Articles
Shells
Shells
By Titus Davis, 3/30/25
Shells are peculiar dwellings found upon the sand.
Crustaceans wear them as armor for anything nature has planned.
Some are vibrant and precious, reflecting hues of gold.
Others are damaged and deserted; Cracked, brittle and old.
We possess a shell - Adam’s soul within a husk.
We never take it off, we wear it from dawn till dusk.
The shell is of muscle and bone, with sinews bound between.
And everyday, we urge it to stay, polished, shined and clean.
But time has no respect to efforts made to keep a shell intact.
As it sinks into the depths of life, the pressure grows and the shell will crack.
Then time will touch his eyes and ears, and make his mind weak.
His once strong back will be brought low: the spine twisted and rearranged.
The skin becomes rugged and stained; like a sun-bleached saddle left out on the range.
The shells are often compromised faster than the wearers expect.
And the drastic change is witnessed by all – Even the young can detect.
Thus many are deceived, believing one’s beauty to be past.
Ignorant to the Creator’s design. His children were made to last.
Thoughtlessly we worry, when each day a new chip or fracture we find.
Yet our unwearied souls are just as young as the day they crossed our Father’s mind.
An old shell can seem corrupted, having been marred and beaten by life’s tide.
But through the gashes in the brittle wall you may glimpse the precious soul inside.
In truth it’s always been there, just a little farther away.
Because it’s not about where it is, it’s about where it will stay.
Shells serve a purpose, but if they break it’s not the end.
They are nothing more than tents blown about by the wind.
Someday my shell will break, like a flame on a taunt string.
Casting off the burden here, I know I’ll be ready.
To worship by Savior and King.
Preaching Overseas
Les Maydell who preaches in South Africa reports that as he traveled around preaching the Gospel in various communities, he would see an older couple walking to meeting. Each time he saw them, they were carrying a large sheet of corrugated tin, the kind that is often used in roofing. After a while, brother Maydell inquired of some of the brethren as to why this couple would carry sheet metal with them from place to place. The answer was simply, “That’s their house.”
A young evangelist was visiting in Norway with Terrell Bunting some years ago. He agreed to preach in one of the small congregations in a neighboring city. Early on the Sunday he was to preach he went out into below zero temperatures and two feet of snow to catch public transportation to his appointment. He rode six kilometers on the bus, noting that he was the only person on the bus and that no one else was about. He grumbled to himself that he knew he would be the only one at services and how much better it would have been to just stay home. As the bus entered town, he noticed an elderly couple muffled and leaning into the wind as they walked from the country into town. He wondered why they would be out on a morning like this. The warm bus dropped him off on the corner near the place of assembly, and a brief chilly blast of air took his breath before he went in. No one was there, and he was certain no one was coming. However, just before services were about to begin, the door opened and another chilly blast of air blew in, with it came the elderly couple he saw walking into town just arriving for worship services.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a number of brethren went to Eastern Europe to preach. Among them was Kent Heaton who went to Sofia, Bulgaria. He and Lonnie Fritz took a box of Bibles with them as many of the folks had never seen one before, since Bibles had been banned by the communist regime for nearly fifty years. The Bibles disappeared quickly; the people were hungry to read the Bible. Only one Bible remained, and two people wanted it. One of them tore it in half between the Old and New Testament, and the two of them exchanged addresses agreeing to meet and trade halves when they finished reading them. Both of them eventually obeyed the gospel.
How are your faith, dedication, and character? I’ve got a long way to go.
A Moments Wisdom
--It is hard to tell what is worse: the wide diffusion of things that are not true, or the suppression of things that are true. (Harriet Martineau)
--One lesson that we as Christians have not learned in 2,000 years is that Jesus exercised no political control over the Roman Empire, and He still changed the world. We keep trying to change the world the way the Romans did instead of the way Jesus did. (Benjamin Cremer)
--We all know that a good example is more effective than just giving advice. So set a good example, and it won’t take long before others follow. (Anne Frank)
--The only people who are mad at you for speaking the truth are those who are living a lie. Keep speaking the truth.
--Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing seems to change, but when you look back everything is different? (C.S. Lewis)
--When the elderly die, a library is lost and volumes of wisdom are gone.
--Just because I carry it well does not mean that is isn’t heavy.
--Being constantly offended doesn’t mean you are right; it just means that you are too narcissistic to tolerate opinions different from yours.
--Laziness has some people believing they have an unfair life. If you do nothing, you will get nothing.
--If you prefer to watch a false teacher on television, rather than a sound preacher in a pulpit, you are the problem.
--Assumption is the lowest level of knowledge.
--One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proven disastrous before, time and again. (Thomas Sowell)
Comparison is the thief of joy. (Theodore Roosevelt)
Upcoming Sermons
5/25/25 AM - “The Way”; PM - May I Speak to You as Your Servant?
6/1/25 AM - The Better Life; PM - Themed Worship in Song: Homeward Bound
6/8/25 AM - The Balanced Life; PM - The Vain and Vexed Life
6/15/25 AM - “In Everything Give Thanks”; PM - “My Heart is Broken Because of the Prophets”
6/22/25 AM - Ending the War; PM - Aaron the High Priest
6/29/25 AM - Majoring on Minors; PM - Guest Speaker: Doug Sanders
