John Westendorp. Trowel & Sword. February 1995
Preamble: Was this the fore-runner of Trowel & Sword Revisited? Thirty years ago John Westendorp, as the editor of T&S must have thought it would be interesting to look back through past T&S’s to see what was being written about in the February of 1955, ’65, ’75 and 1985, giving a brief outline of one or two of the articles appearing in each of those editions. If it was good enough for John it is good enough for us, so for the next few weeks we will be going back to those articles mentioned by John and reprinting them in full. Did John do this more than once? We don’t know, but it does make us wonder whether it was coincidence (luck?) that out of a mountain of magazines we happened upon this one, or was it God’s providence that guided us to this one page, and if so, to what end? And if that is the case was it also God’s providence that guided John to write such an article in the first place for us to find thirty years later? These questions could make for a very interesting discussion.
10 Years ago
The cover featured God Squad leader, John Smith, who had just been involved in a week of outreach at Mt. Evelyn, sponsored by the Reformed Church there. Jack de Graf reported on an Elders’ Conference in N.Z. at which Keith Sewell gave an opening address. ‘Reflections on the History of Calvinism’. He called those present to implement the Calvinist view of Scripture in the various spheres of life rather than allow a separation of, for example, religion and science, as happened during the period of reformed scholasticism.
20 Years Ago
The late Revd. John Van Wageningen continued a series of meditations on lifestyle. Under the heading, “The Agony of the World and our Life-style’, he asked whether we have learnt to be content with food and clothing. He called readers to avoid the pressures of a consumer society and develop a simple life-style. The Revd. Keith MacPhail lamented the Government’s decision to spend 4.6 million dollars on works of art (remember ‘Blue Poles’?) while spending only one hundred thousand on aid to Ethiopians in Eritrea. He called the church not only to set its own house in order but also to be the salt and light by calling the government to task for its wrong priorities.
30 Years Ago
Prof. K. Runia reminded readers that Catechism classes would soon be commencing again. He gave six pointers to effective church education.
1. The purpose is not to impart cold facts but to share with young people the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus
2. Hence teaching of the love of God and Reformed distinctives should be with enthusiasm and conviction.
3. Preparation should be thorough and aim for effective involvement of the young people.
4. We should insist on regular attendance as a fulfilment of vows made at the baptismal font.
5. Since this is the church’s ‘school work’ some homework each week is not only desirable but essential.
6. All this should be surrounded by prayer.
40 Years Ago
The Revd. J.W. Deenick took to task a prominent Christian worker in New Zealand who had claimed that what people want today is Christianity and not Churchianity. He protested that in the New Testament the Christian faith always includes loyalty to the church of Jesus Christ, which is His Body. Christianity without Churchianity is not Christianity at all. He went on to point out that the answer to the problems in the church is not to dismiss the church but to work for its reformation and sanctification. In the same issue was a report about a recent Synod of the Reformed Churches of Australia announced the setting up of the Reformed Theological College.
John Westendorp
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