Shelby County Today

July 20, 2017 - The movie "Forest Gump" is one of my all time favorite movies. It is a movie about a man who is simple minded.  And even though he had some mental handicaps, there was one thing that Forest could do; he could run. One of the main lines of the movie was "run Forest run." You see Forest ran for a lot of different reasons. He ran from bullies when he was a child. He ran for the University of Alabama football team when he went to college. He ran to save his wounded buddies in the Vietnam war. He once ran across the United States from coast to coast twice, just to think. You see, Forest new that life was all about running. We all, whether we want to or not, have to run in this life. We are all part of the human race.

What we need to decide is what we are running for; and If we are running this race, are we in it to win or just make a showing.

1 Cor. 9: 24 says, "Do you not know that all those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to win." Paul is telling us that in this race called life that we are in, it's like running in the Olympics. It takes much discipline and training to be a contender.
Winning the prize is what we should be running for. The prize that is offered is eternal life. I can think of no better prize to received.

God gives us a training manual called the Bible that gives us instructions, that if we follow will ensure our victory. Here are some of them:

1) Discipline. Any athlete knows that we have to discipline our minds and bodies to be competitive. We have to put "self" aside and learn to keep training even when we don't feel like it. The same is true in our spiritual life. Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23 "If you truly want to be my disciple, you must die to your self daily, take up your cross and follow Me."

2) Training. Training prepares our minds and bodies for what they will face in the race. Spiritual training is no different. We must train by praying, reading and meditating on Gods word, and fellowship with other believers. Titus 2: 11-12, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passion, and to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in the present age."

3) Staying Focused on the prize. When you are running a race and you turn and look back, you will automatically slow down or even worse, trip and fall. The same is true in life. Don't look back at where you have been, you can't change that. Stay focused on the race ahead so you can make adjustments and stay on track. Hebrews 12:1, " ..... let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith...."

4) Patience. Don't get in a hurry. Run your race. The race is not always to the swift but to the one who is patient. Isaiah 40: 31, "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not get weary."

We have the greatest coach and trainer in God. If we trust Him we will all be winners in life. Don't give up. Trust God and He will lead you to a victorious life.
                         
                                                                              I'm just sayin
                                                                              Mike Belgard

July 18, 2017 - House of Refuge Apostolic Ministries Pastor and members invite everyone to our Family and Friends Day program Sunday, July 23, 2017 at 3pm.

Guest speaker: Pastor Robert Lane of Sandridge Baptist Church Nacogdoches, Tx.

Everyone is invited! Lunch will be served.

July 17, 2017 - The worst thing about the East Texas summer isn’t sunburn, heat or humidity – its chiggers. They were commonly called “red bugs” when I was growing up during the 1940’s and 1950’s. There were times when I went fishing and the next day those annoying red bumps began to appear on my legs and torso. Then the itch began, and grew in intensity. From my feet and ankles upward, and especially at those tender locations my mother told me not to scratch in public, the maddening itch took hold. The itch would last for days, and even weeks. There was not much one could do to relieve the itch but grin and bear it.

I knew a man, an unusual man, who seemed to be immune to these juvenile forms of a mite, akin to a tick. His name was Ben Woods, my uncle. When my father’s sister, Margaret, married Ben, he was a candy salesman in the late 1930’s. Uncle Ben worked for a candy company. He would load his car trunk with all types of candy and traverse the dusty country roads of East Texas and western Louisiana. Aiming for small communities in the back woods, he would park his vehicle under a tree and honk his car horn repeatedly. Kids showed up in abundance to purchase his nickel candy, and earn a chance to try their luck at a punch card. If they punched out the right hole they could win even more candy or other prizes. He never seemed to attract any chiggers while working the back roads.

In the late 1940’s Uncle Ben got a job with the Texas Highway Department, the perfect job for him. His task was to search for gravel on private land that the department could lease from the owner then use it in new road construction or maintenance. This required Uncle Ben to roam through the forests of East Texas, parts of which required a machete to get through. Day after day he searched for gravel, often finding Indian arrowheads and other relics of the past. Still, he never seemed to be bothered by those small, red pests.

Perhaps he knew something that I did not know about them. One day I asked Uncle Ben a question, “What do you use to keep the chiggers off you?” He looked at me, a cigarette hanging from his lips, and chided me, “Well, son, it’s simple - bacon grease.” Surprised at his answer, I replied, “Are you kidding? Bacon grease?  Just how does that work?” He flipped the ashes off his cigarette, put his hand on my young shoulder, and explained, “What you do is smear bacon grease from your ankles up past your knees, a real good coat of it.” Was he kidding, or serious? I could not determine. “So, do the chiggers not like the smell or something?” I queried.
“Nope, it works like this. When the tick or chigger starts to climb up your leg he can’t get any traction, and simply slides back down. After a while it just gives up and jumps off.”

As a youngster I figured that this advice had to be real. After all it was from a man who practically lived in the thickets. I actually tried it a few times but stopped when my mother loudly complained about my greasy pants, and her lack of bacon grease to cook with. I think I finally figured out his secret – he used powdered sulphur, called sublimed sulphur.

Chiggers hate sulphur and definitely avoid it. Available at most pharmacies, it works well when it is dusted around the opening of your pants, socks, and boots.  Some people rub on a mixture of half talcum powder and half sulphur on their legs, arms and waist.

I recently asked a local surveyor the same question I asked Uncle Ben so many years ago.  He told me that he uses ordinary flea and tick collars usually seen on dogs. They are placed around his ankles and thighs, according to him, and they keep the ticks and chiggers off.  I wonder if that is an “Uncle Ben” answer?  What do you think?

July 17, 2017 - The Pastor and members of Saint Paul Missionary Baptist Church would like to invite you to our Annual Homecoming and Revival.

Homecoming: Sunday, July 23rd, 2017 at 3pm. Special guests will be Pastor M.E. Lyons and the Goodwill Baptist Church of Lufkin, Texas

Revival: July 24th - 28th, 2017 at 7pm nightly. Evangelist for the week, Arthur Douglas Jr., of the Evergreen Baptist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Everyone is invited!