The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 1998

The; <> <> I:s:.d.e;pe;••d.e;:..t :B~pti.s-t The Newsletter of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Church es Vol. 7 / No. 4 A Time For Surprises ackages wrapped so a Lo conceal the ir contents, c losets that become off limits to the children, gi fts s tored in the ne ighbor 's garage- these a ll remind us that Chris tma is a time for s urprises. How a ppropri a te, s ince the o rig inal Chri s tma caught e ve ryone invo lved by surp r ise . When the a ngel Gabri e l appeared to Mary he "S"t unned he r wit h the words , "And beho ld yo u wi ll conce ive in yo ur womb and br ing fo rth a Son, and sha ll c all Hi s name Jesus" (Luke I :3 1). She had ne ve r d reamed he r firs t pregna ncy would come about in this way . Wh a t a happy surpri se and blessed privilege would be he rs. Jo~eph '~ initial reac tio n to the news showed how s urprised he was . He " was n11nd ed to pu t he r awa y sec re tl y" (Ma tt . I : 19). Obvi ous ly, he had no t planned for th 1~ tu rn o f eve nt s. Who had eve r hea rd of a ba by conce ived in a virg in wo n1b apart fr om n1a le n1a tte r? T he s a rn e ange l was d is pa tc hed fron1 heaven to c.t\~ urc Jolie ph tha t a ll wa~ we ll, th a t Ma ry's s to ry wa s true, and tha t he s hould proceed wit h the n1arr1agc. 'I'hc c 1L11c n\ o f Be thl e he n1 we re caught off gua rd whe n the young coup le arri ved 1n th e ir town for reg is tra ti on. They had no idea how prec ious was the "Largo" th ey we re bri ng ing with then, . The inn keepe r wo ul d be very embar- , c.1~~ed today to have to ad ,n rt he had turned away Is rae l's Mess iah. And who would have d rea n1ed tha t a won1an ,n he r ninth n1onth o f pregnancy would be trave ling to a tl1 ~lanl town? S1n1rl arl y, the ~he phe rd ~ firs t fe lt fea r. th en an1azc rn e nt a t the ange l ' s a n– nounce rne nt o f the Sav ior '~ bi rth . In that day , Jewi s h ~hcphc rd~ were o n the low end in soL1a l \ La tus. Few trus ted the n1 and ,no~t avo ided th cn1 . How su rpr1 s1ng then, tha t God woultl g ive the f1r~t announce rn c nt of His Son ' s arrival 1n th e hurn an fa1n 1ly to the li kes o f thc n1 . And , of ,ourse, the e nt ire c ity of Je rusa lc1n wa~ 1n a n uproar whe n Gentil e ast ro loge•~ showed up 1n the Jewi sh ca pit a l c it y with the q ues ti on, "Whe re is He who has been bo, n King o f the Jew'>? l·o r we have '>Ce n Ht s s tar in the I~a \ t and ha ve co rn e to w o rs h I p H 1111 " (Matt 2 :2 ) What a '> t unn i ng "urpr 1 "c t ha l Gcnttl ts would know n1 ore about the Jewt ') h Me\\ Jah'\ brrt hplact' th an re'> 1<le nl\ Decembe r 1998 In This Issue • W. Dean Henry with the Lord. page 2 • Barretts and Ronald Glob1g honored at Conference page 3 • Dave gives you the RA for avo1d1ng the EliJah complex page 4 • Clintonville church becomes Linworth Baptist. page 5 • OIB deadlines for '99. page 7 in the capita l c ity ! Y cs, the ori g ina l Chri s tmas caught many peopl e by ·urpri sc. The un ex– pec ted happe ned . Mos t surpris ing o f a ll is the fa c t th a t Chris t,n as s igna led this wo r ld o f (~od ·~ grea t love fo r a ll hu rna nk ind. God "ca red e nough to se nd Hi s ve ry hcs t .. How undeserving a ny o f u · are 10 rece ive God 's s urpr is ing love Gift ! He 111 ade a n e 111 p ha l ic s ta te 111 e n l I hat assures u s or His ki ndnc~s to \.\'ard u" 111 the se nd ing o f His only hego 11 c n Son Le t us a ll th an k the l...o rd lor th1 ~ u ncxpec tcd invas ion or hu,nan hi s to ry . God love~ the unl o c ly and s urp r1 scs the si nful When God 1s 111 the pic ture we ca n expec t lhc LJl)C \ pcc tcd . Wh.Jt ,l plca\ant \ Urp11 \ L' 1