the canadian reformed magazine volume 51, no. 18, august...

The Canadian Reformed MagazineVolume 51, No. 18, August 30, 2002

Office bearers in

Christ’s church:their cooperationand consultation

The Canadian Reformed MagazineVolume 51, No. 18, August 30, 2002

In my last two editorials I introduced to the readers theEvaluation of Divergences report which was presented toand received by General Synod Burlington, 1986. The “di-vergences” are the main points of difference existing be-tween the Three Forms of Unity (Canadian ReformedChurches) and the Westminster Standards (Orthodox Pres-byterian Church). Synod 1980 had asked that these diver-gences as yet be evaluated to see if these formed impedi-ments to further unity. The deputies appointed for thisevaluation reported to Synod 1986 that none of these diver-gences are impediments to recognition and a sister-churchrelationship.

What are the divergences?At this point I come to the realization that I have not

listed or specified what these divergences are. Some readersmay be asking: what are these divergences about which somuch fuss is made? So perhaps it is good now to list theseitems, in order to deal with each later on. At least, we’ll allknow what we’re talking about.

The desire to evaluate the divergences was first formu-lated in a mandate given by Synod Orangeville 1968. HenceSynod 1971 already received a report regarding the diver-gences. Synod 1983 did not give a new list, so it is best togo back to 1971 to ascertain what these divergences are. Imention already now that Synod 1983 added some items,but we’ll deal with those later. The initial list was evaluatedand presented to Synod 1971, six years before recognitionwas given in 1977.

In Supplement V of the Acts of Synod 1971, we find thatthe divergences discussed are divided over two categories,those of a confessional (doctrinal) nature and those dealingwith matters of church government or church polity. Com-paring the report to Synod 1971 with the report to Synod1986, I conclude that the following items are considered tobe divergences:

Doctrinal1. the teaching about the visible/invisible church; also

here the relation between the church and the elect2. the teaching about more or less pure churches3. the teaching that assurance does not belong to the

essence of faith 4. the teaching about with whom the covenant of grace is

made5. the meaning of “He descended into hell”6. the understanding of the Ten Commandments.

Political1. autonomy of the local church2. relationship with the Christian Reformed Church3. admission to the Lord’s Supper4. membership in the Reformed Ecumenical Synod (RES).

Synod 1971 ReportThe Deputies who reported to Synod 1971 made it

quite clear that these divergences were not impediments to-wards recognition and relationship. The only two matterswhich were considered to be obstacles were the OPC’smembership in the RES and their relationship with the GKN(and the sister churches of the GKN, among whom especiallyChristian Reformed Church).

The 1971 report contains conclusions, which have beenmaintained by all Synods since then. “The divergences inconfession between the Canadian Reformed Churches andthe Orthodox Presbyterian Church are not of such a naturethat they should prevent the Canadian Reformed Churchesfrom recognizing the OPC as a true church of the Lord JesusChrist and entering into correspondence with this church.” Italso says, “Although considerable divergences exist inchurch polity and in the Form of Government, there is no dif-ference between the essential truth of Christ’s headshipover the church and of the absolute authority which hisWord should have in the government of the church.”

It appears that the only matters that really formed animpediment have been the membership in the RES and the

422 CLARION, AUGUST 30, 2002

EDITORIAL

By Cl. Stam

The Evaluation of Divergences (3)

The deputies appointed for thisevaluation reported to Synod 1986 that none

of these divergences are impediments torecognition and a sister-church relationship.

I conclude that the churches have stuck toone track: the divergences merit further

discussion but they are not impediments tounity and a sister-church relationship.

relationship with the GKN and the Christian ReformedChurch. Synod 1971 decided accordingly and stated that the“divergences in confession and in Church polity are seriousenough to remain the subject of further and frank discus-sion” (Acts, Art. 92, page 44). This was not a stated as aprior condition, but seen as an ongoing matter. We can besister-churches despite some serious divergences, which re-quire further discussion.

Interim conclusionReviewing the reports and decisions from 1968-2001, I

conclude that the churches have stuck to one track: the di-vergences merit further discussion but they are not impedi-ments to unity and a sister-church relationship. Thus SynodCoaldale 1977 decided to recognize the OPC as a truechurch, and the 1986 report which later gave the grounds forthe 1977 decision, was of the same content and substanceas the 1971 report. We started to go in circles here.

The decision of Synod Coaldale 1977 led to shock wavesthroughout our federation. There are many reasons for this,which need not be discussed now. I have had my difficul-ties with the timing, format and legality of Synod Coaldale’sdecision. But we all could have seen it coming. You haveto be consistent as churches. I have come to understandand accept that our churches have always said: these diver-gences are not impediments. Therefore Synod Neerlandia2001 had to come to resolution of the matter.

In a next editorial I hope to begin discussing the diver-gences themselves. And I will do so by first outlining myown position with respect to the Westminster Standardsand Catechisms.

CLARION, AUGUST 30, 2002 423

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IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial – The Evaluation of Divergences (3)

— Cl. Stam ................................................................422Treasures, Old and New – The Assurance of Salvation

— W.M. Wielenga ....................................................424Office bearers in Christ’s Church

— W. den Hollander ..................................................425Observations — Marketing sex to our little girls

— G.Ph. van Popta ....................................................429Press Review – On the Unity and Disunity of

Churches (2) — J. De Jong ..........................................430Book Review — Reviewed by C. Van Dam..................432

Ray of Sunshine — C. Glems and E. Nordeman ..........434

Letters to the Editor........................................................435

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What’s inside?Since a new season of home visiting is upon us, Rev.

W. den Hollander’s speech delivered to office bearers awhile back may get us thinking about our approach tosuch visits. It is a very serious responsibility to be a shep-herd of Christ’s flock. Thus preparation is important.

In his editorial, Rev. Cl. Stam again examines the “di-vergences” which were discussed by a number of Synodsin connection with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.He writes, “I have come to understand and accept thatour churches have always said: these divergences are notimpediments.” He adds, “Therefore Synod Neerlandia2001 had to come to resolution of the matter.”

In Observations, Rev. G. Ph. van Popta examines thetrend of our little girls trying to copy pop culture in thematter of dress code. This makes me think of a ladywho was at our local Christian school and concluded:there is something different about your school, and ithas finally struck me what it is, your girls look like girls.This is something that we should strive to keep as Rev.van Popta makes clear.

Dr. J. De Jong continues his very interesting press re-lease. We also have a book review by Dr. C. Van Dam,our column Ray of Sunshine, and three letters to the editor.

RA

Rev. Cl. Stam is minister of the Canadian Reformed Churchat Hamilton, Ontario.

Assurance of salvation belongs tothe gift of God for his children. It is notan added gift given only to some of thesaved, or attained by those who strivefor a higher form of Christianity. Assur-ance belongs to salvation – salvation is,by its nature, an assured thing. That is aswe also confess in Lord’s Day 7 of theHeidelberg Catechism: true faith is atthe same time a sure knowledge and afirm confidence. Assurance, firm confi-dence, belongs to true faith; and truefaith belongs to all those who are savedin Christ. That is not to say that theremay be times when we lose the senseof assurance of God’s favour. The bro-kenness of life, the attacks of the op-pressor, the weakness of our condition,can all play a part in taking away thesense of God’s favour. With the Canonsof Dort, V 11, “This Assurance Not Al-ways Felt,” we confess this reality. Nev-ertheless, with the surrounding articleswe confess that assurance is God’s giftto those whom He receives in Christ.

Our assurance of God’s love andfavour is not based upon something thatis in us. Faith looks away from self toGod and his work in Jesus Christ. Faithis secure(d) in the outside-of-ourselveshistorical person and work of JesusChrist, in the historical events whichGod in Christ accomplished among us.Faith (which includes assurance) comesthrough the power of the gospel- con-cerning-Christ; and the power of thegospel of Christ is God’s covenant faith-fulness, his righteousness revealed inChrist (Rom 1:16-17).

Romans 8:32 comes in that sectionof the letter to the Romans where theapostle is taking- stock-so-far of God’srighteousness, God’s covenant faithful-ness. In doing this, the apostle extolsGod’s justice and God’s love throughwhich his covenant faithfulness is man-ifest for all the world to see, for Jewand Gentile equally to enjoy. Thisverse, Romans 8:32, particularly fo-cuses on the love of God.

The thing that the apostle is teach-ing here comes in the form of a rhetori-cal question, designed to arrest our at-tention and force us to the onlyconclusion. “He who did not spare hisown Son, but delivered him over for usall, how will He not also with him freelygive us all things?” We must conclude:Yes, it is not possible that God will notdo that, having already done this first.We must notice the comparison beingmade, a comparison between thegreater (harder) and the lesser (easier)thing: If God has already done the ulti-mately great thing – let’s say the hard-est thing – it is not possible that Hewould not now do the lesser thing, theeasier thing. That’s the nub of the argu-ment, which we must catch.

What is it that God has done whichis the sure guarantee of, and which in-cludes, things to come? He has notspared his own Son, but delivered Himover for us all. The words “has notspared his own Son” have been seen bymany to be a reference to what Abra-ham did in sacrificing his son Isaac (Gen22). There is here a word association,which alerts us to the deeper meaning ofwhat the apostle is saying. The act ofAbraham to not spare his own son Isaacwas, in effect, the ultimate act of Abra-ham’s covenant faithfulness and loyaltyand love for the LORD. In this regard, thatGod did not spare his own Son but de-livered Him over as the sacrifice for sin,can rightly be said to be the ultimate actof God’s covenant faithfulness and loy-alty and love. There is no higher act ofcovenant love conceivable than thatGod spared not his own Son for us; thatHe delivered Him over to the hour ofdarkness on our account. And, evenmore: by this revelation of love, theLORD, who acted in his great faithful-ness, fulfilled also Abraham’s act offaithfulness, on Abraham’s behalf. Weknow: Abraham’s son was, in fact,spared – Abraham’s supreme act ofcovenant love was cut short, in mercy,

by the angel. God gave his Son, then, toperform the ultimate in Abraham’s actof covenant love. God, in his Son, gaveAbraham and his seed, gave us, thecomplete fulfillment of the covenantfrom both sides, in his own Son JesusChrist who performed the divine-and-human covenant love to the end. Thishappened in history, in our world, inour flesh and among us, witnessedand testified for us. This is the heart-beat behind God’s justifying us: He, incovenant-fulfilling love, gave the wayto, made perfect provision for, our justi-fication: in his Son.

This is the basis for our being as-sured of “the rest:” How will He notalso with Him freely give us all things?What can hinder the road to glory now?So the apostle can speak of “over-whelmingly conquering” through Himwho loved us, more-than-conquerorsthrough all these things: tribulation,distress, persecution, famine, naked-ness, sword. Indeed, nothing can sepa-rate us from God’s love in Christ. Wecould put the words of the text in termsof verses 28- 30: He who has justified usin Christ, how shall his great love nownot also glorify us with Christ? WhatPaul writes here has been illustratedsomewhere thus: someone who has tobike over a steep hill to get home willcertainly not give up when he has madeit over the top of the hill – it’s all down-hill from there! He who did not sparehis own Son . . . how shall He not alsowith Him freely give us all things? Hehas done the greatest thing for us. Whocould ever consider the notion that Hewould now not do the rest? It is notpossible to imagine. The very thoughtshould be put away. Be assured, there-fore: God is for us; who spared not hisown Son!


TREASURES, NEW AND OLDMATTHEW 13:52

By W.M. Wielenga

The Assurance of Salvation“He who did not spare his own Son . . . shall He not also do the rest?” Romans 8:32

Rev. W.M. Wielenga is minister ofthe American Reformed Church atLynden, Washington.

We’re here together as office bear-ers of Christ’s churches to up build eachother for the execution of our office.This mutual edification is a common as-pect in our work as office bearers any-way (consider CO Art 73). Then weneed to have a good understanding,however, of the duties of our office.We also need to know the parameters ofeach office. Essential as well, is a strongawareness of the relationship amongthe offices and office bearers. For, agood cooperation among the officebearers is basic to an effective func-tioning of the leadership and commu-nion in the congregation! That will bethe focus of my address this morning:

1. Office bearers in Christ’schurch: their cooperation andconsultation

BasisThe origin of the offices in the church

is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatOffice Bearer, the Anointed one, ap-pointed to be Prophet, Priest, and King.(Lord’s Day 12) He is Jesus, the Apostleand High Priest whom we confess. (Heb3:1) He still executes his office and call-ing in this position given to Him by theFather. The offices in the church proceedfrom Him and from his work as the Of-fice Bearer par excellence. He contin-ues his work as Office Bearer for hischurch on earth, and He does so, al-though not exclusively, yet also and es-pecially by means of the office bearers.Office bearers, therefore, don’t do theirown work but they do Christ’s work inhis Name. Elders and deacons must rec-ognize in each other service for the sameMaster! In Him they also find the basisfor their relationship as office bearers.That’s then the first aspect I want to con-sider: their relationship!

RelationshipAll the offices in the church are gifts

from the ascended Lord (Eph 4:11). In

his Name they have their special callingin his church. They execute this callingfor the upbuilding of his church: “toprepare God’s people for works of ser-vice, so that the body of Christ may bebuilt up” (Eph 4:12). Service, therefore,or diakonia, is the all-encompassing ob-jective for all activities and positions inthe church of Christ: for the proclama-tion of the gospel, the supervision anddiscipline, the governance, the works ofmercy, etc. At the heart of all this ser-vice is the administration of reconcilia-tion, as the apostle Paul points out in 2Corinthians 5:18-20. Each and everymember should be motivated in his/herservice to God by the restored positionbefore God!

When Christ, the ascended Lord,gave his gifts to his church, He firstgave apostles, prophets, and evange-lists. They lay the foundation of hisNew Testament church with theproclamation of reconciliation. Theyrepresented Christ on earth in their ex-ercise of charity. They executed thegovernment of the local congregationsas well. As the Christ was gathering,preserving and defending his church,He governed his apostles with his Spiritand Word, moving them to appointspecial people among his congrega-tions. Thus differentiation and divisionof duties entered the picture. First thedeacons were appointed to ensure thegood progress of the work of mercy.Then we see them appoint elders inevery city. Yes, even among these el-ders a differentiation took place, lead-ing to the task for certain elders of pro-claiming the Word of God. Yet, Christ

is active in them! In Christ their officesare united! Hence we confess in BCArt 30 the government of the churchby ministers, elders and deacons, whoform the Council of the church.

2. Unity and differentiationSince the offices in the church

have their origin in Christ, these of-fices are inseparably connected in afirm unity. In Christ the three officesare essentially one office, which forpractical purposes only may be dis-tinguished. There is differentiation forthe purpose of an effective upbuildingand a good functioning of the congre-gation. Yet unity remains, becauseeach service and servant is serving un-der the one Master, in the one con-gregation, for the one goal of the up-building of the congregation.

These offices, also, are equal, andare not arranged in some hierarchicalorder. Christ is coming to his peoplethrough them; one Spirit and Wordunite them in service. It’s not so that theminister is the highest office bearer,then the elder, and finally the deacon.A deacon is not promoted to the officeof elder, but also in the work of the dea-con there is much pastoral work in-volved. According to the “Form for theOrdination of Elders and Deacons,”they are called to encourage and com-fort with the Word of God those whoreceive the gifts of Christ’s love. Christ’sSpirit and Word unite all three officesin the one work of shepherding theflock. As H. Bavinck concludes histreatise of the government of thechurch, “He [Christ] instructs by theoffice of teacher, He leads by the of-fice of elder, and He tends by the of-fice of deacon; by all three He showsHimself to be our highest Prophet, oureternal King, and our merciful HighPriest.” (H. Bavinck, GereformeerdeDogmatiek, Vol. IV, p. 371)


Office bearers in Christ’s Church1

By W. den Hollander

All the offices in thechurch are gifts from theascended Lord (Eph 4:11)

Within this unity there is yet differ-entiation in the tasks that are executedby the respective office bearers. The dis-tinctions, however, remain somewhatfluid. There is variety in service, yetequality of office and unity in pursuit.The Form for Ordination clearly articu-lates this diversity. The elders in the ex-ecution of their office concentrate intheir leadership on the holiness of thecongregation, on the commitment ofthe members to Christ and the commu-nion of his saints, on a life as livingmembers of Christ in church and world.

The deacons serve the congregation intheir care for the needs among themembers. They mobilize and stimulatethe congregation to service in the wayof showing the communion of saints toone another in various acts of mercy.Thus, in what’s sometimes called a dia-conal congregation the deacons leadthe members in showing themselves asChristians, who are united as householdof faith in doing good to one another,and who are active in showing mercy tothose who are in need outside as well.

3. The position of the deaconBefore we focus more closely on the

matter of cooperation and consulta-tion, it will be good to pay some atten-tion to the position of the deacon. Therehas been an impression of inequalityand inferiority of their position; an im-pression also as if the deacons are justhelpers for the elders. This has given totheir position a sense of ambiguity andlack of clarity. This regrettable situationis due in part to a perceived discrep-ancy between the Belgic Confession,Art 30, and the Church Order Art 38,39. The BC states that the council ofthe church is composed of the minis-ters, elders, and deacons, while thechurch order says that the consistoryconsists of ministers and elders. Ac-cording to this CO, there are variousreasons why the consistory must meetwith the deacons, yet they do not reallyseem to belong to the consistory itself.

Evidently we are touching hereupon a somewhat complex historical is-sue. It is understandable, therefore, that

attempts have been made to correctthis discrepancy. The Free ReformedChurches have adapted the CO to theconfession (1952), by including thedeacons with the consistory or councilof the church. Thus, the position of thedeacon is much less ambiguous in theirmidst. Among our sister churches studycommittees have submitted reports tovarious General Synods, examining theneed for revision of the CO. Some,however, question whether the deaconsare office bearers at all (Van Bruggen).Others plead for a correction of thesituation because the CO appears outof line with Scripture and the confes-sion. In the mean time nothing hasbeen changed.

The question can be asked why theNew Testament does not mention thedeacons every time the “elders” arementioned. Dr. Te Velde suggests thatthe term “elders” was used in a moregeneral sense at times, denoting theoverall leadership of the congregation,including the deacons. (Gemeenteop-bouw 2, p. 104; e.g., in 1 Timothy 4:14,where Paul speaks about “the body ofthe elders”). It seems that the BC alsoexpresses this broader understanding ofleadership and government of thechurch. Art 30 does not only includeall three offices in the council of thechurch; it, also, states that togetherthey “govern” the church, according tothe Spiritual order which our Lord hastaught us in his Word. We confess: “Bythese means everything will be donewell and in good order. . .” which in-cludes the work of the deacons too, ofcourse. Historically, BC Art 31 readthat “everyone must hold the ministersof the Word and the governors of thechurch in special esteem because oftheir work. . .” again including the dea-cons in the sense of Art 30.

On the other hand, however, see-ing how it is the purpose of the ChurchOrder to regulate the work of the re-spective office bearers, its specific stip-ulations for each office does not neces-sarily have to imply that the office of thedeacons is inferior or subservient to theoffice of ministers and elders. It couldalso mean to express that the deaconsdo not need to take part in the spiritualgovernment of the congregation in astricter sense (i.e., matters of supervi-sion and discipline), in which the con-sistory leads the congregation. How-ever, in the so-called “broader”consistory, or council, there still aremany aspects of government in whichthe deacons’ involvement is required.

In other words, we could simplyconclude that the confession just ex-presses this broader notion of “govern-ing” and “consistory” more specificallythan the Church Order does. Hence,this perceived discrepancy betweenconfession and Church Order does notneed to lead to ambiguity or inferiorityamong the offices. Considering, there-fore, the various activities in which thedeacons are involved in the work ofthe consistory as regulated by the CO(Art 3, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 46, 71, 72,73), the view has been expressed byTrimp, Kamphuis, and others, that theactual practice of cooperation and con-sultation of the consistory and the dea-cons should be as flexible and extensiveas possible. There may be differentia-tion for the sake of an effective up-building of the congregation, yet theunity and equality remains. Each officebearer pursues his service under the oneLord Jesus Christ, in the one congrega-tion and for the one goal of equippingthe church of Christ for service! So let’smove on, then, more specifically to thismatter of:

4. Cooperation and consultationFor the sake of the love and care for

the church of Christ, the office bearersshould pay close attention to the manycommon concerns and common pur-suits in which each office bearer is in-volved. They should prevent as much aspossible that ministers, elders, and dea-cons are working independently on acase, or even working against eachother. Rather, they need to see them-selves as part of a team. Too often a sit-uation exists in which deacons are sen-sitive about the elders lording it overthem. It also happens that the eldersare defensive when it is suggested thatcertain visits deacons and elders couldbest make together. Instead, however,they should be committed to the prin-ciple and practice of teamwork. Theconsistory has to be an example of howbrothers of the same house live andwork together!


Christ instructs by theoffice of teacher, He leads by

the office of elder, and Hetends by the office

of deacon.

The actual practice ofcooperation and

consultation of theconsistory and the deaconsshould be as flexible and

extensive as possible.

The reality in this regard is still farfrom perfect. It does not happen toooften yet that the council dedicates spe-cial time and attention to the practiceof mutual cooperation and consulta-tion. It would be recommendable,therefore, that the office bearers sitdown together. At the beginning of theseason, for instance, they should dis-cuss together their common concernsand strategies. They should seek to es-tablish agreements about the mannerand method of cooperation and con-sultation. The exchange of information,for instance, could be greatly im-proved, when section elders and dea-cons would agree to sit down togetherto discuss the needs and concerns re-garding certain members in theirwards. Then there may be a legitimateconcern for confidentiality in this re-gard. However, this should not lead toan independent and secretive approachto the work for the well being of themembers. Energy spent on protectingone’s own “turf” could well under-mine this well being. Rather, the officebearers will benefit greatly from an op-timal exchange of information.

Discussions of this nature couldalso lead to a more balanced divisionamong the office bearers of visits tothe sick and the elderly. This could im-prove the effectiveness and time- man-agement of the office bearers greatly.Not only in the congregation but alsoamong the office bearers there is a lackof agreement and clarity about the waycertain situations should be handled. Ithappens in certain situations that amember or family receives a visit fromboth the elders and the deacons, whilethe minister as well drops in for a visit.Now, in some very special situationssuch an “overdose” of attention may benecessary and beneficial; however, itshould not be the general practice.Many an office bearer struggles with histime management already. He wishesto concentrate on the more seriouscases that are more pertinent to his spe-cific duty as minister, elder, or deacon.Then a good cooperation and consulta-tion could lead to a better division ofthe work and a more efficient shep-herding of the flock. The office bear-ers, therefore, may wish to take sometime at their meeting to preview the vis-iting schedule for the weeks to comeand decide on the question “Who willvisit whom?”

In this context as well, it may helpto stress the equality and unity amongthe offices. For such activities as visit-

ing the sick, the chronically ill, and theelderly, the deacons could be involvedmore than is the case presently. Theiroffice is not second rank but equal andadequate also for these acts of mercyand comfort. Their visits, therefore,should not be perceived as inferior tothe visits made by the elder or minis-ter, but as equally spiritual and upbuilding as those of their colleague of-fice bearers. The Form for their Ordi-nation correctly echoes 1 Timothy 3,articulating that such men who “keephold of the deep truths of faith with aclear conscience” should be called “toencourage and comfort with the Wordof God those who receive the gifts ofChrist’s love.”

Deacons and elders together couldalso coordinate the involvement of thecongregation in such situations. Whenthe congregation grows in the Lord andfunctions as a diaconal and pastoralcongregation in which the communionof saints flourishes, much work couldbe delegated to brothers and sisterswhom the Lord has blessed as well withspecial gifts. A good cooperation andconsultation among the office bearerswill show in this stimulation and mobi-lization of the congregation, while yetthe ultimate responsibility for the shep-herding of the flock remains with them.

In regard to this cooperation andconsultation, much depends of courseon the attitude which elders and dea-cons have toward each other. Howopen or how closed they are concern-ing their activities among the congre-gation. Here too, it should be the Spiritof Christ and the mutual trust and con-fidence, which works a good coopera-tion. Thus, the word of Paul in Philippi-ans 2:4 applies, “Each of you shouldlook not only to your own interests, butalso to the interests of others.” Pastoralcare, visits, and acts of mercy shouldnot be rendered independently of eachother but in close consultation witheach other. In the process toward im-

proved communication among the of-fice bearers, the minister could coordi-nate and stimulate the cooperation andexchange of information.

At the council meeting, therefore,there should be an opportunity for ex-change of relevant information, whichwas discussed at the consistory meet-ing or at a meeting of the deacons. Adeacon could update the elder(s) on asituation of unemployment or illness orof some form of addiction in a certainfamily. An elder could inform the dea-cons that in a certain family the disci-pline in that family has been steppedup from silent censure to the first stepof discipline. During silent censure, as arule the deacon does not need to be in-volved. It is conceivable, however, thatthe matter under discipline could ham-per the deacon’s work. From experi-ence we also know that there could bea need to prevent manipulation and di-vision among the office bearers. Thatway the deacon does not need to be ig-norant of the situation in a family whenhe makes his visit there. The deacondoes not need to judge the matter, yethe is aware of the greater spiritual needin a family. Of course, such exchange ofinformation does not always need towait till the council meeting; also beforeor after the Sunday services there maybe an opportunity for further update onchanges in a situation. Elders and dea-cons should know of each other, how-ever, that there is openness for such ex-change and consultation!

Now, the pursuit of such forms ofcooperation and consultation could be


The office bearers,therefore, may wish to takesome time at their meeting

to preview the visitingschedule for the weeks to come and decide on

the question “Who will visit whom?”

CHURCH NEWS

Accepted the call to Smithers, British Columbia:

Candidate Julius M. Van Spronsen

• • •

Declined the call from the Churchat Armadale, WA; Toronto, ON;Grassie, ON; Albany, WA; andLondon, ON:

Candidate Julius M. Van Spronsen

• • •

Hamilton Worship ServicesEffective immediately

9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

organized concretely, for instance, bymeans of regular meetings of the wardelders and deacons. Once a year theminister could attend such a meeting ofthese respective wards as well. For theevaluation and cooperation of the workof the deacons with the minister, itwould be advisable that the minister at-tends the meeting of the deacons atleast once a year. Also for the transi-tion of office bearers after the yearly“changing of the guard,” a meeting ofthese office bearers with the new elderand/or deacon in the ward would fa-cilitate the continuity in the care. Inaccordance with Art 42 of the CO, thedeacons “shall give account of theirlabours to the consistory.” Additionalto the regular reporting of the deaconsin the council meeting, therefore, itwould be beneficial for the good co-operation when some special attentionis given once a year to the policy andapproach developed by the deacons.This should be done, not for purposesof supervision or scrutiny but rather forthe promotion of a common care forthe congregation.

As you can see, the great variety ofcommon concerns and strategiesshould warrant a special meeting at thebeginning or end of the season of con-gregational activities. Why not organizesuch a meeting on one special Satur-day in June or early September, atwhich the office bearers can speak witheach other about their work and the

best method and approach to it. Such ameeting will give the office bearers a fo-rum for a general evaluation of theirwork: their visiting (e.g., the frequency),their contributions to the meetings, theirreporting, their performance as liaisonfor council in a particular committee,

etc. At this meeting agreements can bemade regarding cooperation in mattersof visiting the sick, the elderly (includ-ing birthday-visits), making “baby-vis-its,” and the like. The office bearerscould also decide on a coordinated ap-proach for welcoming new members,i.e., welcome visits, and the promotionof the voluntary contributions (includ-ing a policy for delinquent members inthis regard). Besides, at this meeting thetheme for the family-visits in the newseason could be introduced as well.

Such a meeting may be a good op-portunity also to evaluate together thework of the minister in the congregation:

his performance in the worship ser-vices, his visiting schedule, his leader-ship in meetings, in bulletins, in prayers,his catechism teaching. The officebearers can be of help to the minister inregard to the development of his gifts;also with a view to the upbuilding ofthe congregation. A special sermon dis-cussion could take place to assist theminister in his assessment of the needsof the congregation. The minister inturn could express to his colleague of-fice bearers in what way they couldserve him. At their installation the el-ders promised to support him with“good counsel and advice.” How wellthis functions, generally speaking, Idon’t know, but from experience Iknow that here too, much work is beingdone in solitude instead of in commonpursuit.

Thus, in the way of an integrated ap-proach and close cooperation of the of-fice bearers the body of Christ may bebuilt up “until we all reach unity in thefaith and in the knowledge of the Sonof God and become mature, attaining tothe whole measure of the fullness ofChrist.”

1Address by Rev. W. den Hollander toan office bearers’ conference.


Why not organize such ameeting on one special

Saturday in June or earlySeptember, at which theoffice bearers can speak

with each other about theirwork and the best method

and approach to it.

Rev. W. den Hollander is minister ofthe Canadian Reformed Church atToronto, Ontario.

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As a middle-aged father of adults and teenagers, I donot get to the children’s clothing section at the departmentstore; however, I am told that mothers are finding it increas-ingly difficult to find “normal clothes” for their preteendaughters. It seems that the choices for eight- year old girlsdoes not go much beyond clothes that reveal the most inti-mate parts of the body, from hip-hugging pants to belly-ex-posing tops. Mothers say that itis very hard to find modestgirls’ clothes at the local stores.

Young people have alwayswanted the latest styles. WhenI was young, one year we justneeded to have pants with bellbottoms; the next year the jeansjust had to be stove pipes. It has always been like that andstill is. Daughters have long argued with mom about thelength of hem lines. Most teenagers have always craved thelatest fashions. However, there has been a distressing shiftin recent years. The trend is ever more to the hyper-sexual-ization of clothing: the tighter and the smaller, the better, itseems. The shift is all the more distressing because it is di-rectly aimed at our little girls. And it is all about marketing.

TweensThe American clothing retail industry has discovered a

huge potential in marketing to the preteen age group. Ac-cording to estimates, the “tweens” in North America (eight totwelve year- olds) represented about US $170 billion peryear. Girls, aged six to fourteen are estimated to have an in-dependent spending power of US $100 billion annually.

Stores are aggressively going after this huge market byhyper-sexualizing fashion for youth because it has realized itas an effective way to maintain a lucrative market share. Donot think that the clothing industry is interested about any-thing but the bottom line and keeping the shareholdershappy. Sex sells. The fashion industry is applying that basicprinciple to children’s clothing – in spades.

Marnie Ko writes in Report Magazine:Even lower-priced department giants have begun target-ing tweens with a racy line of clothing by the Olsentwins, the actors Mary-Kate and Ashley, best known fortheir role on the sitcom Full House. Slinky clothes, in-cluding midriff-baring crop tops, short skirts and shirtswith spaghetti tops straps, are increasingly found in thechildren’s clothing section. And parents are buying. A

Wal-Mart spokesman said orders for clothes by the Olsentwins have doubled for this fall.1

The chief apostlette for the sexualization of our little girls istwenty year old pop princess Britney Spears. She is the rolemodel of many young girls today. With her revealing cloth-ing and “come-hither” image, Miss Spears is sending a mes-sage to young girls that body image is of primary impor-

tance – a difficult problem formany young females.

When Britney Spears (orChristina Aguilera or FoxxyBrown) comes to town thou-sands of preteen girls go to thesold out concert dressed as

Britney lookalikes. Of coursethey fail because they do not have the resources a pop divahas – makeup artists, silicone enhancements, and millionsof dollars.

Fashion and pop cultureParents, please do not be naive about this. The cloth-

ing industry is after your little girls. The music, movie andTV culture is complicit with the fashion enterprise. Sex-driven music videos, innuendo-laden comedies airing at8 PM, PG-13 movies featuring flashes of female nudity –it is common. Pop culture is blanketing society with sex-ual images aimed at eight-year olds. The clothing design-ers work hand in glove with the entertainment industry,to the great detriment of all of society, not least our pre-teen girls.

Parents, let your little girls be little girls. Children shoulddress like children, and not like tiny tarts. The mothers andolder sisters of the little girls should set a good example inthis regard. The law of chastity (see Lord’s Day 47 of the Hei-delberg Catechism) demands modesty of old and youngwhen we dress our bodies. In addition to the universal call ofGod to modesty, older sisters and mothers should showlove to the children by setting a good example. If they dressprovocatively, the little girls will want to as well. That’s theway little girls think and act.

Think about it.

1 Report Magazine, Oct. 8, 2001, p. 36.


OBSERVATIONS

Marketing sex to our little girlsBy G.Ph. van Popta

Rev. G.Ph. van Popta is minister of the Canadian Reformedchurch at Ancaster, Ontario.

Sex sells.The fashion industry is applying that basicprinciple to children’s clothing – in spades.

Rev. W. G. De Vries held a secondspeech for the Free Reformed StudyCentre in Armadale, Australia on Febru-ary 5, 2002. His remarks are enlighten-ing, also for American and Canadianand readers. Here follows the secondinstallment of his speech:

Pluriformity within the church?This raises the question to what

degree difference of opinion is pos-sible without the church splittingapart. The question is important! Forit has happened more than once inthe history of the church that achurch schism arose out of personalhurt. Someone felt ignored, some-one believed to have suffered aninjustice, and suddenly there is anissue on the table concerning a mat-ter of principle - which has more todo with the personal injury thanwith standing up for God’s honourand justice. Numerous examplescould be mentioned here, but dis-agreements of this kind have noth-ing to do with a healthy plurifor-mity within the church. There ismuch talk today in the NederlandsHervormde (Dutch Reformed) andthe Synodical Gereformeerde (Re-formed) churches about “plurality.”What this means is that those whotalk about plurality demand toler-ance for viewpoints that contradictthe Apostles’ Creed in every respect,such as the confession of the virginbirth of Christ, his God-head, resur-rection and ascension.

They are the two churches cur-rently uniting under the banner of“Together on the Way” (Dutch:‘Samen op weg’). It goes withoutsaying that Calvin’s writings aboutupholding the pure doctrine andabout faithfully exercising churchdiscipline condemn these develop-ments out-of-hand.

I believe also that local churches,office-bearers and believers whoremain in these church organiza-tions are co-responsible for this de-parture from God’s Word. To themapplies the exhortation: Come outof her, my people, lest you share inher sins, and lest you receive of herplagues, Revelation 18:4.

People have said in answer tothis that there are still places with aconservative church council andcongregation, where church mem-bership is quite pleasant. But theBible says something different.When Achan stole from the trea-sures of Jericho all Israel was para-lyzed. We read in Joshua 7:1: Butthe children of Israel committed atrespass regarding the accursedthings. And in I Timothy 5:22 weread that we may share in otherpeople’s sins. Paul says this to Tim-othy in the context of ordaining of-fice-bearers in the church: Do notlay hands on anyone hastily.

Anyone belonging to a churchcommunity which allows its lead-ers to teach heresies shares in the re-sponsibility. The Reformed Church(Hervormde Kerk) calls itself aChrist-confessing church. In an offi-cial declaration just after WorldWar II, it states: The church rejectseverything that contradicts its con-fession. Nowadays it tolerateseverything that contradicts its con-fession, and and it allows Christ tobe deeply offended. I say this withgreat sadness. For the destructiveconsequences are visible to every-one. One of the prominent leadersof the Synodical Gereformeerdekerken, Dr. G. Puchinger, says thatchurch members are wanderingaround the ruins. Those situationshave nothing to do with plurifor-mity. It is nothing else that a rejec-tion of the living God.

But what about genuine plurifor-mity? Genuine pluriformity is thatthere are diversities of gifts, in min-istries and activities, but everythingunder the same Lord, (1Corinthians12:4-6). And at the same time thatwe continue in the apostles’ doc-trine and fellowship, in the breakingof bread and the prayers, (Acts 2:42).Calvin once called these the fourmarks of the church. Within thatchurch there is much pluriformity,but not where it concerns the life-giv-ing doctrine about which Paul writesto Timothy (1 Timothy 4: 16): Takeheed to the doctrine, and he alsocommands him to charge some thatthey teach no other doctrine (1:3).

If anyone does not bring thisdoctrine, we may not receive himinto our house nor greet him (2John:10). Accepting such a personas a professor at the TheologicalCollege or as a church minister isout of the question. The Bible for-bids that kind of tolerance.

Diverging opinionsThe situation is different where it

concerns church members or office-bearers who hold diverging opin-ions but do not promote these. Thechurch will have to exercise muchpatience, especially in a time ofspiritual confusion and weakeningconvictions. In that situation theminister’s faithfulness to the doc-trine of the church is of critical im-portance. They promised at least inthe Reformed Churches (Gere-formeerde Kerken), not to preach orteach or publish or promote any di-verging opinion they may hold onany point of the doctrine, but in-stead go the church-orderly way.

Let’s admit that the Confessionsof our churches have formulated aminimum as regards the unity inthe faith. The Three Forms of Unity


PRESS REVIEW

By J. De Jong

On the Unity and Disunity of Churches (Part 2)

do not deal with everything that is inthe Bible. The source is more thanthe little stream that originates fromit. But we did make promises toeach other in the church regarding“that source” being the Word oftruth. And it is within the bound-aries of that Word that there is free-dom of prophecy. The Bible is andremains our only rule of life. For thatreason life in the church is joyfuland rich, because Christ has madeknown to us all the things he heardfrom his Father, John l5:l5.

Divided as churches and unitedas Christians?

Now we come to the questionwhether we should still see some-thing positive in the interchurch co-operation in all kinds of activities.Does this not offer hope for the uni-fication process of the churches?

Let me begin by pointing outthat this idea was propagated byDr. Abraham Kuyper. In 1898 hedelivered a number of speeches inAmerica, published in his book HetCalvinisme (Calvinism). He statesthat Calvinism must get rid of everyecclesiastical colour. The largenumber of different churches is, ac-cording to Kuyper, a result of our“natural one-sidedness” which willalways demand “a multitude of or-ganizations.” He regards that multi-tude of churches even as a “superiorform of development.” “I praise themultiformity and regard it is a higherform of development,” he says.1

It was pointed out in the begin-ning of this lecture that the Bibledoes not support this train ofthought. The Bible says there is onlyone church.

In line with Kuyper’s teaching,the first half of the twentieth centurysaw the development of a number oforganizations based on the princi-ple “Divided as churches but unitedas Christians.” Has this developmentcontributed in any way to greaterchurch unity? Not at all. The disunityamong churches increased.

And what about today’s situa-tion? In many churches the believ-ers despair because of Bible criti-cism and denial of the confessions.But they remain where they are.Sure, they’re alarmed. And they es-tablish their clubs and associationsof concerned members which pub-lish magazines and organize rallies.But for the rest? They remain in theirchurch and become partly responsi-

ble for the sins of others. Those peo-ple also establish “Bible- based” or-ganizations, like the EvangelischeOmroep (the Evangelical BroadcastAssociation) which they use to con-demn the things they tolerate intheir churches. It’s like mopping upunder a running tap!

Is it not about time that we in theNetherlands turn our words intodeeds and start a reformation in thechurch? The Hervormde Kerk con-tinues to exist, thanks to the toler-ance of hundreds of thousands ofmembers of the GereformeerdeBond. Is that what God wants?

Professor van ‘t Spyker wrote inhis magazine De Wekker: “TheConfession knows nothing aboutone, two or three true churches. Itspeaks of only one church! But wehave many. It is our confession thatoutside the church there is no sal-vation. But we have said that be-longing to the church is not all thatimportant as long as one is a livingmember of Christ himself – as if thatcan be divorced from his body, thechurch.” He concludes: “Thispushes the obligation to seek unityto the background. People contentthemselves with contacts they main-tain via the organizations.” I agreefully with this criticism.

Many say: But doesn’t the mis-erable situation of our days urge usas Christians to cooperate as muchas possible? I answer that this mis-erable situation has been causedpartly by that very attitude of: “Itdoesn’t matter what church you’rein.” The problems start when peoplelet things go in the church and turna blind eye to deformation.

I point to the large number ofcongregations of conservative mem-bers that exist within the mod-ernistic Dutch Reformed Church,(Hervormde Kerk). Though they livein organizational unity with thewing of liberal believers in that

church, they are satisfied that it is upto the Lord to work reformation.

In the meantime we are stuckwith ten times Gereformeerd in theNetherlands. Does God’s Word al-low or promote that situation? I’msure no one has the courage to say‘yes’ to that question. Ephesians 4:3says: one body and one Spirit, andthat leaves us in no doubt. Neitherdo the words: one faith, one bap-tism, one Lord and one God andFather of all.

But what are we doing about it?Deny our own will and withoutmurmuring obey God’s will whichalone is good? (Heidelberg Cate-chism, Lord’s Day 49) Or do wequietly sit in our ecclesiastical shel-ters, waiting for the last day?

The whole flockI will finish with a nice story I

read somewhere. It’s about the dis-unity of churches. Once it hap-pened that one of the sheep got sep-arated from the flock and lost itsway. What did the shepherd dowhen that bleating sheep kept wan-dering around outside the sheep-fold? He led all his sheep outside,giving the lost sheep an opportunityto join the flock again, and so findthe door to the fold.

The message of the story is clear:We must do everything we can tobring that sheep back to the flock.Let everyone go outside under God’sopen sky – meaning: let everychurch community apply the normof God’s Word to see whether eachsheep of Christ’s flock can join it. Inother words: Do we have thecourage to take that risk? It meansthat we ask the great Shepherd of thesheep: “Search me O God and knowmy heart; try me and know my anx-ieties. See if there is any wickedway in me, and lead me in the wayeverlasting” (Psalm 139:24).

Would that not also apply toour church ways? How many ten-sions and cooperation issues woulddisappear if all true Christian be-lievers would live together in theone church! And . . . there would bejoy in heaven.

1Het Calvinisme, page 178


Dr. J. De Jong is principal and pro-fessor of Diaconiology and Ecclesiol-ogy at the Theological College of theCanadian Reformed Churches inHamilton, Ontario.

The Bible is and remainsour only rule of life. For thatreason life in the church is

joyful and rich, becauseChrist has made known tous all the things he heard

from his Father.John l5:l5

By C. Van DamGod and Cosmos

John Byl, God and Cosmos: A ChristianView of Time, Space and the Universe.Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2001.Paperback, 243 pages; $ 12.99 US

This is a very important book thathopefully will be read by many. Itsstated aim “to probe beneath the usualquestions of origins, digging deeper intovarious underlying philosophical issues. . . . The emphasis will be on theologi-cal presuppositions on the one hand,and, on the other, the significance of theBible for cosmology” (p. xi).

The author, Dr. Byl, earned his doc-torate in astronomy and now teachesMathematics at Trinity Western Uni-versity, but this book is directed to thegeneral reader. As one who fits thatcategory and is not trained in the scien-tific fields that underlie much of thisbook, I think that Dr. Byl admirably suc-ceeds in achieving his stated purpose.The book is very well organized anddiscussions are regularly summarizedwith clear conclusions. He is able tocommunicate lucidly scientific mater-ial which is obviously quite intricate.All this does not necessarily mean thatthe book is always an easy read. How-ever, reading it will always be wellworth the effort for the issues Dr. Byltackles are of great importance.

It is beyond the scope of this briefreview to touch on all the very interest-ing issues the author raises. Let metherefore note the main points he ismaking and then mention some otherissues that struck me.

Fact and theoryA theme that recurs constantly in

various forms throughout this book iswhat exactly defines a scientific fact?How do you know something is true?Obviously, a most important question!Scientific theories abound. But how dowe know what is factually accurate?The author repeatedly argues that “onlydirect, confirmed observational datacan be accepted as genuine, undoubted

‘facts’” (p. 221). He distinguishessharply between scientific theorizingand what is a confirmed truth. This dis-tinction places science in a more real-istic light, but it also underlines howlimited our human knowledge really is.Theorizing that something may be truedoes not make it so.

How does science come to its theo-ries? It does so on the basis of perceivedevidence. But another very importantfactor is the underlying presuppositionsof the scientist. As the author notes atthe outset, “Science in general – andcosmology in particular – is plagued bythe lack of definite, objective criteriathat might allow us to easily separatetrue theories from false ones. It is at thiscritical point that we must often beguided by extra-scientific factors” (p. 5).In other words, the faith commitment isof utmost importance in the formulationof scientific theories.

Now our faith commitment may beChristian or non-Christian, but Byl re-peatedly warns that in both cases oneneeds to distinguish clearly betweenfact and theory. A theory may be inharmony with what Scripture says, butthat does not necessarily prove its ab-solute factuality. Our human knowl-edge is very limited and we must rec-ognize that restriction and be aware thatnew discoveries can make an earliertheory obviously incorrect. We mustalso not base our Christian faith on acurrent scientific theory, no matter howconvincing it seems. Our faith must bein the God of Scripture and his trust-worthy Word. It must never be in sci-entific theories which are “but the spec-ulative inventions of man’s creativeimagination” (p. 8) and should be dis-tinguished from our observations of na-ture and established fact (pp. 2-11).

At the end of his book Byl notesthat even well established scientific the-ories should not be accepted as fact. Ifone says, “well some theories surelycan be accepted as fact,” Byl’s answeris: “How can we determine which the-ories are more likely to be true? Surelynot by a mere majority vote. But whatcriteria should then be used? And by

what criteria should we choose the cri-teria? To those who wish to expand thescope of scientific knowledge I leavethe challenge of establishing and justi-fying suitable criteria for discerningtrue theories. This has yet to be done”(p. 221).

The place of ScriptureThe author accepts the Bible as

God’s Word and thus recognizes theauthority of the Word with respect toall it speaks about. But does creation(and thus science) not also provide anavenue for God to reveal truth? Earlyon, Byl has important things to say onthis issue. He notes that divine revela-tion relevant to science should be lim-ited to special revelation, the Bible (p.9). The role of general revelation in re-vealing truth is that God uses it to revealhimself, that is “his eternal power anddivine nature” (Rom 1:20). As we con-fess in the Belgic Confession (Art 2) weknow God by two means. “First, by thecreation, preservation, and governmentof the universe; which is before our eyesas a most beautiful book, wherein allcreatures, great and small, are as somany letters leading us to ‘perceiveclearly the invisible things of God,’namely, ‘his eternal power and deity,’as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. . . . Second, He makes Himself moreclearly and fully known to us by hisholy and divine Word as far as is nec-essary for us in this life, to his glory andour salvation.” Byl stresses that “theknowledge revealed through natureconcerns only God’s attributes and thatthis knowledge is acquired through ourdirect experience of nature, not throughour scientific models. There is no bibli-cal evidence suggesting that God re-veals himself through fallible humantheorizing. Indeed, the Bible stresses thelimitations of human knowledge, par-ticularly with regard to origins” (p. 112).

Recognizing these constraints isimportant for recognizing the limitedplace of science in establishing absolutetruth. From the beginning of the scien-tific revolution, the idea of divine reve-lation in Scripture and nature has been


BOOK REVIEWS

used to reconcile science and Scripture.Historically, however, this doctrine ofthe two books “has led to a decline inbiblical authority” (p. 9). This is under-standable for we thereby allow thepremise that some scientific theoriescan be taken as divine truth. We thenin essence allow the “book of science”to modify our reading of Scripture andso our understanding of Scripture willbe in a constant state of flux, depend-ing on what the current scientific the-ory is (p. 9). The proper relationship isthat we understand creation in the lightof Scripture (see also p. 221).

A corollary of the above is that asnew scientific theories come up thatappear more compatible to the Christ-ian faith, we must resist the tempta-tion to prove the accuracy and truth ofScripture by appealing to such scien-tific evidence, for that in effect makesthe fallible scientist the judge of Scrip-ture (p. 13). When there is a conflictbetween the Bible and science, it is aconflict between the Bible and scien-tific theorizing (p. 13). In his book, Bylshows that scientific theories of mod-ern cosmology are not sufficiently es-tablished to warrant their elevationabove Scripture.

Acknowledging the supremacy ofScripture does, of course, bring us tothe question of the interpretation of

Scripture. Byl affirms that Scripturemust be its own interpreter and itshould be read in its natural or literalsense unless there are compelling rea-sons not to do so. Although there willalways be differences of opinion onexegetical points, and we should al-low for these, Byl’s point as a generalguideline is well taken.

Other issuesByl raises many interesting issues in

this book. The crucial issue with Galileowas that “he presented the Copernicansystem not as a mere theory, but as thetruth, a truth before which Scripture, orat least the Church’s interpretation of it,had to retreat” (p. 32). The end resultwas that human reason came to be con-sidered as an independent source oftruth, superior to Scripture, at least inscientific matters (p. 35).

Quite some pages are spent on thebig-bang hypothesis of the world’s ori-gins. Byl correctly deeply regrets thatsome Christian apologists endorse thebig-bang cosmology for that gives fartoo much credence to speculative the-orizing under the guise of general reve-lation. Should that scientific model bedethroned, it will be a theological dis-aster for such apologists. The big-bangcosmology is essentially hostile to theChristian faith.

Other topics of interest include thequestion of whether there are naturalintelligent beings besides man in theuniverse, the identity of the star of Beth-lehem, the age of the earth, and heav-en’s relationship to our time and space.To find out more, read the book! Onedoes not have to agree with everythingByl says in order to profit immenselyfrom his writing. For instance, whileagreeing with his contention that theearth is young, exegetical argumentscan be raised against insisting that theearth needs to be about 6,000 years old(p. 167).

In conclusionThis book is well written and it is

highly recommended. It is a must readfor those in science and education andshould be read by everyone interestedin understanding something of what aChristian view of reality, knowledgeand creation entails. An extensive bib-liography and a functional index ofnames and subjects further enhancethis work.


Dr. C. Van Dam is professor of OldTestament at the Theological Col-lege of the Canadian ReformedChurches in Hamilton, Ontario.


Dear Brothers and Sisters:When we read the Bible, we are told many times how

we ought to live before God. The Lord shows us clearlyin his Word how we must conduct our lives in service toHim. Daily we must fight against our many sins and askthe Lord to forgive us our sins. We may even wonderthat when we try our hardest to serve Him: have wedone it properly? The Bible mentions in many versesabout the fruits of the Spirit. What are these fruits? Someof these fruits are love, patience, joy, peace, kindness,goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, whichcan be found in Galatians 5:22.

As a healthy fruit tree can give us an overflowing abun-dance of fruit, so having the fruit of the Spirit in usshould give us an abundance of joy. As the HeidelbergCatechism teaches us so beautifully in Q&A 86: that withour whole life we have to show our thankfulness to God,for his benefits, that He may be praised by us.

This prompts us to ask the question why is it so im-portant to have the fruits of the Spirit in our lives? Wehave to foremost understand fully what has been donefor us in Christ. God went all the way in giving us his onlySon for our sins. He did not have to do this. As a resultof his death we now have eternal life. If it were left toourselves we would have died and would never have aplace in his kingdom. Knowing all this should make us sovery thankful, that our lives cannot but show all the fruitsof his Spirit.

This thankfulness does not come on our own, but bythe Holy Spirit who works this thankfulness in us. Herelies great comfort for us. Christ renews our lives daily tomeet the purpose for which we were created. We wouldlive empty lives were it not for the constant work of theHoly Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts by thepreaching of the gospel, and strengthens it by the use ofthe sacraments (Lord’s Day 25). The Lord also promisesto hear our prayers when we ask for the Holy Spirit towork in our hearts. He will not deny us.

It is not always easy to carry all the fruits of theSpirit. To always love each other and to be faithful in allthings does not come from ourselves. But we must notdespair, for we are not left on our own. The Lordpromises to help us to serve Him. His Word is there forus everyday. “He knows our frame, that it is weak andhumble and He keeps in mind how prone we are to stum-ble” (Psalm 103:5, Book of Praise). His unfailing love to-ward us will never perish. If we long to serve Him and askthe Lord to guide us, the fruits of his Spirit will be over-flowing in our lives.

We also know that faith without works is dead. Toknow God, to say we love Him, but not to show this in ourlives makes our faith useless. Faith has to have results inour lives. Through faith, which is given by the HolySpirit, the fruits of this faith will also be seen. Our kind-ness, love, gentleness and humbleness toward each othershould be overflowing. We see how Christ showed all thefruits of the Spirit toward us and we cannot but show thislove to one another.

The great blessing of having the fruits of the Spiritwithin us is that through this, God gives us joy, satisfac-tion, confidence, happiness and strength. We become ablessing to everyone around us.

Let us continue to allow the Holy Spirit to renew usso that we may always strive do what is right before God.Thanks be to Him alone for revealing in His Word how weought to live before Him!

When we cry, “Abba! Father!”The Spirit witness bearsThat God made us His childrenAnd we, with Christ, are heirs.The Spirit, as the first fruitsOf glorious liberty,Helps us await with patienceWhat we do not yet see.

Hymn 37:4

Birthdays in September:8: MARSHA MOESKER will turn 25

PO Box 164, Carman, MB R0G 0J0

11: MARY VANDE BURGT will be 46c/o Fam. W. Togeretz32570 Rossland Place, Abbotsford, BC V2T 1T7

14: JERRY BONTEKOE will be 38Anchor Home, 361 Thirty Road, RR 2, Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0

29: PAUL DIELEMAN will turn 333 Northampton Street, Brampton, ON L6S 3Z5

Congratulations to you all who are celebrating abirthday in September. May our heavenly Father con-tinue to surround you with his love and care in this newyear that lies ahead of you. Till next month,

Mrs. Corinne Gelms and Mrs. Erna NordemanMailing correspondence:

548 Kemp Road EastRR 2 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B2

1-905-563-0380

RAY OF SUNSHINE

By Mrs. Corinne Gelms and Mrs. Erna Nordeman

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kind-ness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to

Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passionsand desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with

the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25

Dear Editor:I read with great interest Prof. Goot-

jes’ article “Professor Boer and Theo-logical Education” (July 19, 2002). Thearticle inspired me to think more aboutthe strengths and weaknesses of earlierpatterns of Reformed theological edu-cation, in comparison to our presentsituation. For those of your readers whowere also stimulated to reflect on thesematters, here is something further fortheir musings. In a volume publishedby Calvin College in 1926, AlbertusRooks, who was the Dean of CalvinCollege at the time, offered this de-scription of the preparatory program inthe early days of theological educationat the Grand Rapids school where Pro-fessor Boer had taught:

In reflecting upon the course ofstudy of that time in which students,fresh from the farm and shop, wererequired to take up, all at once, ahalf dozen languages – English,Dutch, German, Latin, Greek, He-brew – and with these Philosophyand Logic and other branches, tocarry on for four years and then toconclude with one oral examinationin all these studies before the Fac-ulty and Board of Trustees, I admire– and with me all those who knowsomething of the difficulties ofHigher Education admire – the am-bition, the courage and the perse-verance of the men who undertookand carried forth the study of allthese languages and other branchesof study at one and the same time.

True, some soon became dis-couraged and fell by the way andno wonder; others plodded on butin the course of time succumbed tothe heavy burden with a wreckedmind, and broken body and a dis-couraged heart. Those who sur-mounted the difficulties, especiallyof the earlier years of literary study,became men and servants of theLord of no mean or ordinary powerand ability.

I certainly acknowledge that therewere great warriors for the faith whowere shaped by that rigorous process.But I was also pleased to read ProfessorGootjes’ positive words about the morerelaxed mood in Reformed theologicalschools these days – and to see the pic-ture of Canadian Reformed studentskicking soccer balls with abandon!

In Christ,Richard J. Mouw

President and Professor of ChristianPhilosophy

Fuller Seminary

The “soccer balls” are actuallymade of concrete. We may thankfullyreport that the students only pretendedto kick them.

Editor

Dear Editor,Keith Sikkema’s report on a South

African education conference is athoughtful and clearly presented at-tempt to facilitate up building dialoguebetween those whose children attendReformed day schools and those whosechildren are educated at home. Hope-fully it will help accomplish the author’sgoal of reducing divisions among God’speople.

One small point, however, must beaddressed. Most Dutch people wouldagree with the statement that, in theNetherlands, home-schooling is not al-lowed. For some unknown reason, veryfew Dutch people know that parentscan legally request and receive exemp-tions from the Dutch education law. Werequested such an exemption and re-ceived official permission to home-school for the two school years we livedin the Netherlands. According to oneestimate, approximately 200 childrenare home-schooled in the Netherlandsbut there is no way of verifying thisnumber since school attendance is con-trolled locally.

N.P. Schriemer, Ottawa

Dear Editor,In Clarion, Volume 51, No.15 (July

19, 2002), on p.367 we read the fol-lowing in the “Education Matters” col-umn: “It seems that Rev. [J.D.] Wie-lenga could never come away from hisown negative and unspiritual school ex-perience, and that this background setthe tone of his negative stance towardsChristian schools in general.” Whenwe read these remarks in their context,the reader must conclude that it was this“experience” and “background” thatled Wielenga to the position that he“didn’t want teachers to touch the chil-dren’s religious life” and that “to him,faith and faith education was a matterfor the church.” All of this is written byK. Sikkema in his report of the CRTA-East Convention’s Keynote Address:Covenantal Education Revisited. Thisassessment amounts to unacceptablepsychobabble – poor Wielenga couldjust never “come away.”

It is difficult in this case to be en-tirely certain whether one must be re-sponding to Sikkema or to Cl. Stam,whose address is being reported. A re-port is a report; the reader is left withwhat is on the page of Clarion. What isunfortunate about this approach ofStam/Sikkema is that by way of this “fi-nal” assessment of Wielenga, the au-thors sadly reduce and dismiss thecarefully argued position of Wielenga,which position, by the way, is not sosimplistic as to be characterized as a“negative stance towards Christianschools in general.” One can, ofcourse, argue with arguments and posi-tions – that’s a good idea sometimes;and often stimulating. But now Stam/Sikkema cause Wielenga to appear inthe final analysis as just another help-less victim of his upbringing, re-sponding in the only way that mightbe expected of another victim-of-cir-cumstance. Which might just leave theimpression that what he actually saidneed not be taken too seriously. How-ever, reading Wielenga’s “Profile of the


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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School Graduate,” (and we can onlyassume that that is the reference we areto be cluing in to for Wielenga’s posi-tion) one cannot possibly come awaywith such a reductionist dismissive as-sessment about what he said. Wielengahimself did not give any indication thathis childhood experience(s) actuallyformed his adult thoughts and argu-ments about education. In fact, oncehe gets beyond his introductory remarksabout his own school experience(which are just a preliminary “side-show” for his address), his argumentsstand quite well by themselves as argu-ments and not as inevitable adultFreudian responses to negative child-

hood experiences. So let’s cut the psy-chobabble. After all, could we also saythat if his mother had just cut his sand-wiches diagonally instead of square,his whole school experience may havesqueaked him out on the “right” side ofthe discussion? Psychospeak can go in alot of directions; dealing with argu-ments keeps a discussion steady.

About the education discussion it-self: as mentioned above, it was notWielenga’s position to be negative “to-wards Christian schools in general.”That would be foolish; he was not afool. His aim was to try to challenge anduntangle the far-too-tight knot of thetoo-much-assumed but questionable (to

him: objectionable) triangle of church-home-school. Perhaps that he dared tochallenge the triangle at all, and thenso thoroughly, and in the setting hedid, may altogether have led to somebefuddlement about what he was up to– but that is speculation, maybe justpsychobabble. In the final analysis: al-though one does not have to agree witheverything Wielenga said, it’s still truethat one can safely challenge the trian-gle and still take an entirely necessarypositive stance towards Christianschools and Reformed education.

Bill WielengaLynden, Washington


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Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delightin them.” Psalm 111:2The LORD has once again blessed our family with the birth of ahealthy baby. We announce the birth ofANDREW JUSTIN VANDERVELDEBorn July 31, 2002Andy and Brenda Vandervelde (nee Bartels)A little brother for Breanne, Laurissa, Natasha and Lindsey4034 Aberdeen Road, Beamsville, ON L0R 1B6

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him.Psalm 127:3With thankfulness to the Lord, who has made all things well, we an-nounce the birth of our son born on July 4, 2002 JOSIAH HENRY Brother for James, Sarah and Esther Henry and Sharon Salomons 23rd grandchild for Arina Salomons 28th grandchild for Jake and Nel Vandergaag4290 Sann Road, Beamsville, ON L0R 1B1

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Hymn 6The Lord, the Creator of life has again blessed our marriage by en-trusting to us another one of His covenant children. We to givethanks and praise to Him for making all things well. We have namedour precious sonMITCHELL DAVID Born on June 18th, 2002 Proud parents: David and Angelina Jans (nee Schutten) Proud brother: Brent15th grandchild for Gerald and Hettie Jans5th grandchild for Herman and Christina Schutten5th great-grandchild for Opa and Oma Schutten19th great-grandchild for Oma Blokker41st great-grandchild for Opa Noordegraaf2252 Hwy. 3, RR2, Canfield, ON N0A [email protected]

For Thou didst form my inward parts, Thou didst knit me together inmy mother’s womb. I praise Thee, for Thou art fearful and wonderful.Wonderful are thy works! Psalm 139:13, 14On July 8, 2002 The Lord once again blessed our marriage and familywith the arrival of a healthy baby boy, whom we namedCHARLES PETERMaurice and Rachel Vantil (nee Dam)Proud big sister Rebecca Rachelle40th great-grandchild for Gerrit Dam2989-265A Street, Aldergrove, BC V4W 3B6

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19With thankfulness to our heavenly Father for bringing our lives to-gether, we, SHAWN LOUIS VANDERVEEN and BRANDI LYN DENNY together with our parents Louis and Wanda VanderVeen and Robertand Donna Denny announce our upcoming marriage. The ceremony will take place, D.V. on August 31st, 2002 at 2:00p.m. in the Canadian Reformed Church of Grand Valley, Ontario. Rev. P. Aasman officiating. Future Address: 409 Smith Street, Apt. 1, PO Box 949, Arthur, ON N0G 1A0

Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8aWith joy and thankfulness to the Lord, Rick and Mary Lenting and Donand Irene VanGorkum are pleased to announce the marriage of theirchildrenRICHARD GERRIT and DEANNA CHRISTINEThe ceremony will take place, D.V. August 24th, 2002.Rev J. Slaa officiatingFuture address: 35 Queen Street, Strathroy, ON N7G 2H5

With joy and thankfulness to our heavenly father, Mr. and Mrs. JacobKooyman and Mr. and Mrs. Dick Schouten are pleased to announcethe marriage of their childrenKAREN JANE to NATHAN ANTHONYThe ceremony will take place, D.V., August 30th, 2002 at two o’clockin the Canadian Reformed Church at Yarrow, BC.Rev. M.H. VanLuik officiating.

Frank and Annette Ludwig are pleased to announce the marriage oftheir daughterTANYA BELINDA to SCOTT ALEXANDER BOUWERS son of Hendrix and Betty Bouwers. The wedding will take place, D.V., on Saturday, September 14, 2002,at eleven o’clock in the morning, in the Orangeville Canadian Re-formed Church, 55 C-Line, Orangeville, ON.Rev. R.E. Pot officiating.Future address: 50 Oxford Street, Orangeville, ON L9W 3P6

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I will be glad and rejoice in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, OMost High. Psalm 9:21962 ~ August 31 ~ 2002We the children and grandchildren ofJOHANNES AND FREDERIKA PETERS (nee Vogelzang)would like to announce their 40th Anniversary. We thank the Lord forsustaining them these last 40 years and pray that He continues to bewith them in the future.Congratulations Dad and Mom and Opa and Oma.Neerlandia, AB: Harry and Cathy Peters (nee Jissink)

Joshua, Chad, Travis and StaceyMarvin and Evelyn Peters (nee Onderwater)Richard and Fettie Peters (nee Steenbergen)

Jessica and JeremyFort Babine, BC: Wes and Rose Bredenhof

Josiah and JulieNot with us, but in our thoughts, is our son and brother, John WilliamPeters, whom the Lord took to Himself in 1986.Mailing Address: Box 3, Neerlandia, AB T0G 1R0

1977 ~ August 26 ~ 2002With thankfulness to our Heavenly Father for His guidance and lov-ing care, we joyfully announce the 25th Wedding Anniversary of ourparents LAWRENCE and GERALDINE BLOKKER (nee Linde) We pray that the Lord may continue to guide and bless them withHis love and care.

John and Jacqueline JansemaShanya

Les Blokker and Becky KingmaAmandaTylerDwayne

RR 2, 36 Ricker Road, Canfield, ON N0A 1C0

1967 ~ October 6 ~ 2002O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love en-dures forever. Psalm 106:1We give thanks to the Lord that He has kept our parentsHENRY and NELLIE BUITENHUISin his care for the past 35 years and we pray that He will continue tobless and keep them for many more years to come.Their thankful children and grandchildren:Caledonia, ON: Karen and Frank Schuurman

Matthew, Kaitlyn, Joshua, MeganBurlington, ON: Ralph and Lisa Buitenhuis

Carissa, BreanneAurora, ON: Sandra and Brad Kampen

Jessica, SpencerBurlington, ON: Stephen BuitenhuisTo celebrate this joyous occasion, an Open House will be held D.V. onSaturday, October 5, 2002 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in the EbenezerCanadian Reformed Church, Burlington.1299 Rosemary Crescent, Burlington, ON L7P 2P3

Anniversaries60th Wedding Anniversary

For He will command his angels concerning you to guard youin all your ways. Psalm 91:111942 ~ August 29 ~ 2002The Lord willing, on August 29, 2002, our dear parents, grand-parents and great-grandparents EVERT DE HAAN and GRIETJE DE HAAN (nee Groen) will have been united in marriage for 60 years. Although Dad isin a care home for Alzheimer patients, Mom is still able to visithim almost every day, and we as family are very thankful to theLord for all that He has given us in and with them. Langley, BC: Herman and Helen Aikema

Caroline and Ed VisscherMeghan and Madeleine

Cameron and Heidi AikemaJosiah and Levi

Vincent Aikeman and Charmain HudsonVanessa and Tim RookWarren

Bas and Alice de HaasMichaelLisa

Coquitlam, BC: Gerry and Debbie de HaanKamloops, BC: Klaas and Jenny Broersma

KeithGarrettConrad

Abbotsford, BC: Ed and Flo de HaanEd and Angela de Haan

JaredAngelaMatthewThomasRachel

Langley, BC: Ron and Shirley de HaanBrian de Haan and Jolena de HaasDeanna de Haan and Aren Van DykeTim de Haan and Kristi SchutteStan de Haan and Andrea VanderHorstCalvinNatalie

Abbotsford, BC: Bob and Clara de HaanJeremyHeidiAnthonyKimColin

Edmonton, AB: Henry and Carol KuntzTracyVictoria

#311 - 20897 - 57th Avenue, Langley, BC V3A 8L5


1977 ~ September 16 ~ 2002With thankfulness to the Lord for His great love, we announce the25th Wedding Anniversary of our parentsRON and DEBBIE VANDERZWAAG (nee Linde)Carman, MB: Ben and Jodie VanderzwaagGraysville, MB: Sarah and Kevin VisscherCarman, MB: Peter

DavidMariaLeah

Open House will be held, D.V., Saturday, September 14th at theirhome, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.Box 508, Carman, MB R0G 0J0

1968 ~ September 23 ~ 2002With thankfulness to the Lord, we announce the 35th Wedding An-niversary of our parents and grandparentsBILL and JOANNE VANDERPOL (nee Vanpopta)We are thankful that the Lord has brought them this far and pray thatHe will continue to guide and bless them, surrounding them with Hislove and care.

Helen and Wilfred BuilthuisBrendan, Karen, Ashley, Derek, Jodi

Julia and Derek HoogstraKyle, Kristin, Shane

Stan and Kate VanderpolJoshua

Evelyn and Fred NieuwenhuisDarlene and John Smith

JoelElizabethRuth†

8525 Wildwood Place, Surrey, BC V4N [email protected]

September 9, 1977 ~ September 9, 2002Psalm 48:1 Great is the LORD and worthy of all praise.With thankfulness to our heavenly Father who has kept them in Hiscare, we joyfully announce the 25th Wedding Anniversary of our par-ents and grandparents ED and ALICE KELLY (nee Jansema) May the Lord continue to be with them in the years to come.Dunnville, ON: Harm and Annette Kelly

Joshua, Michael†Edward Kelly and Maria VanEerdeAlida Kelly and Henry BosRosalieMelissaMatthewAndrew

Open house will be held, D.V. on September 14, 2002 in the Atter-cliffe Canadian Reformed Church basement from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.RR 9, Dunnville, ON N1A 2W8

September 10, 1977 ~ September 10, 2002And above all these put on love, which binds everything together inperfect harmony. Colossians 3:14With thankfulness to our heavenly Father, who has kept them in Hiscare, we joyfully announce the 25th Wedding Anniversary of ourparentsPETER and ELLIE BUIST (nee Nyenhuis)Ottawa, ON: Irene

KarinDianaRichard

33 Phylis Street, Nepean, ON K2J 1W5

Obituaries

July 14, 1955 – August 1, 2002Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought noth-ing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we havefood and clothing, we will be content with that. 1 Timothy 6:6-8Peacefully at home, the Lord, in His infinite wisdom and mercytook home into His eternal glory, my beloved husband and ourdear fatherGEORGE LLOYD BURNS at the age of 47 years.

Irene Burns (nee Hordyk)Leah, Kara, Shannon and Ethan

704 Spring Garden Road, Burlington, ON L7T 1J3

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live withHim. Romans 6:8The Lord took unto Himself our son, brother-in-law and uncleGEORGE LLOYD BURNS at the age of 47 years.Survived by his wife Irene, and four children, Leah, Kara, Shannon and EthanParents,

Art and Riet HordykBrothers and wives,

Roy and Jane HordykAmanda, Stephanie and Ryan

Harry and Cynthia HordykJodi, Kaitlin, Lisa and Danny

Andrew and Kerri HordykMacKenzie and Bailey

Corresponding Address:Art Hordyk3295 Spruce Avenue, Burlington, ON L7N 1J5

t t t t t


September 5, 1907 - July 26, 2002For I will yet praise Him my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:6The Lord at his time took unto Himself our dear mother, grand-mother and great-grandmotherJANNA ENDEMAN (nee Brower)H.J. and Henny EndemanHarry and Mary DewittJohan and Reta EndemanHarold and Grace JonkerBert and Jane KomdeurEgbert and Dianne Vinke23 grandchildren, 72 great-grandchildrenPredeceased by 2 granddaughtersL Komdeur40 Lake Crest Trail, Brampton, Ontario L6Z 1S6

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wastingaway, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For ourlight and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternalglory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on whatis seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary,but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18In His time, after a short illness, the Lord took to Himself ourdearly beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmotherMARRY MOESKER-RUITENon July 25, 2002 at the age of 76 years. She was predeceased byher husband Hendrik in 1991 and by her son-in-law CharlesRoodzant on July 18, 2002. Neerlandia, AB: Frieda Roodzant-Moesker Carman, MB: Jack and Christina Moesker

Erica and Hugo and children, Henry, Marsha, Karen and Gerry, Carolyn, John, Julia, James

Neerlandia, AB: Jane and Fred Breukelman Mary and Eric and children, Gerry and Karen, Angela and Walter and children, Henrietta, Tracy and Paul, Francine, Betty-Anne

Wilma and Harold WierengaMarian, Deanna, Jolene, Nicole

Byford, WA: James and Leanne Moesker Jesse, Derek, Danielle, Joshua, Aaron

Abbotsford, BC: Mary and Maurice Thalen Amanda, Joshua

Guelph, ON: Henry and Dianne Moesker Alex, Dylan, Tia, Ashley

The funeral ceremony took place on July 31, 2002 in Neerlandia,AB with Rev. W.B. Slomp officiating. Box 185, Neerlandia, AB T0G 1R0

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge ofGod! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyondtracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who hasbeen his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that Godshould repay him? For from him and through him and to him areall things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33-36In His incomprehensible wisdom, the Lord suddenly took tohimself in glory my beloved husband and our brother-in-lawCHARLES GEORGE ROODZANTat the age of 33 years, after 11 months of marriage. Neerlandia, AB: Frieda Roodzant-Moesker Carman, MB: Jack and Christina MoeskerNeerlandia, AB: Fred and Jane Breukelman

Harold and Wilma Wierenga Byford, WA: James and Leanne Moesker Abbotsford, BC: Maurice and Mary Thalen Guelph, ON: Henry and Dianne Moesker and numerous nephews and nieces.He went home to his Lord and could welcome there his mother-in-law who died on the day of his funeral on July 25th. Rev. Tiggelaar officiated at the funeral. Box 185, Neerlandia, AB T0G 1R0

On Friday, August 9, 2002, the Lord in His providential caretook home to Himself into “a house not made with hands, buteternally in the heavens” (1 Corinthians 5:1) our dear wife,mother and grandmother, His child GRACE VAN ZANDWYK in her 77th year.Abbotsford, BC: Len Van ZandwykAldergrove, BC: Elma Kuntz

John KuntzVancouver, BC: Ben Van ZandwykPretoria, R.S.A. Christine Hordijk

Leo HordijkEdmonton, AB: Dave Van Zandwyk

Irene SierinkPeter Van ZandwykSue Van Zandwyk

and 12 grandchildren.Belmont Ridge, 101-1973 Winfield Drive, Abbotsford, BC V3G 1K6

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Teaching PositionsHomeleigh Christian School invites applications for aTEACHER/PRINCIPAL positionin a Primary School, commencing January 2003.Homeleigh Christian School is a two teacher Primary School at Mas-terton in New Zealand, operating from years 1 to 8. Its constitution up-holds the Reformed Faith and Doctrines. Applicants must be com-mitted to the Reformed Faith and to Christian Education.For more information contact:K. Verbeek on 0064063797595 or Email: [email protected]

The Board of John Calvin School, Smithville expects to be in need of aPRIMARY TEACHERin the fall of this year.Any interested and qualified person is urged to call for further detailsand apply for this position. For information contact the principal, Mr. F.C. Ludwig, at (905) 957-2341 (school) or (905) 957-3111 (home) Applications may be addressed to: Education Committee c/o Mrs. J. Boverhof, Secretary John Calvin School 320 Station St., P.O. Box 280, Smithville, ON L0R 2A0

Tinkering with Creation?The Promise and Perils of Genetic EngineeringEdited by Cornelis Van Dam

The possibilities of human ingenuity and scientificadvances seem to be limitless in our day. Plants are ge-netically modified to produce food that meets prede-termined criteria. Basic building blocks of life are be-ing manipulated for healing diseases and improvinghealth. However, the same basic techniques are usedto produce cloned animals and there is much talkabout doing the same with humans. Such scientific ac-tivities raise many questions.

Are we in this age of genetic engineering tinkeringwith creation and playing God? What are the properperimeters and limits for human inquiry so that the dis-tinction of Creator and creature is maintained?

Other questions arise. With respect to geneticallymodified foods, is any risk involved in consumingthem? What safeguards are in place and how shouldwe as Christians approach this area? When it comesto medical research, questions arise as well. Whatshould be our attitude as Christians to these new de-velopments and techniques?

The Burlington Reformed Study Centre orga-nized two public evenings of speeches and discus-sions to address these issues. This book will enableyou to benefit from what was said during those en-riching hours.

Soft Cover, 112 pages . . . .Can. $8.25, US. $6.45ISBN 0-88756-082-2

ORDER FROM YOUR FAVOURITE BOOKSTORE OR FROM

PREMIER PUBLISHINGOne Beghin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2J 3X5

Peter Wildeman(DUTCH CONCERT ORGANIST)

IN CONCERT with pianist Joyce Postmus

Friday, September 27, 2002 St. Thomas Anglican Church

99 Ontario St., St. Catharines, ON Concert Time 8:00 p.m.

Participating will be the 100 voices of the HosannaMixed Choir directed by Herman den Hollander with

organist John VanderLaan

Saturday, September 28, 2002 Central Presbyterian Church

at Caroline and Charlton in Hamilton, ON Concert Time: 7:30 p.m.

Participating will be the 70 voices of the MattaniahChristian Male Choir, directed by

Herman den Hollander and organist Andre Knevel

Admission at the door. $10 p.p. and $6 for students.

For tickets or information please call John at

905-648-3170 (also visit the website of Peter at www.peterwildeman.nl)


Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m.Bowmanville

Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, Scugog Street(Willem will not participate in this one.)

Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.Owen Sound

Canadian Reformed Church

Friday, October 25 at 8:00 p.m.Burlington

Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Church, Dynes Road

Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 p.m.York

Christian Reformed Church

Friday, September 20 at 8:00 p.m.Brampton

Second Christian Reformed Church, corner of Steeles and McLaughlin

Saturday, September 21 at 7:30 p.m.London

St. Paul’s Anglican Church

Friday, October 18 at 8:00 p.m.Guelph

Church of Our Lady RC

Saturday, October 19 at 8:00 p.m.Ancaster

Rehoboth United Reformed Church, 77 Glancaster Road

Saturday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m.Trenton

Christian Reformed Church

Organ, Piano and Flute

Concert SeriesMartin Zonnenberg, organ/piano

Willem van Suijdam, organ/piano

Marjolein de Wit, flute

Liberation ChoirFall Concert Series

2002

Director: Willem van SuijdamOrgan: Ian Sadler

Admission $10.00Tickets are available at the door or from choir members

in advance.All tickets are general admission. Arrive early as seating

is on a first come, first served basis.

For more information, please contact The Music Group at(905) 631-1929 or [email protected]

Liberation Choir10th Anniversary

Concert

Saturday, May 23, 2003

DirectorWillem van Suijdam

Guelph SymphonyOrchestra

Director: Simon Irving

Organ and Piano:Martin Zonnenberg & Andre Knevel

Flute: Marjolein de WitSoprano solos: Colleen Greidanus

The Great Hall, Hamilton PlaceFor more information, call (905) 631-1929

All concertsadmission

$10.00

Make

plans

early!

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HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Viola Van Otterloo5611 E. Amherst AvenueDenver, CO 80222 - 7014303-759-0984

In keeping with our promise to educate our children inthe Reformed faith, we are asking for your support in thecontinuing operation of our school. Heritage ChristianSchool faces a deficit of $17,000 for the coming year.Please prayerfully consider assisting our school.

I would like to support Heritage Christian School witha donation of

____ $50 ____ $75 ____ $100 ____ $250 ____ $500

Other__________________________________________

Name ________________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City ______________________ Zip Code __________

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Mark vander VeldeSales Representative

The Theological College of the Canadian ReformedChurches

INVITES DONATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THENEWLY INAUGURATED

FOREIGN STUDENT BURSARY FUND

This is an opportunity to participate in the spreading of thegospel in faraway lands through your support of needyforeign students who desire, and are academically quali-fied, to study at our College.Gifts of any size are welcome and those of $10.00 and upqualify for a receipt for income tax purposes.Please remit to the College at the following address, withthe cheque clearly identified as intended for the

“FOREIGN STUDENT BURSARY FUND”The Theological College of

the Canadian Reformed Churches110 West 27th Street, Hamilton, ON L9C 5A1

CLARION, AUGUST 30, 2002

Maranatha HomesBurlington, Ontario

This award-winning Senior Citizen Home is locatedclose to Ebenezer Canadian Reformed Church. Ithas audio hookup for the church services in everyapartment and a weekly evening video church ser-vice presentation provided for by Ebenezer. Monthlyrent is geared to income.

Information from:

Mrs. Rosanne van der Woerd109-3260 New Street, Burlington, ON L7N 3L4

(905-639-9054)or:

Arie J. Hordyk 2212 Headon Road, Burlington, ON L7M 3W7

(905-331-7625)Email: [email protected]

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A professional who honours the Lord’s Day!

It is my privilege to assist you withcompetence and confidentiality in allyour buying and selling needs.

Garden City Realty Inc., Realtor720 guelph lineburlington, ontario L7R 4E2bus: (905) 333-3500res: 333-1753 fax: 333-3616

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Bus: (905) 304-3303Fax: (905) 574-1450Res: (905) 648-7705

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surrounding areas.

John van AndelSales Representative

MMEEMMBBEERR

110000%% CCLLUUBB

Peter de JongAgent

Realty ProfessionalsEach Office Independently Owned and Operated

#10 - 6020 1A Street S.W.Calgary, Alberta T2H 0G3

Bus: (403) 259-4141Fax: (403) 259-4305Cell: (403) 818-7310

FOR RENTA bright and spacious

2 BEDROOM BASEMENT APARTMENTin the Glanbrook area

Enjoy “country-living just minutes from the city” of Hamilton!

CALL JOHN OR WILMA AT (905) 692-9096

ROOM FOR RENT IN GUELPHSeeking Male Occupant

Call:519-766-4506

the canadian reformed magazine volume 51, no. 18, august...

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