Newspaper Page Text
THE CLUSTER, MAY 24, 1990-PAGE 3
News
Maranatha
Just Forgiveness
By JASON CARDWELL
The Bible contains more than
31.000 verses. Out of all of this
however, the “standard”
ones arc still among the first that
come to mind whenever a specific
topic is considered. Among the
handful of familiar verses concer
ning repentance, I John 1:9 is a
favorite for us to claim in the midst
of conviction. “If we confess our
sos. he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. “ The
faithful part is easy to understand;
God has promised to forgive us.
and He will keep His promise. But
how can it be just for God to
forgive us? Doesn’t Romans 6:23
teach that justice demands our
death, but that life is a gift of God.
having nothing to do with justice?
A woman went before Napoleon
once, pleading that her son. who
had been convicted of a crime, be
spared. “But he has been con
victed. and must be punished,”
"Please.'* she cried.
“I beg you for mercy.” “But he
does not deserve mercy." said
Napoleon. She answered. “If he
deserved it, it would not be mer
cy”
How. then, could God be just in
forgiving us? The answer can be
found in the next few verses in 1
John. Jesus Christ is the “propitia
tion" for our sings in the King
James Version, the "expiration” in
the Revised Standard Version. The
Greek word is hiiasmos, and it
means that Christ won God's favor
Berger-Samaha Join PAs
Raymond Berger and Ahmed
have been selected as new
Peer Advocates for next year. They
w »ll be joining Richard Barry,
Susan Cheak, Chanda Hurt and
Tracey Miles, who are returning
from this year.
Berger, a junior, is majoring in
finance and philosophy, while
S*m*ha is a sophomore with
history and education majors.
Heath Named Director
Continued from page 1
ti Baptist campus minister for
’** North Georgia area from 1977
through 1911, where he was
responsible for die student work on
h**r campuses and besed at North
G*«rgia College in • Dahloncga
Prior to that, he was supervisor of
>he State Baptist Student Union
Drama Team during the summers
®f 1980 and 1981. He also has
•utved as director of a Georgia
Mercer In History
for us by paying the penalty that
was required. In other words. God
was just when He saw that sin was
answered on Calvary, and it is
because of this event that He is able
and willing to forgive us today.
There is nothing left, then, for us
to do to merit this forgiveness,
because Christ merited it for us!
We don't have to suffer a certain
amount of chastisement. We don't
have to pray so hard for so long.
We only have to confess our sins.
Wc must admit that the actions,
thoughts, or attitudes in question
fall under Calvary's jurisdiction.
They arc not to be excused, defend
ed, or oncealcd. because we must
acknowledge that God's justice is
required. Only then can we claim
the justice that was meted out on
the cross. Only then can we claim
just forgiveness.
One morffnote: God says He will
cleanse \us from all
unrighteousness. Take that serious
ly. Don’t rob lourself (and God) of
the frilov»ship\Uutf could be yours
were it not fon a sin that you feel
too guilty about to ask for
forgiveness. God forgave Abraham
of dcceitftilncss. He forgave Moses
of murder. He forgave David of
adultery . And He forgave Paul of
persecuting His own people, kill
ing some, imprisoning others. No
matter what your sin. if you con
fess it. He is faithful and just to
forgive it. and to cleanse you from
it forever.
—Mararuuhd'
Peer Advocates work with the
Department of Studcni Develop
ment to provide workshops on
study skills, relationships and other
issues of concern to students. They
have sponsored activities to
heighten awareness on such issues
as substance abuse, rape and AIDS,
as well as being involved in the
Mercer First All-School Service
Project.
Baptist Student Union summer mis
sions team and as a youth worker
in Baptist churches in Tifton.
Macon and Forsyth. “I'm really
excited about BSU next year and
the new thing we re going to do
with the program." said Dcana
Usher. BSU President. 'We rc
really sad that Larry's leaving, hut
we have to be positive about ihc
future and wc think that Neil Heath
is an excellent choice for the job.
By CHRIS CARROLLTON
Almost 20 years ago. an enter
ing Freshman or "Frosh" at
Mercer who wished to pledge a
fraternity or sorority had to "pro
mise" a Greek organization. There
was no such thing as instant pledg
ing. Under this Promisee System of
pledging, a prospect had to achieve
an overall G.P.A. of above 2.0 for
two quarters before he or she could
be allowed to become a pledge
Unfortunately for the designers of
this plan, it was discovered that •
grades had not significantly im
proved. while the social scene was .
thriving.
If you were not interested in '
Greek organizations, there were
plenty of controversies to keep the
activist-minded student busy. In
1967. 200 students staged a sit-in
dcmonstralfon in the library to pro
test its closing the Saturday and
Sunday before finals. A student
committee on Library Affairs was
hastily thrown together and its
recommendations resulted in longer
library hours during finals.
Indeed, it seemed that during this
time period the entire lifestyle of
the students was being jeopardri -
ed. Due to a "pattern of irrespon
sible behavior" which was becom
ing "evident on Tuesday even
ings" a special committee was
organized to study the problems
with Wonderful Wednesday And
wc all know what happened to this
illustrious day many years later
For music enthusiasts. Mercer
provided a harmony of excellent
entertainers. From Gladys Knight
and the Pips whose hit. "1 heard it
Through the Grapevine" filled the
air of Willingham, to the heavy
metal of Lynard Skynyrd in,
believe it or not, the snack bar. The
early 70's Drought some of the big
gest names of the time to Mercer
for its Insight Series. One could go
to Willingham and hear a young
Jane Fonda speaking out against the
Vietnam war. hear columnist Jack
Anderson attack Federal spending,
absorb Ralph Nader’s call for con
sumer protection or listcn*as Roger
Mudd criticized the U S. govern
ment. Indeed, ih's was a period of
change at Mercer ^s starkly clad,
bearded "hippies' mixed with
"normal" students. Vercer Presi
dent Ruffus Harris. »peaking to
Houston Avenue Chnsti in Church,
called for tolerance.
"Middle-Aged America has a
high obligation to listen to what the
students are saying. Respectable
people arc so repelled by the out
ward forms of student protest, the
unkempt hair, the solid clothes, the
beards, that they fail to sec the
substance of valid protest below
Anti-war protests on campus in
cluded a prayer vigil for the four
students killed by National Guard
troops at Kent State and a
demonstration by over 100 students
carry ing placards and chanting anti
war slogans at ROTC's Honor Day
festivities.
It was the year that what is today
Ryals Hall, but was then the Harley
Langdalc Law Library , caught fire
and destroyed over 10,000 volumes
of law books. Students, however.
helped officials save thousands of
books by forming a “book
brigade" which tunneled books out
of the burning building until it
became increasingly unsafe to do
so.
There were some good things
that happened in the early 70’s also.
In 1970 Mercer's debate program
reached a highwatcr mark. The duo
of BiirCragg and Bill Dodson were
ranked as the number one debating
team in the U S. after winning the
national debate competition at In
diana State University. It was also
a good year for the Mercer Cluster
which for the first time won the Ga
Press Association’s Best Campus
Coverage award outvying such
traditional powerhouses as Univer
sity of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
Thus, the Vicinam era at Mercer
was a mixture of good and bad. of
conflict and triumph But no mat
ter what happened. Mercer always
seemed to bounce back like a true
champion.
Join us for lunch or dinner!
