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

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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

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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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ORDINANCES I CorinThians I l:2 says, I praise you breTh- ren, ThaT ye remember me in all Things, and keep The ordinances, as I delivered Them, To you. This verse shows us ThaT ordinances do play an imporTanT parT in The ChrisTian liTe. Our Teacher Tor The 'second Term oT This class was Bro. LesTer Shirk. - In This class, we were inTroduced To The seven ordinances which we as ChrisTians ob- serve. They are as Tollows: WaTer BapTism. Communion, FeeT Washing, DevoTional Cov- ering, ChrisTian SaIuTaTion, AnnoinTing wiTh Oil, and Marriage. We learned ThaT The deTiniTion oT an ordi- nance is a religious ceremony wiTh a heavenly meaning. We also discovered ThaT The purpose of ordinances are Tour-Told. They are: I. For ediTicaTion. 2. To bring remembrance oT The viTal ChrisTian principles needed in Chris- Tian liTe and service. 3. To aid- individuals in living a con- sisTenT ChrisTian IiTe. 4. To aid The church in mainTaining scripTural organizaTion. This class was very inTormaTive and educa- Tional. I believe more sTudenTs should Take This class. IT would TosTer a deeper appreciaTion oT The ordinances as TorggoTTen and 'new TruThs concerning Them are impressed upon our minds. ' r -Marvin Dale Slaymaker ' 1i1 .-11 BIBLE AND SCIENCE Bible and Science class led- us To a deeper knowledge and appreciaTion of our greaT and eTernaI God. .We.sTood in awe oT 'Him as we sTudied various aspecTs of His creaTion and The absoIuTe order in ,everyThing creaTed. Q , Our Teacher, BroTher Jesse Neuenschwand- er, sTressed The imporTance oT Iooking aT science in IighT oT The Bible. We discovered The ChrisTian has no problem wiTh True sciences ThaT have no aTheism- mixed- in. The only per- son qualified To, be an a.uThoriTy on science is one who Tirmly believes The Bible and The prin- ciples iT seTs TorTh. We discussed Theology, AsTronom , As- Trology, EThnoIogy, Ecology, and Psychology in relaTion To The Bible. A V -Carolyn Hursh, THE PERSON AND WORK I OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The class sTudying The Person and Work oT The Holy SpiriT , was TaughT by Bro. Sidney Gingrich. I'Tound- This To be a very Timely sTudy, due To The TacT ThaT There is much misplaced emphasis on This Third person of The TriniTy. The Holy SmriT indeed does have person- aliTy characTerisTics and is noT iusT an inTlu- ence as some people believe. He has knowl- edge, a will, loves, and has Teelings. Some people also believe ThaT The Holy SpiriT was inacTive in The Old TesTamenT, buT a careful sTudy oT This proves oTherwise.' However, The SpiriT's workings were noT The same back There as They are Today, buT were d-irecT, personal, and dynamic, working primarily Through kings. priesTs and propheTs. I am conTidenT ThaT This sTudy has also helped eachone in The class To keep The prop- er balance in relaTion To The presenT day Tongues movemenT. Many oT The occurrences aT PenTecos'T are noT To be repeaTed Today, due To The TacT ThaT iT was in The TransiTion period. We do noT look Tor anoTher PenTe- cosT, iusT The sameas we do noT look Tor ChrisT To come To die again. IT is unscripTural Tor The ChrisTian To seek bapTism oT The Holy SpiriT. The Holy SpiriT is noT a bapTizer, we are bapTized wiTh The Holy SpiriT. This bap- Tism is noT repeaTed Time and Time again buT we are bapTized wiTh him aT The new birTh, Then ThroughouT our ChrisTian IiTe. We do noT consTanTly desire To have more oT'The Holy SpiriT buT allow Him To have more oT us. My desire is ThaT as a resulT oT This sTudy each oT us will more Tully yield our lives To him To be used- as he. sees, besT. V -Harold W. Sensenig Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 V . f'The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life,' of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm T 27:1 ' A person is no more spiritual than he is scriptural. 26