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Volume 58 Number 11 Lubbock, Texas 79493 Copyright $9.00 Per Year November 1991 |
A Great Danger Qualifications of a Bishop Fellowship Meeting Why are ye fearful? A Wonderful Weekend Trip Destruction of Jerusalem The Tragedy of Man's Ruin By Sin Using the Law Lawfully History of Stratton Church Elder Ira M. Fry Brother Martin Hugh Gotcher Sister Bea Gifford, Sister Maude Gilbert and Brother George Sutton Brother Miles (Mike) Tillery Sister Virginia Pharr Jim Dutton
How do you bring to the attention of humanity that there is danger of which they may be unaware?
Starting in the middle fifties, some of our "conscientious" helpers began to write books and articles indicating that our air, water and soil were becoming "polluted" with poisons and radioactive substances that if allowed to build up long enough, would make the earth uninhabitable. To most of us who were busy with our day today business and chores, it seemed reasonable that laws should be made by our respective governments to assure that such a calamity would not overtake us. And, pretty quickly there was legislation introduced and passed to regulate the disposal and production of “hazardous materials.”
Apparently, the job had been done, the extreme pollution of the earth avoided and those “friends of the earth” were thanked for bringing all this to our attention. But, they didn’t stop there. They have continued with a hue and cry, saying that it is too late; that the population has already become so large that even our minimal "pollutants" will "kill" this planet in a short time, and if that didn’t happen, the raw materials out of which civilization is built would shortly be exhausted so that the quality of life will be ruined.
So, what to do? These “friends” say, “Let’s have abortions, euthanasia, limiting reproduction bylaw; and don’t try too hard to cure epidemic diseases! Also, cut back on your food production, because with all these other things going on, you won’t need the food.
Well now, just how “friendly” can you get? When you make the conditions of life so difficult for your fellow humans, deliberately, isn't that murder? And, do we not have laws in our "civilized society" against just such activity as that?
And, this brings up another important question; Who does this earth belong to? And another question; How can we tell when there are too many people? Is there an answer to these questions? Yes, there is.
Between about 1490 B.C. and 90 A.D. a book was compiled, which was dictated by the Creator of this earth, wherein He answered all these questions. And I believe that it would be wise for us to consider what He thinks about our so-called Friends want us to do.
In this Book, which God has preserved to this day, God tells us, not once but three times that He owns this earth and all they that dwell therein.. Do you believe that He is going to take kindly the proposal that we destroy a great many of the dwellers upon this earth just to suit some of our ideas about who we want to associate with? As a way of illustrating His answer to this question, lets look at another kind of “pollution”.
God said, “... they have polluted themselves with blood.” Then He said that He would empty out that land, that there should be no inhabitant in it for many years, that His Name should not be polluted upon this earth.
It is true that God told the first man, who represented us also, to multiply and replenish the earth, and to subdue it and have dominion over it. Please notice that He didn’t ay anything about cutting some off, killing them when you thought there were too many, either! And, in His book, God speaks much about moral and mental pollution, about polluting ourselves with idols and money, yes, and polluting ourselves with men’s blood, as we seek to cause their deaths!
One of God’s prophets said, When God tells me to warn you of a danger, and I don’t do it, then your blood will be upon my head That man felt a great responsibility. This danger that I see approaching, I feel that I must warn you about, because new laws and regulations are at this time being considered by our government to implement the ecologists program: the extermination of more than three million of the inhabitants of this earth.
If we, as a nation, take a leading part in the implementation of this horrible murder of the majority of humanity, or even the attempt of it, will we not be putting ourselves into a great jeopardy? I believe so; and God said concerning the killing of His people, that He would avenge them speedily.
They are all His.
By Elder J. A. Moore
For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God; not self willed, not soon to anger, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain sayers.” Titus 1:7-9.
The matter of being a bishop or an elder has ever been a serious matter with me. I have never found myself measuring up to the requirements prescribed by our great pattern (Paul) and by our lawgiver. After I have taken an inventory of myself, I can see all along through my past life in the ministry where I have failed in a greater or lesser degree. The bishop that the Lord has anointed “should be of good report of them that are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil:” 2 Tim. 3:7. Of course some of the qualifications prescribed by Paul in the third chapter of 2nd Timothy and the 2nd chapter of Titus for a bishop to possess are no more than every professed follower of Jesus should possess, but there is so much more expected of a minister and especially a Primitive Baptist minister that is or should be a constant effort with him.
To be of real service and benefit he has to read and study to acquaint him self with the Scripture which is his guide that he may know how to interpret the Scripture in a plain and simple way, that God’s children can; to deport himself in such a manner that he may have the confidence of those who know him; in fact of all with whom he comes in contact.
Paul told Titus to “exhort the aged men that they should be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. “The aged woman likewise that they should be in behavior as becometh holiness; not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they (the aged woman) may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands and to love their children” :Titus2:2-4.
If I teach my congregation that it is wrong to get drunk, and they see me intoxicated, I am sure my teaching will have no weight with them. It is also the duty of the bishop to teach the young men and to exhort them to be sober minded. I have thought to be sober minded means to avoid foolish jester, to weigh our words and thoughts before expressing them, to avoid relating smutty tales or talking about things we know nothing about.
“In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine, showing incorruptness, gravity, sincerity.” Titus 2:7.
How often have I heard it said that preachers are the cause of most of our Church troubles. Primarily, I think this is true; simply because the bishop has failed to take heed to himself and to comply with the Scriptural rule. Secondly, because his flock have failed to read and study for themselves, seemingly have lost sight of fact, that preachers are just men. I have known preachers who have assumed the role of dictator; lording over God’s heritage; such a disposition never fails to lead to destruction.
---Banner of Love, Feb. 1, 1936
FELLOWSHIP MEETING HELD IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA
Having recently enjoyed the third Arizona Fellowship meeting, held at the Mesa Primitive Baptist Church, we were blessed to have Elder Lawrence Bryant from Independence, Mo. who has relatives in Phoenix. Following joyful singing of praise, Elder Bryant delivered a message of God’s sovereign grace.
Thus far, these meetings have been wonderful; now we are looking forward to a special dual fellowship meeting in November. While Elders Jesse Doyle, Alphonso Hurst, and Doyle Griffin are holding a special meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada for the brethren up there, all of the brethren in Phoenix and Mesa will meet at the Phoenix Primitive Baptist Church.
Sister Lillie Johns plans to make the trip to Las Vegas with the Elders; services will be held Saturday night and Sunday morning. We have discovered other Primitive Baptist brethren in Las Vegas, and hope they will be able to attend the meetings which will be held at Brother Coy and Sister Lynn Thomas’ house, as there is not yet a church established in Las Vegas.
Our meeting in December will be held Sunday afternoon at the Phoenix Primitive Baptist Church, and we would welcome anyone who can come. Please pray that God will continue to bless these meetings.
Anyone having relatives seeking a home in the church in either the Las Vegas, Nevada area, or the Phoenix, AZ metro area may contact Brother Randy Elam for help. We have some special needs at this time, which are; 1. The brethren. in Las Vegas have need of an Elder who can live in Las Vegas, and; 2. The churches in Phoenix are in need of ordained deacons who can relocate to Phoenix, AZ.
Brother Randy Elam
1637 W. Muriel Dr.
Phoenix, AZ 85023
602-789-7546
On October 25th I embarked on a plane to Corpus Christi, to attend the annual meeting and deacon ordination there.
I was so happy to see my old friends as well as meet new ones. Services were held Friday night. After a good nights rest in the good home of Brother John and Sister Linnie Jones, we again attended Saturday morning services. After Lunch, deacon ordination services were held for Brother David Horn, a fine young man of Corpus Christi. The services were well attended and after a good spiritual service, I rode home with Elder and Sister Walden, where I spent the night in their home. Sunday morning we attended services at the Stratton Primitive Baptist Church, where Elder Walden is pastor. I again renewed old acquaintances there.
After church services and lunch we went to the home of Elder and Sister Walden. That evening Elder Walden asked me if I would like to attend services at Luling Church, a few miles away. After having a good meal on the way, we went to the Luling Church, where we received a warm welcome from their pastor, Elder Dickie Daniels, Jr. After good services and a warm fellowship meeting, we returned back to the Walden home. They accompanied me to the plane to Austin where I returned home.
I must say, I had a wonderful time. Sister Rauch, a fine Christian woman and I would say, a pillar in the Corpus Christi Church was in the hospital, where we visited her. I didn’t get to see Sister Alma Seward, a long time and much loved friend. She was recuperating from hip surgery. I did call her and talk with her.
I felt it was such a blessing to get to make this trip and see so many of my loved ones there. May God bless them all is my prayer.
(Sister) Opal Richards
Matt. 24:1-3 "....There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Mark l3:2: Luke2l:6...
This statement by Jesus cannot be interpreted to be any other thing than The Destruction of Jerusalem, including the Temple and all it’s related economies.
Matt. 24:3 -‘ Jesus is asked three questions by His Disciples as:
1. When shall these things be, when not one stone shall be left upon another?
2. What shall be the Sign of thy coming? (Not Jesus' final arrival, but His Spiritual Comings.)
3. The End of the World?
Jesus answers all three questions, in the order they were asked in:
Question #1. Matt. 24:4-28
Question #2- Matt. 29-35
Question #3- Matt. 36-51
Matt. 24:34 - is a key test. Pay Strict attention to Jesus' Statement “...This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” - again - "All these things". When? during this present generation and not some future “gap theory”..
However, Jesus points out, that The end of the world “Date” would not be known, except by His Father only - Matt. 24:36...
Theologically, we will find by careful illumination, that The Destruction of Jerusalem is a literal historical fact, but also becomes a picture, figure, shadow, representing The End-Time, End of the world. I take from Hassell’s History, pages 251-252, the gist in principle of the lesson taught. The wording is eloquent, but I paraphrase in my own words as I sense some chaff, but mostly pure truth. What I am about to write, please read slowly and carefully, as it is worthy of your selective attention. The lessons are weighty.
While John, in the Revelation., had in view, primarily, the overthrow of Jerusalem and of heathen Rome, the two great foes of Christianity at that time, his vision was not confined to these momentous events. It extends even to the remotest future when, Death and Hades shall be no more, and The New Heavens and New Earth shall suddenly appear! The millennium ends, then the short intervening conflict resulting in the overthrow of The Great Red Dragon (Satan). The Beast and The False Prophet into the lake of Fire. We have an analogy in the prophecy of the Old Testament and the Eschatological (Doctrine of Final Things) Discourses of. the Lord which furnish the key for the understanding of The Apocalypse - The Removing of The Covering. The Apostle John describes the Destruction of Jerusalem and the End-Time General Judgment in close proximity, as if they were one continuous event. John sees, through his vision, the end from the beginning, just as The Lord does. The first catastrophe is painted with colors borrowed from the last, and the last appears as a repetition of the first on a grand and universal scale. It is the manner of prophetic vision to bring distant events into close proximity, as in a panorama. To God a thousand years are as one day. Every true prophecy admits of an expanding fulfillment. History ever repeats itself, though with new variations.
The Apocalypse is not a prophetical manual of Church History and Chronology is the sense of a prediction of particular persons, dates and events. This would make it useless to the Old Testament Readers, and would make it useless now to the New Testament Readers - to the great masses of Christians. It gives, under symbolic figures and for popular edification, an outline of the "General Principles" Divine Government and the leading forces in the conflict between Christ’s Kingdom and His foes, which is still going on under ever-varying forms. In this way it teaches, like all the prophetic utterances of The Gospels and Epistles of the N. T., lessons of warning and encouragement, at the same time - simultaneously, to every age. We must distinguish between the “Spiritual Comings” of Christ, (which I trust comes in a manifest spiritual-felt manner, during The Worship Services every Lord’s Day, in the Assembly of The Saints), and His personal arrival, that is His Literal Parousia. The former is progressive; the latter instantaneous, cataclysmic, suddenly, and in a moment and twinkling of an eye.
The Millennium began with Jesus’ Resurrection, a figurative 1000 years. Jesus’ “Spiritual Comings,” began with His Ascension to Heaven—Matt 26:64 - and goes on in unbroken succession of judgments and blessings--for the history of the world is a judgment of the world. Hence, the alternation of action and repose, of scenes of terror and scenes of joy, of battles and victories symmetrically recycle. The Personal Arrival of The Bridegroom is still in the unknown future, but is as certain as the first advent--of Jesus Christ our Lord!
Compiled by:
Hulan F. Bass, Elder
It is again the time of year which we refer to as the “holiday season.” With Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas and New Year’s, we go through this annual time of what is known as festival and joyous.
We have so much to be thankful for, and we have primarily only one to thank. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the importance of thanking the Lord, especially during this time period.
We are told by the documentations of our nation that this festival time also is a time of major stress to many people. People want to enjoy the holidays, but they many times remain quiet about their fears. The holiday period to many is a stormy period, whether or not others are aware. It seems that many of us quietly worry through this season about a variety of personal things.
While we remain relatively calm and happy on the surface to our family and friends, it seems there are many of us who harbor fears of rising storms. It may relate to our families, our finances, our work or our church. We are told by the experts that the holiday season is a period of tremendous stress for many people who allow numerous personal problems to cause us to worry, or worse, to unconsciously take our fears our on those we love the most.
Jesus has taught us a lesson in this regard as we face the variety of “raging storms” in our personal lives. The lesson was one He taught His disciples upon a boat in the sea.
The lesson is related to us in three of the gospels and is a well-known Bible story; but it bears repeating and focusing as we enter the holiday season. It is told in Matthew 8:23-27, in Mark 4:35-41 and in Luke 8:22-25.
Jesus’ disciples boarded a boat with Him and headed out across the sea. During the trip, Jesus lay down and went to sleep. During His sleep, “there arose a great tempest in the sea,, insomuch that the ship was covered with waves...”
The three gospels tell us the storm was great with high winds and waves beating against the ship. The disciples, witnessing the great storm, were afraid for their lives, awoke Jesus, and asked for His help lest they all should perish.
“He arose, and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”
Jesus then spoke to His disciples: “Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little, faith?”
We need to review this story quite often as we go through our lives. We face storms daily in our lives (or what we perceive are storms) and our first thought is that everything is going to pot and that we might perish.
What. we should do is turn to the Lord and request His help and guidance. Whether or not we see immediate physical evidence of the storm disappearing, we can feel a sense of security that only asking the Lord’s help can provide. When he chooses to tackle a storm head on, we see immediately results of the wind is stopped and the sea calmed in our own minds first, and that is the most important;
By turning to the right source for relief of mental stress, it seems the winds and the seas manage to get calmed if we are patient and allow the Lord to handle it in His manner.
It is our little faith that causes us fear in the storms of life.
My purpose of this writing is to try to excite the reader to a further and more complete study of the Tragedy of Man’s Ruin by Sin and his totally depraved state. Because a true understanding of redemption cannot be understood until we perceive the close connection which God ordained between Christ and the Redeemer, neither can the tragedy of mans ruin be considered in its proper perception unless we closely examine Adam’s rebellion from his Creator.
Adam was our covenant head and federal representative as he stood for the whole human race, in him God dealt with all who would issue from him. If he had not been our federal head his sin would not have involved us, but, because he was, his transgression was imputed to all that would issue from him. (Roman’s 5:12)
Adam’s sin was abominable indeed. Fearful are the wages it earns and dreadful are its effects. The consequences show God’s hatred for sin in the terrible doom of Adam. For in His wrath He drove him from His presence and made it impossible, by his own efforts, for him ever to be able to return unto Him. (Genesis 3 :22-23)
Adam’s offense was not that measured from his eating the forbidden fruit alone, but for his rebellion against and ingratitude toward his creator, who had so richly endowed him with all that was in Eden; for his being discontent with his good allotment and wanting more; for his disrespect and disbelief in God; and for his believing the serpent’s lie. There was a contempt for God’s high authority and His covenant and a defiance of His solemn threat. He deliberately presumptuously (boldly, willfully, and confidentially) and arrogantly defied God his creator. How sad.
Why would God ever extend Grace and mercy to such sinners, or ever give the spirit of His only begotten son to save such wretched creatures as we are. For we are Adam multiplied; we are by nature the same vessels of wrath as he, alienated from God, loving sin and hating God. (Roman’s 8:7) No wonder the Apostle John proclaimed Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. ( l John3:1.)
When Adam revolted against God, the evil effects immediately became apparent. His original understanding and wisdom became darkened and overcast by gross ignorance. His heart, formerly filled with respect and reverence for his Creator and warm with love toward him, now became alienated and filled with enmity against Him. His will, which was inclined toward God, had cast off the yoke of obedience, and now ran rampant in rebellion. His moral constitution was wrecked and became immoral and perverse, naked of the original morality.
His fear, opposition, and dislike for the Omniscient One appeared in his flight from Him as soon as he heard his approach. His gross ignorance and stupidity were spotlighted when he vainly attempted to hide from the eyes of Omniscience. His vain pride nakedly appeared when he refused to acknowledge his guilt. His gross ingratitude abounded when he seemingly upbraided God for giving him a wife, whom he blamed for causing him to sin.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked. (Genesis 3:9.) Notice, we do not read of any change taking place when Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, but as soon as Adam did so the eyes of’ them both were opened. This confirms, as we said earlier, that Adam was the covenant head and legal representative of his wife, as well as all of the future children which would issue from them.
But what is meant by the eyes of them both were opened? It was not their physical eyes for they had previously been opened. Surely, it meant the eyes of their understanding (the eyes of conscience) they perceived they had suffered a great loss both in body and soul, namely the loss of their innocence, for where they did have peace they now felt remorse and wretchedness. And where they hoped by eating: the forbidden fruit to acquire a supernatural wisdom, they had instead reduced themselves to a state of fear, shame, ignorance, misery, and wretchedness.
They knew they were naked, although in their original created state they wore no clothing, there was a change with Adam’s transgression that made them feel naked and ashamed. (Genesis 2:24) We should consider; if the flesh of Jesus Christ was the likeness of sinful flesh, there must be a difference between the appearance of sinful flesh and flesh in its original condition when Adam was created. Jesus then was not made in the likeness of the flesh of man before sin entered the world, but in the likeness of his sinful flesh. (Philippians 3:21)
Their nakedness, their loss of the image of God, was then both in body and soul, and such is the awful condition of all their offspring. That is why Jesus says to come buy of him white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, etc. (Revelation 3:18.)
They must have been consciously aware of a great change in their outward appearance, and had a knowledge within their Soul that a fearful deed of disobedience had been committed. They realized their happiness had been flung away, and they had plunged themselves into misery. They knew they were naked of any of the original purity, glory, holiness or morality they were created with, for the glory of the Lord had departed from them and they were naked before God and each other.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8.) They now have a dread of God, instead of welcoming His presence, as they did in their original sinless state, they are now horrified and flee from His presence. So we can see that for them to even attempt to hide from their Creator reveals that sin had turned man into an utter fool, for none but an imbecile would imagine that he could conceal himself from the eyes of Omniscience. They no longer felt they were the objects of His favor but instead were the subjects of His wrath. And so swift came this drastic change following their sin.
Even before they had tried to hide from God upon the discovery of their nakedness they sewed themselves aprons of fig leaves in an attempt to preserve their self-respect and make themselves presentable to one another. Thus, it continues with their seed today. By a variety of efforts they seek to conceal their fallen and depraved nature and its acts from one another, and even from God, but, can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord (Jeremiah 23 24)
When Adam was confronted by God, Adam said I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself, and God said, Who told thee that thou was naked. To this inquiry Adam made no reply. Then the Lord asked, Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Adam answers apparently with a heart hardened by sin, For there doesn’t seem to be any deep sorrow for his disobedience, nor does he humble himself before God begging for mercy; but, instead, in a manner of self justification, he attempts to excuse his wickedness by throwing the blame to another. With a dishonest and deceitful heart, rather than take the blame upon himself he sought to place it upon his wife. (Genesis 3:9-12, compare Genesis 2:24-25.)
But Adam did not just say My wife gave me of the tree, and I did eat,. but he challenges God Himself, saying, The woman whom thou gayest me, as if he were saying, If thou had not given me that woman, (contemptuously not even calling her by name) I would not have eaten Pride, vanity, self righteousness, conceit, act., now manifested the heinous sinful nature of man in his fallen state. Satan now ruling his kingdom established within man.
Eve followed the same Pattern., She did not humble herself before God, but vainly attempts to place the blame upon the serpent. Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shalt be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And to Adam He said Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground for out of it was thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:16-20.)
So we can see by this that the penal consequences of sin are inherited by all the posterity of Adam and Eve. The sorrow of conception, and pain of child birth have ever been the lot of all of Eve’s daughters, and Adam’s sons, in every generation in all the earth, have lived by their labor, toil and sweat, and finally all decay and die of sin and return to the ground from which they came.
Because of Adam’s disobedience he was sent forth from the Garden of Eden. He drove out the man and placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24.)
Thus we see that man by nature is an outcast, driven away by God from His Presence, devoid of His favor and fellowship, sent forth as a fugitive.
By his disobedience, Adam fell under the holy condemnation and curse, and received the awful wages of sin, alienated from God, totally depraved, and an object of abhorrence of the Holy One; driven from His presence. In consequence, every child of his loins (all men and women born in the world since) are born in disgrace, condemnation and outside of Eden. Oh, the tragedy of man’s ruin by sin.
Dear brethren when we consider where we came from, what we are, and by the grace of God where we are going, how can we keep from being humble and feeling individually as the least of all the saints. Surely, we should do as the Apostle John, and prayerfully consider ‘Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God ( l John 3:1)
May God bless us all.
DON'T WANT TO MISS A COPY
Would you please renew my subscription to the Banner. I noticed that it runs out in December, and I don’t want to miss a copy. Enjoy the writings of the Elders and most of all, the Voices of the Past..
Would also like for you to send the Banner to my son and his wife.
May the Lord continue to bless your efforts.
Sincerely, Peggy Johnson, Levelland, Texas
It would be totally ungrateful on our part to not tell of the wonderful blessings of the Lord at the three days meeting at Tulia, Texas the first weekend of November. We drove to the good home of Elder and Sister Francis Scott in Plainview and went with them to Tulia for the Friday night service.
The meeting began with a wonderful preaching by Elders Neeley Richardson and Dub Armstrong.
Saturday morning Elders Don and Kenneth Martin fed our hungry souls. The Saturday afternoon service was conducted by Elders George Johnson and E. L. Edwards which was also a blessed service. At the close of this service, it began to snow; so since I can’t drive very well on snow, we decided we should not stay until after the night service; and we returned to Plainview to spend the night with my husband’s son and wife.
The Saturday night service was also reported, be very good, with. Elders Raymond Kirkpatrick and Dub Armstrong doing the preaching,.
Due to the severe weather and the predicted snow storm Saturday night, the Sunday service was called off at Springlake Church, and due due to the goodness of Elder and Sister Scott to come by and take us to Tulia Sunday morning, we were permitted to enjoy the remainder of the meeting.
It was extremely cold on the outside with the ground covered with snow; but the presence of the Holy Spirit made it delightfully warm on the inside. The singing was beautiful and the preaching of Elders Ray Little and Chuck Sammons, was wonderful. We thank God for the privilege of attending this wonderful meeting and for the sweet fellowship manifested to us by the members of Corinth Church.
Would you believe it? When we were ready to return home Sunday afternoon, the beautiful sunshine had melted the snow and we were permitted a safe return home. Only the Lord could provide such blessings and we greatly thank Him for the same.
Unworthily,
Mrs. E. L. Edwards
part two
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers. I Timothy 1:8
Some might consider Paul’s description of those for whom the law is made and wish to exclude believers. It cannot be done. In his description he lists, sinners. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23; For all having sinned and come short of the glory of God. Not only Paul but the Saviour also characterized regenerates as being sinners by virtue of their carnal nature. In Luke 18:13-14 Jesus spoke of the publican who identified himself a sinner, as one beloved of the Father. It reads: And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus said in verse 14: I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other ...
Though regenerates are sinners by nature with a carnal nature which Paul described in Romans 7: with the new birth a change occurs and they become new creatures. Paul wrote in 11 Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Being. born again is an effectual work, accomplished by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Titus 3:5. It cleanses the dead faculties of the lost soul and quickens the dead sinners, implanting Spiritual life.
A change occurs in everyone born of the Spirit of God. They no longer sin without conscience. They can no longer lead a life of habitual sin, free from the conviction of sin, because the new law dwelling within, convicts sin.
Because the carnal nature of sin is not removed in regeneration, even the most noble of mind, or the most innocent in appearance are sinners, prone to sin. No amount of gospel knowledge, or obedience to the will of God, can separate the sinner from his sinful nature.
Bringing the sinful nature under subjection to the spirit does not exsiccate sin; for the flesh is a reluctant consenter to the will of the Spirit the flesh is brought under subjection to the Spirit only through intense warfare. In Galatians 5:17 Paul wrote of the enmity between the Spirit and the flesh He wrote For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and spirit against the flesh: these, are contrary one to another: so that ye cannot do the things ye would.
It is precisely because regenerates are yet sinners by nature that the new law is present. When used lawfully, the new law is a great aid and comfort. Paul said the law is good if used lawfully. Let us therefore examine the lawful use of the law.
The first rule of lawful utilization of the law, is that it be used to fulfill it's intended purpose. Many of the difficulties, and captivities experienced by the Israelites were due to their perversion of the Mosaic Law. None were so bold as to actually change the letter of the law; but rather, they changed it’s original intent and interpretation to suit their own designs.
The Israelites were reluctant to use Mosaic Law for it’s original intent, which was to reveal sin in them. Rather, they changed the intent of the law from revealing sin to establishing righteousness.
Many scriptures testify of the perversion of Mosaic Law. The condemnation by Jesus of the scribes and Pharisees, found in Matthew 23 and Luke 11, are but two accounts of how the leadership of Israel sought to promote themselves at the expense of the Law.
In Matthew 23:5, the Saviour identifies how the scribes and Pharisees perverted the original intent of Mosaic Law in an attempt to promote themselves. He said, But all their works they do for to be seen of men; they make bread their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments.
The most severe and prolonged condemnation of any group, found anywhere in the New Testament, is the Savior's condemnation of scribes and Pharisees, found in Matthew 23. The Lord said they were hypocrites, blind guides, fools and blind, serpents, and a generation of vipers. The Lord showed little tolerance toward men who perverted His commandments and statutes to suite their own vain imaginings.
As with the Mosaic Law, from the beginning of the gospel dispensation, man has sought to pervert the original intent of the perfect law of liberty.
Remember, Paul’s experience with the new law was that in regeneration, when the commandment came, sin revived and Paul died. (The commandment was a commandment to live, spoken by the quickening voice of the Holy Ghost, speaking Spiritual life into the dead faculties of Paul’s lost soul.) Paul died to the pleasures of sin in which his members, possessed of carnality, took delight. With the presence of Spiritual life, Paul no longer enjoyed sin with no sense of condemnation. When after his new birth, sin revived, it was immediately convicted by. the Spirit of the new creature Paul had become.
In Paul, the first unction of the Holy Spirit was conviction of sin. (in regeneration everyone experiences a conviction of sin.) Conviction of sin is an evidence of Spiritual life.
Notice, that the Perfect Law of Liberty, implanted in regeneration, functions in the same manner as the Mosaic Law was originally intended to function. The original intent of the Perfect Law of Liberty is to identify sin as being exceedingly sinful.
Man perverts the Perfect Law of Liberty, written on the fleshy tables of the heart, in the same mariner as the scribes and Pharisees perverted Mosaic Law. He denies being totally depraved and contends that he is capable of righteousness of his own free will, because he is a free moral agent. He takes this position despite scriptures such as Romans 3:19, There is none righteous, no, not one, and Romans 3:23, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Contending that the goodness found in men who have not received the gospel is generic in all mankind, and not the result of being already born again; he believes that men can do good, and in so doing, establish in themselves righteousness (get born again.)
Thusly, man perverts the original intent of the Perfect law of Liberty, which is to condemn sin; and instead creates a new intent, which is to establish righteousness. It is exactly the same perversion as the scribes and Pharisees were guilty of relative to Mosaic Law; and for which they were harshly condemned by the Saviour in Matthew 23.
It is an unlawful use of the Perfect law of Liberty, to attempt to establish righteousness by obedience. Indeed, when obedience is present it is because righteousness is already established in Christ Jesus, and transferred to the regenerate when he is born again. Any attempt to establish righteousness by obedience to law is to deny the righteousness of God which is in Christ Jesus, and is implanted in the child of God in regeneration. All attempts to establish righteousness by the Perfect of Law of Liberty are unlawful because they demonstrate contempt for Christ’s work on the cross, and it's effect is regeneration.
A lawful use of the law is to observe it in the context of it’s original intent.
It is a lawful use of the Perfect Law of Liberty to view one’s carnal nature against the Holy Spirit, which bears witness of the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
In Hebrew Chapter 9, the writer describes a feature of the Mosaic Law. He wrote; For the law having a shadow of things to come... the ceremony and sacrificial aspects of the Mosaic Law produced a shadow of Christ. It pointed to the Saviour. In the law were types which provided limited insight into the coming of Christ, His life, death by crucifixion and resurrection. No specific features of God’s plan of salvation were revealed in the law, but a general outline could be distinguished by the careful observer, using a spiritual eye.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the apostle Paul wrote: For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known. Since, as the writer of Hebrews said, the new covenant was...a better covenant, which was established upon better promises; it is reasonable that it provides a better view of Christ, and God’s plan of salvation.
The regenerate, with the benefit of perception given by the gospel, and a confirmation of the gospel received from the Spirit which, beareth witness with our spirit, sees Christ, and God’s plan of eternal salvation; as through a glass, but darkly.
The vision is better because the new covenant is better and has better promises. But the vision is not yet Face to face. The vision will become face to face when the creature itself also is delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God [Romans 8:21]. When the body is changed, and glorified in the resurrection, every child of God will see Christ face to face, and know even as they are known.
As the Mosaic Law offered insight for the careful student of God, so also does the new law of liberty provide insight for those who prayerfully seek to see and know. A lawful use of the law is seeing and knowing.
Paul’s description of his new birth indicates that upon being regenerated he immediately knows himself to be a sinner. He knew he was a sinner because of the conviction of sin he felt when his carnal nature was compared to the perfect law of liberty.
The Perfect Law of Liberty, written upon the fleshy tables of the heart, causes the regenerate to see himself as a sinner by nature, and thus hinders him from thinking more highly of himself than he ought.
A lawful use of the Perfect: Law of Liberty is to utilize it as a moral code of conduct. It is particularly well suited to this purpose, especially when combined with the perspective of. gospel understanding. It helps the regenerate to do good even though his carnal nature strives to do well.
In Christ Jesus is the moral code which reconciled men to God while they were yet sinners. It is a code of love and sacrifice.
The same code of morality is contained in the Perfect Law of Liberty and is witnessed to the regenerate by the Holy Spirit which bears witness with the regenerates Spirit.
In I John 3:9, the apostle wrote, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. This scripture does not indicate that those born again no longer commit sin. If such were the case then regeneration would include the whole man and would preclude any need for a change and final resurrection of the body. The scripture means that those born of God no longer sin without an effect of conscience. They no longer sin by simple habit, never feeling any sense of condemnation or regret.
When one who is born again commits a sin, he is convicted by his Spirit born of regeneration; which is continually receiving a witness of the righteousness of God from the Holy Spirit. This process of receiving witness from the Holy Spirit reinforces the code of conduct implanted in. the child in regeneration. A regenerate may still choose to sin, but cannot do so without receiving a sense of condemnation in his conscience.
Those who are born of God possess an abiding witness which provides an unction of the Holy Spirit concerning right and wrong. By seeking counsel of this unction of the Holy Spirit, the child of God has at hand a code of moral conduct which is contained in the Perfect Law of Liberty. It is thus a proper and lawful use of the law, to govern conduct based upon the perfect morality of the new law of liberty.
A lawful use of the Perfect Law of Liberty is to view Jesus Christ.
The author of Hebrew 2:9 wrote: But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
The Perfect Law of Liberty provides a view of the Saviour which goes beyond the obscure outline of his person revealed in the shadow of Mosaic Law. We are blest to see a bit more of the Saviour, though still viewing him through a veil of carnality which allows us to see only with darkened vision
We see Jesus as our High Priest. The writer said in Hebrews 4:15, For we have not such an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted lice as we are, yet without sin.
The child of God, through the gospel, sees Jesus as a high priest who is touched by infirmities. Jesus is touched with the infirmities of those for whom he died because he experienced their infirmities. There is a commonly shared experience of sin between the Saviour and the saved. Not that Jesus ever sinned, but that he bore in his persons the sins of those for whom he died.
In II Corinthians 5:21, the apostle Paul described how the Saviour bore our sins. It reads; For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Christ bore every sin of all the elect to the cross of Calvary.
For the Saviour, sin is not some philosophical phenomenon. It is tangible. He felt the burden of all of the sins, of all the elect, in his person, while hanging on the cross. He experienced the effect of sin when he gave up the Ghost and died.
Jesus knows the sorrow of sin; He wept for Lazarus. He knows the burden of sin; He bore our sins to Calvary. Jesus knows the condemnation; He was condemned to die.
What a blessing for the struggling pilgrim when through the gospel, he comes to know that there is never a burden, never a sorrow, never a heartache with which he is faced that has not already been faced and conquered by the high priest Jesus Christ. And not only so, but what a comfort, when he sees the Saviour, so expertly trained by personal experience, is touched by the infirmities of the elect.
Jesus Christ has not hidden from the elect the common experience of sin he shares. He took upon himself the sins of all for whom he died and is not intimately aware, and is touched by the infirmities of sin suffered by the elect. In times of great tribulation, it is a joy to be able to look up from the quagmire of sinful existence, and see, as Stephen did, the Saviour, standing at the right hand of God.
By an eye of faith, though darkened by our sinful nature, we also see Jesus coming again. We are blest to look into the sky and see the clouds part and our Saviour descend. We see him descending in all his glory, with the heavenly host, who are singing praises to his Holy name.
At that moment, in raptures of glory, we know ourselves even as we are known of God; without the blinders of sin obscuring the beauty of perfection which Christ won for every child of God when he conquered sin and death. We are, by the mercy of God, allowed to rise above the weak and beggarly elements of this sin cursed world, and sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Such visions of glory are a lawful use of the law.
The law is good if a man use it lawfully.
PILGRIM’S REST CAMP MEETING
The Faithful gather in Stratton for
Traditional Camp Meeting
July21, 1991
By Elizabeth Conner
Victoria Advocate Copy Editor
STRATTON -- Under the curved oaks where stand half a dozen white park benches, the sound of a preacher’s voice permeates the grounds of a country church.
“The Lord is looking after your interests and the Devil isn’t,” warns Brother David Burns, in from Baton Rouge, La., for four days of preaching, and camping, and everything else that is mixed into that bit if Americana, known as an old-fashioned camp meeting.
Here, about ten miles east of Cuero, as the crow flies, the summer heat has sent the camp meeting preachers and listeners scurrying inside to the church’s air-conditioned chapel. But outside, under half a century’s growth of sturdy oaks, the loud speaker carries Burris’ voice into the woods.
This tradition of summertime preaching, singing and eating fellowship between the Lord and his people - extends, like so many customs ingrained in rural America, back to the days of the Revolutionary War. When preachers were few and far between, and log cabins dotted mountainsides and valleys, settlers would hitch the wagons, pack the vittles and head for a “camp ground” to revive their weary spirits and gird their souls.
Today’s crowd of 100 to 150 at Pilgrim’s Rest Primitive Baptist Church no longer arrives by wagon on mule. Instead, a sleek line of modern Goliaths - the recreational vehicles and trailers of steel and glass -nestle under the oaks’ shade. Nearby there’s a pop-up tent and a hand-pitched tent for the stalwarts who want to actually camp.
Zona Morrow, dressed perkily in red, white and blue, eats her lunch of salad, cold beef, potatoes and fruit in the noontime shade. “I’ve been coming here ever since I was two years old,” she says.
“Erlie died three years ago,” she confides, talking about her husband, whose parents, Marcus and Mollie Morrow, gave the land for the church in the 1920’s.
Zona recalls a frightening event that struck Stratton, a farming community where cattle graze on rolling hillside pastures and verdant woods near the DeWitt-Lavaca county border.
"I and my husband and three, kids owned a store near the church," says Zona, now the church’s matriarch and oldest camp meeting goer. One night, the family awoke to a fire in the store, which adjoined their seven-room house, and they fled for their lives, she says. “Do you want to know when that was? That was 1940.”
The fire was a terrifying memory, but there have been happier ones, too. Zona’s husband Erlie moved the family into Yoakum then and "he went to work for Swift’s & Co. He traveled around a lot."
Like the Morrows, other neighbors at Stratton have known the little country church which absorbed the Stratton School, all of their lives. Mildred Reinhardt of Yoakum, lunching with Zona, says she, too, has come to the church "all my life."
For this year’s camp meeting- - a joyous occasion that Pastor Bill Walden describes as a “family reunion” Primitive Baptist families came from Yazoo City, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Oak Ridge, Tenn..
The campers testify silently to how these pilgrims of God travel the roads in search of rest.
Inside, Burris speaks softly but firmly, in a plain-spoken style, of that the Bible’s wisdom can mean. About 125 worshippers, ages two to ninety, listen to his words.
“You’d be lost, you’d be poor,” he says, telling a parable, if the price of investments fell on the stock market. Sometimes, “The Lord’s people can make a bad decision in this life. Sometimes we can’t get over them.”
And like the son of the wealthy father in Luke, who wasted his inheritance and squandered it in “riotous’ living,” people do the same thing by wasting their vitality ‘their lives’; warns Burris. People will go out into “the far country,” away” from the church.
“Come home to the church, the pearl of great price,” pleads Burris to the tiny church’s rows of listeners.
Burris like others during the four-day camp meeting will preach as the Spirit moves him; taking his text from extemporaneous topics or perhaps from a phrase that strikes a chord of response. To hear a country preacher preach is again to hear Americana in its purest form.
Revolutionary War-era preachers, sometime under the disdainful eye of government, would find a tree on a rocky ledge for their pulpits. They would gather by springs, or by a river’s edge, across the colonies to light the sparks that historians and theologians now call the Great Enlightenment.
At Stratton, all that is just academic, these folks have come to meet old friends, to see new toddlers, to renew the ties of kin, of fellowship, of hearth and pulpit.
Walden, pastor at Pilgrim's Rest in Stratton for 22 years, understands all that. His family’s home, Walden Hollow, Tenn. a stone’s throw from LaFollette, is Primitive Baptist country as are many areas of rural Appalachia and the South. There are, perhaps, 250,000 Primitive Baptists, but there once were many more on America’s frontiers.
“I do funerals,” says Walden, talking about how churches evolve, and “someone in this area (a Primitive Baptist) will surface.”
Pilgrim's Rest Offers Camp Meeting Home
Advocate News Service
STRATTON --For 118 years, the weary pilgrims of Lavaca County and DeWitt County have found a spiritual rest at the Pilgrim’s Rest Primitive Baptist Church.
This, weekend, through Sunday evening, the congregation, neighbors and visitors will gather during a camp meeting at the church ground, 10 miles east of Cuero on Farm-to-market road 1447.
Attending the four-day camp meeting; which began. with the raising of tents Thursday morning, will be Primitive Baptists from across the country.
Services Saturday will begin at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m., according to Elder Bill Walden, pastor, and visitors are welcome. Meals will be served..
The church’s history goes back to August 1883, where members meeting in a school house at Burnt Camp, three miles south of Sweet Home, in Lavaca County, where extended friendship by the Mulberry Church congregation of Fayette County.
The Fayette church appointed Elder J. G. Curington to serve, in the presbytery to establish worshipers as a church in November 1883. By Dec. 1, Pilgrim’s Rest Primitive Baptist Church was created by Curington, Elder J. W. Shook and eight other members at Burnt Camp.
In 1889, the church moved to DeWitt county, first to the Crossenville School, and then to the Stratton School., two miles east of the church’s current location. They bought the Smiley Primitive Baptist Church’s building, dismantled it and shipped it by boxcar to Cuero, where it was erected in the Marcus Morrow place, about a quarter-mile east of the current site.
Morrow and his wife Mollie gave their church 11 1/2 acres on Oct. 29, 1921. The church was moved by log rollers and mules in 1927 to it's present site, where it remained lit by kerosene lamps until 1938 and heated by a pot-bellied stove.
The Stratton school building was bought in 1957 and an auditorium was built.
Remodeling in 1969 added a baptistry behind the pulpit.
Congregation members voted in 1974 to erect a large tabernacle on the south side of the church. Friends and neighbors from near and far volunteered their labor to build the structure.
History of Pilgrim's Rest Primitive Baptist Church
In August 1883, an arm of the Mulberry Church in Fayette County, Texas was extended to a group of members meeting in the school house at Burnt Camp, three miles south of New Home in Lavaca County. In November 1883, Elder J. G., Curington was appointed by Mulberry Church to serve in the presbytery to constitute this group into a church.
On December 01, 1883, Pilgrim’s Rest Primitive Baptist Church was constituted by Elders J. G. Curington and J. W. Shook, at Burnt Camp school house with the following members: Elder and Sister J. G. Curington, L. Curington, J. S. and Miranda C. Newman, Wesley Vick, Sarah Price, M. E. Day, and H. C. and M. J. Curington.
In 1889, the Church moved to DeWitt County, first to the Crossenville School and then to the Stratton School located, on the Harry Neal place; two miles east of present location on Farm Road 1447.
In 1920, the Smiley Primitive Baptist Church building was bought; dismantled and shipped by box car to Cuero and erected on the Marcus Morrow place, about 1/4 mile east of the present location. On October 29, 1921, Marcus and Mollie Morrow acknowledge and confessed their love for Pilgrim’s Rest Church and their members by conveying to the Church and its Trustees 1.5 acres of land. In 1927, the building was moved by log rollers and mules to its present site. This small sanctuary - lighted with kerosene lamps until 1938, and heated by a pot-bellied stove - served the congregation for many years.
On January 16, 1957, two additional acres were given to the Church and her Trustees - - C. T. “Pete Matthew and Alex Benbow - deed of gift by Mrs. Marcus Morrow and family, the Stratton School building was purchased, and the auditorium was built. The older part of the building, with a 12 foot addition to the west and added in 1938, was converted into a dining area with modern kitchen facilities.
In 1969, the entire building was remodeled and a baptistry was built behind the pulpit. Previously, baptisms by immersion were held in nearby stock tanks.
In 1974, the Church voted to erect a large tabernacle on the south side of the church building, friends and neighbors from far and near volunteered their labor. It is used for camp meetings and other outdoor gatherings.
Incidental to the history of the Primitive Baptists in Stratton is the story of the “Elm Tree” services. As children, J. S. Newman and his little sister, Martha Frances, planted an elm seedling near their home in 1867. Joe carried water and dug the hole, while Fannie gathered corn cobs in her apron to use for mulch moisture around the delicate roots. Years later, following his ordination, Joe and his sister made a return visit to their home place. The buildings were gone, but they found, a towering elm tree surviving. For many years, Joe, the minister, conducted an annual worship service beneath the spreading branches. It became widely known as the “Tree Meeting” and was held each July from 1926 through 1935, with hundreds attending. Elder Newman died in October 1935.
Primitive Baptists do not use musical instruments in their worship service, nor do they have Sunday School. Adults and children alike are taught by the Elders from the pulpit, using the scriptures as the only printed reference.
Irene Matthew Alexander, who joined the Church in 1914, and Lula Hefner in 1916, are among the oldest living members. (Sister Hefner died recently.)
PASTORS:
J. G. Curington 1883 - 1893
J. S. Newman 1893 -1897
R. W. Harrell 1897-
J. A. Moore .1914 - 1930
J. S. Newman 1930 - 1935
J.C. Morgan 1936-1944
Ariel West 1944 - 1945
W. J. Chambers 1945 - 1958
Dale Magers 1958 - 1962
Billy Derrick 1963 - 1969
Billy J. Walden 1969 to present
Elder Ira M. Fry, 88, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died September 10, 1991, at a local hospital. Funeral services were held Friday, September 13, with Elders Ray Moore and Donnie Halbgewachs officiating.
Elder Fry was born June 11, 1903, in Carthage, Illinois, to Louis John and Mary E. (Harris) Fry. He married January 3, 1925 to Rose Ellen Anderson, who survives him. He is also survived by two sons, Gerald, of Houston, TX and Donald H., of Phoenix, Arizona; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. A brother, Ralph, and a sister, Grace Miller, preceded him in death.
Elder Fry joined the Church when he was 18 years of age; was ordained to full work of the Ministry at age 26. Because of the scarcity of ministers in Colorado and Nebraska for many years, he served four churches; in Olathe, Co., Denver, Co., Kimball, Ne., and Colorado Springs, Co., preaching for each church one Sunday a month. He also pastored the Church at Ordway, Co. for some years when his services were not required at one of the four churches already mentioned. He pastored the Pikes Peak Primitive Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, Co. for more than 63 years. God has been good to us and called ministers in this area, so that we have been able to have services every Sunday in the church in Colorado Springs, for the last fifteen to twenty years.
We, who are left feel we have lost a faithful undershepherd and loving friend, but we rejoice in the knowledge that Elder Fry is now at rest with the Savior, whose name he honored for so many years with his preaching and his life.
BROTHER MARTIN HUGH GOTCHER
The members of Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church at Fort Worth, Texas are saddened by the loss of our brother in Christ, Brother Martin Hugh Gotcher. Born Oct. 30, 1903 in Coryell County, TX he passed away Oct. 7, 1991 at the age of 87.
Services were conducted Oct. 10 at Moore Funeral Home in Arlington, TX with Elder Weldon Walker officiating. Burial followed in the Moore Memorial Gardens.
Brother Martin and Sister Vesper were married Nov. 1, 1933. He was an active member of the Primitive Baptist Church much of his life. He joined Little Flock in Coryell Co. in 1932 and was ordained to the office of deacon in 1933 at Little Flock and served faithfully in that office only being limited by failing health in latter years.
Fort Hood took over the area where Little Flock had been and Brother Gotcher moved his membership to Friendship Church near Gatesville in 1942. He moved to Arlington in 1953 and joined the Mount Zion Church, later he was a charter member of the Paradise Primitive Baptist Church in ton when it was constituted in the mid fifties. At the time of his death he was again a member of the Mount Zion Church.
He is survived by his wife, Vesper of Bedford, Texas; sons Martin, Jr. of Dallas, Darrell of Colleyville and Wayne of Bedford; daughters, Lucibelle Swart of Weatherford, and Eudell McIntush of Glen Rose; one sister, Annie Fuller of Benbrook; fourteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
We were blessed to have known Brother Martin and shall miss him. We wish to extend our love and prayers to his family.
Don and Joyce Browning
SISTER MAUDE GILBERT
BROTHER GEORGE SUTTON
We, the members of the Abilene Primitive Baptist Church do mourn the loss of three precious members, recently.
Sister Bea Gifford, Sister Maude Gilbert and Brother George Sutton have answered the Father’s call. Sister Gifford’s health did not permit her to attend services the last year.
Sister Gilbert, because of age and health, attended less and less frequent.
Brother Sutton was blessed to attend up and until the last few weeks.
Their calm presence and their wisdom is sorely missed.
We acknowledge the Master’s Will and watch for our call where we together will await the resurrection, to wit, the redemption of our bodies. We expect to see them again.
By Authority of the Church
Abilene Primitive Baptist Church
Joe Bass, Clerk
BROTHER MILES [MIKE] TILLERY
We, Old Union Primitive Baptist Church, bow in humble submission to the passing of our beloved Brother Miles (Mike) Tillery. Brother Mike was born April 30, 1904 and passed this life October 1, 1991, making his stay here over 87 years.
He is survived by three sons: Elder Ersel Tillery, Randy Tillery, and Nelson Tillery, together with eight grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, and two great great-grandchildren.
He was laid to rest in Antioch Cemetey, located in the peaceful valley where he was born, raised, taught school for many years, and worshipped our God in Spirit and truth. Brother Mike joined the church August 27, 1948 and remained faithful until his death.
Brother Mike loved and ably defended the precious truths of God and embraced sound doctrine preaching and precepts. His life displayed the grace of God and will continue to provide an example of righteous living to all that have any cherished memories of our dear brother.
There is a deep void at Old Union Church, one in which we can only trust and pray our precious Lord will fill; please pray for us as we strive to continue on n our Lord’s paths.
Humbly submitted to the committee:
Elder Sonny Huckaby,
Deacon, Lanny Tillery
Sisters: Debbie East and Linda Tillery
Authorized by Old Union Church
ENJOY THE BANNER
Enclosed a check for one year. We pray the Lord will richly bless you in keeping the Banner going out to the ones that love good reading.
Brother and Geneva Vandiver
Clovis, N. M.
D. JIM DUTTON
ONE OF OUR VERY BEST
He’s in his fifties, rather robust, and when he laughs, it rings throughout the halls of Springlake-Earth High School.
He never married, but his life is filled. with children. Many children of this community call him dad and many students work for the honor of being called “Numbero Uno Son.”. He is a loving, caring individual and an extraordinary teacher. He is loved by the whole school - and was given the honor of “Teacher of the Year” his first year at Springlake-Earth School, an honor given to a special teacher each year by the students.
His life is totally committed to helping others. He is the Captain of many projects for his community. One such project is “living memorial” trees, 236 of them, which were planted at the school.
He had been Student Council sponsor, and helped to get a Junior/Senior Banquet started several years ago. He helps with the. National Honor Society and all it’s projects.
He loves gardening, cooking and collecting old things and still has time for music-or taking a car load of kids to the mall.
His energy seems unlimited. He always rides the activity bus to the football game being a cheerleader for the team along the way.
As long as he is around, no child will do without. He has provided clothing for children in this community so that they could go to school; given unselfishly of his time to teach life’s lesson, even though sometimes his health is a problem; raised money so one youngster could have a new suit because he had been chosen Homecoming King - and much more.
Our community salutes “One of our Best”
Mr. D. Jim Dutton.
The above article was taken from the Earth newspaper, an adv. sponsored by First State Bank of Earth.
Jimmy Dutton is a member of the Muleshoe Primitive Baptist Church having joined as a young teenager.
On August 23,1991 Sister Virginia Pharr of the Primitive Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas passed from this life at the age of 81 years.
Sister Pharr was born in Davis, OK August 23, 1910. She moved to Brownfield, Texas as a young girl. She married Cecil M. Pharr on September 2, 1928. They moved from California to Lubbock, Texas in 1950.
Sister Pharr was a member of the Lubbock Primitive Baptist Church. She was blessed to have a large family and many friends who will miss her greatly. She was blessed with a positive attitude.
Funeral services were held at the Primitive Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas on August 26, 1991: conducted by Elder George Johnson, her pastor, assisted by Elder Stephen Bloyd.
Survivors include her faithful companion of 63 years, Brother Cecil Pharr; a son, Harold R. Pharr of Lubbock; three daughters; Billy Lea Green of The Colony, Texas, Kathy A. Pharr, and Linda Jo Green, both of Lubbock; a sister, Edith Phelps of Ringling, OK; 15 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Written at the request of the Primitive Baptist Church, Lubbock, Texas.