Shelby County Today

August 29, 2017 - August 21, 2017, a day when many across our nation saw a phenomenon rarely seen from this hemisphere.

A partial to total covering of our sun as our moon passed between the earth and the sun.

Many scholars and scientists make claims of a solar eclipse being the cause of the time described in the Bible when the earth went into darkness as Jesus hung in agony on the cross.

Roman soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross and raised him up, they then divided his clothing among themselves and they and the people who were around wagged their heads at him in ridicule and scoffing.

The chief priests and elders also mocked him, saying; “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” (Matthew 27:42)

And then; “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.” (Matthew 27:45)

At the end of that ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit and was dead.
God the Father would not allow his Son to be ridiculed and mocked as he suffered the sins of all men. He paid a debt no other man could pay, he did not deserve to be mocked as he suffered once for all.

I contend that this was definitely not a solar eclipse for the Bible says, the darkness lasted for 3 whole hours, from noon until 3:00PM, and all the land was covered in darkness.

This is not possible for an eclipse. As the earth spins on its axis and rotates around the sun with the moon rotating around the earth, the time the moon remains between the earth and sun is but a few minutes in any given spot upon the earth, not 3 hours and certainly not covering the entire land at once. The total part of the eclipse of this past week covered only a narrow strip of the earth as it passed across America from west to east.

If you doubt the power of God to regulate the sun, moon and earth let me tell you of the day the sun stood still.

As Joshua and the Israelites moved across the Promised Land defeating city after city they finally were engaged by a group of 5 Amorite armies. God told Joshua to completely wipe out the 5 armies, leaving no man standing. As the battle raged Joshua saw that he would never be able to complete Gods command before the sun would go down that evening so he prayed to God.

“Sun, stand still at Gibeon and moon in the valley of Aijalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.” (Joshua 10:12-13)

The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole 24 hour day.

We must choose if we are to believe the Bible or those enlightened souls who seem to be educated far beyond their mental capacities.

I, for one, choose as did the great warrior Joshua; “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Never doubt the power of the Living God and never give his glory to anything or anyone else.

August 28, 2017 - In 1981 while I was living in Orange, Texas, I was invited to preach at the Hillcrest Baptist in my hometown of Center, Texas. On the Saturday evening preceding my Sunday appointment I went out to warm up the car (it was 24 degrees in Orange), and the car wouldn’t start! In a sudden semi-panic, I jumped into 2 pairs of pants, my Army long handles and put on my heavy overcoat. Then I crammed everything possible in the saddlebags of my Yamaha XS 1100 motorcycle and motored out to 96.

By the time I got to Buna, I knew I’d made a mistake. My warmest clothes, gloves and trusty bike fairing were no match for the freezing wind. I considered turning back, but after warming a while at the Dairy Queen, I continued on to Jasper. When I told a Jasper service station attendant I was going to Center, he said, “Son, Center’s 60 miles away” “You gonna freeze on that bike”. But since I was half to Mother’s, turning back was no longer an option.

I “throttled up” at San Augustine when I realized I had only 18 miles to go… but hadn’t counted on a surprise I’d get on Bland Lake hill. Center’s State Trooper Hal Wyatt spun off the shoulder behind me and pulled me over. After doing a double take of me, he said, “Doug, is that you?” “it’s 23 degrees in San Augustine… you were topping that hill at 85 miles an hour!” I promised to slow down and when I got to Mother’s house I could hardly talk and my hands and legs were completely numb. But a slow thaw at Mother’s heater, and a leg-warming with her electric blanket warmed me up for a great night’s sleep.

I learned the next day that fewer people were concerned about how cold I got than the ones who believed preachers should ever ride a bike… ever… in any weather. During the next two years, I made a few more appointments on it, but always in better weather and at shorter distances. I finally sold it when I took a pastorate in Louisiana.

I’ll never forget that cold trip to Center. I’ll also never forget my beautiful XS 1100 that got me there…

… and that never failed me.

August 25, 2017 - Have you ever really listened to wedding vows? I know that most all of us can say you have. But have you ever really contemplated what they are asking someone to do? You know that part that says "through sickness and health, for richer or poorer, forsaking all others, until death do we part." That's a commitment. As my old grandma used to say; "That's tying a knot with words that you can't untie with your teeth!"

What they are asking us to do is to be faithful to our spouse no matter what life throws our way. Its saying, I'm all in! I will not leave! I will stay with this person through any hardship. They can depend on you to always be there for them. That's what faithfulness is. We live in a day where faithfulness does not seem to be held in as high of a position of honor as it used to be. That includes even among many believers.

Long gone are the days when a handshake between two men was sufficient enough to ensure the integrity of a contract. People have lost "faith" in the faithfulness of others. We see that in the rise of divorces, law suits between friends and neighbors, as well as an overabundance of distrust among people. Faithfulness dies when selfishness flourishes. However, the contrary is also true; selfishness cannot survive where faithfulness lives.

The dictionary defines faithfulness as " enduring loyalty and trustworthiness". The seventh fruit of the Spirit, faithfulness, grows in us as we give our complete loyalty to God and become a trustworthy vessel for him to use. We forget sometimes as Christians how important faithfulness is. Let me ask you a question? Do you apply the same standards of faithfulness to your Christian activities as you do to other things in your life? For instance, if your car only started every third time you tried it, would you consider it reliable? If you just showed up for work once or twice a week, are you a loyal employee? If your fridge goes out every week, is it trustworthy? The answers to all theses questions is no! But we think we are good Christians when we just read our bibles occasionally, pray only when we are in trouble, attend church one or two Sundays a month, and that's only if we don't have anything else to do we think is more important.

God expects and calls us to be faithful as He is faithful. When the Spirit of Jesus resides in a person they have to be faithful. It is Gods character trait passed to them. That's why the writer of Hebrews said in 10:23 "And let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who has promised is faithful." Aren't we glad that Jesus was faithful to honor His commitment to us on the cross.

Faithfulness is something that we all expect out of others. However, if you claim to be a Christian, and faithfulness is not a part of your character, you may want to reexamine your relationship with the Lord. He tells us that our faithfulness will be rewarded when we stand before Him for judgement. In Matthew 25:23 he states this truth through the parable of the talents; "His Lord said to him, "well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord." Those are the words that every believer should want to hear when they stand at the gates of heaven.

Maybe you or someone you know has had problems with faithfulness in the past. There is still Hope. You can make it right from this day forward, because here's the good news. No matter how much trouble you have had with faithfulness in the past, Jesus is faithful to hear the prayer of repentance and deliver you out of any bondage you are in, and save you. Jesus says in Rev. 2:10 "Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life." He's waiting faithfully to hear your prayer.

I'm just Saying
Mike Belgard

August 22, 2017 - Patroon Baptist Church is hosting an Ice Cream Social on Saturday, September 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Curious about what God's doing at Patroon Baptist Church? Wondering if you could see yourself attending service with us? This is a great opportunity for you and your kiddos to have homemade ice cream while you meet our youth leaders, learn about and register your children for our Awana Club Program, see our facilities and find out what the upcoming season at Patroon Baptist has in store. We look forward to seeing you!