The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1967

• ira,c 0 race By Rev. Lynn Rogers I,,,,,, \ I : "'lllC lttl\C ~'£'-) \\' \ ' ' ill , lllt' "I lllg \\ }1\: I(' \\ \.' hC,\fli ... " tlr t,r(, 1 ~1 Re, l , 11r1 R"1ger, ot 1l1c ,rtl1lh.:l i l~ ,1pt1"t httrl:h ~pc,, k ... ,, "r·11nu th1 ~t iraclc t ,race" I c, c, led in 1he t ,tt , 1ng artt le. It thrilling! ,.c tl \\ tll ,v,1nt to road .... c,cr) , ,rd )f it a-u:l part1 t1lc1rl that ,, hi('h h,1 de, ell p\;d st1b eqtienl to the \\; rit1nll t f the ~an1c. e ]t' ete,·en thirt)r at night! Who ,, l uld be calling at thi hour? Mr . - - , a on the other end of the line h, tericall er ing that her hu - band ,,,a on the warpath threatening th ,, h le famil,· and he had fled to a neighbor' to call for help. ' ' tay right there. I'll be r,ight out.' When I arri,,ed at the neighbor' . Mrs. C– \\ ut of the home running to my ar before I had the engine hut off. he aid. "Pastor. you don't dare go to m 1 1 hou e. My bu band say you 're the cau e of all our trouble. He got out hi gun and loaded it tonight , a)·ing the next time he aw you he'd kill you.' ' That wasn t the fir t time u n aved hu band had threatened my life so I aid, "Let' have prayer together and then \Ve '11 talk to your hu band. ' ~Ir . C- warned that the loaded gun wa in the kitchen cupboard. We were not in the home five minutes until he got up from the living room couch walked to the kitchen of their trailer home and took out the gun. I ta 1 ·ed nearly two hours trying to bring about some ort of family re– conciliation. All this time he sat there VT i th a gun at his side. Later, one of our men asked me v.rhat I was doing on a given night at 1: 00 a.m. ( It was the very night I had been called to coun el this do – me tic problem.) He explained that he had not been able to sleep and he couldn't get me off his mind so he ....... ju t pra) ed for me. I had all I could do to keep back the tear for I knew od had burdened him to pray. I \\ a in desperate need. Year slipped by. Man)' times the men of the church and I tried to reach 1r. Cs- hard heart with the go pel, but to no avail. He was a n1a ter at changing the subject to APRIL, 1967 PAGE 14 an, tl1i11g l1t1t tl1c tl1ing, (1 1' tl1c Sp1r1t . ·1h 11 . icknc ~ car11c. 11 . ( "' \- neck began t 'iwcll with a tcrril,,Jc 1 o k1ng tt1n1 r. The unday chool . upe rin– tendent, David A. henfcldcr. and I i. ited again. Thi tin1e we came O\J ay feeling a~ though we were getti ng omewhere for the fir ~t time. Two week lipped by and Dave called me on J !lnuary 2 nd ( a holi– day) to a k me to go with him to vi it Mr. C.- again. All'hough it wa an inconvenient time and I hesitated going a t fir t, we journeyed the thirty mile , picking up the - famil y on the way. We didn t talk enroute. I think we were talkiing to the Lo rd a king Him to open thi man' heart . The f amity vi ited Dad and hu band fir t. Then Dave and I went in. After we talked to Mr . C- about the spiritual condition of his heart I asked him if he had read the book– let "What must I do to be aved' we h ad left with him two week earlier. He indicated that he had. I a ked if he had any questions. He didn ' t. o I put to him the importance of not putting off what he knew he ought to do. We bowed our heads to pray together and though he was reluctant to lead out at first, with ome en– couragement he began to pray. What joy flooded our hearts a he said among other thing ' 'Lord only You and I know what a wicked inner I ve been. " He invi,ted J esu into his heart and life. When hi wife and two young teenage children came by to say good-bye, he it.old them wh'1lt he had just done. Needles to say, they were thrilled beyond word ! Editor's Note: H aving read the above, let me share with you a recent letter from P astor Rogers . . . "In visiting Mr . Cochran ( thi is the full name of 'Mr. C')' ' siace writing the article I have found additional information that thrills my heart. For o:1e thing, he ha been transferred from R a– venna to St. Luke, H o pi tal in Cleve– land. When they saw the case and begaa to look thoroughly into the beginning of thi tumor, they cailled together about fifty doctors from ho pitals in a:1d around Cleveland. They came together for a consulta- 1, o 11 s css i u 11 ~ · i t J 1 M r. "o ch a n ; their c hil1it . It 'I' hc~1ring the re st1111c c1l his case rc~1ti by Llnc of th <. locttlr~. they proccc(1C(I to t1t1cstio h1111 .,t g1cat lc;,gth. It HJ)pcar no as thot1gh th .. lt1r11or tl1at Y.' as clia! ' 11(1,c<.l . when he enter (I the h spit 111 Rave . na. as r1lalignant ( l... ifc CJ pee tanc y . . . \J O DAY ! ) . . ha\ now hccn rc.. ,1pprai'iccl ,tntl the arc g iving h1n1 ~ me gl1mn1cr c h pc. Of c ur~c the rnost thrillin thi,g i~ th at he manifests ( 'hri sliH g rowth in nearly every visit. A vi ju t a week ago today with him brok me up o tha t I could n't keep th tear from flowing dow, my cheek Durin f! our prayer together ( I u sual ask him to lead out in prayer) t really did ome interceding for Oti of the men in the ward with hin He no t o nl y a ked the Lo rd f< me rcy, but he asked the Lo rd f< th i ma:, ' ')UI and for wisdom h o he might convey hi s faith iri Chri to thi ma:1 beside him. Truly ... thi is a MIRACLE O GRACE . . . indeed! DECATUR FOUNDRY CO. INC. Division of J. L. Johnson & Sons Inc. 1700 N. Calhoun Street Decatur, Ill inois Manufactures Annealing Pots for Malleable Foundries INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN RELIEF ministering worldwide through missionaries and pastors • Orphans • Medical clinics • Hospi ta ls • Disaster re lief • Leprosy clinics • Widows' homes • Rehabili tation o wayward girls in Korea A m inistry of compassion. --- .. ·~--- Write INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN RELIEF 801 HADDON AVENUE COLLINGSWOOD , NEW JERSEY 01101 THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTI!