Community, Compassion, Service
Love Shelby By Stan Anthony, Mayor of Shelby Philippians 2: 1-11 As I was preparing to write today’s devotional, this passage of scripture from the second chapter of Philippians truly spoke to me because of how succinctly these words define our lives as Christians. If there is one passage of scripture that provides the answers of how we are to live, this may well be it! The values we all cherish are there… love, obedience, […]
“All You Need is Love” — Eph. 3:14-19 By Dr. Jim McConnell In 1967 the Beatles released their “Magical Mystery Tour” album. One of the songs on that album was “All You Need is Love.” Folks of my generation know this song well; the refrain, which is the song’s title, is repeated over and over (and over). There is a line in the song, though, that at least to me was until recently not as […]
A different kind of love by Katie Graves I hate to brag but I’m pretty good at loving others! Especially those I love. And with those I feel deserve it. And especially those that have loved me well. And those who deserve it. And those whom I feel have been treated unjustly and been dealt a raw hand in life. And especially those I feel deserve it. (Did I mention that?) I’m not proud of […]
…..Potatoes! And, white potatoes too! Regardless of the type and the time of year they are harvested, the ministry of the Cleveland County Potato Project has been a sweeeeet blessing to the people of our community. Co-founded by Doug Sharp, Bill Horn and the Holy Spirit, the Cleveland County Potato Project came into being in order to help feed needy people in Cleveland County. During its first year – 2010 – 30,000 pounds were harvested […]
By Eduardo Steibel I am a “CPR”. Yes, I am a “Cooperative Program Recipient.” Born in Brazil of Latvian and German descent, I was blessed since my early days by the generosity of thousands of small churches that came together to send missionaries and carry the work of the kingdom of God all over the world. When I left home to attend the South Brazil Baptist Theological Seminary in Rio de Janeiro, it was Dan […]
By Tina B. Still Tonight our Sunday school class volunteered to serve dinner at the men’s homeless shelter in Shelby. This simple experience is a humbling and especially rewarding mission. Over the past five weeks, author, Max Lucado has led our class through the first five verses of the 23rd Psalm. How appropriate that our lesson today focused on Psalm 23:5—“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” We discussed at length what […]
By Justin Harper God grows on you. Or for some…God grows IN you. Sure, we can grow in God, but have you ever thought of it like this: What if when God calls YOU out, it is at just the RIGHT time and at just the RIGHT place? HE searches for YOU…everyday. It took me a few years to learn that. I always had a desire to help people and wanted to do good things, […]
by Marie Hendrick In November, June Yarboro shared the opportunity for our JOY Sunday school classmates to join her on a mission trip to assist Hurricane Matthew flood victims in Lumberton, NC. We were to work with the NC Baptist Men in recovery operations. God spoke to our hearts and cleared our calendars and Susan Beam, Susan Grose and I agreed we wanted to go with June. I prayed that we would be a witness to […]
By Tommy Young So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. -1 Corinthians 10:31 Just think, three years ago, I didn’t know one thing about potatoes. For all I knew, they grew in little strips in the pantry at McDonald’s. But, after only a few years of patient instruction from Doug Sharp and Bill Horn, I now think of myself as one of the most knowledgeable […]
By Sara Greene Mark and I have a tradition at Christmas that started in the gym at First Baptist a few years back. The World Craft Fair sets up in the gym one Wednesday night in November each year. That first year there were some things that I really liked, but I have a hard time buying things for myself that close to Christmas. On the other hand World Craft is a great ministry that helps […]
