The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1967

Association of Baptists Adopt Resolution On Evangelism Due to the confusion generated among evangelical by ithe presentt:– day trend toward ecumenical evangel– i m, the A ociation of Bapti ts for World Evangeli m meet ing in its semi-annual e ion in Ph iladelphi a, Pa. , on October 10, 1967, felt it advi able to once again clearly taite its position by adopting rthe followi ng resolution: Ancl whercac; the pnc;sngc or years, the gr w t h r ti r 111i s&ion ho arc.I, the inc rea. ing con1plexily o f 111i ~– , ionary operation, anc.l the vari us i nterdonon1inaiti onal ,and ectt meni cal pre Lire upon individual and field cou ncil may tend to weaken the en1pha i upon the e Biblical truth , a~ Bi1lc-J1c1icving Bapti~ts, An c.l he it fiurt hcr rc<;o lvccl that we cc.)nt i nt1c to give 011r major cn1- phac,i\ to d irect so ttl -winning and cht1 rch plan ting, and ,~hat a ll other mini . tries hall be subservient to th is n1ain emphasis. Be it re olved that ithe Board of ABW reaffirn1 the convicti on that s paration fron1 apo tasy is impont– anit in obedi ence 1to God, and th at it shall no t only be held a. a doctrine, hL1 t implemented on every one of our fi eld , Dedicate New Building The Grace Baptist hurch of w~ t - lake Ohio Rev. Douglas R. ouch, pa tor, recentl y held a pecial Bible onference whi ch wa high– lighted by a Dedi cati on ervice of their new building. Whereas the ABWE was originally organized to engage in direat evangel– ism throughout tlhe world whi1ch would result in the e.. tahli hn1ent of Baptist churches, And be it further re olved that we repudi ate the principle of coopera– tio n in evangeli m or o ther ,·piritual e ndeavor wi,t 1 h tho e who do no,t hold the hi toric Chri ti an f ai,th , ue t peaker fo r the conference and the Dedication ervice was Dr. W. Wil bert Welch, P resident of Grand Rapids BapLi t Bible College and emin ary. Rev. Robert Rogers of Pitt bu rgh, ervi ng tinder F .B.H.M. in the Pi 1 tt bL1rgh area, also poke at the conference. And, whereas the ABWE, its st,aff and missionaries have hi torica11y believed and taught tho e Biblical truths commonly called "Baptist dis– tinctives," as well a the important doctrine of complete sepaDation from apostasy and from comprom,i e with aposita y, Be it f urthe r re olved th at, while we recognize o ur duty to den1on– strate hr i tian Jove toward all born– aga in bel iever , we cannot join 10- gether with other )believers jn inte r– denomi naiti onal activities where uch will compromise important doctrine that have hi torioally ide ntified u Your edi tor had an o pportuni ty to see thi s new building. Jt is beauti/11/! We hope in the near ft1tu re to run picture, and an arti cle regarding the cht1rch. CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS SUBJECT - FAMILY DRINKING Whe reas t he Coopera t ive Commission on the Study of Al cohol ism f ina nced by the f edera l gove rnment, says it should be a na tion a l policy to promote dr inki ng in a f amily setting to he lp prevent the deve lo pme nt o f p robl em drinke rs; And w he reas thei r re port a lso recommends tha t the lega l ag e fo r buying a nd drinking a lcoho lic beverag es be lowered t o 18 th roughout the cou ntry; And whereas the Nationa l Council of Churches has strongly e n– dorsed these p roposa ls; Be it resolved by the messe ngers of the Ohio Associa t ion o f Regular Bapt ist Chu rches, meet ing in Co lumbus, Ohio, Octobe r 16-18, 1967, t ha t we express ou rselve s in strong opposition t o these p roposals. God's Wo rd makes it ve ry clea r, in Prove rbs 20: l , that "wine is a mocker, s trong dr ink is rag ing: and whosoeve r is deceived t he reby is not wise ." Fu rthe rmo re, observa t ion and human exper ience conf irm our conviction tha t the only saf e an d God– t'lonoring course o f act ion w ith regard to the use o f a lcoholic bever- 3ges is complete abst inence . SUBJECT - ATTACK ON BIBLE PROPHETS . Whe reas t he re have been and a re now unceasi ng a tt acks on t he au thentici ty of Scr iptu re; and w he reas in recent sta tements, Dr. Jo hn Marco Allegro of Mancheste r Unive rsity has v icio us ly a tt acked the Old Testament p rophe ts by decla ring t ha t they were d rug addicts and tha t t he New Testament was a mere "cover sto ry" f or their addiction; and w he reas th is ve ry pos ition o f unbe lief is vividl y described in I Corinthians 2: 14, which states " the na t ura l man rece,veth not the things of the Spi r it of God: for t hey are foo lish– ness unto him: neither can he know them, because they a re spiritually discerned." Be it resolved that the messengers of the 40 th Annua l Meet ing of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches, mee t ing in Columbus, Oh,o, October 16 18, 1967, reaff irm our fai th in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture. We bet ieve tha t the Bible 1s the Word of God and the final author ity fo r a ll our f a ith and practice. We, therefore, accept wholeheartedly God's statement in 2 Peter 1·21 ~ "ror the prophecy came not in old t ime by the will of rnan: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." SUBJECT - THE ECUMENICAL CHURCH Whereas, by their own public pronouncements, it is the avowed purpose of the Nat ional Council of Churches and its affiliated and ..sociated groups to establish a one-world church, refe rred to as he cumenical Church; And whereas we believe Scripture teaches tha t such a re ligious THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST bod y sha ll be headed by t he Antichrist and is, thus, under God 's condemn at ion and judgment ; And w he reas we believe it to be contrary to God's will for His believing followe rs to be identified with any such apostate move– ment ; Therefore, be it resolved tha t the Ohio Associa t ion of Regula r Baptist Churches, in Annual Conference in the Memorial Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio, October 16-18, 1967, go on record that we a re def ini te ly opposed to the Ecumenical Movement and tha t we urge the churches of our O.A. R.B.C. to avoid all affiliation with th is movemen t . SUBJECT - NEW CHURCHES Whe reas we, the messengers o f the O.A.R.B.C., at our Annual Meet ing in Columbus, Ohio, October 16-18, 1967, have been made awa re of the t remend ous increase of popula t ion in our state, in tha t we are gain ing abou t 165,000 persons annually; And whereas our 165 fellowshipping churches are currently reach ing only 1 out of every 300 persons in this state; And whereas we have been challenged by our State Missionary to bring into being 12 new churches during the next 12 months; Be it resolved that we redouble our efforts to establish sound Regular Bapt ist testimonies all across the state of Ohio, giving our loyal support to the Program of Propagation and home mission . agencies; Be it also resolved that each church prayerfully consid er whether God might lead it to be instrume nt al in sponsoring such a church. SUBJECT - TRIBUTE TO THE MI NI STRY OF DR KETCHAM Whereas the Ohio Association of Reg ula r Baptis t Churches has enjoyed, under God, fo rty years o f blessing both spiritually and numer ica lly; and whereas God, in His Providence, gave us, in our early days, such a leader as Dr . Robert T. Ketcham; Be 1t resolved that we, as messengers at the O A.R B C Annual Con fe rence 1n Columbus, Ohio, meeting October 16 18 1967, express our praise unto God for Hi s guidance and blessing and our thanks to Dr Ketchan, fo r his spiritual insight and advice ~UBJECT EXPRESS ION OF APPRECIATION Havi ng been b lessed by the fellowship and having been ade– qua tely provided for: Be it resolved by the rnessengers of the O A R B.C., n,eeting in Annual Con ference at Me,norial Baptist Church, Colu1nbus, Ohio, October 16-18, 1967, that we express our sincere appreciation to the host church and its pastor, Rev. Vernon Billington. We express our thanks, also, to the sister churches of the area for their cooperation and e fforts in ,naking our n,eeting a success c nd our s tay a pleasure. DECEMBER, 1967 PAGE 5