Numidia Mennonite Bible School - Reflector Yearbook (Numidia, PA)

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NONRESISTANCE Jesus fold his disciples, Ye have heard fhaf if hafh been said ,... buf I say unfo you, fhaf ye resisf nof evil. The 'rifle of fhis required class is nof a Biblical word: buf nonre- sisfance is, however, a scripfurally-based dis- 'rincfive docfrine. Bro. Henry Weaver explained fhaf God commanded-, sancfioned, and blessed warfare in Old Tesfamenf fimes, buf fhaf Jesus ush- ered in fhe presenf n-onresisfanf era. God is revealing his love, mercy, and forgiveness fhrough New Tesfamenf nonresisfanf sainfs. However, God is nof nonresisfanf in His fofal nafure because He will efernall punish fhe disobedienf in fhe lake of fire. Therefore, fhe docfrine of nonresisfance as a principle for -God's children is for fhe New Tesfamenf era exclusively. r ' True nonresisfence begins wifh fhe regen- erafion 'experience and musf be applied fo every area of life. lf affecfs our affifudes abouf fhe' sfafe and our obligafions fo if, Chrisfian employmenf- and vocafions, and absfenfion from polifical and governmenfal offices. Even aproper use of our fongues and proper love and behavior wifhin fhe Chrisfian brofherhood are influenced by our pracfice of fhe docfrine of . non resisfa nce. , . -Naomi R. Cole . ' i I ATTRIBUTES OF GOD Whaf are affribufes? Affribufes are char- acferisfics or words ascribing qualifies. By sfudying Ifhe characferisfics of God, we fried fo gef a deeper un-dersfanding of Him. Buf alas, our finife minds could barely grasp even fhe fhoughf of aninfinife God, a God fhaf always was and always will be. A -God fhaf knows all 'abouf our fufure, pasf, and presenf. knew all abouf us even before He creafed fhe world everi whaf we would be doing righl' now! He is fruly omniscienf lhas all knowledgel. God is also omnipofenf lall powerfull. ls fhere anyfhing in your life fhaf you fhink is hard fo face? Take your problem fo fhe Lord. He will work everyfhing ouf in His own besf Way, He has power over Safan and even over our fhoughfs. . . Ofher a-Hribufes of God are His person- alify. unify, omnipresence, immufabilify, holi- ness, righfeousness, iusfice, mercy, and His Qfedf love. - ' -Blanche Sauder THE PROGRESSIOF DOCITRINE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Cne fhing fhaf I fhink every sfudenfin fhis class learned was fhe definifion of progress ! If was defined' as fhe advancemenf foward a goal. A fhoughf given in connecfion wifh fhis was fhaf offen we fhink we are progressing when acfually we're only making mileage. lngfhis class, we looked af many differenf aspecfs of fhe progress of docfrine in fhe New Tesfarnenf. Firsf of all we saw how fhe wrif- ings of many wrifers had fo be discarded be- cause-of fheir unsoundness, unfil affer a period of approximafely fwo-hundred years fhe canon- izafion of fhe New Tesfamenf was accom- plished. This was God moving, progressing foward pure frufh for us foday. Ofher areas fouched were: III fhe logical arrangernenf of fhe New Tesfamenf. l2l The individual confenf of some of fhe-books, nofic- ing fhe gradual revelafion' of frufh .progressing foward complefe frufh. . ' This was a sfud-y fhaf makes -us appreciafe again fhe marvelous way God moves fo per- form His will. Whaf a wonderful -God we serve. -Roberf Yoder 11- SATAN AND HIS FORCES A number of facfs were revealed as we sfudied fhis subiecf under Brofher Merle Rufh. The Bible indicafes fhaf our presenf adversary was once-known as Lucifer, possibly fhe mosf glorious being of God's creafion. By his re- bellion againsf God, he incurred C5od's wrafh and now facesncerfain desfrucfion. However, God has allowed him' fo exerf his evil influence for a fime for fhe. purpose of fesf-ing man's allegiance fo Himself. Wifhouf fhe presence of fhe evil, man could nof experience freedom of choice. ' Safan has many allies and uses many mefh- ods, buf all his efforfs bear fhe earmark of d-ecepfion and are direcfed foward fhe de- sfrucfion of man's faifh. He led our firsf-parenfs infosin fhrough his appeal fo fhe lusfs of 'rhe flesh and eye. and fhe pride of life. In spife of Safan's efforfs fo sfamp ouf 'rhe line of promise, 'rhe promised redeemer came and complefed his redempfive work enabling us fo experiencevicfory over our enemy. . Grea'rer is he fhaf is in you fhan he +ha+ I5 In Ihe wqrldiu I -Luke Sherfzer 24.

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ROMANS Can you give a good d-efinifion for fhe word propifiafion? Do you know fhaf God's love is so greaf fhaf He onged fo acf foward fallen mankind in mercy and grace, buf be- cause of His holiness and iusfice He couldn'+ acf fhus foward mankind? Chrisf's sacrifice on Calvary safisfied God's demand for iusfice and now God can acf foward us as He longs fo, if we only allow Him fo. Thus Chrisl' is our propifiafion. The fesfimony of Paul in Romans I:I6, I7 carries fhe fenor of fhe book: For I am nof ashamed of fhe gospel of Chrisf: for if is fhe ower of God- unfo salvafion 'ro everyone fhaf Believefhg fo fhe Jew firsf, and also fo fhe Greek. For fherein is 'rhe righfeousness of God revealed from faifh 'ro faifhz as if is wriffen, fhe iusf shall live by faifh. In sfudying -'rhis book we have learned 'rhaf righfeousness is fhe key word. The divine nafure wifhin us, enables us 'ro live in a Chrisf- like manner. In fhis way, righfeousness has been imparfed fo us as children of God. These frufhs are a few of 'rhe blessings fhaf are received in digging info fhe book of Romans. My prayer is fhaf our sfudies af Bible School will be a real incenfure fo each sfudenfsfo confinue on for Chrisfl H -Regina Ulrich DIVISION II - DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH Buf in 'every nafion he fhaf fearefh Him, and workefh righfeousness, is accepfed wifh Him. Acfs IO:35. From 'rhis and ofher scrip- fures, we receive fhe basic docfrine of fhe church universal. We see fhaf, alfhough in 'rhe Old Tesfamenf fhe church was porfrayed in fypes, if wasn r unfil affer Chrisf's resurrec- 'rion fhaf we became a royal priesfhood . able fo come direcfly 'ro God. Our class sfudied 'rhe church as a spirifual organizafion, headed by Chrisf and composed of fhe body of 'rhe believers. This bod-y is direcfed by if's head, Chrisf, fhrough His 'reaching in fhe New Tesfamenf. We also discovered fhaf fhe church is a pracfical organizafion needing earfhly leaders. 23 I BIBLE SURVEY I Bible Survey I was a brief sfudy of fhe firsf eighf books of fhe Old Tesfamenf faughl. by Brofher Henry Weaver. We sfarfed in Genesis wifh fhe creafion and fall of man. From fhis poinf on fhe main fheme of fhe Bible is redempfion. We saw God's dealing wifh 'rhe Pafriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ' ' We saw fhe life of Moses, 'rhe children of lsrael's deliverance from Egypf, and fhe giving of fhe law in Exodus fhrough Deuferonomy. We fhen noficed fhe children of Israel as 'rhey enfered info Canaan. Finally, we sfudied abouf Rufh fhe Ivloabifish woman who was con- verfed fo fhe Jewish faifh in 'rhe laffer parf of 'rhe period of 'Ihe Judges. . If was clearly broughf ouf fhaf fhe main fheme fhroughouf fhe Scripfure is fhaf of God providing a red-eemer for mankind. The Holy Scripfures are able 'ro make us wise unfo salvafion fhrough faifh which is in Chrisf Jesus. Indeed how frue fhis 'is if we are willing fo apply ourselves fo sfudying fhem. -Glenn Zimmerman BIBLE DocTRlNE The aufhorify of fhese leaders is God-given and God demands our submission. We musf remember, however, fhaf fhey are mere hu- man beings, and we should. nof shiff all fhe responsibilify on fhem. We, as members of fhe body, also have a responsibilify 'ro keep fhe church pure. Togefher, fhe leaders and fhe members, wifh 'rhe help of fhe Holy Spirif, apply fhe principles 'raughf in 'rhe New Tesfa- menf fo pracfical living. The sef of sfandards 'rhey have arrived af, are commonly called fhe discipline. Wifh fhe aid of 'rhe Holy Spirif and each ofher, we infend fo keep 'rhe body pure unfil Chrisf comes 'ro receive His bride and so shall we ever be wifh fhe Lord I Thess. 4:I7. elvin Burkholder

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ETERNAL ABSOLUTES The purpose of 'rhis sfudy was 'ro confirm fhe facf 'rhaf God's Word reveals a definife possible way of life fhaf we need fo follow fo receive efernal life. ln fhis sfud-y we looked af some of fhe unchangeable frufhs of C-5od's Word. such as God, Chrisf, Holy Spirif, man, angels, Safan, fhe Word, fhe kingdom of God, holiness, judg- menfs, and rewards. God is 'rhree persons in one, Fafher, Son and Holy Spirif, We looked af 'rhe work of each one as relafed fo each ofher and fo us. Two affribufes of God are omniscience - all powerful: f- and omipresence - everywhere presenf. Safan in confrasf does nof possess 'rhese affribufes. Because of pride he has fallen from his posifion in heaven. Man was creafed a fhree-fold being +o bring glory fo God 'rhrough fellowship wifh Him. Angels are minisfering spirifs which were creafed by God. lf is possible for angels fo fall, buf 'rhey cannof repenf. God is holy and fherefore he wanfs man 'ro be holy. His sfandards of holiness are laid ouf in 'rhe Bible and do nof change. May we ever allow Him fo show us His will for our lives. i-Enos Shank SEPARATION and NCNCONFORMITY Separafion-whaf do we 'rhink of when we hear 'rhe word? Being separafe is fhe resulf of a renewed mind. When we become born again, we no longer wanf 'ro live affer fhe sinful pleasures and pracfices of fhis world. Romans l2:l, 2 fells us fo presenf our bodies accepfable unfo God and be nof con- formed fo fhis world. buf fo be fransformed. By being nof conformed fo 'rhe 'rhings of 'rhis world and having fhe peace of God in our hearfs, ofhers can see Chrisf living in our hearfs. ln ll Corinfhians 6:I7 we find fhaf 'rhe Lord fells us fo come ouf and be separafe. Being separafe is a safisfying way of life. Our feacher, Brofher Beniamin Eshbach, broughf ouf fo us many ways in which we should be separafe. How we dress, our speech, social life, occupafions, our relafion fo fhe governmenf, and our everyday walk of life are some of 'rhe fhings we discussed. Can ofhers see Chrisf living in our lives? -Efhel Sfeiner 25 DOCTRINE OF HEAVEN AND HELL lf we as Chrisfians could visualize fhe fafe of fhe indifferenf and unregenerafe, we would be much more zealous Chrisfians! ln fhis class, faughf by Brofher Clarence lvlarfin, we dis- cussed fhe iudgmenf seaf of Chrisf, The infer- mediafe sfafe, erroneous views of hell, fhe 'rorfures of hell, and hell as a place of fufure punishmenf. The songwrifer has said of fhose who reiecf Chrisf, and oh, what a weeping and wailing, as 'rhe losf were fold of fheir fafeg fhey cried for 'rhe rocks and 'rhe mounfains: fhey prayed, buf fheir prayer was foo lafe. This everlasfing place of 'rormenf is characfer- ized by unquenchable fire, gnashing of feefh, and efernal oufer darkness. Confrasf fhis wifh fhe glories of heaven: fhe ioy of forever communing wifh Chrisf and ofher sainfs: being enveloped complefely by holiness, righfeousness, and spofless purify: singing and praising our Lord for evermore: and fullness of glory. We musf, however, meef 6od's 'rerms by receiving His giff and assum- ing personal responsibilify in our pilgrimage here. Then we can enjoy fhe endless glory and beaufy when we shall forever be wifh fhe Lord! -Almaria Zehr - APOSTASY Aposfasy can be defined as fhe abandon- menf of a precious loyaliy. lf began in heaven when iniquify was found in Lucifer. Soon affer fhe complefion of creafion. Safan fempfed Eve. She yielded, abandoning her loyalfy 'ro God. Aposfasy had begun on fhe human level. Since 'rhe fall of man, aposfasy has persued man in his relafionship fo God. Three Old Tesfamenf characfers sfand ouf as aposfafes. Cain 'rhoughf he could approach God by a way ofher fhan by fhe shedding of blood. Balaam desired fhaf which was pleasing 'ro fhe flesh. and yef desired fo die fhe' deafh of fhe righf- eous. Korah fhoughf he was holy enough: 'rhaf he did nof need a mediafor befween him and God. Aposfasy is visible on every hand foday as we see many going in fhe way of Cain, run- ning greedily affer fhe error of Balaam for reward-, and abouf fo perish in fhe gainsaying of Korah. The Aposfle Pefer would say fo us, buf grow in grace and in fhe knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Chrisf. ' Lef us each confinue fo confend earnes ly for 'rhe faifh. -Roy Biehn