Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Yesterday ended Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), and now we're into Lent. I don't celebrate those myself, so I got information about them at Wikipedia.com. Tradition says Mardi Gras begins Jan. 6 (when the Magi visited Jesus) and ends right before Ash Wednesday, which just happens to be today. Celebrating from Jan. 6 to March 5 in 2019 would've been some party! But in most places, Mardi Gras is only the three days before Ash Wednesday. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts until just before Easter as a period of prayer, repentance, penance,...
Our 4-year-old grandson and another little boy were talking together at a church potluck recently. I’m not sure what sparked our grandson’s question, but he eventually said, “I have a Bible. It’s a real one. Do you have a real Bible?” I don’t know if the other little boy answered, but our somewhat older grandson interjected, “I have three Bibles: A story Bible, a Holy Bible and an NIV (New International Version) that I read all the time.” Hmm? I understand a child’s reasoning a Bible story book isn’t the whole thing, and I suspect the 4-year-...
When I was 7, we lived in a church camp lodge. Another family, with a son about my age, also lived there. He, my two-years-older brother and I got into a lot of mischief together. I recall one occasion that began with the three of us throwing gravel from the road into an athletic field across from the lodge. When our parents found out, we were told to get all of the gravel out of the field and back into the road before the field was to be mowed the next day. My brother and I did that, and I can remember saying to the other kid the next time I...
Signs and statements interest me. and sometimes strange connections are made. For example, the road signs at an intersection say you can go both north and south on the same stretch of street, which reminds me of a husband who, after 50 years of marriage, told his wife he'd told her once he loved her and if that ever changed, he'd let her know. Confused about the connection between the sign and the husband's statement? I'll explain. But first, read 1 Kings 13, where God sent a man from Judah to Bethel to preach against wickedness and told him to...
Well, the Christmas and New Year's celebrations have passed, including the television shows reviewing the successes, failures and other events taking place in 2018, much of which wasn't newsworthy when it actually occurred. I suspect most of us also remembered personal successes and failures. King David was a very successful warrior king who got his start by fighting lions and bears that stole his father's sheep (2 Samuel 8:1-14; 1 Samuel 17:32-37). Nonetheless, David kept his perspective and acknowledged God had delivered him when he went...
Picture this: A man pushing a bicycle through the library. Yes, that actually happened and right here in Tucumcari! A bystander asserted it must be a first. I can’t verify it as a first for all time, but it probably was a first for those of us present. As we approach Jan. 1, I wonder how many people actually will keep their resolutions. I suspect if any do, it’d be a first — at least for some of them. I haven’t made many New Year’s resolutions. Some I’ve made, I still keep; others, I’ve rethought and resolved to never make again. Most promises...
Excellent article last week, Gordon! Recently, my three devotional books had a complementary theme one day despite being written by different authors. Written by inspiration from God over about 1,500 years by about 40 human authors, the Bible presents the common theme of God’s love for humankind and his revelation of that love through Jesus (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In that revelation, God lets us know about his love expressed through Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to pay for our sins so we could have the same relationship with him that Ada...
That time of year is upon us again when we think about how much we’ve been blessed (Thanksgiving) as well as how much more we’ll be blessed (Christmas and New Year's). It doesn’t matter which holiday we’re celebrating; each one is associated with food and should be based in thankfulness for provision. Whether we’re celebrating a national or religious holiday, we’ve got much to be thankful for in our country, including food-wise. Through our abundant natural resources and agricultural knowledge and technology, God provides America with the mo...
Last Sunday was Nov. 11. A century ago, on Nov. 11, 1918, at 11 a.m., the armistice to cease the hostilities of World War I took effect. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, actually formalized the peace. Nov. 11, once called Armistice Day as a celebration of that peace, now is called Veterans Day in the United States to honor all American veterans, living or dead. Some Americans think we should resume also celebrating the peace and how we can achieve peace the way it was celebrated after World War I because it was to be the war to end...
Tomorrow, Nov. 1, many religious groups will celebrate All Saints’ Day, also called All Hallows Day, which falls in the middle of Allhallowtide, being preceded by Halloween (All Hallows Eve) and followed by All Souls’ Day. As I understand it (and there’s a lot I don’t understand), All Saints’ Day commemorates the recognized saints — those who went straight to heaven because they led a completely righteous life while on earth. All Souls’ Day commemorates Christians who’ve died but haven’t gone to heaven because they had to expiate (atone for) si...
Do you ever feel all alone, the only one carrying the load, or that no one else shares your problems or is concerned for you? In James 5:16-18, we see Elijah was a man (person) just like us. While Elijah demonstrated great faith, he also had some weaknesses in his faith. For example, upon the defeat of Baal’s prophets, he fled after being threatened by the Queen and had a pity party God didn’t stand for (1 Kings 18:1-40; 19:1-18). Know this: God doesn’t like self-pity; he expects us to maintain the faith. Even when he seems silent, he’s...
In my last Quay County Sun article (Sept. 19), based on a couple of recent incidents in which my 3-year-old grandson thought our preacher was God, I wrote about how God gives us everything we need for life and godliness so we can participate in his divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-11). Besides helping us grow and protect our salvation from false teaching and Satan’s discouragement, this helps us reflect God’s nature to others so they’ll be attracted to him (2 Peter 2:1-3; 3:17-18; Revelation 12:10-12; 2 Corinthians 4:5-7; Titus 2:10). God is love...
Some time ago, the basement smelled musty the next morning after cleaning the carpets. So I opened windows to air it out and by the following evening the smell was almost gone and everything turned out alright. This reminded me that sometimes when you try to do something good, it seems to backfire, although this time it did work out, eventually. I won’t stop trying to do good although I’ve gotten burned before and I know it’ll happen again. I’ve failed many times as a do-gooder, but God hasn’t given up on me and never will even though I...
My grandson asked me to make him a bowl of cereal. So I said, “Abracadabra! You’re a bowl of cereal!” All that happened was my grandson’s laughter. So I tried something I thought might be more forceful, more commanding: “Hocus pocus dominocus! Be a bowl of cereal!” More laughter resulted. I don’t think my grandson had any faith in a transformation. He probably didn’t want to be a bowl of cereal anyway. So, I got the cereal and poured the milk to prove I could make him a bowl of cereal. There are several reasons we don’t get what we want. Fir...
One of our relatives works a restaurant in another town and because we eat there often, we’re friends with several other employees. Recently while eating with our relative (we’ll call her employee No. 1), another employee (No. 2) came to the table saying she needed to restock something at the beverage service area, but she’d looked all over the stockroom and couldn’t find the supplies. Employee No. 1’s response was, “Are you sure? I thought we had plenty of that.” So, No. 1 goes to the stockroom and almost before No. 2 could finish saying...
I was checking my grandson’s math homework one evening last school year. For several exercises, the student was to find the incorrect number in a sequence, mark it, and write the correct number on a line at the end of the sequence. Then, they were to make up their own number sequence with an incorrect number and mark that number, again showing the correct one on a line at the end. I forgot that last part of the instructions and told my grandson he’d done the exercise incorrectly. After some discussion, including, “Don’t argue with me, boy!” h...
America has often just accepted what’s said on the news as fact and we’ve forwarded emails and social media statements as fact without verifying the source. Now, because we’ve become concerned that we don’t just get the facts untainted by the newscaster’s own philosophy or the broadcasting company’s bias, we’re beginning to question the veracity of the news media in general. Additionally, social media and emails are being questioned. Have you forwarded an email recently only to have someone respond that what you passed on was a myth or other...
Building upon a previous article stating that we’re to be perfect as God is perfect, my last article (May 30, 2018) delved into how God is perfect and how we can be – are to be – perfect (Matthew 5:48). First Peter 1:15-16 says we’re to be holy in all we do because God is holy (Leviticus 11:44-45). So, this article will consider how God is holy and what it means for us to be holy. But first, because it’s possible that many people don’t know what holiness is, Webster’s New World Dictionary Compact School and Office Edition (Simon and Schuster, I...
About two months ago (Quay County Sun, March 21), I stated that, while Jesus makes us perfect, we still have individual responsibility in attaining our perfection (Matthew 5:48). Along the thought that we are to be perfect as God is perfect, I considered how God is perfect and how we can be perfect. First, God is perfect in his works (Deuteronomy 32:3-4). Like Moses, we should recognize that God’s works are perfect in regard to creation, including humankind, who were created in his image, although, that has been corrupted by sin (Genesis 1...
That whistling sound you heard recently followed by a plop and puff of dust was me having another milestone birthday. It started off kinda rocky because of my early morning devotional, which, this year, consists of articles from three different publishers. The first article I read that birthday morning began in the middle of John 16:33, where Jesus told his disciples, and future Christians that, “In this world you will have trouble” (that’s when the whistling mentioned above began). What a great way to start off another year of life! While...
Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Today is May 2, and 2018 is one-third over! How time flies whether or not you’re having fun! May Day, usually celebrated on May 1st, is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival celebrated with dances, singing, and cake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day). While not associated with the May Day holiday, the term “Mayday!” is used to signal a life-threatening emergency. The call is always given three times in a row to prevent its being mistaken for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distin...
For about 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus proved he was alive and taught his remaining eleven Apostles; then, he ascended back to heaven having previously promised to return (Acts 1:1-14; John 14:1-3). Recently (April 11, 2018, Quay County Sun), I wrote about the Apostles’ activities shortly after his resurrection, speculating that they’d hidden for over a week because they were in the same house in Jerusalem a week later (Luke 24:13-35; John 20:24-26). We also know that the women at the tomb were instructed to tell his disciples tha...
As Jesus stated, he was in the grave for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:39-41; 16:21; 17:22-23; Luke 18:31-34; 24:1-7). Evil men had torn down his temple and he built it back in three days (John 2:18-22). It’s now been three days since Easter and I wondered what Jesus’ disciples were doing three days after his resurrection. When Jesus was arrested, his disciples deserted him and fled, although, at least two of them went to his first trial (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-51; Luke 22:54; John 18:12-16; bookmark these passages, they’ll all...
In John 16:5-28, Jesus told his disciples, “Now you see me, but soon you won’t for a little while and then you’ll see me again.” When I read that recently, I recalled the familiar magicians’ statement, “Now you see it, now you don’t,” and connected it with, “Footprints in the Sand,” the poem about Jesus’ carrying someone through their hard times. Jesus had to leave because his work on earth would soon be finished and he had work to do in heaven while the Holy Spirit had work to do on earth (John 17:1-5; John 14:1-6; Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:24-25...
Recently, while song-leading at church, I called out the number and title for, “Oh to be like thee.” Then, as occasionally happens, I fumbled with the pages in the hymnal while everyone else was waiting for me to get on the right page. So, I stated, “I’m having trouble getting there.” It immediately dawned on me what I had said, “Oh to be like thee, I’m having trouble getting there.” If that’s what I had meant, it would’ve been an honest confession (Romans 7:14-25). Christians are to continue putting away the fruitless deeds of darkness t...