+ 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
September 10, 2026 - The Lily of the Valley Church of God in Christ (COGIC) church is celebrating its 112th Church Anniversary at 3pm on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
Guest speaker will be Supt. Fremon Bryant, Superintendent of the Shelbyville District. The Pastor and Congregation look forward to your attendance. Come and celebrate with us!
The church is located at 620 Greer Street, Center, TX 75935.
Elder Cleon D. Williams, Sr., Pastor
September 10, 2026 - As the story goes, a businessman was sitting at his desk. All around him were bills, letters and other evidence of the details of his business that he was totally absorbed in. The minister of the church entered, anxious to discuss the man’s soul. The businessman said, “I’m sorry. You must excuse me brother, I am too busy to take time for that today.”
Politely, the minister asked, “When shall I call on you again?” The businessman replied, “I really don’t know. I have a lot to attend to.” With a sad and heavy heart, the minister excused himself and the businessman returned to his paper work.
A few days later, a disagreeable stranger stepped into the businessman’s office and laid a cold hand on his shoulder. “Come, you must go home with me” the visitor demanded. The businessman laid down his pen, closed his desk and left. He had no choice. A cold chill settled on him as images of so many things left unfinished flashed before his eyes. The name of his visitor was death.
We may think we are so busy we don’t have time to obey the Lord and live His kind of life. However, we will someday not be too busy to die. Can you find time for Bible Study and Worship on the Lord’s Day?
It’s something to think about... tbp
Come and Join us For Worship!
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
September 7, 2026 - Logansport Missionary Baptist Church will be in Revival September 21-25 at 7pm nightly. Bro. Hayden Wilkes will be bringing the message each night. Come join us in hearing God's word. Specials are welcome.
September 7, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, September 7.
Have you heard about the zombie churches of Europe? Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Actually it’s more sad. The term refers to the thousands of churches there that have closed their doors during the last generation. It’s a cautionary tale for our congregations here in the United States.
During the 1950’s, church attendance averages in Europe began to fall and have continued to fall each year since. Right after World War II more than 90% of Europeans went to services each Sunday. Today that number is less than 25%, with some areas in the single digits. The secularization of the continent is almost complete.
One result of this alarming change is the closure and abandonment of thousands and thousands of houses of worship - zombie churches. Many have been torn down. Many others have been transformed into community centers, gyms, hotels, restaurants. Some are even nightclubs and breweries. The photographs online are surreal and sad.
This cataclysmic development didn’t occur over centuries. It has all happened within my lifetime. What will happen to the American Church within the lives of my children? It is a cautionary tale and reminds us of the wisdom found in Hebrews 10:23-25. “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
September 3, 2026 - The members and Pastor of Carroll Chapel CME Church in Shelbyville invite you to their Annual Homecoming Sunday, September 13, 2026 at 3pm.
Guest speaker will be: Rev. Frankie Cooper of the Social Point Missionary Baptist Church in Tenaha, Tx.
Everyone is invited.
September 1, 2026 - Blount Chapel Baptist Church will be hosting their Family and Friends Day on Sunday, September 6, 2026, at 3pm with Byron Coutee, Jr., Pastor.
Everyone is invited to the church to “Be Our Guest.”
Special guest will be Pastor Terrance Hicks, Power of The Word Ministries - Nacogdoches, TX.
Blount Chapel Baptist Church is located at 298 CR 3760 Center, TX.
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17
August 31, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 31.
I’m writing today’s devotion from one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. It’s a place that combines history and music and food - three of my favorite things! I’ve had the pleasure of coming here about 20 times over the years, and I always take a moment to go to the great St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square in the French Quarter, the church with the three spires that overlooks the Mississippi River. I went to the service there yesterday morning and it was beautiful and inspiring. In all my visits to the Big Easy, this was the first trip that included a Sunday. But it wasn’t the first mass that I attended in New Orleans. That occurred on Tuesday, August 29, 2006. The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
I decided to attend the first anniversary ceremony that year at the cathedral, as did President George W. Bush (we traveled separately). The 300-year-old church seats about a thousand people, and it was standing room only on that hot summer morning. Leaders from across the country, the state, and the community were in attendance, plus a lot of locals, first responders, and ordinary visitors like me. The service was basically a time of prayer, spoken and silent, remembering the lost (1400 souls) and the rebuilding (200 billion in damage).
There was lots of music. Some pieces, by Bach and Mozart, that you’d expect in a cathedral. And some music, black gospel and jazz, that you’d expect in New Orleans. And then the service was ending and there was one more song. A song by a Jewish composer from New York. A song that always appears whenever our country faces war or crisis or tragedy. It was a song appropriate for that day, twenty years ago this weekend, in New Orleans. A song appropriate for any day. Sing it again this morning.
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
God bless America, my home sweet home
God bless America, my home sweet home
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
August 27, 2026 - Out in the backyard not long ago, I saw some, as we always called them “lightning bugs.” Suddenly, in my mind, I was about five or six years old again and trying to catch them and put them in a jar. I remember that one of the big challenges of those little bugs (some call them fireflies) was that their light didn’t last very long and they were hard to find when their light was out. Well, that made me think about what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16. He was telling his followers, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
That brings up another question. What kind of light am I? Is the light that I shine for the world to see the intermittent, fleeting light of a lightning bug? A match will give you light for a moment, but usually goes out before it does any good. A candlelight gives a faint light but is easily obscured. A gas light gives a bright light but may be blown out by the wind.
When I think of the kind of light, Jesus wants us to have, I think of the great lighthouses on the rocky sea coast. They stand tall, their light shines bright and it is easily seen. Moreover, their light warns of the rocky coast and at the same time serves as a beacon to the safety of the harbor. Is that not what we are to do as Christians? Warn a world lost in sin of the dangers of being lost and at the same time serve as a guide to lead the lost to Jesus? What kind of light are we?
It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
August 24, 2026 - Anchored in Faith Awana Youth Ministry 2026-2027 will kick off on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 from 6-8pm at Jackson Missionary Baptist Church.
The Awana Youth Ministry is for ages 3 through 12th grade. Join us for an exciting evening of fun and food and games including fishing game for little ones, water bucket relay, four square, around the world ping pong, ships and sailors, and more!
Jackson MBC is located at 11620 State Hwy 7 East, Joaquin, Texas.
August 24, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 24.
On August 24, 1919, Ray Caldwell was on the mound for the Cleveland Indians. Caldwell seemed to be nearing the end of a once promising baseball career. In better days he starred for the Boston Red Sox, playing alongside a young phenom named Babe Ruth. But time, and alcohol, had dimmed his once bright light. The Red Sox waived him and he was hoping to restart his career in Cleveland. This was his first game with the new club.
Caldwell was pitching well that summer day, carrying a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning. He got the first two batters to pop out, when suddenly a storm blew in off of Lake Erie. As a light rain began to fall, the umpires still hoped to get in a complete game. And then something happened that Cleveland players, and baseball historians, still talk about to this day, 107 years later. Suddenly the ballpark was struck by a bolt of lightning. Each of the fielders later reported feeling tingling in their arms and legs, but they remained standing. And then their eyes moved to the pitchers mound. There was Ray Caldwell, lying spread-eagled . . . smoke rising off of his chest. The catcher ran to him, reached down, and received an electric shock. The entire team and the whole crowd looked on in horror.
And then Ray Caldwell sat up.
If the story had ended there, it would be memorable enough. But after being struck by lightning, and before being taken to the hospital, Ray Caldwell asked for the baseball and proceeded to pitch the final out for a complete game win. Later he said, “It felt like somebody came up behind me with a two-by-four and hit me over the head with it”. Caldwell got knocked down, but he got back up. His remarkable story reminded me of countless Bible stories. His character reminded me of characters like Job and Jonah and Elijah and Moses and David and Peter. People of the Word who failed and were then restored, who were ended and then began again, who got knocked down and then got back up. The Apostle Paul belongs on that list, and these are his words to us this morning.
We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:7-9
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
Pages
