The above emblem has been adopted by both the Steering Committee of the 1975 Young People’s Convention and the Beacon Lights. Its purpose is to remind us of the rich heritage which is ours through Christ.
Just as the circle above has neither beginning nor end, so has the eternal and unchangeable faithfulness of God been directed towards his Church throughout the ages.
From that faithfulness God has graciously given us His Word, and in that Word, we find what we sometimes call, The Five Points of Calvinism, or TULIP. They are as follows:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints
In this connection, notice that the tulip in the picture has five points, and that it grows from the circle of faithfulness, becoming part of it.
In this day and age, when many are departing from these truths, let us be thankful for that faithfulness which we have enjoyed over the fifty years of our existence as Protestant Reformed Churches. Let us continue to pray that God will maintain us in that faithfulness even until Christ comes again in judgment.
God’s Covenant Faithfulness is the theme for the Fiftieth Anniversary celebration of the Protestant Reformed Churches, and also the theme for the 35th Annual Young People’s Convention, to be held on the campus of Calvin College, the Lord willing, August 4-5, 1975.
When I arrived at Hope Church on December 2 for the singspiration, I was really disturbed. I had hoped to see a church filled with Christians who love to sing praises to their Maker.
I saw thankful Christians — but not nearly enough of them. I saw a church barely three quarters full. This article is not directed at those of you who were there. It seems that the same faithful ones attend each singspiration. Rather, this article is directed at those of you who were not there, both young and old.
One of the standard excuses among the older people of our churches for not attending our singspirations is this: “The singspirations are only for the young.” Bluntly speaking, that is hogwash. The singspirations are for everybody, regardless of age.
Or again, among older people, I have heard this statement: I have company “coming after church,” or “I have to go away on company.” To this I say: “What better way is there to spend Sunday evening with your friends than to praise God in song? I might add that there is plenty of time for “socializing” afterwards.
But in all this let us not forget our youth. They stay home because “my friend isn’t going.” To me, that’s a flimsy excuse. We shouldn’t go because our friend is going, but rather because we feel that we should be there.
One stock excuse that everybody can use is this “old faithful”: There won’t be any room; that church is too small.” Well, I’m to the point where I’d almost like to see people turned away, just to see a full church.
Let’s face it, people of God, singspiration attendance has fallen off drastically in the last three years, and it is time for each and every one of us to take a long hard look at the reasons we had for missing the last singspiration.
As a recently appointed member to the Public Relations Committee of the Beacon Lights, I am just beginning to become aware of the problems in scheduling our singspirations. The main problem is conflicting dates with the monthly discussion groups which many of our churches have begun. However, it seems that we have avoided all such conflicts for 1974 singspirations.
As a committee, we have tried everything from eye-catching bulletin announcements to schedule posters for the back of our churches, trying to get people to attend, but nothing seems to work. We’ve done just about all we can, now it’s up to you to come.
In conclusion, I would like to suggest that everybody should make it a point to try to attend the next singspiration. Maybe, in some small way, this article will help. I hope so.
