The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1969

• ress • van by Rev. John Grauley Y 011 1i 011t beliei·e it even after yoLt've read this article! At lea t. , 011 }1 1 0111 1va11t to ... b11t it is all so true! You 1vill 1i·a11t .to sa1' ... "It ji,st didn't happen!" BUT IT DID! T/1L\ report i ~!!i,·e,z b) 1 one 11·/zo sa1v it with his own eyes. H e /1eard it }vitlz his own ears! Brotlzer Grai1leJ1. who writes this report on the U.S. Co11oress on Evangelisrn, is a personal friend of your editor. We can voz1ch for his honesty. Along with his fa111il) 1 he has served the Lord i11 the mission field of i11gapore, havirig only recently returned to this land. It is sad that such things as this U.S. Congress on E,·a11oe/i m w /1ich 11,1as sponsored by the Billy Graham C1·z1sade should ever have com e to pass. How ,·er)· far dov..,n tl1e road into the place o f disobedi– ence this EW EVANGELICALISM is taking even the children o f God! Truly, these are the last days. THE VERY ELECT ARE BEING DECEIVED!! The cit)' auditorium in Minneapolis i a huge cavernous tructure which dominates the outh ide of the All– American Cit 1· of Lake . From the official e, aluation of the Congress publi bed September 13 we read ~·Toe fir t l }. . Congre on Evangel– i m can be t be de cribed, we believe, in the \\ ord of Act 4: 31: "And \\ 1 hen the} had prayed. the place was haken \.\ here they were assembled together.· To thi observer nhe only event that came close to baking the build– ing "a the performance of a rock– and-roll combo on Friday morning. ...\ close second might have been the ocean roar of applause awarded Dr. Ralph Abernathy of the Southern hri tian Leadership Conference. The H ol)' pirit cannot be held re pon– ibJe for either of these happenings. 8 DECEMBER, 1969 It would not be stretching the point to ay that the delegates assembled, representing 9 5 denominations, were haken. As one of ,the morn·ing speak– er Bruce Lar on exclaimed one day, "There is omething here to offend everybody." The most offensive aspect of the Congress to me was the glaring con– tradictions evident in the presenta– tion of issues and answers. There were true notes struck solidly, an– alysis of current problems that were clear and incisive, and expositions of cripture that thrilled the heart. At the same time, there were things said and done that made one wonder if the location were Minneapolis or Upp ala . On the opening day Billy Graham called for a new puritanir.:-m , a re– newed emphasi on the separated life I l c lt11l1at th· 111 ral JJc r111i s ivcr1 f lllt la)'· >n J-. ric l~1y ni ght thi s new fJUrilani 111 \ as t111vciletl at the o n.. grcss-s r1llr1sorc(I " tt,rn or1'' for Young r' 'll 1 ,r . Restless Teenagers 'l hi s event wns hclcl at the Min11c- apoli·~ rn1ory. Dr. John Millhcin1, ,cncral ~cc , clary of he Ar11crican oun ci l <) f ( 'hri \lian hLtrchcs. and ( went ove r to the Armory a bi t c,lJ ly to ac;\urc ge tting in. Thie; provecl to be a wic;e move \ince the h all was filled oon after the doorc; opened . . cve ntcen thou and rec; t]ess teenagers packed the building. Another five thou and people watched on c]o ed c ircuit TV over at the City Audi– toriL1m. There were three tages up front filled wifu e nough ound equip– ment to tock an electronics store. The how ( that's what it was ) began at 9: 30. One group after another performed on one of the three tages. The fir t two groups ang in the fo]k t,,1° ~nd eemed to give at least a low-key witne s in their son~ . A ve rv talented negro oprano, Myrtle Hall, ang two Go pel songs, inclu·ding her testimony. She sang beautifully . but it was immediately apparent to tho e of us who sat on the front row that he completely Jo t the audience. (They did not come to hear o ld line Gosp el singing .) There w a a ri ing tide of murmuring all over the armory. The kids were oon cheering and houting a a group called the ew Hope Singers occupied Center stage. Their music attacked the ears with the big beat and the wailing voice. The three girl in the group wore mini-skirt and did a go-go dance tep while they ang. ./ It would not have seemed strange to have the Beatles move in next to do their bit. The ew Hope Singers did the next be t thing they later r.:-ang one of the Beatles current hits, ' 'Hey Jude! " (Thi song has been intepreted in various ways. Some say it i an- · other rock song about drugs. The word of one verse go: ' 'Let her under your kin." Which may be a reference to the addict's needle. Others ay that "Hey Jude' ' i a refer– e nce to rock singer Bob D ylan and hi s reluctance to return to the pot– li ght. ) Hollywood's ' 'Pat Boone' ' The how was no t yet complete for the tar had not yet come out of the night. Bu t " here he i now (1ong pause), Pat Boone!' ' The full dance band in the pit plays Pat' theme a THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST