This article discusses the functions of liturgical forms. The functions are to teach, to defend and to unite believers.

This article is an exposition of Hosea 2:21-22.

The most important question for believers and the church is whether they will one day be allowed to enter the joy of their Lord, out of the great oppression.

God may be the hidden one, so that we cannot get a hold on him, but we can hold fast to what he has said.

What is the function of work in the life of a Christian? Is our identity determined by work, or also by rest?

This article looks at the Lord as also being the saviour of animals.

What is Christ’s desire and intention with the Lord’s Supper? This article discusses different aspects of the Lord’s Supper.

The spiritual purpose of fasting is about your relationship with the Lord. Fasting should be a sign of humility with repentance and dependence on the Lord. The practice of fasting may be both a personal or congregational humbleness and lowliness before the Lord. Read more about godly fasting.

Who says the Bible is true? This article explores the scriptural data to show that God says it himself, and expressly shows the reliability of Scripture in the death and resurrection of Christ his Son.

This article considers how feelings can become such an important characteristic of faith and piety. The author goes on to explain, however, that one’s faith cannot be measured by how he is feeling. Faith has to rest on the revealed will of God.

This article looks at Pietism and piety, and considers examples from history, such as the Donatists, Labadists, and Mystics.

What is true piety all about? This article considers what it means to have a personal relationship with God through Christ. It shows from history how rationalism has impacted how the Scriptures and God are viewed. It ends with an emphasis on faith and trust in God.

Since God does many things that we don’t understand, there are times when we carry questions that can quickly become an accusation against God, even a complaint. This article explains the process that God's children often go through, from complaint to realization how great God is. The author pays particular attention to the way in which Job worked through his intense suffering. Humility is greatly needed, as a protection from unbelief or from calling God to account.

What does brotherly love look like? This article reflects on this question, via a consideration of Hebrews 13:1.

Should there be a ministry of exorcism? This article engages with this question, highlighting the scriptural data on the influence of the devil among God's children, demon-possession in the New Testament, and then making some remarks on Mark 16:17-18, a passage often cited as proof that also today evil spirits can be driven out in the name of Jesus. The author emphasizes the importance of God's people being armed with the Word and prayer.

In recent years we have been receiving statistics with alarming figures about the number of people leaving the church. The large church communities in the Netherlands experience a shocking decrease in membership. It is becoming ever clearer how rapidly the secularization proceeds. The development affects also the smaller, orthodox churches, although the figures are here not quite as bad. Against this background the disturbing question arises: Is there any certainty that we will remain faithful?

Is there value to praying in the consistory room before (and after) the worship service? This article makes a case for this prayer, explaining what it should look like, whether at the start or end of the Sunday services.

This article considers how to be Reformed in our evangelism, and it does so through an evaluation of ideas in a book by Stefan Paas on the importance of Reformed principles for evangelism.

This article discusses the “second prayer”: the prayer that usually happens after the sermon. What is striking? In that prayer the well and woe of the congregation is often raised in detail and rightly so. But when the amen of the minister is heard at the end of his prayer, you still think: Was this it? Where is the world? Where is the world church? Oh, sometimes a plane has been shot down or ISIS has been in the news — then the world enters in the prayer for a moment. But after a few Sundays the world disappears again.

What are you to do when you doubt as a child of God? This article first mentions the various kinds of doubts that can exist among God's children, then considers a passage often mentioned in this discussion, Mark 9:24. We are to go to Jesus with our doubts, and surrender to him.

This article examines the Scriptures on the matter of angels. It explains that in the Old Testament we encounter a celestial court council, of which the angels constitute a part. The article then outlines the duty of the angels, as well as their essence (as spirits). It emphasizes that we cannot abstract the angels from Christ. Finally, it gives some attention to a book by L.F. de Graaff on the topic.

This article examines Matthew 18 on church discipline.

How have Christians and Muslims framed their profession that, respectively, God or Allah is King over all of life? This article addresses this question, first by surveying the relationship between church and government on the one hand, and mosque and government on the other.

This article discusses the gifts of the Spirit (charismata), revealing that the scriptural category of gifts of the Spirit is much broader than that of charismatic circles today. The article also details how signs and miracles differ from these gifts.

This article considers how, in Job 1 and Job 2, Job responded to his suffering: his confession reveals he knew God to be a giver of good, and therefore he also accepted evil from him.

God calls office-bearers through the church. This article explains that office-bearers are a gift to the church. Their calling comes with responsibility. They are called to lead the church through God’s Word, and the church has the obligation to submit to their authority.

How soon should infants be baptized? This article explains the obligation parents have to get their children baptized as soon as possible. It lays the biblical ground for infant baptism and its relation to church membership.

Within the Reformed tradition home visitation has served as a means to carry out the task of the office bearers. This article explains the history of this tradition, and then looks at the relationship of house visitation and the Lord’s Supper. Can it be a means of fencing the table?

Should confessions have authority? Looking at the relationship of the Bible to the confession this article explains that the authority of confessions is a derived authority. And since the confession are a profession of the church they also bind to the office bearers.

Does God allow and use evil in this life? Some say God is a sadist, some say he is hopeless in the face of evil. What does God say? This article explains the relationship between sickness, sin, and God’s punishment, and the role of Satan in the face of evil.

This article stresses the importance of the proclamation of God’s judgment in preaching, as part of the church’s duty to use the keys of the kingdom. The article pays attention to the biblical data, as well as Lord’s Day 31 of the Heidelberg Catechism and the comments of Reformers on the matter.

Numbers 6:24-26 records the blessing often given at the end of a worship service. Whose blessing is this? Who must pronounce it? This article looks at the place of this blessing in the Old Testament, the use of the blessing inside and outside a worship service, and the practice of the minister raising his hands for the blessing.