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Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard | Tim Perkins
Faith
August 1, 2023 - Please join Abundant Love Ministries located at 1426 Shelbyville Street in Center, TX for our annual Back to School Revival on August 10-12, 2023. Starting at 7pm Thursday 10th and Friday 11th and 10am Saturday August 12, 2023. Speaker: Pastor John Russell Calvary Tabernacle Alexandria, LA.
August 1, 2023 - Strong Triumph Church invites you the 8th Anniversary honoring Shepherd, Elder Faye Dell Allen and First Gentleman, Bro. Adrain Allen on August 5, 2023 at 6pm. located at 2611 CR 2545, Shelbyville, Texas 75935. Guest Speaker: Presider Corey McCowen, Shepherd - Triumph Church Tyler, Texas. For more information please call Sis Taye Hewitt 936-201-8797 or Sis Lynette Cartwright 936-221-2935.
July 31, 2023 - Back in the fifties, I became pastor of the Bonaldo Baptist Church in Nacogdoches county. Located near the Angelina River, the church had an old log cabin parsonage (inhabited mainly with rats and snakes) and their ancient water well was filled with years of “dinner on the ground” leftovers. So I asked Buddy Pratt, a college friend, to help me clean it out.
I went down in the well and filled buckets while Buddy “pullied” them up and emptied them. After a few minutes in the well, I suddenly gasped for breath and feebly called out for help. I grabbed a rope and tied it under my arms… and in an unbelievable show of willpower, Buddy pulled me out. As I lay recovering my senses, Patricia Smith shouted from across the dirt road, “Mama wants to know if y’all are hungry.”
After a generous bait of pinto beans, cornbread and buttermilk, we headed back to college. As we sang along with some peppy gospel songs on XERF, I noticed my ‘55 Ford speedometer was reading 85 mph, so we played some slower music.
I’ve pastored a good many small country churches since that day and have eaten a lot of cornbread and beans with the members. But I’ve never gone down into another one of their water wells.
And I never will, either.
July 31, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 31.
On this day, 35 years ago, my oldest daughter was born. It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from a Fort Worth hospital. And around this time, 17 years ago, she left our home for college. That's a scene that's being replayed in countless families again this year, a moment, perhaps more than any other, that serves as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood.
When a child is suddenly out in the world and on their own, the parents worry about whether they've done everything they could to prepare them. In that moment we're reminded of Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it."
God gives us many precious promises in His Word, but this verse isn't a promise, it's a principle. We've all seen examples of godly parents, who have done their best, but who end up grieving over a child that has made poor choices, a child that ends up departing from the way that they were raised. Our children are individuals with freedom to choose their own way. Proverbs 20:11 tells us, "Even a child is known by their deeds, whether what they do is pure and right".
I am certainly not a perfect parent. But, today, I am blessed to wish a happy birthday to a daughter who is kind and capable, funny and faithful, loving and lovable.
And I am thankful.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
July 31, 2023 - White Rock Missionary Baptist Church's Blessing of the Backpacks will be on Sunday, August 13, 2023 at 5pm. Bring your backpack and enjoy a Sundae before service. Help us pray for a great school year.
July 27, 2023 - At long last and after an extensive search, the perfect preacher has finally been found. His knowledge is deep, his delivery is eloquent and he preaches only 15 minutes. He condemns sin in unmistakable terms and does not offend anyone.
He works from 8:00 a.m. until midnight, including janitorial and maintenance work. He makes $300.00 per week, wears good clothes, guys good books, drives a nice car and gives $100.00 per week to the church.
He is 28 years old and has 30 years preaching experience. He has one brown eye and one blue eye and a great shock of hair on a distinguished bald head to that he is perfectly wonderfully handsome.
He relates well with teenagers and spends all his time ministering to older folk. He smiles with a straight face because his well developed sense of humor keeps him seriously dedicated to his work in a no nonsense manner.
He makes 15-20 calls per day on church family, shut-ins and sick folks while spending most of this time evangelizing the lost being always in his office when needed.
Note: Of all of God’s creation, only men and women are able to laugh and to smile. Hopefully, this brought a smile to your face and a chuckle to your heart.
It’s something to think about... tbp
Join Us for Worship this coming Lord’s Day at Center Church of Christ or online at www.centerchurchofchrist.com.
July 26, 2023 - Mount Calvary Full Gospel Church 5th Sunday Night Singing starts at 6:pm on July 30, 2023 at 5527 FM 417 East, Shelbyville TX 75973. For more info call 936-590-1040.
July 24, 2023 - The House of Refuge Ministries will be having Family and Friends Day Sunday, July 30 at 3pm on 215 Church Street, Center.
Speaker will be Patricia Coleman of Perfect Love Ministries in Mabank, Texas.
Everyone is invited.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you...” James 4:8
July 24, 2023 - The combination of sandy roads, spring branches and a plentiful food supply has made Center, Texas’ Sand Hill Community an ideal nesting place for exotic birds from Mexico and Central America. Located about six miles south of Center, Texas, it remains one of the most beautiful parts of Shelby County Texas. My Dad explored these sandy roads when he was a youngster and took all ten of us there many times as we were growing up. Instead of vacations to The Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, we made ours to The Sand Hills… to Big Ditch and Gunnel’s Cave… which were only a short drive from of our house in Center. After becoming adults, we all made frequent trips home to see Mother and to re-explore the Sand Hill roads with her.
Back in the 70’s I asked my sister Jeri in Texarkana to meet me at Mother’s and spend a day in the Sand Hills with her. We left her house early one August morning and after a drive through the Snow Hill, Short and Jericho communities, we wound up taking pictures and picking Sand Hill grapes along a sandy road near Gunnel’s Cave.
Suddenly, I spotted a handsome lizard basking in the sun about fifteen feet off the road. As I complained to Mother about the lizard being too far away to photograph, Sis quietly touched my shoulder and whispered, “Let me talk to the lizard.” I nervously looked all around to see if anyone was watching us. Then as we walked toward him, she began: “Don’t be afraid.” “We won’t hurt you.” “Hen Doug just wants to take your picture.” After telling the lizard how pretty he was, we got close enough to see his eyes twinkle and after getting several close-ups, we backed away leaving him undisturbed.
As we were discussing my sister’s “way with lizards” on the way home, Mother said, “You know, God lets us come close and talk to Him, too.” “I know, Mother,” I replied. “And not only do we talk to Him.” “Through prayer and His Word…
“He talks to us, too.”
July 24, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 24.
On this day in 1725, a boy was born in England. His father was a ship's captain. His mother died when he was six, and at the young age of 11, his father took him to sea. He, too, eventually came to captain a ship, a slave ship. Later he would share the testimony of a storm on the sea that came one night, a night when John Newton experienced a life-changing spiritual conversion.
Newton left the sea and became a pastor. He would often write poems to accompany his sermons. In 1773, at a New Year's Day service, he read a composition that he titled "Faith's Review and Expectation". John Newton was not a musician, and it was most probably chanted, not sung.
Interest in the poem soon waned in England, and Newton became known, not as a hymn writer, but as a leader in the abolitionist movement. He died in 1807, just weeks before Britain outlawed the slave trade. Around this same time, a spiritual movement, called the Second Great Awakening, began in the young country called The United States of America. And Newton's poem, joined with an old folk melody, gave voice to this revival.
In 1835, the poem, set to music, was published in a shaped-note hymnal called Southern Harmony. The editor used its first two words as the title, and Amazing Grace was reborn. It has gone on to become the most recognized song in the English language. The lyrics, an autobiography of John Newton's amazing life, continue to inspire us today. Here are the words of a verse that is left out of many modern hymnals.
The Lord has promised good to me
His Word, my heart secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
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