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

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FORMATION AND INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE In a day such as this when there are many unsound teachings, we need to have settled in our minds that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that God said what He meant and meant what He said. The Bible is a pure message, and it is the final revelation of God's words to man. Although there have been other writings found, we believe it is complete, and that we have all that God intended for us. It is authoritative and commands response on our part. Modern scholars try to disprove parts of the Bible by saying man could not write in the time when the first five books of the Bible were written. Writing, we find, is an old art and was used before the flood. We have perfect right to believe that Adam could write. The structure and canonicity is very un- ique. It is certain that the books of the Bible are arranged just the way God wanted them, since Genesis is the book of beginnings and Revelation the book of endings. In the Word we see a definite progression toward a specific goal. The Old Testament types and figures are fulfilled in the New Testament antitype. The Bible is truth, and in it is found the way to life. It is by this Book of Books that all will be judged in the last day. -J oHN HIGH THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST As one views the marvelous and majestic plan of God revealed in the God-man Jesus Christ, he cannot help but burst forth with the declaration of the apostle Paul in Romans 11:33. O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Foundational to all that we believe con- cerning Jesus Christ is our belief in the virgin birth. To deny this and endeavor to reason around it is to knock the central p11- lars out of our concept of God. We I16Cd to see Christ as Diety being the self expres- sion of God. In our study we took a 'tbird's eyet' view of Christ. preparing for his public ministry in his childhood and youth. His early con- cept of his Fatherls work certainly serves to challenge us to a life of service now. V During the time of his public ministry, the humanity of Christ displays vividly the heart of God, through his expression of com- PaSS10H, Sympathy, anger, and love to man. .By the death of Christ on the cross, He triumphed over sin and Satan and finally cried out, It is finished? Faith places her anchor in the empty tomb for now she sees not a dead body but a risen and ascended Lord. May we take the challenge his life has left, and bow, not to the babe in the man- gdendbut to the crucified, risen and ascended or . -LUKE G. SENSENIG FULFILLED PROPHECY In this class, we looked at various types of prophecies contained in the scriptures and their fulfillment. Many of these prophecies have their fulfillment recorded in the scrip- tures. For others, we must rely on the ac- counts that historians give us. One type of prophecy that we studied were prophecies concerning nations. In these we see God as the One who overrules in setting up and destroying kingdoms. We see that God's time clock works with per- fect accuracy. We also studied Messianic prophecies. In these we see many aspects of Christis life here on earth, also His suffering and death. We also have many prophecies concerning Christ that have not yet been fulfilled. We look forward to the fulfilling of these in the future. We also studied prophecies that are presently being fulfilled. We learned that a good guide to inter- preting unfulfilled prophecy is to consider the wa in which prophecies that are now Y fulfilled were fulfilled. One thing that impressed me in this class was the exactness in which these prophecies were fulfilled. -HAROLD WEAVER 30

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ETERNAL ABSOLUTES Something Eternal is everlasting and not subject to time. That which is Absolute IS established as truth and is unquestionable and immovable. The Father, Son and Spirit are Eternal Absolutes. Four of their absolute attributes are: omnipotence, omniscience, omnipres- ence and immutability. Man is a finite image of the Infinite God. He was created threefold, spirit, soul and body. Manis spiritual condition has an ef- fect on the soul and body. His soul will live forever whether lost or saved. Angels are eternal, spiritual beings vastly inferior to God but superior to natural man. Satan is the god of this world but he is limit- ed. He is not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient. Satan's eternal destiny is fixed. The Bible is the complete and final revel- ation of God's will for man today. Since it is divinely inspired, it is absolutely reliable and infallible and it will never change nor pass away. Holiness is required of man by God. It involves our actions which spring from our thinking and motives and is related to our eternal destiny. Judgment and rewards are shown in the Old and New Testaments. We are judged according to our works and privileges. Re- wards are based on faith and obedience. May we seek to live holy lives and obey the great and mighty God that we may re- ceive the gift of eternal life. -VERNON L. KURTZ DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH . . . Upon this Rock I will build my Church' and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18. We might ask the question, What rock? or What church? Jesus Christ is the rock foundation on which the church, a born again body of be- lievers, is built. We have types of the church in the Old Testament, but the beginning of the Chris- tian Church was on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers. The purpose of the church is to bring honor and glory to God and to prepare her- self Cthe brldeb for the great day when she wlllcbe united more completely with Jesus Christ fthe bridegrooml. 29 In waiting for this blessed experience, there is much work to be done. Saints need to be encouraged, sinners need to be warned, and new leaders need to be called. Apart from being a member of the true church, we cannot live a full Christian life. Neither can we practice the ordinances which we are commanded to keep. We need fellow- ship and encouragement from others of like precious faith. The Church must be kept pure andfree from sin and all worldly and political in- volvement. Therefore, discipline is neces- sary at times. As we, the bride of Christ await His re- turn, may we continue to present Him by word and life. -MARILYN KRAYBILL BIBLE AND SCIENCE At the beginning of Bible and Science class, we established five goals that we, as a class, would like to work toward. They were set forth as follows: That this study may, 1. Enhance our faith and confidence in God. 2. Establish and strengthen our confi- dence in the Bible as the Word of God. 3. Make us aware of the fact that a com- prehensive knowledge of the scrip- ture supersedes any other form of knowledge. 4. Convince us that Christ came in the flesh is the prime expression of the wisdom of God. 5. Fortify us against the influence of unbelieving scientists such as the theory that nothing is absolute, leaving God out of origin of life re- iqlting in irresponsible approach to 1 e. ' One thought that was brought out early in this study was that we do not study the Bible from a scientific viewpoint but the sciences from a scriptural viewpoint. Some of the sciences we discussed were as follows. Science of theology the stud . . , , Y Oi reflglon, science of astronomy, the study o ' r ' ce estlal bodles, biology s study of l1fe, and geology which treats the history of the earth and its life. We endeavored to discover what the scrip- tures teach on these sciences . This study was challenging, again remind- ing us God's Wo d ' ' u ' r IS the final and absolute authority 1n every area and aspect of life. -WILMER ESHBACH FORD In a unsoun in our Word I meant The the H114 Althou found, have a authori part. Mod the Bil the tin Bible X old art have 1 could W The ique. Bible 2 them, s and Rc Word i specific figures antityp found t Books TH. As c plan oi Christ, the dec 1 1 :33. the wi: unsear. past fii Fou: cerning virgin reason lars ot to see sion of

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VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN SECTION rrr CHURCH HISTORY and MrssroNs HISTORY OF GOD'S PEOPLE In our study of Mennonite history using the book, Menrzonites in Europe, we found God calling a people separated unto Him- self in times past, even in the same way He is today. It was not long after the church began that decay set in. This was seen in part when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, made Christianity the state religion. This only brought further decay and ushered in the period called the Dark Ages. However, there were several groups which protested the corruption in the church: the Montanists, the Donatists and the Novationists. Later another group stepped out, and in spite of much persecution, a sound movement was established, known as the Waldenses. A sign of awakening took place in the church in the early 1500's when Zwingli and Luther attempted to establish biblical church- es. These soon reverted back again to the state church. However, there were still those with courage to stand for the truth. Men like Grebel, Manz, Blaurock, Sattler and Menno Simons lived and died for the truth and the purity of the faith. These held to the Word of God and endured great per- secution for their faith. The challenge for us today is to live by the same faith of our fathers, that we may come through the tests and trials of our day victorious even as they. -DUANE MILLER CHURCH EXTENSION Isaiah 54:2. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakesf' Often when we think of missions, we think of a place away from home. We found this is only a part of mission work. Mission work goes into many different areas. In Acts I :8, we find they started first at home then went into the uttermost parts of the earth. Each church should be a mission, and each person has his or her responsibility to fill. Four basic responsibilities or missions of the Church were brought out. The church is to reproduce herself, to bring honor to God, to make the gospel known, and to be the salt of the earth and a light to the world. We discussed several different areas of mission work: Christian day schools, giving out literature, personal work and many others. We cannot pay another person to witness for us. We need to be responsible ourselves if it is going to be effective. -LINDA WADEL T he Lord Is My Shepherd. SECTION IV - PRACTICAL STUDIES LIVING Even in this wicked world in which we live, it is possible to live a victorious Chris- tian life. This is a fact we have to keep be- fore us constantly. When Peter was walk- ing on the water toward Christ, he began to sink when his faith wavered. It is the same with us today. If we begin to doubt, we will sink in defeat. We studied how God has made victory possible, by paying the way for us, in that he has defeated our spiritual enemies, and now arms us for spiritual battle. The lessons following these dealt primarily 31 with man making victory actual. We need to renounce sin and have a singular loyalty to Christ. Spiritual strength is the product of the Christian availing himself of the provi- sions God supplies, and then applying him- self. .Many examples in God's Word are beneficial to us. David was able to defeat Goliath with God's help, even though Goliath seemed to be much stronger than he. . I am again challenged as I see the neces- SIIY of .placing my 'complete trust and confi- dence in God. Victory can be ours as we give our lives over to His control without reservation. -JAMES SENSENIG WI prayf life 2 COIIIII ollf I AS to IU' able I must have mall- gafdl heart subml and U forgir' San fry an many sleepir titude. by fai prayer Let times. The keeper idea th of stew means mind Gospel In I were rg 200ds! Sale o Lord rj' Hland i ODE-leg C0nrinu 55 Chri Him mighr I 3 -0 HC found SIIOUI Ilhah