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A Note From Dale

Thankful, Thankful, Thankful

Again, Lanelle and I express our appreciation for your warm, cordial Christian reception of us. It is a privilege to serve the Lord by serving His people called Eastern Hills Baptist Church.

Be Faithful

I read in another church‘s bulletin about Lila Craig. She is from Tennessee and has not missed a church service in over 20 years. For 1,040 consecutive Sundays, she has attended her church. A local newspaper editor wrote “It makes you wonder: What’s wrong with Lila? Doesn’t it rain or snow in Lila’s neighborhood on Sunday? Doesn’t she have unexpected company? Doesn’t she ever take a break to attend picnics or family reunions or have headaches, colds, or tired feelings? Doesn’t she oversleep or need time to read her newspaper? Hasn’t she ever become angry at the minister or had hurt feelings and felt justified to stay home? What’s wrong with Lila Craig? As a matter of fact, NOTHING is wrong but a lot is right. We NEED more like Lila, who loyally serve Christ and His Church.”
There are some members at EHBC who give Lila a run for her money. You are faithful week by week. Keep up the good work. You are an inspiration to me and to all.

Appreciation To One Of Yours

Candace McIntosh, a member of EHBC, Sunday School Teacher, Acteens Leader, has just celebrated her fifteenth year as the Executive Director of the Alabama Baptist Women’s Missionary Union. Congrats Candace!
Most people don’t realize the size of the Alabama Baptist State Convention: 3,300 churches, over one million members. If the Alabama Baptist State Convention seceded from the Southern Baptist Convention and became a denomination of its own, it would be the ninth largest denomination in the U.S. One in every five Alabamians is connected with an Alabama Baptist church. Jerry Clower was right, “Baptists and kudzu are taking over the south.”

He Who Laffs Last

A senior citizen said to his eighty-four year old friend:
“I hear you’re getting married”
“Yep!”
“Do I know her?”
“Nope!”
“This woman, is she really good looking?”
“Not really.”
“Is she a great cook?”
“Naw, she can’t cook real well”
“Does she have lots of money?”
“No. Poor as a church mouse.”
“Well, why in the world do you want to marry her then?”
“Because she can still drive!”

Remember: Be Prayerful. Be Faithful. Be Patient.

Blessings! Dale Huff

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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