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Weditorial, WAND OPIM J PAGE ^ "We cannot know where we are going if we do not know where we have been." . See^ I by Bruce Barton ' I FOUND PEACE AT DEEP BRANCH BAPTIST CHURCH I really have mixed feel ings about what has happened at Deep Branch Baptist Chur ch during the last few years. Adam's nature, once again, asserted itself here. I married "one of those Sampsons" from the Deep Branch Baptist Church in 1975 and shortly thereafter she and I built a home on her family's "old home place." I love the Deep Branch Com munity; there is a sense of community there and the people are friendly and pro tective of one another. Samp sons pee dominate; moat Of Us who are not Sampsons pro bably married one. Sampsons settled in Deep Branch sort of like the Lock (ears did in the Prospect Community. They feel deeply about the community and their families and their chur ches and their schools. Like Deep Branch Baptist Church, one of the oldest churches in the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association. Deep Branch was the third church to join the association in the 1880s and the church has been a vibrant member of the predominately Indian Burnt Swamp Baptist Association ever since. And then Rev. Chesley McNeill came to Deep Branch Baptist Church; later he be came pastor. He is a very conservative and strong will ed man. He believes literally every word in the Bible; he does not concern himself with nuances, historical notes and social connotations. He be Iu?vm what the Bible says period. Nine of his ten children were members of Deep Bran ch Baptist Church. His wife, Margie, is supportive of his ministry. All of his children are talented and expressive. Four sons make up the Heavenly Bound Boys, a gospel quartet that is already good and getting better all the time. Their brother, DeRonda McNeill, plays piano for them. DeRonda. his sisters Caro lyn and Virginia, and another brother, Johnny, make up the McNeill Quartet. They are a superb gospel singing group. "Sister Carolyn" has one at the most remarkable voices I' have ever heard, i love to hear them sing of Christ and Heavenly things. And I was saved under the preaching of Rev. Chesley McNeill. I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour in 1978. It came to me that day that 1 was lost pure and simple and that I had no recourse except Christ Jesus. I Anally understood my need for a Saviour. The preacher spoke from the second chap ter of Phillipians. The general thought of this particular scripture is that every knee will bow before Christ Jesus in time; and that He was abased so that we might have knowledge of Him which is Life Eternal. I understood it so clearly that morning; I came to the altar. The man of words, the literate man, could only cry out I AM LOST! and I WANT TO BE SAVED 1 And Rev. Chesley McNeill told me how 1 could be saved. And, since that dav. 1 have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. I know that he died for me; he was abased for me. And His body was broken on the cross so that 1 could be reconciled to Him. And His body was broken so that all of us--male and famale, Jew and Gentile, black and red and white... all of us-could be reconciled to Him. It is His broken body which calls us to redemption; His broken body is the Answer. Since then some have said.. "You were ready to be saved; it would have made no difference who was preach ing: you were just ready to be saved..." 1 don't know about that; I do know that Rev. Chesley McNeill, Bruce Bar ton and Christ met at the altar and I was gloriously saved. I know that... Everything else is debatable, relative, subject to change. * I found peace at Deep Branch Baptist Church. I was so happy; I came to Deep Branch Baptist Church ini tially because I believe in community, tamuy, a sense ot belonging. I like the idea of worshiping Christ in a church in the community where I live. But later trouble came. Adam's nature flared; a di vision came into our church. Some believed this way and some believed that way. And we contested and questioned and talked about one another until we could not be recpn ciled. At our last church con ference befbre the rupture occured some of us called for reconciliation. Someone in the back cried out, "No!" Al though all of us cried out to the same God we could not become reconciled by the same God. His Son's broken body did not call us out any more. We said, in essence, I will be reconciled except for this and that. Doctrinal questions, scrip tural interpretations, the old versus the new, those in the Deep Branch Community a - gainst those outside the com munity. Some said this and some said that. Everyone was asked to choose up sides. And our church was torn asunder. Why? Well, in part, there were hurt feelings about the matter of divorce, and how that related to our church. The preacher spoke out forcefully against divorce. Some were mightily offended. And the division grew deeper and deeper. Some of us who cried out for recon ciliation were shunted aside. In tine some of the eidtrs went to court about the matter, they were granted a restraining order. The prea cher resigned. The Babmnlaw got hold of the story and misrepresented it. as I see it. The leadership of the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association felt that their position was misrepresented and they wrote the Bshrssnlan a letter attempting to set their posi tion straight. And the more the matter was examined the more it was misSSqerstood. For me it is difficult to write about this: all of us are guilty I of not being reconciled in Christ. He died on the cross 1 so that we might be recon ciled; we refused His re con - 1 ciliation. That is what hurts 1 me most of all. I hoped that we might be able to talk. Some of us attempted to get the members of the church to talk to one another; it just got to the point wnere we coula not tut to one another. We wanted to cry out to God but we would not talk to one another. It was sad at the end; our fellowship was broken irrevocably; and I do not believe it can be put back together. But it must if we are to know Christ in His fullness of forgiveness and love. We must forgive one another of our transgresses. We must love one another as Christ loved us. I wanted and still want reconciliation. But the pastor, and the membership togeth er, must lead the reconcilia tion effort if there is to be a reconciliation in a church; And we were not reconciled. In spite of all the above I still possess the peace that I found at Deep Branch Baptist Church in 1978. And I am glad that Christ found me there that wonderful morning. Who was at fault? All of us... Rev. McNeill left the chur ch under a court order; he and other members of the church who went with him have reorganized as Riverside In dependent Baptist Church. i iicv die pieseuuj nuisiup ing in a building off Highway 74. They seem to be doing well. I have visited them a time or two and my feelings for them still run deep. They^ are building a new and^ beautiful church on the same highway. They hope to be in the new facility soon. 1 love all of them period. I harbor no ill will. And I never shall. I have, like everyone else, had to decide what to do. After a lot of questions and deep felt thought and prayer I have decided to stay at Deep Branch Baptist Church. It is good for my family and I to stay together as a unit. And. too, I do not like to be bouncing around from one place to another. God is everywhere. But mostly in our hearts. We must learn to worship God in spirit and truth and worship Him where ever we find ourselves. The broken fellowship has caused me to search the scriptures more diligently for myself. And my faith is grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Fin isher of my faith-not in man or any of his buildings. God is everywhere, at Deep Brani h Baptist Church and at River side Independent Baptist Chinch too. One thing is sure: 1 love those who reorganised as Riverside Independent Bap tist Church and miss wor shiping regularly with them. But my love for Deep Branch continues unabated. A number of people have asked why 1 have not said anything about this before now. It simply hurt too much to write or talk about it for a long time. Our new pastor at DeCp Branch is Rev. Harvey Btew ington. Our prayers and sup port are with him.^fnd our prayers continue, too, for Rev. Chesley McNeill and our brothers and sisters at both places-Deep Branch Baptist Church and Riverside Inde pendent Baptist Church. May God's blessings be on both houses. In last week's issue of The Carolina Indian Voice I reported in this column, "As I See It" about A Man and His Religion. Here's an update. Brother Ronald Bryant had refused to serve jury duty in Hoke County Su perior Court contending that his religious beliefs would not allow him to judge another man. But Judge Coy Brewer demand ed that he sit in court anyway, even though the "concensus seemed to be that he would not have to serve on a case. We received further cor respondence from Brother Bryant's church-Trinity House of Prayer Holiness Church-this week. Douglas Maynor. another minister with the church, wrote: "...We kept pressure on our adversaries and on Wed nesday afternoon (July 15) Brother Ronald Bryant was set free. We won. Thank God." The church is a Lumber Bridge address and is locat ed near Davis Bridge one mile west of the Rock fish Road. It was good news to us. A man's religious beliefs is just about the only thing that can sustain him in these perilous times. It is jood to know that a man will . (Mill take a' stand on his beliefs. IN THE ARMED * FORCES - MARINE LANCE CPL. TERRY L. BELL Marine Lance Cpl. Terry L. Bell, whose wife, Clarice, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. ? Dial of Route 3, Box 672, Lumberton, N.C., recently returned from a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. He is a member of Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/8, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. During the six-month cruise, his BLT was embarked aboard the amphibious as sault ship USS Saipan oper ating as part of the 34th Marine Amphibious Unit. He participated in several com bined amphibious assaults and cross training exercises with the armed forces of many European countries. Port calls were made in England, Por tugal. Spain. Italy and Kenya. A Marine Amphibious Unit has the capability of con ducting amphibious opera tions of a limited duration or it can be committed as an ad vance force of a larger Marine Air Ground Task Force. It also provides combat support for allies as well as providing humanitarian assistance, dis aster relief, and protection or evacuation of noncombatants. Bell joined the Marine Corps in July 1978. EYE OPENERS Qeeedoe? 1 can't teem to learn to judge the distance of oncoming cars. My instructor tays it could be my eyes. How can that be? Anaweri Our two eyes sit side by side and work togeth er to give us many different vision skills. One of those skills is the ability to judge distances between objects, especially when both are mev i#g. When our eyes don't work together properly, vision skills such as judging dis tances are affected. This may be your problem. The only way to know for certain is to have your doctor of optometry thoroughly ex amine your vision. Depending upon the cause, poor depth perception can often by im proved. Your optometrist will also check your other driving vision skills, including dis tance and near vision; side vision; the ability to change focus quickly and easily; night vision; and color vision. Eye Openers were prepared t?y The American Optometric Association. Dr. John Adams ind Dr. Harold Herring of Pembroke Optometric Clinic lave edited and submitted h'ese columns as a service to lie citizens of the Pembroke irea. The Carolina Indian Voice is pleased to print this :olumn as a public service. Thanks from H'coming Carolina Indian Voice Mr. Bruce Barton P.O. Box 1075 Pembroke, N.C. 28372 Dear Mr. Barton, I am very grateful for your participation in our annual Lumbee Homecoming (vente. Without you it coukHwt have been a success as viewed by the general populace. I hope you will continue to iupport and share our home :oming feelings as a vital part rf who we are. Respectfully, Kenneth R. Maynor Executive Director LRDA Kind Words Mr. Bruce Barton The Carolina Indian Voice P.O. Bos 1075 Pembroke. N.C. 28372 Dear Bruce. 1 was extremely pleased to see your picture front and center on your paper as you received the Henry Berry Lowiy Memorial Award. 1 also got a kick out of your response in your column regarding the award. While some people do not seek awards and special rec ognition. their contributions automatically causes them to be sought out for special recognition. You certainly fit into this distinguished cate gory. and I compliment you highly for all of your out- ; standing leadership efforts. You must know that it is a special pleasure of mine to work with you and to have the opportunity to provide infor mation to the readers of the Carolna Indian Voice. Congratulations again for a well deserved honor. Sincerely yours, John G. Richardson County Extension Chairman Pharmacist , ftvf*Tdjjlffplfe ^ Pembroke Drug Center ^ The truth of DMSO's DMSO ? The "persecuted drug." What's the truth? Persistent reports attest to its usefulness in the treat ment of sprains, strains, acute spinal cord injuries, ar thritis, tendonitis, and strokes. Since 1940, DMSO has been a widely-used industrial. solvent As a 50% solution, it has government approval in the treatment of a certain bladder ailment, but for none of its other claims, as yet. No solid evidence exists to suggest serious or per sistent side-effects in human users. But, neverthe less, I recommend cau- M tion. Seek a physician's advice, first. " _____ ____ ^ ^? fc Lei a Anne's Learning Centei Planned Nursery School I OPENING r? I ssh a rrmtfvr ? jum.b- located rmt tSW AUGUST I0TH lo Pembroke Elementary School f Yf EUiaketh B. Brooke.... .Director f ?Certified K-3 Teacher f BUPl Early Childhood Education) * a ? 10 Years Teaching Experience in Public Schools in Robeson County. f ?Mother of 4 Children a V ???????????????????????????????????*??????? ? * Planned Educational Programs for all ages f * N.C. State Licensed f a 'Monday thru Friday. 6:30 am to 6:00 pm a I 'Ages: Infants to 6 Years I > f Meals and Snacks a * Central Heat and Air Conditioning a I-- Fenced Pl.yihg fcWa I 1 ? Fire Detection System " a ? After School Care A ? We Invite year Inspection of our facilities. -O Now Accepting Applications ( For Enrollment. Pleaae Call 521-4064 or 521-8711 Days to Mo. I ^wm^H market Rot* affective through July 27th. 12.00% I#1'??? I I 1 E RftQOA ? "of effective thru Aug 3rd I Minimum DOfKMit I /O ? Iffecttve Annuel YfId 12.747%. Rof effective through July 27th. AflO I *%#% 4* $10,000 I Minimum Dopoaft I 30 Day. to 6 Mo. I Minimum Dopoolt I Month T?vm I Maturity I I PROGRESSIV E SA vims tLOON, HO. I I MKfe "???'?"csoc g | Wmt \ ? ? THE CAROLINA? INDIAN VOICE W U.S.P.S. #978380 ?QJ Established 1973 \ Pabllehed each ThuradeWul H Lumbe# PablMdng /ffl JjL Co., Inc. ??1 P.O. Box 1075 yj IHj Pembroke. N.C. Q 7 PbeooUI-MM . 2ND CUM POST AGE ] NMD AT PVMIROKI ?41 NCltlTl J| figf BIG GOSPEL SING...featuring BlaW ?The Singing Cookes |0 |^Cyand ?J.K. Kinkle ?The Lowery TriovSPI| pjy/ and ?The Singing Meares \M KJv at Maxton High School 1| M/ SATURDAY, AUG. 1st-8 P.M. M gXSO (Advance Tickets on Sale <M5c&J it? at Lowery's Pharmacy, Pembroke21] Rjv t for just $4.00) Sag] children Under 6, Free! [GO f 4
The Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.)
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July 23, 1981, edition 1
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