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Covenant Reformed News - September 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Sister and Other Church Relationships
In harmony with the principles of holy Scripture and our Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt), the PRC through its Committee for Contact with Other Churches maintain full sister church relationships with three foreign churches and a corresponding relationship with one other foreign denomination.
Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland (161)
Website
83 Clarence Street,
Ballymena BT43 5DR, Northern Ireland
Services: 11:00 A.M. & 6:00 P.M.
Pastor: Rev. Angus Stewart
7 Lislunnan Rd.
Kells, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
Northern Ireland BT42 3NR
Phone: (from U.S.A.) 011 (44) 28 25 891 851
View items...Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore (114)
11, Jalan Mesin #04-00
Standard Industrial Building
Singapore 368813
Worship Services: 9:30 A.M. & 2:00 P.M.
Pastors: Josiah Tan (2021) and Marcus Wee (2022)
Pastor J. Tan
Pastor M. Wee
148 Bishan Street 11 #06-113
Singapore 570148
View items...Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Australia (EPC) (2)
For information on this small Presbyterian denomination in Australia with whom the PRCA have a "corresponding relationship", visit their website.
View items...Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (11)
Berean PRC, Antipolo City - Pastors: Rev. V. Ibe; Rev. L. Trinidad (emeritus)
Provident PRC - Pastor:
View items...
Reformed News Asia - August 2018
- Published in Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore
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Covenant Reformed News - August 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
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New Salt Shakers Magazine - July 2018 (#50)
- Published in Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore
"Covenant Keepers", the youth ministry of the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore (our sister church), has now released the July 2018 issue of "Salt Shakers" (#50),their youth magazine.
The JULY 2018 issue of "SS" is once again filled with interesting and instructive articles, and our PRC young people especially are encouraged to make it part of their reading content.
Below you will find a note from the "SS" Committee introducing the contents of this issue and images of the cover and table of contents. The entire issue is also attached here in pdf form.
CONTENTS
Editorial: A Reflection on Christian Liberty (I) - Chua Lee Yang
Scripture's Covenant Youth (XII) Joash - Prof. Herman Hanko
Are Unbelievers in God's Image? (VIII) - Rev. Angus Stewart
Holiness as Young Adults (III) - Wee Gim Theng
Quit You Like Men (II) - Woon Tian Loong
Marriage is Not For Me (II) - Marcus and Tze Yan Wee
Thy Might Sets Fast The Mountains - Jemima Joy Boon
The Importance of Reading for Every Christian (I) - Rev. Arie Den Hartog
The Care of This World (I) - Jean Lim
The Christian in The World (I) - Beverly Tan
A Succourer of Many - Daisy Lim
The Life of Rev. Herman Hoeksema - Prof. David J. Engelsma
The Deposition of Elders - Rev. Nathan Langerak
Dear Readers,
Welcome to another edition of the Salt Shakers! We thank our writers for contributing to another worthwhile edition
of this distinctively Reformed magazine, as well as the staff who have put the magazine together. The Salt Shakers
maintains a good balance of younger and older writers, local and foreign. We believe that this practice uniquely
expresses our diversity and unity in the Reformed faith, and manifests the catholicity of the church of Jesus Christ.
In this issue, Prof. David Engelsma pens an intriguing account of the PRC’s founding father – Rev. Herman Hoeksema.
Besides developing the truth of God’s gracious and unconditional covenant with His people in Jesus Christ, Hoeksema
was also instrumental in developing the truth of the unbreakable bond of marriage. Hoeksema saw the deeply
erroneous view of divorce and remarriage, held in many Reformed and Presbyterian churches, that allowed the socalled
“innocent party” of a divorce to remarry. Maintaining his conviction on Scripture’s instruction, Hoeksema
insisted that only physical death breaks the marriage bond because marriage is a picture of God’s unbreakable covenant
of grace with His people in Jesus Christ. The young people in CERC and her sister churches marry in the conviction
of this truth today. We have much to be grateful for Rev. Hoeksema.
It may interest our readers to know that Rev. Hoeksema died in the same year that Singapore became an independent
nation: 1965. Slightly over fifty years since the Lord’s servant went to glory, not many people today would know about
him. But every member of CERC ought to be familiar with his writings. His Reformed Dogmatics, for example, ought
to be standard reading for every office-bearer of CERC.
Rev. den Hartog presses the necessity of reading for every Reformed believer in another article. Where smartphones,
tablets and the mobile internet reign in everyday life today, it is imperative for the Reformed believer to make reading
a vital habit in his life. Satan, the world, and our sinful flesh strive ferociously to extinguish this duty. Our enemies
know that God’s people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge. Let it never be said that it was because we rejected
knowledge (Hos. 4:6).
Parents are instructed to read, and to pass on their reading habits to their children. Covenant children must know
and see that their parents are readers of habit. There is every reason for joy when children know that their parents
enjoy reading, and through reading, are knowledgeable parents. Only by habitual and disciplined reading can parents
faithfully and effectively instruct their covenant children in the Reformed faith.
The Reformed Free Publishing Association (RFPA) is an excellent source of distinctively Reformed literature. Parents
must be encouraged to be book club members so that they an excellent source of reading material for themselves and
their children.
Blessed reading!
Aaron
Covenant PRC, N. Ireland Newsletter - August 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena, NI
17 August, 2018
Dear saints in the Protestant Reformed Churches,
BRF Conference
The British Reformed Fellowship (BRF) Conference at Hebron Hall, Cardiff in Wales (21-28 July) was the most international of the 15 biennial conferences to date. Apart from those from the various parts of the British Isles, saints flew in from Canada, the US, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Singapore, and Australia, meaning that the only continent that was not included was Africa.
We were delighted that as many as 116 people booked in for the conference and we had 11 day visitors, most of whom came back again and again! The size and catholicity of the gathering, plus the fine Welsh venue, made for what many thought was the best BRF conference yet for fellowship. The Lord also gave us sunny and warm weather.
Prof. David Engelsma and Rev. Andy Lanning were warmly welcomed back as our main speakers. Because of her recent cancer operation, sadly Mrs. Ruth Engelsma was unable to be with us.
Our two American brethren developed the conference theme of “The Reformed Family—According to the Word of God” in their 6 main conference addresses: “The Divine Origin of the Family” (Rev. Lanning), “The Authoritative Content of the Gospel” (Prof. Engelsma), “The God-Fearing Man and His Virtuous Wife” (Rev. Lanning), “The Reformed Family: Parents and Children” (Prof. Engelsma), “It Is Good to Be Single” (Rev. Lanning), and “Unbiblical Divorce and Adulterous Remarriage: A Scandal” (Prof. Engelsma). The family is a beautiful, biblical subject that is often unfolded in preaching and writing in our circles, yet the speeches were marked not only by their depth but also by their freshness!
Rev. Martyn McGeown's opening address (“Hating Our Family: Necessary for Christian Discipleship”), the Sunday sermons by Rev. Lanning and myself (“The God of the Living” and “The Eunuchs Who Keep God's Sabbaths”), Mr. Pete Adams' presentation (“The Family and Education”), and Prof. Engelsma's special lecture (“Spousal Abuse in the Christian Community”) developed important aspects of the grand theme of the family.
Thanks to the sterling work of Stephen Murray, all of these 11 presentations can be watched free online, along with the videos of the 7 question and answer sessions that followed the 6 main speeches and the special lecture by Rev. Lanning and Prof. Engelsma ( www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Y5Eq5r6y2EGXxIszbEuErsISIdc4Uvd ).
These 11 addresses will soon be made into attractive box sets of CDs and DVDs that will be available for sale at £12 in the UK (inc. P&P). The cost is $20 for those in America. Mary and I will be traveling to the US on 24 September, DV. If you place an order with us before then (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), we can bring your box set with us in our luggage. Otherwise, we will post/mail it to you from Northern Ireland. You can pay us through Mary's US bank account (check payable to “Mary Stewart” and mail it (with your name and address) to Mr. Fred Hanko, 7341 Pinegrove Dr., Jenison, MI 49428) or the Reformed Free Publishing Association (RFPA), which will take your payment from the CPRC Bookstore's bill.
Despite the difficulty of getting a proper range of books, box sets, and pamphlets from the CPRC Bookstore in Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea to the conference on Wales, we still managed to sell almost $1,000 of Reformed materials. Beside this, a number of people bought individual issues of the British Reformed Journal and/or subscribed to this semi-annual periodical (for ways of doing the latter, see www.britishreformed.org/membership).
The membership of the British Reformed Fellowship voted to hold the next conference in Castlewellan Castle, Northern Ireland (11-18 July, 2020). The glorious subject is to be union with Jesus Christ. Having served the BRF conferences so well in the past, Prof. Engelsma and Rev. Lanning were chosen as the two main speakers. Bear this in mind over the next two years, for hopefully we may see you there!
CPRC
A number of this year's conferees from outside Europe spent time in Northern Ireland before and/or after the week in Wales. Thus the CPRC had Brazilian, American, Singaporean, Canadian, and Australian visitors on the three Lord's days before, and the two Sundays after, the conference. Some of our international guests were also able to join us at the congregational barbecue at the CPRC manse (3 August). Communion with Reformed believers from various parts of the world is always very encouraging for the members of the CPRC!
The latest addition to the CPRC Bookstore, with its more than 150 titles, is Behold, I Come Quickly (www.cprf.co.uk/bookstore.htm). This excellent little volume by Prof. Engelsma and Rev. Lanning consists of the ten main speeches at the previous BRF conference in 2016 and costs just £5. It is also available from various Protestant Reformed congregations in America and Canada, especially Byron Center PRC, the main distributor in North America; the RFPA; the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church (CERC) in Singapore; the Protestant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (PRCP); and (soon) Launceston Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) of Australia.
The youngest member of the CPRC is now little Grace Mae Crossett, daughter of David and Kristin (née Prins). Grace was baptized on Sunday, 8 July, with members of the Prins family from Michigan being present for the occasion.
The last couple of months have been a somewhat lean period for translations (www.cprf.co.uk/languages.htm). Our thanks to Ivan Ortu in Sardinia (6 Italian), and Raoul and Tania Valeev in Belgium (1 Russian). Currently, Carol Nienhuis is helping Mary by linking our many hundreds of translations. When these and many other links and webpages are converted to the new style, the whole CPRC website will be mobile friendly and have a new look (www.cprc.co.uk).
I am to speak at the RFPA Annual Meeting on “The RFPA, the CPRC, and the Spread of the Truth” in Grace PRC, Grand Rapids on Thursday, 27 September at 7:30 P.M. I will be preaching at both of the Sunday services in Wingham PRC in Ontario (30 September) and at the evening Lord's day service in Zion PRC (7 October), D.V. It will be good to meet the saints in both of these churches for the first time. Other speaking details of the trip have not yet been finalized. Rev. Ken Koole will be preaching in Ballymena in our absence, and for the Limerick Reformed Fellowship (LRF).
Thank you for your support and prayers. May the Lord continue to bless and keep you, your families and your churches!
Rev. Angus & Mary Stewart
Covenant Reformed News - July 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
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Covenant Reformed News - June 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
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Reformed News Asia - June 2018
- Published in Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore
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Covenant PRC, N. Ireland Newsletter - June 2018
- Published in Covenant PRC Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Covenant Protestant Reformed Church
Ballymena, NI
28 June, 2018
Dear saints in the Protestant Reformed Churches,
CPRC News
Family visitation in the CPRC has included 24 meetings on 11 different days over 2 weeks (7-21 May). Our Scripture passage this year was Ephesians 5:22-6:8, which deals with the respective callings of husbands, wives, children, fathers, and employees. As always, family visitation was a profitable exercise. Only one visit remains, that with one of our members who is currently studying at a university in Wales.
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 28 May included reports by Stephen Murray (audio-visual), Julian Kennedy (financial), and Rev. Martyn McGeown (missionary). I spoke on our plans for the future, covering events, speakers, books, etc., involving the CPRC in the next year, DV.
In the last year, our best-selling book was Called to Watch for Christ Return by Rev. McGeown, and our best-selling box set (CD or DVD) was “Celebrating 500 Years of the Reformation,” consisting of the 10 speeches and sermons by Prof. Engelsma in the CPRC in the autumn of 2017. The visitors on the written pages of our website (www.cprc.co.uk) have averaged 1,880 per day over the last year, which marks steady growth year on year.
In January - May, 2018, our most hit audio was “Job's Comfort and Our Comfort” (Lord's Day 1). Over the same period, the 10 countries that listened most to CPRC sermons were, in order, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, China, Israel, Australia, Qatar, Canada, and South Korea. Turning to the top 10 countries for the written pages on our main website for the first 5 months in 2018, we have the United States, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Peru, Italy, Russia, Germany, and Hungary. If we remove from this list the English-speaking nations (USA at #1, UK at #5, and the Netherlands at #2, for almost all the Dutch speak English), there is a strong correlation between the remaining 7 countries included in the top 10 and the languages in which we have a lot of translations: Italian, Portuguese, Hungarian, German, Indonesian, Spanish, and Russian.
The CPRC has (or very soon will have) two new lady members. First, we received the membership papers of Larisa McGeown from First Holland PRC (6 June). Second, Grace Mae was born to David and Kristin Crossett (20 June); she is to be baptized this Sunday (1 July).
Grace Mae Crossett with big sister Sophie
Our Tuesday morning Bible study has moved to the topic of the Old Testament sacrifices. Currently, we are working our way through the 6 main stages in offering bloody sacrifices. So far, we have covered the presentation of the animal, the laying of hands upon the beast, and its slaughter, in connection with our Saviour's cross.
U.S. Trip
This year, I was the CPRC delegate to the Synod at Byron Center PRC in mid June, my first time at the PRC's broadest assembly since 2002. I hasten to add that there were various good and wholly innocent reasons for my lengthy absence, including that attending Synod means that the CPRC goes without live preaching for a Sunday. This is the first year that Mary's parents will not be able to come to the biennial British Reformed Fellowship (BRF) Conference and the opportunity to stay with them tipped the balance in favour of going to Synod.
It was good to witness the working of Synod, especially since our congregation has no broader assemblies on this side of the Atlantic. I enjoyed fellowship with the ministers, elders, and professors, as well as the brethren from the Philippines and Singapore. I was also pleasantly surprised that I was able to watch other people working while I was largely inactive, with less difficulty than I had expected!
While in Grand Rapids, I gave a speech on “Gottschalk: Medieval Confessor of God's Absolute Sovereignty” in Georgetown PRC and sponsored by Trinity PRC (13 June). This amazing ninth-century monk spent some two decades under house arrest for teaching, by God's Spirit, the truth of unconditional election and reprobation, particular atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. He even boldly and uncompromisingly denied the well-meant gospel offer, in the faithful tradition of Augustine of Hippo and Fulgentius of Ruspe, declaring, “All those whom God wills to be saved (I Tm 2:4) are without doubt saved, nor can any be saved but those God wills to be saved. Nor is there any one whom God wills to be saved, and is not saved, since our God has done all things whatever he willed [Ps. 135:6]. They therefore are all saved—all whom he wills to be saved.” The video of the Gottschalk lecture is on-line, including the slides and the Q. & A. session (www.youtube. com/watch?v=9hKDOcaTbFA).
Our Lord's day in America (17 June) was spent in Chicagoland in 2 churches we had not seen for some years. First, I preached in Crete PRC (Jude 20-21), after we joined the saints the previous day for their annual church picnic. Second, I spoke in Bethel PRC (II Kings 6:8-23), where I also gave a PowerPoint presentation on the witness of the CPRC. Our thanks to Phil and Karen Van Baren and Fred and Rose Iwema for their kind hospitality.
Mary and I then flew to Washington DC for a few days of informative and enjoyable sightseeing at the capital, including Arlington National Cemetery. Arriving in Dublin on Saturday, I preached in the Limerick Reformed Fellowship (LRF), while Rev. McGeown was in the CPRC.
We brought back a good weight of RFPA books, especially Here We Stand, edited by Prof. Cammenga, and The Belgic Confession: A Commentary, volume 1, by Prof. Engelsma. Chief among the pamphlets we transported home are “The Bible Versus Mormonism” by Rev. Hanko and “Spousal Abuse in the Reformed Community” by Prof. Engelsma. All such materials help our witness to God's truth, and encourage saints in the British Isles and other parts of the world.
Others
On 28 April, Marco Barone was interviewed live by phone on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio in Pennsylvania in connection with his fine book, Luther’s Augustinian Theology of the Cross: The Augustinianism of Martin Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation and the Origins of Modern Philosophy of Religion (www.ironsharpens ironradio.com/podcast/april-26-2018-show-with-marco-barone-on-luthers-augustinian-theology-of-the-cross). His article on the “500th Anniversary of Martin Luther's Heidelberg Disputation” was published in the English Churchman (27 April & 4 May).
Our thanks to saints from England, Northern Ireland, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois who recently donated to the CPRC Translators Fund. The last 3 boxes of books we posted out went to 2 ministers in Kenya and a Brazilian pastor in the Azores, a cluster of islands in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to Portugal. In the last couple of months, we added 14 translations to our website: Hungarian 7, Greek 4, Swahili 2, and Portuguese 1 (www.cprf.co.uk/languages.htm).
We are now just a few weeks from the 2018 BRF Family Conference on “The Reformed Family—According to the Word of God” with Prof. D. J. Engelsma and Rev. A. Lanning in S. Wales (21-28 July). We are delighted that as many as 108 people are booked in, including a good number of our translators.
Some 4,500 copies of the new BRF book, Behold, I Come Quickly, consisting of the speeches and sermons at the 2016 BRF Conference are due to be published any day now. This excellent little volume will be available from many PR congregations in America and Canada, the churches in the Philippines and Singapore, and the CPRC Bookstore of course.
Thank you for your interest and your prayers. May the Lord continue to bless and keep you!
Rev. Angus & Mary Stewart
Latest Salt Shaker Issue - May 2018 (#49)
- Published in Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore
"Covenant Keepers", the youth ministry of the Covenant Evangelical Reformed Church of Singapore (our sister church), has now released the May 2018 issue of "Salt Shakers" (#49),their bi-monthly youth magazine.
The May 2018 issue of "SS" is once again filled with interesting and instructive articles, and our PRC young people especially are encouraged to make it part of their reading content.
Below you will find a note from the "SS" Committee introducing the contents of this issue and images of the cover and table of contents. The entire issue is also attached here in pdf form.
In the May 2018 issue:
Augustine's Confessions - Aaron Lim
Scripture's Covenant Youth (XII): David - Prof. Herman Hanko
Are Unbelievers in God's Image? (VII) - Rev. Angus Stewart
An Example of Holiness - Rev. Arie Den Hartog
Holiness as Young Adults (II) - Wee Gim Theng
Fellowship in Singing -Matthias Wee
Grandparents in the Covenant Home - Rev. Arie Den Hartog
Book Review: Less Than The Least - Tang Jee Fung
Honouring God in Music - Lim Ruo Xi
Thoughts on Travelling - Cheryl Lim
Daily Honouring - Marcus Boon
The Abuse of Christian Women by Their Christian Husbands - Prof. David Engelsma
Reformed Polemics (III): Reformed Polemics for the Youth - Lim Yang Zhi
Last Issue's Riddle:
A creature so lowly, moving so slowly,
Dust is my meat, yet it is sweet.
The prince who has power with God and with men,
Is likened to me, as vile as I am.
Fear not what man may do unto you;
Like so much fleece they shall be consumed.
Prepared by God to devour and rend,
That some may repent, and others be damned.
Find me in a desolate place,
Where I will live beyond Time's days.
Answer: A Worm! (Genesis 32:28; Isaiah 41:14; etc.)
Congratulations to our sharp readers who solved it! Make sure to try the new one for May's issue!
Remember to pass the salt!
Pro Rege,
Chua Lee Yang
On Behalf of the Salt Shakers Committee