It was the spring of 1989 when we were asked by the board of Reformed Fellowship to become the new editors of The Outlook, replacing Rev. Peter De Jong. It was a sobering invitation because we knew that issues were heating up in the Christian Reformed Church. Worship battles were raging. The fight was on […]

To our members, subscribers, and readers… It is often more comfortable to continue to do things we are accustomed to doing in the same way and in the same context. But it is also true that when change is introduced it can be welcomed and enjoyed. Changes are about to be introduced to The Outlook. […]

This Easter meditation was written by the late editor John Vander Ploeg, (formerly editor of The Banner) in March, 1975. A blessed Easter to you! But let’s be clear about one thing. That wish can come true only on this condition: that by faith we think the right thoughts. Fragrant flowers, a new outfit, and […]

Thomas Vanden Heuvel wrote this article in 1971 when denominational loyalty was beginning to replace loyalty to our God and the Word He has given as authoritative for doctrine and life. Revolution Against “Establishments” An interesting and alarming phenomenon in the current social scene is the revolution against the establishment. The establishment is defined in […]

In two previous articles, I summarized the open view of God advocated by Gregory A. Boyd in his God of the Possible and offered a basic criticism of this view. Boyd’s book represents a significant movement within North American evangelicalism, which wants to revise in a substantial way the traditional understanding of God’s omniscience and […]

Fifty years—more than half of a man’s life-span. For any religious periodical this should fill our hearts with thanksgiving and praise.               How well I remember our first meeting. The second World War had passed with profound changes everywhere. Also for the Christian Reformed Church it was a time […]

Fifty years ago The Outlook—originally called Torch and Trumpet—published its first issue. The lead editorial, simply entitled “Why?”, set forth the aims of the publishers and editors. The magazine would present a Reformed voice on doctrine and life, written primarily for the laity, but with some articles for ministers. It would be primarily positive in […]

This article as well as Part I was written in 1969. “Law and Order” was the presidential campaign cry of 1968—and little wonder. As we review the varied spectrum of the events of 1968, we see a year of violence, riot, assassination, hate, war and student rebellions. It is an undebatable fact that there is […]

It is a pleasure to write a few words concerning the tenure of John Vander Ploeg, my father-in-law, as editor of The Outlook. Rev. Vander Ploeg had served as editor of The Banner from 1956 until his retirement in 1970. After his retirement from The Banner, he served as editor of The Outlook for about […]