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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
Faith
January 29, 2026 - One of the things I miss from my childhood is the fireplace we had in our home and I really missed having one this week. I can remember many cold, dreary winter mornings, laying in bed, pulling the covers up tight and hearing the sound of my father chopping kindling to get a fire going. It was still dark outside, there were coals in the fireplace from the fire during the night, but dad wanted to make sure there was a big fire going before mom and I would get up in the mornings. Those roaring fires he built would fill the room with cheer and brightness as their radiant warmth pushed away the frigid winter dreariness.
The love that Jesus taught and demonstrated has that same transforming quality. When Paul wrote the First Corinthian letter, he would tell us in that great chapter on love in verse 13, “but the greatest of these is love”. Love is our greatest weapon against the cold selfishness and deep despair of the world around us. Just like the old family fireplace was central to the warmth of our home in the winter, so love is central to our Christian faith. Without love, there is no Christian. With love, the Christian has need of little else.
They tell the story that when John became too old to preach, and too weak to walk to worship services, his friends would carry him on a stretcher. They would place his stretcher on the floor and he would say over and over to those who passed by, “little children, love one another.” Some finally grew weary of his ceaseless repetition and asked why he always said the same thing. “Because” he replied, “it is the Lord’s command, and if only this is done, it is enough.”
It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
January 29, 2026 - A Call To Help Ministries and The Burning Bush will together be serving chicken and dumplings, cornbread, and a bottle of water on Friday, January 30, 2026 from 11am to 1pm to the linemen and to the communities that are still without electricity, also you may come just to charge your devices and stay warm at 1229 Southview Circle, Center, Texas.
Where cold days meet warm vibes and new beginnings.
Contacts are Connie (936) 427-2255 and Danielle (915) 926-6174.
January 28, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, January 28.
The power went out at my house in Tenaha last Saturday morning, at the beginning of the ice storm. And it’s still out! Four days and counting. With temps down into the mid-teens, and no heat, we’ve taken to dressing like Eskimos. But the ice will melt, the electricity will come back on, and it will fade into a memory. All that will remain is the hole in my roof from an ice-covered falling tree limb. Oh well. Onward and upward!
There was one positive thing about the black-out. I had a chance to catch up on my reading. And I took the opportunity to go back to some favorite books, and read them again. That’s a great thing to do, re-reading a book. It’s like re-watching a favorite movie. And the second time around you always see, learn, experience something new.
Re-reading the Bible is a great thing to do, as well. I remember the first time I read through Paul’s Letter to the Romans. I struggled to absorb it, digest it, understand it. A challenging read! But, ten years later, I paid it a second visit, and suddenly the writing had a flow that wasn’t there for me the first time. I was able to “hear” Paul’s words, really hear them. The same, I’m sure, would be true on the second visit to Genesis, or Isaiah, or Luke, or Acts, or even Revelation.
So, pick one of your favorite Bible books and read it again. No need to wait till the next power failure.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
January 27, 2026 - Because First Baptist Church - Center is currently being used as a shelter for those without electricity, there will be no church activities Wednesday, January 28th.
January 27, 2026 - New Hope Congregational Methodist Church fed 200 linemen today, Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at 1pm in the Tractor Supply parking lot in Center.
Any church, group, individual, or organization wishing to support continued efforts to feed our linemen, please DM me (Sherry Riley) or donate via Venmo: @Annette-Doyle-1 or via PayPal: @ADoyle827.
Special thanks to Shawn Whiteside Smoke Wagon BBQ!
January 24, 2026 - All Masses at St. Therese and St. Mary’s Catholic Churches are cancelled this weekend because weather conditions are very dangerous. The Bishop has granted a dispensation.
Fr. Luis
January 22, 2026 - Shelbyville First Methodist Church will not have church this Sunday, Jan. 25 due to the weather.
January 22, 2026 - It was at a wedding feast, in Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle. They had run out of wine, a real social miscue in that day and time. So, Mary told Jesus the problem and then told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. Well, you remember the story. Jesus changed 6 water pots filled with water into wine, better wine than they had before.
Yet, the greatest example of the transforming power of Jesus Christ is not that He was able to change water into wine. The greatest example of the transforming power of Jesus is how He can change lives. He took a blustering fisherman named Simon, a creature of impulse and made him into a rock of Christ-like character. He found a “thunderbolt” named John, a man capable of such hot hate that he wanted to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village and changed him into the Apostle of love. He took a greedy tax collector named Matthew and used him to write one of the gospels. There was a demon possessed woman named Mary who became the first person to spread the word of the resurrection. Then, who can forget the intellectual giant named Paul, the greatest menace that existed to the early church, and he was transformed to be the world’s greatest preacher.
The same Jesus who changed those lives will change every life that surrenders to him. Would you surrender your will to His will?
It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com
January 20, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, January 20.
I went to college at Houston Baptist University, in the town where I grew up. I worked my way through college as a minister at a church there. After graduating I left my hometown to move to Fort Worth to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a school designed to teach young ministers how to minister. Looking back, I learned a lot more “on the job” than I ever did in the classroom. But there was one seminary course that I have made use of time and time again throughout my career. It was called “Comparative Religions.”
It was a challenging course, filled with all the details and facts about all the denominations and faiths, all the doctrines and beliefs, of all the religions all around the world. I haven’t traveled all around the world, but as I’ve ministered in big and small towns, I’ve seen the world come to America, and I’ve met Buddhists and Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims. I’ve also had the opportunity to talk with people who follow faiths that began here in the United States, like Mormons and Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientologists. It has been a fascinating experience.
I’ve gone back to the notes and text books from that seminary class many times, reviewing all the complicated details about all those religions. But I’ve also recalled the simple advice my professor gave us in his very first class. He instructed us to always begin our study of any faith with one simple question. And the question was this - Who do they say that Jesus is? That, when you think about it, is a question that each of us must answer. Jesus asked His disciples that very question, and the Apostle Peter, in one of his better moments, rose to his feet and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
Janaury 16, 2026 - Huxley Helping Hands drive thru food pantry will be Saturday, January 17 at Hillcrest Baptist Church, Center, Texas. Must be in line by 8:30am to receive a box. This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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