Psalm 100:4-5: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.” On Monday all our Canadian churches will have a Thanksgiving Day worship service. But “thanks” is not…
LESSON 9: What Does It Mean To Be Reformed? BIBLE READING: John 3:1-21 (Click here for printable version) The Free Reformed Churches want to be reformed in their doctrine and practice; that is, to be confessionally balanced and Scripturally sound. This is what we considered in the previous chapters. It may be useful to…
Question: What would be the best approach if you were to explain our utter depravity and sinful nature to someone? Answer: A good way to teach someone what total depravity is (I think) would be: Step 1: Give the definition. Something like this: Total depravity is the reality that we are completely corrupted by…
The Question: I have a Catholic friend and we have been discussing Mary (the mother of Jesus) in the Bible. He holds to her as a Saintly figure, Holy, (and what a would view Mary as). I was looking for some feedback if that’s ok. What would be a good way to explain to them…
The Question: “What about the topic of women wearing hats in church?” Answer: The short answer is that in the FRC there is no agreement among us on women wearing hats in church (official or otherwise). Some see the command in 1 Corinthians 11 as cultural and no longer applicable, and others see it…
LESSON 8: The Testimony of 1953 BIBLE READING: John 15 (Click here for printable version) It may be useful, as we study the principles of the Free Reformed Churches, to consider an official document made up by the Synod of 1953 of the Free Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken). Due to concerns…
Calling all Young People! An elder in the URC churches is taking a survery—and he wants you to participate. The survey is anonymous, takes 1 and 1/2 minutes (or less), and is on the use and view of marijuana. He’s hoping he can get many young people between the ages of 15 and 30 to…
First I have to say to you all: Congratulations! Your “Ask a Pastor” questions have completely overwhelmed us pastors and have now officially become a backlog, a logjam, a complete gridlock. However you want to call it, the list of questions is long, and the list of pastors to answer them… well, not so long.…
Since summer is the time of weddings, that means spring (for the pastor) is the season for premarital counseling. Once a week (or so) my wife and I find ourselves sitting with a stary-eyed couple, listening as they gush about how easy it is for them to work through their arguments together (Oh, they have…
Question: In the beginning God made everything, and all He made was perfect. But the serpent (Satan) that God made sinned against him. He tempted Eve to eat from the tree that God told them not to eat from. How, all God made was perfect? Everything God made was perfect but how come the serpent…
