View BLISS for August, 2013

B L I S S
erean
oves
Rob Stroup: Senior Saints Pastor
ts
enior
August 2013
aints
Ray Bacon: Bliss Editor
Hebrews 5:14: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil
www.Berean-Baptist.org ->Ministries ->Seniors ->BLISS
Activities:
A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly (Pr 18:24)
08-06 Lunch-Out at Happy China on River Road & Oak Road intersection
08-11 After Glow after Sunday Evening service
09-20 Atlanta History Center day trip
10-22-26 Sight & Sound trip
Anniversaries:
08-02
08-04
08-13
08-19
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Mr 10:9)
Steve & Karen Hudson #33
08-20 Roger & Diane Wofford #36
Bob & Barbara Hutton #57
08-21 Jim & Gloria Hall #31
Doug & Linda Taunton #44
08-28 Harold & Judy Lindsey #58
Kermit & Sandra Natho #41
06-01-20 01-
Birthdays:
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age - to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:14)
08-01 Kim Darnell
08-12 Joe Knezevich
08-25 Mitch Jones
08-03 Cira Wiggins
08-14 Keith Jones
08-27 Virginia Twigg
08-11 Steven Roberson
08-16 Karen Hudson
08-28 Jim Pinkston
I was overwhelmed by all the cards, calls, and visits that I received during and after my recent open-heart operation. It
brought tears to my eyes to know that behind each of these were your sincere prayers for my safety and speedy
recovery. My recovery went fairly well until I fainted during a short walk in the park across the road from our house.
That generated a 911 call and an EMT ride back to the hospital to diagnose what caused it. After three days and nights
they discovered that one of my meds I had been taking for a completely differently problem had also affected my heart,
so they took me off that. But in checking my lungs they discovered that I had a quart of bloody flux in my right lung
that was affecting my heart and breathing, so that had to be drawn off by a long needle inserted through my back. Now
I have a lung doc. and a heart doc. to visit on a regular basis. Praise GOD for the docs. that found and fixed my heart
before I had a heart attack, which was not far away. And praise GOD for you and all the others that mentioned my
name to GOD in your prayers, many thanks! Ray Bacon
Our Golden Corral Lunch-Out July 2nd, pictures by Joy Bacon
************ Without a Doubt ****************
The Story of My Favorite Hymn
************ Pastor Rob Stroup **************
HOW GREAT THOU ART
In response to requests from many lands for an authoritative account of how this hymn came to be written,
the following has been compiled by the writer, Stuart K. Hine, and by the publisher, Manna Music, Inc.
In 1885, a Swedish preacher, by the name of Carl Boberg, at age 26, wrote the words only of a poem
entitled, “O Store Gud” translated into English is “O Great God”. A fairly literal translation from Swedish
into English, of the first verse and refrain of “O Store Gud”, is as follows:
O, GREAT GOD!
When I the world consider
Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word
And how the webb of life Thy wisdom guideth
And all creation feedeth at Thy board.
Refrain:
Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise
Oh, great God
Oh, great God.
The translation from Swedish to English is obviously different from the words we are familiar with today,
as found in Stuart K. Hine’s words of HOW GREAT THOU ART. After publication, the poem was
apparently forgotten, but several years later, Boberg attended a meeting and was surprised to hear his poem
being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody.
In the early 1920’s, English missionaries, Mr. Stuart K. Hine and his wife, ministered in Poland. It was
there they learned the Russian version of Boberg’s poem, “O Store Gud”, coupled with the original
Swedish melody. Later, under inspiration, Stuart K. Hine wrote original English words, and made his own
arrangement of the Swedish melody, which became popular and is now known as the hymn, HOW
GREAT THOU ART.
The first three verses were inspired, line upon line, amidst unforgettable experiences in the Carpathian
Mountains. In a village to which he had climbed, Mr. Hine stood in the street singing a Gospel hymn and
reading aloud “John, Chapter Three”. Among the sympathetic listeners was a local village schoolmaster. A
storm was gathering, and when it was evident that no further travel could be made that night, the friendly
schoolmaster offered his hospitality. Awe-inspiring was the mighty thunder echoing through the
mountains, and it was this impression that was to bring about the birth of the first verse.
Pushing on, Mr. Hine crossed the mountain frontier into Romania and into Bukovina. Together with some
young people, through the woods and forest glades he wandered, and heard the birds sing sweetly in the
trees. Thus, the second verse came into being. Verse three was inspired through the conversion of many of
the Carpathian mountain-dwellers. The fourth Verse did not come about until Mr. Hine’s return to Britain.
-Excerpts from http://www.mannamusicinc.com/hgta.htm
Psalm 8:3-4, 9 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou
hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?...
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
2013-07 pg3
Dinner-In pg 1 of 2
BLISS 2013-08
Dinner-In pg 2 of 2