Getting Ready for This Fall
The plans for Heritage Baptist College are for classes to begin again on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 with teaching in the classroom. We thank the Lord that during all of the last school year that He protected our students and faculty from serious Covid sickness. We will continue with common sense health protocols for this next year.
Our teachers are looking forward to fulfilling the mission of training young people to serve the Lord.
If you know of students that may be hesitant or unable to continue in their Biblical Studies, please let them know of the opportunities at Heritage Baptist College.
What Happened?
Sixty years ago, on July 19, 1962, a Cessna 182, single engine airplane took off from Cape Cod airfield in Massachusetts. On board was a petite, twenty-year-old local girl, named Lois Frotten. By the next day, her name would be known across America.
Miss Frotten had agreed with her recent fiancé to celebrate their engagement by making her first parachute jump. Her fiancé jumped first, but it took three more passes over the air strip before Miss Frotten jumped. As she exited the plane, she became entangled in the parachute lines, and at 2,500 feet, she began to tumble down through the air. Watchers were horrified, as the figure plummeted to earth.
Instead of hitting the drop zone, Miss Frotten plunged into Mystic Lake, striking the water in a sitting position. The 20 foot depth of the water along with its muddy bottom cushioned her impact. Boats raced to her position, and when she was pulled from the water, Lois Frotten asked her rescuers this question: “What did I do wrong?” (Richard, Mike. “The Miracle of Mystic Lake”. Barnstable Patriot. 14 July 2017.)
What an amazing survivor story, and what a focused question.
I have wondered if that same phrase, “What did I do wrong?” passes through the minds of individuals as they wake up from death and realize that they are not in Heaven. They had been faithful to their religion, to their church, or to their religious training, but now they are in Hell (not purgatory – no such place is taught in the Bible). They may had been sincere in their customs or rituals, but the Bible (God’s book) states that through Jesus Christ alone is the only way to Heaven (Acts 4:12).
Fortunately for Lois Frotten, although she went about it the wrong way, she lived to tell her story.
Eternity is not so forgiving...it lasts forever.
Summer Thoughts
As we enjoy our summer fare of hotdogs and hamburgers, it is often we read the name of a respected Christian of 100 years ago. That man had been taught by his parents that the Bible was the supreme guide for all things, earthly as well as spiritual.
Henry Heinz started his business in 1869 with 3⁄4 of an acre planted in horse radish, a place for bottling, and one room with a basement. With his strong faith in God, and a vision for the future, the bottled horse radish business grew. But in the unsettled financial time following the “Panic of 1873” his business went bankrupt.
Believing in his products and his method, Henry Heinz immediately began again, and in time he would erect building after building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to house his expanding food company. The Heinz label became known around the world with new factories in Canada, England, and Spain.
From the very beginning, Henry Heinz took an interest in his workers. His large factory would eventually employ over 6,000 persons.
He saw himself as working beside them. An early motto was: Find your man, Train your man, Inspire your man, and you will Keep your man. (Good idea for growing church leadership, too) The Heinz company would be led by a Board of Directors that had started with the company as boys.
Henry Heinz spent much personal energy and funding in the National Sunday School movement. He enjoyed seeing children trained to love the Lord. And he always had a good word to say for the Lord.
On his 70th birthday, a surprise party was given by his son with prominent friends traveling in from great distances. The poised leader was overwhelmed by the large gathering and lavish banquet. When asked to speak, Henry Heinz kindly honored those who had helped him, then he mentioned his now lengthening days. He concluded his impromptu speech with this statement: “There are three things that men should do in this life, and they are about all there is to life. The first is to plan for the comfort of our loved ones, the second is to so live that we may enjoy the respect, the esteem and the confidence of our fellow men. Last, but not least, is to do just one greater thing – live for the hereafter.”
Henry Heinz would live for five more years until 1919, eventually becoming the Vice President of the International Sunday School Association.
The opening paragraph of Henry Heinz’s Last Will and Testament showed his strong commitment to his Master: “Looking forward to the time when my earthly career shall end, I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this Will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were the usual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ.”
Besides other gifts to charities, Henry Heinz’s Will apportioned over 4 million dollars (in today’s equivalent dollars) to be given to teach children the “Good News.” (McGafferty, E.D. Henry Heinz. New York: Bartlett Orr Press. 1923)
Henry Heinz’s testimony portrayed a good life, a good death, along with a very good product.