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Notes for the Church of Today.
Rev P G VanDam, 139 pp.
Review by Rev. Martin Geluk
This publication (spirally bound A4 size) is available from Rev VanDam,
13 Hera Ave., Riverton, WA, 6148, ph. 08 9457 1005, or E-mail pgvandam@telstra.easymail.com.au.
Cost is $12.50 plus post.
This work is a revision and expansion of an earlier work published 23
years ago. Many will not have read the original work, which was then
mainly aimed at office-bearers. Since then much has happened in society
and the church. New ways of thinking have appeared and the terms to
describe them. New office-bearers have also appeared on the scene and
they need to know how to build up and defend the faith.
In the author’s own words the book deals with “the implications of the
Reformed-biblical doctrine of the church as the covenant community of
the Lord, with is government, its worship, its preaching and the
sacraments.” Some 89 topics get a mention, some very briefly, others
with more depth. One can read the book through or use it as a reference
work. The topics are listed topically and alphabetically.
The book takes an honest appraisal of how the Reformed faith is coping
in a society where postmodernism, change and the new tolerance are
seeking to influence our minds.
Rev VanDam is a retired minister of the Christian Reformed Churches of
Australia (CRCA) and with many years of service as pastor and teacher
behind him, he is able to give a mature evaluation of what happening
with the church. He knows what goes on and is aware of where some
directions in the church could lead.
The author reveals a love for Christ’s church and therefore will not
accommodate himself to what man wants the church to be. He makes
observations that makes the reader realise that in the CRCA the Reformed
distinctiveness is in danger of being lost in a general Christian
evangelicalism, notwithstanding the oft-repeated assertion that we are
still Reformed. Yet the author offers these criticisms in a warm tone.
The book restores the vision of what a Reformed Church should be.
I would recommend that all ministers, elders and deacons obtain a copy.
It is a good resource to help you see the church in the
Reformed-biblical perspective and how to minister to the Lord’s people
whom you are to serve. But the book is equally helpful to all church
members who want to know where the Reformed faith must stand today in
society and the church.
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