The Ohio Independent Baptist, March 1961

• • 1 1onary "rl1< lt "il ()l' \ . () t tl11" tl \tllll()ll\ 7 , .. 1s • ,, itl1 .\ll tl1e < tl1t't~ 111 <)t tt 1 11.:si<.)11 .. 111cl i11 ( tllt'l (lllll<l ~ l 1~ ' l l)ll .. . 1t 110111 ,lll l ·1br .1 l. }1,1~ t't)11~t.111tl, l)t"'c11 a r ft1ta– tic 11 l>f ~1 lt' ttl' r ,, ritt 11 t<) ~l ) ot111g lll.111 i11 tllt' lc1,t '(\11 (.){ <)ll gc, \\ 110 11.1d 11 t ,l, '(. t lllc.ldC' lll) 111 . 111i11d ~lll >11t tl t' ,1re<.:r: .., \ 1 ,, 11ot g<) i11to tl1 l1t1rcl1?" l1i . '-' 111<)tl1er ,, 1·ote. "TH \ \ 1 0 RK I . \ . THE I. L T TlT I ( : I . ..,.\~D \" l T D ~ "'T RE LLY II . \ "E T l~ELIE\ "E I~ OD.'' )l11te to tl1 co11trc1r,·. thi ,,,ork l1c.1... 11e, er bee11 ea , . Far from it ! • Tl1e oc1 .. 1l t (.1h1 of tl1e 1ne e11ger of 7od. fro111 tl1e 11ah1ral n1an tand- poi11t. 11(1 ce1tait1l:· not been the high– t. The mi ionan·. a \vell a the . p eople ,,·ho e,·entuall) 7 identified \vith the te tin1on}·, certainly had to ' 'really l) lie, ·e in God ' y·ea, e, ,en in H is Son , the Lord J e u Chri t , in a genuine tmfeig11ed faith in order to tand up under the trial they ha, ,e bee1 called t1pon to go through. JJEET OJ! E CO 1 VERTS One hould not have to ,vonder ,,·hether co11,,.erts ,,rill stand or not in time of cri is, \\'hen they come t o Christ as did one young man in r e– cent month . H e rode around \vith us on a "take home" trip until every one el e \\ 1 a home, and "vhen \ Ve topped to let h im out , b lurted out , in tears and a b roken voice, ' 'Pastor \\ill \·ou sho\v me how to be saved?' ' ,, . ~ eedless to say, it was a joyous pri\'ilege to do so. At the time, through the insistence of his mother he was going t o a c lass catechizing him for "conformation" in another church. After receiving Christ as his personal Saviour and coming into an experience of a meas– ure of assurance this young man said , "Pastor, \vhat will I do about this business of Catechism class and Confirmation? ~f y mother insists that I must go through \vith it ." Our reply was something on this order: '~our mother is no doubt sincere and earnest in this matter. You are still under age and, as a Christian bo}' , }rou are certain}y commanded to obey }·our p arents in the Lord. You no\V know that 'Catechism' and 'Confirmation' are not the end in M,trch. 1961 an • 1awat or n a .~asy then1.sel, 1 es, but a means to an end that has been lost sight of b y so many, and thus b ecomes a deadly d elusion to them. "You kno\v what the score is . You can give them your testimony to that effect . Disobedience t o yot1r parent and opposition t o h er concern and d esire in this matter would only un– necessarily antagonize h er , and ,vould only confuse the issue at this p oint, and would frustrate our purposes and d efeat our own cause. "Go on with the class if she insists. Go through with the 'Confirmation,' if tha t is wha t your mother earnestly d esires. Don't forget to pray and witness . Keep reading His Word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as to the will of God for you." H e did so. In a very few weeks after the "Confirmation" we b aptized b oth him and his older sister and re– ceived them into the fellowship of the L 'Anse Baptist Church , along with an adult lady of much the same background in church experience. Another case in p oint. A young man, about that time, b egan attend– ing our services with some degree of regularity. With little or no personal work, without an "altar call," with little or no p er suasion , other than a friendly interest and faithful present– ing of the gosp el message, all at once, to the happy surprise of pastor and p eople, this young man began to pray and testify in the meetings. All this was the r esult of a heart to heart d ealing with God all by him- s lf i11 respo1 s,. le> tl1 • mi11 istry and prc>m1Jti11gs of ,ocl's Holy pir it, t1. i11g the \ orcl l1e had "1 ard" with "} . " a 1 ar111g ear. OUR YOU G PEOPLE These t,vo young men are now leaders and officers in our Young People's \vork , taking the place of two young vvomen \vho, upon gradua tion , ,vent on to college. ome others left for employment. till other young p eople r emain and as yet are em– ployed locally and are lead ers in the Sunday Sch ool . Others are growing and coming to the front. Others very much need your prayers. These two young men are not ''sis– sies." They are b oth on the High School football team, as well as baske t– ball. They were picked as a t eam t o represent our Church in a Q11iz Competition on I, II and III John in a recent T een-Age Retreat in which nine churches were represented . This t eam walked away with the first place and prize with twice as many points as the next highest t eam. This ma)' sound like bragging-no, only illustrating what can h appen when young p eople ( children and oldsters, too ) respond in their hearts to the gosp el, hear the Word= read the Word, memorize the , v ord, and seek to walk in the light. A strapping Indian boy is a regu– lar attendant at practically all our meetings. H e is an outstanding athle te, for his age, and is manifest– ing a real growth in grace and knowl– edge and taking an active interest in the work of our Lord as represented in our local assembly. There are sev– eral young women- and some chil– dren and olde r ones, too, who thrill our hearts when we note what "God hath wrought." We have some real disappointments, problems , heartaches and frustrations. But God can take so little and make so much of it when H e is in it! FRESE T POSITIO We are not a large group. We labor under handicaps, though not looked upon as "intruders," but an ac– cepted part of the religious life of the area. Our ''social status" is not high in the world's eyes. But we do have a testimony, in spite of many things that do happen.