First Glimpse: Arms Around the World

by Eric Thomsen, managing editor, ONE Magazine

“What are we going to call it?”

The question drops like a bomb into the tense, editorial meeting.

Silence.

Heads shake.

Fingertips drum.

Eyes roll.

More silence.

I glance around the conference table at my associate editors and see the questions written across their faces:

“What do you name a magazine that speaks to the heart and soul of hundreds of thousands around the globe?”

“Can any name capture the passion, vision, excitement . . . even the fear we feel at this moment?”

“What happens if nobody likes it?”

“What if we mess this up?”

“What am I doing here?”

Then the suggestions come in a flood, washing away the questions with an endless stream of possibilities . . .

We begin the search for ONE answer.

Two months, countless meetings, hundreds of suggestions, and dozens of emails later, ONE Magazine is the official publication that pools the resources of seven Free Will Baptist national agencies. I can see the looks on some faces.

“Why would anybody name a magazine ONE?”

The answer is simple.

We serve ONE Lord. Free Will Baptists are a diverse group, but we all agree on one thing. Our Lord. In Him we find unity and identity.

We share ONE Voice. Imagine the rolling thunder when the voices of Free Will Baptists unite to proclaim His truth.

We embrace ONE Vision. We must know where we are going if we are to arrive anywhere. In time, a common vision becomes reality.

We read ONE Magazine. This is a tool that God can use to shape this denomination. The first issue looks closely at the long arms of Free Will Baptists—arms that reach from the rolling fields of the French countryside to the mountains of Tajikistan and across the salty desert of Utah. Hear a missionary recount his ministry to the war-torn nation of Cote d’Ivoire, travel with college students to Cuba, and listen as Doctor Laverne Miley softly shares the gospel with a native-American patient. Study the blueprint for developing churches in the Northeast, and celebrate as other denominations make plans to use Randall House curriculum.

Go ahead. Travel to the outer limits of FWB ministry, but don’t get so caught up in the journey that you forget to look for your place to get involved. Join Free Will Baptists as they wrap their Arms Around the World!