Thank You!

It seems like it was just a short time ago that I received a phone call from Rick Marshall asking me if I would be interested in the position as Minster to Preschoolers and Children here at Eastern Hills. Just the night’before, Karen and I had prayed for God to open a door for a different ministry opportunity. Who knew it would be the next day!

We knew that Eastern Hills had a history of longevity with most of their staff. I also knew the history of Eastern Hills from my days at Forest Park. There were some things that were very important in a new church and a new community. Some had to be taken by faith, such as schools and some were more tangible like making sure that I would not spend my time at Eastern Hills begging for people to serve God and their church. I was assured that Eastern Hills was a church that served God and that I would never have to beg for teachers, leaders or helpers. At last count, there are over 450 positions in the children’s ministry which must be filled. This accounts for everything from Extended Session to the Fall Festival. Yet, with all of these, God has provided the workers and very few times have I worried that something would not be covered. With that said, there are quite a few people serving in 7 different positions or more.

Loving my family and viewing my children as” kids” and not “staff kids” was equally important. We had never lived near family, so my new church would have to love my family, especially my kids. Eastern Hills has stepped in and loved my family. Eastern Hills has indeed been an extended family to my family and me.

Missions and a desire to reach lost people were also important. I wanted to be sure that my new church was not going to be inwardly focused and blind to what was going on outside. I was thrilled when I learned about the mission trips that the Youth and RAs had been on. I was thrilled when I found out that Eastern Hills still did missions education. I am glad that the church allows me to go on mission trips serving Missionary families so that they, too, can find some rest. I do not know that I can list all that our church does for local, state, and foreign missions.

Evangelism was also important. This goes along with the missions, but I wanted to be sure that the leadership was actively involved in sharing the Gospel and that Eastern Hills was not just providing activities for activities sake. I am so glad that we have an active outreach program and that there is a burden for lost people.

We have a long way still to go to be a strong light on this hill. There are new times ahead of us that may pull us from our comfort zone. There are people to reach. There are lost people in the shadow of our church.

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I am excited to be part of Eastern Hills Baptist Church as we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, spread the Gospel here and then abroad.


Greg

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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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