Heritage Baptist Bible Fellowship – Fall Meeting
Pastors and Christian workers gathered at Fellowship Baptist Church in Montgomery, OH (Cincinnati) on September 26-28 for the Fall meeting of the Heritage Baptist Bible Fellowship. A good group of preachers attended, and we were introduced to some wonderful pastors while seeing many old friends. The various speakers each brought forth an excellent message from the Word of God.
We want to thank our host, Dr. Tommy Trammel, his wife, and his church family for hosting this fine meeting.
The Winter HBBF meeting will be in Webster, Florida on January 2-4 at Faith Baptist Church where Dr. Emory King is the pastor.
God’s Guiding Hand
By 1781, General George Washington had lost more battles than he had won. For Washington, it now had been over three years since he had taken the field to fight a major battle in the Revolutionary War. But it is not activity or winning a series of skirmishes that wins a war. It is winning the final battle.
On October 19, 1781, 240 years ago, Lt. General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his British army of 8,000 soldiers to General Washington. Around two o’clock in the afternoon, the British marched out of Yorktown to the slow beat of a drum, under the stored ensigns of twenty-two regimental flags. As they walked between the aligned French and American armies, the British band began playing the tune. “The World Turned Upside Down.”
What to some may have looked like Washington’s stroke of military genius, was truly the Guiding Hand of God to bring a series of random events into the culmination of America’s final Revolutionary War victory.
Historians conclude that the three Caribbean hurricanes of 1780 set the stage for the victory of 1781. But before the French could escape the Caribbean and head to America, that French Navy and Army needed money. The voyage up to meet General Washington was financed by a loan from the citizens of Spanish Cuba. That money, six tons of coins, was collected in only six hours. All of that transpired in time for the French Admiral deGrasse to arrive first with his full French Fleet at the Chesapeake Bay and keep the British Navy from rescuing General Cornwallis.
By the time that the two fleets finally met in battle, Admiral George Rodney, England’s veteran naval leader, had just departed for England because of a serious illness. The French won the battle of Chesapeake Bay in September, Washington and the French soldiers boxed Cornwallis against the sea in Yorktown, and America ended up with the decisive victory that won the Revolutionary War.
Several months later, realizing all that had to occur for America’s victory, General George Washington wrote these words: “I am sure, that there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition in their affairs than those of the United States.” (Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Hurricane’s Eye. New York: Viking. 2018. p. XIV-XV).
Last Thoughts
One hundred and forty years ago, an event took place that dramatized the lawlessness of the Old West. It happened on October 26, 1881, at around 2:30 p.m. in the mining town of Tombstone, AZ. Guns blazed for thirty seconds, and the legend of the O.K. Corral was inscribed into history.
The battle that day pitted the lawless cowboys against the city peacekeepers. When the gun smoke cleared, the score was the cattle rustlers with three dead, and the lawmen with a couple of injuries. In a four on four-man fight, the law had handily won the day. One of the lawmen who emerged unscathed was “Deputy” (Special Policeman) Wyatt Earp. Wyatt Earp would be known as one of the most feared lawman and gunfighters of his era.
Wyatt Earp would later leave the lawman profession, and follow many other occupations in his varied life, from miner to boxing referee. Yet, Wyatt Earp would be identified down through history with the battle that took place 140 years ago.
In a recent work on the Earp Brothers and their subsequent vendetta, author Tom Clavin, recounts the last days of the famous gunfighter. Cancer had stricken Wyatt Earp, and by the first few days of 1929, he was bedridden. Sadie, his wife of 47 years continued her vigil day after day by his side. “At one point, Wyatt woke up. He appeared thoughtful and said, ‘Supposing…supposing.’ He was quiet for a few moments, then added, ‘Oh well,’ and fell back asleep. He died on January 13, 1929.” (Clavin, Tom. Tombstone. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2020. p. 364, 365)
How sad for anyone, let alone for a Christian, to die wondering what might have been…if they had only served God.
Several places in the Bible the last words of an individual are listed. (e.g. Jacob, Samson, Jezebel, the thief on the cross, etc.).
Paul the apostle’s last words portray a closing to emulate. Paul said: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (II Timothy 4:7).
What a way to march out into eternity!
Upcoming Autumn Banquet
Heritage Baptist College will host the Annual Fall Banquet at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 5th. This year, we will again have the Fall Banquet on the Hopewell Campus, and the food will be catered by Gray Brother’s Cafeteria.
Dr. Dave Martin of Cincinnati, OH will speak that evening. Brother Martin has been in Gospel ministry for over 50 years, with 38 years being a senior pastor. After many years shepherding the Lighthouse Baptist Church of Winchester, VA, Dr. Martin now serves as a representative for First Bible in Milford, OH.
Come and enjoy his message, along with a night of good food, Christian music, and great fellowship. Please call Heritage Baptist College to make a reservation. (317) 738-3791 or (317) 246-8915.