A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
Magazine


                                                                                  In This Issue:
                      Meditation  - Rev. Cornelius  Hank0
                               Jesus' Other Sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
                      Editorial - Prof. David J. Engelsma
                               Narrow Is the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
                      When Thou Sittest in Thine House - Rev. Wilbur Bruinsma
                               The Covenant of Marriage
                               P.Courtship Within the Covenant (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
                      Search the Scriptures - Rev. Mitchell C. Dick
                               Unbookable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    490
                      Church and State - Mr. James Lanting
                               Former Christian Political Activists
                                    PI& New Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
                      News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
                      Index to Volume 75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496





Vol. 75, No. 21
September 15, 1999


                                               Jesus' Other Sheep

                                              And other sheep I have, which are nof  of  fhis fold: them also I must
                                              bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one
                                              shepherd.
                                                                                                                                      John  lo:16

                                                                       of Israel as a nation, the nation that                       for any stray sheep, you will real-
                                                                       was typically separated from all the                         ize how a sheep will repeatedly try
       "Other sheep."                                                  nations of the world as God's pe-                            to break away from the flock to
       Our Lord had just said, "I am                                   culiar possession.                        Now Jesus          wander away on its own. And once
the good Shepherd." In distinction                                     speaks of other sheep, plainly re-                           having wandered away, it does not
from hirelings, who do not own                                         ferring to the church of the new                             have enough sense to find its way
and love the flock but who prove                                       dispensation, and thus referring                             back, but, if not sought for by the
to be thieves and robbers, Jesus is                                    also to us.                                                  shepherd, soon perishes.
the Good Shepherd, who loves and                                             We are called "sheep." Imme-                                    Sheep can also be stubborn, If
cares for His flock.                                                   diately we think of helpless, depen-                         two should get into a fight, they
       When Jesus speaks of "other                                     dent creatures. Many animals can                             will stand back and crash head on
sheep," He adds, "which are not                                        forage for themselves, but sheep                             against each other so often that one
of this fold." There were sheep,                                       are dependent upon a shepherd to                             of them is either seriously injured
the believers of the past, who had                                     feed them in green pastures and to                           or killed.
been safely brought into the enclo-                                    provide calm, quiet waters for                                        That is the picture that Christ
sure, the sheepfold of the saints.                                     them to drink. They have no pro-                             draws of you and me. We are help-
Most of them were already rejoic-                                      tection against predators. A lion                            less, dependent creatures, who are
ing before the throne in glory. This                                   has its claws, a bull has its horns,                         given our life and breath by God
was obviously the church of the old                                    a bee has its sting, and a dog has                           from moment to moment. In Him
dispensation, gathered mainly out                                      its bite, but a sheep is defenseless,                        we live and breathe and have our
                                                                       a ready prey to wild animals un-                             being. Without Him we can do ab-
                                                                       less well protected.                                         solutely nothing. Yet it is also true
                                                                              Still worse, a sheep tends to                         that, "All we like sheep have gone
Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the                               wander. If you have ever watched                             astray; we have turned every one
Protestant Reformed Churches.                                          a sheep dog that is constantly alert                         to his own way." By nature we are



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482/Standard   Bearer/September 15,1999


stubborn, rebellious, wandering           session. He knows them by name                            bath to hear Jesus speak to us as
sheep, totally depraved, incapable        with all their weaknesses, frailties,                     we bow in humble worship. The
of any good and inclined to all evil.     and sins. This very fact lays upon                        minister is the under-shepherd
Humbly we confess it.                     Him a great responsibility, a pow-                        called of God to bring us the Word,
                                          erful "must." He is deeply aware                          that through Him we may hear
        +++  +++  +++                     of the mandate laid upon Him by                           Christ. By the power of Christ's
                                          the Father even when He says,                             Word and Spirit we are marvel-
    "Other sheep I have."                 "Them also I must bring."                                 ously renewed; unbelievers are
    The emphasis falls upon the                It was for that very reason that                     changed to believers; sinners are
Good Shepherd. Shepherding was            the Son of God had come into the                          changed into saints; children of Sa-
a common occupation in the old            flesh, taking upon Himself all the                        tan become sons and daughters of
dispensation. Abraham, Isaac, and         weakness of sinful flesh, like unto                       the living God. In the midst of our
Jacob were shepherd-kings. Moses          the brethren, sin excepted. He                            sin and misery we hear Him say to
shepherded the flock of his  father-      bowed willingly under the burden                          us personally: "Come unto me, all
in-law, Jethro. David was a shep-         of the wrath of God, not because                          ye that labor and are heavy laden,
herd-lad and spoke of it in his           of any sin of His own, but because                        and I will give you rest. Take my
psalms. Still today shepherds are         He bore all the sins of all those                         yoke upon you, and learn of me;
seen in Palestine with their staffs,      given to Him of the Father.                               for I am meek and lowly in heart:
leading their flocks or watching               All His life He walked in the                        and ye shall find rest unto your
over them as they graze in green          shadow of the cross, for He was                           souls." Rebels, wandering sheep,
pastures. These shepherds often           aware that His "must" required                            confess: "My Lord and my God."
become attached to them, carefully        laying down His life for His sheep.                           We believe! By that amazing
grazing them and guarding  them           It demanded of Him the perfect                            wonder of grace  owe are not only
from predators. David speaks of           sacrifice for sin by suffering the tor-                   given the ability to believe, the
having fought off a lion and a bear.      ments of hell in our stead. He                                 willingness, but also the  be-
    Jesus claims all true believers,      surrendered Himself to the                           A           lieving itself. It is all of
the entire church of the old dispen-      painful, accursed death of                    Christus           God. We are brought into
sation, as His own, as those whom         the cross for you and for                 pro omnibus             the fold, the church, where
He has already brought into the           me. A  Christus  pro omnibus                    is no             we are fed in green  pas-
fold in glory. Now He speaks of           (Christ for all) is no Savior.                Savior.            tures and find refreshment
other  sheep, referring to the church     He laid down His life for                                        by still waters. He restores
of the new dispensation that must         His sheep.         "Blessed Savior,                            our soul. He leads us in paths
still be led into the fold.               Thou hast bought us, Thine we                             of righteousness for His Name's
    He does not say, "Other sheep         are." What a wonder of sovereign                          sake. He feeds His flock like a
I  desire  to have." Nor does He say,     mercy and boundless grace!                                shepherd: He gathers the lambs
"Other sheep I  might  have," or "I                                                                 with  HIS arms, and carries them in
will  have." No, He says, "I  have."               +++  +++  +++                                    His bosom, and gently leads those
Before the foundations of the earth                                                                 that are with young. Yea, though I
Jesus was the chosen of God to be              "They shall hear My voice."                          walk through the valley of the
the Christ. To Him was given the               Having accomplished the                              shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
elect of all the ages, the church, His    atonement of the cross, Jesus died                        for Thou art with me. Thy rod and
sheep. He and His church are as           our physical death and rose again                         Thy staff, they comfort me. All this
one. He has a rightful claim to           as Victor over death and the grave                        purely in efficacious mercy from
them, to you and to me by eternal,        to proceed onward into a new, glo-                        the God of all grace!
sovereign election. I am inexpress-       rious, heavenly life at the Father's
ibly thankful to believe that I am        right hand. He was taken up into                                 +++  +++  +++
eternally one of His sheep. I be-         glory to intercede for us before the
long to Jesus, the eternal Christ of      throne of grace and to present our                            "And there shall be one fold
God.                                      prayers before the Father, in order                       (flock) and one Shepherd."
                                          to bless us with every blessing of                            The church of all ages is one
        +++  +++  +++                     salvation.                                                flock. Though we distinguish be-
                                               On Pentecost He returned to                          tween the sheep of the old dispen-
    "Them also I must bring."             H i s   c h u r c h ,   t o   u s ,   b y   H i s         sation and those of the new, the
    The Good Shepherd knows His           indwelling Spirit. We hear His                            two are still one flock in heaven.
sheep. He knows them as given to          voice, for He now speaks to us                            Though the church is spread over
Him by the Father. He knows them          through His Word and by His                               the centuries of time, scattered
as His very own, His personal pos-        Spirit. We go to church on the Sab-                       throughout the nations of the

                                                                                                      September 15,1999/Standird Bearer/483


world, divided into races and lan-          church.                                   bodies in the likeness of His glori-
guages, it is still spiritually one uni-        Our Father loves His church,          ous body in the day when He fully
versal church, united as one in             as does His Christ. No man can            subjects all things unto Himself.
Christ. "There is one body, and             possibly snatch us out of their               Surely goodness and mercy
one Spirit, even as ye are called in        hands. We base our eternal secu-          shall follow me all the days of my
one hope of your calling; one Lord,         rity on our unchangeable God, who         life. And I will dwell in the house
one faith, one baptism, one God             has begun a good work for us and          of God forever.
and Father of all, who is above all,        in us and will surely finish it.              Even there Christ will be our
and through all, and in you all"                Our Lord is now busily en-            Good Shepherd. Eternally we will
(Eph. 4:4-6).                               gaged in heaven drawing His               be dependent sheep, always receiv-
    We believe a holy, universal            sheep unto Himself, that they may         ing from Him grace for grace,
church, which the Son of God from           be where He is forever. Even now          growing in the grace and knowl-
the beginning to the end of the             He is preparing a place for us, so        edge of our Lord as we with body
world gathers, defends, and pre-            that when we are ready for that           and soul reflect the glory of God
serves to Himself by His Spirit and         place, and that place is ready for        that shines upon us through Him.
Word out of the whole human race,           us, He will reach out His arm, take       One flock and one Shepherd!
chosen unto everlasting life and            us into His bosom, and bring us               Jesus is our eternal Lord, the
agreeing in true faith. We also be-         with Him into the fold.                   Shepherd of His sheep, to the
lieve that we are and forever shall             He will also raise our mortal         praise and honor and adoration of
remain living members of that                                                         our God! Cl





                             Narrow Is the Way

T                                           Thought." It is edited and largely            Critique of the plea for ap-
       he church ought to embrace           written by theologians, teachers,         proval of homosexual sex would
       "homosexual people who               and other prominent, influential          note that the learned Dr. Smedes
       live faithfully in covenanted        persons in the Reformed Church in         professes ignorance as to the mean-
partnerships."                              America and in the CRC.                   ing- of the Holy Spirit in those pas-
    This is the plea that Lewis                 Dr. Lewis Smedes is a minister        sages of Holy Scripture that treat
Smedes addresses particularly to            of the gospel in the CRC.                 of homosexuality, particularly  Ro-
the Christian Reformed Church                                                         mans  1:18-27.  Smedes does not
(CRC).                                      Smedes' Plea for                          know who they are who are de-
    Writing in the May, 1999 issue          Homosexual "Marriage"                     scribed in the passage: "Who  were
of  Perspectives,  Smedes urges the             It is not the purpose of this edi-    these people, the ones who were
acceptance of practicing homosexu-          torial to criticize Smedes' plea for      having sex with partners of their
als in the CRC. He exhorts the              the approval of the practice of ho-       own gender? . . . Nobody knows for
CRC to "embrace," that is, accept           mosexuality in the CRC. Some-             sure." Nor does he know what is
as members of the church in good            thing might well be said in this re-      meant in the passage by "against
and regular standing, "Christian            gard. No doubt, reflecting on the         nature": "What he (the  apostle-
homosexual people who have com-             plea by a renowned Reformed               DJE)  meant  by `contrary to nature'
mitted themselves to a monoga-              theologian for approving homo-            none of us knows for sure."
mous partnership"  (all quotations          sexual relations would be benefi-             The doubt of our unbelieving
in this editorial are from the article      cial. Strong pressure is now being        age that increasingly prevails in the
by Lewis Smedes in the May, 1999            exerted by the evil one upon all          churches has blinded Smedes'
issue of  Perspectives,  pp. 8-12).         churches, "conservative" as well as       mind to the clear testimony of the
    Perspectives  is a religious peri-      "liberal," to cave in to the world        Word of God. The people spoken
odical, "A Journal of Reformed              here also.                                of in Romans  1:18ff. are men and

484/Standard  Bearer/September 15,1999


women who perversely lust for             they cannot do is marry.                              For many years, the CRC  for-
people of the same gender and then            Analysis of Smedes' plea for              bade remarriage after divorce and
perversely engage in sexual acts          homosexual "marriages" in the                 excluded remarried persons from
with them as best they can. The           CRC would also predict that this              membership in the church as those
practice of homosexual sex is             abomination is sure to-come in                      living in adultery. In the  195Os,
"against nature" in that it contra-       that church. If ministers are                            the CRC radically changed
dicts the will of God for sex as          permitted publicly to  advo-              One              its stand and accepted  re-
made known in creation itself. This       cate  h o m o s e x u a l   "mar-       who is              married persons as  mem-
will of God, writ large in nature in      riage," it will come. If               uncertain            bers of the church. These
the physical characteristics that dis-    theologians of the stature            about these            are not only "innocent
tinguish male and female by vir-          of a Lewis Smedes are  al-            basic things           parties," but also "guilty
tue of God's creation of the human        ready bold to plead for                of  divine            parties" and those who
race, is sexual relations between a       homosexual "marriage,"                 revelation            divorced for all kinds of
man and a woman in marriage.              it will come sooner rather              and the              unbiblical reasons.
        One who is uncertain about        than later.                            Christian                  Smedes readily  ac-
these basic things of divine  r,evela-                                            religion             knowledges that the rea-
tion and the Christian religion is        The Argument for                     is disqualified         son for the acceptance of
disqualified to be a teacher of the       Homosexual "Marriage"                to be a teacher         remarried persons by his
church on sexual and marital eth-             But my interest in               of  the church         church was not the  dis-
ics.                                      Smedes' article lies  else-            on sexual            covery of new material
        Comment on the plea for ap-       where. The interest of the            and marital          on divorce and  remar-
proval of homosexual relations            readers of  r  the  Standard             ethics.           riage in the Bible. The rea-
would call attention to significant       Bearer  ought to lie elsewhere.                           son was not even a new in-
verbal slips, when Smedes is la-          Our interest is not the plea it-                       terpretation of the words of
menting his church's current pro-         self for homosexual relations, but            Jesus and the apostles that the CRC
hibition of "monogamous partner-          the argument raised on behalf of              had for many years appealed to in
ship(s)." "To  all homosexuals it         the plea.                                     support of its condemnation of re-
says: You  have no choice; you  may           Smedes has an argument.                   marriage. But the reason was that
not marry and you must be celi-               The argument is solid and com-            the church found itself confronted
bate" (the emphasis is Smedes').          pelling, indeed, irresistible, as far         by a dramatic increase of divorce
The noteworthy words are "marry"          as the CRC is concerned.                      and remarriage among its mem-
and "may." The use of "marry"                 The CRC may yet for a time                bers. And those divorcing and re-
shows that the "partnerships"             forbid homosexual partnerships,               marrying were the sons and daugh-
which Smedes asks the CRC to ap-          but they will not do so by refuting           ters, of the members of the church,
prove are, in his thinking, mar-          Smedes' argument. They will                   including the ministers and elders
riages: homosexual  marriages  (the       merely ignore it.                             who made the  synodical  decision.
emphasis is mine). If Smedes has              This argument is equally com-
his way, there will be two kinds of       pelling for some of the readers of                  More sons and daughters of the
marriages in the CRC, heterosexual        the  Standard Bearer  who   are mem-                faithful were getting divorced and
and homosexual.                           bers of churches other than the                     were marrying again.       Before
        Closely related is his use of     CRC.                                                World War II, the church could ex-
"may" in his wording of his                   The argument fails completely                   clude such people on the assump-
                                                                                              tion that they would very rarely
church's present forbidding of ho-        as regards the Protestant Reformed                  be their own loved ones. After
mosexual unions: "You  may  not           Churches  (PRC). But then it is im-                 the war, however, local congrega-
marry." But this a mistake. What          portant, even urgent, that members                  tions discovered that persons
the church says is, "You  cannot          of the PRC carefully consider the                   whom they loved as brothers and
marry (each other)." The thing is         argument, so that they strengthen                   sisters in Christ-and, yes, their
impossible, as impossible as it is        their determination that this pow-                  own  children-were doing it.
for homosexual sex to be fruitful         erful argument for practicing ho-                   And it was very hard to look their
in children. By definition, defini-       mosexuals in the church never get                   own sons and daughters in the
tion grounded in the ordinance of         a foothold among them.                              eyes and say to them: "You will
                                                                                              go to hell unless you leave your
God at creation, marriage is a rela-          Smedes' argument is this: Just                  present spouse."
tionship between a man and a              as the CRC came to approve the
woman, a male and a female. Men           remarriage of divorced persons de-                    In light of these hard realities,
can do many things with men, and          spite Jesus' prohibition, so also the         the CRC deliberately revised its
women can do many things, appar-          CRC can and should approve ho-                understanding of Scripture's  teach-
ently, with women. One thing that         mosexual "marriage."

                                                                                              September 15,7999/Standard Bearer/485


ing on marriage, divorce, and re-             as a lifelong bond, then the church                       the biblical teaching on divorce and
marriage. Smedes puts it this way:            can also accept practicing homo-                          remarriage cannot consistently pro-
"It (the CRC-DJE) factored human              sexuals for the same reasons, even                        hibit homosexual relations. The
reality into its reading of the Lord's        though Scripture plainly teaches                          church that has caved in to the
words."                                       that God wills sex only in the mar-                       pressures of the lawlessness of
    With this new "reading" of bib-           riage of a man and a woman.                               these last days in the matter of re-
lical teaching, there was a much                  This is the argument.                                 marriage will eventually do so also
wider application of the mercy of                 It is valid.                                          in the matter of homosexuality.
God to adulterers. The wide mercy                 The church that accommodates                              This is by no means only or
of God was extended to the pro-               the Word of God to the painful cir-                       even mainly the CRC.
fessing Christian who unjustly di-            cumstances of its members in the                              Smedes naturally pitches his
vorced his own wife and remarried             matter of divorce and remarriage                          plea, with its argument, toward the
the wife of his neighbor. Proclaims           should do so also in the matter of                        CRC. For this reason, I must men-
Smedes, in his explanation and de-            homosexual desire. Fact is, as                            tion the CRC often in this edito-
fense of the CRC's change of posi-            Smedes shrewdly observes, "The                            rial. But I will not have any reader
tion regarding remarriage, "The               biblical ground for excluding them                        suppose, or charge, that I like to
grace of Jesus Christ . . . could bless       (homosexuals-DJE) from embrace                            point the finger at the CRC. Not
and support remarried people  in              within the church is actually                             here! Not whatsoever! This edito-
their second marriage."                       weaker than was its ground for                                 rial is fundamentally uninter-.
    This wideness of God's mercy              excluding divorced and re-                                          ested in the CRC. It is  in-
is an important aspect of the CRC's           married heterosexuals."                            The               terested in an argument.
acceptance of remarriage after di-                 How can ministers                       church                            For the overwhelm-
vorce, as it is an important element          and elders say no to ho-                   that has                   ing majority of Protestant
in Smedes' argument for the accep-            mosexual         sons       and            forsaken                    churches approve the re-
tance of homosexual "marriage." It            daughters of the congre-                 the biblical                  marriage of divorced per-
accounts for the title of Smedes' ar-         gation, when they have                     teaching                    sons. The overwhelming
ticle: "Like the Wideness of the              not been able to say no                   on divorce                   majority of churches that
Sea." This is part of a line in a             to remarried sons and                  and  remarriage                 like to be regarded as
hymn that goes, "There's a wide-              daughters? Much less, as                    cannot                     conservative-l'resbyte-
ness in God's mercy like the wide-            is more and more the                     consistently                  rian     and    Reformed
ness of the sea."                             case, when these rulers in                 prohibit                    churches-approve the re-
    This acceptance of remarried              the church are themselves                homosexual                  marriage of divorced per-
persons at the Lord's Table allows            remarried.                                 relations.                sons and welcome them to
for, if it does not require, the simi-             If the mercy of God, in                                        the Lord's Table. Their rea-
lar acceptance of practicing homo-            the thinking of the church, is                                sons are the same as those that
sexuals as members of the church.             wide to bless and save one who                            moved the CRC to change its stand
                                              transgresses the seventh command-                         on remarriage. And their defense
    Does the church's dramatic move           ment in one gross way-adultery-                           of this wickedness, when they are
  from the exclusion to the embrace of        why should that mercy strangely                           challenged, is also the same: the
  divorced and remarried Christians           narrow so as to exclude another                           wideness of God's mercy.
  provide a precedent  for  an embrace  of    who transgresses the same com-                                Smedes' argument applies to
  homosexual Christians zoko live to-         mandment in another gross  way-                           them all.
  gether in a committed partnership?
    My answer to my own question              homosexual acts?                                              When some of them waggle
  is,  Yes, it does seem to me that                If sexual pleasure and the                           their finger at the CRC concerning
  our embrace of divorced and re-             earthly comforts of life override                         an alleged "softness" toward ho-
  married Christian people did in-            Christ's demand for costly, sacrifi-                      mosexuality, they play the hypo-
  deed set a precedent for embrac-            cial discipleship in the greater mat-                     crite.
  ing Christian homosexuals who               ter of marriage, why should they
  live together.                              not override His demand in the                            The Argument Refuted
                                              lesser matter of mere sex?                                    The argument for approving
    If the church, with appeal to                  Approval of remarriage after                         homosexual relations in the church
the wideness of mercy, can accept             divorce is not only an argument.                          is effectively answered by a
remarried persons because mem-                As Smedes correctly points out, it                        church's faithful, biblical stand on
bers are in fact divorcing and re-            is also a " p r e c e d e n t . "   I t   h a s           marriage, sex, divorce, and remar-
marrying, including the dear chil-            "paved the way" for the acceptance                        riage. The plain teaching of the
dren of the church, even though               of homosexual "marriage."                                 Bible is the authoritative rule for
Scripture clearly teaches marriage                 The church that has forsaken                         the thankful life of the believer in

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marriage. The difficult marital cir-                         glorifying and rich. And the glory         those who are worse sinners than
cumstances of some are not al-                               that will be their reward is  SC) great    any of them: the proud!
lowed to compromise, much less                               that the present suffering is not              In the way of our repentance!
negate, the Word of God. The true                            worthy to be compared with it.                 Only in the way of our repen-
church refuses to "factor human re-                          Christ will eternally make up to           tance.
ality into its reading of the Lord's                         them their temporal loss.                      The teaching that God's mercy
words."                                                             As for the wideness of God's        saves impenitent sinners who go on
     Members of the congregation,                            mercy, who can sufficiently extol          in their sin is a false gospel. It is
including ministers and elders,                              it?                                        the heresy of antinomism. It in-
look their own children and grand-                                  Higher than heaven, deeper          vents a "faire and easie way to
children who find themselves in                              than hell, wider than the east is          heaven," only to send the comfort-
such circumstances in the eyes and                           from the west!                             able sinners to hell.
call them to a life of self-denial:                                 Wide enough to forgive, bless,          Wide is God's mercy.
being a eunuch for the kingdom of                            and save fornicators, adulterers,              But narrow is the way.
heaven's sake. The grace of Christ                           unbiblically divorced, remarried,              Does anyone remember any-
is sufficient. By the Spirit of Christ,                      and homosexuals! As it is wide             more at the end of the 20th century?
their brief earthly life will be  God-                       enough to forgive, bless, and save             Narrow is the way.  CI- - DJE


                                                       The Covenant of Marriage
              2. Courtship Within the Covenant
                                                                        (cont.)

                                                             authority and responsibility before        ened" society and church of the
                                                             God as the head of his home. This          United States have long thrown
The Authority of Parents                                     authority of father and mother,            away this "outdated" rule along
      "Who gives this woman to this                          however, is not exercised only on          with the rest of the testimony of
man in marriage?"                                            the day of their children's wed-           Scripture. We live in a lawless so-
      "Her mother and I."                                    ding. It begins long before this.          ciety, where rebellion against es-
      These are words that have been                         Parents have a biblical right and          tablished authority has become the
spoken over and over again by fa-                            duty to be closely involved in their       norm. Because of this, dating has
thers who have given their daugh-                            children's dating life. Even more,         long ago broken outside of the
ters in marriage. But do we really                           parents  - especially fathers  -           bounds of parental authority and
understand the implication of these                          have the right to decide whom              supervision.
few words? They refer to the ac-                             their children may date and there-             Though such rebellion has oc-
tive exercise of parental authority                          fore ultimately marry. All this is         curred repeatedly throughout his-
in the marriages of our covenant                             implied when father and mother             tory, it became a part of our soci-
children. When a father walks his                            give the hand of their daughter to         ety during the social revolution of
daughter down the aisle to give her                          a man in marriage.                         the 1960s. On every front young
hand in marriage to a man, he is                                    This is a rule of Scripture that    people rebelled against authority.
placing his stamp of approval on                             is at best forgotten and at worst          They marched against the govern-
the marriage. He is exercising his                           ignored and rebelled against in our        ment, dodged the draft, and rioted
                                                             society today. Most foreign cul-           on college campuses. They re-
                                                             tures, even with their heathen reli-       belled against the church and the
Rev. Bruinsma is pastor  of  Kalamazoo                       gions, still insist on parental con-       authority of Scripture. In promot-
P r o t e s t a n t   R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h   i n    trol over whom their children              ing their new philosophy of love,
Kalamazoo, Michigan.                                         marry. But the "liberated,  eniight-       they spit in the face of God by

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trampling in the dirt the seventh         forsake them.                                      every night of the week, and where
commandment, "Thou shalt not                   All this has had a devastating                they are or what they are doing or
commit adultery." "Free love" was         effect on dating within the sphere                 whom they are with is left up to
the phrase coined by the  hippie          of the church and covenant. So in-                 their children's discretion. For
movement. "If you can't be with           fluenced are young people in the                   some strange reason parents are
the one you love, baby, love the          church today by the trends that                    made to feel that to control this
one you're with" was the slogan           have developed in this world of                    part of their child's life would be
sung in many songs. Love-ins be-          unbelief that they have convinced                  an intrusion and not trusting their
came popular in cities such as San        themselves that they need not bow                  children as they should. So par-
Francisco and on college campuses;        before the rule of father and                      ents  - covenant parents  - close
Dating became casual and recre-           mother. They believe that God has                  their eyes and hope for the best.
ational. Though fornication has al-       given them the right to decide mat-                The most they dare to do is pray
ways been around, it became a             ters of their life independent of                  for their children. As for the rest,
norm for dating during this era. It       their parents' authority. This ex-                 they take only a passive role in the
was expected on a date.                   tends to dating. Oftentimes young                  dating life of their children. They
    With this rebellion against the       people date whom they choose                       feel that all they can do is advise,
church came also rebellion against        without even seeking father's and                  but nothing more.
parents. Parents were viewed as           mother`s approval. And if young                         In opposition to this attitude
part of the "establishment," which        people know that father and                        stands the Word of God! Parents
did not understand the cares and          mother would not approve, they                     are called by God to exercise over-
needs of the teenager. Teens ran          "sneak out" on a date, fully confi-                sight and rule in the whole area of
away from home, lived in com-             dent that their parents will never                 dating. This is especially true of
munes, went away to college  -            find out!                                          the father, who is called by God to
anything to escape the authority of            Sad to say, in a real way par-                be the head of his family. Like-
father and mother. The generation         ents have allowed this to happen!                  wise, children are called to be obe-
gap was created. It was during this       They have allowed their children                   dient to parents in this whole area
era of rebellion that a new system        to read the romance novels and                     of life.
of values emerged. Teenagers now          magazines that line the shelves of                      When we say that father and
had the right to choose for them-         bookstores. These books portray                      mother have a position of over-
selves whom they wanted to date,          a love that is entirely earthly                           sight in the dating life of their
live with, and perhaps marry. Par-        and sensual  - even sexual.                                    children, we mean that they
ents fought to maintain their con-        Parents have allowed their                Parents               are called to determine
trol but lost out to the spirit of re-    children, from smallest                  are called             when their children may
bellion that ate away at society. The     childhood on, to watch the                by God                 date, whom they may date,
1960s and 1970s are not an age to         T V   s h o w s   a n d   m o v i e s    to exercise             where they may go on a
boast about. It was a time of hor-        which actively promote the               oversight               date, etc. This is not a
rible rebellion!                          immorality and rebellion of               and rule               matter of a lack of trust.
    This rebellion has become a           the  196Os!  The modern me-                in the                It is a simple matter of ex-
part of our society now. Living to-       dia mock parents. Parents                whole area             ercising their authority in
gether outside of wedlock, divorce        are made out to be bumbling                  of                 an all-important area of
and remarriage, homosexual rela-          idiots who have no lick of                dating.              their children's lives. It is
tionship, having children before          common sense or knowledge of                            meant by God as protection, as
and even outside of marriage are          the modern scene. Parents only                     a safeguard, to keep covenant chil-
the accepted norm of society today.       botch things up, and the teenager                  dren in the foolishness of their
In the eyes of the unbelieving            is made to look as if he is the only               youth (Prove.  22:15; Ps.  25:7) from
world these are just as normal, if        one who has any sense. Do we re-                   ways of sin and error which might
not more normal, than a family            alize how much our children have                   ruin their future life.
consisting of one husband and wife        been influenced by this kind of                         Young people, can you begin
with their children. Due to all of        thinking?                                          to imagine how far-reaching is the
this, many young people do not                 But that is not all. Far too of-              decision to marry someone? Only
even  know  their parents, let alone      ten mother and father do not take                  someone who has been married for
bow to their authority. In those          an active interest and role in their               twenty-five years or more can be-
families where there still are par-       children's dating life. For some                   gin to tell you how far-reaching it
ents, father and mother relinquish        strange reason they choose to re-                  is! Marriage is for life! Do you
their authority when their children       linquish their hold on this all-im-                really trust your inexperienced
turn a certain age for fear their son     portant part of their child's life.                youth to make a decision on your
or daughter will turn on them and         Their children are gone from home                  own that will have to do with the

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                                            \
rest of your life? Do you really            right, good, lawful!                                        "man" in these verses refers to the
trust other young people, who                       Neither is it difficult to-make a                  father of a young woman. The
know nothing more than you about            scriptural case for parental rule                           "virgin" refers to his unmarried
marriage, to help you make the              over the dating of our children.                           daughter. We learn there that a
right decision? Do you trust any-           This is evident in those passages                          father has the right to keep his
one more than your own parents,             where Scripture speaks of  daugh-                          daughter home with him or to give
who love you and are deeply con-            ters being "given" in marriage  (I%.                       her in marriage as he so chooses.
cerned about your future, to lead           78:63; Luke  20:34; Matt.  24:38). The                     It is his right! The father that gives
you in this area of your life? God          idea expressed by this is that  un-                        his daughter in marriage does well,
places our parents in authority             der  normal  circumstances a                                        but he that gives her not in
over us for our sakes. We  need  that       young woman remains  un-                                               marriage does better, Paul
authority and rule over us.                                                                          Wise
                                            der her father's authority                                              tells us in the last of these
    This does not mean that father          and rule until that time                           parents               verses. The context of I
may act as a tyrant, with no regard         when her father gives                          allow freedom              C o r i n t h i a n s   7:36-38
to the desires or needs of his chil-        her to another. She then                           to their                m a k e s   c l e a r   u n d e r
dren. Parents must understand               would come under the                               children                 what circumstances
that their teenage children have                                                              to choose
                                            authority of her  hus-                                                      the father "does  bet-
reached the age of discretion and                                                               within
                                            band. (See Numbers                                                           ter" by not giving his
are beginning to make decisions for         30:3-16.)                                        the sphere                  daughter in marriage.
themselves. This is good. This is                   Several laws in the                    of  the church                Suffice it to say that
the way God intended it to be.              Old Testament applied                          and covenant                  the choice is not an
Young men and women must learn              directly to this same is-                          the one                   arbitrary imposition
to make sanctified decisions in ev-         sue. In Exodus  22:16,                          whom they                    of will on the part of
ery area of their lives, including          17 we find an instance                           would like                  the father but is one
that of dating and marrying. Ar-                                                               to date.
                                            of fornication between                                                       which comes out of
ranged marriages are out of the                                                                Yet, the
                                            a   y o u n g   m a n   a n d                                               serious consideration
question! We know that! Neither             woman of the covenant.                          permission                  of all the factors  in-
may parents choose the persons              We are told specifically                          of  father               volved. Our  Point here
they want their son or daughter to          in verse 17: "If her  fa-                       and mother                is only to emphasize
date and force them to go out with          ther utterly refuse to give                        must be               that not only the Old but
them. Wise parents allow freedom            her unto him, he shall pay                       obtained....           also the New Testament
to their children to choose within          m o n e y   a c c o r d i n g   t o   t h e                           Scriptures give to the father
the sphere of the church and cov-           dowry of virgins." Obviously, a                                   authority with respect to the
enant the one whom they would               father can and may "utterly refuse                         marriage of his children.
like to date. Yet, the permission of        to give" his daughter away in mar-                                In order to protect our children
father and mother must be ob-               riage.                                                      in the marriages they enter, in or-
tained before our children may go                   A n o t h e r   l a w   i s   g i v e n   i n       der to assist them in forming a last-
out on that date.                           Deuteronomy  22:13-21 which deals                           ing relationship that will give them
    Young people are called to sub-         with a dispute between a father                             great happiness, covenant parents
mit to the rule of parents in this          and a husband of a young girl                               are in duty bound to exercise over-
regard. I cannot help but think that        whom the husband claims is not a                            sight of their children's dating life.
Ephesians  6:1, "Children, obey             virgin. In this passage the father                          And wise children, when they
your parents in the Lord: for this          of the woman is required to give                            reach the years of dating, will bow
is right," was written not first of         evidence of her virginity. Certainly                       before that rule and authority of
all for the sake of younger children.       this means that the father regulated                        parents because they know that it
Little children have little choice but      closely whom his daughter courted                           will stand them in good stead in
to obey the will of their parents.          prior to the time of her marriage.                          the future. Solid marriages in the
They are little! But it is the young        He even made sure his daughter                              church will prevail when both par-
person who can so easily rebel              remained a virgin until that time!                          ents and youth understand the ne-
against parents. He is beginning                    There is a passage also in the                      cessity of parental authority in this
to think and reason on his own.             New Testament that teaches even                             important phase of life.
Oftentimes, he thinks he is so much         more strongly the rule of the fa-                                 Next article we will address the
wiser and more informed than his            ther in the dating life of his daugh-                       question: when may a young per-
parents. But the rule of Scripture               ter. In fact, it may even seem a bit                   son date? Cl
in dating, as in all of life, is to obey    harsh, but if understood correctly
father and mother in the Lord: for          it gives solid instruction. The pas-
this is, very simply, right! It is          sage is I Corinthians  7:36-38. The

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                                                                            (John  21)


                                                           light, and faith, and life? Which is to     rected Lord appearing to His dis-
J                                                          say,  How has our Bible study been?         ciples again. He powerfully re-
     ohn  20:31  tells us the purpose for                          Have  we believed  this Jesus in    calls the disciples from their fish-
     things being written by God in                        and through our Bible Study of the          ing to be fishers of men. He ten-
the gospel according to John. Lis-                         inspired apostle John?                      derly reinstates the fallen Peter. In
ten: "These things are written that                                How noble-with Christian,           every way Jesus continues to re-
ye might believe that Jesus is the                         Berean, Bible-searching nobility            veal Himself as the Christ, the Son
Christ, the Son of God; and that                           and humility and diligence and ex-          of God.
b e l i e v i n g   y e   m i g h t   h a v e   l i f e    pectancy-have we been?                          For  us. You see? You and I  are
through his name."                                                In this age . . .                    being re-called, reinstated, re-
     The  things  of God written down                             where things are MC and we           buked, reminded, reconfirmed,
by John to accomplish such a won-                          are all on the move and wanting             here in the last chapter of John, and
derful purpose probably refer first                        things fast;                                now in this next chapter of our life.
of all to the accounts of the vari-                               where things are Man and man         The Savior God  with us is appearing
ous appearances of Jesus after His                         believing Man;                              to us now.
resurrection, and  to  the miracles                               where things are Mush and                We've gone fishing. We've
Jesus performed then in the pres-                          feelings and experiences and                been playing golf. We've been
ence of His disciples. All these are                       thrills.. . .                               amusing ourselves to death. Or
written that we might believe the                                                                      we've been building one barn af-
Truth Jesus, and get a Life unlike                                Among these antichristian spir-      ter the other in which to store this
any other life.                                            its . . .                                   world's goods. We've been, of
      But, really,  every thing  in John                          whose purposes are exactly           course, having a little religion. But
has been written for the same pur-                         that we  not  believe Just Jesus;           the things which are seen have
pose. There's no word wasted on                                   who posit many revelations of        seized us. Good things. Bad stuff.
a lesser thing. From "In the begin-                        many saviors all equally valid;             All kinds of doing and being done
ning was the Word" (John  1:l) to                                 who preach the god Tolerance,        unto. So real! Yet they have taken
"Amen" (John  21:25). All written                          and death to dogma and dogma-               over. Stocks, Handicaps, Work,
as revelation of the identity of the                       tists.                                      Internet, School, Ministry.. . . All
person and office and work of Jesus                               And then,  what has our Bible        these have become our preoccupa-
of Nazareth. All written for light                         study done,  to bear fruit in our           tion and our lords. We've left off
and faith and life for God's elect.                        lives? What really has revelation           believing the written things of God
                       ***++                               done for and in our  life?  To our          and the God of the written things.
      Well, fellow Bible students, as                      waistlines? Our dating? Our mar-            We've been living and doing.
we enter a last Bible Study of John                        riages? Our work? Our play? Our             We've not been living and doing
together we do well to ask our-                            attitudes? Our chit-chat? Our hu-           the Word.
selves this question: How  is our                          mility?          Our pride? Our preju-          Shame. There has been this
                                                           dices? Our prayers?  And our pur-           sense  of our hypocrisy, our  double-
                                                           poses?                                      lives, our little faith. We do not
                                                                                x-x+**                 like it. But we wonder how life
                                                                  It's not too late. If belief has     could be different, better, the way
                                                           been weak, and good fruit meager,           Christian lives are supposed to be.
Rev. Dick is pastor  of  Grace Protes-                     there is still  now.  And this study.       We hang our heads, cowering in
tant Reformed Church in Standale,                          In fact it is just for you. In this last    fear, perhaps, as we enter another
Michigan.                                                  chapter of John we see our  resur-          round of our feeble "good fight,"

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and we are, we know, supposed to                 written"(John 21:25).                     Him with us. He is most High.
be winning, and yet have been so                     This simply means that Jesus              Revelation written, That we
knocked around and bloodied.                     is-  Wo&erful!   He is the God Won-       might believe.. . .
What good can Faith be for  this                 derful, and Messiah of God Won-               So muck unbookable!  That we
fight  this  day against  this  Foe?             derful! Revealed, yes. So we've a         might live each day falling on
    Look! Now He is coming, this                 true knowledge of God, yes.  But          knees in wonder. That in grateful
Jesus. He stands on the shore. We                He is so muck more!  We have a            hearts there might be the small but
cannot quite see Him yet, perhaps.               drop. He is an ocean. We have             sure beginning of endless praise.
But He's there. You are fighting
in your life. Fighting to  make  a liv-
ing. But there is nothing in all your
punching, in all your night and
day.Jesus comes and says just one
word:  why?
    And then another: I  have won!               1. Jesus visits His fishermen                 153 fish caught! A great deal
I have fought and died in your                   (vv. l-14).                               is made by some of the exact num-
place and to cleanse you of your                     Jesus now appears to His dis-         ber-153. Is there any symbolism
archenemy sins, make you fearless                ciples the third time since His res-      here? What are some important
before sucker-punching devils. I                 urrection. They are fishing on the        things to remember when interpret-
am risen. I am crowned. For your                 Sea of Tiberias (the same as the Sea      ing the numbers in Scripture sym-
justification. For your right to life.           of Galilee [cf. John  6:ll).  They had    bolically? Not considering now the
Champion! Yours!                                 caught nothing all night. Now a           exact number of fish-is there any
    And another:  Believe!              Trust    man appears standing on the shore.        significance in the  large amount  of
Me!  Out of the faith I have given,              The disciples see the man. It is          fish? In the fact that the net did
and in the power of the Spirit                   Jesus. But the disciples do not rec-      not break (cf. Luke 5:1-11 where the
breathing life in you:  Believe!  Look           ognize Him. Not until He per-             nets  did  break)?
to and be ruled and liberated by                 forms a miracle will they know.
my Word, and wield it for victo-                                                           2. Our Lord's reinstatement
ries over worlds in my name.. . .                    Some commentators blame the           of Peter  (vv. 15-17)
    And this:  Live!  In the world,              disciples for going fishing. One              Why did Peter, once he real-
yet not of it. Fishing. Yet fishing              even describes the scene as one of        ized that it was the Lord who was
for men. Single, yet with God.                   "complete apostasy." Is there any         appearing to them and who had
Married, yet married to Me. Get-                 evidence in the passage, and in           provided a miraculous catch of
ting. Yet getting understanding.                 Jesus' reinstatement of Peter, that       fish, jump into the sea and swim
Rejoicing here, yet joy in the Holy              the disciples, by their fishing, had      toward the Master Fisherman?
Ghost. Dying. Yet never dying.. . .              about given up on their calling to
    And:  I am with you always. I                be fishers of men (Confer Matt.               From other narratives we learn
love you! And  still,  though you be             4:18-20;  Luke 5:1-11; and John           that Jesus had appeared to Peter
weak. My strength is made perfect in             15:5)?                                    already in private (Luke  24:34;   I
your weakness! My love in your love-                                                       Co;.  15:5). Why?
lessness! My faithfulness in your                    While you and I are thinking
faithlessness!                                   on this-is it possible that minis-            At this time Jesus reinstates Pe-
                  *****                          ters are called to the ministry only      ter into his office of apostle. Why
     One more thing in this chapter              for a short time, but then one day        was it necessary for Jesus  here pub-
of John, and for this next chapter               are not? Also this: are ministers,        licly  to reinstate and reconfirm Pe-
of our faith-life, and for when the              while they are ministers, ever  to be     ter? How does this bear on the
brief story of ours on earth is done.            involved in any occupation besides        church's dealings with ministers
There's the Word that the half and               the ministry of the Word and sac-         who may, sometimes, fall into
much more has not been told us.                  raments (Think of Paul and his            grievous and public sin?
Certain things are written of Jesus              tent-making. See also Acts  6:4;  I
and what He did. "And there are                  Tim.  5:17)?                                  Jesus asks Peter if he loves
also many other things which Jesus                                                         Jesus more than  these  (v.  15).         Is
did, the which, if they should be                    List at least five incidents in       Jesus by this asking if Peter loves
written every one, I suppose that                this narrative which are miracu-          Him more than he loves the other
even the world itself could not con-             lous.                                     disciples, or more than he loves his
tain the books that should be                                                              fishing gear? Or is Jesus asking if

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Peter loves Him more than the                  "stretching forth the hands" when             have life through His name.
other disciples love Him? (Hint:               he is old is a prediction of death
what was Peter's fault that Jesus is           by crucifixion. This might explain                What do we learn here of Jesus
seeking to have Peter acknowledge,             why John says in verse 19 that Pe-            as Savior? Sovereign? Servant?
repent of, and confess?) Or is there           ter would glorify God in his death.           Sympathetic High Priest?
some other explanation?                        Assuming that Peter did die a
                                               martyr's death, even by crucifixion,              Have you ever had to be "rein-
    Three times Jesus asks Peter if            just how would Peter glorify God              stated"? What virtue of the Lord
he loves Him. Why three times?                 in this way (cf. I Pet. 4:14-16)?             Jesus have you found most com-
Each time, all Peter can do is to                                                            forting and reassuring when you
acknowledge that the Savior knows                  "Follow me," Jesus says to Pe-            have backslidden, even denied the
he loves Him. What is the evidence             ter. Any particular reason Jesus              Lord, but then are brought back?
that Peter at this time is truly sorry         would say that to Peter at this               What are some passages of the
for his sin of denying Jesus?            Is    point? Look up in a concordance               Bible you might share with a back-
there any significance to Peter's us-          all the times the word "follow" is            slidden friend (e.g., Is.  55:lff.)?
ing the Greek word  pkileo  for                used in reference to "disciples fol-
"love," rather than  agapao?  (A               lowing Jesus." List five things in-               Jesus, in asking Peter about his
Strong's Concordance and/or a                  volved in our following Jesus.                love for Him  (vv.  15-17), is asking
good commentary will be helpful                                                              us too. He comes to us today in
here.)                                             For whatever reason, Peter in-            His Word. We have our work, our
                                               quires as to what the beloved dis-            toys, our dates, our spouses, our
    The Lord Jesus calls Peter to              ciple John would do (perhaps ask-             children, our investments, our
feed His lambs, and His sheep.                 ing by this if John also would die a          hopes.       He confronts us while
This certainly is proof that Jesus is          martyr's death), verse 21.           Jesus    pointing to those things: Lovest  thou
re-authorizing and re-calling Peter            tells Peter it is none of his business        me more  than these? He confronts
to the work of apostle! How do                 (v.  22)! It need not concern Peter           us too when we boast in religious
ministers and elders today feed the            whether John dies on behalf of                pride that we love Jesus more than
flock of God (cf. I Peter 5:1-3; II            Christ like Peter will or whether             others in the church do. How does
Timothy  4:2)?                                 John is living when Christ comes              your faith  in the Lord Jesus and
                                               again. John, writing long after               your  humility  show itself in deeds
    Roman Catholic scholars think              these words were spoken by Jesus,             of love and thanks to God for His
to find proof here, as they think to           then reflects that the rumor was              wonderful salvation?
find elsewhere (e.g., Matt. 16: 16-            spread, due to misinterpretation of
19; II Sam.  5:2), for their conten-           Jesus' words, that John would                 5. Unbookable (John  21:25)
tion that Peter was the most im-               never die. He then sets the record                The inspired John pays Jesus
portant apostle, and that therefore            straight, saying that "Jesus said not         the greatest honor when he writes
all Peter's successors, that is, in            unto him, He shall not die; but, If I         that he supposes (read: he is firmly
their view, all the popes of Rome,             will that he tarry till I come, what          convinced!) that even  the world it-
are the prime ministers of the                 is that to thee?" What do John's              self could not contain the books that
church. What do we say? Is there               careful interpretation of Jesus' ex-          should be written  if all the deeds of
anything in the text itself which              act words in verse 23 and his own             Jesus were to be recorded.
speaks of Peter as the first and               attestation of the truth of his testi-
most important (prime) minister of             mony (v. 24) say of the authority                 Amen.  0
the church? What do passages                   of Scripture? Do you believe in ver-
such as Matthew  18:18; Acts  20:28;           bal inspiration?  What are some clas-                          NOTICE!!
I Peter 5:1-4, and others have to say          sic passages which teach the                            The issue of September 15 is
on this matter of the authority of             unique, divine character of the                  the last in Volume 75. Bound vol-
leaders in the church? What is the             whole Bible, John included? How                  umes will be made available for
Reformed and Presbyterian rule of              does this  doctrine  of Scripture af-            $20.00  (+ postage) each. Or, if
church government which guards                 fect your  doing?                                you bring or send to the  SB busi-
against hierarchy?                                                                              ness office soon your own loose
                                               4. Perspective (John  20:31)                     issues for binding, you can obtain
3. Peter and John and Jesus                        This third appearance of Jesus               the bound volume for just $12.00.
(vv.  M-24)                                    to His disciples (the last recorded              (The  Iatter service can be pro-
    Verses 18 and 19  are  a predic-           in John) is so that we might believe             vided if we have your copies by
tion of Peter's death. Many think              that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of             October  75,)
that the reference to Peter's                  God, and that believing we might

49QStandard  Bearer/September 15,1999


                 Former Christian Political
            Activists Plot New Strategy

                           We confess some of our own "sins" for once believing that we could make
                      things right through manipulation  of  the political system.. . . The Moral Major-
                      ity folded in the late eighties, giving way to the Christian Coalition and other
                      organizations that  have  faken up its agenda, using, with minor variations, the
                      same strategies to achieve the same ends we failed to achieve. Two decades after
                      conservative Christians charged into  the  political  arena,  bringing new  voters
                      and millions of dollars with them in hopes of transforming the culture through
                      poIiticaI   power, it musf now be acknowledged that we have failed. We  failed
                      because we were unable to redirect a nation from the top down. Real change
                      must come from the bottom up or, better yef, from the inside out.

                                                      Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, Blinded By Might:
                          Can the Religious Right Save America?  (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999)


The Enduring Problem
W                                             chard Niebuhr, in his classic trea-        ity were exhilarating and intoxicat-
            hat is the evangelical            tise  Christ and Culture (New  York:       ing. Even the secular press grudg-
            Christian`s calling to-           Harper and Row,  1951), called this        ingly admitted that the  Reagan-
            ward the increasing               debate "the enduring problem" for          Bush landslide victory in 1980 was
decadence and immorality of con-              Christians. Conservative columnist         in no small part attributable to the
temporary culture, particularly               Cal Thomas and Rev. Ed Dobson,             political activism of the Religious
when the state refuses to forbid              two former luminaries in the now           Right. Following Reagan's inaugu-
such evils as abortion, pornogra-             defunct Moral Majority, have re-           ration, Rev. Jerry Falwell, the
phy, and same-sex marriages?                  vived this debate by the recent            founder of Moral Majority, and
Should church leaders engage in               publication of their controversial         other evangelical leaders were
political activism by supporting              book  Blinded By Might.  Admitting         regular guests at the White House.
conservative political candidates             that their former vision of political      President Reagan became the hero
and promoting Christian political             activism for conservative Chris-           of many conservative Christians
organizations who prevail upon                tians was fundamentally mistaken,          who contributed millions of dollars
legislatures to adopt laws that re-           these two influential men are not          to the Republican Party in the
inforce traditional Christian moral-          imploring churches and evangeli-           1980s. Both Thomas and Dobson
ity? Or should evangelical Chris-             cal leaders to cultivate an "aver-         were charter  members of the Board
tians separate themselves  -from              sion to any kind of political in-          of Directors of the Moral Majority
power politics and contemporary               volvement."                                and shared the spotlight and noto-
culture, focusing rather on spread-                                                      riety with Falwell as the proud
ing the gospel, living exemplary              Seduced by Power                           leaders of the Religious Right.
lives, and establishing their own                 The problem with churches and              But the authors now admit that
Christian cultural institutions?              church leaders becoming politically        they were all blinded by the attrac-
    Almost fifty years ago, H.  Ri-           active, they insist, is that it is then    tion of political power they thought
                                              impossible to avoid the seduction          could be exploited to establish their
                                              of power, the "oldest temptation           conservative political agenda.
Mr.  Lanting,  a member  of  South Holland    known to man," the "ultimate aph-          Writes Thomas: "In the early days
Protestant Reformed Church, is a practic-     rodisiac." The authors confess that        of the Moral Majority we were
ing attorney.                                 the early days of the Moral Major-         taken up to the mountain, and we

                                                                                           September 15,1999/Stmdard  Bearer/493


saw how we could win the battle           tion promised by conservative poli-       spent prudently. Finally, indi-
for Jesus' sake. Unfortunately, the       ticians ever materialized.                vidual Christians can fulfill their
voice we were listening to was not                                                  responsibilities as citizens simply
that of Jesus."                           A New Strategy                            by voting intelligently, praying for
    The authors of BZinded  By Might          But if political activism by the      those in authority, and writing let-
are now convinced that politics is        religious Right was a futile waste        ters to their elected officials and lo-
by necessity evil because it is ines-     of energy and resources, what             cal newspapers.
capably obsessed with gaining and         should be the "new" strategy for
retaining power. With few excep-          Christians to be the "salt of the         Evangelical Backlash
tions, it was their experience that       earth" in the next century? The au-            But within weeks of the release
politicians were always far more          thors suggest that the Religious          of  Blinded  By  Might  in Christian
concerned about acquiring and             Right has confused "political au-         bookstores across the nation, Gary
maintaining power than they were          thority" with "spiritual authority,"      Bauer of the Christian Coalition an-
about moral issues. The last two          the former being the authority of         nounced his candidacy for the
decades, claim Thomas and  Dob-           the state, and the latter the author-     presidential election. Other evan-
son, are conclusive evidence that         ity of the church. The most potent        gelical leaders, including Dr. James
the Religious Right was shame-            influence in transforming our cul-        Dobson, Rev. D. James Kennedy,
lessly exploited by Reagan, Bush,         ture is not the ballot booth, they        and Pat Robertson (all of whom are
and others because none of their          write, but the spiritual authority of     targeted in the book), issued
political promises to the Religious       the church proclaiming the gospel         strongly worded criticisms of
Right were ever realized in any           which has the power to transform          Blinded By Might.               D .   J a m e s
meaningful way.                           the hearts and lives of men,              Kennedy, for example, stated re-
                                          women, and children.           These      cently in  World  magazine that "to
The Failure of                            changed people "then become the           sound retreat now when Christians
Christian Political Activism              agents of change in their families        are making their presence felt ev-
    Dobson and Thomas are re-             and communities." In contrast, the        erywhere is the height of folly."
markably cynical about the negli-         political process of government has       Randy Tate, the executive director
gible outcome of twenty years of          no power whatsoever to change the         of the Christian Coalition, likewise
high-powered and well-financed            hearts of evildoers; it can only in-      disagrees with the authors' pessi-
Christian political activism:             carcerate or execute them.                mistic appraisal of the last two de-
                                              Rev. Dobson is adamant that a         cades and insists that Christians re-
  The impotence and near-irrel-           church and its pastor should have         cently "have earned and exerted
  evance of the Religious Right were      no political involvement whatso-          tremendous influence over this
  demonstrated on the day William         ever. When a church engages in            nation's political process."
  Jefferson Clinton was inaugurated.
  Clinton's first two acts as presi-      the political process, "it becomes
  dent were to sign executive orders      another lobbying group and ceases         The Continuing Debate
  liberalizing rules against homo-        to be the church." Although Tho-               Reformed Christians should be
  sexuals in the military and repeal-     mas and Dobson claim they are not         intrigued by this ongoing contro-
  ing the few abortion restrictions       suggesting that  individual  believers    versy for several reasons. First,
  applied under presidents Reagan         withdraw from politics, they are          Blinded By Might  is forcing evan-
  and Bush. With a few pen strokes,       insistent that pastors and churches       gelical Christians to think about
  Bill Clinton erased the little that     should never be involved in politi-       several substantive issues: the le-
  the Moral Majority had been able        cal action, including the distribu-       gitimate but limited biblical role of
  to achieve during its brief exist-
  ence. The tragedy was not the           tion of voter guides and petitions        government; the calling of the
  failure to succeed, but the waste       or political fund-raising. More-          church toward the society and cul-
  of spiritual energy that would          over, pastors should steer clear of       ture in which it finds itself; the
  have been better spent on strate-       partisan issues and never speak out       proper relationship between the
  gies and methods more likely to         for or against political candidates       c h u r c h   a n d   s t a t e ; a n d   t h e
  succeed than the quest for politi-      or elected officials.                     Christian's respective callings as
  cal power.                                  Individual believers, they ad-        citizens of two different kingdoms.
                                          vise, should stop sending money to             Although  Blinded By Might
    The authors are convinced that        "high-profile national ministries         does not always give satisfactory
the Religious Right miserably failed      that promise to change America."          answers to these issues for the Re-
in its political mission to curtail       Instead, Christians should focus on       formed believer, some of the doc-
abortion, outlaw pornography, and         local ministries where they can per-      trinal and practical errors of Reli-
restore family values. Very little,       sonally be involved and evaluate          gious Right activists are coura-
if any, of the contemplated  legisla-     whether contributions are being           geously addressed, if somewhat in

494/Standard  Bearer/September 15,7999


a superficial and anecdotal manner.              sure their homes are not infiltrated                     recently wrote that Christian  PO-
     Of particular interest to Prot-             with material that pollutes the                          litical activism over the past few
estant Reformed readers is Cal                   minds and souls of children").                           decades "has been shallow, con-
Thomas' i n s i s t e n c e   t h a t   o u r         But if Blinded By Might  is strong                  fused, reactionary and narrowly fo-
nation's problems stem from three                on practical advice for evangelical                      cused on behavior" to the exclu-
fundamental causes: divorce ("We                 Christians concerned about the in-                       sion of a meaningful "theological
need to hear more preaching that                 creasing immorality of our culture,                      framework." Regretfully,  Blinded
marriage is a one-time thing"); lack             it offers little toward a sound and                      By Might  likewise suffers from the
of support for parental Christian                consistent biblical  esc_h_atology.                      lack of such a framework for the
schools; and worldly video enter-                Michael Horton, a Reformed theo-                         widening controversy which will
tainment allowed in the home ("We                logian at Westminster Seminary,                          undoubtedly escalate in the up-
are challenging parents to make                                                                           coming election year.  0




                                                 Congregation Activities                                  ies, and preaching twice on the
                                                                                                          Lord's Day.
Evangelism Activities                            Thanks to a recently received be-
E                                                     quest, together with some pre-                          You might also be interested to
     arly this summer, the Evangel-              viously accumulated cash in an Or-                       know that the FRF has arranged for
     ism Committee of the First PRC              gan-piano Fund and a Baptismal                           the Reformed Witness Hour to be
in Edmonton, AB, Canada sought                   Font-Communion Table Fund, the                           heard each Sunday at  9:30 AM on
help from their congregation to                  C o u n c i l   o f   t h e   F i r s t   P R C   i n    WFNC 640 AM. They are also
help distribute "Welcome" bro-                   Edmonton, AB, Canada was able                            planning some RWH announce-
chures, plus magnets, in the mail-               to appoint a committee to find a                         ments for WFNC, using interviews
boxes of the surrounding neighbor-               suitable piano, and to arrange for                       with Rev. Mahtani. They have
hood. Plans called for the volun-                a baptismal font and communion                           been able to place literature an-
teers to meet in church, divide into             table to be made, interestingly, by                      nouncements in their public librar-
approximately ten groups, each                   a member of the Immanuel PRC in                          ies for "The Family: Foundations
with an adult and a car, and go to               Lacombe, AB, Canada.                                     are Shaking," and they also have
work. We are happy and thankful                        Last month, the congregation of                    10 copies of the tapes of the recent
to report that through these efforts             the Covenant PRC in Wyckoff, NJ                          conference held at First PRC in
nearly 1,000 homes were reached,                 spent a day at Island Beach State                        Holland, MI on "Biblical Sanity
and perhaps, if it is the Lord's will,           Park, enjoying each other's com-                         Amid Millennial Madness," to be
this project could be a tool to draw             pany and all the things we usually                       distributed as the Lord directs. If
some unto the pure preaching of                  associate with a day at the beach.                       you would like more information,
the gospel.                                            At a recent congregational                         please visit their web site at
        Somewhat along these same                meeting, the membership of the                           www.rsglh.org.
lines, the Evangelism Committee of               South Holland, IL PRC approved                               In news from Ghana, we find
the Southwest PRC in Grandville,                 giving a gift of $125,000 to our                         that the Foreign Mission Commit-
MI recently thanked their congre-                newly organized Cornerstone PRC,                         tee and the council of the Hull, IA
gation for their support for their               from their Building Fund. You                            PRC, the calling church, have given
recently concluded summer semi-                  may remember that Cornerstone is                         their approval to Rev. R. Moore to
nar on the subject of eschatology.               a daughter church of South Hol-                          begin a radio program over the
There was a very good turnout at                 land, with all its members coming                        University of Ghana's FM station.
each of the four sessions. Among                 from there as well.                                      Rev. Moore writes that this pro-
those attending, there were a good                                                                        gram has proved to be of benefit
number of visitors from outside our              Mission Activities                                       already, in that several new visi-
churches. We thank the Lord for                        Rev. Jai Mahtani, our eastern                      tors have attended their worship
this opportunity to give a witness               US home missionary, was in                               or Bible Study because of it. Rev.
concerning our faith.                            Fayetteville, North Carolina July                        Moore also had an opportunity to
                                                 28-August  2, visiting with the fami-                    meet with about 40 students, mem-
                                                 lies of the Fayetteville Reformed                        bers of the Christian Fellowship at
Mr.  Wigger  is an elder in the Protestant       Fellowship. He hoped to spend                            Accra  Poly Technic. Rev. Moore
Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michi-           much of that weekend establishing                        spoke on the theme, "Becoming
gan.                                             new contacts, holding Bible stud-                        Vessels Unto Honor."

                                                                                                             September 15,1999/Standard  Bearer/495-


Young People's Activities
T                                                                                                          hosted a Volleyball Tournament for                                             date Eriks, who has accepted the
          he Young People's Society of                                                                     all the members of their congrega-                                             call.
          the First PRC in Edmonton, A3                                                                    tion.
Canada hosted an evening of fel-                                                                                                                                                          Food For Thought
lowship with softball and a bon-                                                                           Minister Activities                                                                     "Those whose hearts are not
fire with the young people of                                                                              0 ut of a trio of Revs. A. pierced by the sword of God's jus-
Immanuel PRC in Lacombe, AB,                                                                                              denHartog,  C. Haak, and Can-                                   tice shall certainly be cut down and
Canada on July 23.                                                                                         didate Garry Eriks, the Loveland,                                              destroyed by the ax of His judg-
          On August 12, the young                                                                          CO PRC extended a call to Candi-                                               ments."
people of the Randolph, WI PRC                                                                                                                                                                                             -F. Burkitt  0





                                                                                                           Matthew 24: 14.................. CH .......452                                 Romans 1: 19-21 ............ GVB .........20
                             Textual Index                                                                 Matthew 24:34.. ................. JG .......418                                Romans  X:1 ....................... CH .......242
Exodus 4~24, 25 .............. BW.. .... .210                                                              Matthew 27:39, 40 ........... HH .......290                                    Romans  9:1-5 ................ GVB .......410
I Kings 17:l .................. RGM.. ..... 170                                                            Luke  24:34 ........................ HH.. .... .314                            Romans  10:9 .................... BW.. ....... 13
I Kings 17:2-7 .............. RGM.......266                                                                John 8:7, 11; 13:34 ........ DJK.. ..... 180                                   I Corinthians IO:31 .......... CH.........74
Psalm  95:6 ........................ CH.......338                                                          John  lo:16 ........................ CH .......486                             II Corinthians 5:4 ............. AK.. .......26
Proverbs 22:24 ................ BW.. .... .324                                                             John 15 .......................... MCD......... 18                             II Corinthians 5: 19, 20 .... CH.......386
Isaiah 9:6........................... CH ....... 146                                                       John 16 .......................... MCD.. ..... 115                             Galatians 2:lO.. ............... SRI-I.. .... .218
Malachi  3:lb ................... SW.. ..... 122                                                           John 17 .......................... MCD.. ..... 141                             Ephesians 1:3.. .................. CH.........98
Malachi 3:16, 17 ............ DJE.. .... .45X                                                              John 18:1-l 1 ................. MCD.. ..... 190                                Ephesians 2:8, 9 ............... CH...... .362
Matthew 7: 1 .................... DJK....... 180                                                           John 18: 12-14, 19-40.. . MCD.. .... .276                                      II Timothy 2: l-4.. ........... DJE .........77
Matthew 7:13, 14 ............. DK.. .....213                                                               John 18:12-14, 19-40 ... MCD.. .... .305                                       II Timothy 2:1-4.. ........... DJE....... 100
Matthew 24: l-3 ................ CH....... 165                                                             John 18: 12ff. ................ MCD .......200                                 Hebrews 8, 9.. ................. SRK.. .... .439
Matthew 24:4, 5 ............... CH...... .225                                                              John 19:1-16 ................. MCD.. .....276                                  Hebrews 11:17-19.. .......... CH....... 194
Matthew 24:7b.. ................ CH.......284                                                              John 19:1-16 ................. MCD.. .... .305                                 I Peter 1:4, 5 ................. RGM...... -434
Matthew 24:9, 10 ............. CH.......332                                                                John 19:17-30.. ............. MCD.. .... .330                                  Jude 3 .............................. SRK.. .......65
Matthew 24: 11. ................. CH .......353                                                            John 19:31-42.. ............. MCD.. .... .441                                  Jude 3 .............................. SRK......... 80
Matthew 24: 12.................. CH .......405                                                             John 20 .......................... MCD .......469                              Revelation 6: 1, 2 ............ DJE.. .... .436
Matthew 24: 13.................. CH .......424                                                             John 2 1 .......................... MCD .......490                             Revelation 2 1:4a .............. CH...........2
                                                                                                           Acts 2:39 .......................... BW...... .402

                                                        Book Reviews
     Title                                                                                   Author                Reviewer page                              Title                                              Author       Reviewer page
Abraham Kuyper:                                                                                                                                            Gospel  qf  John, The: A Theological
    A Centennial Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . James D. Bratt . . DJE . . . . . 94                                                                         C~mmkntary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herman  Ridderbos .RDD . ..286
Creating a Christian Worldview:                                                                                                                            Grace  of God, the Bondage
    Abraham Kuyper  `s Lectures                                                                                                                               of  the Will, The . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas R. Schreiner . . DJE . ..296
     on Calvinism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter S. Heslam  . . DJE . . . . . 47                                                    Marriage, the Mystery  of  Christ
Ethical Dilemmas in Church Leadership:                                                                                                                        and the Church: The Covenant-Bond
     Case Studies in Biblical Decision                                                                                                                        in Scripture and History . David J. Engelsma . . . . CC . . . 427
     Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael R. Milco . . DJE . . . 357                                               Ready to Give
Firm Foundation, A:                                                                                                                                           an Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H. Hoeksema/H. Hanko ADH . . . 237
     An Aid to Interpreting the                                                                                                                            Systematic Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Hodge . . DJE . . . . . 52
     Heidelberg Catechism . . . . . . Caspar Olevianus . . DJE . ..357


                                                            Title Index                                                                                       Title                                                              Author page
     Title                                                                                                              Author page                        Abraham Kuyper and the Reformation of 1886 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
A. Kuyper, Developer and Promoter of                                                                                                                       Abraham  Kuyier and the Union of 1892 ............ RJD .....35
     Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJT . . . . . 40                   Abraham Kuyper: A Short Biography ................. HH .... .30
Abound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DHK . . . 224    Acceptance of the Challenge to Debate............... DJE .. .391

496fitandard  Bearer/September 15.1999


    Title                                                                                                 Author page                       Title                                                              Author page
All to God's Glory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . . . 74    Do We Hold to Kuyper's View of
Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (1) ........... HH .. .157                                                                           Presupposed Regeneration? .................................. JL .... .43
Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (2) ........... HH ... 198                                                                         Doleantie, The ....................................................... RLC .... .33
Arius and the Council of  Nicea ............................. HH .... .55                                                                 Dr. A. Kuyper, Politician  - a Critique ................ KK .... .45
Arrows.. ................................................................. DHK ..... 12                                                   Duty of the Christian Mother in the
Believers Shall Be Persecuted ............................... CH ...332                                                                      Training of Adolescent Youth (I), The.. ........... HH .. .347
Bethel PRC Dedication Service .............................. AS .. .380                                                                   Duty of the Christian Mother in the
Blessed Reformation Doctrine of                                                                                                             Training of Adolescent Youth  (2), The.. ........... HH ...369
    Total Depravity, The ........................................ RGM ..... 50                                                            ECT in the Pitiless Light of the
Brethren, Pray For Us.. .......................................... JLK ..... 85                                                              1998 Bull on Indulgences.. ................................ DJE ... 173
Buying Missions .................................................... JLK ... 176                                                          Elders and Family Visitation, The.. ..................... RDD ... 105
Call to Worship, A .................................................. CH ...338                                                           Elijah at Cherith ................................................... RGM . ..26 6
Called to the Cross ............................................... MCD .. .330                                                           Elijah's Testimony Against Ahab ...................... RGM ... 170
Can Advocates of Universal Grace in the                                                                                                   Enduring to the End.. .............................................. CH .. .424
    Preaching Defend Calvinism? ........................... DJE ...296                                                                    Establishing Schools to Provide
Caring For the Widows ........................................ RDD ...474                                                                   Reformed-Covenant Education (1) ..................... AL .... .90
Cassianus, Faustus, and Semi-Pelagianism (1).... HH . ..46 4                                                                              Establishing Schools to Provide
Christ Returning for Judgment ........................... ADH ... 107                                                                       Reformed Covenant Education (2) ..................... AL .. .230
Christ, the Head of the Covenant ........................ SRK .. .476                                                                     Establishing Schools to Provide
Christ, the Mediator of the Covenant.. ................ SRK ...43 9                                                                         Reformed Covenant Education (3) ..................... AL ... 272
Christian and Entertainment  (l), The.. ............... DHK .. .42 1                                                                      Expecting the Lord's Return.. ............................. ADH .. .252
Christian and Entertainment  (2), The................. DHK .. .444                                                                        Father Abraham or The Indebtedness of the
Christian and Entertainment  (3), The.. ............... DHK ...471                                                                          PRC to Abraham Kuyper ................................... DJE .... .28
Christian Political Activists Concede Defeat                                                                                              Fomrer  Christian Political Activists Plot
    in the Cultural War  - Advocate New Strategy                                                                                            New Strategy.. ........................................................ JL ...49 3
    o f Separation.. ........................................................ JL ...350                                                   Friendship That Ended with Anger
Comforting the Bereaved ..................................... RDD ...355                                                                     and Disappointment ............................................ BW .. .324
Coming of Christ and  Y2K, The .......................... DJE ... 148                                                                     Fullness (Fill) ....................................................... DHK ...209
Coming of the Head of the Covenant, The.......... DJE .. .125                                                                             Further Investigation of the Philippines as a
Compromised Theology of Charles Hodge, The DJE .... .52                                                                                     Possible Mission Field ..................................... ADH ... 13 1
Conditions and the Covenant................................. BW ..... 13                                                                  Great Value of Reformed,
Confessing Our Lord (1) ...................................... SRK ... 129                                                                   Christian Education (l), The ............................. RJD ... 139
Confessing Our Lord (2) ...................................... SRK ...235                                                                 Great Value of Reformed,
Confessing Our Lord (3) ...................................... SRK .. .278                                                                   Christian Education (2), The ............................. RJC ... 157
Congregational Singing.. ...................................... RLC .. .308                                                               Great Value of Reformed,
Cornerstone PRC of Northwest Indiana .............. DJE .. .418                                                                             Christian Education (3), The ............................. RJD .. .204
Courtship Within the Covenant ............................. WB ...303                                                                     Heidelberg Catechism Preaching ........................ RLC .....59
Courtship Within the Covenant (cont.) ................. WB ...345                                                                         High Cost of Building New Churches, The.......... PM ..... 64
Courtship Within the Covenant (cont.) ................. WB ...487                                                                         History of the Diaconate  (l),
Day of Small Things, The ........................................ JC ...426                                                                  Its Institution.. ..................................................... DJK .. .28 1
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                            History of the Diaconate  (2),
    Against ECT, A .................................................. DJE ... 196                                                            Its Deformation.. ................................................. DJK ...327
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                            History of the Diaconate  (3), Its Place in Christendom
    Against ECT (2), A ............................................ DJE ...244                                                                Since the Reformation ...................................... DJK .. .447
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                            Introducing our Second Home Missionary......... RLC ..... 11
    Against ECT (3), A ............................................ DJE .. .268                                                           Introduction to the Evangelical Presbyterian
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                               Church of Australia (3) ....................................... DH ....... 8
    Against ECT (4), A ............................................ DJE .. .293                                                           Jesus in the Garden and the Sea ......................... MCD ... 190
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                            Jesus' Other Sheep.. ................................................ CH . ..48 2
    Against ECT (5), A ............................................. DJE .. .3 17                                                         Judging: The Christian's Duty  (l),
Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                               Prevailing View of Tolerance ........................... DJK ... 160
    Against ECT (6), A ........ .................................... DJE .. .340                                                          Judging: The Christian's Duty  (2),
DeMar Declines Debate ........................................ DJE ...46 3                                                                   Examination of Pertinent Scripture
Difficult Life, The.. ................................................. DK .. .213                                                           Passages, An ....................................................... DJK ... 180
Divine Record-Book, The ..................................... DJE .. .458                                                                 Judging: The Christian's Duty  (3),
                                                                                                                                             Positive Explanation of this Duty ..................... DJK .. .227

                                                                                                                                                                             September 15,1999/StandardBearer/497


   Title                                                                             A u t h o r   Dage          Title                                                            Author page
Just 7006 Miracles ............................................... MCD . ..44 1                                Remembering the Poor ......................................... SRH .. .2 18
Life with God .......................................................... CH ....... 2                          Report from the Contact Committee ................... RLC .. .371
Messenger of the Covenant, The ......................... SRH ... 122                                           Report on the  BRF Family Conference................ WO ... 103
Much Fruit ............................................................ MCD ..... 18                           Revelation and the Wreckage ............................. MCD .. .469
Narrow Is the Way ................................................. DJE . ..48 4                               Rise of False Chris& The ...................................... CH . ..22 5
Neither a Supralapsarian nor an                                                                                Risen, Indeed! ......................................................... HH .. .3 14
   Infralapsarian ....................................................... BW .. .210                           Rome's Impenitence .............................................. DJE ... 175
Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble                                                                               Running of the White Horse  (l), The .................. DJE ... 436
   About Christ (1)................................................... HH .. .259                              Running of the White Horse (2), The .................. DJE ...46 1
Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble                                                                               Saved By Grace ............................. .......................... CH ...36 2
   About Christ (2)................................................... HH .. .299                              Schilder's "Covenant" ............................................ BW .. .402
New Bavinck Book by the Dutch Reformed                                                                         Secret of the Fruit of the Vine  (2), The ............. MCD ..... 18
   Translation Society ............................................ DJE . ..46 3                               Secret of the Future, The.. ................................... MCD ... 1 15
1999 Synod of the PRC ......................................... DJE ...392                                     Secret of the Lord's Prayer ................................. MCD ... 141
No Condemnation in Christ Jesus ......................... CH .. .242                                           Signs of the Times (1) ............................................ CH ... 165
Our Eternal Blessedness in Christ ......................... CH ..... 98                                        Signs of the Times (2) ............................................ CH ...225
Our Foreign Mission Work .................................... RJS ...372                                       Signs of the Times (3) ............................................ CH . ..26 1
Our Glorious Inheritance Reserved.. .................. RGM .. .434                                             Signs of the Times (4) ............................................ CH .. .284
Our Seminary As Military Academy.................... DJE .... .77                                              Signs of the Times (5) ............................................ CH . ..33 2
Our Seminary as Military Academy (2)............... DJE ... 100                                                Signs of the Times (6) ............................................ CH ...35 3
Paul's Concern for His Kinsmen ......................... GVB . ..410                                           Signs of the Times (7) ............................................ CH ...40 5
Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                         Signs of the Times (8) ......................... -. .................. CH ...42 4
   Doctrines of Grace (1) ........................................ HH .. .343                                  Signs of the Times (9) ............................................ CH ...45 2
Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                         Son of God Eternally our Mediator, The .............. MK .... .3 8
   Doctrines of Grace (2) ........................................ HH .. .395                                  Son of God Eternally our Mediator (cont.), The  .MK .... .57
Personal Devotions ................................................. DK .. .399                                Son of God, The .................................................... SRK ... 113
Peter, I and the Eye of God.................................. MCD .. .200                                      State Supreme Court Approves Vouchers for
Poverty .................................................................. DHK ...353                            Religious Private Schools ..................................... JL ..... 16
Prediluvian Period,                                                                                            Thou That Destroyest the Temple! ........................ HH ...290
   Conflict of Cain and Abel (1) .......................... HCH ... 1 17                                       Timely Question about Preterism, A.. .................. DJE ... 22 1
Prediluvian Period,                                                                                            Trial of Abraham's Faith, The ............................... CH ... 194
   Conflict of Cain and Abel (2) .......................... HCH ... 154                                        Trial of Truth, Democrats, and
Prediluvian Period, Curse Upon Cain ................. HCH .. .255                                                 Grand Old Pharisees (l), The .......................... MCD .. .276
Prediluvian Period,                                                                                            Trial of Truth, Democrats, and
   Significant Genealogy-Chronology ................. HCH .. .3 19                                                Grand Old Pharisees (2), The.. ........................ MCD .. .305
Preterism of Christian Reconstruction, The ........ DJE ...364                                                 Unbookable.. ......................................................... MCD .. .490
Preterism of Christian Reconstruction  (2), The .. DJE .. .389                                                 Visiting the Sick.. .................................................. RDD ... 152
Prince of Peace, The ............................................... CH ... 146                                Visiting the Sick (2).............................................. RDD .. .233
Ransom ................................................................. DHK ..... 88                          Visiting the Sick (3). ............................................. RDD ...248
Reading, Writing, and Heretics ........................... SRK ..... 65                                        Wars and Rumors of Wars ..................................... CH . ..26 1
Reading, Writing, and Heretics (2) ..................... SRK.... .80                                           Welcome to the New PR Congregation ............... DJE .. .392
Recent Developments in Church and State Law.. .. JL . ..20 2                                                   What We Must "Get" in the
Reconciled to God .................................................. CH .. .386                                   School Year 1999-2000 ..................................... RJD .. .450
Reformed Family,                                                                                               When Shall These Things Be? ............................... CH ... 165
   Standing Before His Cold................................ MBL .. .250                                        When What Is Mortal Is Swallowed Up by Life.. AK.... .26
Reformed Family, Catechism ............................. MBL ...466                                            Work of the Domestic Mission Committee, The . DD .. .375
Reformed Worldview: 5. Worldview, not                                                                          Worldwide Spread of the Gospel, The.. ................ CH . ..45 2
   World-flight (Anabaptism), The ....................... DJE .......5                                                                        Subject Index
Relation of the Deacons to the                                                                                    Title                                                           Author page
   Consistory (I), The ............................................. MS ... 163                                ABORTION
Relation of the Deacons to the                                                                                    Recent Developments in Church
   Consistory (2), The ............................................. MS ... 185                                      and State Law.. ................................................... JL .. .202
Relation of the Deacons to the                                                                                 ABOUND
   Consistory (3), The ............................................. MS . ..20 6                                  Abound .............................................................. DHK ...224
Relationship of the Diaconate to the                                                                           ABRAHAM
   Other Special Offices, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 136       Trial of Abraham's Faith, The ........................... CH ... 194

498/3tandard  Bearer/September 15,1999


 Title                                                                                                                                    Author page                  Title                                                                Author page
ADVENT                                                                                                                                                                CHRIST, DIVINITY of
 Coming of the Head of the Covenant, The . . . . . . DJE . . . 125                                                                                                     Arius and the Council of Nicea (1). ................... HH .... .55
 Messenger of the Covenant, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRH . . . 122                                                                                Arius and the Council of  Nicea (2).................... HI-I ..... 82
 Prince of Peace, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . 146                                              CHRIST, LORDSHIP of
ANABAPTISM                                                                                                                                                             Confessing Our Lord (1). .................................. SRK ... 129
 Reformed Worldview: 5. Worldview, not                                                                                                                                 Confessing Our Lord (2). .................................. SRK . ..23 5
       World-flight (Anabaptism), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 5                                                                       CHRIST, MEDIATOR
APOLLINARIS                                                                                                                                                            Christ, the Mediator of the Covenant .............. SRK . ..43 9
 Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (1) . . . . . . . . HH . . . 157                                                                                               Son of God Eternally our Mediator, The .......... MK .... .3 8
 Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (2) . . . . . . . . HH . . . 198                                                                                               Son of God Eternally
ARIUS                                                                                                                                                                     Our Mediator (cont.), The.. ............................. MK ..... 57
 Arius and the Council of Nicea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . 55                                                                   CHRIST, NAMES of
 Arius and the Council of Nicea (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . 82                                                                            Son of God, The ................................................ SRK ... 112
ARMINIANISM                                                                                                                                                           CHRIST, OBEDIENCE of
 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MDC . . . . . . . 7           Letters .................................................................... AS .. .419
ARROWS                                                                                                                                                                CHRIST, TEMPTATION of
 Arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . . . 12                 Letters.. .................................................................. AS ...247
BAPTISM                                                                                                                                                               CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTION
 Do We Hold to Kuyper's View of                                                                                                                                        Letters ........................................................ GDM, AS ...367
       Presupposed Regeneration? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL . . . . . 43                                                           Preterism of Christian Reconstruction, The.. ... DJE ...364
BAVINCK                                                                                                                                                                Preterism of Christian
 New Bavinck Book by the Dutch Reformed                                                                                                                                   Reconstruction, The (2). ................................. DJE ...389
       Translation Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . ..463                                              CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, PRC  - DEVELOPMENT
BENEVOLENCE                                                                                                                                                            Establishing Schools to Provide
 Remembering the Poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRH . . . 2 18                                                            Reformed-Covenant Education (1) ................. AL .... .90
BETHEL PRC                                                                                                                                                             Establishing Schools to Provide
 Bethel PRC Dedication Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AS . . . 380                                                                           Reformed-Covenant Education (2) ................. AL .. .230
 News From Our Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW. . . 382                                                                Establishing Schools to Provide
BIBLE HISTORY                                                                                                                                                             Reformed-Covenant Education (3) ................. AL .. .272
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 117                                           CHURCH BUILDINGS
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 154                                            High Cost of Building New Churches, The ...... PM .... .64
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH. ..255                                               Letters .................................................................. JVB ... 15 1
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH. . . 3 19                                           CHURCH ORDER
BIBLE TRANSLATION/VERSIONS                                                                                                                                             Art. 68 Heidelberg Catechism Preaching.. ...... RLC .... .59
 All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 62                                Art. 69 Congregational Singing ....................... RLC ...30 8
 All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 63                               CHURCH UNION
BIRTH CONTROL                                                                                                                                                          All Around Us.. .................................................. GVB .. .270
 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JK    . . . 176    COMFORT
CAIN and ABEL                                                                                                                                                          Comforting the Bereaved.. ................................ RDD .. .355
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 117                                            Visiting the Sick (3) .......................................... RDD .. .248
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 154                                           COMMON GRACE and ABRAHAM KUYPER
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 255                                            A. Kuyper, Developer and Promoter
 Prediluvian Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 3 19                                              of Common Grace.. ......................................... CJT .... .40
CALVINISM                                                                                                                                                              Dr. A. Kuyper, Politician  - a Critique ............ KK .....45
 Can Advocates of Universal Grace in the Preaching                                                                                                                    CONDITIONS
       Defend Calvinism? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 296                                               Conditions and the Covenant ............................. BW ..... 13
 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MDC . . . . . . . 7          CONFERENCES
CASSIANUS                                                                                                                                                              Report on the BRF Family Conference ............ WO ... 103
 Cassianus, Faustus, and Semi-Pelagianism (1) HH . . . 464                                                                                                            CORNERSTONE PRC
CATECHISM                                                                                                                                                              Cornerstone PRC of Northwest Indiana........... DJE .. .418
 Reformed Family: Catechism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MBL . ..466                                                                            Welcome to the New PR Congregation............ DJE ...392
CELESTIUS                                                                                                                                                             COVENANT
 Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                                                                                Coming of the Head of the Covenant, The...... DJE ...125
       Doctrines of Grace (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l..................... HH . . . 343                                                                        Conditions and the Covenant ............................. BW ..... 13
 Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                                                                                Letters..................................................................... JH .. .393
       Doctrines of Grace (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 395                                                   Schilder's "Covenant" ........................................ BW ...402

                                                                                                                                                                                                        September 75,1999/Standard Bearer/499


  Title                                                                                                                   Author page                           Title                                                               Author page
CREATION                                                                                                                                                       ELDERS
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 184                           Caring For the Widows ..................................... RDD ...47 4
  Compromised Theology of Charles Hodge . . . . . DJE . . . . . 52                                                                                              Comforting the Bereaved.. ................................ RDD .. .355
DATING                                                                                                                                                          Elders and Family Visitation, The ................... RDD ... 105
  Covenant of Marriage, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB. . . 303                                                         Visiting the Sick ................................................ RDD ... 152
  Covenant of Marriage (cont.), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB . . . 345                                                                        Visiting the Sick (2) .......................................... RDD .. .233
  Covenant of Marriage (cont.), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WB . ..487                                                                         ELIJAH
DEACONS                                                                                                                                                         Elijah at Cherith ............................................... RGM .. .266
  History of the Diadonate (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 28 1                                                       Elijah's Testimony Against Ahab ................... RGM ... 170
  History of the Diaconate (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 327                                                       END TIMES
  History of the Diaconate (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . ..447                                                          All Around Us.. .................................................. GVB ... 135
  Relation of the Deacons to the Consistory (1) . MS . . . 163                                                                                                  All Around Us.. .................................................. GVB ... 183
  Relation of the Deacons to the Consistory (2) . MS . . . 185                                                                                                  All Around Us.. .................................................. GVB .. .399
  Relation of the Deacons to the Consistory (3) . MS . . . 206                                                                                                  Coming of Christ and Y2K, The.. ..................... DJE ... 148
  Relationship of the Diaconate to the Other                                                                                                                    Expecting the Lord's Return ........................... ADH ...252
      Special Offices, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK. . . 136                                           Signs of the Times (1). ........................................ CH ... 165
DEATH                                                                                                                                                           Signs of the Times (2)......................................... CH . ..22 5
  When What Is Mortal Is Swallowed  Up                                                                                                                          Signs of the Times (3)......................................... CH ...26 1
      by Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AK . . . . . 26     Signs of the Times (4)......................................... CH ...28 4
DEBATE                                                                                                                                                          Signs of the Times (5)......................................... CH .. .332
  Acceptance of the Challenge to Debate . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 39 1                                                                                    Signs of the Times (6). ........................................ CH ...353
  DeMar Declines Debate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . ..463                                                   Signs of the Times (7)......................................... CH . ..40 5
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES                                                                                                                                       Signs of the Times (8)......................................... CH . ..42 4
  Conditions and the Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW . . . . . 13                                                         Signs of the Times (9)......................................... CH .. .452
  Friendship That Ended with Anger                                                                                                                             ENTERTAINMENT
      and Disappointment, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW. . . 324                                                 Christian and Entertainment  (l), The ............. DHK ...421
DEVOTIONS                                                                                                                                                       Christian and Entertainment  (2), The ............. DHK ...444
  Personal Devotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DK . . . 399                                   Christian and Entertainment  (3), The ............. DHK ...47 1
DOLEANTIE                                                                                                                                                      EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
  Doleantie, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . . . 33                        OF AUSTRALIA
DOMESTIC MISSIONS                                                                                                                                               Introduction to the Evangelical Presbyterian
  Work of the Domestic Mission Committee . . . . . . DD . ..375                                                                                                    Church of Australia (3) ................................... DH ....... 8
DYING                                                                                                                                                           Report from the Contact Committee ............... RLC ...37 1
  Visiting the Sick (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD. . . 248                                       EVANGELICALS and CATHOLICS
ECUMENISM                                                                                                                                                       Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                  Against ECT, A............................................... DJE ... 196
      Against ECT, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 196                                Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                   Against ECT (2), A......................................... DJE .. .244
       Against ECT (2), A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 244                                       Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                   Against ECT (3), A......................................... DJE ...268
       Against ECT (3), A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 268                                       Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                  Against ECT (4), A......................................... DJE ...293
       Against ECT (4), A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 293                                       Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                   Against ECT (5), A.. ....................................... DJE .. .3 17
       Against ECT (5), A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 317                                       Defense of the Gospel of Grace
  Defense of the Gospel of Grace                                                                                                                                   Against ECT (6), A......................................... DJE .. .340
       Against ECT (6), A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 340                                       ECT in the Pitiless Light of the 1998
EDUCATION                                                                                                                                                          Bull on Indulgences ........................................ DJE ... 173
  Great Value of Reformed,                                                                                                                                     EVOLUTION
       Christian Education  (l),  The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . 139                                                           All Around Us.. .................................................. GVB ... 184
  Great Value of Reformed,                                                                                                                                      Compromised Theology of Charles Hodge ..... DJE .... .52
       Christian Education  (2), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . 157                                                           FAMILY PLANNING
  Great Value of Reformed,                                                                                                                                      Letters.. .................................................................. BR ... 127
       Christian Education  (3), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . 204                                                           FAMILY VISITATION
  What We Must "Get" in the School Year                                                                                                                         Elders and Family Visitation, The ................... RDD ... 105
       1999-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . 450

SOO/Standard   Bearer/September IS,1999


 Title                                                                                                        Author page                       Title                                                                                                                     A u t h o r   page
FAUSTUS                                                                                                                                        JUDGMENT of GOD
 Cassianus, Faustus, and Semi-Pelagianism (1) HH . . . 464                                                                                      Christ Returning for Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADH . . . 107
FOREIGN MISSIONS                                                                                                                               KING JAMES VERSION
 Further Investigation of the Philippines                                                                                                       All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB. . . 183
      as a Possible Mission Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADH . . . 13 1                                           KUYPER, ABRAHAM
 Our Foreign Mission Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJS. . . 372                                          A. Kuyper, Developer and Promoter of
FRUIT                                                                                                                                                Common Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CJT . . . . . 40
 Much Fruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD. . . . . 18     Abraham Kuyper: A Short Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . . . 30
FULLNESS                                                                                                                                        Abraham Kuyper and the Reformation of 1886 . ..I . . . . . . . . 26
 Fullness (Fill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DHK . . . 209           Abraham Kuyper and the Union of 1892 . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . . . 35
GAMBLING                                                                                                                                        Dr. A. Kuyper, Politician  - a Critique . . . . . . . . . . . . KK . . . . . 45
 All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 379            Father Abraham or The Indebtedness of the
GENEALOGIES                                                                                                                                          PRC to Abraham Kuyper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . 28
 Significant Genealogy-Chronology, A . . . . . . . . . . . . HCH . . . 3 19                                                                     Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HD . . . 103
GEREFORMEERDE KERKEN IN NEDERLAND                                                                                                               Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CVO . . . 15 1
 Abraham Kuyper and the Union of 1892 . . . . . . . . . RJD . . . . . 35                                                                        Son of God Eternally our Mediator, The . . . . . . . . . . MK . . . . . 38
GHANA                                                                                                                                           Son of God Eternally our Mediator, The . . . . . . . . . . MK . . . . . 57
 Our Foreign Mission Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  RJS.,. 372                                          LIBERATED
GIVING                                                                                                                                          Schilder's "Covenant" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW . . . 402
 Remembering the poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRH . . . 2 18                               LIFE
GOOD FRIDAY                                                                                                                                     Difficult Life, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DK . . . 213
 Just 7006 Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD . . . 441                       Life with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . . . . . 2
 Thou That Destroyest the Temple! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . ..290                                                           LORD'S PRAYER
HEIDELBERG CATECHISM PREACHING                                                                                                                  Secret of the Lord's Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD . . . 141
 Heidelberg Catechism Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . . . 59                                                     MARRIAGE
HERETICS                                                                                                                                        All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB. . . 134
 Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (1) . . . . . . . . HH . . . 157                                                                       MILITARY ACADEMY
 Apollinaris and the Doctrine of Christ (2) . . . . . . . . HH . . . 198                                                                        Our Seminary as Military Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . 77
 ,Arius and the Council of Nicea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . 55                                             Our Seminary as Military Academy (2) . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 100
 Arius and the Council of Nicea (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-III  . . . . . 82                                                MIRACLES
 Cassianus, Faustus, and Semi-Pelagianism (1) HH . ..464                                                                                        Just 7006 Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MCD. ..441
 Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble                                                                                                              MISSIONARIES
      About Christ (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 259               Introducing our Second Home Missionary . . . . . RLC . . . . . 11
 Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble                                                                                                              MISSIONS
     About Christ (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 299                All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 27 1
 Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                                                         Buying Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK . . . 176
      Doctrines of Grace (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 343                            MOTHERS
 Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the                                                                                                         Duty of the Christian Mother in the
      Doctrines of Grace (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 395                                  Training of Adolescent Youth (l),  The . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 347
HODGE, CHARLES                                                                                                                                  Duty of the Christian Mother in the
 Compromised Theology of Charles Hodge . . . . . DJE . . . . . 52                                                                                    Training of Adolescent Youth (2), The . . . . . . . . . HH . ..369
HOMOSEXUALITY                                                                                                                                  MYANMAR
 Narrow is the Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . 484                     Brethren, Pray For Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK . . . . . 85
INDIA/NEPAL                                                                                                                                    NESTORIUS
 Brethren, Pray For Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK . . . . . 85                         Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble
INFRALAPSARIAN                                                                                                                                       About Christ (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 259
 Neither a Supralapsarian nor an                                                                                                                Nestorius and an Unholy Squabble
      Infralapsarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW . . . 2 10             About Christ (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 299
INHERITANCE                                                                                                                                    NICEA
 Our Glorious Inheritance Reserved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM . . . 434                                                                Arius and the Council of Nicea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . 55
INSPIRATION                                                                                                                                     Arius and the Council of Nicea  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HH . . . . . 82
 All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 62        PELAGIUS
JUDGING                                                                                                                                         Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the
 Judging: The Christian's Duty (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 160                                                               Doctrine of Grace (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 343
 Judging: The Christian's Duty (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 180                                                          Pelagius and Celestius: Enemies of the
 Judging: The Christian's Duty (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJK . . . 227                                                               Doctrine of Grace (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 395

                                                                                                                                                                                                           September  15,1999/Standard  Bearer/501


  Title                                                                                                                  Author page                         Title                                                                                                                 Author page
PERSECUTION                                                                                                                                                 SICKNESS
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB ._. 110                          Visiting the Sick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD . . . 152
  Signs of the Times (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . ..332
                                                                                                                                         -                   Visiting the Sick (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD. . . 233
PHILIPPINES                                                                                                                                                 SINGAPORE
  Further Investigation of the Philippines as a                                                                                                              Brethren, Pray For Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JLK . . . . . 85
       Possible Mission Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ADH . . . 13 1                                               Report from the Contact Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . 371
  Our Foreign Mission Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RJS.., 372                                                       SINGING
PITTSBURGH, PA Mission                                                                                                                                       Congregational Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . 308
  Introducing our Second Home Missionary . . . . . RLC . . . . . 11                                                                                         SISTER CHURCHES
POLITICS                                                                                                                                                     Report from the Contact Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RLC . . . 371
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 378                       SMALL THINGS
  Christian Political Activists Concede Defeat                                                                                                               Day of Small Things, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JC . . . 426
       in the Cultural War  - Advocate New Strategy                                                                                                         SNOW
  o f Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL . . . 350            Reformed Family:
POVERTY                                                                                                                                                            Standing Before His Cold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MBL . ..250
  Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . 352         SPEAKING ABOUT GOD
PRE-SYNODICAL SERMON                                                                                                                                         Divine Record-Book, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DJE . . . 458
  Paul's Concern for His Kinsmen . . . . . . . ..I........... GVB . ..410                                                                                   SPECIAL ISSUE
PREACHING                                                                                                                                                    Abraham Kuyper and the Reformation of 1886 . . . . . . . . . . . 126
  Running of the White Horse (I), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 436                                                                           SUPRALAPSARIAN
  Running of the White Horse (2), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . ..461                                                                              Neither a Supralapsarian nor an
PREDESTINATION                                                                                                                                                    Infralapsarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BW . . . 2 10
  Compromised Theology of Charles Hodge . . . . . DJE . . . . . 52                                                                                          SYNOD
PRESERVATION OF SAINTS                                                                                                                                       1999 Synod of the PRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE. . . 392
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 134                       TAXATION OF CHURCHES
PRESUPPOSED REGENERATION                                                                                                                                     All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 94
  Do We Hold to Kuyper's View of                                                                                                                            TOTAL DEPRAVITY
       Presupposed Regeneration? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL . . . . . 43                                                 Blessed Reformation Doctrine of Total
PRETERISM                                                                                                                                                         Depravity, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RGM. . . . . 50
  Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GDM, AS . . . 367                 TUITION VOUCHERS
  Preterism of Christian Reconstruction, The . . . . . DJE . . . 364                                                                                         Recent Developments in Church and State Law JL . . . 202
  Preterism of Christian Reconstruction (2) . . . . . . . DJE . ..389                                                                                        State Supreme Court Approves Vouchers for
  Timely Question about Preterism, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 221                                                                                Religious Private Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JL . . . . . 16
PSALMODY                                                                                                                                                    UNITY
  Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DSC . . . 368     All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 92
RADIO BROADCASTING                                                                                                                                          UNIVERSALISM
  Recent Developments in Church and State Law JL . . . 202                                                                                                   Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WVB . . . 299
RANSOM                                                                                                                                                      VIOLENCE IN THE SCHOOLS
  Ransom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DHK . . . . . 88         All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . 398
RECONCILIATION                                                                                                                                              WIDOWS
  Reconciled to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . 386                               Caring For the Widows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RDD. . . 474
RESURRECTION                                                                                                                                                WORD STUDIES
  Risen, Indeed! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 3 14                   Abound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . 224
RFPA                                                                                                                                                         Arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . . . 12
  Annual Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .HK . . . . . 68                   Fullness (Fill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . 209
  Reading, Writing, and Heretics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRK . . . . . 65                                                            Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . 352
  Reading, Writing, and Heretics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SRK . . . . . 80                                                            Ransom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DHK . . . . . 88
ROMAN   CATHOLIC CHURCH                                                                                                                                     WORLDVIEW
  ECT in the Pitiless Light of the 1998 Bull                                                                                                                 Reformed Worldview: 5. Worldview, not World-flight
       on Indulgences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 173                               (Anabaptism), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . . . . . 5
  Rome's Impenitence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 175                                    WORSHIP
SCIENCE and GOD                                                                                                                                              Call to Worship, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CH . . . 338
  All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GVB . . . . . 20                    Y2K
SEMI-PELAGIANISM                                                                                                                                             Coming of Christ and Y2K, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DJE . . . 148
  Cassianus, Faustus, and Semi-Pelagianism (1) HH . ..464


502/Standard   Bearer/September 15,7999


  Title                                                                      Author page               Title                                                                     Author page
YOUTH                                                                                                YOUTH (cont.)
   Duty of the Christian Mother in the Training                                                        Duty of the Christian Mother in the Training
      of Adolescent Youth (l), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 347         of Adolescent Youth (2), The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HH . . . 369


                                                                                                          f Church Tour. Visit old First Church in Grand Rapids and the
                                                                                                     Seminary.
                                                       The 75th Anniversary Celebra-                      % Horseshoes                                 + Boccee Ball
                                                  tion is less than one year away.                        +# Photo/Nature Trail
                                                  The dates are, D.V., June 19-23,                        +# Care Packages for Myanmar. We are looking for volunteers to put
                                                  2000. Plans are already being fi-                  together small first aid and health kits to be shipped to Myanmar. We would
                                                  nalized for this historic time in our              ask all Celebration attendees to bring a small item for donation. Volunteers will
                                                  churches. God has truly given us                   sort, package, and box up small kits for shipping. We are also looking for
                                                  a heritage to be thankful for.                     donations to cover shipping costs.
                                                                                                          + Organ Recitals                             0 Auto Harp
                                                  ga,$;dc,eo'e;;;;n,   ;.$e;f,,;                          % Animal Kingdom Videos (rainy-day activity)
                                                                                                          B Closest to the Pin Contest
    CHURCHES                                      while spiritual activities as well as
                                                  recreational activities. There will                     # Off campus, unstructured opportunities include: shopping, golf,
                                                  also be an international flavor, with              Frederick Meijer Gardens,  VanAndel  Museum, Grand Rapids Children
fellow believers attending, the Lord willing, from Singapore, Australia,                             Museum, Gerald R. Ford Museum, and much more.
and possibly other countries We encourage you to bring your entire                                   5:00-6:00 p.m. Dinner
family to stay on campus. If you cannot stay on campus, we would                                     7:30-8:30 p.m.         Evening Program
welcome you to come for as many days as possible.                                                       + Singing                                   Q Announcements
   The daily schedule and activities being planned are as follows:                                      * Tuesday's Speech: Based on the Celebration Theme, Living Out
                                                                                                     of Our  Heritage,  on the topic of  A  Beaufiful Heritage,  by Rev. Jason
MONDAY                                                                                               Kortering
Noon to 4                                                                                               + Wednesday's Speech: Based on the Celebration Theme, Living
                 P.M.      Registration, check-in, and free time to enjoyfellowship Out of Our Herifage, on the topic of A Present Necessity, by Professor
5:00-6:00                                                                                            David Engelsma
               P . M .     Dinner                                                                    9:00-l  I:00  P.M.     Free Time
7:30-9:oo   P . M .        Evening Program
   + Singing                                    *Announcements
   -1y Church History Video Commemorating Our 75Year  History                                        THURSDAY
   -Ik Keynote Address presented by Cal Kalsbeek                                                     7:30  A.M.-12:30   P.M.  Breakfast, Children's Bible School, Adult Sectionals
9:00-l I:00 p.m. Cookies/Coffee and Time for Fellowship                                              and Lunch are the same as Tuesday and Wednesday.
                                                                                                     l:OO-4:30   P.M.       Family Fun Day or Leisure Activities
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY                                                                                   + Moonwalk                                  + Rock Climbing Wall
7:30-8:30                                                                                               -1y Powerball                               # Giant Slide
               A.M.        Breakfast
9:30-l  I:00                                                                                            8 Velcro Wall                               + Pony Rides
                   A.M.    Children's Bible School and Adult Sectionals
   +& Children ages 3-14 will separate into sectionals to discuss Chris-                                + Kids Caterpillar                          3y Face Painting
tian Armor, work on crafts, sing, and make new friends.                                                 46 Bungee Run                               # Caricature Drawings
   #Adults will separate into several different sectional& including top-                            5:00-6:00  P.M.        Dinner
ics on: Singapore, Pittsburgh, Spokane, Missions Overview, Singing,                                  8:00-9:00  P.M.        Evening Program (later time to accommodate Ybung
Devotions, Evangelism, Scriptorium (Old Manuscripts), Organist/Pianist                               People's Banquet)
Recital (share music and play), and Historical Overview of the Protes-                                  + Singing                                    * Announcements
tant Reformed Churches.                                                                                 #Speech: Based on the Celebration Theme,  Living  Out of Our
   These sectionals are an opportunity to learn, discuss, and share ideas about                      Herifage,  on the topic of  A Sure Light for  the  Fufure,  by Rev. Carl Haak
the above areas. Each sectional will have a moderator that will start with a                         9:30-l  I:00  P.M.     Free Time
short overview of the sectional. The moderator will then lead a discussion or a
question/answer session on the subject. This is a wonderful opportunity to                           FRIDAY
enjoy fellowship with other members of the same faith. You will meet new                             7:30-8:30  A.M.        Breakfast
individuals and share your thoughts and opinions on the subject of the sectional.                    9:00-1   I:00  A.M.    Pack up and say good-bye to old and new friends.
The sectionals will be repeated the mornings of Tuesday, Wednesday, and                                 The Celebration week is full of many spiritual and recreational activities for
Thursday which will allow all attendees an opportunity to participate in several                     the whole family to enjoy. That is why we recommend staying on campus. It is
of the sectionals throughout the Celebration.                                                        a wonderful way to make new relationships with other believers from throughout
11:30  A.M.-l?30 P.M.  Lunch                                                                         God's world. In conjunction with the Celebration, the Young People's Conven-
l:OO-4:30   P.M.           Field Day or Leisure Activities                                           tion will be held the same time and place, but they will have designated dorms
    + For the children and adults we have the following planned                                      for their lodging and many separate activities. The young people will already be
       + Competition softball for the children                                                       there, so make this a family week.
       9 Competition soccer for the children                                                            We believe that this 75th Anniversary Celebration will be something that your
       Q Competition volleyball for the adults                                                       family will enjoy reminiscing about for many years. We also pray that God will
                                                                                                     use this to strengthen each of us in our faith and encourage us for His work in
    + Leisure Activities include:                                                                    the future.
       %&Volleyball  - unstructured                 +# Pool/Gym                                                                                               The 75th Anniversary Committee

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      Fe
Standard
  Bearer                                                                                                                      PERIODICAL
                                                                                                                              Postage Paid at
   P.O. Box 603                                                                                                               Grandville,
   Grandville, Ml  49468-0603                                                                                                 Michigan





    NOTICE of CONGRATULATIONS
     Rev. C. Hanko, by God's grace, will                                                                     WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
have completed seventy years in the min-                                                                   On October 4, 1999 our beloved par-
istry of the gospel on September 24, 1999.                    ADDRESS CHANGES                     ents, grandparents, and great grandpar-
The congregation of Hudsonville PRC ex-                               Prof. Decker                ents,
tends congratulations to him in observing                     8760 Cedar Lake Dr.                               GERRIT  and  MINNIE
this milestone and, in particular, gives                       Jenison, Ml 49426                                     VAN  BAREN,
thanks to God for the many years of that                     phone: (616) 457-6618                will celebrate, the Lord willing, their  60"'
ministry that he was given to us.                                                                 wedding anniversary.
     "How beautiful are the feet of them                And the new address of Georgetown              We are thankful to our heavenly Fa-
that preach the gospel of peace, and bring          PRC clerk is:                                 ther for giving us godly parents, who
glad tidings of good things" (Romans                           Mr. David Ondersma                 brought us up in the fear of His holy name.
10:15).                                                    3521 North Lake Shore Dr.              We pray that God will continue to bless
     Our prayer is that Rev. Hanko may                         Holland, Ml 49424                  them and keep them in His care in the
continue to experience the abiding love of                   phone: (616) 994-0263                years ahead.
our heavenly Father as he continues along                                                                  "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling
life's journey and that he may experience                                                         place in all generations" (Psalm  9O:l).
His promise as expressed in I Corinthians                                                         9 Garty and Walita VanBaren
1:9, "God is faithful, by whom we were                                                                       Garry  and Jennifer
called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus                                                                    Christopher, Jason, Jessica
Christ our Lord."                                             TAPES AVAILABLE                                Dale and Gina
                           Congregation of the          Southwest PRC made tapes (audio                        Gordon Dale
                              Hudsonville PRC       and video) of its summer seminar on "The      + Robert and Gerri
                                                    Biblical Way Through the Millennial Maze."               Rich and Amy Veldboom
                                                    Copies of the four-tape sets may be ob-                  Robert and Kristine (fiancb)
      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                        tained (at $12.00 for audio and $24.00 for    0% Gordon Dale  VanBaren,
     The consistory and congregation of             video) from:                                                                    in glory (5125187)
the Loveland PRC extends its sympathy                        Evangelism Committee                                                             Lansing, Illinois
to Mrs.  Vicki Griess and her family in the                          Southwest PRC
death of her sister,                                           4875 lvanrest Ave.
       MRS. CAROLYN COULSON.                                  Grandville, Ml 49418
     May God strengthen and encourage
by His promise that He will provide and                                                                    RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
direct in all of our sorrows.                                                                     The council and congregation of the Byron
                        Mr. Larry Nelson, Clerk                                                   Center PRC express their sincere Chris-
                                                                      REMINDER                    tian sympathy to Walter  DeLange, Sr. in
      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                            The annual meeting of the RFPA will       the recent death of his wife,
The council and congregation of the Byron           be held in Hope PRC on September 30 at                      HARRIET DELANGE.
Center PRC express their sincere Chris-             8  P.M.  Rev. Bruinsma will speak on the      "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and
tian sympathy to Donna Miedema and her              topic: "The Standard for the New Millen-      that he shall stand at the latter day upon
family in the recent death of her husband,          nium." Hope to see our subscribers from       the earth: And though after my skin worms
            SID MIEDEMA, SR.                        the west Michigan area in attendance.         destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
   "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the                                                      see God" (Job  19:25-26).
      death of his saints" (Psalm  116:15).                                                                     Rev. Douglas Kuiper, President
            Rev. Douglas Kuiper, President                                                                                    Leroy  DeVries, Clerk
                          Leroy  DeVries,  Clerk

504fitandard   Bearer/September 15,7999


