Shelby County Today

June 29, 2026 - Good Morning!  It’s Monday, June 29.

As we approach our nation’s very special birthday (the Semiquincentennial!), we’ll take the opportunity each day this week to focus on some of our favorite patriotic songs.  We begin with my favorite.

What do you call our country?  Do you say “The United States”?  Like most people, you probably just say “America”.  But before the 20th century, hardly anyone called it by that name.  A significant factor in the change was a little poem written in 1895 by a young schoolteacher.  Katherine Bates titled her poem, “America, the Beautiful”.  Our National Anthem doesn’t mention that name, and neither does “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”.  But six years after Bates poem was published, to great acclaim, Theodore Roosevelt was elected president, and he continually called his nation by the beautiful name, America.

In 1971, Ray Charles recorded a slow and soulful version of this hymn.  It received very little attention.  And then, five years later, as we celebrated our 200th anniversary, the Bicentennial, the song was reissued and it became a national sensation.  It remains a very personal and inspiring rendition that often brings a tear to the eye.  I love this song’s poetic lyric and lovely tune, but it’s another feature that I love the best.  Katherine Bates, while celebrating the greatness of our country, also urges us to commit ourselves to make it even better, with phrases like “God mend thine every flaw”, “Confirm thy soul in self-control”, “May God thy gold refine”, “Till all success be nobleness”.  And then there’s those final words - ”Crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea”. 

A song birthed in the 19th century, nurtured in the 20th, and with a message particularly appropriate . . . for today.

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

June 22, 2026 - Good Morning!  It’s Monday, June 22.

Last week I watched a documentary on my TV and a movie in a theater, and both shows left me with thoughts about religion and faith.  Join me tomorrow as I look at the movie, but today I’ll focus on the documentary. It’s called “Jefferson’s Bible”, and it looks back at a revised version of the Word that Thomas Jefferson created.  He deleted the entire Old Testament and much of the New.  His “Bible” focused only on the teachings of Jesus found in the four Gospels.  But Jefferson edited out the virgin birth, ignored Christ’s miracles, and, in the end, left Jesus in the Garden Tomb.  I was left with three thoughts.

First of all, some of our Founding Fathers practiced a faith that most of us today would not consider Christian.  There certainly were early American leaders who were devoted believers, although few of them would feel at home in a 21st century evangelical church.  But others, like Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, practiced a faith called deism, which featured a deity who had no interest in the personal lives of human beings.  He was referred to by names like Creator, Providence, and Nature’s God.  Jefferson used all three of those names in a little document he wrote . . . called the Declaration of Independence.

Secondly, Jefferson’s “cut and paste” approach to the Bible flies in the face of strict biblical warnings.  His version doesn’t include Deuteronomy or Revelation, but within those books we are warned about tampering with scripture. The words of Deuteronomy 4:2 are echoed in the final paragraph of the Word - “If anyone adds to this book, God will add to them the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of this book, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life”. (Revelation 22:18)

Finally, I don’t think you or I are planning to create our own version of the Bible.  We would never think of tearing out even a single page.  But perhaps we’ve been guilty of ignoring some pages, some books, some verses.  Maybe, too often, we “cherry pick” our favorite scriptures, those that are easy on our ears, those that comfort our hearts.  2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “ALL scripture is breathed out by God”.  Yes, some scriptures are harder to understand than others, harder to discern, harder to digest.  But, as students of the Word, we’re tasked to study all of the Word, to test it, to wrestle with it, and to “rightly divide” it. 

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

June 19, 2026 - Lydia Missionary Baptist Church is hosting a Revival with Bro. Dave Bishop on June 28 through July 1. Sunday service is at 6pm and Monday through Wednesday service is at 7pm nightly.

Special music from the Thrift and Howington Families.

Lydia Missionary Baptist Church is located at 14998 FM 139, Shelbyville, Texas 75973. For more information, contact 936-368-2462.

June 17, 2026 - Rose & The Bahia Boys will be in concert Sunday, July 12th at 11am for Homecoming this year at Old Home Baptist Church. Come on out and enjoy their Bluegrass Gospel music. There will be a covered dish lunch after singing.

Old Home Baptist Church is located at 685 CR 3455, Joaquin, Texas 75954.