Introduction
In the Spring of 2015, Faith Christian Fellowship, a church in Holmes County, Ohio, developed a ministry which was named “The Berean Voice”. After the ministry was put into place, a board was selected out of the local brethren to oversee and work out the goals that had been set forth, in developing materials and resources for the church at large, with the purpose of fulfilling a number of Biblical mandates.
- Preach the Gospel - Mat 24:14
- Edify the Body of Christ - Eph 4:12
- Provoke unto Love & Good Works - Heb 10:24
- Exhort Believers with Truth - Heb 3:13
- Warn the Erring & the Unbeliever - 1Th 5:14
- Earnestly Contend for the Faith - Jud 1:3
Acts 17:11 has been chosen by the board as a theme verse, with the goal of using our efforts and resources to encourage those we have contact with, to personally “search the Scriptures” and to see “whether those things were so [are true],” regarding current ideas, teachings, and philosophies.
Along with this emphasis, we also are keenly aware of the Biblical teaching on spiritual authority and the need for individuals to have the proper respect, communication, and relationship with the authorities God has placed them under. With this in mind, it is our goal to stimulate individuals to seek God and obey Him in the midst of their situation.
We firmly believe that the Scripture is true where it says; “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2Ti 3:16) and “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” (2Pe 1:3). With these two Scriptures in mind, we will be endeavoring to lift up the simplicity and sufficiency of God’s Word in regards to having answers for the problems of humanity.
One of the ways that was chosen as an effort to accomplish some of these goals was to start publishing a newsletter or magazine which would be doctrinal and teaching in nature. Since “The Heartbeat of the Remnant” had been out of print for several years, the former publishers, Ephrata Christian Fellowship, asked us whether we would be interested in reviving their magazine. After several months spent in prayer and seeking counsel from others, we decided to follow through on this venture, with plans to publish it four times a year.
This first issue is being handled as a joint venture between us and Ephrata Christian Fellowship, in order to create a smooth transition of the publication from their ministry to ours. We are in the process of developing a website and are planning to eventually have all the back, archived issues of the magazine moved from their website to ours. We will be using the “Remnant” mailing list to send out the first publication of the new magazine and will continue to refine the address list as we move forward. So you should be receiving an order just like before. If you do not receive a copy, or would like to be added to the mailing list, or have other changes you would like to have made to your information, please contact us.
There is a lot of emphasis these days on “the Anabaptists this” and “the Anabaptists that”. While we would be more aligned with the general views of Anabaptist perspectives than we would be with Protestant or Catholic viewpoints, we feel that it is best to always use the original whenever measuring something for accuracy, instead of using a template or a piece that has been cut from the original. Therefore, in our magazine we plan to focus on “thus saith Jesus and the Apostles, according to the Bible”, instead of “thus saith the Anabaptists, according to history”.
Having said this, we will, none-the-less, be choosing articles that are written from an Anabaptist perspective, since we feel that is more consistent with a literal, commonsense approach to Biblical interpretation and following Christ in simple obedience. We will also be planning to occasionally have some articles written on church history.
Topics we hope to cover in future issues:
- Clear, simple Biblical teaching on the New Birth.
- Walking in the Light, as He is in the Light.
- Being in the world, but not of it.
- The Christian and politics.
- Current events and the church.
- New Testament church functioning.
- Godly home functioning.
- Training up children to walk in Truth.
- Resolving interpersonal conflicts.
- Dealing with problems in the church.
- Identifying false religions.
- Identifying New-Age philosophies.
- Identifying apostatizing Biblical views.
- Biblical views on counseling issues.
- Biblical views on mental health issues.
Ways you can help with this work:
- Pray for God’s guidance and His will to be done.
- Pray that God’s Kingdom would be built up.
- Consider supporting the work financially.
- Consider writing articles for the magazine.
- Consider being available to draw or sketch.
- Consider sending in high quality photographs.
- Consider sending in sketches or drawings.
- Send us suggestions for authors.
- Send us suggestions for artists.
- We urgently need children’s stories
- We urgently need sister’s articles
- We urgently need finances, with this being our first issue and having extra initial expenses.
May God richly bless each one.