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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 4, NUMBER 19, MAY 9, 2004 MEETING MUSINGS ONCE AGAIN Our meeting with Wilson Adams is now history and all who made the effort to be present each evening know what a wonderful job he did. Wilson is a dedicated gospel preacher who simply presented what he believed the bible to teach and made the applications that he deemed appropriate and necessary. His kind of preaching “storms the will”, which is what preaching is meant to do. If you decided not to be present you missed yet another opportunity to dine at the glorious table of the Word of God. Please allow me to say just a word about the workday that preceded our meeting. What a joy it is to be part of a congregation where you simply say “We need help”, and the people come. The pass out was in neighborhoods that required a great deal of walking. We did 1350 homes this time and saw visitors as a result and had inquiries about the church via the telephone. But even more than that was the fact that brethren came together to work – and that includes those who were hoofing it and those who were cleaning, weeding, cutting the grass, sweeping the parking lot, and countless other jobs. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). I love being with brethren. Except for one night, Friday, May 28, at Evendale, my meetings for this Spring are completed. There was one restoration and one baptism in the two weeks. The gospel was presented and people came to hear. Both of the meetings were in rural settings. One was just about as rural as you can get, while the other was more “small-town”. Whether we are talking rural, small-town, or big city urban, there are wonderful brethren everywhere. Whether we are talking white-collar executives or sunburned farmers in overalls – faithful brethren are a joy to be with and we all have the most important thing in common. I am constantly reminded of Paul’s statement to the Galatians in Gal 3:26-28. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It is interesting as well that no matter where you are there are some brethren that you just can’t move no matter what. They are not going to come any time other than Sunday morning and it doesn’t matter what is said or how it is said. Pleading doesn’t help. Appealing to their emotions through a presentation of the tremendous suffering of Christ on their behalf doesn’t help. Calling attention to the incredibly important opportunity they are missing to have their children taught and spend more than two hours a week with Christians doesn’t help. I don’t remember what it was called, but I saw a movie one time where several women were protesting some decision and they were chanting, “We shall not be, we shall not be moved!” I think about that a lot, and it brings to mind the exhortation of the Hebrew writer in Hebrews 3:12-13, “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called Today, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” My two Spring meetings this year presented another interesting contrast for me. One of them was in an old church building that was probably pushing 100 years old. The now unused one-seater was out back. Perhaps they kept it there for memories sake. When we entered into the building, electricity had to be turned on to enable the pump to bring water into the building and the key was left on the electric meter that was located next to the front door on the outside. The other building was just a few years old, brand spanking new as far as buildings go. It was not the least bit ostentatious, but it was a very nice, functional building. However, new or old, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that brethren gather together to engage in the worship of our Creator as He has decreed. They were two of my most enjoyable meetings ever. But I sure do prefer to be home. Greg Litmer The following is by a sister from Wheelersburg who is in her eighties. Her name is Andrea Blizzard. She was a joy. SOUL A SAVIOUR THOU ART NEEDING
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