Recognize the lordship of Christ

“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” – Colossians 1:18

I can add a new name to my existing names, not by deed poll but by lifestyle, and it can be “Church” – so it will be Ruby Ann Church! Well, I was born in church, raised in church and spent my years thus far in church. I don’t know how to dance the Hully Gully or do the Electric Slide, but I can dance because rhythm is my thing. All that I am is as a result of the church and the teachings of the life, work and witness of Jesus Christ.

There have been some interesting indigenous people over the years, who were called to preach the word of God in season and out of season. Some were trained, and others homespun, but they took their calling seriously and the sheep knew their shepherd and the shepherd knew their sheep. They had little regard if they were not on the popular page, or had riches untold; they were like the newspaper boy who only sold the papers, but was not responsible for the headlines nor the content therein.

But be that as it may, humor had its place in church, and jokes galore abound from the memory page, yet notwithstanding the seriousness of those who announced, “The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

There he was always immaculately dressed in a three-piece suit, smiling; that brown, defined face so pious, humble and sincere. At a glance, one, without knowing the person, could read sterling qualities of a chosen man of God. The Rev. Dr. Timothy E.W. Donaldson was the superintendent of the St. John’s Baptist Churches, some 70-plus of them scattered among the islands, and the pastor of the St. John’s Particular Church of Baptists, located on Meeting Street. He was a bit taller than the pulpit but a giant in spiritual values. He was the consummate under-shepherd of the sheep and knew how to handle both the rod and the staff should occasion call for the rescue of a sheep.

Long gone to his reward, the St. John’s Church and churches continue to be the church under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Carrington Pinder.

In my youth, I enjoyed hearing sea stories from the Reverend Talmadge Sands as he visited aboard sailing mail boats to all the islands that were part of the also 70-plus churches comprising the Zion Group of Churches. Rev. Sands was from Eleuthera, tall and handsome and was of a hue not common among the pastors of his time. He spoke with an interesting accent that made you want to listen to him as he proclaimed the gospel in simple yet profound fashion. He loved his God and he loved his work and was also superintendent and pastor of Zion Baptist.

Rev. Sands is now among all the saints from their labor rest, but the church continues to sing from East and Shirley Streets, “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear,” and the present pastor, T.G. Morrison, loudly sounds the warning that the wages of sin is death.

The Rev. Harcourt W. Brown – whenever his name was called it rang bells – bells of freedom from oppression and ostracism, and bells that called a sinful people to repentance. He was eloquent. He was stern, yet charismatic, and well-read. His well-loved sermon “Son, of Man, can these bones live on?” remains a classic. He was the pastor of the historic Bethel Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist church in the nation and it still stands as a beacon of hope, a light in the darkness where bread for soul and body can be found. He was the moderator of the Bethel Association of Churches and a man for all seasons. Yes, he had come from “Obscurity to Open Sea”, as was the name of a book he had written, but his strong faith in God enabled him to weather many storms of life.

His life’s work on earth ended many years ago, but the truth of God’s word still goes forth by Rev. Timothy Stuart from the pulpit of Bethel Baptist Street on Meeting Street.

Samuel J. Stone (1839-1900), being aware of the continuous harassment and persecution suffered by the Christian church from its inception to the present time, and being convicted that the unity of the church must rest solely with a recognition of the lordship of Christ as its head and not on the views and interpretation of men, penned the beautiful and powerful hymn “The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ Her Lord”.

Two of the verses in keeping with our text hold steadfast and true – “Elect from ev’ry nation, yet one o’er all the earth, her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth; one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with ev’ry grace endued.

“Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed, yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, ‘How long?’ And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.”

Praise the Lord for the victory of the church over the foes of satan.

• E-mail haystreet241@gmail.com or rubyanndarling@yahoo.com. Write to P.O. Box 19725 SS Nassau, Bahamas, with your prayer requests, concerns and comments. God’s blessings.

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