God has preserved Reformed Believers Publishing (RBP) for another year. The past year for RBP has been unremarkable in the eyes of men. The eyes of faith see a wonderwork of God as he has used Sword and Shield for the edification of his people. Month to month, God has given Sword and Shield as a defense against the lies of Satan. The truth of justification by grace alone through faith alone to the glory of God alone has continued to be proclaimed by Reformed believers on the pages of Sword and Shield. We give thanks to our ever-faithful Father for preserving us in spirit and in truth.

The past year of publishing has been marked by meditations that have been balms to the soul, editorials that have exposed the lie of salvation by man’s working, and polemical articles by Reformed men and women that have caused the enemies of God’s truth to gnash their teeth. The readers of Sword and Shield will note that the numerous voices of the magazine are, in fact, one united voice. God has orchestrated a beautiful harmony of thanksgiving that rises to his glory alone. We thank the authors who have boldly taken pen to paper and used God’s gift of writing to the profit of many. We pray that God continues to provide Spirit-dwelt writers and Christ-centered articles.

God has used Sword and Shield to edify a broad audience. Currently a little more than 1,800 copies of the magazine are mailed each month. In addition to the United States, there are men and women who receive Sword and Shield in eight other countries.

To enhance the experience of the online user, the board has contracted Northbound Studio to complete upgrades to our website. The approximate cost of the project is around $12,000. The first goal of this project is to add search functionality to the website. This upgrade will allow readers to search a term or topic and receive a filtered response of appropriate articles. Another benefit of this user-friendly database of articles is search engine optimization. Our hope is that this benefit will help promote the Reformed faith and get Sword and Shield into more hands. The second goal of this project is to have each new issue of Sword and Shield uploaded to the website on the first day of each month. Our hope is that this project will be completed by November 2024.

God provides for the publication of Sword and Shield in many ways. God has provided financially through many different donors in many different amounts. We thank God for continuing to give supporters of RBP the ability to donate in such a way that the magazine remains free of charge to the reader. Please consider donating to RBP if you have found the magazine to be edifying. God has also provided by giving to the association a board of godly men who are willing to serve in the month-to-month affairs of publishing Sword and Shield. We thank God for leading the board in these matters. We also thank all the men who have been nominated for their willingness to serve on the board of RBP. We thank Dan Schipper, Jason Cleveland, and Aaron Cleveland for their years of service on the board. God has given Sword and Shield two incredible copy editors, Evelyn Langerak and Ally Ophoff. Their numerous hours of labor have eased the burden of the authors as the copy editors polished thoughts and grammar. By God’s grace Rev. Nathan Langerak has served the past year as a faithful editor in chief. We look forward to another year of his leadership and insightful editorials. We also are grateful to God for Tami Cleveland, who has taken care of much of the office work behind the scenes and has helped the magazine to go out without a hitch. Tami recently transitioned most of her responsibilities to Paula Roberts. We are thankful for these women’s service to the cause of RBP. God’s providential hand is visible in every area of the publication of Sword and Shield. We pray that God continues to bless the work of Reformed Believers Publishing and that he preserves in our midst the truth of salvation by Christ alone.