The Ohio Independent Baptist, December 2001

tliililiitil)liii Dt:\1tillnefor Febn1aryOIB January 15 pn1<11t <1ddress dandlthl1rr1as@glassc1ty net Or write 327 East Onve Dayton OH 454 19 F1"0111 Oi,r Hearts To Yours Dave and Pat Warren State Representative Reasons for Being/Ties That Bind Rcl·cnt 1 1 I -.. pL,k~ at thl.! c,.111 lercncc of the \1 1l·h1gan .,\ ~~ul·iat 1on or Rcgul;,ir Bapti~t ( 'hurchc~. (>n that OL'L'asion I <lc\'c lopcd a ll.,llr-p~,n --~r1c" nf n1cs ... agc~ a~ hJ the "'rca~l,n:,, for hcin~" or the R\? l! ular .. .. Raplisl 11\o\cn1cnt. \\1,:: <lo cx i ·t for "'~' ~ral gL)L'Li rea~on-.., not the lca~t uf \\ h1~h i, that\\ c do prnv idl: a "t h~ologi– cJ1 l1tn11c and fan1tl v" for n1an v pastors "' ,; Jlld ~hurch('" . ()ur A~i.;ocia tion docs l°ulti]l a unique niche in lhe Rody of l ' hrl\ l and is a\ iahlc part of tha t Body. \\ .L' Jr(' not thc only :,;ub-group in thi..tt l3od~ and \\ e do nprr~ciate the contribu- 11on anJ prc-..cncc of others. '{ cl, \VC make a real cnntribul ion or our ovvn and \i., c dl) need to be a,\ are of \\'hat thut i.. ( )u1 "hon1c·· i~ n1arki:d bv fundan1e n- 1:d dl,ctrtnc - the insriration. of the Bible. the , 1rl!in hirth of C~hri~t. the dei tv of ~ . c·hri:--t. the ,;ubstitutionarv atonen1cnt of ., (.'hr l~t. nnd the bodilv n:\urrcc ti on and .. s~~und ( 'on1ing ol'(' hri:-; t , \\'e also "line ,,ur ,, all,.:·\\ ith the Bapt i~t dis tinctivcs. \\ h1ch \\ c also belie\~. ha,·e their roots in th~ te.\t l,fScripturc it~clr. <)ur ··hon1I.! .. i,; al"o n1arked hv an .. appreciatiun ror Lhc historic battle vvngccJ How To Reach Us... State Representat ive David & Pat Warren 360 College Hill Drive Cedarville OH 45314 937·766-5913 warrenoarbc@Juno.com Church Planting Coordinato Max & Phyll is Tucker 9 ; 63 Steamboat Way West Chester . OH 45069 513-942· 1295 pl tuckerS@Juno.com in the L:arl ) 1900~ to 111aintain the doctrinal purit y of tht.: <.: hurchc~. We unders tand that Lh i: hatt le \.\, as ne~c~sary. nnd our churches 111.:cucJ to separat e fro1n libera l groups. ( )ur forefath ers \\'Crc not mere "batt lcr~" or belli gerent persons v: ho could no t gel \1h.>ng ,vith anybody. 1·hey \-Vere "contcnd– ini! lt)f the faith ." not for thcn1sc lvcs and the ~ . i~sucs at stake \Vere th~ "v itals," not periph1.:rJI rnutters. We appreciate the heritage they preserved and passeu on to us. Our "hon1c" 1s al ·o n1arkcd by a valuing o r halan,e . We value cn1pha ·i zing n1any things and trying to <lo a good job on 1nany -- - ......_ Repr oduction Max and Phyllis Tucker ChurchPlanting Coordinator I lo\,· can you tell"' hen son1cthing is rea lly al li ve? Aristot le wrote, "A ll things arc said to he ali ve \v hich determine thcn1se lvcs to n1oven1enl or operation of any kind ." The bio logist tell s us that the unique features of life necess itat e three ingredient s: ( l) growth,(') nourishrncnt. anti t3 ) reproduction. Growth takes place hy regeneration or the- r~placcn1cnt o f another part. It is also pos ·iblc for cells to change in s i7e by their growth. Nc.,urishn1ent is essential to life as no Irving thing can exist apart fron1 energy: it 1:-; energy that 1nakes possible n1obi lity of n1ind and body. Reproduction is the process whereby liv ing thing~ produce 111ore of their own kind. l ' hi · is possible through the 01 \ iding o f cell~ or hy gcr111inati on. L vel)' Ji ving thing n1u~l nourish itc:;e l f, n1ust grovv, and 1nu"t r~producc. Thi s is th~ min in1 un1. not the rnaximun1, funct ion of organic life . When v·.·c confc~s that the ('hurch i~ the Body of ( 'hris t \VC arc in fact say ing that the C:hurch is a li vi ng organisn1 . As n Ii ving organ isn1 \ he is not cxcn1pt fro1n the principl e of life \Vhich necessi tates grov,;th, nouri sh111cnt. nnd reprodu ction . The hop~ of the c·hurch rc~ts not in n1aturity but rather in our ab ility to reproduce uftcr our kind. We 1nu ·t Pray specifi ca lly for the Cedarville University Search Committee as they seek the Lord 's choice for the next president o f the school . things at the su,ne tin1~. We have a "both- 1 .. u1c.f' 111cntality when il co1n~s to cvangc– li sn1 /c<lifica tion, di vine sovcrc ignty/hu,nan rcsponsi bi Iity, locn I churt h/uni vc rsul church, hon1c rni ss ions/ !'orc1gn rni ssion\ . and n1ajors/n1inors. We arc balanced separatis ts who seek to n1ajor on the n1ajors and to n1in0r on the minors. Our "hon1c" 1~ ~lso 111arkcc..l by a respect for the other guy. Regular Raptist pastors respec t their people as thinking individuals who arc spiritually s incere. Our pas tors rca. on \,vi lh thei r peopl e rather than ·'thro\\' conti1111ed. J>age 3 nlwa ys ren1en1her that it is (3o<l ' s wi 11 thut \Ve he fruitful and n1ultiply. \Vhcn Bapti sts reproduce one \vou ld as. u1nc that we are reproduc ing Bapti t churches, and Lhat the churches would also bear the good old fa1nil y narne ' 1 8aptist. " Son1eone ha~ we ll sa id that we need a rescue mi ssion fo r f alien \vords . Perhaps by creating a good , posi ti ve testimony \Ve can redee n1 the term in so111 c quarters. Don't be likt.: the bishop I heard about. It sccrns a BaptL t family had a death in the fa n1i ly while their minister was out of town. They asked a minister of anot her denon1i– nation 10 conduct the funeral ·crv ice . He sa id he \vould have to check with the bishop. ~o he \Vircd hin1 , ..c·an I bury a Baptist?" The bishop wired back, "Sure, bury a ll the Bapti sts you ca n! " Rerncn1ber that v.;c Baptist don' t clain1 l o be perfect. Tlze Perfi.'cl (... hurch I 1/Jink that I shall never see ;,( church that 's all it ou,ght to be,· .4 L·hurch H'hO.\'£' 111en1hers never stra.r Be rond the srrait Llncl narroH' H'ai ·: . . .·1 church tho! has 110 c 111p1.1· pei\'s, J1'/zose plrstvr 11erer has 1/zc hlucs. ,1 church H·hose dca<"ons alH·ai •s cleak. .·1 ,ul none i,· JJru1ul. 011ll all are 111eek: 1-i'hl're gossiJ.JS ne1·er 1;cclc/le lies, (Jr n,ake cornplainls or critici: c,' tVhere c1/I are ui,1 ·ai ·s sireer £Jt7ll kind. .4ncl al/ 10 others './c1u/1., are blind Such 1>e1:fec1 churches rhere n1aJ· he But none of thenz are knol-i·n l o rne. But still, }Ve '/l 1;,1 ·ork. an<I /Jra) ', anti plan lt>,nake our o H'/1 the hes t H'e can. --Author Unknov.,·n