The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1970

VOLUME 43, NO. 3 ,, DECEMBER, 1970 i{eal ''<tt ristmas mree' ' "Who His own self bare oitr sins in Hi o}vn bod)' on tl1 e tree . .. " ( J Peter 2 :24) There i nothing wrong with cele– brating Chri tma so long as you don t tay at the manger and forget the 2ross and the empty tumb. The real '"Chri tma Tree " after all. is not a decorated evergreen in a tand in the Jiving room. It's a rough , ugly cro . stained with the precious blood of the Son of God. Instead of bright lights, there was darkne . In tead of the jolly fellowship of loved one , there "'a a lonely piercing cry, ' My God, My God, why hast Thou for- aken me?" Instead of gifts, there wa absolute poverty and hameful naked– ness. This wa the true "Christmas Tree," the tree that the world seem to for– get. J e us was born to die. When the Wise Men brought frankincen e and myrrh. it was a though they were an- by Dr. Warre n Wi e rsbe nounci ng Hi death and burial. They were right; He had come to die. When Mary and Jo eph pre ented the baby Je u in the templ e aged Simeon tartled Mary by ay ing, "Yea a word shall pierce through thine own oul al o ' ( Luke 2 : 35) . A word ! What a thing to bring up at the dedication of a baby! o , Simeon wa right: Je u wa born to die . The hadow of the tree fell ae ro Hi birth Hi boyhood, a nd Hi adult ministry. "My hour i not ye t come ' ' He told Mary at the wedding tea t. The Jew tried to arrest Him but their plot failed; Hi hour h ad not yet come. a1mly He led Hi di ciple t1p to J eru alen1, trying to prepare them for the cru hing blow of H i arre t and crucifixon; ye t omehow they did not under tand . Then it came. "Father the hour i Six Nev., Churches Received ix new churche were received into our OAl{B ell ov. hip at our 43rd Annual onference hel<l 10 Herea, Ohio th is past October. h1 l>ring the; total nun1bcr of churches in our .. ello\v hip to 183. A challenge " 'a JJre e11tcd al the conference to ee ii "e could r11ak it 20() cht1rches I>) ctober '7 I . llilcy r i· Bapri t hurc}1 1<1 . J , Je11era. l1io - 458 l Jl v. t1arl <> 01,1 i, Jl1 . 1, J31uffto11 , (JJ110 - 45817 I aath I 8J>ti t }11urcl1 307 l-l1l101 11e t J e 1· n , 1110 - 4 12 I , . 1 er)} n l . J 11e l I 5 TH · 0 10 INDEP NDENT BAPTIST aith Bap ti t hurch 2400 : . ou rth treet I~1111a, Ohio - 45 ()4 I< C\ . Bruce n} dcr 5 J () • Pro\pec t venue l .. i111a. Ot1io - 458()4 r: aith 13aptl\t ht1rcl1 Bo 45_ ,alli1)olt" 01110 - 4561 l l<cv. J oscph C l1a1J111a 11 474 Jack.\c.>n f>1k.c ,alJiJ)Olt~, h10 4'i(l ~ I Shcrn1a11 li ai1tist l1l1r 11 I{ . J • I , Ii . _(>(>-J\ l)l le t ,,, 11 , l1i > 4 _J() l{c, . J . \\ 1 c: le\ J rar1ks , 1 I J I , lnnlf trc: l I o le: ll> , r1 , l l1io - 4- 0 con1e! Glorify Thy on!' ' To the ruffian who arre ted Him in the garden he aid. · Thi i your hour and the power of darkne ." They bottnd Him and led Him away to a rigged trial that wa o unju t it make the blood boil to read about it. The entence wa pronounced : they led Him out ide the city: they took away Hi few po e ion : they cruci– fied Hin1 . HCur ed i every one that hangeth on a tree!°' (Galatian 3: 13). Enjoy your hri ti an fel lo\\, hip thi year , and thank od for every good and perfect gift that He o bounti– full y hower upon u . But 1n the n1id t of it a ll , don ' t forget the real hri tma Tree" - the cro where Je u died for your in . On that tree od hung the grea te. t ift the ~ orld ha e er kno\vn. NOT TO BE REPRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION on1n1unit) Baptist ht1r h ~26 oil ge treet ...... v ac.L "' rth, Ohio - 4421.' I Rev. h n1as J . 11ze 32() I H an1eco,, n R a LI orton. Ohio - 442()3 Help Needed! \i\ c drc a l1it e111h,1rr,l\\t'U anll 11ccti hel1)' Sc.)fllt.= tin1c ago a11 artt ·le \\,1, ,cnt t<.) \t)Ur cc.lit r ent1tleli - 1 l I I JS I O 1 ,;. I t 1, .1 ~l)L)Li artH.. ll' .... anti \\l' ,,L)ttlL1 l1k.c lt) 1t111 1t. l)t1r 1)roble111 '"' th,it c1tlll'l' ttlc ,, 11tL"1 L)l the .1rtiLlc ft,rgt)l ttl ·11t.1Ll11l1ctt 11a1l\l' ,r, :stln1cl1t)\\ \\c' ha,l: lt)~t it. In 'lll\ a:--;', \\ l' ,, tltil I lik~ thl n.1111 • \,f tht ,,rit~1 , a~ ,,l: \\tlttlll h~l" £) 11r1nc it antl gi, retlll \\hl~IL \.l etl1 t ts till . I' I I , 1\ ~ l l ~ t l l I, l I, t ) ~ l 't ! I ti i I r l c, 11 !\ I t 1 ()( 11i fl , llll DECEMBER, J 970 3