August 2015 New Horizons

The Eighty-second General Assembly

by Danny E. Olinger

For the third time in little over a decade, members and friends of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from across the United States and Canada gathered at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. There among the charms of rural Iowa, eighty-one ministers and forty-six ruling elders commissioned from the seventeen presbyteries of the OPC met on June 3–9 as the Eighty-second General Assembly, which is the governing body of the whole church. Wednesday, June 3 At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, the previous moderator, the Rev. Craig Troxel, pastor of Bethel Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Illinois, constituted the assembly with prayer. He then led the opening worship service and preached on John 13, emphasizing Jesus’ humble service. For the first time in five years, the opening worship service also included the sacrament of the Lord Supper, which was administered by the Rev. James Hoekstra, pastor of Immanuel OPC in Andover, Minnesota. Following the worship service, the commissioners reassembled for the ... Read more

Silence?

by William Shishko

“If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”—Martin Luther Some years ago I was speaking at a conference in a country in which “hate crimes” legislation had been enacted. Already some pastors and others in that country had been charged with discrimination or hate speech because they had spoken out about the truth that homosexual practice was contrary to the Word of God. Being well aware that such legislation was being considered in our nation, I was curious to find out how Reformed pastors in that country were responding to this challenge by the civil authorities and the dominant culture. On the Saturday morning of the ... Read more

Theology for Every Woman

by Aimee Byrd

“What gave you such a passion to encourage and equip women to be better theologians?” “How did you become such an avid reader and lover of theology?” These are questions that I am often asked. It all started in a coffee shop. I was a newlywed fresh out of college, and although my degree was in education and art, what I really wanted to do was open a coffee shop. My ideas and business plan were appealing enough for my mom to want to go in with me as a business partner. The Mudd Puddle opened its doors in downtown Frederick, Maryland, in 1998. I was a mere twenty-two years old. Although we were not a “Christian coffee shop” as such, mom and I decided to have some Christian books available in a reading corner. Every now and then we would play Christian music or have Christian bands perform live on the weekends. Apparently, word got around that mom and I had some Christian paraphernalia, and all sorts of people from different churches began to frequent our café. From Coffee Barista to Bible ... Read more