The church today is rapidly abandoning its Reformed heritage. Most people have little or no knowledge of the sixteenth-century Reformation, what it did, and what it was all about. Today it appears that many are ashamed of Reformed doctrine, or at the very least do nothing to defend it, let alone promote it. Is that not akin to being ashamed of the Gospel? Living as we do in times like ours in which it seems nigh impossible to rise above it all, what happened at the time of the Protestant Reformation is instructive. The sixteenth-century Reformation brought about real change, change which resulted in a biblically reformed church and which reverberated in societal change as well. From a human standpoint, what happened is pretty incredible. What could ever change our situation today? The only answer is another Reformation! If the Reformation changed the face of Western Europe in the sixteenth century, could it not do so today as well?

Now I suppose that people, who are eager to see change for the better in the church and our society, would be tempted to go back to the Protestant Reformation and look at the men who were involved, thinking that if we could only have men the likes of Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc., we might be able to turn things around again. That would be a mistake. They were people with the same sinful natures that we have. They had their strengths, but they had their weaknesses, too. Nevertheless, something happened then which changed the course of history. What was it? It was nothing less than the mighty power of the Gospel, the power of the Word of God. For that is just what the Gospel is. Today the Gospel has been truncated, dumbed-downed if you will, or put in a nut shell, i.e., "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16); "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" ( Acts 16:31). While this is certainly true, the Gospel is much more. The Heidelberg Catechism (Q15-19) explains this very well:

My wife Maricar and I returned to the Philippines September 17, 2009, for the funeral of her father. We joined her seven siblings who live there with their families, plus the oldest brother Vincent who arrived from London where he resides with his family. The Lord granted us a number of witnessing and counseling opportunities. I preached three times on the Lord's Day, at Papa's memorial service and at the time of his burial service. It is a challenge to give the gospel to a large family like hers. So far, she has a sister and a brother who have professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Maricar and I are thankful for what God has begun to do in bringing salvation to her extended family.

On the last day before my return to the US, I attended the quarterly meeting of the United Covenant Reformed Churches in the Philippines (UCRCP). It was held in Las Pinas City. The consistory voted to formally organize the Las Pinas City congregation sometime at the start of 2010. San Carlos City UCRCP and Las Pinas City UCRCP will constitute the first classis of the UCRCP which they hope to organize by March or April 2010. Then their classis will be able to proceed with the ordination examinations of Vic Bernales. He is a recent graduate of Mid-America Seminary and presently supplies the pulpit of Covenant Reformed Church of Davao City.