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"Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have ntS—Prev 22:28
Official Organ of the Oklahoma Baptist State Convention and the General Association of the Indian Territory
VOLUME 3
ARDMORE I T THURSDAY APRIL 2G 1900
HUMBER 21
ON CONSOLIDATION
BT A J WASIIBUBV
Ii hi been thought txpeliiit
Elbe brethren generally
k onl it thie time especially
i the eabjeet of the proposed
imeolid alien of ell the Baptist
Drceein the Indian Territory
bd while I hare been and am
ow trnly and heartily in sym-
itby with the movement I
ive desired to test to some ex-
mt at least the feeling of the
lurches in regard to the matter
ifore being heard in order
lat I might have somewhat to
rite in addition to my own feel-
gs in the premises And now
'ter visiting many of the
lurches and talking with a
’eat nnmber of the brethren
id sisters I rejoice to be able
say that without a single ex-
ption I find them upon thor-
igh explanation and considera-
te of the proposed plan to be
iartily in favor of it This is
source of very great pleasure
d satisfaction to me for it is
i earnest of the fact that the
trd is in it and that His blessr
i - - v " ' ’ ‘
s will be upon itr Before the
leting at South McAlester and
socially after the meeting had
Bn proposed I was greatly ex-
sised over the matter and suf-
ed much uneasiness about it
1 knowing that the work was
i Lord's and that He could
cl would bring about His own
mlts and being unable myself
arrive at any plan or scheme
t I thought would at all solve
w j
i great problem I gave my-
f up to much earnest prayer
rayed for more honest ear
t faith and trust in Him 1
iyed that all selfishness and
judice might be taken out of
: own heart and that the love
Glod might alone reign and
s there I began praying for
brethren of the Territorial
ivention a thing I had never
te before except to ask that
be taken out of our way
I prayed especially that the
d would make bare His mighty
er and in His own way ac-
ting to His own will settle
matter te the glory of His
r name Finally on Sunday
mng before the meeting of
Boards on the following
sday being in secret prayer
:ve the entire matter wholly
the hands of the Master I
Now 0 Lord the time is
and and I give all np to
I pray that Thou would
I the minds and hearts of
I these Boards and all con-
ed for Thine own name's
and now whatever plan or
me shall be unanimously
ed upon by them I will take
a earnest of the fact that it
ght and in accordance with
will and I farther ask that
the endorsement of the churches
and brethren generally shall be
given as an additional evidence
to me that it is right in Thy
sight And then and there the
peace of Qed camo into my son
and there was such a manifesta-
tion of His holy presence with
me that I have ever since felt
that all would be well I had no
idea of the plan or what it woul
propose but as soon as a nnai-
mous agreement was announced
my mind was made np to accept
it and I have never from that
moment doubted its correctness
It is the Lord's work and that
is enough for m6 I am not
consulting my own selfish pref
erences or natural inclinations
and I am not going to do so for
they might mislead me the
Lord has spoken and I am silent
only lifting up my heart and
voice in praise to His holy name
I jnay be mistaken about its be-
ing His work some might say
well for that I am not respon-
sible I asked Him to give me
these evidences of His approval
and now I must trust it to Him
And now dear brethren and
sisters of the General Associa
tion being thus minded and
feeling that not only the peace
of God is settling down upon
our great work in this wild des-
titute field in which we are at
work for the Master but that
wider and freer scope will now
be given to you to carry a pure
gospel to every nook and 'corner
of it I earnestly commend the
plan of unification and co-opera
tion adopted by the committees
at South McAlester to your faith-
ful consideration and endorse
ment and we may come together
at Durant a unit upon its adop-
tion by the churches And to
my dear brethren of the Terito
rial Convention I desire to say
that while I have as many of
you know made a foeman wor
thy of your steel and in doing
so felt that I was doing a God
service God in his own precious
way has taken away the enmity
if so it could properly be called
out of my heart and now here
is my hand and my heart goes
with it The Lord has said:
“These are mine they are a part
of my heritage and I cannot
gainsay it” hence “for you my
tears shall fall for you my
prayers ascend” and may the
God of all grace grant unto us
that perfect peace which he alone
can give and give us a great vic-
tory over sin and Satan in this
Indian Territory
I have always been impulsive
and my zeal and earnestness for
what I believe to be tight has
often — too often I fear— carried
me to the point of indiscretion
but brethren bear with me for
back in my history
There a bright and glorioaeday
Whea lesoi washed ujuasawaj
And it was grace wonderful
grace and I feel that if there is
anything for which I might plead
forbearance it is my ital for bis
glorious cause It was cot that
I loved the Territorial Conven-
tion less but I love the General
Association more It kck bad
my prayers and my best efforts
it has been my joy and my song
during the years gone by and
now that it becomes joined to
another the twain shall -be one
with me and as God will enable
me I shall labor tor the success
of the General Convention until
the Master shall say “It is
enough come to my rest" May
the dear Lord greatly bless txs all
Faithfully your brother
e
It is a sad fact that religion is so
often the enemy of Jesus People
are satisfied with the cultivation
of their religious nature which
expresses itself in fine rittud good
music and splindid architecture
while Jcbus Christ is not in the
heart Man is a religious animal
and if Satan can induce him to
occupy his attention with : religion
rather than with Christ “he will
accomplish his purpose as a ’ mes-
senger of light The great ai&V °f
Satan is to substitute light for the
light If we will admit the light of
science morality sociology
poetry philosophy indeed any
light instead of the light of Jesus
Christ he is satifided for he
knows taat without Christ no other
light can save the people And
to-day one of the greatest obstacles
of a revival of religion are the re-
ligious people who do not really
believe in salvation through the
blood They would bring the
fruits and flowers of Cain while
they despise the bloody altar of
Abel Preaching the simple gos-
pel of reonciliation is to them folly
they look' upon it as old fogyieh
and of all forces in the church
these religious people of good char
acter who oppose the apostolic way
of salvation are the greatest hin
drancc — A C Dixon in Baptist
News
This is an age of heroic chris
tianity There is more pulp than
pluck in the average Chrietain pro
fessor when self-denial is required
The men and women who not only
rejoice in doing their duty for
Christ but even rejoice in over-
coming uncomfortable obstacles in
the doing of it are quite too scarce
The piety that is most needed is a
eity that will stand a pinch a
iety that would rather eat an
onest crust than fare sumptuously
on a fraud pietv that works up
stream against currents a peity
that sets its faco like a flint in the
straight narrow road of righteous-
ness We need more of the Chris-
tianity that steadily sets its face
towards Christ s word and holy
will An ungodly world will look
at such Christly living as at “ the
sun shining in its strength God
loves to look at those who carry
Jesus in their faces Of such is the
Kingdom of heaven — — Kev
T L Cuyler
From South McAlester I T
The Sunday school at this
place has grown until it is now
the largest in Senth McAlester
Both members and o fleers are
taking great interest in their
work and are doing much good
in the Master's vineysrd
The Gospel train gathers pas-
sengers at every station Sister
Toney Kincannon joined the
eburch by letter at morning ser-
vices Sunday Two came up for
prayer Also had services in
the evening and the right hand
of church fellowship was extend-
ed to sister Leda Chaney Two
more came up for prayer May
God so lead those that they may
realize the wondious love am
mercy of the Savior and be wil
ing to come to Jesus and follow
Him faithfully through this life
trusting Him for everlasting life
beyoud the grave His yoke is
not heavy to bear and surely we
can carry it cheerfully when we
remember all He has borne that
simply by trusting and loving
Him we might have life
Brother Ed Welsh who has
had charge of our choir for some
time will now take the congrega-
tion in hand every night this
week and we hope every one wil
come and take advantage of the
instruction join their voices in
songs of praise Brother W: A
Treadwell preached f- Sunday
night over at No 5 and had a
fair congregation
The B Y P U appointed a
committee consisting of Frank
Walker Gertie Buck and Fannie
Treadwell to arrange for a social
for the members committee an-
nounced that strawberries and
cake would be served as refresh-
ments but that the time and
place where the entertainment
would be given would be an-
nounced later
Elder James Edwards and J
C Stalcup will attend the South-
ern Baptist Convention to be
held at Hot Springs in May
Miss Nettie Coleman of Mc-
Alester has been appointed
Sponsor to represent the Indian
Territory at the Confederate re-
union to be held at Louisville
Ky The appointment will meet
with a hearty approval Miss
Coleman is a beautiful brunette
highly educated and a Christian
being a strong Baptist She has
selected Miss Grade Drum as
her maid of honor Miss Drum
is also a Baptist Both young
ladies are very popular and loved
by acquaintances X
Wynnewcod I T
I have just closed a two weeks'
meeting at Paula Valley with
good roeultc Wo received cine
by letter four for baptiam and
the church very much revived
Wo arc in ao much better shape
to do work for our Master in the
future Bra J B Reaves of
Waco Texas assisted us la the
anting and did most of tho
preaching Ho ease to Pauls
Vallsy to visit his brother and
family Cburohaad pastor are
highly pleased with Bro Reaves
as a preacher ws believe him
to bo a spiritual earnest up-
right and eonseorated minictsr
of the gospel of the 8on of God
We have our ehuroh house
finished we want to dedi-
cate it the first Sunday In May
and the beauty of it all Is that
It is free of debt The future for
Pauls Valley ohuroh is good I
will let you hear from me again
soon
I thank God for the oonsolida-
tion that I believe will be effec-
tual soon among the Baptist
forces of the Indian Territory
Yours for good work
J L Keilbr
Scipio 1 T '
Rev J S Murrow:
Dear Brother— I came home yes-
terday the 17th your three let-
ters awaited me am glad to hear
from you My good wife and
daughter Luoinda are well I
had a delightful missionary trip
the Holy Spirit guided me all the
way through Bro H Colbert
ws$with me three days andBo
John Atkins was with me three
days I hold prayer meetings
nightly in homes or in open air
It is plainly shown that the Chick-
asaws are hungry for eternal
bread Very many asked to be
prayed for five precious souls
were baptized- I only baptized
one Brother Newton Johnson a
full-blood Chickasaw and a
Baptist minister of the gospel
baptized the others t He is an
aotive worker for the Lord I
love him I prayed for him On
several occasions he had to break
the ioe to baptize the candidates
He bears much fruit and the
Lord approves his work I wrote
a letter to Bro Jaokson James
and Brother D A Bond mem-
bers of the executive board of
the Choctaw and Chickasaw As-
sociation to appoint Bro N
Johnson a missionary for the re-
maining months of our next as-
sociation What I want is the
full-blood Chickasaws to hear the
gospel— the bread of life Will
you not meet me at Green Hill
ohuroh three miles west of Tali-
hina I T at the fifth Lord’s
day meeting to lay this matter
before that body J
Many Chickasaws have asked
me about a Chootaw Testament
Will not The American Bible So-
ciety furnish us these Testaments
to be sold for them? As forme
I would not ask the commission
I want my people to have the
word of God
Your brother
J ? TKovpsa
Missionary
Dr Frost informs us that the
Sunday School Board has not ad-
vanced the price of its Bibles
Testament and periodicals not-
withstanding the recent advance
in Bibles and ia paper