The Ohio Independent Baptist, May 1973

• • en1c1 Is It An Error? by Earle G. Griffith Rudi111cntar~ rnorality and elemcn– tar , logic reqti1re that needle di– , 1.. ton an1ong Chr1 t1an peri h. He is deficient 1n the in1ple t mea ure and kind of Chri tian love who find delight in groundle anin10 ity and d1, i i,·e action. Love i heart concern for the highe t ~ ell-being of another. \\' here men are et against each other or ,, ork1ng at cross purposes without "'au e. they are thwarting the love that the regeneration implants. All of thi is self-evident and de– \'elopmcnt i pointless. What needs clarification is that not all movements promoting unity among churches and denon1inations are justified by the opening paragraph of this article. We are to loathe ·'separation,,, "division,,. ·· chism.., onl)' when these are "need– less' ' and among those who are actual Christians by a Bible standard of at– testation. This emboldens one to say, with no fear of successful rebuttal, that the plan and designs of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. and the World Council of Churche . for united action among Protestants, are the worst, dead I test foe that historic scriptural Christian– ity faces this hour. The essential fea– tures of this vast unification scheme are well outlined. The greater peril arises from the fact that the exponents and promoter are commonly well– known personalities and regarded as representative pokesmen hence the greater deception of the uninformed ma es of church people. All the proponents of unification of denominations appeal to history, but fallaciously so. It is not the lesson of history that uniformly "in union there i strength. " There mus t be oneness of conviction, rel at ion , purpose. The break of Huss, Hubmaier , Luther, and Zwingli with Romanism is not a sepa r– ation to berate and bemoan, and seek to correct, but a providential su nder– ing of good from evil, to cause grati– tude to God and ought to be perpetu– ated. "'Tolerance," ucompromi se, ,. ··unit– action' ' at the expense of loyalty to re– vealed principles are hameless sur– render which manliness could never we]con1e. A false unity of churches affected and preserved the dark ages for one thousand years . Baptists far in ad– vance of the reformation elected loy- alty to Christ and the Bible in prefer– ence to a fictitious conformit y. Any division with virtue is preferab]e to an illicit union based on the death of . conscience. The ecumenicity advocates of our day, in the days of the American Revolution, would have been duly re- THE CLEVELAND HEBREW MISSION 4 , • 0. lox 11056, Clevel•nd, Ohio 44111 Founded 1904 FUNDAMENTAL - BAPTISTIC - EVANGELISTIC Evangelizing the "kinsmen" of our Lord in 'Cleveland, Ohio Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil OFFICERS - ~1 r. Geo rge B Dunn. P, es1de11t Re" Roy C lark . Vice Presiden t Rev Ge ra ld V. mel er.. 5'uperi11te11dent Re v. A . Paul T idball, Asst . 5 u pt . Mr . Earl Helfrick, Sec'y .- Tr eas. REFERENCES ·- Dr. John G. Balyo, Grand Rapids Mich Dr . Paul Van Gorder . A1lanta, l.Ja . Dr Va ughn Sprunger, outh Bend, Ind . Re v. Ll oyd Morr,~. Flint, Mich . Dr Robert Ketcham. Chicago. Ill. Dr Ralph Stoll , Lancaster, Pa. Dr. Melvin V. Efaw. Huntington, W . Ya . Dr. Frank C. Torrey . Boca Raton. Fla . Dr. Kenneth Masteller, Haddon Hts., N.J . Write fot Y041f Fl!E copy of '':TN Trv~tet fo, larNI" ov, quarte,ly 1M9e1tne deYOted to the wo,k of Jewish eve~lilffl. MAY, 1973 garcfcd as '·'Fifth olumnists." Musso– lini . Hitler, Stalin were staunch ad– vocates of regimentation, thus our world ha received its baptism of blood. Hi tory raisec; high a red flag of war11ing against all mergers that flout sot1nd doctrine, merely to ex– hibit solidarity. l he viewpoint that J ec;us prayed for Jews. Catholics, and Protestants to forget their differencec; and set up an external show of union is decep– tion without excuse. The barriers to a union of all forces considered Chri tian are insurmoun– table. It is an oversimplification of problems to predicate world peace on united church action. Christ taught that His doctrine and Lordship would divide men. See Luke 12: 51-53. He further taught that Satan's program, not God's, depended upon surface unity. See Matthew 12: 25-28. We challenge the religious union– isers to show one Christian stalwart who is in their corner. Let us be true to the Word of God and the God of the Word will be true to us. We are sent to bless. not to impress. Only the Gospel and God's Word will bless. A return to the centrality of the Christ of the Bible and adherence to that Book a re the needs of the churches. Conference Most Successful The Christian Education Confer– ence for Children's Workers held in the Washington H e i g h ts Baptist Church, Dayton, Ohio ( Rev. Law– rence Fetzer, Pastor) proved to be most succcessful. In spite of some ter– rible weather, the meetings were well attended. There were visitors from Cincinnati, Xenia, Springfield, Green– ville and Dayton representing a num– ber of different churches. The empha– sis of the conference was most practi– cal. There were workshops. These were "Bible Memory Work" by Mrs. Earl Helfrick, "How to Use Music with Children' ' by Miss Jean Fisher, ··Home Bible Clubs" by Miss Jackie Sweet and "Visual Aids' ' by Pastor and Mrs. Fetzer. REMEMBER TO PRAY for the CAN OF COINS PROJECT BANGU I BAPTIST HIGH SCHOOL Central African Republic BAPTIST MID-MISSIONS 4205 Chester Avenue Cleveland, Ohio - 44103 THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST