IIA church that cared enough to dothe ver¡¡ best for its pastor.

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Curing the Not-Enoughs'|t' not enough really, but it's a start

I in the right direction." said theIchairman of the finance commit-

tee as he presented the pastor's pro-posed salary increase to the church.

'God has been good to us throughour pastor's teaching. We are behindother churches in our community. Weshould begin to treat our pastor profes-sionally and in a way that is acceptableand pleasing to God. It is through thepromise of faith and the act of love thatwe propose the following

By Ruth Mullen

Colonial Heights FWB Church inClinton, N. C., voted unanimously onOctober 11,7987, to raise Pastor L. D.Creech's salary from $250 to $300 perweek, retroactive to October 1. Itincreases $50 per week in 1988 andanother $50 per week again in 1989.The car expense/travel remained thesame ($S0/week) as did the Christmasbonus ($1,300).

For the first time the church includedan I. R. A. and Social Secuiity taxes.They continue paying health insurance

and allliabilities on the parsonage (util-ities, taxes, insurance, repairs). A newcar of the pastor's choice will be leasedor purchased by the church every threeyears. The deed to the parsonage (withnine payments left) will be turned overto the pastor. He will assume responsi-bility for l¡abilities on the house atretirement.

A start in the right direction indeed!What events led up to this wonder-

ful occasion? This certainly must be oneof our larger churches, right? Your

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Contents

February f988

2 Curlng thc Not€noughsRulh Mullen

4 fhø Lortl's Mysteilous WaysFay Ratcllff

5 Brlelcase: Expand Your Wo¡ldJack Wllllams

0 Stewardslrlp ol Ou¡ llmeAllan Crowson

I Angels as PersongMalcolm Fry

9 God'g PtotectlonAlton Lovêless

10 frre Merger-?í Yeaß LalotSteven Hasty

19 Frci Wilt Bapttst Newslrcnt15 Cunenlly

1G Teailng Down FencegDouglas Little

17 lheDopanmentPageg25 fop Shell

Thomas Marberry

25 GolortheGoldlFloyd Wolfenbarger

26 On Ltttle LanesDonna Mayo

28 Teen Sceac

29 Especlally For Young P¡eachercDennls Wlggs

30 Relþlous Communlty News

31 The FWB SymbolMelvln Worthlngton

Edltonln+hlel: Dr. Melvln WorthlngtonErllton Jack WllllamsEdltorlal Asslstant Marllyn PrltchardChculatlon: Geneva Trotter

Volume XXXV, Vo.2

CONTACT (USPS 130-660), pubtishedmonthly by the National Assoclaíon ofFree Wll Baptlets. Fost Offlce Box1088, Nashvllle, Tenneseee gl2OZ.Address all correspondence and sub-scr¡pllons to thls address. Phone

.0f5/361-1010. Subscrlptlon rat€s: 1year, $9.50; church famlly plan $8.00per yÊar; church bundle plan $8.S0 peryear. Second class postago pald atNashvllle, Tennessee. Copyrlghtprlvllegee, rsserved @, 1988 Memberof the Errangellcal Press Assoclaüon.FOSTMASIER: Send address changesto CONIìAGI, P.O. Box 1088, Nashvllle.Tennessee 37202.lssN 0573-7796

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zand expectedAnd they did.

people would say, "When our church is

are going to look after you."have.

ial Heights Church is not anextraordinary church by any means.Clinton is a small town in SamsonCounty, population, 7,000. Churchattendance varies from 65 to 150 onspecial days. The 1987 budget was$850 per.week. There are no wealthymembers in the congregation. PastorCreech continues a radio broadcast

Postor and Mrs. L. D. Creech

At that special service Pastor Creechpreached from II Chronicles 72:l whereRehoboam had been established asking. Then he and all Israelforsook Godand His law. "We are an establishedchurch. We have the respect of thiscommunity. But we are not going to fol-low Rehoboam's example. We shall loveGod. We shall love one another. Weshall love this community.'

And they do.They also love their pastor.Now, "Go thou and do likewise.'Your church may not be able to give

the pastor a car, house or even anI. R. A. But you can adopt the attitudeof Colonial Heights. Instead of doingas little as possible, do the most youcan.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Mrs. Ruth Mullen is a t'teeIonce writer who resîdes in New Castle, Indiana,where her husband posfors First Free Will BaptistChurch.

three days a week that ran Mondaythrough Friday for over 10 years. Theyhave a Woman's Auxiliary and a nurs-ing home ministry.

What makes Colonial HeightsChurch extraordinary is an attitude oflove for God and their pastor. Theywanted to do the most they possiblycould for the preacher, not the least theycould.

The year 1987 will be rememberedwellat Colonial Heights and by PastorL. D. Creech. In Aprilthe church remo-deled the auditorium and added a newroof. When the job was finished, the$30,000 cost was paid for over andabove the budget. The pastor's salaryand benefits were dramaticallyincreased in October. They burned thechurch mortgage note November 1.

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Sala4r1987 1988 1989$250lwk $300/wk $400/wkCar Enpenoc/Travel$50/wk

Ghrl¡toa¡ Bonu¡$r,300/yr

f¡dMdu¡l Bctlrenent Account$2,000/yr

Hc¡hh ln¡nraace$200,/mo

Chorch to Pay'Social Security Täxes'New Car (lease or purchase every three years) of pastor's choice'Parsonage-Deed to be turned over to pastor-Church responsible for atl liabilities on house(taxes, repairs, insurance, utilities) until pastofs retirement.

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The Lord's

The Amazing Bath Tub Baptism

or decades the mighþ Mississippihas been the scene of many sto-ries about love and romance, war,

intrigue and piracy, but this one is in aclass all its own. Religion is the theme.

On July L4, L987, 76-year-oldRashie Kennedy, a Free Will Baptistminister, baptized a man in a bath tubaboard a cargo ship.

The Japanese ship was docked at aport south of Baton Rouge, louisiana,taking on a load of grain destined forJapan. The ship's co-pilot and four sea-men were Christians. One of the menhad not been baptized and he desiredvery much to be baptized. The co-pilotmade arrangements with a ministerfrom Baton Rouge to come aboard shipand baptize the seaman.

Reverend Rashie Kennedy, whoreadily accepted the request, wonderedhow a man could be baptized on boarda ship. He was told that a bath tubwould have to suffice for the baptistry.

Rev. Kennedy was excited andinvited his lO-year-old grandson toattend the service with him. They trav-eled to the port where the ship wasdocked and met the co-pilot and hisfriend. they were ushered aboard shipand climbed three flights of stairs toreach the captain's quarters. It was herein the captain's quarters that Rev.Kennedy held a short service explain-

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ing the significance of the baptism.After prayer, the group entered the

captain's bathroom where a large bathtub was filled with water. The candidatefor baptism got into the tub and Rev.Kennedy leaned over and immersedhim saying, "l now baptize thee in thename of the Father and the Son and theHoly Ghost, Amenl

The young Filipino sailor raised his

beaming face to the minister and his

friends and said, "Now I am saved!'Hehad just had the most wonderfulexperience of his life. All those presentwere emotionally touched from witness-ing the event.

Rashie Kennedy organized GraceFree Will Baptist Church in Greenville,North Carolina, and served as pastorthere nine years. He served on the For-eign Missions Board eight years and theTizxas Home Missions Board four years.

He is now interim pastor at First FreeWill Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.Each Wednesday he holds services atGolden Age Nursing Home in nearbYDenham Springs.

In order to extend his missionarYwork, Rev. Kennedy donated 25 Biblesand a number of tracts to his newfriends to distribute along the way. Hesays the baptismal service aboard a

cargo ship was the most uniqueexperience of his career (D

ABOUT THE WRITER: hee-lance witer Fov Rat'

cliff, 80, lìues at Golden Age Nursing Home inDenham Springs, louisiono. She is confined toa wheel chaîr, partiolly parolgzed from o stroke.9he deuotes at least two hou¡s edch day to writing.

Briefcase

ow big is your world? How bigdo you want it to be? Do youenvy others their cozy, well-

organized lives? You can do somethingabout it.

Consider the hungry man's world-his growling belly. The urgency of hisneed blots out allelse. For him nothingexists beyond his stark hunger.

On the other hand, the angry man'sworld extends outside himself, but notfar. He targets the object of his anger-the government, the grocer, the doctoror maybe you.

The dishonest man's shrinking worldof greed feeds on anothe/s possessions.He cultivates "friends" to exploit asmerchandise.

In contract, the mother's worldreaches lovingly into her children. Sheloses herself in them, Íiercely protectingthem from real and imagined dangers.She orders her life to meet their needs,pouring her dreams, her beliefs, herhabits, her character into their fertileyoung minds. Ironically, at first hers is

the only world they know; yet in time,if she isnt careful, theirs is the only worldshe knows.

The seriously ill and bereaved fre-quently live in a shadow world of mem-ories, taumatized by the loss of spouse,child, friend or health. Their once brightand cheery world huddles in despair.Most eventually find their way throughthe gloom, but some give up and nevercome back.

3Expand Your World

The health nut's world of runningshoes and whole wheat grain makeshim smugly superior to pudgy col-leagues. The sports enthusiast measureshis noisy but shallow world by the nextfootball game, the Las Vegas pointspread, the latest pollranking his favor-ite team.

Pity the extemist who exists in a nar-'row world of self-made absolutes withno tolerance for those who disagree.Who doesnt prefer the open-heartedworld of people who laugh and loveand accept others as they are!

So, how bigisyourworld? Howbig a world do you want? You cannottour every country, master 3,000 lan-guages, meet five billion people. Youcant be there when every historic eventoccurs. Besides, you've already missed6,000 years of human history. How-ever, there are three practical ways toexpand your world.

Read for your lifc. Mostfamily budgets dont allow extensivetravel. Not to worry. Your passport toeverywhere waits at the public library.The next best thing to being there is see-ing it through the eyes of a fellow pil-grim. In fact, reading about a planecrash or a plague is better than beingthere.

Will Rogers said, î man learns onlyby two things: one is reading and theother is association with smarter peo-plel You cant always find smart people,but you can read the best books.

A huck load of money cant buy youa ticket to the Revolutionary War, theRoman Empire, Israel's trek to Canaan.But your imagination and a good bookcan.

Climb Mt. Everest with a Sherpaguide and never leave town. Dog sledwith Admiral Byrd to the north pole;win World War II with Winston Chur-chill. Go behind the scenes of historicalevents. Get inside the minds of the great

and mighty by reading theirautobiographies.

Look and Llstcr. The much-maligned television industry pulls theuncommon and the exotic into your liv-ing room. While it does produce somedrivel, there's still magic in the media.No need to reject what shapes the worldjust because it's on television.

Want to safari across Africa, vacationin Hawaii, slog through a hopical rainforest? Watch those television specials.Take your kids to the next presidentialinauguration; attend the World Seriesin October; fly to Moscow-and neverleave the comfort of your home. That'sthe positive side of television.

Go and Glve. Go to churchand give yourself. The greatest expan-sion of the human mind takes placewhen we meet together and worshipGod. Public worship does something forman's spirit that's nothing short ofmiraculous.

Move closer to God and watch yourworld grow Listen to God, and discoverthe vast potential in yourself and others.Touch God and tap into unlimitedpossibility.

Need to find the super highway to abigger world? Give yourself to others.Smile, lend a hand, invest your time inpeople, and somehow miraculously,unexplainably their world multipliesyours.

What a paradox-the more you love,the greater your capacity to love. Themore you give, the greater your willing-ness to give. The more you learn, thegreater your drive to learn.

Ttred of yourcramped world?Step up and take hold of a wider morewonderfulworld. And the best part? Itonly costs time and creativity.

How big is your world?ity, about as big as youto be.

In real-allow it

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hat did you expect when youread the title. "The Steward-ship of Our Time?" Perhaps

being the way we are in the societywhere we live. the first idea that comesto mind is how to manage time morewisely. All sorts of books tell how tomanage time. I've read a few of them,and I've tried to implement them.

But it all comes down to this: Some-one once asked me to do a devotionalon time stewardship. I replied that any-thing I might learn about it between thatmoment and the day of the devotional,I would most willingly share with them.I did not consider myself an expert ontime management.

Then it hit me as I beqan to meditate

on the subject, that perhaps managingour time the way we commonly thinkof it is really not what we need. [¿t meput the question another way. Can youimagine talking to a fish about how tomanage and conserve and make thebest use of water? It just would notmake much sense to him. Now he cer-tainly does not want to pollute thewater, and when the water is polluted,the fish have a bad time. But other thanthat, fish don't think a great deal aboutwater. That's the element in which theyexist.

Weve begun to treat time as aresource, such as iron or coal, or treesand oil, so that it won't run out on us.Yet it seems the more we try to conserve

By Allan Crowson

it and manage it the less of it we reallyhave for the things that are importantin life. It's been said that the humanbeing is really a creature destined foreternity, and when he is in time as weknow it he is a fish out of water. Andthat is right.

Think of what a squishy thing timereally is. Time can seem so long ond soshort. For instance, at Free Will BaptistBible College when I was dating theyoung lady I would later marry, we hadcertain dating times. There was datinghour, and we would date for an hour.But that hour did not seem very long.An hour of ancient history seemedmuch longer!

Sit in a dentist's chair or wait in a doc-

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tor's office for some important testresults expected back in five minutes,and five minutes seem an eternity.When you are waiting to know, that fiveminutes can seem a lot longer than onehour spent with someone you love. Sotime is fluid and squishy. How then canwe be stewards of it?

At a recent stewardship study I

attended, someone pointed out that ofall the things of which we are stewards,time is the only one given to us on anequal basis. We don't have equalmoney, we don't have equal talents, butwe all have equal time.

Then it occurred to me that that istrue only in a limited way. Tiue, we allhave 24 hours in a day, 100 cents in ourdollars, 25 cents in each quarter. But wedon't have the same number of quartersand dollars. We don't have the samenumber of days. And we don't have thesame number of demands upon us forthose days. So maybe it's only some-what ftue that time is given to us inequal measure.

I spent some time (that word, again!)at a cemetery once when I arrived earlyfor services at a church and no one elsewas yet there. The cemetery was rightnext to the church, an old cemetery,and I walked around in it, trying to findthe oldest grave, the newest grave andso forth.

A confederate soldier had beenburied there, and the tombstone simplyread, uHere lies so-and-so, CSAI'Thatwas it. There was one grave, perhapstwo, where the birth date and the deathdate were the same. Other gravesmarked the end of lives B0 or 90 vearslong. Time was not given to all íhesepeople in equal measure. You may havemore time left on this earth than I do.I may have more than you do. So whatdo we mean when we talk aboutstewardship of that time which we havein unequal measure?

Perhaps in stewardship what we reallymean is to put what is given to us to thebest use, to make it profitable. I'm con-vinced that Satan has sneaked in theback door, tempting us to live such fren-zied, harried lives, that we have no timefor the important things. You pastorsknow exactly what I'm talking about,and if you don't your wife does.

In desperation, we reach for a bookthat tells us how to manage our timeand set up a schedule so that everythingwillbe clocked down to the half-secondto help us crowd more into the day's

activities. Now I figure that if the lordreally wanted us to live that way, therewould be an inkling of that in scripture,in the lives of the great saints of biblicaltimes. But I cannot find it.

David doesn't talk much about thatsort of thing. Solomon doesn't talkabout it in Proverbs. Paul told us thatthe time is now to awake out of sleep,but that is not the same thing as havingyour little beeper go off every L5minutes, so you can switch to a newtask. That is not at all the same thingas redeeming the time.

I've come to the conclusion that it'snot water pollution and air pollution thatreally do us the most harm in America,but rather úime pollution. We try tocrowd in so much we have junky lives.Junk things take up our time, so wecannot think about God.

Why do we not have more peoplecalled, and why do we not see morepeople respond to God's general call?Many lives and testimonies tell us: peo-ple have no time to think about it. Theproblem is not the amount of time, butthe amount of junk that fills it. Peoplehave crowded it so full of so much junkthere's no room to walk around in theliving room of their time without trippingover something.

And we ministers and Christian wor-kers in general are not immune to thatproblem. How many people have beenburned out because of activities everynight of the week? Something is alwaysgoing on, the family begins to crumble,the children slip away. "But we areworking for the [ord]'

Stewardship means using what wehave for that which is truly important,in a truly important way. And if our chil-dren and our families are not trulyimportant, then maybe we have it allbackwards.

So I'm not telling you how you canplan you day to get 538 things done ina half hour's time. I could not tell youif I wanted to. But I no longer desire to,and that's the difference. I do not wantto do it, because I have come to see thatmy lord does not expect me to do it.

Now some hot-shot fireball may tellme to do it, but he's not the one whosaved me, and he's not the one whogave me the scriptures, and he's not theone to whom I will be ultimatelyaccountable. I want to use my time forthat which is truly important.

That will involve some time to sit andthink. That will involve some time to

observe those around me and the worldthat my lord created, to learn more ofHim. I want to use my time to learn my[ord, to learn this world that He puttogether, to learn this human race thatHe created and died for in spite of itsrebellion against Him. When you getright down to it, the 538 things that youmay get done in a half hour's time maynot count for a great deal in eternityanyway.

Have you ever been on visitation ina home, and when you walk in, thereare trinkets and goodies on shelves andstacked and piled all over the place, col-lecting dust? And no matter how cleanand sparkling they may be, the wholeplace looks junky and messy simplybecause there's so much clutter in theroom. Think of how much of thathomemaker's time, attention, worry andcare go to the feeding and care of thosepieces of junk, expensive and other-wise, sitting around under her roof.

What's true in the physical world istrue in our time. Sometimes we havenice junk cluttering up our lives. It canbe nice, sometimes expensive, pretty tolook at, but when we put that andanother and another and another intoour day's activities and the precious timeGod has given us, we end up with acluttered life, rather than a fruitful life.When it comes to stewardship, we wantto increase our fruitfulness.

Fish...water...pollution...and when thefish lives in polluted water, the fish is nogood, either. The Game and Fish Com-mission will not even let you eat it if youcatch it. We live in pollution. Weve pol-luted our own time with so much, somany good things, even enjoyablethings. But we've multiplied them somuch we cannot breathe, and webecome good for nothing. Busier, bus-ier, busier, while we accomplish little ornothing for the [ord.

Is the key really how to arrange ourschedule to crowd more in? Is it not howto get rid of the clutter, to ftee our timefor the profitable fruitful things of livingfor God, to have an impact on people'slives, as people, not simply as segmentsof our daily schedule?

May the time it took to share thesethoughts be among the profitab_lgmoments of our lives. ll'

ABOUT THE WRITER: Allon Crowson seruedone term os o Free Will Baptist foreign mission'ary ín luory Coast, West Africa. He tronslerred toFronce in 7982 where he serues in Lorient.

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Parttwo of a four.part oerleo

¡f, re angels real? Do they haveff form? tue they visible?SIWhat is their relatton to menand to this world? Do intelligentpeople really believe that angels exist?Some do and some don't. The onlyreliable source of information is theBible, so we should search the scrip-lures.

One noted evangelist said: "lbelieve in angels because the Biblesays there are angels, and I believe theBible to be the true Word of God. Ialso believe in angels because I havesensed their presence in my life onspecial occasions."

Pooltlve AopectoAngels have superhuman power,

but they are not omnipotent. They areimmune to flame and heat. Manoah,father of Samson, saw an angelascend in the flame of the altar(Judges 13:19-20). In II Peter 2:9-LLPeter wrote of angels as 'þreater inmight and power." The psalmist de-scribes angels as "excelling in strength,obeying the voice of His word" (Psalm103:20).

Angels may be seen by man andbeast. We're told in Numbers 22:2L-35 about the mule that saw the angelwho had been invisible to Balaam.

Negatlvc AopectoAngels do not marry or procreate.

In Matthew 22:30 Jesus points outthat "in the resunection they (men)neither marry, nor ate given inmaniage, but are as the angels of Godin heaven." From that scripture wededuce that lhe number of angelsremains constant as obedient angelsdo not die.

Second, angets do not possess allknowledge. They are not omniscient

Personseven though they possess knowledgethat men do not have. They do notknow everyrthing; they are not likeGod.

Jesus bore testimony to this factwhen spedking of His second coming,"But of that day and that hourknoweth no man, no, not the angelswhich are in heaven" (Mark 13:32;

¡ Matthew 24:36).Angels probably know things about

us that we do not know, but becausethey are ministering spirits, they willalways use this knowledge for ourgood.

Third, angels cannot testify of salva-, tion by grace through faith. When an, individualaccepts God's gift of eternal

life through Jesus Christ, angels set allthe bells of heaven in motion with theirrejoicing before the Lamb of God. Yet

. angels; great as they are, cannot testifyof salvation the same way as thosewho have experienced it any morethan a bachelor can fully appreciatethe maniage concept. The hymnwriter has aptly put it thusly:

There ls singing up in heaven such as wehave never known,

Where the angels sing the pralses of theLamb upon the throne;

There sweet harps are ever luneful andthelr voices always clear,

Oh, that we mtght be more like themwhlle we serve the Master here.

Holy, holy, is what the angels stng,And I expect to help them make the courts

of heaven ring;But when I slng redemption's story,

they wtllfold their wtngs,For angels neuer felt the joys that

salvation brings.(Rev. Johnson Oatman, Jr.)

I)lfferent From ... lnferlor ToDo we see a conhadiction when

comparing Hebrews 2:5-9; 1:13-14;and Luke 20:36? Man is cited as beinglower-but eventually higher throughredemption. There is no contradiction!God made men head over all the crea-tures of our earth world, but they arelower than angels with respect to theirbodies and to their place while here onearth. God will alter the temporarylower position of man when the king-dom of God has come in its fullness!

Christ is the "begotten Son" whileangels are created beings. Michael, thearchangel, is refened to by Daniel as"one of the chief princes" of theangelic order (Daniel 10:13). BothDaniel and Luke introduce theglorious angel Gabriel (Daniel 8:16;9:2L;Luke L:L9,26t..

But the glory of these angelic namesdims and fades in the radiance of thatname which is above every name, andat which every knee shall bow andevery tongue shall confess that He isLord to the glory of God the Father(Philippians 2:9-10). Not of angels,but only of the name of the begottenSon can it be said, "There is salvationin no one else . . ." (Acts 4:L2l.

Angels are inferior to the "begottenSon" in worship. The greater is alwaysworshiped by the lesser. And from theetemal God there came in ages past

lAngels as

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the command, "Let all the angels ofGod worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6).Instead of angels being objects ofworship, they are subjects whoworship Jesus Ch¡st.

Paul wamed, "Let no one keep de-frauding you of your prize by delight-ing in self-abasement and the worshipof angels, taking his stand on visionshe has seen, inflated without cause byhis fleshly mind, and not holding fastto the Head . . ." (Colossians 2:18-19). Only Christ is worthy of worship.

The time is coming when the"elders" of the angelic creation will falldown before the Lamb and to Hisglory willsing a new song. And what asong that willbe!

"And they sung a new song, saying,Thou art worthly to take the book, andto open the seals thereof: for thouwast slain, and hast redeemed us toGod by thy blood out of every kin-dred, and tongue, and people, andnation; And hast made us unto ourGod kings and priests: and we shallreign on the earth. And I beheld, and Iheard the voice of many ongels roundabout the throne and the beasts andthe elders: and the number of thethem was ten thousand times tenthousand, and thousands of thou-sands; Saying with a loud voice,Worthy is the Lamb that was slain toreceive power, and riches, and wis-dom, and strength, and honour, andglory, and blessing. And every crea-ture which is in heaven, and on theearth, and under the earth, and suchas are in the sea, and all that are inthem, heard I saying, Blessing, andhonour, and glory, and power, beunto him that sitteth upon the throne,and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.And the four beasts said. Amen. Andthe four and twenty elders fell downand worshipped him that liveth forever and ever" (Revelation 5:9-14).

The angels will realize and rejoice inthe fact that only He is worthy ofworship for only He is King of kingsand Lord of lordsl

Meanwhile, angels are messengersqualified for service, and they operateunder the command of the Godhead.Their authority and power are giventhem for the purpose of accomplishingGod's will and ministering to God'sservants,

ABOUT THE WRITER: Dr. Malcolm Frypastors Unity Free Wíll Boptíst Church, Smíth.lield, North Carolína.

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God'sProtection

By Alton loveless

lloarding the plane at the Cairo,IJEgypt, airport proved more diffi-cult than any other place I had been.Armed guards patrolled all around,which presented a strong intimidation.Each passenger entered a small drapedenclosure to be manually frisked forweapons.

Finally, we all went inside the hot, fullplane. Not one available seat was leftafter I took the last seat near the front.

We were hardly airborne, destined forAmman, Jordan, when nearly every-one removed their coats and suitjackets. I didnt think much about thefact that five or six men left their coatson until one of the men sitting threerows in front of me rose to seek Arabicmagazines. He spoke no English and Iexhausted my Arabic with "How areyou?' After gathering a couple of maga-zines, he reseated himself and glancedat me with a friendly face.

When he finished, he returned theperiodicals to me and did a half bow.I reached to pat his shoulder, but as hisbody turned upwards I laid my handson the biggest sidearm I had ever felt.The sensation was heightened as herecoiled with a sudden slap to my chin.What on earth had I done? Was theplane going to be hijacked?

Frightened would come close to howI felt, and it increased as his every glancewas accented with his finger over his lipsadvising me to keep quiet.

I looked about the aircraft andnoticed that every man wearing a sportor suit coat was located a similar dis-tance apart. Could it be that these menwere working together? Frankly, fearclouded my thinking somewhat until Iwhispered a prayer for courage.

Courage came immediately, and Irecalled that he did not speak English.Remembering that our clergy cardsissued by the Ohio Secretary of Statewere fancy with the state governmentemblem, I decided to pass it to him. Heviewed it a second or twq then returnedmy card with his. He was a Jordaniansky marshall. Now his lips held a smile,yet still covered by his finger denotinghis desire not to reveal his identity.

Finally, we landed and I remainedseated until most had deplaned beforeI departed. looking back over myshoulder, I saw the marshall and fourothers holding a man who had boardedthe plane with a machine gun. Then Ilearned of the need for security.

I had to take some time to thank Godfor His protection. OABOUT THE WRITER: Dr. Alton Loueless r's

Executíue Secretorg lor the Ohio Sfote Assocío-tion of Free Will Baptísß.

Ctn;ristiøn Educol

It's your bestIt's your best investment.

Free Wlll Baptlst Blble College3606 West End Ave.

Nashvtlle, Tennessee 37205(6r5) 383-1340

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Scven decadeo beyond the merger

The Merget-75Years Aftet

By Steven Hasty

ome men can sell most any-thing. Stillothers seem gifted ingiuíng things away, like an

entire denomination. When this hap-pened, the love and labor of manygenerations which had made theGeneralConfèrence of Free Will Bap-tists what it was disappeared also.

What happened to those individualsand institutions which had been con-nected with the northem Free WillBap-tists after the 1910 merger with theNorthem Baptists? More importantly,could it happen all over again?

I-eqal Consummation of the Merger

What the 1910 General Conferenceauthorized had to be legally consum-mated. This was done on October 5,1911, at the Ford Theahe in Washing-ton, DC. Actually, it was the Ford Build-ing in Boston, Massachusetts,t thoughthe comparison with Lincoln's assassi-nation is a bit sbiking.

All assets were turned over to theNorthem Baptist Conventlon, exceptthose properties whose deed or estate'provided that they remain exclusively inFree Will Baptist hands. For this reason,the General Conference continued toexist on paper as a legal entity, adenomination within a largerdenomination.

Two more General Conferences metafter the merger, one in 1913 and theother in 1917. The business at thesesessions consisted of reporting the sta-tus of property and funds still held,recording the progress of the merger on

state and local levels, and amending theConstitution and By-Laws to furtherpermit the merger.2

Once the three-year rule was brokenin 1917, regularly scheduled meetingsof the denomination were no longernecessary. The legal size of the denomi-nation was systematically reduced to thenumber of Conference Board members,whose last meeting was in 1938 or1939.3 By 1953, allof the Board's busi-ness had devolved upon the shouldersof Hany S. Myers, who becameAnthony's successor as its secretary andtreasurer.3

But back to 1911 for a moment. Themerger m€eting in Boston culminatedlegal action spanning 25 years by Lind-ley M. Webb, Esquire and the Honora-ble Hiram Knowlton, both of Portland,Maine.¡ All that remained was theappeasement of merger dissidents.

In this effort, the magnanimousenergy of A.W. Anthony is clearly evi-dent. He attended Free Will Baptistgatherings in 12 states, visited and con-fened wilh denominational people infive more, gave 319 public addresses,wrote 133 articles, 8,624letters and dis-

tributed thousands of pamphlets-all intwo years.r

Brief Sketches of Opponents

Dr. Thomas E. Peden led a dissent-ing group whodeclared themselves as independent of the incor-porated body and as the sole and legitimate suc-cessors of the ïathers" who had founded thedenomination and had remained unincorporated. . . professing themselves to be the on'ginol FreeWill Baptists (Minutes of the Generol Conference,19L7, p. 62l..

He next established connections withthe newly formed "Tiiennial GeneralConference" which organized at Nash-ville in 1896.

By 1898, he had become principalofthe newly-established Free Will BaptistSeminary (later Eureka College) atAyden, North Carolina. His connectionwith the last two mentioned organiza-tions continued until his retirement in1910.4

Rev. John H. Wolfe became the firstmoderator of the western Co-operative

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General Association in 1916. He alsohelped establish Tècumseh College inOklahoma and Free Will Baptist Bibli-cal Correspondence School.a He wasaided by Rev. T. C. Ferguson, who willbe remembered as the one who bitterlyopposed the 1910 merger.

These three men, Peden, Wolfe andFerguson, provide an important histor-ical and transitional link between thenorthern Free Will Baptists and thoseeastern and western elements whichwould unite in 1935 to form theNational Association of Free W¡llBaptists.

Brief Sketches of the Proponents

Alfred Williams Anthony, the chiefarchitect of the merger and long-timeprofessor at Bates College in Maine, didnot open the window of his innermostthoughts and feelings until 1917.

Nearly buried from view, Anthonyreveals in the 1917 Minutes (pp. 65-67)the bickering that went on betweenliberals and conservatives within thedenomination. He felt this endangeredFree WillBaptist collegiate and foreignmissionary enterprises.

Adapting a term used by Lincoln afterthe end of the war, Anthony spoke of'theological reconstruction." He alsoused terms and phrases like "higher criti-cism," and "men who cried at the gate,'Wolf, Wolf when there was no wolf."

Theological reconsþuction referred toreviewing fundamental dochines andhealing the rift between liberals and con-servatives. He drew a parallel here withthe issue of slavery which had separatedNorth and South.

Higher criticism was the biblical per-spective of those whose higher educa-tion and liberalopinions made them feelaloof enough to deny the completeinspiration of scripture and the Mosaicauthorship of the Pentateuch.

The reference to a canine animalcould have been a slur at Rev. John H.Wolfe of Nebraska.

There can be little doubt that Profes-sor Anthony belonged in the liberal,more ecumenical camp of northernFrþe WillBaptists. The finalstage of hiseducation was at the University of Ber-lin.s By 1884, he had'abandoned theposition that immersion was the onlyform of baptism."3

A final and fleeting ref,erence shouldbe made to Anthony's meteoric risewithin the ecumenical movement afterthe merger. By L920 he had become

the executive secretary of the HomeMissions Council of the InterchurchWorld Movement.6

Dr. George H. Ball, former editor ofthe "Baptist Union' and founder ofKeuka College, died in 1907, just threeyears before his fondest dreams materi-alized.T Lindley M. Webb became a Jus-tice of the Peace while continuing toserve alongside Professor Anthony onthe college Board at Bates as well as onThe Committee On Conference WithOther Christian People.s He died inL932.s

Break-Up of the Merger

By 7920 the Northern Baptist Con-vention had started to feel the purify-ing influence of the so-called"Fundamentalists."e Unsuccessfullyattempting to purge the Conventionand its schools of liberals, they laterwithdrew and came to be known even-tually as Independent Baptists.

The exodus continued in 1932 withthe departure oÍ 22 churches whoformed the General Association ofRegular Baptist Churches. Finally,another group withdrew in 7949 toform the Conservative Baptist Associa-tion. The Northern Baptist Conventionchanged it's name to "American Baptist'the following year.ro

Secularization of Colleges

What happened to the colleges?Bates in Maines and Hillsdale in Michi-gan closed their theological depart-ments in 1908 and 1913'r respectively.Keuka in New York closed its doors in1915, reopening in 1921 as a women'scollege.T Rio Grande in Ohio receivedsome financial supþort from the North-ern Baptists until 1952, when they werecut off.¡2 By 7975, however, it.boastedof having a government-supportedCommunity College on the samecampus as the privately-owned college,which was innovative to say the least.l3Storer College in West Virginia closedin 1955, educating the Black peopleuntil the dawning of the era of CivilRights.r4 The fate of West Virginia Col-lege is unknown.

Clarion Call

Could the merger happen all overagain? Could our entire denominationbe given away? Hardly.

First, the National Association isdecidedly congregational rather than

connectional in its organizational struc-ture. Ultimate authority rests with thelocal church, not the National Associa-tion. No higher body can legislate to alower body.

Second, every church and every min-ister are afforded the privilege of directrepresentation at the National Associa-tion. The northern Free Will Baptistchurches, on the other hand, electeddelegates to the Quarterly Meetings,which in turn elected delegates to theYearly Meetings, which in turn electeddelegates to the General Conference.Our National Association structureincorporates both direct representationand delegate representation.

Third, we meet annually, not justonce every three years. Such a move-ment toward merger would be muchmore visible and difficult.

Fourth, representation and atten-dance at our National Association typi-cally numbers in the thousands. TheGeneral Conference, on the otherhand, never enjoyed more than 104voting delegates in it's entire history.s

Finally, it should be noted that 75years after the merger, the NationalAssociation is still staunchlv conserva-tive and intolerant of liberálism. O

References1. Mead, Handbook ol Denomínat¡ons ¡n the

United Stotes, 1980, p. 49.2. FreeBaptistFattå, 1895, pp. 165-166,164,

108, 110, 115, 111.3. Williams, Memoriols of the Free-

Communion Baptists, 1873.4. Million and Barrett, A Bríef Hístory ol the

Liberal Baptist People in Englond andAmerica, 1911, p. 314.

5. Dodd, "God's Man of Great Faithl Contoc4December 1953, p.4.

6. Minutes ol the General Conference, 1977,p. 51.

7. Baxter, Hístorg of the Freewíll Boptisfs,7957, pp. 777, L68-169.

8. Burgess and Ward, Free Baptist Cgclope-dío, 1889, pp. 35-36,39-40.

9. Africa, Keuka College, t974.10. Anthony, Botes College, 1936, p. 269.11. A pamphlet entitled, "Getting Togetherl

1913, p. 6.12. l¿tch, Hístory ol the Geneml Boptísts,

1954, p.99.13. Latourette, A Hístory o/ Chrisfionify, Vol-

ume II, p. 1268.14. A pamphlet entitled, 'Bicentennial Papers,

1780-19801 with sections entitled: Becom-ing a Larger Family, Education andMissions.

Note: page referenc€s are listed in the order theyare used in the article.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Reuerend Steoen Hastyis a member of the Free Will Bapäst Hlslo¡icolCommíssion.

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LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE SOUNDS'LOYALTY' NOTENASHVILLE, TN-More than 725Free WillBaptist leaders from 19 statesand Canada attended the November30-December 7 I*adership Confer-ence in Nashville, according to Execu-tive Secretary Melvin Worthington. Theconference met at the Executive Inn.

Dr. Worthington said the attendeesincluded state moderators, clerks, assis-

tant moderators, General Board mem-bers and other national board members.The 7987 conference also marked thefirst year that WNAC state presidentsand field workers participated.

Nine speakers addressed the confer-ence theme, "l¿ading in loyaltyl'National Association moderator RalphHampton presided during the two-dayconference, and also delivered one ofthe closing workshops Tuesday evening.

Conference speakers drew hearty'approvalfrom attendees by calling forrenewed commitment to the distinctivesthat make the denomination unique,and by insisting on across-the-boardcooperation from denominational andstate agencies.

The conferees shared four mealstogether as well as the nine general ses-

Conference Speokers -Stonding: (L) RonaldWallace. J. L. Gore.Rue Dell Smíth, CorlVallonce, RolphHdmpton.

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Seoted: (L) Raymond Riggs. Malcolm Fry, Nuel Brown, Corl Cheshíer.

sions. Several denominational agenciesprovided complimentary exhibitmaterials for the leaders. Each regisbantreceived a 7 O-page leadership notebookcontaining session outlines, nationalconvention minutes, lists of boards andother personnel.

Following the Leadership Confer-ence, eight national boards and com-missions met to conduct semi-annualbusiness meetings,

Maurine Lee (L), Koy Hampton

B¡ll Gordner

Rue Dell Smith

Conlerence Attendees Reg¡stration activity, Billy Somms (center).

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Bobbg Jockson (L), Carl Vollance,C. A. Newman

FREE wlLL BAPTIST

newsfront

SUNDAY SCHOOLENLARGEIIENT THRUST

SET FOR SPRING

NASHVILLE, TN-Free Will BaptistSunday Schools engaged in drives toreach prospects, increase enrollmentand win converts to Christ face the1988 Spring Enlargement Campaignchallenge entitled, 'Soldiers of theCross.' Based on II Timothy 2:3, theplan enlists those already in church whoare (L) Committed to the Täsk (2) Con-formed to the Image of Christ and (3)Compassionate in their Approach.

This enlargement campaign was writ-ten and designed by Kentucky pastorFred Hall who has wide experience inwriting and implementing successfulcampaigns. The usual breakdown ofdivisions is determined by averageattendance in the fall quarter of 7987.The contest is sponsored by RandallHouse Publications.

The spring campaign begins Sunday,March 6, and continues through Sun-day, March 27. Sunday Schools whichexperience the greatest percentage ofgain over the L3 weeks average atten-dance for September, October andNovember 7987 will be awardedtrophies denoting first and second placein their respective division.

The present size of your SundaySclrool does not preuent you from beíngeligíble to win in your division Eligibil-iþ for winning requires that enty blanksand orders be received no later thanMarch 4.

GEORGIA TO CIÍ)SE BOOKSI()NENORMAN PARK, GA-Delegates toGeorgia's 51st annual state associationvoted to accept a recommendation fromthe Executive Board to liquidate theChristian Supply Store in Moultrie.

The Board's recommendation statedthat the Christian Supply Store hasoperated at a deficit for more than fouryears and cannot employ a full-timemanager. For several months prior tothe November 12-14 state meeting, thestore had operated with part-timepersonnel.

More than 245 rcgistered for theassociation which met at Norman Bap-tist Assembly. Savannah pastor RandyCorn and Foreign Missions Department

staffer Fred Warner preached messagesdeveloping the theme, "ln the Cross ofChrist.' Other devotional and BibleConference speakers included Tony Til-ley, Jackie Cabaniss, C. B. Dowdney,Lamar Parrish, Melvin Worthington andRussell Horne.

Missionary to Japan Janice Banksspoke during the Woman's Auxiliarysession. Albany pastor Billy Hannaaddressed the Saturday morningMaster's Men Breakfast.

Moderator Ronald Wallace guidedthe business procedures. The 1988 stateassociation will meet November 17-19in Norman Park.

TENNESSEE OBSEnI¡ES SOTH ANNUAL SESSION

DICKSON, TN-More than 200 regis-tered for the 50th annual session of theTþnnessee State Association, accordingto Clerk Chris Real. The November9-17,1987, session met at United FWBChurch in Dickson. Eighp-nine Tènnes-see ministers attended.

Former National Association moder-ator Robert Picirilli delivered the key-note address on "Spirit Fullness" fromJoshua 14. Other speakers includedPastor Howard Munsey of Peace FWBChurch, Morristown, and Pastor ArthurLuster of First FWB Church, ChurchHill.

Two other TÞnnessee pastors, Robert

Morgan of Nashville and Johnny Sex-ton of Waverly, preached during theTüesday morning Bible Conference.Missionary to France Jerry Gibbsaddressed the Tennessee Woman'sAuxiliary.

Delegates adopted a $924,000budget to state and national ministries.The state Retirement and InsuranceBoard was dissolved. Delegates passeda resolution affirming confidence in theForeign Missions Board and the mis-sionaries in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

The 1988 state association willmeetNovember 14-16 at Cookeville FWBChurch.

BOB SHOCKEY TO DIRECT TORCH CAMPAIGNNASHVILLE, TN-Bob Shockey, FreeWillBaptist Bible College's Campus Pas-tor, has been appointed Student Sup-port Director of the college and willdirect the $3-million Pass The Torchcampaign, according to PresidentCharles A. Thigpen. The appointmentwas made by the college Board ofTiustees, which met on campus Decem-ber 2.

In other actions, the board addedJonathan Thigpen to the faculty toteach full time this semester andapproved James Earl Raper to do part-time promotion for the college.

Rev. Thigpen, who taught Christianeducation for the college, left to ¡oinRandall House Publications, while con-tinuing to teach part time. In additionto returning to the college as a teacher,he will assume Rev. Shockey's duties asDirector of the Christian Service Depart-ment for the remainder of the year.

Rev. Raper, a member of the boardfrom Greeneville, TÞnn., raised a$l-million endowment fund for the Ten-nessee Free WillBaptist Home for Chil-dren when he served as its director. Heis currently president of the FWBBCAlumni Association. As such, much ofhis promotional energy will be directedtoward the alumni, Dr. Thigpen said.Since his duties are part time, he willremain on the college board.

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TENNESSEE WOMAN TT'INSÏOP AWARD

NASHVILLE, TN-Former missionaryto India, Tiula Cronk, received Tënnes-see's Outstanding Achievement Awordfrom Governor Ned McWherter in1987. Mrs. Cronk, employed with theTennessee Department of Human Serv-ices, had previously been chosen by hercolleagues as staff person of the year.

She was also cited by SocialSecurityAdminishation Regional CommissionerGordon Sherman as a Certificate olExcellence recipient. CommissionerSherman sent Mrs. Cronk a PRIDEaward (People Responsibly InfluencingDecisional Excellence) for outstandingachievements and contributions to theSocial Security Disability Programs.

Mrs. Cronk has served 13 years withthe Social Security Disability Determi-nation Section. Her colleagues choseher as Examiner of the Year in 1978.

She is a member of Horton HeightsFWB Church, Nashville, Tenn.

BIBLE COLLEGE WET.CODTEDA'YS I'RAWS I93

NASHVILLE, TN-Free Will BaptistBible College's fall Welcome Days,November 5-7, drew 193 prospectivestudents and group sponsors from 14states, according to Charles Hampton,event coordinator. This is 18 more thanattended last year, he noted.

læading states were North Carolina(43), Kentucky (23) and West Virginia(22). Attendance, by states, was:

AlabamaArkansasGeorgialllinoislndianaKentuckyMichigan

Missouri 11N. Carolina 43Oh¡o 9Oklahoma 6S. Carolina 10ïþnnessee L2W. Mrginia 22

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The largest group from a church was16 from the Vista View FWB Church,Van Buren, Ark., pastored by LanyRussell.

The fall Welcome Days is usually thesmaller of the two annualBible Collegeevents, with most prospective studentschoosing to visit during the spring. Thespring Welcome Days is scheduled forMarch 31- April 2.

.ENLARGE YOUR VISION' WINNERS ANNOUNCEI)NASHVILLE, TN-The following Sunday Schools earned first and second placein the Fall 1987 Sunday School Enlargement Campaign sponsored by RandallHouse Publications.

Place ChurchSprlng Ganpalgu AverageAverage Avcregc Incrcaoc

No EnhyNo Entry

Northside, Tulsa, OKWoodbine, Nashville, TN

First, Oxford, MS 151Oak Park, Pine Bluff, AR 178

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Þlker, Valliant, OK 106 L20First, Batesville, AR L43 L49

Hanah, Hanah, OK 90 134Woodlawn, Russellville, AR 64 92

Straight St., Norman, OK 74 131First, Elk City, OK 13 M

452 81.5%319 37.5%

L73 14.5%203 14.0%

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835.7%238.0%

:1 :lonMt. Sterling, Mt. Sterling, OH 13No Enhy

Entrants came from 21 states. The average winner's percentage of increase infirst and second place was 127.8 percent. The Spring 1988 Enlargement Cam-paign entitled,"soldiers of the Cross" willbe conducted during the month of March.

BTBLE COLLEGE TEAiI wlNS OHIO BASKETBALL TOUNNAITENT

NASHVILLE, TNJhe Flames, FreeWill Baptist Bible College's basketballteam, took first place in a Novembertournament held in Circleville, Ohio.

Michael Pointer, a junior from Spring-f¡eld, Mo., received the Christian Wit-ness Award, the highest individualhonor of the tournament. It wasawarded for outstanding athletic ability,combined with Christian conduct andsportsmanship.

Two FWBBC players were selectedfor the All Tournament Team. Theywere Michael Waddell, a sophomore

from Nashville; and Kevin Wisdom, afreshman, also from Nashville.

Coach Byron Deel says, 'The tip wasa good experience for our students.Meeting students from other Bible col-leges and participating in good Chris-tian competition were the highlights."

The Flames defeaþd the WilliamþndallBible College, Detoit, Mich., onFriday night, 111-51. They played thehost college, Circleville Bible College,on Saturday and won the champion-ship, 78-77.

F¡ont Row: Len Scott, Kyler Welch, Mtchael Woddell, Keuín Wlsdom, Chris Dungan,Steve Teague. Bock Row: Coach Byron Deel, JelÍ Robertson, Kevtn Rlggs, KeulnJustíce, Mlchael Polnte¡, Joey W,lson, Mark Wolker, Manaçr Mlke Shultz.

Currenlly . .

Maotet'o llen director Janec Vat-lancc said the board authorized the print-ing of Attock magazine again when fundsare available. This action was taken duringthe December board meeting.

The Blble FlllB Church, Florence,SC, relocated 4.5 miles south of the city,according to Pastor L¡n¡r Snfth. Found-ing pastor Notu¡ood Glboon preachedthe last sermon in the old facilities this pastNovember. The church organized in 1964and purchased property on South ChurchSheet where they remained until the recentmove.

Pastor Gene Adamo of CommnnltyFlllB Church, Florcnce, SC, began afive-day-a-week faith radio ministry. Adamssaid the program airs Monday through Fri-day at 11:30 a.m. The listening audiencecovers a large portion of eastern North andSouth Carolina.

The South Carollna Conference ofthe South Carolina State Association spon-sored a mission work in West Columbla.Pastor Erneot Baroeo said the workorganized into llldlando FtltB Churchand is self-supporting.

Members at Nco¡ Proopcct FWBChurch, P¡npllco, SC, completed con-struction on a 7,700-square-foot educationbuilding. Pastor Joc Cagte said the facil-ity is used on week days by New ProspectChristian School, a ministry of the churchwith grades K-12. Some 89 participantsrecently raised almost $5,400 for the Chris-tian school through a bike-a-thon.

Pastor Janec Aver¡¡ presented a $1,100check to Janes Blce, superintendent ofthe South Carolina Ch¡ldren's Home duringa Sunday morning service at LcbanonFIIIB Church, Effinghan, SC. The staffand children from the children's home wereguests at morning services. All morningofferings went to the home.

Pastor Jlmny Bronrn calls it a nmiracle

building." That's because the 1,400-square-foot fellowship building at Flrot FIIIBChurch, llyrtle Beach, SC, valued atmore than $60,000 cost only $14,000 tobuild. Donated labor by men of the churchand conhibutions from building materialsup-pliers held costs to minimum.

Members at Tabernacle FWBChurch, Coward, SÇ, held dedicationservices for a new fellowship building. SouthCarolina Promotional Director Noru¡oodGlboon preached the dedication message.The three-year construction project accom-modates more than 150 people. PastorHat4l Cooper said the facility cost thechurch $20,000, while the estimated valueof the building is $40,000.

A good ideal The llllnolo Chrtod¡nEduc¡tlon Board started a video library.Illinois pastors and churches may choosefrom a list of Christian films on video cas-sette to use in church activities. The tapesare VHS-type format and require only aVCR and television to show

Pastor Edsard ila¡mard reports fiveconversions at Llberty FWB Church,Llnwood, lL. The group experienced 100percent growth, surging from 30 in atten-dance to 67 in 7987.

Pastor L¡¡ther Sandcro accompaniedhis wife when she went for a doctor'sappointment. He then witnessed to thefamily doctor, explained the plan of salva-tion and led him to the [ord. BrotherSanders pastors Walpahu FIUB Church,Walpahu, HI.

During Harvest Sunday activities at FlrotFWB Church, llonett, llO, memberspresented Pastor and Mrs. Gary Eldcr a$421 check. The church logged 254 inattendance that Sunday, surpassing theirgoal of 200.

Members of Soutùgatc FWB Church,Southgate, iII, set an attendance mark

oÍ 219 as the church celebrated Arße andBuild Sunday. The Arise and Build atten-dance campaign, based on Nehemiah 2:20,was developed by Pastor Darvl¡ O¡tsChurches interested in the campaign shouldwrite the church for a detaiþd insbuctionbooklet at no charge: 14755 Godda¡d Road,Southgate, MI 48195.

The 14 churches in lllocourf¡ 9t.Francolo Dlotrlct A,oooclatlon spon-sored an eight-day missions conference withseven FWB missionaries. The conferenceresulted in a $17,000 offering and faithpromises. Arthur Jenl¡e,roon, associationclerk - treasurer, said several missircnariescalled it the best organÞed conference wdveever been involved with."

Pastor Jlln N¡¡on reports that Fl¡¡tFWB Churcb, Ner¡l lln¡ùan, NH, hasa new building located on qri eþht-acre stte,First Church was founded iñ 1780 by Ben-jamin Randall.

After renting a community center forseveral years, Pastor Blchard Herodonsaid that members of Bethcl FllfBCburch, Bahlnore, llD, purchasedtheir own church building and parsonage.The new facilities are located less than onemile from the previous location.

Members of Chcet¡rlt HIU PntBChurch, Blg loland, VA, bumed themortgage on the church parsonage, accord-ing to Pastor B¡y Goodc.

llt. Calva4r FtllB Ghr¡ch, Pctrlrnan, itD, celebrated its 25th anniversary,says Pastor Bob Breeden. State moder-ator Lcoter Hotton delivered the anniver-sary message.

Pastor Dan lllnller reports 10 conver-sions, 8 baptisms, 16 new members and anincrease from 20 to 50 in church attendanceat Count4¡olde FlllB Church, Vl¡¡ll,a,cA.

One year and three days after membersof Verdcll¡ FWB Church, Llberat,DtO, voted to relocate and construct a newbuilding, they conducted dedication serviceson the facilities. Pastor Curt Holland saidthe 6,500-square-foot building seats200-plus people. It's located one mile northof the old church which was built in 1891.The new facility includes 12 classrooms. Mis-souri Promotional Secretary ClarcaccBurton preached the dedication service.

Pleacant Hlll FttIB Church, Alton,IlO, observed its 69th anniversary, accord-ing to Pastor lllaher Slnpoon. During theafternoon service Todd W¡trcn gave thehistory of the church.

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Eighth Annual

Writers'Conference

May 13, 14, 1988

Sponcorcd by:Randall House Publication¡

Featuring

Norrnan B. RohrerIXrector, Chrictia¡ Writer¡' G¡ild

lVorkehops for Beginningand Advanced lUriterc

All Sccoio¡¡ Held AtExecutive I¡n

823 M¡rfree¡boro Rd.Naehville, T¡.

Conl¡ctH.D. H¡nison (615)3ól.122l P.O. Box 17306, Næhville, Tn 3721?

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ïþaring Down FencesBy Douglas Little

Qtrange cultu¡es frighten us. It takes\Jcourage to dive into a new environ-ment with a different language andlifestyle. Uncomfortable doesn't evenbegin to describe the feeling. Fear,panic, confusion, a gut level sense thateveryone is talking about how out ofplace you are-those are the waves ofemotion that seize you.

Who am I talking about? Not mission-aries going to a foreign counhy. Noteven American pastors who visit themission field. I'm describing the folkswho are newcomers to our church!

I marvel at the determination somenewcomers muster to force their wayinto our ranks. I grieve over those whodont have the courage and never makeit.

There are some fairly tall fences thetypical newcomer must climb to get intothe church. Oh, we want them to come.We really do. It's just that we've been inchurch so long we dont see the fencesthat stand between newcomers and thechurch.

Imagine yourself going to a church asa new Christian. Everybody knowswhere to go for Sunday Schoolclass-except you. Everybody seems to under-stand the King James Version-exceptyou. Everybody can sing hymns frommemory-except you. Everybodyknows how to pray out loud-exceptyou. Everybody always knows what towear, what to bring, where to sit, whento stand-everybody except you.

If you're like a lot of newcomers, youdecide that rejection's not worth the risk

and you don't come back. After all, youcame to church looking for help, notmore hurts.

It's time to tear down the fences. Idon't want people turning from the lordand our church for the wrong reasons,do you? Some refuse to repent andbelieve. They turn away because ofhardness of heart. But God forbid thatwe, by unnecessary fences of our ownmaking, hinder an eager, vulnerableseeker who tries to follow Christ byunnecessary fences of our own making.

l.et's put ourselves in the newcomers'place-wanting to fit in but afraid ofdoing it wrong, wanting to be a part butnot knowing how. l¿t's make it easy forthem to feel like they belong. Iæt'sexplain where things are, how thingsrun and what goes on at activities.

look around. See a fence? Tear itdown! Help someone come to the [.ordand become part of our family. OABOUT THE WRITER: Reue¡end Douglas Lít-rre postors Firsú F €e Will Baptist Church, Russell.uille. Arlconsos.

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Currently... (from page 15)

Some 3L people attended the first serv-ice at the Free Wlll Bapttot ill¡olon inHannlbal, llO. Dale Cochra¡ pastors.

Pastor Jemy ilycro said members ofF¡rst FWB Church, Houoton, llO,burned the parsonage mortgage nine yearsahead of schedule. That's good stewardship.

Pastor Ger¡tcl Dlcllnoon reports 28converts and 15 baptisms at DMne FtrfBChurch, Cleryel¡nd, OH.

Pastor Wyllc Pcrllna reports 1.9 con-versions and 11 baptisms at Sau¡nth¡FIüB Ghurch, Lceoburg, OH.

Interested in FWB history books that are100 to 150 years old? Contact PastorGcorgc C. Lae at Vlcto4r FWBChnrch, 1.806 Wayne Memorial Drive,Goldsborq NC 27530. Phone 919/735-9485. Pastor [¿e said the books includememoirs, biographies, histories, hymnalsand others.

Pastor Cuttl¡ Llnton said 882 peopleattended dedication services at North¡lde

FIf,IB Church, Thl,oa, OK. The 25,000-square-foot facility cost $330,000 to build.

Co-pastors Tandell Hall and RogcrBallard rcport 23 baptisms and 23 newmembers at Choctarr¡ FWB Church,Choc'taq OK.

Contact welcomes Under The Elm Tiee,publication of Ina FtllB Chu¡ch, lna, lL.The church newsletter reported 10 baptismsand a new youth choir. Davld Shoreopastors.

Meet the "Mothers Teaching OthersGroup." The idea's an.outreach of Nqr¡Hope FWB Church, Kcnt, WA. Thegroup meets the first Thursday of eachmonth at the home of Pastor and Mrs.Lloyd Ptunlctt. Older mothers and wivesteach younger women homemaking skills.

After noting 340 salvation decisions in 22revivals during 1987, Nate Ange decidedto enter the field of evangelism and churchplanting on a full.time basis. Evangelist Angecan be reached at P. O. Box 730, Knight-dale, NC 2795. Phone 919/266-934.

Members of Dlarlet{a FWB Church,L!¡ono, GA, presented Pastor lrvln ilur.phy with a plaque in honor of his fifth pas-toral anniversary. Members also presentedhis wife l)orothy with a basket filled withcash and a corsage.

Trlnlty FIUB Church, ilaul¡, llO,celebrated its 100th anniversary accordingto PastorWarren$¡att. Many in the con-gregation dressed for the occasion in1OO-year-old styles.

Fastor Blchard Cordell reports 13 con-versions one Sunday at Flt¡t FtllBChurch, Gul¡, AL.

The late ilr¡. Ozelna l¡mn, a mem-ber of Bcllvlcs FtrlB Church, Cohqultt, lGA, left Free Will Baptist BibleCollege a bequest of $20,000, which the col-lege received from Lamar Brooks, executorof her estate. Mr. Brooks noted that Mrs.Lynn often spoke of the college and its con-tibutions to the denomination. 'l feh that shewould be happy to know that her bequesthad been applied toward the Pass the TorchCampaigni he said. O

HOUSE

TAKE TIME TO TRAINLarry D. Hampton

Recent issues of Heartbeat magazine have reported the progress of Bible institutes in Uruguay and Ivory Coast,West Africa. The Institute of Gold has operated in Mexico for many years. Bible institutes are springing up acrossour nation.

This emphasis on Christian education is not a modern phenomenon. The history of the Christian era containsmany chapters devoted to accounts of the church training its members.

Our Lord's commission to the church is a mandate for Christian education. Jesus instructed His followers roteach new converts "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20).

The Apostle Paul ordered Timothy to engage in the systematic instruction of dedicated believers. "And thethings that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall beable to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). There is an ongoing need for this type of instruction in the church.

Christian education involves a divine-human cooperative. God has provided the curriculum of Christianeducation-the Bible. He has also gifted men to serve as teachers. While the curriculum has been set and cannotbe improved, teachers can and must do better.

Although a teacher should depend on the Holy Spirit, he must not neglect the development of his craft asa teacher. Every teacher should constantly strive to become a more able teacher.

A skilled teacher understands both his subject matter and his students. This knowledge comes from a diligentstudy of the Word of God and the world of men.

February has been designated Teacher Training Month. Encourage your church to schedule a teacher trainingclass during this month. Contact Randall House Publications for details of teacher training courses that are available.Let Randall House help you equip your teachers so that they may be even more effective. @

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIESRegional Sunday School Conventions are scheduled throughout the year. These independ-ently operated meetings are a great source of information and inspiration for teachers andchurch workers.

February

18-20 Mountain Area Sunday School Convention, Denver, Colorado26, 27 Central Illinois Sunday School Convention, Peoria, Illinois

March

4, 5 Oklahoma Christian Education Association Convention, Del City, Oklahoma1I, 12 Mid-Atlantic Sunday School Convention, Charlotte, North CarolinaII, 12 Northeast Oklahoma Christian Education Association Convention Tulsa.

Oklahoma

April

B, 9 Chicagoland Tri-State Ministries Convention, Chicago, Illinois

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Practice goodstewardshipprinciples o o o

. . , in planning for the distribution ofyour life insurance proceeds. You wantto assure that your money will ultimatelybe passed on to whom you prefer.

Don't presume that you presentlyhave the best anangements. People andcircumstances change. As a result,changes must be made.

Review your life insurance program.How much protection do you need andfor whom? Have family obligationsincreased or decreased? Does a needstill exist for all your policies?

Who are your beneficiaries? Shouldthe designations be changed? Do youneed a different d¡vision of proceeds?Ages, circumstances and needs ofindividuals change.

Will the present designations giveyour heirs the best tax benefits? Willpro-bate costs and estate tax be avoided?

Do you know what your settlementoptions are at retirement? What aboutoptions for your beneficiary at retire-ment or at your death? Will a lump-sumdistribution be wise? Would paymentsover a period of years best?

Have you used your life insurancepolicies in planned giving? Have you

designated at least a tithe (10 percent)to the Lord's work?

There are several beneficiary optionsfor remembering both your family andthe lord's work.

l. Primary Beneficiary-Thefirst person or church ministy to receiveproceeds at your death. If you þave apolicy you no longer need, why notdesignate your church or other minis-try the primary beneficiary. Life insur-ance is one of the easiest ways to planfor a large cash gift in the future.

2. Secondary Beneftciary-The additional person(s) or ministriesnamed to receive proceeds in the eventthe primary beneficiary predeceasesyou. This option works well for coupleswithout children.

3. Co-Beneficiary-One ormore persons and/or ministries namedto receive the proceeds on a percent-age basis. For instance: 50-50, 75-25,90-10. Consider providing for at leasta tithe to the Lord's work.

4.Remalnder Beneftciary-A person (or minishy) named to receivethe proceeds after the deaths of the pri-mary and secondary beneficiaries. Thisoption assures that even in unusual cir-

Herman L. HerseyExecutive Secretary-Treasurer

cumstances your money will be passedon to whom you prefer.

5. Residual Beneflclar¡¡-The person or ministry named in caseof a contract as settlement of a policyat retirement or death of the policy-holder. If the policyholder doesn't liveto use all the cash proceeds, the spouseand/or the named ministry receives theresidue. This option assures that eventhe least amount left willbe passed onas you preÍer.

Distributions for anv of the abovebeneficiary designaúons may bearranged through your FWB Founda-tion. Should you wish to fund anendowment or trust with life insuranceproceeds to benefit a loved one and,/orone or more church minisüies, the FWBFoundation offers this service. A Foun-dation representative will be happy towork with you and your insuranceagent.

Dont fail in your stewardship respon-sibility at death. l¿ave behind a goodtestimony. O

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The Foundation is not aryaged in rendøing legalseruice or aduice. Aduice høn legal counsel drculdbe æught.

ASTER'SAN DATE

Are You Lost in the Woulds?

'I would be a nember of lf,actct'o Dlen, but I already partlclpateln nearly all our church ac-tlvltteol

Be not weory in well doíng, t'or ín due seoson, ye shall reap it' ye faínt not.Master's Men is a good haining place for men who are new converts. It's a time

when men share one-on-one and learn. Not every man is a mature Christian,competent to witness and lead. The meetings help new workers grow.

'l u¡ould be a Dtactc/s lf,an, but I don't rpant to hold another ofñcelThe things thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit

thou to faíthful men, who shall be able to teach others also.The goal of Master's Men is to utilize men who can train others to serve the

Lord. It's necessary to put forth effort to see any good accomplished. Men mustbe willing to plan and work if the organization goes forward.

'l rrould be a Masterb Dlan, but lt urlll tal¡e more of ny tlme fromthe fanllyl

As lor me and my house, we wíll serue the Lord.It's true that families need more time together. But some men use this lame

excuse to avoid another trip away from the house. Yes, men need to spend timewith wives and children. Täke time for family relationships, but also take time forMaster's Men work. It's possible for Christians to hunt excuses to avoid work.

'I would like to belong to Maoterb Men, but I cant get other mento Joln u¡lth me ln our churchJ

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, andgloríly your Father urhich is in heauen.

Be an individual member. Dues are just $7 per year. If you prefer, a LifeMem-bership costs only $100. You might be the spark that brings a group of men tolife for the Master.

't would be a Masterb Man, but tt costs too muchlHe whích soweth sparingly, sholl olso reap sparingly.If a man says that about the $7 per year dues, his values are in the wrong place.

Don't withhold the good you can do for such a small price. Every man is impor-tant to the [ord. His work should be important to you.

'l n¡ould be a Dtasterb lf,an, but I don't see the need for belonglngto a natlonal organizatlonl

Let euerything be done in decency and order.Organization is important in the work of the Lord. Everyone cannot lead. Every-

one cannot follow. Men in local churches cannot do everything needed to extendthe kingdom of God beyond their cities. The national Master's Men accomplishmore than can be done on the local church level alone.

Llfellcnbcr Llot LengûhcncThe list has grown to L77 LifeMem-

bers and 12 LifeFriends. Their fees areplaced in the Master's Men EndowmentTiust Fund. This trust provides incomefor the Department and protects theoriginal investment for future needs.Nineteen men joined since the last list-ing, including six pastors:Ch¡rleo ê Vaughan, IXChrlo Vanval¡lao, TXRer¡. N. R. Snlth, OKI)on V. lngrarn, AZRlchard Spc¡r, AZRery. Ronald Stoncburner' AZRobeñ Strange, AZWeoley Rogcro, AZCharle¡ C. illtchell, AZGeorge B Bcrn¡, WVRery. Ger¡ld Baley, GARev. Ibr4¡ ilooley, TNJln Woole¡¡ ARJ. W. Clos¡cr, GARery. Jacl¡ T. þoal¡cr, GARlchard L. itartln, OKWayne Ronlnec, llSRev. Terry Bool¡cr, DISJln Wllllano, GA

Six names.make up the Master's MenChapter at Surprise FWB Church, Sur-prise, Arizona. This is the secondMaster's Men chapter with allLifeMembers.

Another group of 32 men madecommitments to join as LifeMembers.Eleven of them from Mississippi areusing the Master's Men checkbook planto make time payments.

New LifeFriendsLlnda ll. Young, AZMartha l[orrlo, GA

Now, isnt it time you joined? Oæ90ã(ú

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The Joint ProiectA Good Way to Plant New Churches

By Roy Thomas

Illfrat is a Joint Project worker?tüU Who pays his salary? What doeshe do, and what benefits does hereceive? These questions are askedoften of the Home Missions staff.

Free WillBaptists have20 states withsufficient churches to maintain state anddistrict mission boards. Yet in thesestates are many cities without Free WillBaptist churches. The Joint Projecú pro-gram is a successful way the state or dis-trict mission boards and the nationalHome Missions Board work together toplant churches in needy cities.

The first Joint Projects were with thestates of Alabama and Oklahoma. Theprogmm has grown until there are JointProject workers in almost all ourstronger states.

The Joint Project missionary workswith the state and national boards,receiving direct supervision from thestate mission board while getting help,training and encouragement from thenational Home Missions Board. He istreated exactly as all other nationalhome missionaries, and receives thesame tools and assistance.

The Joint Project worker's salary is setby the state or district mission board,and he raises his support within hissponsoring state. However, he receiveshis monthly check from an account setup for him in the national Home Mis-sions Department. This makes his sup-port more certain, because if the fundsare not in the account to pay him, h¡saccount goes in the red, but he stillreceives his check. In the last 20 years,¡ro missionary has failed to receive hischeck because of a lack of funds.

Support for the Joint Project can alsobe generated from people and churchesin other states who know the mission-ary personally or who know someone

in the city and are burdened for thework.

Since the Joint Project worker doesthe same work as other national homemissionaries, he is pictured on theHome Missions maps, listed intheFreeWill Baptist Yearbook (the church direc-tory), and put on the prayer lists of FreeWill Baptist colleges. He receivesmaterials from the WNAC ProvisionCloset, and his church receives freeSunday School literature from RandallHouse Publications.

The Joint Project worker receivesfreetracts, new convert packets, follow-uplessons and other materials from theHome Missions Department. He alsoreceives 50 Free Will Baptist hymnbooks.

The Home Missions Departmentgives assistance in arranging his itiner-ate and uses him in missionary confer-ences. Staff members print and mail hisnewsletters, provide his prayer cards,and maintain his mailing list on theHome Missions computer.

The state or district mission boardchooses and supervises the missionaryand specifies the terms of the contract,while the missionary receives from thenational Home Missions Departmentthe many benefits already mentioned.

The new church being startedreceives the services of a full-time pas-tor from its beginning. It also has theprivilege of a loan from the Home Mis-sions Church Extension Loan Fund.and the services of the MissionaryBuilder of the Home MissionsDepartment.

The Joint Projects enable the HomeMissions Board and the state missionboards to start Free Will Baptistchurches in cities where none exist. Yes,the Joint Project is a good way to plantnew churches! (D

W¡ndow

From lìfy WlndowWinter lingers for some of us. The

land is frozen and we yearn for thespring thaw. Were tired of the pale, win-try sun and want the warm rays whichwillcoax out the tight buds and breathelife into the cold earth.

Love is something like that warmingsun. Not violent, but shong. Gentle, butpersistent.

Into the frozen winter of a soul lovemay shine. Love can draw from itsdeadness beauty and an answeringlove.

In Þbruary some people speak of the"[ove God] but our God is love. Hislove melts the hardest ftozen hearts.

Then the warmth of that love canflow out in a gentle stream and meltother frozen hearts.

love-a very powerful force, readilyavailable and always effective.

February-National StüdentFund Month

Help train leaders and workersamong converts on our mission fields.

You can contribute to the enrichmentof our brothers and sisters abroad. Givegenerously to the National Student

-:- -=---- --.= Fund. L¿t's set a goalof $3,000 for thisyeaf.

Opportunity exists for us to helpseveral students.

In July the Executive Committee willmake a recommendation to the con-vention for worthy students who needscholarships.

The more you give to the NationalStudent Fund, the more students wewill be able to help.

Eunlce Edwards FundNovember 30, 1987-$6,137.38

WOMEN, we can do it!$20,000 by December 31, 1988!

Executive Committee MeetsThe Executive Committee elected in

July 1987, met in Nashville December2.

President Mary Neal, vice presidentMaurine Lee, secretary Peggy Outland,and Members at Large Nora McCarty,Kay Hampton and Lila Faye Morganmet with lorene Miley, editor, and MaryR. Wisehart, executive secretary-trea-surer.

The women reviewed the year'swork, approved the L989 budget for

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Woman's

onthe WorldBy Mary R. Wisehart

presentation at the convention in Julyand completed plans for the conventionand national retreat.

Convention plans include recom-mendations on dues and the NationalStudent Fund.

Delegates, plan to attend the conven-tion in Kansas City, Missouri, July 19,1988.

Lcadership ConferenceTwelve women representing 10 states

attended the December nationall.eadership Conference in Nashville.

For the first time Woman's Auxiliarystate officers received invitations to theconference.

According to the women, they foundthe conference beneficial and willencourage other state presidents andf¡eld workers to attend in 1989.

Retreat f988Have you registered for the National

Retreat, September 8-10, at Ridgecrest,N.C.?

Ask for great blessings at Ridgecrest;expect to receive from God's hand.

For more information write toRetreat, WNAC, P. O. Box 1088, Nash-ville, TN 37202

ttnlD\l

Board ot' Retírement

AT YOUR SEIiVICEHm¡tøt L. Herseg

Director

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In the Face of DeathWhat Shall We Thltr About?

f,! ack in the 60's a chaplain at SanlJQuentin prison wrote a book.Excerpts were published in Reader'sDigest. In the book, the chaplain tellsabout visiting Richard Cooper, a con-demned killer, who had been confinedon death row for 11 months.

The chaplain and the prisoner talkedfor 40 minutes before Cooper walkedinto the gas chamber to die. They dis-cussed education, art and sports. Thechaplain said, "l didn't mention religion.Perhaps it is not necessary to speakGod's words in order to serve His pur-pose. Just being there with RichardCooper in his last moments may beenough to show him that no man is evercompletely cast out or completelyalone,'

Imagine, a man with less than anhour to live and he hears about educa-tion, art and sports. What good are theyto a doomed man?

There's an account in the Bible ofanother condemned man who had onlv

By Jack Gulledge

a few hours to live at best. He was anacknowledged thief hanging on a crudecross. But there was One beside himwho, without guilt said, "To day shaltthou be with me in paradise" (Luke23:43).

There is a sense in which we're allcondemned by the penalty of sin andwaiting on death row. Fortunately mostof us have accepted God's gift of graceby faith in Jesus Christ. We've beenpardoned, and another has taken ourpunishment for us. Jesus spoke to us,too, and said, "The words that I speakunto you, they are spirit, and they arelife' (John 6:63).

That's well and good. But we knowother senior adults who have only alimited time to live and who have some-how slipped through all the religioussafety nets and are still condemned.With so little time left what do we talkto them about? The weather? The goodold days? Our aches and pains? Godforbid!

The Bible says we are to be lights inthe world, holding forth the words of life

(Philippians 2:15-76). Just being withthem is not enough. Remember " . . .

faith cometh by hearing, and hearing bythe word of God" (Romans 10:17).

In the face of death, share with thatfriend or neighbor the words of eternallife. As a missionary said, "When youput forth God's Word in your witness,the Holy Spirit backs you up.'

Our task is clear. "He that hath myword, let him speak my word faithfully.What is the chaff to the wheat? saith thelord'(Jeremiah 23:28],. We can talkabout the chaff of education, art andsports-they each have their place. Butthey are nothing compared to the wheatthat gives life and life everlasting. Sowhether a person has a little time or alot of time, give him the promises in theWord of God! O

1987 The Sundoy School Board ol the South-ern Baptíst Conuention. All ríghß reserued. Usedby permîssion. For subscripúíon ínformatíon, pleose

write to the Moteríols Seruices Department, 727Ninth Auenue North, Noshuilf e, TN 37234.

FtæWillBaptistBibleCollqe REP@RT

To The Ends Of The EarthNine years ago my wife and I returned

to the States from our mission field in IvoryCoast, West Africa. For 17 years the med-ical station at Doropo had been home tous. Some of the happiest years of our liveshad been spent there as we ministered tothe bodies anä souls of heathen people.We knew that even though we werereturning to our homeland, we wouldalways be missionaries at heart.

Where would we serve? How could weserve and still keep missions uppermost inour service? The lord had the answers tothese questions, and we were not long indiscovering them.

Changes In Our MlnlstrlesWNAC, whose primary thrust is mis-

sions, was in need of someone to serve aseditor of its publication, Co-Laborer, andmy wife was soon placed in that position.

Dr. Charles Thigpen, president of FreeWill Baptist Bible College, contacted meconceming a teaching position at FWBBC.At the beginning of the next semester, Iwas back in the classroom teaching.Strange? Not really.

TwenÇ-four years earlier, in 1955, I hadresigned my position at the Bible Collegeto go to the regions beyond as a medicalmissionary. For five years I had taught atthe college-l had prayed for missions, formissionaries and for laborers on a regularbasis in missionary prayer band, whichmeets on campus daily after lunch. I hadhad a part in preparing missionaries to goto the ends of the earth.But I had cometo know that the Lord was asking morefrom me. Both my wife and I had cometo realize that the lord wanted us on theforeign field. And so, by His grace, wewent.

Now, 24 years later, feeling that the Lordwould have us retum to serve in the States,

by Dr. LaVerne Miley

I was back teaching at FWBBC. Had theschool changed? To be sure, its enrollment,faculty and facilities had increased. Butwhat about its spirit, its goal, its mission-ary emphasis, its reason for being? Hadthese changed?

Misslons At FWBBC-IìodayImmediately, I found myself once again

joining others in missionary prayer band.I was teaching missions courses. I wasworking with Foreign Missions Þllowship(FMF). I was counseling students whomGod was calling to proclaim the gospel inthe regions beyond. What a thrill! FWBBChad not lost its concern for the souls ofmen. God was still working in our midstand calling out laborers. And now, as Ithink back over the past eight years, whata blessing it is to me to see a number ofmy former students presently serving onour mission fields around the world, includ-ing lvory Coast, which has a special placein my heart.

The fallterm of 1987 has been one ofspecial missionary emphasis on thecampus. Numbers of guest missionaryspeakers have been with us to challengeus. The annual Missionary Conference inNovember, under the auspices of theNational Home Missions Board, left no oneuntouched for the cause of missions.

In early November, about 30 studentsattended the Southeast Regional FMFConference in Georgia and returned tochallenge us all to an even greater com-mitment to Christ and missions. The Fcr-eign Missions Þllowship group on ourcampus has launched a drive to raise$7,500 to contuibute to the conshuction ofa much-needed church in St. Nazaire,France.

In the midst of all of these activities, theLord has been silently, but surely, working

in the lives of young people on our campusand calling out laborers for the harvest.Recently, a young freshman lady came intomy office and, with tears in her eyes, toldme how God has been dealing with herfor several years, giving her a burden forthe mission field.

Even more recently, a young maniedman came in to talk with me concerninghis burden for the lost in heathen lands.He had been abroad in military service andthe lord had placed upon him a burdento gq a burden from which he has foundno escape. That very evening he talkedwith the General Director of Foreign Mis-sions and is now making his plans for theforeign field.

There is no question: The supreme taskof the Church is now and always has beenthe reaching of lost people with the gos-pel of Christ. I am so glad that the Lordhas raised up Free Will Baptist Bible Col-lege to help prepare workers to accomplishthat task. And I am thankful to have asmall part on this campus. (D

Dr. LaVerne Miley served as a medi-cal missionary for 19 years, 1960-79.Hereturned to FWBBC in 1979 where henow teaches Bible and Science.

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ur brothers and sisters in Cubabubbled with excitement whenthey heard prospects of an

international fellowship of Free WillBaptists. Their common bond of doc-trinal beliefs and denominational prac-tices begs for such ties andcommitments.

When Missionary Steve Lytle and Ivisited the island last year we weteimpressed by strong expressions of loy-alty to our Free Will Baptist heritage.l¿aders emphasized determination tofollow denominational precepts andpractices taught by Reverend and Mrs.Thomas H. Willey, Sr.

While reflecting on the loyalty ofCuban Free Will Baptists, I rememberedreading about "Pop" Willey's involve-ment irr establishing the NationalAssociation in 1935. He was one of 60ministers from 11 states who partici-pated in the organizational session. Bytheir actions, the group expressed aresolve to preserve and propagate theFree Will Baptist heritage.

Strong feelings of unity and cooper-ation were shown in the church cove-

nant which they adopted: "To this endwe agree to labor for the põããfrnTfeducational and DENOMINATIONAL

Free Will Baptists overseasare grateful for their

heritage and are loyal totheir denomination.

The Association subsequently electeda Foreign Missions Board and chargedits members to initiate and superviseoverseas outreach. Since then, a hostof dedicated missionaries have beenbusy winning souls and establishingchurches in the regions beyond. Con-sequently, the Free WillBaptist denomi

We AgreeBy R. Eugene Waddell

General Director, Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions

nation is emerging in nine foreigncountries in addition to the areas servedby home missionaries.

Churches in these counhies are form-ing associations. Associations areassuming responsibility for evangelizingtheir own people. Some nationals areinvolved in training programs. Andthese actions are taking place becauseFree Will Baptists overseas are gratefulfor their heritage and are loyal to theirdenomination.

I believe our Free.Will Baptist faithand practices are biblically sound. [oy-alty, therefore, extends far beyond a ha-dition or an organization. loyalty, asFree Will Baptists have emphasizedthrough the years, begins with a com-mitment of one's life to Christ. This loy-alty must be maintained until we reachheaven where we will join representa-tives from all nations. races and lan-guage groups in praising the Lamb ofGod.

Therefore, I appeal to every Free WillBaptist to join heart and hands with usin spreading the gospel of Christ andestablishing a worldwide network ofchurches which are faithful to our FreeWill Baptist heritage.

I also appeal to all churches wh¡ch aremembers of the National Association tomaintain the integrity of the denomina-tion by supporting missionaries commis-sioned by the official board of theAssociation. I further urge thesechurches to refrain from sending nnon-

off¡cial' missionaries to any area wheretheir ministry might conflict with that ofmissionaries serving under the Board ofForeign Missions.

I am confident the blessings andbenefits of such a spirit of cooperationand denominational loyalty will bereaped both here and in eternity. O

Top Shelf

The authors of this volume are com-mitted Christians with backgrounds inclinical psychology. Dr. Backus, anordained minister with degrees in the-ology and psychology, has worked asa counselor and practicing psychologistfor many years.

The system of therapy presented is

based on the biblical principle "as a manthinketh in his heart, so is he.' Theauthors contend that Christians sufferdepression, anxiety, fear, anger andother problems because we tell our-selves untruths. After we tell ourselvesthese untruths. we come to believethem and act upon them. Small won-der, then, that our actions and attitudesare less than they ought to be.

Backus and Chapian present severalcommon untruths which we tell our-selves. For example, we tell ourselves,"l must get what I want in order to behappyl' This type thinking leads us tobelieve that if we do not have the thingswe want, there must be somethingwrong with our Christian lives. Or thatGod does not hear and answer ourprayers.

All these ideas, according to theauthors, are false. We must be freedfrom covetousness and jealousy. It maybe inconvenient to do without things wewant, but it's not the end of the world.Things cannot bring happiness.

Another common untruth we tellourselves is. "lt's terrible to have hurtfeelings.'Therefore, we should avoid sit-uations and people that may hurt us. AChristian should live above it all; heshould never feel hurt. All of these areuntruths. There's nothing unspiritualabout being hurt. Through the power ofGod hurt feelings can be healed. If weattempt anything in the Lord's workthere's the chance of being hurt.

A third common untruth is, 'ln orderto be happy I must be loved by every-body." This leads us to flatter andmanipulate people in an attempt toinfluence them to like us. It may leadus to think it's terrible to be unpopularor that we're failures if others don't loveus.

Popularity is not the most importantthing in life. We should certainly be sen-sitive to the feelings of others, but thosein the lord's work will sometimes beunpopular.

In order to dealeffectively with life sit-uations, a Christian must remove theseuntruths and replace them with God'struths. The believer must identify theuntruths, fight against them, and thenreplace them.

This process will take time and mayrequire professional help. Untrainedcounselors can often do more harmthan good. Instead of getting to the bot-tom of the problems and workingthrough them, the counselor may adoptthe attitude that Christians ought nothave problems. The counselor mayconvey the false idea (without intend-ing to) that spiritual people don't haveproblems.

This book has much to commend it.Common sense tells us that ourthoughts often determine our attitudesand actions. We all approach life withcertain basic presuppositions. If thosepresuppositions are wrong, then life's aterrible ordeal for us. We must draw ourpresuppositions from the teachings ofGod, not from the world in which welive.

These authors present an approachto dealing with problems which is down-to-earth, understandable and closelytied to God's Word. It deserves seriousconsideration. O

Go for theGold!

By Floyd Wolfenbarger

f¡/oung athletes psyche themselvesI up for the Olympics with the rally-

ing call: 'Go for the gold!'While mediaexperts confidently assure Americansthat the best we can hope for in this orthat event is a bronze medal, the ath-lete finely tunes his/her sk¡lls in a questto urin-not just place.

This dimension of motivation is sadlylacking in many Christians who, likeancient Israel, are slack to possess allthat God has given. This slacknessshows itself in four ways:

When one accepts conuersion butdoesn't go on to church membership,he's going for the bronze. To shoulderwith other members the responsibility,the concern and the voicd in churchwork is one of life's rich blessings. Weare committed to the biblicalteachingthat each member adds shength, sup-port and direction to the whole body.

When one giues sporadíq emotionalgifts instead of the systematic regular gift(the tithe), he is going for the bronze.God promised that tithes brought to thestorehouse would be met with an unfil-no-need blessing. If everyone wouldhonor God in his tithes, we would havemissions funds, building funds, collegef unds and operational f undsuntil-no-need.

When one attends worship servicebut by-passes Sunday School or prayermeeting, he is going for the bronze. Theencouragement and shength that Iderive from the Bible study in SundaySchool is so vitalto me that I can barelyimagine surviving in this world withoutthem. Prayer meeting often speaks tolife's difficulties at the very time I am liv-ing through them.

When one settles for a quick hand-shake but never takes the time to visitor fellowship with others in the church,he is going for the bronze. How sweetis the fellowship of saints! Lack of thirstfor Christian fellowship is often a symp-tom of friendship with the world.

Many athletes cherish their well-deserved bronze medals, but there is nofeeling that compares to winning thegold. Go for it! O

William Backus and lltarle Chaplan,Telllng Yourself the Truth (ltlln-neapollo: Bethany House Pub-llshers, 1980, 184 pp., paperback,$5.95).

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breakfast. She gave each one a hug andthen they quickly opened the valentinesleft at their plates.

ul cant wait untilthe partyl said Martyas he wolfed down his bacon and eggs.

"Why, Son?' asked Mr. Lane. iAreyou expecting a valentine from some-one special?"

"No waylo answered Marty quickly."lt's just that I'm going to win theM & M's this year.'

"How do you know they are going tohave M & Ms this year?'asked Megan.

"They always doi answered Marty."lt's the same thing every party-theroom mother fills a jar with M & M'sand everybody guesses how many arein it."

"Well, what makes you so sure you'regoing to win?' asked Mrs. Lane.

"l've been practicing," answeredMarty. "l've filled up jars with all kindsof stuff and counted it. I'm a real goodguesser by now'

Megan looked skeptical and said,'Well, wdll see."

nl wanna So party: wailed Jeff as Mrs.Lane got the twins off to school. "lwanna go party, too!'

"l'm sorryf said Mrs. Lane, 'but theparty is just for school children."

Jeff stuck out his lower lip andblinked back the tears.

'l knowi said Mrs. Lane quickly, "we'lldo something better than a party.'Shegot out the flour and sugar and a bigmixing bowl. "We'll bake cookiesl

"Yippee!'cried Jeff.

f eff helped his mother measure and(3!stir. He watched while she rolledout the dough. Then he cut out the

A Lost Prizecookies with a heart-shaped cookie cut-ler. Jeff could hardly wait for the firstbatch to bake and cool. Finally theywere ready to eat. Mrs. Lane and Jeffsat down at the table with glasses of coldmilk and a plate of warm cookies.

Jeff dug right in. "You knowi saidMrs. Lane as she looked at the goldenhearts, 'these cookies are just too goodto keep to ourselves. Why dont weshare them with somebody?"

'Who?' asked Jeff, reaching foranother one before his mother came upwith any names.

'How about Mr. Vanderpool?'askedMrs. Lane. 'He just came home fromthe hospital, you knowl Mr. Vander-pool, an elderly man, lived down thestreet.

Jeff was an eager helper. He andMrs. Lane cut out a square of red ging-ham and l¡ned a wicker basket, then putsugar cookies in it. They also made avalentine with red and pink hearts on it.

It was fun to bundle up in warm coatsand walk down the street in the crispFebruary air. Jeff grinned when he rangthe doorbell and handed Mr. Vander-poolthe basket of cookies. Mr. Vander-poolsmiled when he read the valentine.

Hand in hand, Mrs. Lane and Jeffwalked home. "That was fun, Mama,"said Jeff. "Me think that was more funthan a party.'

partiesl said Mrs. Lane, "l wonderwhat's happening at school."

Donnelly, the room mother, pulled outa jar of M & M's.

Marty grinned at Megan from acrossthe room. Then he stared at the jar.Marty remembered that an empty mus-tard jar held437 buttons and an emptypeanut butter jar held 298 marbles. Hestudied the jar for a few more minutes.Then he wrote his name and guess ona piece of paper.

Mrs. Donnelly collected each stu-dent's guess and read them while Mrs.Curtis wrote them on the chalkboard.Marty shook his head at some of thesilly estimates. One girl named Sarahguessed 32, and a boy named Joelguessed 3,0001 Marty guessed 548.

After Mrs. Curtis had written all theguesses on the board, Mrs. Donnellyunfolded a piece of paper and read thecorrect answer. "There are 560M & M's in the jari Mrs. Donnellyannounced. "That means the winner is. . . " She glanced at the chalkboard,"Marty. The winner is Martyl Everyoneclapped while Marty went to the frontto claim his prize.

"Way to go, Martyi said Megan asthey walked home from school. 'l cantbelieve you were so close-just 12away. I-et's open them."

"No wayi said Marty. "They're mine.'"You've got 5601 said Megan. "Can't

I have a Í.ew?"

'You just waitl replied Megan. "Whenwe get home Mama will make you

Mrs. Lane squeezed her son's hand. "Nopei answered Marty. "l won themShe was proud of Jeff. "Speaking of and I'm going to eat them."

tFhe 25 eiqht-vear-olds in Mrs. cur- share them with me and Jeff' You'llseel

I tis' classiad a hard time concen- tf urty didnT go home. Instead, hetrating on math, history and spelling. lvlran through the woods to Mrs.Finally, the morning inched its way into Douglas'farm, He skipped through herafternoon and the party began. Sure field and sat on a hee stump at the edgeenough, after a couple of games, Mrs. of the pond. Marty opened his treat and

began eating. Sometimes he ateslowly-sorting out the differentcolors-red, orange, yellow, green,brown and tan. Sometimes he swal-lowed them by handfuls.

Marty watched some frogs hoppingfrom the bank back into the muddywater of the pond. And he kept eating.He listened to the bobwhites whistling.And he kept eating. Occasionally, Martyskipped flat stones into the water andwatched it ripple. And he kept eating.When Marty had eaten the 560thM & M, he spotted a fat green frog bythe pond's edge. He crept up to the frogas quietly as he could and caught thefrog with his jar.

Marty chuckled to himself when hethought of Megan's face when she askedfor M & M's and he handed her thefrog.

l¡f,arty's steps were heavier goingfulhome. When he reached the endof his street, he felt a little sick. WhenMarty reached the back steps of hishome, he felt a lot sick. His queasystomach kept jumping up to his throat.A cold sweat broke out across his neckand forehead.

Megan met him at the door anddemanded some M & M's. Martycouldn't answer. He shoved his booksand the jar toward Megan and dartedto the bathroom where he threw up hisprize-all560 of them.

Mrs. Lane and Megan looked at eachother and smiled.

"lt serves him righti said Megan.Marty felt yucky all afternoon and

night. He couldn't eat any supper, andwhen his mother took out a batchof sugar cookies from the oven,Marty groaned and ran back to thebathroom. O

Who do you thlnh had a happlerValentlneb Day-the boy who gotor the boy who gave? Read Acto2O:35b.

Directory UpdateGEORGIA

Sonny Hanis to laveler's Rest Church,Newton

J. M. Henald to Oak Hill Church, AlmaJeny Wishum to Spring Hill Church,

Baconton

üISSOURTChuck lotz to Copper Mines Church,

Fredericktown

SOT'TH CANOL|NADanny Howell to First Church, Florence

from Goshen Church, Mt. Holly, NCCyrus Shoffner to Faith FWB Church,

Darlington from New Town Church, l¿keCity

Kenneth Baxley to Freedom Church,Ladson from Little Belhel Church,Johnsonville

Munell Young to Rains Church, RainsWalter Brown to First Church, Enoree

OTHER PEßSONNELRandy l.edbetter to First Church, Rus-

sellville, AR as associate pastor for layministry development from DonelsonChurch, Nashville, TN as director of youth

Stanley K. Konopinski to SouthwestChurch, Oklahoma City, OK as associatepastor from Shady Nook Church, Okla-homa City, OK as pastor (D

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Cooperative Channel ContributionsNovembet l9E7

RECEIPTS:StateAlabamaArizonaArkansas

CaliforniaColoradoDelaware

Florida

GeorgialdaholllinoisIndianaKansas

KentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippi

Missouri

New MexicoNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaSouth CarolinaTennessee

Texas

VirginiaWest VirginiaCanadaNorthwest Assoc.

Other (Computer)

Tot¡l¡

Noc.'t6 Y¿ To D¡tc$ 199.23 $ 3,520.85

.00 50.005,305.52 48,490.2877t.51 9.541.04

.00 10.00

.00 3,068.832.655.20 21,467.399,ß3.26 89,004,88

.00 682.886,403.10 91,921.38482.36 8,219.28105.30 552.72269.66 2.679.78

.00 2,990.744.t07.4t 48,091.24

28.55 3,983.0810,833.16 83,416.65

.00 176.66

r.67t.97 15.557.962,821.4t 31,616.30

49,645.33 385,671.375.490.95 75.770.16740.29 21,322.75

7.823.86 85,92.40125.00 4,62t.69

2.859.29 28,480.57.00 .00

.00 764.M

.00 .02

Deolgn$ 169.19

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00

.00I,187.64

.005,583.772,172.86

.00100.00

.004,641.47

.007,t3r'..4t

.00652.22

1,533.6026,655.3112,609.26

1,135.826,496.78

115.007,677.07

.00

.00

.00

$79,864.34

,u"f.9ff.,.., Totat$ 20.00 $ 189.19

.00 .00

5,109.04 5,109.04667.39 667.39

.00 .00

490.42 490.42

2,757.10 2,157.10647 .50 9,835.14342.40 342.40736.t2 6,319.89t22.22 2,295.0872.03 72.0361.19 161.19

119.00 119.00283.00 4,924.47

.00 .00

.00 7,134.41

.00 .00

947.59 1,599.814,650.80 6,184.407,897.37 34,552.68

.00 12,609.26

1,250.r0 2,385.92454.46 6,951.24310.00 425.00112.37 1,789.38

.00 .00

.00 .00

.00 .00

$26,450. 10 $ 106,314.¿t4 $llr,7 22.36 $1,066,555.34

DTSBURSEMENTS:Executive Ofice $ 1,845.05 $15,937.01 $ 17,782.06 $ 14,786.92 $194,131'92hrelgn Missions 55,588.14 2,417 .99 58,006.13 60,895.93 56I'773.57FWBBC 4,318.92 2,417.99 6,736.9L 6,271.47 68,724.09Home Missions 14,303.97 1,892.35 16,796.32 20,720.69 177,051'51Retirement & Insurance 1.110.21 1,471.82 2,582.03 2,629.95 15,423.74

Maste/s Men 311.88 7,366.70 1,678.58 2,5L9.87 15,358.76

Commission forTheologial Integrity 63.06 105.14 768.20 205.26 1,564.65

FWB Foundation 15.L2 630.79 645.9L 1,318.82 6,568.74

Historical Commission 61.17 105.14 166.31 207.58 1,549.51

Radio & TV Commission 97.17 105.14 196.31 227.58 2,371.55

Hillsdale FWB Collese 1,734.73 .00 1,734.13 1,873.45 20,100.52

Other 421.52 .03 421.55 64.84 1,936.78

Tot¡l¡ $79,864.34 $26,450.10 $106,314.44 911t,722.36 $1,066,555.34

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Georgla State RetreatFifty{hree young people represent-

ing 11 churches attended the GeorgiaState Retreat at Camp Mount Bethel.The retreat began Thanksgiving Day at5:30 p.m. and continued through 1:00p.m. Saturday. Bronco West (alias Jakethe Hobo, gospel magician, chalk-talkartist) was the retreat evangelist con-ducting five services with the youngpeople.

This action-packed weekendincludêd games, music, fellowship andspiritual renewal for the teens and 15staff members. Several youth madecommitments to Christ. Rev. West, lastsummer's camp evangelist, challengedthem to remember and keep their com-mitments to Christ. There were twodecisions for salvation reported.

Another retreat is tentatively plannedfor 1988 with hopes of reaching moreyoung people for Christ.

1988 Nattonal YET AnnouncedThe 1988 NationalYouth Evangelis-

tic Tþam consists of 11 high school stu-dents from seven states. The teammembers are:

Heather Smith, Mt. Vernon, ILMelissa Smedley, McAlester, OKAndrea McKensie, Turbeville, SCDana Roach, Arnold, MOKelli Lauthern, Nashville, TNïämra Ragsdale, Flat River, MOCraig Portell, South Roxanna, ILDavid Outlaw, Nashville, TNChris Spradlin, Duncanville, TXJarrod Chapman, Charleston, WVCraig Cook, Kansas City, MO

These young people were selectedaccording to their scores in the Musicand Arts competition at the 1987National Youth Conference. The teammembers will arrive in Nashville, ïÞnn.,on Sunday, JuneL2. Monday throughFriday the teens will rehearse a programconsisting of music and drama, Thepaùiotic theme of the program willpres-ent freedom as both Americans andChristians.

The team will tour Missouri startingSaturday, June 18, and continue

through Sunday, June 26. They willconduct 10 services in Missourichallenging teens and adults to makecommitments for Christ. Please pray forthe '88 YET that many people will bereached for the cause of Christ.

C.f.S. Breezg RallYThe Cumberland Southern Quarterly

Distict rally brought 50 teens and spon-sors together on a cold night at lheRamblin' Breeze Ranch in WhitesCreek, Tenn., November 21. DesPitecold weather everyone enjoyed roast-ing hot dogs and marshmallows over anopen fire. A hayride and singing aroundthe campfire were also included in theactivities.

MichaelGragg, a student at Free WillBaptist Bible College, was the guestspeaker for the evening. Using "peerpressure' as his topic, he challenged theyoung people to resist negative peerpressure and promote positive peerpressure.

Keath Storm, also an FWBBC stu-dent, and David Outlaw of Nashville,TÞnn., joined Michael in presentingsome mini-skits on the effects of bothpositive and negative peer pressure.

Guldellnes RevlsedThere have been some revisions

made on the Guidelines for competitiveactivities for the 1988 National YouthConference. For a list of these revisions,write:

Youth Minishies DivisionRandall House Publications

P. O. Box L7306Nashville, TN 37217

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oPPOS|T ON TO MTSS|ONSMOUNTING IN BOLTV¡A

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (EP)-The FourthAssembly of Solidarity with the Indigenous Peo-ple of the Bolivian Orient and the Amazon Basinrecommended to the Bolivian Congress the"immediate expulsion of the New Tribes Mission,the Evangelical Swiss Mission, and others fromthe indigenous communiti€s of the Bolivian Ama-zon Basin.'

The New Tiibes Mission and the EvangelicalSwiss Mission are accused of committing þradualethnocide," states the resolution, which alsocharged the Wycliffe Bible lanslators with des-troying'almost entirely the indigenous cosmologyand religioni while they worked among hibal peo-ple during 1955 - 1985. (Wycliffe received the'Order of the Condor," the highest award grantedby the Bolivian government, for service to theBolivian people in the fields of education and lin-guistic research after finishing wo¡k there in 1985.)

The opposition groups will have a difficult timeseeing their resolution canied out however, sincethe Constitution of the Repubhc guarantees"unrestricted freedom of worship' throughout thecoun¡ry.

GUTENBERG BTBLE BRINGS$5.39 ilrLLrON

NEW YORK, NY (EP)-A Gutenberg Bible,printed in 1455 in Mainz, Germany, was sold atan auction for more than twice the record pricefor a printed book. The Bible is one of 48 surviv-ing of the 185 believed to have been printed partlyby Johannes Gutenberg.

Johannes Gutenberg, a German printer bornsomet¡me around 1400, is credited with invent-ing the first printing press with moveable type. TheGutenberg Bibles were the first books printed fromhis presses and paved the way for mass commu-nication. The Bibles, the first large books printedon the press, were an edition of the Vulgate.

The Gutenberg Bible is in pristine condition,according to Christie's auction house, in chargeof the auction of more than 130 printed booksfrom the 15th century. The pages are clean, andare bound in their original binding. The Bible isthe first volume of a two-volume set. and includesGenesis through Psalms of the Old'Iþstament. Thesecond volume in the set is not believed to havesurvived.

The buyer was Maruzen Co. Ltd. of Tokyo,Japan! largest bookseller, who paid $5.39 mil-lion for the Bible. The previous record price fora printed book sold at auction was $2.2 millionwhen another Gutenberg Bible was sold in 1978.

All 130 books were collected and donated tothe Catholic church, seminaries and other chari-ties by the late Estelle Doheny, wife of the lateCalifornia oil king Edward Doheny. The archdio-cese is selling the books to fund a program toincrease enrollment in Catholic seminaries.

ORAL ROBERTS GTVES UPCITY OF FAITH CLIN¡C

TULSA, OK (EP)-A doctor's group will assumeop€ration of a costly 60-story clinic at Oral RobertdCity of Falth Medical and Research Center, offi-cials announced. The change will not affect theoperation of the nonprofit hospital and researchcenter that are part of the City of Faith at OralRoberts University (ORU).

"lt would be a tenible thing if the City of Faithclosedi said Richard Roberts, son of Oral Robertsand new acting chief executive officer of the med-ical complex. "The City of Faith will not shutdown."

Though the clinic has cost the ministry $3.5 to$4 million each year plus the $23 million starþ

up cost in 1981, Roberts said the decision to severt¡es with the clinic was not "an economic moveibut a decision by the City of Faith's executive com-mittee. 'l said to them. 'l believe we made a mis-take in organizing a clinic to go along with ourhospitall " Roberts said at a press conference.

The 76 doctors and dentists now practicing atthe clinic were reportedly unanimous in their sup-port for the change. They will form their own com-pany and keep track of their own revenue andexpenses; the clinic will no longer have tax-exemptstatus. Doctors from the City of Faith will continueto teach at ORU's medical school.

NURSING HOME ESTABLISHESGUIDELINES FOR TREATMENT OF

TERIITNALLY ILLSEATTLE, WA (EP)-After a controversy devel-oped regarding treatm€nt of the elderly in theirChristian nursing facility, Crista Ministries, aSeattle-based organization known for their branchm¡nistries World Concern and lntercristo. hasdeveloped guidelines for th€ treatment of the ter-minally ill.

Controversy arose in 1985 when the family ofa palient housed in Crista's nursing center whohad suffered a stroke obtained a physician's cer-tificate indicating that she had no chance of recov-ery and a recommendation that feeding tubes beremoved. When Crista refused to comply with therequest, the family obtained a court order. Thepatient was then moved to another facility whereshe died.

Five months later a similar s¡tuation occurred.Another patient's family ordered that artificial feed-ing tubes be removed. This time Crista complied,citing current ethical standards of the Ame¡icanMedical Association in the case. The decisionraised conhoversy within lhe Christian community.

Crista Minishies then appointed a committeeto investigate procedures at the nursing center,proposing new guidelines in light of scripture andthe value God's Wo¡d places on human life.

Under the guidelines, the "informed and com-petent patient has the right to refuse or forgo heat-ment" within legal limits that prohibit euthanasiaor mercy killing. Medication, food, water and oxy-gen, as well as other "necessary and natural sup-ports for life' will be provided. Life-sustainingtreatment can be ended with the patient's direc-tions, when three physicians agree that the patientfaces imminent death from a irreversible illness.If a mentally incompetent patient did not provideadvance directions, the immediate family canmake such a request. lf a patient requests t¡eat-ment not permitted under the guidelines, he orshe will be transferred to another facility uponrequest.

Crista Ministries houses the largest retirementcommunity in the Pacific Northwest. Housed ona 55-acre "campusi the facility includes six build-ings. Three are independent living apartments,one is a ret¡rement center, and two others com-prise a separãte nursing home. The campus is alsoshared by a K - 12 Ch¡stian school, lntercristo andWorld Concern. Crista Ministries is a non-profit,non-denominational organization. O

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THE SECRETARY SPEAKSBy Melvin Worthington

¡fi ymbols have been usedIthroughout history io visually\t communicate and confirm huth.The Old Testament abounds with sym-bols and shadows regarding God'sredemptive program. The prophetsused symbols to inform their hearers.Symbols in Psalms express man's rela-tionship with the human family andheavenly Father.

The Free Will Baptist symbol illus-trates, inspires, identifies, informs andinstructs. Historic and contemporaryChristian designs have been incorpo-rated in our emblem to convey our dis-tinctive doctrines and practices.

The entire symbol incorporates fourvisual and viable symbols used by theearliest communities in Christendom:the ship, the fish, the anchor and thecross. These symbols have been fre-quently discovered in the catacombsand other early Christian ruins.

The ship has always been recognizedas a symbol of the church representingall the members pulling in one direction,guided and empowered by the HolySpirit. The unity, universality anduniqueness of the body of Christ aresymbolized by the ship. The purpose,program, power and personnel are allunder the Lord Jesus' control. Seekingto fulfill Christ's last command to theChurch, Free Will Baptists unite in onepurpose with one priority to proclaimthe good news of the gospel through-out the world.

The fish, represented in the symbolby the space between the bottom of the

Symbol

sail and the top of the ship's body, is oneof the most popular symbols for JesusChrist. Many believe that it was a secretsymbol which identified Christians dur-ing periods of persecution. The word'fish' in first century Greek (ichfhus) isan acrostic for Jesus Christ, Son ofGod, Savior.

The anchor on the bow of the shipsymbolizes the Christian hope of salva-tion, "the sure, strong and steadfastanchor of the soul."

The mast of the ship in the emblemforms the most familiar symbol in thehistory of the world, the cross-aninstrument of execution and deathturned into a worldwide emblem ofhope and love by the death and resur-rection of Jesus Christ. Early Christianart often combined the anchor andcross because of their similarity.

In the four corners of the ship's sail,the symbols of earliest Christianity areenhanced by modern emblems of a

vital, living faith-the Holy Bible, theloaf and cup, the basin and towel, andthe clasped hands-the symbols of FreeWill Baptists.

The Bible has always been at theheart of our life as Free Will Baptists,the centrality of the scriptures. Free WillBaptists adopt the Word of God as ouronly rule of faith and practice. Webelieve the scriptures to be inspired,inerrant, infallible and immutable.

The cup and loaf represent the lord'ssupper, one of the gospel ordinances.This ordinance commemorates thedeath of Christ for our sins in the useof the bread which He made theemblem of His broken body and the cupthe emblem of His shed blood. Partici-pation in this ordinance expresses lovefor Christ, faith and hope in Him, andserves as a pledge of perpetual fidelityand faithfulness to Him.

The basin and towelhistorically sym-bolize the service and outreach of thechurch, but for us it has the added sig-nificance of representing our practice ofwashing the saints' feet.

The clasped hands symbolize manythings to us: fellowship, brotherhoodand the warmth of our faith. Perhapsthe most important thing symbolized bythe clasped hands is our zeal for evan-gelism, our commitment to reach out topeople around the world with the goodnews.

Täke another look at the Free WillBaptist symbol. l¿arn the lasting lessonsfrom the logo. O

Lrt filsE fillllll

thc Sccrct¡rgl,o Sched¡lcFebnrary l-3 Ministerd Reheat

Brighton, Mich.Febnra4r 3 Cenhal FWB Church

Royal Oak, Mich.Febnrary &ll Christian Workers

ConferenceDothan, Ala.

Febnrery lt-19 South Carolina StateAssoc.

Turbeville, SC.Febnrary 2l-24 Peace FWB Church

Florence, S€.

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CONTACT

P. O. Box 1 088

Nashville, Tennessee 37202

Second class postage paid at Nashville, Tennessee

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FreeÞa

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"building toward greater stewardship"

estate planning

family financial planningwill clinicsplanned giving

"...moreoyer it ís required of stewards that onebe found trustworthy."

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stewardship education

P. O. Box l0ttNachvllle- TN î7202615/36r-10rO

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