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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
September 25, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, September 25.
How many hours did you work at your job last week? Maybe you're retired and your time is your own. But for you that are still part of the workforce - did you work 20 hours, 40, 60, more? On this day, in 1926, Henry Ford made a revolutionary decision. He limited all of his factory workers to five eight-hour days, a 40-hour work week.
Doesn't seem very revolutionary? Well, for that time, it was. Just a few decades before, in the late 1800's, factory workers would toil 12-15 hours a day, six days a week, sometimes totaling up to 100 hours! By 1940, the 40-hour week was U.S. law, but Ford was the first to pioneer it. Why did he do it? Ford wasn't particularly known as a humanitarian. He was a "bottom line" kind of guy. And he came to understand that more hours did not necessarily mean more production. And, as workers fatigue increased, workplace accidents and mistakes increased as well.
Ford, a businessman, realized that a rested employee was an effective employee. I'm not sure what his level of Bible knowledge was, but if he had read Mark 6:31, he would have found that none other than Jesus Christ supported his theory. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples as they returned from "two by two" ministry journeys.
"Come away and rest awhile, for many are coming and going, and they have no time for leisure..."
Good advice!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
September 22, 2023 - Short Community Homecoming and Singing is Sunday, October 8, 2023. Potluck Dinner at 12 noon. Open microphone singing begins at 1:30pm.
Come enjoy good food and fellowship. For more information, contact John Monk at 936-598-4150.
Psalms 95:1-3
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.
September 21, 2023 - It was James who wrote, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Paul would write, “Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). The poet Tennyson would write, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”
Have you ever thought about prayer and how important it is? There is a prayer for every moment and every need of life. There is prayer when our heads are bowed in reverence and our hearts feel shame. Those times when we are barely able to stammer out our sin and humbly ask for God’s forgiveness. There are those times we pray on bended knee with outstretched hands which plead with God for help. Help that can only come from God. There is the prayer when we wrestle with God in agony until we are able to say “Thy will be done,” and accept God’s will for our lives. Yet, there are also those prayers when we stand at attention before God and take our orders for the day from the God of Heaven.
What a difference it would make to life if we always began the day with God. What a difference it would make if before we met our fellowman, we had taken the time to meet God. It matters not what our need might be, that need will find its answer in God through prayer. Yes, prayer makes a difference!
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.
September 21, 2023 - Patroon Baptist Church is hosting a yard sale from 8am until 3pm and pulled pork sandwich meal fundraiser on Monday, October 9. Meals are $10 and are available from 11am until sold out.
Come out and support our youth. Patroon Baptist Church is located at 310 FM 2261, Shelbyville, Texas 75973.
September 20, 2023 - On Saturday, September 30, 2023, Pleasant Grove MBC will have a Drive-Thru Prayer for anyone in need. We will be set up at NAPA Auto Parts from 11-2 that day. This is an event for EVERYONE NEEDING PRAYER. We would love to pray for you, a loved one, our country, our community, healing, or anything at all! You can just drive in and ask for a quick prayer of Thanks for all God has done for you!
This is not a fundraiser. We are doing this because everyone could use some prayer. We want the community to know that we are here for them and most importantly, the Lord is here for us all. All denominations and all people are welcome to come. Spread the word and join us for our Drive-Thru Prayer. God Bless you all.
September 20, 2023 - The historical Old East Hamilton Cemetery will have its Annual Homecoming and Dinner on the Grounds on Sunday, September 24, 2023, from 11am to 3pm. This is a wonderful time of visiting and singing, as well as conducting the annual business meeting for the cemetery.
As always donations are welcomed and encouraged for the maintenance and upkeep of this beautiful old cemetery. We look forward to seeing everyone! If, for some reason you are unable to attend, but would still like to donate, please contact Dudley Cox at 936-368-2596, and he will be glad to accept your donation. Thank you for your support.
Directions: From Shelbyville, take Hwy 87S to Patroon. Turn left on FM 2261, and drive approximately 6 1/2 miles. Turn left on Forest Service Road 126 off of FM 2261, there is an East Hamilton Cemetery sign on FM 2261 showing where to turn. Continue down FSR 126 to the next intersection and turn right. Continue less than a quarter mile to the Old East Hamilton Cemetery sign on the left, and turn left and go to the end of the road.
Hope to see you there!
September 19, 2023 - Yellowpine's 2023 homecoming will be held Sept. 23-24, 2023, at Yellowpine-Macedonia Baptist Church, located on Hwy 87 South at FM 2343 in Sabine County's Yellowpine community.
Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, services begin at 10:00 a.m., including music by the Southern Plainsmen, message by Bro. John McGuire of Nacogdoches, along with other local music talent. Lunch will be served and the Southern Plainsmen will sing again at 1:15 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, there will be a singing with locals, beginning at 6:00 p.m., for a "home folks singing."
Everyone is invited to attend these events! For information, contact T.A. Lane at 409-382-8765 or 409-584-1144.
September 18, 2023 - The annual Short Cemetery Homecoming will be held on Sunday, October 8th at 12:00 noon. Please make plans to attend.
Anyone wishing to make donations toward the upkeep of the cemetery - send your check to Short Cemetery Fund - PO Box 915 - Center, Texas 75935. All donations will go toward the upkeep of the grounds.
There will be a singing following the meal. For more information, call John Monk 936-239-7100 or Bubba Bell 935-590-1252.
September 18, 2023 - Mrs. Era Miller, former English Department Director at East Texas Baptist University, was my favorite teacher… ever. I took courses in World Literature, English Literature and courses in Shakespeare, Browning and Tennyson from her. I remember well how she often compared Browning with Tennyson. Her favorite lines by Browning were what he wrote to his wife, Elisabeth Barrett Browning: “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in His hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!”
Mrs. Miller compared Browning’s lines with those written by Alfred Tennyson (From “Crossing the Bar”): “For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crost the bar.”
Robert Browning was confident that “the best was yet to be” but Alfred Tennyson “hoped to see His Pilot face to face.” Both men were Christians but had different views on getting to heaven after they “crossed the bar”.
John wrote: (1 John 3:2) “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
September 18, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, September 18.
If you're a faithful reader of these little daily devotions, you noticed that I didn't post one last Friday. I had one ready, but when I got up that morning, my wife uttered those four dreaded words, "The Internet is down!" But today my service is back up, so I share this light, inspiring thought.
I live next to an animal sanctuary. Not really. But sometimes it feels like it. My neighbor, down the way, has quite the menagerie - horses, cows, goats, sheep, pot belly pigs, cats, and an assortment of dogs. All of these animals, at one time or another, have mistaken my front lawn as their feeding ground. It's a show.
The dogs include a bull terrier, a hound, a dachshund, two Great Pyrenees, and a teacup chihuahua. Great Pyrenees weigh in at over 100 pounds, while the chihuahua tips the scale at about two pounds. It's quite a spectrum. The dogs move around my neighbor's property, and mine, in a - I won't say pack - they're all too gentle for that word. It's more of a parade. And the drum major leading the way is always the teacup chihuahua.
This canine caravan reminds me of an old saying - "and a little child shall lead them." Did you know that comes from the Bible? Here's the whole verse (Isaiah 11:6) - "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the goat, and the calf and the lion together, and a little child shall lead them."
Isaiah lived during a time when the Israelite people were in exile, and dealing with great challenge and great loss. And, while he was always careful to remind his people that God was a God of judgement and that sin has consequences, Isaiah also encouraged them with words of redemption and reconciliation and restoration. This passage, that some call "the peaceable kingdom," was an encouragement to them, and to us today.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
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