by Keith Bassham
Readers will notice a slightly different look in the Tribune this month. The pages are wider. There are some layout and design changes. A few of the columns and ads have been shifted, but nothing here could be considered an extreme makeover. It’s more a matter of redecorating than remodeling.
More important is what we did not change. Our commitment to communicate the heart and vision of this Fellowship remains unaltered. In fact, with the New Year, I am determined to make the Tribune more useful and helpful to our Fellowship than ever. To that end, be looking for regular columns from pastor evangelist Tom Wagoner this coming year on the subject of revival. Also, this issue carries the first in a series of articles about apologetics. I call the series “With Good Reason,” and each month this year a practical essay on defending the faith will be offered.
Of course, our mission remains the same. We will tell the good news of what God is doing among the preachers and churches of the Fellowship. We will stand for the Articles of the Faith of the Fellowship. We will promote biblical values wherever we find them, both in and out of the Fellowship, and we will publish in such a way that others are encouraged to read over our shoulders. And we will honor our past, this year being our 60th as a Fellowship, but we will not enshrine the past, preferring to spend more time looking out the windshield in the front rather than the rearview mirror. The windshield is, after all, much larger than the mirror for a reason.
Speaking of honoring the past, two Fellowship heroes were called to glory in the days just prior to our deadline. We ordinarily publish shorter notices in such cases, but Thomas Ray, author of our Baptist History series, had providentially written an article about BBFI missionary Don Espinosa a few months ago, and with Don’s passing it seemed appropriate that I publish Tom’s article. Likewise, when I heard of the homegoing of Curtis Goldman, I pulled up an article I had written about him in 2002 hoping to shorten it, but Mr. Goldman could barely be contained in a book, let alone a few lines. So I offer the reprinted article with some appropriate edits.
With this issue then, we begin a new year with a new look. It is my hope and prayer that for our Fellowship and for the Tribune, 2010 is a year of revival, a year of prosperity, and a year of countless spiritual victories. May we anticipate these things with good reason.