All-points bulletin!

A new rubric is in the works for Sword and Shield, and we need the help of our interested and eagle-eyed readers to help fill the rubric.

Sword and Shield is a believers’ paper. It is not the paper of the board of Reformed Believers Publishing; it is not the paper of the editor; it is the paper of believers. The board is made up of those believers, and the men and women who write in the magazine are those believers. It is the fundamental task of the believer to witness to the truth before the world. This calling is in part carried out in Sword and Shield. The men who started Reformed Believers Publishing and those who support it now believe that this is important to emphasize. To reflect this reality, Sword and Shield started the rubric Running Footmen, which is staffed by a willing group of men and women supporters of Sword and Shield.

In this same vein supporters of Sword and Shield can help fill another new rubric called Insights. The concept of the rubric is for the readers and supporters of Sword and Shield to send in interesting—perhaps shocking, either good or bad—or edifying theological quotations from the reading that they have done or are doing. Some may find that they send in only a quotation. Others may find that they want to explain briefly the importance of the quotation they submit. Another option is for a reader to set pen to paper—or fingers to keyboard—and write up a little blurb on important events of the day. You see that this rubric is wide-ranging. We are aiming for around a page for each submission. If the submissions are short, then perhaps we will publish a number of submissions together to make up one page.

A caution!

If you send something in, and it does not immediately get published, do not worry or suppose that your submission is unwanted. The plan is that the rubric will be published occasionally on no fixed schedule. We would also like to build up a file of these items for use as needed. Please send all submissions to the editor. And please cite where the quotation is found.

For the rest, in this issue you will find the usual writers. We note that Garrett Varner is beginning a series on the beatitudes. Eddie Ophoff writes “A Whale of a Scruple” for Running Footmen. Rev. Luke Bomers is publishing in Our Doctrine a transcript of a speech that he recently gave for Berean Reformed Protestant Church in Singapore.

May the Lord bless this issue for the cause of his kingdom and as a witness to the truth.