The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 2003

The Newsletter Prorrioting Interdependence Among The Ohio Association of Regular Baptist Churches T E OHKO K DEPE Vol. 76 No. S , In this issue H'e celebrate travel as a vi1al par! ofOhio s history. In her book, Ohi(J, Ann Heinrichs clc1ilns that "transportation \Vas the ke_v" to gro\vth in Ohio (p . 24). Bordered b)' t\VO naturc1/ water rcJutes, 1,,vith 111an)' internal rivers fio 1 .,ving into these, Ohio becan,e tlie place To go. Over the _vec1rs, canals, railroads, highi, ,va.rs . even ain,vci)'S, have kept Ohio "on !he go." No te the references to tra vel throughoul this issue. Where Are You Headed? e u ac tu all y po ed the que tion "Where are you headed?.. when He pic tured life a two road . Noti ce the vivid contrast He draws in Matthew 7: 13- 14 about the two road, that stretch out before u in life: ' Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad i the way that lead to de truction , and there are many who go in it. Because narrow i. the gate and diffi cult is the way whi ch leads to life, and there are few who find it. " He contra t their entrances - one gate is narrow the other wide. We mu\ t en ter the narrow gate indi viduall y. one by one, not a~ a group . Entering the narrow gate is not done coll ec ti vely as a fa,n il y or as a church group. Jesus is s ignaling that each one must have a personal relation~hip with Hin1 . On another occas ion Je~us said, "He who hears ,ny v.ord and be lieves in Hin1 Who 5ent Me has e erlasting life" (John 5:24). The decis ion to get on the road to life is an indi vidual decision . Ha\e you decided to enter the narrow ga te? He contrasts their terra in - one road is difficult , the other broad or ea\y. Road ha1ard '> on the way to hca en cha llenge the hardi est or traveler\ . Difficulti es co,ne fron1 Satan and hi\ crew of dcn1on \, frc)lll an un\aved \Ociety that line~ the way, and fr<>n1 <>ur own fle shl y nature. f>utt1ng <)ne foot in front of the other, plodding on, keeping on keeping <>n the '>e all apprc)pr1ately dc\c: ribc the steac.J y effort it take~ to pt<>gre'> '> a\ a believer. Paul re111inded the believers o f' hi 5 day that "we n1u\ t through n1an y tribulation '> enter the king.don1 of 'od" (Acts 14·22). .He contra~ts their tra eler~ one road accon1 111oda te"i bu t a rev. . the other n1any. r~art of what n1ake'> the narrow rc)ad ~<) dilficult '" the pauLtty <>J fellow tra ve lers. It can he ,cry lonely' l~"i pec iall) \\hen the October 2003 Entering Gall ipolis, location of fall OARBC Conference n1 ajor ily of people arc ta~ing a different cour\c. Be ing tn the n1inoril ) i~ neve r an ea~y e perience . The j o) of thL~ journey con1c~ not so n1uch fron1 hun1an con1panion-.. a-.. fro111 lhc pcr\ona l pre~encc of the Lord Je~u~ and 111 -.. Holy pirit. He contras t their destinations one road IL'ad ... tu ltfL' , Lhc other lo dc~truction . l-I ca\'en ()r hell. thL' f·~llhcr', ht)u-..c or the de\ il's dungeon! The dl'~linat1on n1 ,1l-.c, thl' r1 !-!hl choice oh\iou-..! 1'hc dc... t1n atil>11 put-.. 11110 propc1 per~pccti\'c the toughnc,, along the\\ a) . ·ro hL·ttJ fo1 de~truct1on i... do,\nr1ght fnoli-..h ! ' fh L' choice "hould bl',, no hrai ncr! On ,,hi ch 1oad .tre \Oll tr,t,L' l111 11. > \\ hL'rL' .ue \ (l ll hL',tc..l L·d ' . .. . J L'\ ll \ doc, lea, t' thL' r hntl'L' to u... ' \\ c rnu,t L' hlin-..c lll l' tlt t' I One () I t ht' () I h l' I : l h l' I t' ~ 11 L' () 11 l\ l \ \ () l ' h ll IL' l'" !.!. I \ l' ll . ' J\ccord1ng ltl Jt•,u-.. dclt'l l L'd ~1dt1l1c,tll\.Hl p.,," o l I t ' lh lP\t.' Lhe narrn,, 10.id ,,1th ( ' h11 , t ,ou ,,,II bt• ! !I.id \tlll did ! . ~ •