+ Church Directory
+ Read the Bible Online (Link)
Contributing Writers: David Mathis | Tim Perkins
Past Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard
Faith
August 4, 2017 - Back-2-School Bash Saturday, August 12th at 6:00 PM. The fun will be at Old Home Baptist Church. There will be water games, hot dogs and treats. All activities are free. Directions: 9 miles North of Center on Farm Road 699, turn Left on County Road 4455. Call or text for more details. 936-332-9293
August 7, 2017 - Bennett Chapel Missionary Baptist Church of Shelbyville, TX announces Homecoming and Revival Services:
Annual Homecoming: Sunday August 13, 2017 at 3PM. Guest Speaker: Reverend Timothy Teel of the Bell Chapel Baptist Church of San Augustine Texas.
Revival Services: Wednesday August 16th - 18th at 7:30pm nightly. Speakers: Wednesday - Reverend Larry Thorn of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church Carthage Texas, Thursday - Bishop Stanley Lawson of Unity Tabernacle Longview, TX and Friday - Apostle Cornell Hamilton of From Bondage to Freedom Ministries Shreveport, LA
Bishop W. C. Martin and the members of Bennett Chapel Church invite you all to come worship with us.
August 4, 2017 - Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ of San Augustine, Texas is hosting a Healing & Deliverance Revival August 17 through August 19 7pm at nightly.
Guest Revivalist is Pastor Richard McCowin of Lone Star Baptist Church, Larue, Texas.
August 3, 2017 - Blessed, we hear this word so often, but what does it truly mean to be blessed by the Lord our God.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)
The blessed man sits himself apart from the evils of the world, even though he lives in the world, he is not a part of the world for he has been set apart by the Lord our God for his own good pleasure and not for the world.
The blessed man does the will and work of the Lord our God as he delights in doing God’s wishes. The blessed man delights in God’s Word as he studies and contemplates and reflects on the Word. Considering that the Word of God is what is to be done while on this earth.
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers.” (Psalm 1:3)
Being grounded in God’s Word gives the blessed man strength and faith allowing him to be fruitful in his works and worship of the Lord. As with a tree whose roots reach streams of water in summer, he does not falter when times become troublesome or he is persecuted for the name of the Lord our God. But he prospers in his faith and gains riches, laid up in heaven for the day of the judgment of the righteous.
“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” (Psalm 1:4) Without the leadership of the Holy Spirit the lost will be driven by the devil and will never stand with the righteous unless they repent of their sins and accept the Lord our God as their Lord and Master.
“Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, not sinners in the congregation of the righteous;” (Psalm 1:5)
There will be two separate days of judgement. First, the judgement seat of Christ that is spoken of here when the Lord returns for his own. We will all be lifted up in glory to meet him in the clouds and travel with the Lord to heaven where we will each stand before the Lord our God to be judged innocent of all sin and allowed to enter the Kingdom of God. To hear the words of Christ as he says; “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)
No sinner, no wicked person will ever be allowed to enter into this congregation of the saints.
“for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:6)
The Lord knows the righteous and delights in those who have kept his commands, but he will send the wicked into eternal torment on the day of the great white throne judgement when the wicked shall all stand before the Lord to be judged guilty of their sins and sentenced to eternity in the fires of hell. Jesus said on that day many will come before him crying that they have done good works in his name but because they never truly devoted their lives to him he will tell them; “and then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23)
To be blessed is to know the Lord and for the Lord to know you, devote your life to him and to do his wishes and commands and not those of the world.
May the Lord bless yo hand keep you and make his face to shine upon you this day…
August 1, 2017 - Mt. Zion Homecoming & Revival Services will start on Sunday, August 6th at 3pm with Rev. Delphine Thompson, Shepherd of Triumph Church, Center as the special guest.
Revival Services will be August 7th - 9th at 7pm nightly. Monday night speaker will be Rev. Marilyn Briggs, pastor of St. Paul C.M.E. Church, Nacogdoches.
Tuesday night speaker will be Rev. Karl Moore, pastor of Carroll Chapel C.M.E. Church Shelbyville. Wednesday night we will be closing our revival with Rev. Karen Christopher, pastor of Pine Flat C.M.E. Church, Nacogdoches. Rev. Elgena Weaver, pastor.
July 31, 2017 - I was going through a really rough time in my life a few years ago and was trying to make sense of all the things that were happening. I wondered why these things were happening to me. Every time I turned around it seemed like I was getting hit from a different angle with something. Like everyone else going through times like this, I had questions for God. Like; Why is all of this chaos taking place in my life? and; Where are you God? I prayed for answers to my questions for weeks.
One night I had a dream. I dreamed that I was back in junior high school playing football. I remembered how it was the first time I got to play in a game. It seemed like controlled chaos on the field. In my dream I was playing quarterback. As I approached the line of scrimmage, every one was in there places, lined up like they were supposed to be, nice and neat on both sides of the ball. Then when I stepped behind the center and the ball was snapped to me, the picture changed rapidly. People were running in every direction. I was running and dodging trying to keep from getting tackled. Finally, I see my receiver open down the field and throw him a pass and he catches it for a touchdown. Then God took me up to the press box and showed me the same play. This time I could see everything unfold. What I noticed was that at ground level, all you could see and hear was the sound of hitting, grunting, people falling and running in every direction. But from the press box, what you saw was a well thought out and executed play. Your perception of what was happening had everything to do with your vantage point.
God showed me that night in my dream that we are the players on the field. From where we are life is chaotic and out of control, but He is the coach in the press box. Right now we only have a view from at the ground level. But from above He is orchestrating a grand victory for our lives. When we accept His game plan and stick to it faithfully, we will always come home a winner. Jeremiah 29: 11-13 God tells His people, "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and pray to me and I will hear you. And you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Like a great coach God is always trying to lead you to victory. All you have to do is stop worrying about who you're playing and remember who you're playing for. Jesus has already won the game and He wants you on His team. No tryouts, no qualifying, just complete devotion to the team. Trust Him and bring home the victory.
I'm Just Sayin
Mike Belgard
July 31, 2017 - My wife, Clara, began her medical career in 1959 when she went to work for Dr. M. J. Buchele in San Augustine. She worked there several years along with Helen Farr until we moved to Houston in 1962. She then worked for several different doctors for the next twenty six years. She has the “inside scoop” of what really goes on behind the scenes in a doctor’s office.
Most of us see doctor’s offices as rather drab and usually full of sick people not on their best behavior. But, that view can be incorrect.
Clara was working for a Dr. Cruce in Houston on North Shepherd Street around 1964. She was receptionist/bookkeeper/lab assistant/nurse for the office. One spring morning when the waiting room was full of people waiting their turn, she heard someone cry out that there was a snake in the room. “A snake? I hate snakes! I am afraid of snakes, everybody knows that.” Clara thought as she responded to the distress call. But, she needed a weapon to fight off a dangerous snake and nothing could be found. She spotted a small cutting board on a cabinet. She grabbed it by its handle and rushed into the danger zone weapon at the ready.
The snake had coiled itself at the base of a pot plant. He was about a foot long and mostly green. “How did it get into our office?”, Clara wondered to herself. She mustered up all her gumption and quickly lay the cutting board on top of the snake, then stomped on it with her foot. The snake never knew what hit him. While this was happening, a male patient ran his finger up her back about the same time as a joke, which almost backfired. “Just for that I am giving you a shot with a square, rusty, needle”, Clara retorted.
The doctor never knew what was going on at the time, but found it amusing after it was over. However, Clara was not amused.
On another occasion a man walked into the same doctor’s office holding a cat in his arms. He walked up to the window and handed Clara the cat. He reported, “We don’t want the cat. Here, take it back.” She realized that he had mistaken their office for the Veterinary office located down the street. As the man turned to leave, Clara protested, “But, sir, this is a doctor’s office. The veterinary office is two doors down.” Apparently not hearing or understanding, the man looked over his shoulder and repeated, “I said we don’t want the cat. Just put it to sleep for all we care.”
As he walked out the front door, Clara raced after him with the cat in hand. She caught him in the parking lot and finally convinced him that he had brought the cat to the wrong office. He reluctantly took the cat back.
Back in the office Dr. Cruce kidded Clara, “Well, I see you almost got a new cat, didn’t you.” “I sure did, no thanks to you”, she replied.
Since Clara performed some lab tests for the office, she would normally take off her wedding rings to protect them from chemicals. On one occasion while she was taking her rings off they suddenly flew off her finger toward the floor, but she never heard them hit the floor. After performing the lab test, her number one project was to find her rings. She looked everywhere but could not find them. Even Dr. Cruce joined in the hunt but to no avail.
As a last resort, Clara asked Dr. Cruce if she could check the inside of his pant cuffs for the rings. He agreed and she found them there. The rings had apparently landed in his pant cuffs on their way to the floor.
Space prohibits me from relating several other incidents, such as getting her finger caught in the posting machine, accidentally breaking a finger by shutting a sliding door on it - she x-rayed it herself. She was even grabbed and kissed on three different occasions by male patients who apparently could not control their passion.
So, the next time you go to a doctor’s office you should realize that there could be some “doings in the doctor’s office” going on.
July 31, 2017 - Sunday wa s the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, in the midst of Ordinary Time on the Christian calendar. The Gospel Lesson from Matthew continues with the Kingdom parables. In today’s Gospel lesson—Matthew 13:11-33, 44-52—Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to five different things: a mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, a pearl, and a fishing net. Five common things related to the kingdom serve as a reminder that the Kingdom of God is close by. You can smell it—like you can often smell a coming rain shower. The Kingdom of Heaven is going to invade and embrace the earth.
Ms. Fannie had a really good lesson from the prophet Amos. As with other recent lessons, it is about the prophet answering the call. And as it is with other Jewish prophets, the call often requires sacrifice; further, criticism of what these prophets say can lead to alarm. From the high priest at Bethel, Amos is warned off criticizing the King or Israel. Amos maintains that he is not a prophet but a shepherd who has been called to prophesize.
All the month of July we have been collecting cans of spaghetti and ravioli for Community Christian Services. In August, with an eye to the fast-approaching school year, we will collect packages of new children’s underwear and socks. School will begin shortly for Shelby County school staff with the kids following after that. I believe our friends in DeSoto Parish will begin next week. I have spoken to a few kids, who all said they were ready for school to start. I remember years of driving a bus. The morning route was always the easier because it was cooler, and the kids were not wide awake. But by afternoon the kids were hot and ready to get home—and to be rambunctious on the way.
Last week we had a good program at Lakeside Assisted Living. For the first time since her illness, Mrs. Hilda played piano for all the songs. We’re glad to have her back in the saddle! Maggie and Gene were in fine fettle, with Gene singing a couple of solos—even a request for the difficult “It Is Well with My Soul.” Fannie, Ollie, and Sue all did readings. Nora read but also sang a couple of hymns. Pastor Matt told us about the first mention of music in the Bible—speaking of Jubal in Genesis. And I emceed the whole shebang!
Next Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, so at Paxton Methodist we will celebrate Holy Communion. Our day and time for our ministry at Focus Care of Center (Green Acres) has changed to the 2nd Thursday of the month (August 10) at 10:30.
“Whoever you are, in whatever faith you were born, whatever creed you profess; if you come to this house to find God you are welcome here.” Paxton United Methodist Church is an inviting church that takes to heart the idea of “Open Doors, Open Hearts, Open Minds.” Sunday School starts at 9:30 and Worship begins at 10:00. Our email address is paxtonumc@yahoo.com. If you would like the weekly email newsletter about Paxton Methodist you can send me your email address to the Paxton email address and I will add you to the list. Godspeed.
July 28, 2017 - The shepherd and members of Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ is hosting a Women's Conference on Saturday, August 19, 2017 at 10am at Pineywoods Outreach. Shepherd, Elder LaKendrick Bluford invites you to come and experience the power of God.
Speakers will be Sis. Stephanie Hicks of St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Center; District Mother Barbara Cloudy of Triumph Church, Center; Pastor Elgena Weaver of Mt. Zion CME, Center; and Missionary Carolyn Arthur of 1st COGIC, Carthage, Texas.
Pineywoods Outreach is located at 255 Haley Drive, Center, Texas. Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ is located at Hwy 87 South in Shelbyville, Texas.
Come experience the healing prayer of Prophetess Lydia Johnson of Morning Glory Worship, Center, Texas.
The Women's Conference is hosted by Elder Lakendrick and First Lady Denesha Bluford.
Hebrew 11:1 — Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
July 26, 2017 - Are your kids ready to chill out this summer?!?! Join us for some cool fun at Lydia Missionary Baptist Church Operation Artic VBS!!! August 7th-11th from 6:00pm - 8:30pm. All Ages welcome!!!
Kids will learn about the coolest book on the planet... the BIBLE as they enjoy songs, games & story time!!! A meal will be provided.
We're located in Huxley on FM 139. For more information call Pastor Michael McArthur at 936-368-2462.
Pages
