The Eeklo Evangelical Church was founded in 1980 by Pastor Jacobus De Feyter from the Netherlands. He, his wife and six children had moved ‘just down the road’ into Belgium, an expression betraying the fact that Eeklo (a town of about 20,000 inhabitants) lies near the Dutch border. They began gospel services in various…
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‘Malden, his birthplace. The Ocean, his sepulchre. Converted Burmans, and the Burman Bible, his monument. His record is on high’. So runs an inscription in the Baptist meeting-house in Malden, Massachusetts. It commemorates the life and work of Adoniram Judson Jr (1788-1850), eldest son of Adoniram Judson (1752-1826), a Congregationalist minister, and his wife…
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Government: A federal, parliamentary democracy, under a constitutional monarch (King Albert II). Neighbouring countries: Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Brussels is the headquarters of NATO and the EU. Area: 11,787 square miles. Environment: A temperate, moist climate. There are low-lying, coastal plains in the north-west and highlands (the Ardennes Forest) in the south-east. About…
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Today’s society is geared for entertainment. In a perceptive analysis of the effect of television on culture, Neil Postman has written: ‘When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainment, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become…
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‘Doomsday massacre warnings "ignored".’ That was the headline of an article in the Daily Telegraph on 31 March 2000. The article concerned the Ugandan cult, Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, responsible for the killing of almost a thousand of its followers. Details of this cult tragedy are chilling and…
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You probably know that, historically, Reformed and Puritan preaching was 'experimental' preaching. But do you understand what is meant by the term experimental or experiental? The term comes from the Latin word experimentum, derived from a verb which means to 'try, test, prove, or put to the test'. The same verb can also mean…
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The apostle John had a vision of God holding in his hand a scroll that was sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1-7). But no one was able to open the scroll, so he wept. Then an elder spoke to him, saying, 'Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has…
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More than 40 years ago, in a tiny country Methodist church in rural Upper Michigan, I preached a sermon on patience. I still have the notes, but not the patience, especially when I’m waiting at the post office, in the supermarket checkout line, or cooling my heels waiting for a stalled elevator. Environment Of…
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The Bible teaches that God has left his hallmark on creation so that all people may know that there is a Creator. The apostle Paul says: ‘His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse’ (Romans…
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In the previous two articles we saw that Scripture is the source of true wisdom and that the gospel of Christ is the embodiment of God’s wisdom. In this final article we consider how the divine wisdom applies to us personally. The apostle Paul describes the gospel as ‘the hidden wisdom which God ordained…
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Jonathan Edwards’ writings on spirituality are of special importance, because he possessed a wonderful facility for meticulous and minute observation. This facility can be seen, for instance, in the intriguing and detailed investigation that he conducted during the early 1720s into the way that spiders made their webs. Later in his life, this gift…
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‘The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch’ (Acts 11:26). This was around A.D. 43, a decade after the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and the Day of Pentecost. Evidently, it was only gradually that it became possible to distinguish Christianity as a religion in its own right. Until then, the followers of…
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On a recent return visit to South Africa late last year we had the opportunity and privilege of seeing first hand a small but exciting Reformed work in the town of Butterworth, in the Eastern Cape Province. We set off early in the morning from Durban and headed due south. Most of the major…
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Its Great Goal If you had asked those who put Jesus to death what his goal was in dying, they would have denied that he had one. A goal in life, perhaps, but not in death. It was they who had the goal when it came to Jesus’ death, and that goal was simple…
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The traveller strolled along the road looking for some sign of life. Finally he met a casually dressed man coming in the other direction. ‘Excuse me, sir,’ said the traveller, ‘could you tell me which country this is?’ ‘Belgium’, replied the man, looking rather bemused, perhaps wondering why the question should be asked at…
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Some years ago I spoke to the mayor of a nearby town, who happens to be a friend of Jacques Chirac. I asked him about the presence of Protestants in Auvergne, on which he remarked that the Charles Martel had stopped the Arabs at Poitiers — and then suddenly paused in the middle of…
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