Letters to the editor

Questions

Concord College recently sent us a questionnaire. My questions about Concord were not there.

My years at MBBC (1957-1961) profoundly impacted my life. I chose to attend MBBC because I had heard (and personally experienced in my first years at College) that its mission was to disciple youth to become effective career Christians: music, Sunday school and youth leaders; missionaries; deacons; elders; preachers and pastors. The main ambition from January to April of each of the graduates in 1958 was to have a place of service by graduation. They had caught the vision of A.H. Unruh, founder of MBBC.

My questions about Concord College are as follows:

1. Why has the Canadian MB Conference lost its sense of "ownership" of this institution?

2. Should anyone doubt the need for such institutions as Winkler Bible Institute and Concord College when Grade 12 graduates are more biblically illiterate today than they were when these institutions were founded, and when the Kingdom of God is growing at an unprecedented rate and the need for career Christians is greater than ever before?

3. Should the future of Concord be considered from a monetary perspective when the wealth controlled by MB members is astronomical--probably over 50% of the churches have millionaire members, and 90% have minimal financial needs? MBBC was founded during the Depression. Do MBs still believe Matthew 6:33?

4. Is the vision of the founders of MBBC no longer relevant?

Dave Loewen,
Winnipeg, Man.

Pornography needs curtailing

Pornographers produce nothing you can drive, live in, eat or wear. They create an appetite for grosser and grosser forms of violence. We have already reached the point of having to bury some of our children and many of our adults because of the appetite pornography creates. This appetite must be curbed.

Doug J. Martens,
Swift Current, Sask.

Make sure of your salvation

In our home Bible study, we were at Matthew 7, where a group of people knocked on the door, asking to be let in. Jesus said, "I don't know you. Go away." They replied, "How come? Haven't we done this and that?"

As we began to discuss, questions came up. Is it possible to be an active church member and still not be born again? How tragic it would be to be fooled like the people in Matthew 7. They really believed they were okay.

Someone mentioned a story of a nice Christian family, church members who attended services regularly. This brother never seemed to be happy. One day, he went to the pastor and told him he had no liberty to speak of spiritual things and when he tried to pray it seemed that his prayers only went to the ceiling. He said, "I gave my confession of faith, was baptized, joined the church, and still I don't have that inner peace and assurance that I really am a child of God." The pastor asked if he wished to make sure right there. They knelt together, he opened his heart, and a wonderful peace came over him.

I am also reminded of my grandpa in Russia, who was 60 when the Lord saved him. He had joined a church at age 28, a church that did not preach the necessity of the new birth. One day, while ploughing, he heard a voice saying, "Heinrich, today or never." A great fear came over him. He knew what it meant. That evening, there was a Bible study in a home in the village, and before the service started, Grandpa was saved.

Today people join churches without being regenerated. Nothing seems to have changed in their lives (II Corinthians 5:17). Do we love the people of God? Do we love to pray, and study the Word of God? Is Jesus real to us? Do we have the witness of His Spirit in us? Or do we still love the old life? Is our heart still hanging on to the world? What do we watch on television? What evidence is there that I am different, that I'm born again? Our believing may be purely intellectual; there must be the new birth or we'll not enter heaven.

David Graves,
Randolph, Man.

Public thanks

This morning I was meditating on Psalm 96:1-2: "Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! Sing out His praises! Bless His name! Each day tell someone that He saves." A scene came to my mind, where God had rescued me and some fellow travellers from death.

In 1989, about ten of us Paraguayan German Mennonites had visited the Mexican Mennonites in Bolivia, a trip of about 24 hours by road. On the Bolivian side, the road went up and down mountains. It was a lonesome area--hundreds of kilometres of sand, bushes and low trees. On our way home, the car in which I was a passenger had problems with its back brakes. We stopped, and the mechanically inclined among us took off the back brakes. After all, there were still front brakes. As we started on a rocky road down and around a mountain, we had to make a sharp corner. I heard the sound of tires sliding, but the car wasn't turning. Since only the front brakes were working, they were blocking the turning of the wheels. We were heading right over a cliff. Just as one wheel hung over the edge of the mountain road, the car stopped abruptly. Everyone jumped out of the car, expecting it to go over the rim. But it just stood there. I almost thought I saw a guardian angel standing in front of it to keep it from falling.

I have never thanked God publicly for this protection. But, as I consider this miracle, I thank Him for His protection and praise Him for His power.

Karin Wiens,
Vancouver, B.C.

Applause not appropriate

The festivities of Christmas, 1996 are now memories. What most will remember are the concerts and "get-togethers". In 1996, I attended more Christmas concerts than in any previous year. All overflowed with enjoyment and inspiration.

This was the first year I realized the pressures a conductor must feel to select and prepare participants for a public presentation. Previously, I (like many others) considered these concerts as competitions to entertain. Such thoughts can be very degrading to the conductor and the participants who work to convey the Christmas spirit. Applause, as well as criticism, can have a negative impact. At one concert, "O Holy Night" featured some opera performers doing solo parts blending in with a large choir and a tiny orchestra. The deep, soul-stirring atmosphere created was rudely disrupted by applause. It was like applauding during an altar call.

A visitor to Quaker church services said that the periods of silent prayer were so electrifying that one could feel the presence of God. What a contrast to those Christians who scream, raise their hands and yell in "tongues" to the point when peace-loving neighbours are disturbed by the noise. Sometimes Christianity suffers more from its friends than its enemies.

Stuart Makaroff,
Saskatoon, Sask.

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