Shelby County Today

May 14, 2026 - Sometimes, the best thing we can do is just get out of the way, not make any comment and let the word of God do all the talking. The dictionary defines obedience as “compliance with an order, request or law or submission to another’s authority.”

That said, here is what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:21; “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (KJV)

Here is that same passage in some other translations:

“It is not everyone who keeps saying ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the man who actually does my Heavenly Father’s will.” (Phillips)

“Knowing the correct password – saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance – isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience – doing what my Father wills.” (The Message)

“Not all those who say “You are our Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants.” (New Century Version)

Seems like this concept of “obedience” that is “living God’s kind of Life” just might be important.

It’s something to think about... tbp

Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com

May 11, 2026 - Mt. Calvary Full Gospel Church is hosting a Meet and Greet from 11am until 4pm on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Come enjoy free food, fellowship, and fun for all ages! 

The church is located at 2925 FM 417, Shelbyville, Texas 75973.

May 11, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, May 11.

I’m a committed collector - record albums and sheet music, vintage cameras and antique telephones, old coins and music boxes, political buttons and coca-cola memorabilia, wooden boxes and ceramic elephants. But my favorite thing to collect, and my biggest collection... is books. My latest library count is about 2000 volumes. Some people buy fancy cars. Some people buy boats or fine watches or the latest fashions. I buy books.

What would you guess is the highest selling book in history? Well, the novel “Don Quixote” is said to have sold over 400 million copies. Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” rings in at 200 million. In our era, the “Harry Potter” series tops out at 500 million units, and my favorite novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” has garnered over 40 million in sales.

But there’s one book that leaves all the others in the dust. The Book. It’s estimated that, to date, there have been over seven BILLION Bibles sold. And it doesn’t stop there. The Bible is also the book that is most often given away. The Gideons distributed over 70 million copies of The Word just last year. Take your own inventory. How many Bibles do you have in your house? How many have you owned over your lifetime? How many have you given as gifts? Perhaps your primary access to God’s Word now is electronic. Maybe you spend more time at sites like Bible Gateway and Bible Hub than you do within the literal pages.

I haven’t read all 2000 books in my library. Some were purchased and then just placed on a shelf. But that’s no place for a Bible. The Bible is a book to be read. The Bible is a book to be studied, and memorized, and meditated upon, and cherished. The Bible is a treasure.

Open one - from your collection - today.

Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com

May 8, 2026 - One thing that most of us excel at is wasting time. Though day planners are available in many sizes and styles, though Paul encouraged us to “Redeem the time for the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16) we are still proficient in failing to use our time wisely.

Probably our preferred method of time wasting comes with worry and anxiety. Do you remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? He left us this admonition in Matthew 6:34, ““Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.” (Phillips). Yet, how many of us actually listen to those words, much less heed them? We start worrying early in the morning and allow our anxiety to intensify as the day progresses. If we are short on a supply of things to worry about, we can watch cable news or check the news apps on our phone. We can then be sure we will have enough bad news, doomsday reports, human tragedies and late breaking calamities to keep our mind churning well into the evening hours. If that isn’t enough, then we can worry about our failures and mistakes, things we should’ve done or could’ve done and failed to do. We can worry about our weight, our health, the reality of aging - you name it, we can worry about it.

God did not intend for us to live this way. When you are tempted to worry and fret and let anxiety take hold of your life, remember what Peter encouraged us to do when he told us to cast our care upon Jesus because he cares for us (I Peter 5:7).

It’s something to think about... tbp
Center Church of Christ
www.centerchurchofchrist.com