Eastland eBulletin 11.26.06
Reminders
Area Meetings
- December 8-10 — North Madison (IN)
- Remember the kid’s bulletin in the foyer.
- Today’s speaker is Cloyce Sutton. Copies of his sermon notes are in the foyer.
- The meal fund has been depleted. If you would like to contribute, see Brenda Crowder or Alethea Sutton.
- “We can’t restore the New Testament church to our communities until we restore a sense of community to the church.”
Monthly Duties
- Transportation: Sutton, Bratton
- Lord’s Supper: S Durbin, D Norris
- Meals: Alethea Sutton
- Deacon: T Price
- Usher: K Swisher
- Sound: J Norris, J Price, N Sutton
Wait a Minute!
By Cloyce Sutton II
It was impossible to dislike Don Boatright.
What made Don so likeable, and even loveable, was his genuineness. There was not even a hint of duplicity with him. When he asked how you were doing, he meant it. If he spoke his opinion, you knew he was speaking from the heart. If he thought something was funny, you could not keep him from laughing.
Jesus once described his followers as “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8). Phillips translates the verse, “Happy are the utterly sincere, for they shall see God.” It is the very opposite of hypocrisy (which originally referred to stage acting). It means that disciples do not behave differently around different groups of people. It means that their actions proceed from pure motives, and that there is never a need or desire to deceive or pretend.
Don Boatright was pure in heart. He was utterly sincere. He was genuine.
He genuinely loved life. Whether he was talking politics, family, spiritual matters or the Tennessee Volunteers, he was excitable.
He genuinely loved his family. He and Mary had a special, charming relationship. He was always proud of his children, and always concerned about their well-being. He beamed whenever he saw his grandchildren. His last night at home, he spent playing with Kate and Ty on his bed. He and Ty watched Caillou and shared a banana.
Most of all, he genuinely loved the Lord. He was always available to do work around the church building, and often did things without being asked. He offered encouragement to members who were struggling, and rebuke to members who were negligent. He especially loved the younger members. Whenever young people were baptized, he would buy them a gift. He was always ready to talk about how things could improve things at Eastland.
Every local church needs members like Don Boatright. His kind of commitment, his zeal, his servant-mind, and his diligence are the qualities that make local churches thrive. His godly life should inspire younger Christians to imitate his commitment, to aspire to service, and to learn the joy of life lived in Christ.
As we sat together in the hospital’s emergency room on Thursday, the family reminisced about some of Don’s mannerisms. One that immediately came to mind was his standard retort, “Wait a minute!” Julie said that he would be “getting out his spread sheet.” It was Don’s way of making sure he understood what was happening or being discussed.
In my mind’s eye I can see the Lord greeting Don at the gates of heaven. I can imagine Jesus telling Don, “Brother, I have a place just for you.” I can see Don’s wide grin and twinkling eyes. And, as he takes in the heavenly panorama, I can hear him say, in his finest Tennessee drawl, “Wait a minute!”
For Don, the wait is over.
The Fruit of Our Lips
By Dwayne Laws
Thankless folks do few thankful deeds. Those who do not pause to frequently remember God with thanks cannot expect to be remembered by Him with favor. To enjoy God’s blessings without thanking Him for them is like drinking from the stream without remembering the spring. In seeking more than we need and not being thankful for those things, we seriously diminish the joy of what we have.
A day without praise and thanksgiving for Christ is a day for which we must give account. “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16). The fruit of our lips and the fruit of the Spirit are both the product of the same branch of the vine -- a saint in the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). A saint is happiest when he counts blessings and remembers their source. To know and be thankful for the regenerated life is to gather flowers. To live the regenerated life is to weave them into garlands.
“Being enriched to all bountifulness which causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11). If being enriched to all bountifulness does not cause us to thank our God, it causes Him to condemn us. One is truly thankful only when he understands the cost of that which is given and his own inability to attain it without help.
Are we putting the source of all things in the minds of our kids? Is the bounty of our lives seen by our children as that which we, by our own wisdom and efforts, attained? Or, do they see the wonderful blessings which most of us enjoy as gifts from our Spirit Father? Our children will see what our lives and words reflect. If there is little overt and sincere thanksgiving to God in our lives, there will be even less in the lives of our children.
Greatest Tragedies
There are two tragedies in life,
And, most of us have met them.
The first is not to get the things we want;
The second is to get them.
And, most of us have met them.
The first is not to get the things we want;
The second is to get them.
By Dwayne Laws
