Dear brethren,
Linda and I want to thank you most sincerely for your support of our work together for the Lord in 2009. Our Lord and Savior stated, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37) and it is evident from your ongoing support (in spite of the economy) and even, in some cases, an increase in the amount of your support from the previous years, that you truly love the Lord our God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
When someone purposes to support a work in a very generous and continuous way, what does this say about their spiritual heart? Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart" (Matthew 15:18). The things that come out of the mouth originate in the heart, and if they are evil it indicates an impure and defiled heart but "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things" (Matthew 12:35). Our supporters give from the good treasures of their hearts and thereby teach many good things. What can we learn from such goodness?
• A good heart is a thinking heart and will think on good things (Philippians 4:8).
• A good heart is wise and understanding and will strive to obey our God (Psalm 111:10).
• A good heart is one that knows God and that He will reward it’s diligent effort (Hebrews 11:6).
• A good heart is one that believes in the peace that God offers and that it passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
• A good heart is one that purposes to do right, reasons, has spiritual aspirations and desires, one that repents and moves forward, does not presume evil but shows agape love for all others, feels grief, sorrow, and compassion for all others, and that will live forever. And this list could go on and on.
Now how do we know that our supporters possess such heart? The heart is the soil of the soul and when the Word of God, "the seed" (Luke 8:10), is sown in the heart and takes sufficient root, it produces these (and many more) characteristics seen in a Christian’s life. A good heart realizes that the only way to open the human heart of man is by teaching him the Gospel of Christ. Since you sow the seed of the Gospel through our work together with Truth for the World (and we are sure through many other good works), you are exposing your heart. When others see this, they see Christ in you. Since Christ is "meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29) and you are like Christ (a Christian), others know of your good heart.
Brethren, we do not know what 2010 will bring. Things happen that cause change and those who love the Lord and His Word must never compromise the Word but make changes in their lives to accommodate such things. It is our prayerful hope and utmost desire that all will obey and please our God. It is also our prayer that our godly supporters will stay with us in 2010 and beyond and all this for the glory of God.
Thank you once again and may our God bless all your Gospel endeavors according to His good will. Happy Holidays?
(In 2010, would you please make all your checks out to the Hill Mission Fund and mark them for Jimmie Hill. This will help us in our bookkeeping and bank deposits.)
In Christ Who Saves,
Jimmie B. Hill
Greetings from Georgia!
Naturally, the really big news of the month is . . . Jimmie is cancer-free!! After almost 2 years of disastrous health issues it was a wonderful relief to hear that. Thank you again for all of your prayers and concern. You have been a blessing to us during a very difficult time.
Speaking of difficult times, I just marked my 10th year with Truth for the World. I started part-time in 1999 just after we learned that our sponsoring congregation had asked us to find a new home and that home turned out to be in another state. I went full-time when we moved the office to Georgia that November and have felt like I was in the midst of a whirlwind ever since. I have been repeatedly startled by some of the problems we have faced with this mission work, but always thrilled by the news of the souls we have touched. In the 11 years since Jimmie took on the work with the correspondence courses more than -
• 700,000 new students have enrolled
• 225 new congregations have been established
• 14,000 lost souls have been baptized
It’s stats like this that keep us hanging on in the whirlwind.
One of those winds blowing me this month is the computer switch the secretaries are making. Our eMacs have been great for years, but they are dying from old age. They have also fallen so far off the grid that updating ideas were quickly dropped. Therefore, the secretaries are switching to PCs to be compatible with the rest of the staff, and because replacement cost was 50% less. My big challenge now is re-creating ALL of the MANY databases kept here in MS Acess and getting our previous Filemaker info to flow into them. If I can I will save TFTW about $1,000 now and more down the road, so wish me luck!
And I wish you a very Happy Holiday!
In Christian Love,
Linda Hill
