In this issue Beacon Lights begins the re-publication of a booklet called Implications of Public Confession, written by Dr. Abraham Kuyper, one of the shining lights of the Reformed faith. I say “re-publication” because his instruction on the subject of making confession of faith was originally published in booklet form by Beacon Lights in 1989. It was later published again, also in booklet form, although the date cannot be determined. A limited number of copies still exist, and they can be obtained by requesting them from the business manager of the magazine. When they are gone, the supply will not be replenished, since Beacon Lights is a magazine, not a publishing company. This scarcity is in part the impetus for our re-publication.

The elapsed time between the original publication (1989) is now 25 years. Yet the message of the booklet is timeless, which is the other aspect of our re-publication. Since our target audience today is a generation that was not even born at the time of the original publication, we have chosen to reprint this timeless material without fear of redundancy. Kuyper’s words are today just as applicable and valuable to you, young people, as they were long ago. Some things never change.

In the interest of the instruction and encouragement of our young people, Beacon Lights will publish the twelve short chapters of Implications once per month for the next twelve months. Eventually this entire work will be available on line for those who wish to retain it.

You will also notice a change in the authorship of the Little Lights rubric. Connie Meyer has written this column for 20 years, almost to the day. But now she has decided to move on to other endeavors and projects. Beacon Lights thanks Connie for her faithful work of introducing the children of the covenant to the magazine, and we wish her the best as she continues her labors elsewhere.

The new author of Little Lights is Tricia Mingerink. I do not need to introduce her, since she has done an admirable job introducing herself in her initial column elsewhere in this issue. Beacon Lights welcomes Tricia as a monthly contributor.

Still another change is upcoming. Chester (“Skip”) Hunter, our long-time Devotional rubric author, will be leaving Beacon Lights when he completes his journey through the scriptures sometime this fall. This confronts us with either retiring the rubric or finding a replacement. The staff has decided to pursue the second option, and therefore welcomes applications to become the new author. If you are interested in writing for this rubric, please contact the editor (editor@beaconlights.org) or the associate editor (ryankregel@gmail.com). Tell us a bit about yourself and give us your ideas as to the format you might use.

A word of clarification. In an interview recently published in Beacon Lights, Henry deMots gave his recollection of certain events centering on Rev. Herman Veldman which, in his own words, was hearsay. Some of Rev. Veldman’s descendants have informed me that deMots’ version of events is inaccurate and that including his comments was not helpful. No offense was intended.

This incident illustrates something that we all should remember as we read future interviews. People are fallible, and memories are deficient. Therefore some recollections will inevitably be inaccurate or at least subject to challenge. It is important that we do not confuse error with malicious intent which, according to my faulty memory, I do not recall ever encountering.