The Ohio Independent Baptist, June 2000

Th.E'! <> i<> Ir.d.E'!pE'!r.d.E'!I t ~atpti.:st The Newsletter of the Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches Vol. 73 No. 3 Building Bridges of Love hat ' the theme of our nationaJ GARBC conference thi month, June 24-28, in Ame , Iowa, on the campus of Iowa State Univer jry, at the Iowa State Center. Joining with the FBFA, the Fundamental Bapti t Fell ow– ship of America, wil l add a dynamic spark that we all will really enjoy. The time will al~o be n10\t in5tructi ve! It 's not too late!! You can ~till corne. Spur of the moment trip~can often be the be~t kind. Son1e free housi ng may 5till be a\ ailable . It 's not too far!! Arnei... , Iowa i~ on ly abou t 20 n1i)e5 north of interi... tate 80. ~1ost of u~Ohioans can reach An1ei... in a long dr1 ve - abou t 12 to 15 hour\ . Starl <>n I .. r,day and you' ll n1ake 1l 1n tin1e for the fjrst session o n Satu1 da, . Plan le> J{>Jll us i,>1 pr, ,a a l the ull -()hio gathering on Monlla) June 26, at 5.()0 p.n, ., 111 J{c>orn 22()-21() 111 the Schcn1an l~uilding of the Iov.'a State enter hc1c i no charge, ho\A.'C\ er, donation .., ""il l bl: \\Clco1ne. Pick up yc,ur ticket ~ ,H the Regi tratiun table, the 'cda rvtll e ollcgc booth , 0 1 J1 0 1n l a, e or Jlat 'A JJ 1cn . God Built A Bridge n Thur day, April 27, 2000 at 9:30 in the morning, the Putnam Street Bridge in Marietta, Oh io, exploded and collap ed into the water. of the Mu lcingum Ri ver. Employee of the Ea tern State Wrecki ng Co. had carefull y placed 60 pound of explo i e in it metal pan to bring it down, making way for the new Putnarn Street Bridge which i chedu led to open in mid-June. Marietta re ident expre , ed a variety of emoti on from regret to rejoici ng a they wi tne ed the expl o ion. The bridge had played a vital role in the life of th ir town ince 1914 , connecting the ea ·t and wes t . ide · of Marietta. Bridge. are i1nportant becau. e bridge~ connect. They pan other\A. 1 ise in1pas ·ible chasn1 · and make tra el both possi ble and easy. They unite two ~ide~ of a gulf, joining \Vhat, ou ld other,vise be ~eparated. Bridge~ bring people together. Thankrull y, God connected wi th u~. He "built" a bridge that ~pan~ the gap between Hin1,clf and people. I le bridged the deep cha \ 111 that ,eparates U\ fron1 Gou. That bridge i.., J C\ ll \ (~hri ~t. J C\ ll ~ unucr~tood th1 \ to be true anti C).prc~-..~d H 1, hr1dg1 ng work ''- hen I le ,,ud. " I an, the way. the truth, antJ the Ii Ie o on~ conl t::\ to the 1~athe1 cxc.:cpl 1h1oug.h l e" (John 1-l .6). In I 1~1n1othy 2.5 Pau l t'lll pha\1/t'\ that 1 t'\ll \ I \ the Dill\ ti UL' "bridgL' · lo Ciod when h t•~ 1 tle\, " 1·01 th t'tt' I\ one (ind dnd one f\.1 ed1dt u1 bel\\t:Cn (jod ,tnd 111cn, the ~Ian ( ' h11 s l Je~u~. June2000 • From Our Heart to Yours page2 • Growing in Grace page3 • Celeb rate Ohio 's Covered Bridges ! page4 • Ohio Women News pages • Ohio Talents for Christ winners page6 • Across the State page? • Cedarville College News pages Je. us Christ is the pcrfc · t bridge to connect God and n1an for He is both God and n1an . olos~ian, 1 :9 tell-.. us tha1 ''in I lin1 dv e ll\ nil the fullnc:-:s of the ,odht•ad bodily .'' vVhen Mallhe,\ dc .... crihcd th t• \ irgin Mar\ ·..., firstborn son he u .... ed the,L' ...... ~ \\ ords, " ln1111anuel ... the (;od ,, ith u, ·· (~1atthe~ I:' 3 ). In lHht•r ,, nrd~. Jc"'u" ( ' hris t ,~ perl't'ct hun1an1l 1 .and unu1n1in1shcd dcit) united 111 ont' pc1 \lHl JorC\CI. I le co111h1llL'\ Ill~ , ,, p t' l \lll l blHh hu1na1111t.~s~ and "}.!.lH.lnt' '"'-' ' I It' ltn~.... thL' ... t,, n tng.t• tht•1 111 l l 11n .... cll ()u1tc ,t un1qt1t' brtdgL' ! 13oth in I J1 .., ,, u1d"' .u1d 111 111 ... \\lH ~ .... Jc"'u' ( ' h11\t "'ho,, cd lli n1-..t•ll tl> ht' (it >d 1n a hod\ .t nd th u"' .i t1 u.... 1,, l>1 th \ bt 1d ~c to . . L l.tllll~ t lHlL L. I lllll~ I lt lll\t'II \\ lllild ,ln\ l ll ... u .... toda\ d.11 L' tu 111.11-..e \UL h "l.11n1 ..,' ( Oll/111111 tf, f'tlt.:t '