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Contributing Writers: David Mathis | Tim Perkins
Past Contributing Writers: Mike Mills, Spring Hill Church | Doug Fincher | Pastor Randy and Sue Smith | Mike Belgard
Mon, Aug 24
August 19, 2026 - Revival Services at Jackson Missionary Baptist Church are Monday, August 24 thru Thursday, August 27 at 6pm nightly with preaching by Joshua Howington. Enjoy a Thursday pot luck dinner after the service. Children's worship available.
Come renew and leave revived.
Jackson Missionary Baptist Church is located at 11620 State Hwy. 7 East, Joaquin, Texas.
Wed, Aug 26
August 21, 2026 — The Bone Hill Foundation and its associates will sponsor a meeting of Shelby County churches and pastors on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 8am at the John Windham Civic Center in Center. A complimentary breakfast will be provided for those attending.
The meeting is part of the Bone Hill Foundation's Build Texas program, an initiative designed to help prepare Shelby County students for life after high school. An important part of the program is encouraging local churches to become more involved with their youth groups by providing students and parents with information about the opportunities available after graduation.
The September 26 meeting will include a presentation followed by an open discussion among pastors, church representatives, community leaders and others in attendance. The goal is to identify practical ways churches throughout Shelby County can work together to help young people explore vocational and technical training, college programs, certifications, career opportunities and other pathways to successful employment and adulthood.
All churches in Shelby County are invited to participate. Churches may send a pastor, youth leader or other representative.
Because space is limited, attendance will be limited to approximately 80 participants, and advance reservations are encouraged.
RSVP or More Information:
Tracy Belin
Program Co-Chair
936-488-0196
Bob Reeves
Bone Hill Foundation Member
936-591-1900
The Bone Hill Foundation encourages churches throughout Shelby County to participate and bring their ideas to the discussion as the community works together toward a common goal: helping Shelby County's young people prepare for successful lives after high school.
Fri, Aug 28
August 24, 2026 - Free produce items will be available from 4pm until 5:30pm (while supplies last) from the East Texas Food Bank on Friday, August 28, the 4th Friday of the month, at First Baptist Church, 117 Cora Street, Center, Texas 75935.
No eligibility requirements, paperwork, or ID required.
Volunteers are always welcome! Help us, help others! May of the youth who have helped with the food pantry are back in school and volunteers are needed! Your time given, whether for 30 minutes or 3 hours, is appreciated! The food pantry is on the 4th Friday of each month and volunteers are needed from 3pm to 6pm. Sign up in FBC office and fill out connect card.
Contact the church office by calling 936-598-5605 or emailing admin@fbccenter.org.
Wed, Sep 02
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.
Faith
August 21, 2026 — The Bone Hill Foundation and its associates will sponsor a meeting of Shelby County churches and pastors on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at 8am at the John Windham Civic Center in Center. A complimentary breakfast will be provided for those attending.
The meeting is part of the Bone Hill Foundation's Build Texas program, an initiative designed to help prepare Shelby County students for life after high school. An important part of the program is encouraging local churches to become more involved with their youth groups by providing students and parents with information about the opportunities available after graduation.
The September 26 meeting will include a presentation followed by an open discussion among pastors, church representatives, community leaders and others in attendance. The goal is to identify practical ways churches throughout Shelby County can work together to help young people explore vocational and technical training, college programs, certifications, career opportunities and other pathways to successful employment and adulthood.
All churches in Shelby County are invited to participate. Churches may send a pastor, youth leader or other representative.
Because space is limited, attendance will be limited to approximately 80 participants, and advance reservations are encouraged.
RSVP or More Information:
Tracy Belin
Program Co-Chair
936-488-0196
Bob Reeves
Bone Hill Foundation Member
936-591-1900
The Bone Hill Foundation encourages churches throughout Shelby County to participate and bring their ideas to the discussion as the community works together toward a common goal: helping Shelby County's young people prepare for successful lives after high school.
August 24, 2026 - Free produce items will be available from 4pm until 5:30pm (while supplies last) from the East Texas Food Bank on Friday, August 28, the 4th Friday of the month, at First Baptist Church, 117 Cora Street, Center, Texas 75935.
No eligibility requirements, paperwork, or ID required.
Volunteers are always welcome! Help us, help others! May of the youth who have helped with the food pantry are back in school and volunteers are needed! Your time given, whether for 30 minutes or 3 hours, is appreciated! The food pantry is on the 4th Friday of each month and volunteers are needed from 3pm to 6pm. Sign up in FBC office and fill out connect card.
Contact the church office by calling 936-598-5605 or emailing admin@fbccenter.org.
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
August 21, 2026 - Joshua was born a slave and yet became the leader of Israel. He was appointed to lead Israel into the Promised Land and was commissioned by the Lord to lead His people. Leading the people of God, Joshua went from victory to victory. They successfully crossed the flooded Jordan and conquered the fortified city of Jericho.
Yet, Joshua sent a few thousand to conquer Ai, and they were defeated. Following this, we see Joshua on his face, defeated and in despair. We hear the Lord tell Joshua to get up and He asks Joshua why he is lying on his face (Joshua 7:10)
Joshua has been defeated, however, he must not focus on this one defeat. He needs to consider the good things God has done for Israel. He must remember all of the blessings God has already given and all of the blessings God has promised for the future. Joshua has become focused on the wrong thing. Instead of being power conscious Joshua has become problem conscious and is focusing on this one defeat.
Well, Joshua did rise up and he led his people to victory. When we feel defeated, we need to remember all that God has done for us. He loved us, He gave His son for us and he will also give us the victory. Like Joshua, when we suffer defeat, if we are not careful we too will become problem conscious and not power conscious. It was Paul who tells us that God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:57). Living our lives within the will of God, we can loudly sing that grand old hymn, “Victory In Jesus.”
It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
August 19, 2026 - Revival Services at Jackson Missionary Baptist Church are Monday, August 24 thru Thursday, August 27 at 6pm nightly with preaching by Joshua Howington. Enjoy a Thursday pot luck dinner after the service. Children's worship available.
Come renew and leave revived.
Jackson Missionary Baptist Church is located at 11620 State Hwy. 7 East, Joaquin, Texas.
August 17, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 17.
Most of the school districts in EastTexas started back last week. That’s true most everywhere across the country. It seems like now they usually begin classes mid-week. I guess they figure that not much real teaching will go on the first few days, with all the effort to get settled, so why waste an entire week? That makes the “first Monday” kind of a true start to classes. And that’s today. So I woke up thinking about teachers and students and a man with an unusual name - Kearnie Keegan.
Kearnie Keegan was born in 1907 in Nachitoches, Louisiana. He showed early promise as a speaker and musician and graduated from Northwestern College in Nachitoches at the age of nineteen. He quickly began teaching high school and during summers would lead music at church camps and revival crusades. By the young age of 25 he was pastor of First Baptist Church in his hometown, and in his early thirties he was leading the mighty Temple Baptist in Los Angeles. He was definitely a rising star.
Keegan always had a special place in his heart for young people, for students. In 1950 he became director of student ministry for the entire Southern Baptist Convention. During that time he created many of the youth ministry practices and tools that are still used today. In the fall of 1960 he was boarding a plane in St. Louis, on his way to a student conference, when he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was only 52 years old.
At the funeral of Kearnie Keegan they sang a hymn that he had written just a few months before. The lyrics seemed appropriate for today.
Teach me, O Lord, I pray, Your precious truth divine
Lead me to understand Your Word and make its precepts mine
Impart Your wisdom, Lord, shed light upon my way
That I may know Your boundless love; teach me. O Lord, I pray
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
August 13, 2026 - To one person, religion is a blessing to be enjoyed, and yet to another person it is a burden they are forced to bear. To some it is a weight that seems to hold them back while to another it is wings that lift them up. You see that individual who approaches a church service with the reluctance of a schoolboy returning to classes after summer vacation and another individual hurries saying with David “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” (Psalms 122:1)
Sadly, many people never reach the point where their religion is not a burden to them. It should not be this way. We should find joy in serving the Lord. We should look forward to the Lord’s Day when we can assemble with the saints of God for worship. A time when we can fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.
One reason that so many find their religion to be a burden is because they have never really come to know Jesus Christ. We have all heard that old expression, “to know him/her is to love them.” So it is with Jesus. To know Jesus is to love Him. Paul could say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (II Timothy 1:12) Perhaps if you really come to know Jesus in the way that Paul did you will find religion to be a joy rather than a burden.
It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
August 10, 2026 - Upcoming events hosted by Center MBC:
- Sunday, August 16 at 11am - Teacher Appreciation. Current or retired teachers, public school, private school, or homeschool - all are invited.
- Sept 27-29 - Fall Revival.
August 10, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 10.
In the late summer of the year 70 AD, at about this time, the mighty Roman army destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. The Holy City had been under siege for months, until the ancient walls were finally breached and the great place of worship, of sacrifice, the center of Jewish life, was burned to the ground. Today, two thousand years later, the Temple has yet to be rebuilt.
The original temple, Solomon’s Temple, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC. It was rebuilt 70 years later, but in a relatively small and modest fashion. Then, 20 years before Bethlehem, King Herod the Great expanded and enhanced it. During Christ’s ministry here on earth, it was known as Herod’s Temple. And Jesus foretold its day of destruction.
In Matthew 24:2 Christ said, “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down.” These words came as Jesus and His disciples, a few days before the Cross, were walking by Herod’s Temple. It was said to have been breathtakingly beautiful, and so perhaps the attention of the Twelve was focused on that beauty. In that moment they were focused on the present, but Christ spoke of the future. We, like the disciples, are often preoccupied with what we can see, while God speaks to us of what is unseen. While we worry and fret about today, He speaks to us of eternity.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
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