From Where I Stand
Maynard H. Belt
MARBC State Representative

Introducing the New MARBC State Representative Elect
by Pastor Tom Townsend
MARBC Search Committee Chairman
First Baptist Church, Rochester
​
After months of searching, hours of prayer and interviews, it is my privilege to introduce to you our new State Representative for our MARBC. Before I do that, I want to thank the members of the Search Committee: Mark Cizauskas, Doug Compton, Doug Crawford, Will Davis, and Bob McNeil for their wisdom and insight as we fulfilled this assignment. I also want to thank our MARBC Fellowship for their encouragement and input as many shared ideas and potential candidate names, always looking to God for His mind and His direction in this important matter. As a Search Committee, we coveted your prayers and encouragement. Thank you for your investment in this important matter.

From Where I Stand
Maynard H. Belt
MARBC State Representative

The Power of A Midnight Song!

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
​
No doubt by now, in my writings, you are well aware that I enjoy reading the sermons of George Morrison (1866-1928), a Presbyterian pastor and preacher born in Scotland. The pastor of Wellington Church, Glasgow, the last twenty-six years of his life, his ministry primarily consisted of personal visits, postcards and letters for all those in his care who were sick or in sorrow or in trouble. He chose not to serve on committees, preferring to spend his time in what he considered the most important responsibilities to his church – mornings in study and afternoons in visiting his congregation. Many of his sermons and devotional thoughts have been put in print. In his volume entitled, Wind on the Heath, he has a sermon entitled, “Unconscious Ministries,” wherein he states that all of us exercise unconscious ministries and opportunities of making others aware of the goodness and grace of God in our lives. He references Paul and Silas, who sang at midnight while under adverse circumstances, not particularly paying attention that the prisoners were listening to them.