Due to the excessive number of absences, the following rules and practices will be put into effect immediately.
Sickness – NO excuse! We will no longer accept your doctor’s statement as proof. We believe that if you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to choir.
Leave of Absence (for an operation) – We are no longer allowing this practice. We wish to discourage any thoughts that you may need an operation. We believe that as long as you are in the choir, you will need all of whatever you have, and you should not consider having anything removed. We want you as you are and to have anything removed would certainly make you less of a singer than we bargained for.
Death (your own) – This will be accepted as an excuse, but we would like a two-week notice. We feel it is your duty to teach someone else all of your music before you go.
Also – Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom! In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical order. For instance, those whose names begin with “A” will go from 5:15 to 5:20 on the first Sunday of the month; “B” will go from 5:20 to 5:25, and so on. If you are unable to go at your appointed time, you must wait until the next month when your turn comes again. Thank you for your cooperation.
Some people say that I am a tough choir director – I JUST CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY!
Bro. J.E. (with tongue-in-cheek!)
My Mother taught me about ANTICIPATION...
“Just wait until your father gets home!”
My Mother taught me about RECEIVING...
“You are going to get it when we get home!”
My Mother taught me to MEET A CHALLENGE...
“What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you... Don’t talk back to me!”
My Mother taught me LOGIC...
“If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me.”
My Mother taught me about MEDICINE...
“If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way.”
My Mother taught me about HUMOR...
“When the lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”
My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT...
“If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.”
My Mother taught me about GENETICS...
“You’re just like your father!”
My Mother taught me about my ROOTS...
“Do you think you were born in a barn?”
My Mother taught me about the WISDOM OF AGE...
“When you get to be my age, you will understand.”
And my all time favorite – JUSTICE...
“One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!”
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Bro. J.E.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
You can’t cure stupid.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Live a good, honorable life; and when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Dr. Bubba
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and politicians at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.
Meanness don’t just happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
More next time,
Dr. Bubba
The following was the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just read straight through, and you’ll get the point.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman Trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Pageant.
4. Name the last six Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
5. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.
How did you do? The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They are the best in their fields. But, the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one.
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worth while.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier? The Lesson – The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, money, or awards. They are the ones that care.
Bro. J.E.
John and Charles Wesley found themselves out of favor with many fellow Anglican ministers who spurned their fiery evangelistic preaching. Many pulpits were closed to them.
A friend from his Oxford days, George Whitefield, who was having the same trouble, began preaching in the open air. In London, he asked Charles to stand with him as he preached to thousands in the open air at Blackheath, and Charles, too, got a vision for reaching the multitudes.
Charles made his first attempt in the outskirts of London. “Franklyn, a farmer, invited me to preach in his field,” he wrote. “I did so to about 500. I returned to the house rejoicing.” Soon he was preaching to thousands. “My load was gone, and all my doubts and scruples. God shone upon my path; and I knew this was His will concerning me.”
Charles Wesley still preaches today in much the same way through his ageless hymns, which are sung around the world each Sunday. Perhaps his most exuberant anthem is the one he called “Hymn for Easter Day.” It originally consisted of eleven stanzas. The “Alleluia’s” were added later. This is a hymn one never gets tired of singing.
Let us always sing joyfully, and with enthusiasm, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”.
Bro. J.E.
A boy went to a farmer and asked to be given a job working on the farm. The farmer asked, “Are you willing to work?” “Yes sir, I can sleep well on a windy night”, was his strange reply.
“Can I trust you to look after my things?” Again the boy replied, “Yes sir, I can sleep well on a windy night.” The farmer asked several questions seeking to determine if the boy was honest and trustworthy, but to each question, he got the same reply. He decided the boy might be a little bit strange, but there was something about him that the farmer liked, so he hired him.
The boy proved to be a good worker and everything went well until one night a big storm came up. The farmer rushed to the boy’s room. “Get up,” he shouted, “Let’s go tie down the hay stacks, put up the tools and secure the barn door!” But the boy was so sound asleep that the farmer could not wake him. Fearing to waste time trying to get him up, he rushed out to see about the things.
When he came to the hay stacks, he found them already firmly tied. He found the tools in their proper places in the barn and doors closed securely. As he went back into the house he realized what the boy had meant about sleeping well on a windy night. He meant that each day, he did as best he could, and even in the midst of a storm, he could sleep.
The moral of this story is that when you are prepared spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don’t need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
Bro. J.E.
One afternoon, Dave Moody sat at his piano and started playing. He said this about his famous song:
“The furthest thing from my mind was the writing of a song. My only purpose was to spend time with the Lord. Suddenly, I began to develop a melody – something I had never played before. And just as quickly came some words that I began to sing. When I finished, I realized that the Lord had given me a song. During the next few days, I played it for a couple of friends, just to see their response, which was very favorable.”
“The following Sunday, I sang the song a couple of times, allowing the congregation to learn it. I then asked them to sing it through with me. They did so and afterward sat with very passive and stoic expressions. I thought the song had flopped. I sang it through again with them. As we were finishing the song, the associate pastor, who was leading the service, asked that I sing it with them again. I did so, and as we were nearing the end of the song, I opened my eyes and saw the congregation of more than eight hundred people on their knees, with their hands raised toward heaven, singing my song.”
As Dave’s song is sung by people everywhere, and as the different names given to the Lord, such as “Morning Star.” “King of Kings,” and “Lord of Lords,” are sung, it creates a wonderful spirit of joy and worship.
ALL HAIL KING JESUS
Bro. J.E.
“Change My Heart, O God” was written by Eddie Espinosa. He tells this account of how he came to write this beautiful song:
“The year was 1982. I had been a Christian since 1969, but I saw a lot of things in my life that needed to be discarded. The closer you get to the Lord, in all of His brightness, the better you can see the things in your life that need to be changed. But I had slowly become very complacent. I prayed to the Lord, ‘The only way that I can follow you is for you to change my appetite for the things that draw me away. You must change my heart!’
“Shortly thereafter, I was in my car on the way to my work, feeling a desire to draw near to God but with the wrestling still going on in my heart. Suddenly a melody and some words began to flood through my mind. I wrote the words on a piece of paper and kept the melody in my mind.
“During those days I taught a weeknight home Bible study group. I shared my song with them, and someone from the group told the pastor that I had written a song that would be good to use during an altar call. The pastor asked me to share it with the congregation. From that point on, I began to get reports that my song was being taught in many other places.”
As we have seen in this story, asking God to change us calls for a very definite and resolute decision – asking Him to change our hearts, the control center of our beings, the place where we decide what we will think, say, and do.
Bro. J.E.
A sick man turned to his pastor, and said, “Pastor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.”
Very quietly, the pastor said, “I don’t know.” The man exclaimed, “You don’t know? You, a pastor, do not know what is on the other side?”
The pastor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining. As the pastor opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the man, the pastor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was in here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I don’t know everything about what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing.....I know that my Master is there, and that is enough.”
There are many things we know about heaven from the scriptures, and there are many other things that we do not know. The most wonderful thing that we do know is that our Master is there.
Thank you, Jesus, for preparing a place for us, and being there to welcome us home.
Bro. J.E.
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