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Good Will:
In General or
In Particular?
By ROGER WILLIAMS, Pastor
Cumming First Baptist Church
Luke 2:14 of the King James Translation says “Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
Does it make any uifference how things are “in general”?
Does it make any difference whether a smog blanket smothers
a city or whether the thousands can look up to the surrounding
mountains through clear air? Does the spiritual atmosphere
make any difference in a country a or home?
On the Sunday after the assassination of President Kennedy,
a Dallas pastor spoke these words from his pulpit: “In the
name of God, what kind of a city have we become?
We have many graces and human decencies of which lam
extremely proud. But we cannot month after month, year after
year, sow the seeds of intolerance and hate, and then learning
of the President's visit just throw a switch and hope all hate
and rancor will disappear.” Then he went on to speak of the
“confusion”, “small prejudices and little hates” which “pre
pared the way for monstrous and demonic acts.” The question
repeats itself in many quarters, “What kind of a city had Dallas
become when some of its school children cheered at the news
of the President’s death? A city of ill will?”
Out of what kind of palace atmosphere did the slaughter of
the infants take place shortly after the birth of Jesus?
A change of climate has far reaching effects. Note the
disappearance of plants and animals in the world of nature
because of a change of climate. This, illustrates a spiritual
principle.
I. The principle of overcoming evil with good. Good will is
to drive out ill will. God’s good will toward men drives out
evil from men’s hearts.
n. It can be applied by you and me. We can live in such a
manner as to influence the climate around us for good.
111. Good will in particular. Don’t let your good will be vague
this Christmas. Apply it to particular people and situations
this Christmas. That’s the only kind of good will that counts.
THE CUSTOM UNCHANGING,
OF ALWAYS EXCHANGING,
GOOD WISHES AT CHRISTMAS
IS FINE;
THAT’S WHY IT’S A PLEASURE,
TO SEND IN FULL MEASURE,
THE STAFFS’ BEST WISHES ...
AND MINE.
/any
Will God’s Silence Continue Forever 7
God is strangely silent today—or so it appears to many
people. Frequently men ask whether God can still be
found and where he is. How are we to understand this
seeming silence and answer these pressing questions at
the Christmas season —a time when men momentarily
turn their attention to Bethlehem, the manger, the Wise
Men, and God’s great gift to men?
Between the Old and the New Testaments stands a
period of time often called the four hundred silent years.
It is a classic example 06 the apparent silence of God.
During this period there were no writing prophets. Judah
had indeed become the dry ground out of which Messiah
was prophesied to come. The sceptre seemingly had de
parted from the house of David, and the glory of Solo
mon’s kingdom had faded.
During these silent centuries there was no new revela
tion from God. Some of the people of Israel had quietly
laid aside their belief in a coming Messiah. Time and the
failure of Messiah to appear raised persistent doubts that
caused them to tunc out from prophetic hopes and live
only for the present. There were others whose hopes were
not dimmed. Even they, however, no doubt were puzzled
and asked themselves hard questions: Why doesn’t God
do something? How long will it be before God breaks his
silence and acts in history to fulfill his promise?
What we know, and what they should have known, is
that God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts arc
higher than our thoughts. He was waiting lor the fullness
of time to conic. And when it cainc, he acted. He came
visibly to men.
The Incarnation was like a flash of lightning in a mid
night sky. In a darkened age there appeared t-he bright
light of God’s new act. But even then his act had more
darkness than light in it for many people. Most of those
who looked for Messiah’s coming waited for a king born
in a royal palace—with, so to speak, a golden spoon in
his mouth. But God’s lightning flash revealed only a baby
born in Bethlehem’s inn, the son of a peasant woman
whose husband was merely a carpenter.
Recently we came out with a new Bible containing two hundred
changes, with the Virgin Birth andthebloodatonement taken out.
One such Bible finds the Federal Council of Churches with
the copyright.
Quite recently a survey was made throughout five theological
seminaries of three largest protestant denominations. Five
hundred seminary students (studying to enter the Ministry) were
asked some pointed questions. They failed the test--MISERABLY.
100 percent believed there is a God. Only 9 percent believed
there is a personal devil. Only 25 percent believed in the Virgin
Birth of Christ. A pitiful 11 percent believed there was a Heaven.
A poor 18 percent thought there would be a Resurrection.
Only 17 percent believed in the Judgment. Last, but not least
significant, a mere 8 percent believed there would be a reign
of Righteousness on the earth.
1 i 1
New Bible
. i ■ ■—=]
CHURCH NEWS |
Special Service
Rev. W. R. Callaway will halve
several young people to assist
him in the eleven o’clock ser
vice Sunday morning, December
26th, including his grandson
from Burbank, California.
The young people of today who
will witness for Christ givesus
hope for tomorrow. Come pray
ing that this service will give
us courage and hope for tom
orrow.
The Place: The Shores of Lanier
Baptist Church.
The Time: Dec. 26th at 11 a.m.
Come visit us with a prayer
in your heart. Christmas is a
time for re-dedication to the
cause of Christ.
W. R. Cailaway-Pastor of Te
Shores of Lanier Baptist Church
for the past fifteen months.
Revival
Reverend Thurman Wade,
Pastor of Victory Baptist
Church announces a Winter Re
vival to be had at the Church on
Canton Highway in Cumming,
beginning Sunday, December
26th and continuing through
evening of January Ist., New
Year’s Day.
Evangelist Ed Ballew will be
the Evangelist for the entire
week. He is a native of Cle
veland, Tennessee. Special sin
gers will be on the program e
ach evening. The public is
cordially invited to attend these
holiday services.
Nativity Scene
The Junior Department of the
First Baptist Church will pre
sent a live nativity .scene on
the church lawn Wednesday and
Thursday evenings from 7:30
till 8:30, weather permitting.
Make your plans to come by and
see it.
Revival
Opher Baptist Church Revival
starts December 26th and runs
through December 31st. Clyde
Boling is Pastor, Rev. Grady
Roper will be assisting the Pas
tor.
Have we who are Christians not yet learned that even
when God appears to be silent he is speaking? Do we not
know that in his silence he speaks thunderously? Is he
not showing us for a time what life is like when he does
not speak? Would he not remind us of the time when his
own Son stood exposed to the merciless wrath of divine
justice and suffered alone as the face of his Father was
turned from him and the silence of God pronounced judg
ment upon sin? Is he not saying to sinful men that there
is a final silence, a silence they will experience when he is
totally withdrawn from them forever? Hell itself is neither
more nor less than the absolute withdrawnness of God
from men. Life without God is hell.
We may be living in the closing days of this age. Per
haps the present silence and apparent invisibility of God
is the prelude to a lightning bolt that once more will flash
across the leaden sky. Maybe that time will soon come
when he who shook the earth once will shake it again.
“He has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only
the earth but also the heaven.’ ” We Christians look back
rightly to that once-for-all event that took place at Cal
vary. This was the purpose for which the Son of Man
came—to seek and to save. But this same Son of Man has
a still unfulfilled purpose, and it is toward this that we
«hould lift up our eyes this Christmas season. This one
who came the first time in humiliation is coming again in
glory. The sky once more will be split by the lightning:
“For as the light comes from the east and shines as far
as the west, so will be the coming of the son of man”
(Matt. 24:27).
God’s silence will not continue forever. Although he
will never speak again through more Scripture, he will
speak and act visibly and powerfully in history. This time
the Son of his love will come in flaming fire, taking ven
geance on those who do not accept the Gospel. But he
will also gather to himself his saints, who wait in this
silence for the unveiling of the Lord of hosts. Maranatha.
Even so. come quickly. Lord Jesus.
This example should prove mere is a "falling away" from!
the true faith--even among our so-called future Ministers. What;
a dearth of spiritual influence we may anticipate, once these
god-forsaking preachers mount our pulpits.
I say the spirit of antichrist is in the world. The same
diabolical spirit is to bring all nations to World Government.
One need not have very much spiritual discernment to see that
a great "force" is trying to get the nations to turn war material
and atomic power over to The United Nations, in the name of
peace.
. . When they shall say peace and safety; then sudden
destruction cometh ..." I Thessaionlans 5:3.
Yes, the spirit of antichrist has Invaded the world’s atmos
phere. Is it not true that we wrestle against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness -of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places?
Folk Musical
The 50 voice Youth Choir
of the First Baptist Church,
Ringgold, presents NATURAL
HIGH, a folk musical about
God’s Son, Wednesday, Decem
ber 29, 7:30 P.M. at First
Baptist Church, Cumming, Ge
orgia,
What does NATURAL HIGH
mean? To an experimenter in
drugs, being high carries with
it the connotation of escaping. .
being above it all. . .above the
mundane tedium. . .rid of the
odd-shaped pieces of life that
won’t fit together. . .temporary
release from the unbearable ho
pelessness. . .free from the
stupifying helplessness of
trying to cope.
But. . .this musical was wr
itten for the use of another gr
oup of experimenters. . .kids
who have found that sensation
is not the essence of fulfill
ment. . .that only truth is the
essence of fulfillment, and Je
sus said, “I am the way, the -
ruth and the Life.”
The reality of Christ becomes
our source of truth, love, and
strength which enables us to
honestly face the reality of life,
Christ is not an escape from
reality. . .HE IS REALITY.
So, in this sense, Christ is
our NATURAL HIGH.
The choir’s itinerary for NA
TURAL HIGH has been: August
21, 8:30 p.m. Ringgpld Shop
Rite Parking Lot; August 22,
7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church,-
Calhoun; August 28, 8:30 p.m.
First Baptist Church, Ringgoid;
August 29, 8:00 p.m.Firstßap
tist Church, Ellijay; September
7, Ringgold High School; Sept
ember 11, 7:30 p.m. Unity B
aptist Church, Dalton; October
9, 8:00 p.m. Candler United
Methodist, Chattanooga; Dece
mber 29, 7:30 p.m. First Ba
ptist Church, Cumming, Ga.
Instrumentalists include Ti
sha Clark, piano; Sammy Nic
hols, string bass, Chuck Jay,
Guitar; Tom Clark, guitar, and
Kenny Black, drums.
Soloists are Ricky Jay, Linda
Allen, Jim Williams, Kathy Hill,
and Don Fortenberry.
Tommy Black is in charge of
staging and lighting and Bill
McMlllon, sound. Herschel Sp
ivey is director and L. Don
Duvall is pastor.
DRIVE WITH CARE
OTHERS ARE ON
THE ROAD
Jack Anderson
The Form and Face of Jesus Christ
WASHINGTON At Christmas
time, when the Savior’s likeness is seen
everywhere, one of the most intriguing
questions <rf Chris
tianity is raised
again: What did
Jesus Christ really
look like?
Though disci
ples faithfully rec
orded His words
and deeds, not a
single line of de
scription of our
Lord can be found
in the whole of the I
New Testament. No contemporary art
ist painted His portrait. No sculptor
chiseled His features in stone or cast
them in bronze.
Yet down through the centuries, He
has become the most painted and
sculpted of all men. Artists of all times
and climes, masters and children alike,
each influenced by his own insight, na
tionality and traditions, have left their
impressions of the Lord.
Though these may differ in detail, a
Card of Thanks
We want to thank everyone
who extended a helping hand or
offered a prayer during our re
cent bereavement. Especially
would we like to thank the
officiating ministers for their
kindness and understanding;
Rev. Dennis Roper, Rev.
Monroe Gunter and Rev. Rupert
Bramblett, Also, the singers
and the Masonic membership.
Many people brought flowers,
food and other things which
meant so to us.
May God bless each and every
one of you.
The family of Mr.- Dilmous
Tidwell
Do we really understand our custom,
Giving with the Spirit God gave from above?
If we do, we 9 ve found the answer ...
For the key to Christmas is love .
Ginstmas Greetings
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Reunion
The family of the late Mr.
and Mrs. Silvia Samples held
a family reunion on Sunday,
December 19, 1971 and the
following attended: Mr. and
Mrs. Luther Samples, Zeliah
and Lisa, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin
Phillips, Terry Samples and
Miss Dale Chastain, Rev. and
Mrs. Egbert Richards, Mr. and
Mrs. Arthur B. Samples, Mr.
and Mrs. Wendell Hester and
children, and Alisha Bruce, Mr.
and Mrs. Cheslie Green, Mrs.
Davis Duran and children, Mrs.
Helen Green and children, Mr.
and Mrs. Royce Cash and ch
ildren, all of Cumming; Mr.
COAL MOUNTAIN
BUILDERS SUPPLIERS
887-4714
remarkable similarity shines through
them all. The varied representations of
Christ seem to merge together. Some
show majesty, some humility; some
show gentleness, some strength. But al
most all are instantly recognized by
Christians
For these are different facets of
the face that Christ showed to the peo
t pie around Him.
Does this artistic essence the holy
features we now recognize at a glance
reveal the true likeness of Jesus? Or
does it merely represent a consensus, a
compromise portrait that has formed
over the centuries?
The most revealing scriptural clue is
found in the Old Testament. The
prophet Isaiah, in forfeting the coming
of the Redeemer, declared: “He hath
no form nor comeliness; and when we
shall see Him, there is no beauty that
we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2)
The earliest Christian churches also
had a tradition that Christ was not a
handsome or imposing man. But in
later years, churchmen refused to ac
cept this view. They couldn’t believe
that a soul so beautiful wouldn’t have a
body to match.
and Mrs. James Day, Vickie
and Jackie of Morrow, Ga; Mrs.
Runnie Holloway and Mrs. Billie
Warren of Atlanta; Mrs. Ath
elene Smith and Harold, Mr.
and Mrs. Nolan Wallace and
children all of Buford, Georgia.
In The Stillness of The Night
' BY: DENNIS BOTTOMS
In the stillness of the night,
A star shone out,
Angels came down,
And sang about.
This is the night,
When Christ was born,
He came to the world,
To sinners he warn.
The shepherds heard,
A baby cry in the night,
Yet there was so little to distinguish
Jesus from the others in His entourage
that Judas, the betrayer, was obliged to
identify Him with a kiss. Apparently
Judas couldn’t point out to the soldiers
any distinguishing features that would
have enabled them to pick Him out.
It takes little reading between the
lines of the New Testament to deduce
that Jesus must have looked like an or
dinary Galilean, distinguished from the
Jews of Judea only by His hair style
and apparel. His neighbors in Nazareth
saw Him as the son of a carpenter, not
the Son of God.
The scriptures suggest nothing ex
traordinary about His appearance. Pre
sumably, he wore a beard, since it was
the custom in His day for all Jewish
men to wear beards. By the same rea
soning, His hair was probably long.
On my various visits to the Holy
Land, I have searched for dues to the
true image of Jesus Christ. I have
looked for them in the land, which is as
eternal as His word. The gnarled moun
tains and sweeping valleys present a
rugged majesty The desert, beneath a
savage sun, is harsh. The soil is tawny
and acrid, its dust bitter to the tongue.
We are always glad to hear
from our little friend Dennis
Bottoms, 12 year old son of the
late Rev. Jay Bottoms. Dennis
occasionally sends us one of his
poems, and here is one we re
ceived from him last week.
As the star shone down,
Oh, so bright.
In the manger,
He did lie,
- To warn the world
Not to die.
Still today,
Each year,
We try to think,
Of Christ sincere.