Are you going to the Convention? I hope you are! The speeches on “Contentment” ought to strengthen us for life in today’s world. The speeches given by three outstanding speakers are on the serious side of life: suffering, self-denial and under authority, which alone will make it important to attend the convention. Also included with this issue are two of the three outlines for the discussion topics for the week: the body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and family communication. These activities alone make you want to be at the convention. And yet there is more, the fun stuff, which you can read about elsewhere in this issue, which will make for an exciting convention.
Gramps has five stories for you to read about Sam, Tom, Ned, Amy and Ann. Meet these five young people and decide which of them you would want to be your friend.
Article III, Immersion, Children, and the Lexicons, continues the discussion about baptism with the imaginary Pastor Muller, Charles, and Melvin, a friend of Charles. Rev. Harbach continues to provide us with interesting information regarding our baptism form.
Ruth Bleyenberg again provides us with church news. Her faithfulness in writing the news is something we cherish and as a result we look forward to reading about what’s happening in our churches. Ruth and the staff would like to see all of our churches covered in the B.L. but that can only happen if all of our churches provide her with bulletins.
As of this writing Prof. Hoeksema continues to decline physically. Our love goes out to him, Mrs. Hoeksema, and family during this time of suffering. The Scriptures express our Christian love in these words found in II Corinthians 5:1-8:
“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we should be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”