The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1961

O~ct_o_h~_ 0 r__ l9_6_l___________________ T_H_E__ O_F_II_O_ I DEPE_, _r_D_E__ T __ B_AP __ T_IS_T ____~--------~~__:.P~a~ge Th~ Is it foolish to give dollars you can– not keep to gain souls who will be 1 1 our f r1ends through all eterniry? Whether you are convinced that tithing is com– manded in the New Testament or not, here is one argument that ought to open your purse-strings! You are not throwing your bard-earned money away, but in– vesting it in the life to come. Personally, we never could be convinced that in this day of grace we are under the 'la\\~,, of the tithe. We fear self-interest tends to make ministers easily convinced, just as it makes laymen hard to convince~ and in our debate between the pulpit and pew we miss the simple rruth that grace is gracious-"Freel1 1 ye have receiv– ed: freely give." We ought co give more tl1an a tithe and not less. In the September Reader's Di3est, page 70, we read that there are an average of one and a half wage-earners in each Ameri– can family, and that the total wages per family averages $6,900 a year. That means that if we Regular Baptists are average Americans, we ~hould give more than S690 a year to the cause of Christ. Since we have no means of knowing how many families V."e have, we cannot be exact, but it ~rould seem that we are only giving about 5 per cent instead of 10 per cent. Now there might be some point to keeping 95 per cent for our few, short 1rears, if we had no opportunities to invest for eternity. We have sometimes wondered v:hat Jacob did with the tenth he pro– mised the Lord. Since he had no mission – aries to support, or pastor either, what did he do \\.ith a tenth of all his lambs? Did he burn them all on an altar ? We ha ve no such problem. There are hund reds of young people v.·aiting for support so they can go out as our representatives to the lost ; and it may be tha t ou r ov.,.n p astor and v.1fe ( sh e spends a t least half o f her time in chu rch wo rk ) are not get– t i ng that average $6,900, e en counting parsonag e and utilities. A fev. o f our pas– to rs may get mo re than tha t average , but even so v.' e have the miss iona rie:,; an d it mig ht be that our large church oug ht to help some pastor in a neigh boring chu rch who is st ruggl1 ng to keep the sheriff from his door! W ith so ma ny op porrunicies co jo– ves t for eterni ty, why don ' t \\'e do it ' We don ' t v.,ant to be like that rich farmer Jesus call ed a fool . Rache r " 'e \\ 1 ant to be i n a {)OSition to a r1s\ver tl1ose who laug l1 at us and say \.Vi cl1 J im Ellio tt : .. He is 110 f ocJ \Vho pives \\ 1 har he cannot kee1> to gai11 tl,at v. 1 l1ich l1e canno t lose." C UM ~LNGFROM WI HIN W l1y are the ,.,..om1nu1 ists \Vi11ning the ··cold ,,,ar?" Because a considcral)le J>art of hristian l .. adersl1i1> l1as embraced socialist ideology. TJ11s l1as long been true in J uroJ>e, and to a lesser degree in our O\\ n countr) 1,u t 1t 1s no,, C)J>enly con– f ~ssed b) American cl1urcl1111e11 occupying h1gh J)OSJllOflS. 1 }1e n1ted huJ( cl1 r -Ierald, J~ebruary 9 arrie~ a st r cling staiemenl by Di. F. . erre Abbot J)rofessor of l1ristian Theolog) A nd0, er Jewron ' l1eological S ho J Dr. J erre s ~ s r11at l1is .. J1op and go J, 1s chac tJ1e hr1stian fore s disso 1at e tl emseJ, e f ron1 aJ)Jtal1st ideolOg)' and tr1! out con id ntl) {or a s ial, onon11 nd J}Ol1t1 al order that n, J ages rrue democracy and that makes world .i;e:ice its immediate goal." Thus he repudiates capi talism and takes his stand for socialism. The Communists are winning the "cold v.rar" because so large a part of the leader– ship in Christian, educational, cultural, and commercial circles has lost confidence in a society which emphasizes individualism, self-reliance, private ownership of property, incentive, reward for effort, and profit, and is steadily pursuing Marxian ideas. We have crumbled from within. No wonder Khrushchev gleefully declares that war is not necessary to usher in a socialist world. Both in Russia and in the satellite countries we have heard high Communist officials, with complacent self-assurance, tell us that we have already gone so far toward socialism that there is no turn– ing back, that they will not have to prod us, but only to wait a few years u r1- til we voluntarily come into their camp. The tragedy is that free people are re– nouncing their freedom, and accepting socialism. They hope to avoid the cruelty that is so dominant in the socialist cou n– tries, but their hope is vain. In the beg in– ning, the socialism which they seek wil] be mild and administered by kind ly, generous, well-intentioned officials. In the end, they will have to use coercion , cruelty, the secret police and the jails to force the people to accept their planned econon1y. N o t only will freedom disappear , b t1 t the standard o f living will decline. 1vfen and \vom en wi ll be deg raded. They will tend co lose their dignit1 1 , resp onsib ility a nd mora l ideals and to become SL' bmissive crea tures looking co the state for direction, education , jobs , v. ages, rel ief, pensions, me– d ical care perquisites and hand -outs of al l kinds. It is incomprehens1ble to us " 'hy intell i– gent people prefer socia l ism to the tyre of Christia n civilization v. 1 hir h h .. s grO\'. n up in the Western countries a nd ' l1ich had made a promising beginning co,varcl confer ring the sam e blei;s 1ngs u poo ocher people 10 all count: ies. Why should th1c; be surrendered fo r social ism ? Only the socialist countri es have ever ha<l co e rect b arbed -v..1re barriers, em ploy police dogs, mine no-man 's land, bui ld contro l t O\\ ers conta ining m ach i ne gun operators, .1 nd use every kno\\'n s:ivagery co p re, enc th1: people o f rh1er u nl1ap1)Y la nds from going else\\ here. f ven so, and i n so1te of these ol1stac les ttns o f rhousaod5 of to rmented men an l ,vomen n1a n,1ge co esc.apt tron1 Con1n1,. n ist lands ever y 1nont l1. \X 1 1 y should ,ve rransforn1 our ,von'-lt tul ar1d belu rifu l coun t ry, ,virh all che 111 e– less 1,riviliges , ,·hicl1 \\'C l1ave c11joyell for generations, inco a J)olice scacc, such as rhac ,,,hich exists in all cc>uncric · thac h1 L e1nbraced l\1arxi 111? \'\le think it cannot haJ>J)eP here, l)ut it \\ 7 i}l jusr as it l1as in Cul)a. \\ =- thougl1t ic ,voul I never pcnetrace the \"X'estern l1emis1,herc, buc it ha , and ir has done so be ause of the helJ) given by our o,vn (OUlltf}. And the sad 1>arr of ic all i~ tl1ar rhis 1s noc being forced 11 1)on us, but ,,e r volunrarJJ), ac epcing 1r. h11stian leader are l)e~ ring the dn,1n for che n1ar(l1 inco so ialis1n. AJ)J)atencly, ll1ey do nor unde stand econon1ic 1>rol>len1 and the}' l1a, e 11or chougl1t 1l1rougl1 rhe 11111 lAcac1011 and consequences of t11e11 a t1ons 1 he1 are bet1a} 1ng cl1e 111o~r J)I1(e Jes~ , alues kno,, 11 co hu111an1ty 1 lte} are <Cont i,1ued on page 5) The Oh io Independent Bapti st Published M onthly by THE OHIO ASSOCIATION OF REGULAR BAPTIST CHURCHES Publication Office 15 3 South Jefferson, Berne, Ind . Editor RALPH T. NORDLUND 586 Maple Street Fostoria, Ohio Circulation Manager MRS. 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