The Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1972

Jfii do111, Ill ()1 R e , . a I e 1: ; ._ I 1 <" r. f <>,.,, 1 er l " pa rt<) r <> f 1 I 1 c J, 111 , 1 a, 111 c I l' I ,, /111r /1, r 01111111, ()/1i<>. 1\· prcsc11tl)' pastori,11: 1/1c <. e,,tr 1/ }Jt11,11,t /111rc·l1, Gc1r.1 1 , J11<lia11a. Tl,e Lore/ is ,.; /,/, I t, 111(! /11\ 111i11i. 11 ,. ;,, Garv. Tl1e..1 1 !,ave a 1111da)' • ~< l1<)<Jl rl1t1t 11t·ar/J· rt·ac·l,c., 1!1e .5_50 111ar/i.. 7"/z \ nrticle ,r,,s take 11 f ro,11 /1 is ,,,eek l.v 11elt'S sl1eet - ., t 111ra/'s C/1al/c11ge ... It appeared on t/1e "Pastor's Page" as a ,11t>,, \·ar:c /, c)111 pasto, to people. "1 t , 11rt1J1l''r l1L'rc to .. J) tl1at the n10 t carne t minister of Cl1rist must not ~"~ [tl ~"' l1 tl1L' ic.lc1.1 of l1i o,, n per onal respon ibilit) 1 to such an extreme as to 111. c.: l11111st'lf t111fit for his ,, orl through ~ morbid vie·"'' of. his [ ositio~. If h e h._1 .. f '"1itl1ft1ll, 1)re~1ched tl1e 570 pel and his message 1s re3ecte let him per– ~c, L' rc 111 h t)J)C a11d not conaen111 hi1nself. J remember years ago, \i\ 1 hen ! l..1bt1urcd t<.) feel the re J)On ibilit)' of n1en's souls upon me I became , 1 er)' de- 11rc ~ d in .. J)irit a11d the temptation arose out of it to give up the \,,ork in de pair. I b ~i ,·e that re pon ibilit)' should be dul) 1 felt, neither do I v\ 1 ish to say ..1 ,, <)rd to excu e an,, ,,·110 are unfaithful· but in my o,,,n case I sav\, that I could harp on one chord of ID)' nature till I destro)red my power to do good, for I becan1e o unhapp)' that the elasticit) 1 of ID)' spirit departed from me. Then I recollected that if I had put the gospel faithful!), before you and pressed 1t upon ) ou, if )'OU refused it I had nothing more to do ,,,ith the matter except to pra:· o, ·er it if I eamestl) 1 entreated the Lord to send a blessing, and tried again and again to plead and urge ,, 1 ith )'Our consciences that ) 'OU 'A'ould be reconciled to God, and if still I failed, I remembered that I should not be h eld re pon ible for not doing ,,,hat I could not do, namel) 1 , turn h earts of stone to fle h and quicken dead sinners into life. Our responsibilit:), is h eaV)' enough ,,·ithout our exaggerating it; ,, 1 e are not men's sponsors and if the)' reject our a,·iour ,,~horn ,,·e faithful}), preach, their blood must be upon their 0\\ 1 n h eads. Our Lord did not al,,,a)'S ,,·eep o, 1 er Jeru salem, H e sometimes rejoiced in spirit: no one thought must exclusi, 1 el) 1 occup 1 1 our minds or \;\/e sh all be good for nothing in practical life. We are not the keepers of oth er men's souls in a boundless sense, there is a limit to our responsibilit)' and it is foolish to allo,, 1 an excessi,·e sensiti,,eness to burden us into semi-lunacy." A pra~;erful concern for those outside of Christ? l ost assuredl)rl An aggressive ,, itness for Christ? lost assuredl) 1 ! eek to lead men to a Scriptural decision to recei,·e Jesus Christ as a,,iour and Lord? 1ost assuredly! Bu t at the same time there is a need to realize that saJ,,ation is a supernatural \ivork of G od the H ol)' pirit. Our responsibilit)' is to preach the P o,, 1 erful Saving Gospel of Jesus Christ ,,·ith lo,,e compassion and po", 1 er an,d then trust the Spirit of God to do the ,,·ork of con,,iction, dra,,,ing and saving v\'hich H e alone can do. Thank God - al,ration is of the Lord! We must n ever be gu ilty of u sing ps~chological techniques and unethical promotional tactics, in order to obtain decisions. ~ either must ,,,e )rield to the subtle temptation of deleting and/or modif: 9 in~ essential parts of the Gospel in order to make it more palatable to _A.dam's Proud Flesh and thereb,, obtain more decisions. God v, 1 ill honor His ,I \Yord ,, hen the message is faithfull 1 1 presented. H e alv\ 1 ays h as. The Ohio Indepe ndent Baptist - Publ ishe d Monthly by - THE OHIO ASSOCIATION O f REGULAR BAPTIST CHURCHES SECOND CLASS POSTAGE p a id a t Xe n ia, Ohio . POSTMASTER: Pl e a se send Form 3579 to The Ohio Indepe nde nt Baptist Box No. 160 Xenia , Ohio 45385 Editorial Office: Box No. 160 Xenia, Ohio 45385 Rates of Subscription : $2.00 per year; $5.00 for three years ; EVERY ACTIVE FAMILY PLAN, $1 .1 S per subscription; BUNDLE LOT PLAN {mailed directly to the church), $1 .00 per subscript ion . Minimum bundle order - 1 S copie s; single issue 20 cents. Your Editorial Office should have all news and advertis· ing copy in hand no later than 30 days prior to p r inting. Advertising rates w ill be sent on request. STAFF Editor . . A. Donald Moffat Box No. 160, Xenia, Ohio 45385 Circt,lation ,,Janager . . . . . Stuart L. Chaffe Box No. 160, Xenia, Ohio 45385 Won1en' s Edi1or . . . Mrs. Inez r..11lner 2195 Brock,vay Road Universi ty Hts., Ohio 44118 State ~Jissionary . . . . . . . Earl D. Umbaugh 2150 Marhofer Ave., Sto,v, Ohio 44224 State Y 011t/1 Dzrector . . Wilbur Parrish Gallia St. at Waller, Port!>mou th, 0. -45662 COUNCIL OF TEN Cha1rn2an . . . . . . Lynn E. Rogers State Rt. 82 & N. Boyden Rd., Northfield, Ohio 44067 I'ice-Clza1rn1a11 ' John R. \\'oo<l Box 596, Bellefontaine, Ohio 433 11 Secretary (temporary) . . . \V. Dean H enry 54 r Bro\vn St., Akron, Ohio 44311 Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \Viii iam A. Brock 4659 Trabue Rd., Colun1bus, Ohio 432:rB Program Chrm. . . . W. Dean Henry 541 Brov,n St., Akron, Ohio 443 r I Aiissionary Clirm . . . . George A. Bates 5325 Clearvie\v Dr., Blanchester, 0. 45107 Education Clzrm . .. .. Raymond F. Hamilton Gallia St. at v\ 1 aller, Portsmouth 45662 Y oung People's iVork Cl1rn1 ., T orn1 Bo~\\Orth Cecla1v1llc College, Ce<lar, tile, Ohio 4531 -t Kenneth H. Good ......... 5103 Broad,vay Lorain, Ohio 44052 R. Kenneth Smel er . . 1 23 \\ 1 • Libert) St. Medina, Ohio 44256 Earl V. W11letts . . . . . . 11 Adams St. Berea, Ohio 440 17 .