November 3, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Friday, November 3.
It's here again - Time Change Weekend. This is the good one - "fall back". We get an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night, and if you forget to reset your clocks - you'll be early for church.
November 2, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, November 2.
When you walk into most Baptist churches, you'll find a room called The Fellowship Hall. It's a room where the church family gathers, gathers for potluck meals, for special occasions, for, well, fellowship. That's kind of a "church" word - fellowship. It's our word for what the world would call a party. We had a big party at our church last night, a fellowship, and a great time was had by young and old.
November 1, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, November 1.
On this day, in 1512, the public first viewed one of the world's greatest artistic achievements - the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Located seven stories above the floor, it's covered with a mural painted by Michelangelo. He toiled for four years to produce the masterpiece, standing precariously on a wooden scaffold, with his neck awkwardly craned backwards.
October 30, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, October 30.
The weather has turned cold here today! And so, just on the threshold of Halloween and the month of November, we're getting in the holiday spirit! First Baptist Center is busy preparing our holiday event, Journey to Bethlehem, and you can find out more about it on Shelby County Today website.
October 27, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Friday, October 27.
I love spirituals. I love their simplicity, their honesty. These American songs, created by the African American church before the Civil War, are filled with courage and inspiration. They often contain a touch of melancholy, but also a sense of hope. They are, in every sense of the word, songs of the heart.
October 26, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Thursday, October 26.
Here's a very specific question about heaven. What will it sound like? Well, I think I may have gotten a small taste of that sound yesterday.
There's a Mennonite community here in deep East Texas, and yesterday they assembled at my church for a wedding. The ceremony included eight congregational hymns. The 300 voices, unaccompanied by musical instruments, and in perfect four-part harmony, filled our sanctuary. The sound was ethereal. It was angelic. It was heavenly.
October 25, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, October 25.
Autumn shows its colors late here in East Texas. We’re on the threshold of November, but trees are just beginning to turn. Up north, the change happened weeks ago. Have you ever wondered what causes the reds and golds to appear? Well, in a word, it’s all about chlorophyll, or really the lack of it.
October 24, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, October 24.
In 1922, Albert Einstein was 42 years old, and generally considered the greatest scientist on earth. That year he would receive the Nobel Prize in physics for his Theory of Relativity. But today's devotion is about another of his theories - the theory of happiness.
October 23, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, October 23.
Yesterday, we welcomed a guest teacher to our church. He was an expert in the area of Apologetics. That's a term that, perhaps, isn't widely known or well understood. The word comes from the Greek "apologia." That sounds like our word "apology," but has more in common with the legal term, defense.