Shelby County Today

August 4, 2025 - New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church in Timpson, Texas will be celebrating Homecoming on Sunday, August 17, 2025 at 1pm. Pastor Mario Osby, Smith Chapel Baptist Church will bring the message. Everyone is cordially invited to attend this special occasion.

New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church will also have a one-night revival on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 7pm. Pastor Daniel Holman, New Jerusalem Baptist Church, Geneva Texas will bring the message.

Rev. Rayford Caraway, Pastor
Sis. Janice Garrett, Program Committee
Sis. Mary Criner, Program Committee

August 4, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, August 4.

School bells start ringing one week from today in Center, Texas. In other East Texas towns, students are already back in class. But wherever you live, it’s a safe bet that teachers have been back at work for a while. And so this morning we begin “Teacher Week” at the Daily Devotions. Behind every great person is a great teacher. Each day this week we’ll look at a Bible character who was called to greatness by God, and the teacher who helped them get there.

The name Moses is known by people who have never read a word of God’s Word. But few know anything about a man named Jethro. When Moses fled Egypt after killing the Egyptian overseer, he was literally running for his life. He was given refuge by Jethro and ended up living and working with his family for forty years. Jethro saw something in the young man Moses and invested his life in him. Great teachers recognize great potential.

During those forty years, Moses had the opportunity to observe Jethro, a man of wealth and accomplishment, who was also known for his wisdom and integrity. Sometimes the strongest lesson we can teach is the lesson of our lives. Moses came to Jethro as a confused young man and left as a leader. Great teachers are great examples.

After Moses had led the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt, he struggled to be an effective leader. He was overwhelmed by the needs of his people, by the demands of his calling. Jethro came to him in the wilderness and taught him another lesson, the lesson of delegation. He encouraged Moses to set up a group of aides who would help him in his work. This made all the difference. Great teachers give great advice.

The story of Moses has echoed through the ages. A great man who did great things for a great God. But perhaps none of this would have happened without the efforts of Jethro, his great teacher.

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

July 30, 2025 - Mt. Zion CME Church is Celebrating 148 years with their 2025 Homecoming Celebration on Sunday, August 3, 2025 at 3pm with Pastor, Marlin Cloudy Sr., Abundant Love Ministries, Center, Texas as guest speaker.

Three night Revival is Monday-Wednesday, August 4-6, 2025 at 7pm nightly.

• Monday Night - Bishop William Nash, House of Refuge, Center, Texas
• Tuesday Night - Rev. Stanback Morris, Fellowship CME, Keithville, La
• Wednesday Night - Rev. Steve Standley, East Liberty Baptist, Center, Texas

Pastor, Rev. Richard E. Edwards
Chairpersons: Kristi McClelland, Mattie Suell, Dr. Shannon Suber

Mt Zion CME Church is located at 921 Martin Luther King Drive, Center, Texas 75935. The church’s mailing address is P.O Box 1504, Center, Texas.

July 28, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Monday, July 28.

On the morning of July 28, 1945, World War II was winding down. Germany had surrendered two months before, Japan would follow in two weeks. Soldiers were returning home. America was ready for a return to normal life. And then, an event occurred which sent shock waves through the nation. An event that would foreshadow 911. A B-25 bomber flew into the 80th floor of the Empire State Building.

The pilot had just returned to his family after flying 50 dangerous missions in Europe. A sailor, who had hitched a ride on the plane at the last minute, was trying to get home after receiving news that his brother had been killed in action. A dozen employees in the office of the Catholic Relief Society were at work on a Saturday, providing help to the thousands left homeless by the war. And in that moment, on a foggy morning in Manhattan... they were all lost.

But then there was Betty Lou Oliver. Twenty years old, she was working her final day as an elevator operator. Her fiancé had come home from the war and they planned to marry and return to Arkansas. The bomber hit the skyscraper at 200 miles per hour and severed the cables holding up Betty Lou’s elevator. It plunged 80 stories and crashed into the basement. Rescuers were astounded to discover that she was still alive. After ten months in the hospital she finally had her wedding. She went home, raised a family, and lived long enough to hold her great-grandchildren. 

Fate. Fairness. Faith. We often wrestle with these things, these ideas. Are our lives just guided by the whims of fate? Is there no fairness to be found in tragedy? Will our faith sustain us in times of challenge and loss? The Bible character most identified with these questions is the man called Job. In Chapter 19 of his book, he has lost everything, his “friends” have brought him no comfort, he seems to be a broken man. And then he utters these famous words - “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that, in the end, He will stand upon the earth.”

Fate? Fairness? In the end... Faith.

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