The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama · Page 40

V Pull Out y Also in this section: markets, business, classified ads. 1C THE STAR, August 12, 1978 r r - nun - . $tg Answer By Billy Graham 7 Mf. Morah in new building JACKSONVILLE - Mt. Moriah Primitive Baptist Church, which burned a year ago, will swing open its doors to a new building for the first time this weekend. Built in 1885, the former wooden structure on Alabama 21 at Four Mile community, burned last August. After the fire the church members faced the choice of restoring or rebuilding. They decided to build a brick church where the old one stood. , Deacon Wendell Robertson said the insurance money, $10,000, was only enough to replace a third of the building. Donations in the form of money, building material, and labor were given. The financial gifts ammounted to $10,000 and were spent on professional labor and furnishings for the inside of the church. ' The Rev.. Milton Daugherty, pastor, led a crew of churchmen in plumbing and rewiring the church. Church and community members also did work painting the church and regrading the parking lot. Even the septic tank was installed free of charge. "Losing the church was like loosing a member of the family," said Robertson who talked about the rebuilding process. He also said he "deeply appreciates" all the help and contributions the community has given that it "really fills one with a sense of unworthiness." Regular church services will be today and Sunday at 10 a.m. Daugherty is in the hospital and will not be able to attend. By BILLY GRAHAM DEAR DR. GRAHAM: What is your position on abortion?- -W. P. . DEAR W. P. : Abortion is a very emotional issue for many people, whether they be for or against it. I want to state clearly that I am opposed to abortion, except possibly in cases of rape, iicest or when the mother's life is at stake. I oppose the casual approach to abortion that is so common today, and I believe it is one of the most serious sins of the modem world in the eyes of God. I oppose abortion for several reasons. For one thing, I believe the Bible indicates that a human fetus actually is a human being in a certain sense; it is not just a piece of tissue. God told Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee" (Jeremiah 1:5). The unborn John the Baptist kicked in his mother's womb when Mary entered the house; Scripture takes this as a sign of John's recognition of the Messiah, even while still in the womb, (see Luke 1: 40-M ) Tens oi ihousands file pasi body Pope Paul asked simple funeral VATiCAN CITY (AP) - A handwritten spiritual testament of Pope Paul VI, released Friday on the eve of his burial, ; asked for a simple funeral, a humble tomb and "pardon from all those to whom -1 may not have done good.". First lady Rosalynn-Carter, among those arriving in Rome for Saturday's funeral at St, Peter's Basilica, called the late pontiff a "wise and beloved symbol of the goodness of mankind." . "As a man of great spirituality Jimmy called him a spiritual beacon he will be missed, not only by American Catholics but by all Americans and by people the world over," she told reporters after stepping off an Air Force plane at Ciampino Airport. "His memory will live in our hearts. Let us not then mourn his death so much as celebrate his life a life dedicated unselfishly to the service of his church and to all men everywhere." 7 Traveling with Mrs. Carter were two other members of the official U.S. delegation, New York Gov. Hugh Carey and Rep. Robert N. Giaimo, DConn. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was expected to arrive Saturday to complete the delegation. Washington does not have formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican, but the sending of such a delegation is customary. Tens of thousands of mourners filed past the body of the pope Friday as it lay in state- beneath the Michelangelo-designed dome In St. Peter's. As of Thursday, more than 225,000 persons had viewed the pope's body in St. Peter's and at Castel Gandolfo, where he died of heart attack Sunday at age 80. The body continued to deteriorate visibly in the summer heat. The face appeared ashen gray, cosmetics having covered the greenish tinge that came over the body Thursday. .... In his 13-page testament, written in 1965 with additions in 1972 and 1973, Paul emphasized he wanted his funeral to be "pious and simple." He specifically asked that the catafalque used for the funeral be more modest than the towering structure used for past popes, including his predecessor Pope John XXIII. He also asked that he be buried in the earth beneath St. Peter's, with no "special tomb or monument." The pope requested that his personal notes, correspondence and writings be destroyed and he willed all of his possessions to the Holy See, having disposed of all interests in family possessions several years ago. "I intend to die poor and so simplify all matters of this kind," he said. The pope's appeal for pardon came in two pages added in 1972. Among more general commentaries on the church in the 1965 text, Paul wrote: "About the world: one should not believe that it is good ... to adopt its thinking, habits and tastes; but (one should Kstudy tlove it anseryejt. Representatives of some 100 nations are expectedto attend the. jpen-air funeral services atop the marble front steps of St. Peter's at 6 p.m. (noon EDT) Saturday. The weather turned suddenly stormy late Friday, but forecasters said it was expected to improve in time for the funeral. Authorities in terrorism-plagued Italy made last-minute security preparations for the funeral. Sharpshooters will be posted on roofs and balconies and police teams will be checking buildings near the huge St. Peter's Square, where as many as 100,000 people; may gather for the services. ' - ' . . The basilica was scheduled to reopen to the public for an additional six hours Saturday morning before closing down for the funeral preparations. All eight U.S. cardinals expected to take part in the election of a new pope in the conclave starting Aug. 25 had arrived by Friday. Cardinal John Wright was hospitalized In Boston and not expected to I am also concerned because of the motives and attitudes that all too often underlie the decision to have an abortion. Some people believe it is an easy way out of paying the price for their immorality. Others are concerned only for themselves and what is convenient for them, and they have little regard for others including the unborn child. Either of these self-seeking motives is far from the Bible's standard. But there is something else we need to say. In God's eyes an act of abortion may not necessarily be any worse than many other sins we could list. And God sent His Son to save us from our sins, and forgive us and cleanse us. No matter what has happened in a person's past, God stands willing and ready to welcome all who repent of sin and accept Christ as Savior and Lord. DEAR DR. GRAHAM: It seems to me that some people get too emotional over religion. Why don't you say something to warn people against this?-M. Z. DE AR M. Z. : It may be true that for some people religion is little more than an emotional experience. When that is the case it can lean to excesses. On the other hand, some people believe religion should be completely unemotional, and with that I disagree. ' - Have you ever been in love? If you have, you know that love involves our emotions. Now sometimes a person in love will do foolish things, because he may get caught up with his . emotions and fail to think things through. But true love will involve a person totally-emotions, mind, body,. wUl, Becoming a Christian is a lot like falling in love, only on a deeperrmore profound level. God loves us, and when we discover that for the first time, we will begin to love God, too. "We love him, because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). True love for God will involve every aspect of our lives our emotions, our minds, our bodies, our wills-everything. And remember that Jesus Christ wants to become Lord of every area of our lives, including our emotions. I wonder if perhaps your concern has come about because you have seen people who claimed to be Christians, and were in fact very emotional about their convictions, and yet who did not show their love of Christ in their everyday lives. This is sometimes the case. But the Bible tells us that the test of true love for God is a life that is lived for His, glory. "Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (John 14:21, New International Version. ) No, there is nothing necessarily wrong with emotion, as long as it is balanced by a mind and will committed to Christ. When that is the case, Christ is ruling in our lives, and that is what He wants to do. When we lack any emotional sense of love toward God, we need to ask whether or not we have really been born again and really love God as we should. DEAR DR. GRAHAM: I know I ought to witness for (See Blllv Graham Pa JTl