Christian surname
the Holy Spirit teaches us in I             2:11,12.  It is eesuchia. However, in I     "Eve." This name means  U the mother
Corinthians 14:23-36  on this matter of     Corinthians  14:34 the Greek verb           of all Ziving. U The termall livingrefers
the required silence of women. In this      sigatoosan is used. We will attempt to      to the spiritual seed of the redeemed
text we read (we quote in part), "For       understand the difference between           woman. This woman, with her hus-
God is not the author of confusion,         these terms. It appears that here in I      band, is now clothed with the skins of
but of peace, as in all the churches of     Timothy 2:ll the word indicates "to         the sacrificed animal slain upon the
the saints. Let your women keep             refrain from speaking" -being freely        altar. This means that neither Adam
silence in the churches: for it is not      subject to the will of God. They are        nor Eve were left in the shameful
permitted unto `them to speak; but          silent not by a restraining order, but      nakedness of guilt; they stand together

                                                                                               May X,1993 I Standard Bearer I377


asunder the "blood." Wewillneed to           shall not surely die!" But the truth is         She couldnot, "beingin the temp-
consider this presently.                     that "the woman," who is flesh of           tation," halt in her evil course. She
     It is quite evident that the cre-       Adam's flesh and bone of his bones,         must go on to the bitter end. With
ation ordinance that is implied in           "died" as punishment for her trans-         "satanic" woman's guile she takes of
Adam's being created "first" has still       gressing the will of Jehovah God.           the fruit, eats it, and gives also to
a foundational meaning for the life of           We should notice the wording of         Adam and he did eat . . . and died as
the church, both in the Old and the          our text here. We read, "And Adam           the father of the human race. Such
New Testament. In both dispensa-             was not deceived, but the woman             was the enormity of the temptation.
tions the rule is that God gathers the       being deceived was in the transgres-        Godisnot (cannotbe) temptedof evil.
church in the line of generations, the       sion" (v. 4).                               He is purest truthfulness and holi-
holy seed of the woman, Eve, the                 It is quite evident from these          ness. Not one of the words of Genesis
mother of theliving. That the woman,         words that "the woman," who should          2:16,17 falls to the earth! Let us, one
who tempted her husband in the trans-        have been Adam's helpmeet, by               and all, tremble in holy awe!
gression, was named "mother" is part         proud, willful disobedience became                               (To be continued.)
and parcel of the great mystery of           thewillingaccompliceofSatanandof
godliness. Out of "Eve" are all the          all the forces of hell. She spearheaded
generations which the Son of God             the attack upon Adam. God is just.
gathers out of the whole human race          He also has a book of remembrance.          Some Questions and Suggestions
until the end of the history of the          Take careful notice that in God's book          l.The text of God's Word con-
world, which is the history of the           of remembrance, at this point, Adam         cerning the "tree of knowledge of
gathering of the children of God's           was not deceived by the serpent di-         good and evil" is very brief and terse.
eternal kingdom.                             rectly. He was still in his created         It is no long list of don'ts and do's.
     We shouldnotice that in this brief      rectitude. But she who was to be            How could "the woman" first and
section here in I Timothy 2:13-15  we        surnamed "Eve" was really                   Adam second forget it? Or are we
see the threefold course of sacred           apateetheisa. This is so final for her      dealing with the mystery of iniquity,
history: the creation of man; the fall of    that there remained no way of reced-        the deceitfulness of sin?
manin the one transgression of Adam;         ing. Under the sovereign, almighty              2.Where was the old serpent
the  redemption  of the elect church by      verdict, "dying thou shalt surely die,"     when God spoke in Genesis 2:16,17?
the blood of Calvary.                        thewoman"became"in(wasin)trans-             Does the devil also attend church
     And we should consider that the         gression. There are two tenses used         services? Did he, the serpent, misun-
biblical injunction that "women" are         here in the Greek which we must             derstand the terms of the text? Or did
to be silent, in the preaching, finds its    analyze. The first is the translation of    he understand, but plan the strategy
cause and ground in the historical           the KJV translated, "but the woman          of his attack with great guile? See II
fact that Adam was formed "first"            deceived." This is the translation of       Corinthians 11:3.
and then Eve. Thus we confess that           what is called "point action." The              3.Why did Adam not oppose the
the foundations stand. God does for-         form is what is called "participial." It    "woman" when she took from the
get the sins of all His people; how-         was as she was undergoing Satan's           fruit of the tree (Gen.  3:6)? What
ever, He does not forget how it was in       lyingwordthatshe"became"intemp-             horrible "history" is being made in
"the beginning." Should God forget           tation. She is swept along into a           the garden of Eden! Why does not
that Adam was created "first" the            permanent, irrevocable state andcon-        Romans 5:12-21 evenallude to the fall
pillars of justice would be destroyed.       dition.                                     of Eve? Would sin have entered into
God is not a God of confusion but of             The enormity of this "dying" of         the world had Adam not also been
peace.                                       the "woman" must be thoroughly              tempted by Satan through Eve?
                                             grasped. The description we have in             4. What insight into the mind and
God remembers the role of "Eve" in           Genesis 3:6.                                heart of Eve is indicated by her alter-
the temptation of Adam                           All the "woman" can do now is           ing of the command? Did she not add
    Paul maintains the court-record          go to the very limit. This spiritual        the phrase, "neither shall ye touch it,
of the "woman" in the Fall. It was           process of temptation we are taught         lest ye die"?
more than four thousand years after          in James 1:14,15: "...but every man is          5.Did the "woman" die in Adam
the Fall that the Holy Spirit wrote I        tempted, when he is drawn away of           just as the whole human race did?
Timothy 3:1-3. The verses 14 and 15          his own lusts, and enticed. Then            Did the original sin of Adam, and the
should be carefully studied by chil-         when lust hath conceived, it bringeth       death which entered into the human
dren of God. This is quite emphati-          forth sin: and sin, when it is finished,    race come upon Eve through Adam's
cally the case in our day when winds         bringeth forth death."                      transgression and Fall?
of the error of feminism charm the               Let us not err in this matter of the        6. Was there an element of truth
weak with the lie of Satan, the great        enormity and the horrible sinfulness        in the defense of both Adam and the
opponent of God. He still says, "Ye          of the "woman"-Adam's helpmeet!             woman as recorded in Genesis 3:12,

376 /Standard Bearer I  May 15,1993


13? Is the "old serpent" more guilty                7. What is the exact point of com-       and Eve's insubordination to Adam
than Adam? Why could the devil not              parison between the "woman" who              in the Fall of the latter and of the fall
be reinstated in his "first estate"?            would usurp authority over the man,          of the whole human race? Q





                  Renewing the Battle (3)
                        Drama, Television, and Movies

           Lead, Toxicity,
               Lead and lead compounds can be highly toxic when eaten or inhaled. Although lead is absorbed very slowly
           into the body, its rate of excretion is even slower. Thus, with constant exposure, lead accumulates gradually into
           the body. Lead can cause lesions in the central nervous system and apparently can damage the cells making up
           the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from many harmful  chemicals (see BRAIN). Symptoms of lead
           poisoning include loss of appetite, weakness, anemia, vomiting, and convulsions, sometimes leading to permanent
           brain damage or death. Levels of environmental lead considered nontoxic may also be involved in increased
           hypertension in a significant number of persons, according to studies released in the mid-1980s. As a result, the
           US. Centers for Disease Control have been revising downward the levels of environmental lead that it would
           consider safe (The Online Edition  of  Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia, (c) 1993).

        One historian has a new theory          Ring. In a similar way, I trust that         minutes without dying of boredom
for the cause of  `the Roman empire's           God's people, who hear of the ruin-          or losing his train of thought.
downfall: the ingestion of lead from            ous effects of ingesting spiritual poi-           The reason, most often? He never
drinking wine out of the expensive              son from a certain source, will be          learned to read or like to read because
lead vessels of the day. Whether he's           horrified, a little bit angry, and cer-      he nursed from the breasts of televi-
right or wrong, his conjecture can be           tainly stop patronizing the business.        sion. And television is an enemy of
an interesting "parable" for our pur-               As with lead, Christians ought to        reading. Hundreds of Christians and
pose: the ruinous spiritual effects of         be revising downward the levels of           non-Christians are trumpeting the
being entertained by most television,           television viewing  they consider safe.      dangers of television and movies.
drama, and movies, can be compared              For more and more reports are com-          Taking time for television means tak-
to the physical devastation caused by           ing in regarding the ruinous effects of     ing time away from reading.
lead-poisoning.                                 television viewing, even of programs
        Suppose the respected New En-           that are considered innocent.                     THINKING. Television is an en-
gland Journal of Medicine reported                  What are the effects of watching         emy of good, critical thinking. A
that a toxic poison has let off from            corruption on television and movies?         teacher from Waterlook Schools in
Burger Ring's drinking cups for the                                                          Ohio said in a Knight-Ridder news-
                                                              +*++***
last five years. I trust that we would                                                       paper column, "The [television] screen
be terrified. Probably we would be                  READING. My own experience               does it all-thinking for themselves
angry at the maker of the cups for              has been that when I encourage a            has gone out the window."l More
exposing us to such danger. Certainly           member of the church or an inter-            studies than you could ever wade
we would stop patronizing Burger                ested visitor to study a certain ques-       through document this.
                                                tion regarding doctrine or life, vwy              Educators and sociologists are
                                               often I am met with the hesitant re-
                                                sponse, "But I don't really read." It's
Rev. Gritters is pastor of  the Protestant      not that he doesn't know how to read         1    Phil Phillips,  Saturday Morning
Refotmd Church of Byron Center, Michi-         words. He doesn't know how to sit            Mind Control. Oliver Nelson: Nash-
gan.                                          1 with a book for more than a few  1  ville,  1993.   '

                                                                                                    May 15,1993 I Standard Bearer I379


alarmed at the effects of television            They teach you what's funny (the                 ness, until an ungodly life isn't horri-
viewing, without necessarily being              laugh-track tells you when you should            fying to us. The great blessing of the
alarmed at the perverse contents. A             laugh). They teach sinful pride, self-           Holy Spirit is the work of a sanctified
teacher at Teacher's College of Co-             ishness (a characteristic of most stars).        conscience. The great curse of sin on
lumbia University said about chil-              They teach what's important in life              television is the searing of the con-
dren who were nurtured on televi-               (being rich, famous, and powerful).              science.
sion, "I don't think they know when             Theymoldyouropinionsaboutwhat's
to listen." They don't know when to             beautiful (not you), what's ugly (99%                MATERIALISM. "A man's life
listen.                                         of the population), what's important             consisteth not in the abundance of
     Educators are concerned about              (pleasure, entertainment), what'snec-            things which he possesseth." One
attention span, lack of tolerance, per-         essaryto own. Love of pleasure rules.            prayer we learn from the Lord who
sistence, patience. A child's fluency           Christians don't want to have their              saved us is "Give me neither poverty
with words and creativity are directly          own or their children's opinions                 nor riches... lest Ibe full and deny thee
related (adversely) to television               formed by this medium.                           and say, `who is the Lord?"' The
watching. Children who watch much                                                                prayer we learn from television's ad-
television have fewer hobbies, play                  VIOLENCE. "More than fifty                  vertisingis, "Lord, I want it all; I want
less well, and lack the skills and cre-         studies have been conducted . . . and            all the modern clothes, the new car,
ativity needed for problem solving.             all have reached the same conclusion:            the brand-name foods and drinks, the
                                                the amount of violence a child sees is           best vacations . . . . I want everything."
                *******                         correlated significantly with the                    Rev. John R. Sittema, a Christian
     MAJOR CONCERN. Although                    amount of aggression a child dis-                Reformed pastor from Dallas, Texas,
significant, these are not our major            plays."* Already in1968 theNational              wrote in the April, 1993,  Outlook
concerns. Our concern  is the devasfut-         Commission on the Causes and Pre-                about materialism. First in his section
ingefjcect  of being enterfained  by sin and    vention of Violence said of violence             on "overcoming materialism" was,
educated by the world. "...loss of appe-        on television, ti . ..it is a matter of grave    "If only we learned our perspective
tite, weakness, anemia, vomiting, and           concern." The 0 Journal of the Ameri-            on wealth and poverty from God in-
convulsions, sometimes leading to               can Medical Association" said that               stead of TV. . ..commercials  are per-
permanent brain damage or death..."             there should be "a major, organized              haps the most deadly item on the
(Grolier's). "As righteousness tend-            cry of protest from the medical pro-             screen, sowing seeds of discontent
eth to life: so he that pursueth evil           fession in relation to what, in political        and greed, and particularly aim at the
pursueth his own death" (Proverbs               terms, I consider a national scandal."           younger `consumers'.16
11:19).                                         And the citizens of our country won-
    The effect is the sinful behavior           der why in the 1990s there is such                   FAMILY LIFE. Most television
that is promoted in the lives of those          violence. Some know. In the local                programs and movies are an assault
who entertain themselves with sin.              press in April, the editorial writer             on  fumiZy  life. Where is the calm,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon  said over              said, "With such a teacher, children             unhurried conversation around the
a hundred years ago, "Theatre-going,            become more violent and morephysi-               Word, with quiet meditation? Where
if it becomes general among profess-            tally aggressive themselves....                  is the time spent reading together? Is
ing Christians, will soon prove the             Leonard Eron has spent 36 years re-              there any ability to pray together as a
death of piety."2 Michael Medved,               searching TV violence. Tracking chil-            family in the evening before the
Jewish television critic for PBS, said          dren through to adulthood, he found              youngest go to bed? Does a family
in an interview, "I don't think I can           those who watched more violent TV                have the righf to pray, asking God's
review movies much longer. It is an             were convicted of more serious                   blessing, or even the will to pray, after
assault-an assault on the senses and            crimes, were more aggressive when                they have filled their heart from the
an assault on the spirit."3                     drinking and were most inclined to be            television or the rented video? Oh,
                                                violent when handling their own chil-            how we need to pray! Some families
    VIEW OF LIFE. Movies and tele-              dren. . ..youngmales... oftenviewthe             don't take the time calmly to speak
vision are an assault on our biblical           violent men on television as examples            together, but think they spend time in
views of life. Television and movies            of effectiveness, strength and action."5         fellowship because they have been in
are educational, which is obvious.                   When we and our children view               front of the television together. Sad.
                                                the world's sins, we become desensi-
                                                tized to sin, callous towards unholi-                MARRIAGES.  ButIcannotthink
2  Sword and Trowel,  September,                                                                 of any worse effect that television
1879, quoted in Banner of Truth, De-                                                             could have than the ruin of marriages.
cember, 1971, page 31.                          4    Philips, page 53
3 Christianity Today,  March 8,                 5    The Grand Rapids Press, April
1993, page 25.                                  13,1993,  page AlO.                              6  Page 17.

380  /Standard Bearer I May 15,1553


    From theviewpoint of time alone,          who know nothing else. And soon             nores that, entertaining himself with
television is a threat to marriages.          you will find that you do not enjoy         unholy filth, smearing the world's
Sports, news programs, documenta-             your wife, your husband. Burned in          dung over his home and soul, it is no
ries, interviews, etc., can consume the       the image of your mind are the scenes       wonder the Spirit is grieved, with-
evening so that husband and wife              from televisions and videos.                drawing Himself in His power and
rarely speak. It is no wonder that,               Or, in marriage, one or the other       comforting presence. Unholiness
more and more, "communication" is             commits the sin by being entertained        Stinks.
high on the list of "difficulties" in         by it (the wife in the daytime soaps
marriages.                                    and talk-shows, the husband usually                           ********
    But Scripture teaches that there is       in the evening shows). Fatal blows              But the fight goes to thelast ditch.
one thing that strikes at the heart of        are struck at their marriage.               Quentin Schultze (who shows his bias
marriage. If alone is ground for di-              "Dearlybeloved,Ibeseechyouas            in favor of TV in the introduction of
vorce. Fornication. Adultery. If              strangers and pilgrims, abstain from        his book, "Redeeming Television")
there is one word that describes tele-        fleshly lusts, which war against the        dismisses almost all the reports of the
vision and movies today, it is "pomo-         soul...." And against your marriages;       sociologists who see a connection
graphic," which simply means, "the                                                        betweentelevisionandbadbehavior.
writing about fornication."                       A LOSS OF HOLINESS. To sum              And do some among us say, "We
    I so fear (and shudder thinking           up, the effect of most television pro-      have watched television a lot, and
about it) that the next generation (that's    grams and movies is simply a loss of        this did not happen to our family"?
you) will have so many marriage prob-         holiness.  Spurgeon  was right. If          Thank God that He overruled your
lems that pastors and elders will not         theatre-going (read: "movie watch-          folly. So far.
know where to turn. Pastors see it            ing") becomes general among pro-                But "be not deceived; God is not
already. Why? Because little boys             fessing Christians, it will soon prove      mocked: for whatsoever a man
and little girls have learned that the        the death of piety (read: "holiness").      soweth, that shall he also reap..For  he
sex and the sexual enjoyment on tele-             No wonder. The Spirit of Christ         that soweth to his flesh shall of the
vision is the way it ought to be. Now         is a HoZy Spirit, whose interest is our     flesh reap corruption..." (Galatians
you are young men and youngwomen              holiness. But when a Christian ig-          6:7,8).  You will too. 0





                                              the past has been to explain human          Dobson is more a psychologist than a
Prophets of Psychoheresy II, Critiqu-         problems biblically and to seek solu-       theologian; that even in his psychol-
ingDr. James C. Dobson; by Martin &           tions to these problems from the Word       ogy he is eclectic while he borrows
Deidre Bobgan; Eastgate  Publishers,          of God.                                     psychological ideas from secular and
1990. 310 pp., (no price, paper). [Re-            I share in the concern of. these        atheistic psychologists; but that he
viewed by Prof. H. Hanko.]                    authors, and their purpose in writing       gives his psychologicalideas a veneer
                                              thesebooksoughttobeapplaudedby              of religion by using the Bible in a
    The authors, a husband and wife           every Reformed person.                      superficial way to bolster his views.
team, both of whom hold advanced                  While their stated concern in all           While maintaining that Dr. Dob-
and earned degrees from prestigious           their books is a drift from biblical        son perverts Scriptural teachingitself
universities, have written otherbooks         thinking to psychological thinking, in      by changing Scripture's emphasis
on the same general theme as this one.        this volume the authors are particu-        from a God-centered theology to a
Their chief purpose in writing these          larlyinterestedinanalyzingtheviews          man-centered theology (p. 88) andby
books is to attempt to persuade the           of Dr. James C. Dobson. It took some        changing the gospel from a God-glo-
church that it has sold out to psychol-       courage, I suspect, to write a book         rifying gospel to a man-oriented gos-
ogy and replaced Scripture with psy-          critical of James Dobson, for his teach-    pel (p. 145), the authors alsoinsist that
chological notions and jargon. The            ingsandviewsareheldbymanytobe               the Bible is used, not to learn its fun-
authors are alarmed by the fact that,         the last word in all the problems of        damental teachings concerning man
within the church and the home, hu-           family life and child-rearing;              and salvation, but to give some reli-
man behavior is more and more ex-                 The authors, after having given         gioustonetowhatisbasicallyworldly
plained in terms of psychology, and           abundant proof that thinking has            psychology.
the answers to life's problems are            shifted from biblical themes to psy-            Specifically, the authors challenge
sought in psychology, while the noble         chologicalideas, point out (withmany        such key concepts and catch-phrases
and correct heritage of the church in         quotations and references) that Dr.         in Dobson's teachings as uncondi-

                                                                                                     May 15,1993 I Standard Bearer I 381


tional love, ego-satisfaction, self-ac-      solution to them in proper self-es- I cross of Jesus Christ.
ceptance, andieft-brain or right-brain       teem. The authors correctly insist ~             Although not written from a Re-
dominance as ideas that are, at best,        that this idea of self-esteem, so com- formed perspective, the book is a
not found in Scripture, and are at           mon in our day and proclaimed from           mighty trumpet-blast against a per-
worst, anti-biblical.                        so many pulpits, is a secular notion,        vasive weakness in modem religion
        But it is especially against         really nothing but self-centeredness,        and ought to be read and carefully
Dobson's doctrine of self-esteem that        and in flat contradiction to the biblical    studied by all those who faithfully
the authors argue. They point out            directives to denyourselves, consider        listen toDobson's "Focus on the Fam-
that Dobson finds the source of life's       othersbetter than ourselves, and seek        ily" and accept his teachings as the
problems in "unmet needs," and the           our salvation outside ourselves in the       truth of the gospel. 0





        Classis West met in special ses-     nal call to serve the Lord and His           which had to take place before his
sionon Wednesday, April 14,1993,  in         church, receiving some training to           application with the United States
Randolph, WI. This special meeting           that end from Rev. Arie denflartog, a        Immigration Department could be
of Classis was called by the previous        missionary pastor of the PRC of              completed.
meeting of Classis and was for the           America who was laboring in                      The exam consisted of a speci-
purpose of examining the Rev.                Singapore. Rev. Mahtani's denomi-            men of his preaching, followed by a
Jaikishin Mahtani with a view to his         nation sent him to the Protestant Re-        three-hour oral exam. The Classis,
installation as the pastor of the Trinity    formed Theological School in                 with the concurrence of the Synodical
PRC in Houston, TX. Rev. R.                  Grandville, MI for three years. Dur-         Deputies from Classis East of the PRC,
VanOverloop  served as the president         ing that time Rev. Mahtani and his           approved his examination, grateful
of this meeting of Classis. Classis  had     wife, Esther, visited many of the            toGod,notonlyforanotherlaborerin
little other business and completed          churches within the PR denomina-             God's harvest, but. also for one who
its work by late afternoon.                  tion. Upon the completion of his             showedhimselfsofaithfultotheScrip-
        Rev. Mahtani has labored since       three years of seminary training in          tures and the Reformed faith.
1986 in the Evangelical Reformed             1986 he returned to Singapore. and               In other business Classis learned
Churchof Singapore, a small denomi-          shortly afterward was ordained into          that the classical appointments of
nation withwhich the PRC of America          the ministry of God's Word.                  pulpit supply for the Sovereign Re-
have sister-church relationships.                This spring he received and ac-          deemer Fellowship in Boise, ID were
        Rev. Mahtani had been raised as      cepted the call to become the pastor of      no longer required.
a Hindu in Singapore. He was con-            Trinity PRC in Houston. This neces-                        Rev. Ronald VanOverloop
verted as a teenager. He felt an inter-      sitatedhisbeingexaminedby  Classis,                                    Stated Clerk




Young Adult Activities
        I thank Rev. C. Terpstra for pro-
viding our readers with the following
report on the third annual Young
Adults Retreat sponsored by
Loveland, CO PRC.
        It was held from Monday to
Wednesday, March 29-31. The loca-
tion was again the beautiful Covenant



Mr. Wigger is an elder in the Protestant
@formed  Church ofHudsonvilIe,Michi-
gan.                                                                  YoungAdults Retreat in Colorado

382 /Standard Bearer  I May 15,1993


Heights Conference Centernestledin           a couple of romances!). It is hoped          sonville, MI PRC, returned home in
the majestic Colorado Rockies above          that those who attended this year will       the early morning hours of April 15,
Estes Park. A great group of about 30        come back and that some new ones             after spending six months working
young adults from  a  wide spectrum          will attend next year!                       with the Covenant Reformed Fellow-
of our churches (Loveland, Redlands,                                                      ship of Lame, Northern Ireland. In
Lynden, Doon, Hull, Pella, Peace,            Congregational Activities                    their absence, the congregation of
South Holland, Bethel, Faith) joined             Rev. Mahtani, who recently ac-           Hudsonville did some remodeling
together for Christian fellowship,           cepted the call to serve as the pastor of    and redecorating in the parsonage.
spiritual growth, and enjoyable rec-         Trinity PRC in Houston, TX, arrived          When the VanBarens  finally arrived,
reation.                                     in California on April 1, and he             at about 1:30 4~. on the 15th,  they
    The theme of this year's retreat         preached for Hope PRC in Redlands,           might have noticed' all the new car-
was, "What Is It To Be Reformed?"            CA the following Sunday. He was              pet, new tile, new countertops, and
and two speeches were given in the           scheduled to preach for Randolph,            new paint and wallpaper. But, after a
beautiful little chapel of the confer-       WI PRC a week later.                         long flight back from England, who
ence center. Rev. R. Cammenga, pas-              His examination by Classis West          could blame them if they didn't?
tor of Loveland PRC, gave the first          of the PRC was held on April 14 in
address on Monday evening, "What             Randolph. After that examination             School Activities
is it to be Reformed in Faith?" On           Pastor Mahtani planned to travel to              The Association for PR Second-
Tuesday evening Rev. C. Terpstra,            Houston, arriving there, the Lord            ary Education in the South Holland,
pastor of South Holland PRC, South           willing, on the 15th. He was sched-          IL area held their annual societymeet-
Holland,& gave the second address,           uled to preach for Trinity on April 18       ing in late March. One item which
"What is it to be Reformed in. Life?"        and 25. He planned to return then to         made this meeting anything but rou-
The messages were well received and          Singapore, to await immigration pro-         tine was a proposal from their Build-
were also attended by members of             ceedings for himself and his family.         ing Committee to purchase land for a
Loveland church who came up for                                                           future building site.
both nights.
    It may also be noted that again                                                       Young People's Activities
this year the pastors were careful to                                                         The young people of the west
explain for the young adults what                                                         Michigan area were invited to gather
kind of messages they were deliver-                                                       for a mass meeting hosted by the
ing. Rev. Cammenga described his as                                                       Young People's Society of Faith PRC,
a "lermon," i.e., part lecture and part                                                   Jenison, MI on Sunday, April 18 tc
sermon. Rev. Terpstra described his                                                       celebrate the resurrection of our Lord
as a "leech," i.e., part lecture and part                                                 and Savior, Jesus Christ.
speech.
    In addition to the messages, there                                                    Ministerial Calls
was also a discussion time on Tues-                                                           Rev. R. VanOverloop,  pastor oi
day morning on the subject of Chris-                                                      Bethel PRC in Elk Grove Village, IL,
tian witnessing.                                                                          declined the call to serve as pastor ot
    The retreat was also filled with                                                      Southwest PRC in Grandville, MI
healthy fun and recreational activi-            Rev. Mahtani at Classical Exam            Southwest has now made a new tric
ties. OnMonday afternoon the group                                                        consisting of the Revs. Cammenga,
went bowling in Estes Park. On Tues-             Work on the remodeling of                Dykstra, and T. Miersma. 0
day some went horseback riding in            Trinity's parsonage continues, with
the mountains while others went              help coming from as far away as
snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain                Michigan. New kitchen cabinets were
National Park. Numerous volleyball           made and finished in Michigan and            Foodfor  ztiou~t%
matches were held in the recreation          transported to Texas by way of an                "The unfashionable truth is that
center, andin the evenings tables were       enclosed snowmobile trailer.                 no discipline is so necessary for real
set up in the lodge for board and card           Rev. W. Bruinsma, pastor of First        godliness as facing up to one's own
g a m e s .                                  PRC inHolland, MI, was the featured          sinfulness in depth."
    Everyone in attendance, had a            speaker at a lecture sponsored by
                                                                                                                     - J. I. Packer
great time. The sleeping quarters            Randolph, WI PRC on April 14. Rev.
were warm and comfortable; the food          Bruinsma spoke on the subject, "The
was tasty and abundant. Old rela-            New Age Movement in the Light of
tionships were renewed and some              Scripture."
new ones were formed (perhaps even               Rev. andMrs.  VanBaren, ofHud-

                                                                                                 May 15,1993  I Standard Bearer I383


S'iii/DMD
   BMER                                                                                                            SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                   Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                   Grandvile, Michigan
   P.O. Box 603
   Grandville,  MI 49468-0603


                                                                                               RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
                                                                                                 The'Adult Bible Study Society of
                                                                                             Southeast Protestant; Reformed
                                                                                             Church expresses Christian sympa-
                                                   RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                    thy to our member, Mrs. Christine
    The Ladies' Aid Society of First                 The Adult Bible' Study Society of       Batts, in the loss of her sister,
Protestant Reformed' Cliurch' (Grand             Southeast Protestant Reformed                  MRS. MARGARET PIKAART.
Rapids) expresses its Christian sym-             Church expresses Christian sympa-           May our gracious God comfort her by
pathyto our sister member, Miss Fieka            thy to our member, Miss Audrey              His Word: "The eternal God is thy
Sietstra, in the'loss  of her sister,            Reitsma, in the`passing  to her' heav-      refuge, and underneath are the'ever-
   MRS. TILLIE VANDER BAAN.                      enly home of her mother,                    lasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27j.
May the words of Psalm 28:6,7  be to                  MRS. AGATHA REITSMA.                               Rev. Dale Kuiper, President
her a comfort. "Blessed be the LORD,             May she find comfort in the words of         Richard Kamminga, Vice-Secretary
because he hath heard the voice of               Revelation 14:13, "And I heard avoice
my supplications. The LORD is my                 from heaven saying unto me, Write,
strength and my shield: my heart                 Blessed are the dead which die in the           WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
trusted in him, and I am helped: there-          Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the            On May 24, 1993, our beloved
fore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and             Spirit, that they may rest from their       parents, grandparents, and great-
with my song will I praise him."                 labours;  and their works do follow         grandparents,
          Miss Jean Dykstra, President           them."                                            ADRIAN and JOHANNA
             Mrs. Lena Baar, Secretary                     Rev. Dale Kuiper, President                     ALPHENAAR,
                                                  Richard Kamminga, Vice-Secretary           will celebrate their 60th wedding anni-
                                                                                             versary.
           CALL TO SYNOD!!                                                                       We thank our heavenly Father for
    Synod 1992 appointed  Hud-                                                               both of them, for their Christian up-
sonville Protestant Reformed Church,                                                         bringing and their godly example. May
Hudsonville, Ml the calling church for                                                       God continue to be with them.
the 1993 Synod.                                                                                  "For the Lord is good; his truth
    The Consistory hereby notifies                                                           endureth to all generations" (Psalm
our churches that the 1993 Synod of                            NOTICE!!!                     1005).
the Protestant Reformed Churches in                  The faculty of the Protestant Re-       0 Arthur and Laura Alphenaai
Americawill convene, the Lord willing,           formed Seminary is pleased to an-                 Lynn and Bruce
on Tuesday, June 8,1993 at 9:00                                                              0 Henry and Muriel Kiel
                                         A.M.    nounce that as of June 1,1993
in the Hudsonville Protestant Re-                  Seminarians Allen J. Brummel                    Thomas and Kathleen Verbeek
formed Church, Hudsonville, Ml.                                   and                                    Kristine, Steven, Mark, Katie
    The Pre-Synodical Service will be                      Douglas J. Kulper                       Jeffrey and Barbara Steenholdt
held on Monday evening, June 7, at               have been licensed to `speak a word               Amy, Mindy, Joseph
7:30                                                                                               Thomas and Marcia Kiel
         P.M.  Rev. G.  VanBaren, presi-         of edification" in the churches (Article
dent of the 1992 Synod, will preach              20, The Church Order). We thank                         Matthew, Timothy,  Jennie
the sermon. Synodical delegates are              God for giving these men to the semi-             Sandra Kiel
requested to meet with the Consistory            nary and churches and pray that their             Daniel and Debra Kiel
before the service.                              experience in our pulpits will further                  Bradley, Bryan, Justin
    Delegates in need of lodging                 prepare them for the ministry of the        Ct Kenneth and Joyce Alphenaar
should contact Mr. Henry Boer, 7872              Word.                                             Michael and Sallie Stripp
Cardinal Dr., Jenison, Ml 49428.                     Consistories are reminded that all                  Bethany, Sarah
Phone: (616) 669-9433.                           requests for pulpit supply from the               Mary Alphenaar
                           Consistory of         seminary (professors and students)                Jeff and Nancy Westendorp
                Hudsonville PR Church            must be directed to the rector.                         Michael, Aaron
                     Henry Boer, Clerk.          Prof. Robert D. Decker, Rector                                            Kalemazoo, Michigan

384 /Standard Bearer  / May 15,1993


